I'll resurrect this thread, and say I may have some interest, in going SB, at the same time/date as the official NB route, this year. If anyone else is there as well, more the merrier.

Apologies - this thread is getting pretty long. Is there a group of rabble-rousers that are still thinking of starting at the same-time, same date at the East trail head in ~Littleton? Driving to Durango doesn't sound super fun, when the trail is ~20 miles away.

I think Tea for the Tillerman and or the soundtrack to Harold and Maude by Cat Stevens would be perfect -

Miles from nowhere
I guess I'll take my time
Oh yeah, to reach there

Look up at the mountain
I have to climb
Oh yeah, to reach there.

I'd also consider something like Heartless Bastards, All This Time, as the first song, Into the Open, is perfect:

And I find myself
Here in the meadow
Of a great divide
And in the moment

Things are coming into focus
Things are coming into focus
I've got wind in my face
And it's getting me on
I've got wind in my face
And it's getting me on, on

All of this time I was searching
Searching for my home
And I discovered
Home is where I am

Either that or something like Daft Punk's Homework, or the Tour de France Soundtracks by Kraftwerk.

Made a little mix last year of some of my favorite songs for GDMBR riding

speaking of smoking, been HOT around these parts. get ready y'all. and keep an ear out about forest fires. kinda brutal in Co already.

Hanging out at Abbey's. on Main Street, Frisco, CO - where are all the racers?! Thought y'all. said you're. going fast this year? I'll wait around for another 20min or so...

Best of luck to all the contenders of the Tour Divide this year. You have my respect and complete jealousy. Make this a transformative adventure, and remember to reflect back on how you have changed after the ride is over.

Will be thinking of you, while on my own wanderings in the mountains this week.

And don't do anything I wouldn't do...

Thanks, the wet wipes were pretty much like I figured. How many days will folks go with one pair of shorts?

Yeah, bordering on too personal.

Answer #1 is, "I think you know the answer to that"

Answer #2 is, With, "regular" use (pun!), If you're worried, packing two pairs is quite the luxury, and I doubt anyone would shame you on it

After riding, and before bivvying (or whatever), you can work it in your nightime ritual to clean the ol' chamois: a little water, a little spot of soap, some minor scrubbing and let 'er air dry can work wonders. Having a pair of something else to change into - like a pair of running shorts is also nice. You're probably going to have a base layer for sleeping in either way. If you need a little more cleanliness/drying time, it won't hurt to ride in the shorts for a few hours, as the chamois is drying while strapped somewhere on the bike.

I may be throwing caution to the wind, but wearing a pair of bibs 2 days in a row hasn't caused any ill effects, especially if there's another activity involved, where I won't be in the bibs (fishin', etc). Anything after that, and you're going to stink, no two ways about it. For sub 48 hour trips, it ain't no problem, as I'm home the day after I leave. For racing one of these CTR/AZTR/TD's, it's a little more cowboy, if you know what I mean.

With anything, start with what you're personally comfortable with, and experiment, adjust, iterate. You may find that, that second day the chamois is just toast and you'll get saddle sores, just because of that. That's not a good experiment to try, twice.

Also helps to change out of those damn things, during the night. Can be a big mistake to sleep in them.

Pretty awesome project, def. on my "TODO" - at least to do in some section (some sections are pretty close)

Unfortunate naming proximity to the, "Ride the Divide" film.

But really, make a little kit for yourself -

* Wet wipes for a lot of things
* little baggies, (dirty wet wipes need to go somewhere)
* Glasses/contact solution/extra contacts/antibiotics for eyes for emergencies, usually a pair of sunglasses when I break/lose my main ones
* toothbrush/toothpaste
* water purification tablets
* band aids/mole skin
* a sharpie is in my toiletries bag, for whatever reason, used all the time
* sunscreen, extra sunscreen
* Little thing of soap
* deodorant, if I'm not racing it it's more than 3 days.

See what you need specifically to feel comfortable, experiment, continually adjust, keep it simple, review what you used/what you didn't after the trip is over, make specific changes for specific trips - yadda yadda.

Nothing.

Well, someone did the math on my hunch #1:

http://www.g-cog.com/VBMX/spicer.pdf

TLDR: It was found that larger sprockets provide more efficient trans-
fer of power while smaller sprockets proved to be less efficient.
Simple, frictional loss models were developed that could be made
to have sprocket size loss variations that agreed with those varia-
tions measured experimentally. Typically, a 2–5% loss difference
was measured between the 52–11 and the 52–21

My hunch #2 still stands as, "let's ride bikes!"

