Looks like Kristen Arnold is moving pretty quickly.  Do I see it right on Trackleaders that she is on target with Eszter's early pace from last year?

I don't think so. Last year Eszter was pushing through miles of snow. And she still was at the border way before Kristen.

I think that they should throw out the results this year. Not enough rain and snow to justify a true Tour Divide! I know some riders from last year and their pace is way ahead of where they were last year. I guess we need to drag out the snow machines!

Ha. Ah the hands of fate! Not only the hiking in the snow but the wet everything, the bike problems, the sore ankles... But at least it didn't rain down south like some years!

Jarral

Impressive looking at Eszter's pink dot from last year as she is still ahead of quite a few and she had hiked for 10mi? of snow and mud by this point.

Loved my Egde 800. As Craig notes, the rechargable batteries were risky but I had an 8000mah USB battery that could provide top ups for lights etc. The Minty boost meant I could run anything of AAs too, another backup which I used a couple of times. These were about 300g all up and for all the weight and hassle I'm going to be testing the new Exposure Revo setup, with an 800 lumen light and the ability to charge other devices, I reckon it'll be a winner.
On the Edge, another feature which I found awesome for motivation was the elevation profile, which thanks to the trackleader's course wizards gave you an accurate and scalable picture of the profile ahead. Nice to be able to look down and see you had x climbs left between you and your goal, much better than a dark road or trying to interpret contours from a map. As far as I'm aware no other GPSs have this feature.
I had issues with the buttons on my Edge getting full of crud, and they'd often get stuck down rendering it inoperable. Nothing a swish in a stream wouldn't fix, but a bit annyoing.
I loved having a proper 900 lumen light setup in my Exposure Diablo, it gave me the ability to ride the steep descents at pace. I'd find riding with woosy AA light setups like Craig's shit scary, especially when you are falling asleep!

900 lumens?? AA lights I had sucked. 900 freak'n lumens?? I road all the single track and that awful trail after Helena in the dark with crappy lights. I think that would huge to have good lights. My weakest part of the kit for sure. And the mounts came loose so I had to keep pointing them back up on the trail.

Etrex 20 was fine little GPS and it told where the tops and bottoms of the climbs were but no profile. Not as good as 800 but worked well. Some guys found a really good price at the outdoor store in Banff last year if you don't have one.

Eh?  I'm confused.

You're joking about the "buff it out" part... I hope.  Just keeping the CT open and somewhat maintained is plenty on the CTF's plate.  And its primitiveness, in places, is part of the attraction.  Buff = boring, after a while.

Rode section 18 and cleared downed trees etc and made sure markings were obvious and added new ones. My wife, kids, inlaws and many friends also hiked parts of it. We have been doing this with Martha Violet, retired music prof at Western State Colorado University. She and her husband, Ted, maintained this section for years and hiked the trail. After Ted died of cancer many of us who worked with him go out and help with the trail and have a great time and lunch after. If you can't give $ give in other ways.

And thanks for all the other people helping in anyway. So glad I had the chance to ride all of the trail at once and the many other shorter rides.

Apple was a great motivation for riding across that awful trail from Marshal pass if only to see a friendly face. So with the race going the other way it would be cool if he was at marshal pass! I think it is fine with him on route and hope he stays on route.

Check out this video of friend making a Ergon video! Don't stop and feed the bears!

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10201188898755357&set=vb.29970736242&type=2&theater

Only 2 women on the Trackleaders site? That is not very many for the field size.....

A friend stopped at my house doing the tour divide as a tour and recommends Gold Pan RV (cabin special) on the south side of Platoro.

http://goldpanrv.com

Jealous that I'm not heading to Banff!
Jarral

Is Billy Rice off route?

You're right - there were no bears in Canada last year, but I still wonder who was spreading all the bear scat and tracks around.

Very very large rabbits? There was a lot of scat! And large piles! But no bike shoes or Lycra in it.....

The trees were so close together up there the animals may have been very close and you just didn't see them also.

Bear spray is one of those things you probably will never need, but if you DO need it, you REALLY need it!

One thing of note after having to cross the border an extra couple of times.... They were really picky about small cans of rape type sprays--you couldn't have them. The larger cans of bear spray they didn't care about as they were too hard to hide. I don't know if there is a size they care about. But really there aren't any bears in Canada. Just keep your head down and you'll never see them and therefore they aren't there. It's the moose that you have to watch out for!

Starting to wish I could give it a go again this year! Hope you all have a great time and the weather is great. Can't wait to watch some dots and read some stories! What a hoot!

Yep they go home.... I hit Rawlins on Sunday... So that is what happened. You can call the post office and have them send it sooner. I think you may be able to call and have them forward it to another post office. So if you miss send it down south. maybe.....

Jarral

Jarral,

Please let me know! I did the manuscript and sent it to Eric who finalized and published. I'll check my copies.

Actually one example is you Chris. The last paragraph of your story is, "I saw a shed on a neighbors property.........was able to fix my bike to tackle Richmond Peak."

And then that's it! I'll never know where you had to stop! Another example is Ryan Correy. Seems like just a 2-3 instances. I'll look when I have some more time or have my speed reader wife look again.

Jarral

nobody use a specialized tyres? I'm interest to use the fast track... abitually I use on my SS the captain and i like so much this tyre... if i change the geax saguaro, i have about 400grams of weight gain...

I bought a specialized fast track tyre in Salida to replace my rear tyre. It was worn pretty well by the border but worked well. It was tubeless 29in.

Also Christopher with the Cordillera--I may have been imagining it because no one said anything but it seems like some of the stories are truncated. Like the last 10% is not there as some of the stories stop abruptly. I'll give an example when I get home to the book. Some of the first ones.

What about getting a small compass, like for a zipper pull and putting it on your bars or bag? That way you could do a quick direction check before you roll? Just a thought.

Just never stop !

Appears that numerous riders will use the Garmin Etrex 30 and use the Topfusion data.  What thoughts do riders have on using the IPad mini and Topfusion or other sites as a gps?  The listed weight of the iPad mini is 0.68 pounds,
Recharging would be one consideration as a con.

You will destroy the Ipad I would think.... I got really wet, muddy, dusty.... And it doesn't mount on handlebars? So you would have to stop all the time. The e20 or 30 works great.

I voted for 285 just because I like consistency in terms of measuring one's self from year to year, but, in the end, I really don't care.  I just hope to be lining it up in Durango in the latter part of July with all of you yahoos!

-Jerry

Who you calling a yahoo?

I like consistency also. Now I'll have to think more to find the route! And I don't like to (can't?) think much.

Saw this the other night. Some reason it reminded me of the TD! Have fun!!


http://video.pbs.org/video/1386970191

Coming down would be easy like others said....You're on a mt bike you could ride on the dirt next to the highway if you were really freaked out. But with Tarryall you get to ride over TWO Stoney passes! One above Silverton also. So my vote is....... Definitely.......for....285 maybe....

I don't know if someone can best Jefe's time but it would be a shame not to be able for someone to get the chance.

Hope I can do it again this year either way!
Jarral