I would hate the fun of giving up the sharing of food but again that's how I viewed it when I started (no sharing allowed) so it's not that big a deal.

i'll post my new rig as soon as it arrives. Got the fat front fork today!

All I can say is that eating out of gas stations and restaurants isn't cheap and don't budget bare bones. Getting a hotel room or a few meals (at once) and accompanying monster bill is well worth it if you want to finish. Having a fresh drivetrain installed or parts fixed immediately is worth the expense. I looked at it as a credit card tour with no limit. I suppose there was one in the back of my mind but I never questioned food costs or anything, just bought what my body needed to keep going. Those who are worried about money usually have a much harder time out there. I saved a ton, quit my job and have no sponsorship to speak of. I suppose I get little perks here and there but I rode no free gear on the tour divide. I started with a pretty fresh bike and parts in 2009 to minimize chances of breakage. Wheels and drivetrain are the biggest keys IMO.

Sponsorship is available to more people than you realize. It's more about promoting a brand and being visible than being fast or having crazy awesome results. Write to all the companies you want gear from with a well written and purposeful letter. Usually budget decisions for the following year's sponsorship happen around now.

It's not cheap but if you have time to save and do it right, you might as well plan for at least 30% of the nights in hotel rooms, a hot meal a day plus $20 or more at the gas station for food and batteries. The faster you are the cheaper it is in some ways.

Standover doesn't mean a lot to me but I hate hitting my knee on the stem. That hurts.

The emergency blankets are crap but the heatsheets stuff works great for $15 and 3.5 ounces plus they pack tiny. I've used one as a bivy and groundsheet for a while. Not really good with a down bag inside as you get wet but it works in a pinch when you don't expect rain or on their own for short sleeps and not crazy cold temps. I bet in the 40s you could easily do a short race with one. Jefe does long races with them but he's a manimal.

For a race longer than ~3 days I would bring a "real" bivy if I was going to bring a sleeping bag. For short races or times with no sleeping bags, the heatsheets get pressed into service and work for me. Mine has a couple packing tape patches but I bet it's been used at least a dozen times overnight. It's worth having in the pack for possible benightment too. A heck of a lot of warmths and wind protection for 3.5 ounces.

Not necessary at all. The CTR is well marked. A computer is a good idea in conjunction with the maps or pocket trail book. A GPS is just nice to have along and takes the worry out of sleep deprivation night riding.

SPOTs have not been mandatory in any race thus far.

Only sort of Ride time vs stop time is definitely not all there, plus I was riding with it turned off some of the time.

Yea the 500 pt/20 track thing sucks but at least with a data card on the Vista HCx it just writes it all out the the data card. I just set the current log on wrap and it all works fine. Took me a few mistakes to figure it all out but  now I've got it.

I saved the whole Tour Divide on one data card. Talk about some valuable data if I ever do it again!! I'll happily share the points but no one is getting my time logs, haha.

Yep.

MC appears to only have said no too the North Pole...

Heh. I just found a mention of MC's. To paraphrase "I have no interest in the pole. Too much open water and bears and ..."

That sounds like the North Pole to me.

The two failed reports I found seem to indicate that no one had yet gone the distance. Logistics are pretty simple from the getting there, getting home standpoint, just a very expensive call to ALE. Estimates I've seen would be $100k each for a pair to go unsupported round trip from home.

Obviously that's just a ballpark but you're talking about $100k in airfare alone for two and then you've got to have bikes, trailer or sled, gear and a ton of food. The Pole record is something like 39 days unsupported. A bike could seemingly be faster but not having been there and seen only limited pictures, I really can't say that at this point.

Just brainstorming I can't imagine the trip without a recon mission and sponsors. That type of money is pretty hard to wrap my head around by myself. That's like spending (for two) what my house cost. The recon could maybe be eliminated with extensive talks with some experienced polar skiers but sponsors would seem to be a necessity for those with a monster trust fund

I've got the time and desire. The experience and funding are still lacking. Talk to me again in mid March and we'll see where my passion lies

It sounds like a good idea. But for my $45k plane ride, I'd have to go the "accepted" way. I'm years away from such a challenge but if someone doesn't snipe this one, I consider it a worthy goal.

Sure the PLB is bomber and they all send a GPS location in my understanding but you get a last known position only if you can activate it. If you lose your pack or can't get to the PLB (rare but possible, we are talking emergencies) then it doesn't tell your rescuers anything. Changing your route isn't a good idea but there are plenty of reasons why it happens.

Really in my mind the only reason to get the SPOT is if you want the extra functionality of non emergency messages. I don't carry a cell so this is a big benefit for me. Otherwise the PLB is worldwide and does it's one job very well. Probably a lot cheaper in the long run too.

Yea, another benefit of the tracking feature is last known position. If you just don't come back, at least they know where to start looking. It really can narrow down the search area, even if it's just a body recovery (sorry morbid).

Yea I'm still out of commission. Cross your fingers for good news on Monday...

My SPOT is available for the weekend if you want. I may be out of the house on Friday but I can always leave it in my outside hiding spot if I'm not here.

Tracking doesn't send the emails, just pops up on the screen. As for the people at home, everyone can hash out that issue on their own. My parents and wife like the SPOT over the PLB and that's fine with me.

Hey Toby,

If you ever want to test the original version heads up next to yours, mount them side by side or something, you can borrow mine. It would be a cool test.

PLB is emergency only. They work great for that purpose. Big fine to improperly activate one. Stronger transmitter or better frequency than a SPOT in my understanding.

SPOT's benefit it the tracking/check in buttons as well as the ability to program messages like "I'm going to be late but I'm fine. Don't call me in missing."  You have to program the messages before the trip but it does work well enough for me. 911 feature is routed through their call center.

I haven't used the new SPOT yet but if it's better than version one I'll only be happier. Just my 0.02

It is downhill all the way back...sort of. The ice is over 9k feet at the pole even though the land is at sea level more or less!

Haha. Let's focus on step one, out. Out and back was just accomplished on skis unsupported and even then they dropped caches on the way out for the way back. And they nearly starved to death at the end...