Larger rings/cogs are going to be slightly more efficient, than small rings/cogs of the same ratio.

For this particular ratio(s), could it be just a, "what's lying around" type of situation? I've done 45 minute cyclocross races and 150 mile gravel grinder races on the same gear ratio. It's usually from laziness/lack of time/lack of interest to dial a gear ratio to the *tooth* or whatever. I wanna ride my bike, not do math.

Even more wow is the weight of the offroad trike on Doc's website is 41 pounds!!  Holy sh!t!!  I can't imagine trying to push that thing on a hike-a-bike or over deadfall.  Not just because of the weight, but also the shape of it has to be incredibly awkward!  As another poster said earlier, you're the man if you do this! 

It's kinda comparable to doing the route w/a B.O.B. trailer. Places like the connecting trail that gets you out of the Flathead may have to be done in two trips - one for the trike, one for all the other gear. Give a little yell out everyone few meters, so that there's no one below you in the line of a Runaway Trike! Everything else should be alright. Doing Richmond Peak may be a little iffy, if there's just one trenched out part to "walk". Never seen that part when it's not snowed in - how  destroyed is the road, there?

The vast majority of the route is almost uncomfortably wide. Just don't get plowed by a passing automobile. Really, please don't. I don't like doing that part right before Steamboat on the road on a good day.

How well do these trike's climb? 'bents don't have the best rapport when climbing. There's you know,  a little bit of climbing, while en route.

Some welcome improvements. The 4x the rate it can beam your position will be delightful for SPOT stalking.

The flexibility with power options is also nice.

If anyone has any on-the-ground route beta about snow depth and snow quality (postholing into slush puddles?), I'm sure many of us would love to hear.

The Breckenridge area has snow below 10,000 feet, depending on amount of sunlight hitting the area. Things like Boreas Pass (which is on route) is currently socked in with snow. There's tons of time for that to melt, but snow is still falling in the area, some ski areas are still open, etc. This is what it looks like ~10,000 feet, near the Divide,



If you're currently on route, NB, the chances you'll hit snow like this after Salida are fairly good.

Ten Mile Range from Frisco,



It may be just a given that you're going to have some sort of snow slogging en route, if you leave on the 2nd Friday, in race mode. Count on it, and prepare your feet for it. Maybe get some hiking in, so your body doesn't freak out and stop working right.  

Garmin could do a little better with their documentation on making the most of their products, that's for sure.

Whoa!  Somebody get off on the wrong side of the bike?? Doc asked if there IS a coupon code, not that he expects one and he also said he renewed his ACA membership.  As to the cue download - up until last year that's the way ACA delivered them - through email for free (with a pitch for a donation).

Again, apologies. It just rubbed me the wrong way - I thought to myself, "Why WOULD there be a discount for TD racers?" and if he's already a member (that part wasn't stated, initially), he's already getting a membership discount from the listed price. When I bought the cues in 2011, it *was* actually available in their shopping cart online. Again, apologies to DocTrike, I'll source better coffee before I think about unleashing my inner grump!

My apologies, I do come off a little out of line. I'm doing 100% fantastic and actually on route (erm, off and on)  here in Salida! My computer time is somewhat limited while on the bike, so I may have misread your posts and the rainy weather somewhat puts me in a foul mood, with wet socks. I follow the boards via the RSS feed, so I see posts from all the forums, and it's just strange to see SO many questions from you, DocTrike, SO close to the season. I hope you get things together this year, as of course I want you to succeed. If you look at past posts, I've been nothing but supportive with your ride and generous with my time, answering questions you've asked. Didn't mean to stir up drama, have fun out there, everyone,

You're asking for a discount on the maps that ACA sells - just for being a TDR racer (that makes no sense), and you're asking for a d/l to the cues - which they also sell. Pay, up, buddy! They're a great organization with some awesome people. If you want a deal, see about getting an ACA membership, as they do give a discount of what they sell, to members. There's a GPS track of the route, that ACA provides (for free!) - it's on their site, it's hard find, but look around.

Being on the route and thinking you're privileged just because you're doing this silly race is the wrong attitude to have. I hope no one's going in, thinking that. Hard working people are there to assist you at shops, etc. Treat them with respect! They'll most likely treat you exceedingly well, but please don't take it for granted (be pushy, be impatient) - that goes for everyone!

Off to ride (more!) bikes! </curmudgeon>

C'mon man, don't be such a cheapskate. The ACA needs us to support them, not the other way around. They're the ones putting the effort in mapping and maintaining the route. We're all just exploiting their hard work.