I'm in Russ' Montana High Country Lodge right now, where I arrived yesterday. Unfortunately, my left knee hurts. I've decided to take a rest day and drop of the race.

I'll continue heading south, at a more relaxed pace - enjoyed by the scenery and the people.


-- andre

Wow!, Good luck and bring plenty of batteries for that Garmin.  How many points is it capable of storing daily before you have to download it somewhere in town with a cable?

I'm in Butte, MT at the outdoorsman right now. Rob is a really nice guy! It's incredible hot the last few days, this really slows me down.

The Garmin 62s I'm using has virtually no limits in number of points stored. My one is equipped with an 16 GB card.


-- andre

[carry a SPOT GPS tracker or other brand of GPS logger/tracker]

Hi Sigma,

Are you not trying for an "official" time, or are you carrying another type of tracker?  From the TD website re: ITT-Divide:

An Individual Time Trial (ITT) is the earliest form of Divide racing....
 
Abide by TD Rules, carry a SPOT GPS tracker or other brand of GPS logger/tracker, and finish in no more than twice the standing course record (17days x 2) to be eligible for the same Divide racing General Classification that ranks group racers. Contact us for more info.

I'm carrying a Garmin, following the track (2011 v2) provided on topofusion.com. I'm recording my ride.

I'm in Sparwood right now, still fighting with jetlag.


-- sigma7

I've been arrived in Banff. I'll start my ITT tomorrow, probably at 7.00. I'll not carry a SPOT, sorry.


-- sigma7

Just placed my order for the book.

Me too. Both volumes. Together with Jill Homer's Be Brave, Be Strong.


-- sigma7

I just assembled a gpx file of the route we followed from Hachita to Tucson.

Thank You, Amy!

It's about 300 miles from Tucson to AW and there's a pretty nice route, about half dirt and half paved.

Do you have a description - or even better - a GPS track?


-- sigma7

A short question to the veterans: Is credit card accepted by the majority of the shops/lodges etc. at the GDMBR? Or is cash required? How many cash would you carry?

-- sigma7

Thank You, Scott!


-- sigma7

I'm using Tubus racks since more than 50.000 kilometers. They are light & durable. Check the Tubus Disco.

http://www.tubus.com/en/rear-carriers/disco


-- sigma7

I've never used those. They are probably not reliable enough for off road usage. I saw some broken racks used by Brevet riders (on road).

What's the size of the StS dry sack?


-- sigma7

60CSx or 62st. My 60CSx works fine since more then 4 years; I'll use it on the TD this year.

-- sigma7

GST, may be in 2012. I'll race the TD in 2011, ITT; after Trondheim-Oslo mid-June.


-- sigma7

I'll probably use the field proven Schwalbe Marathon Extreme (26x2.25); they didn't fail in Iceland last summer.

A question to the guys from US: I believe Stans is the brand which is most likely to be found in the bike shops, right? If so, I'll switch to Stans before TD to avoid issues when the fluids are mixed in the case a re-fill is required.


-- sigma7

Leipzig, not Berlin. I've grown up few kilometers from L.


-- sigma7

One woman did it last year on a pugsley.

I believe you are talking about Waltraud. She rode a custom bike from Rotor. The full report is here: http://www.mountainbike-expedition-team.de/GST/GST2010.html (available only in German, sorry).




-- sigma7

http://www.bikerumor.com/2011/03/03/black-sheeps-full-custom-continental-divide-racer-wins-nahbs-best-offroad-prize/

The lightest http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omafiets I've seen so far ...


-- sigma7

Hilleberg Akto tent (http://www.hilleberg.com/home/products/akto/akto.php), no issues since 2004; also in harsh conditions as experienced in Iceland

Rohloff IGH, no issues since more then 40.000 miles


-- sigma7

I love my handpresso (http://www.handpresso.com) while touring. I didn't carry it while fast touring or racing,


-- sigma7

http://www.mountainbike-expedition-team.de/stuff/food.html provides valuable information.


-- sigma7