I rock a North Face Diad, Golite Reed pants hacked to knickers, MLD mitts and my feet freeze. It works and it's light (~10 ounces TOTAL) and reasonably cheap if you get it all on sale. Not sure if it's the best ever but I'm not switching unless a piece dies.

A Golite Virga is another hooded waterproof jacket that's cheap and light.

Tyvek pants weigh 2oz and work great too but they're super fragile. Best for short storms, not epic trips. They're super cheap too.

EDIT: If the TD was as wet as this past year again, a wool base layer instead of capilliene would be a welcome addition for those cutting every ounce. Smartwool is the value per quality option there IMO, I have 3 smartwool tops and tons of socks. Other than wearing out the socks faster than I would like, the stuff is ideal for me.

I didn't even let Kurt in on the KTR his first year (which I felt bad about...) because we didn't know him.

If you hang around and ride with enough people then you'll find out when it is. Otherwise a solo ITT is quite enjoyable anyway.

The BLM has been pretty much dicks about the KTR. If you could somehow bring it back legit and for free, you'd have a huge turnout IMO. I bet 50+ year one, 100+ year two.

The VB system is tough. Some people love it, others hate it. For one or two nights it's probably not necessary unless you're using it to really push your bags temp rating. To go to the Pole, it's probably essential. You won't dry anything you're wearing in the VB liner itself so all wet stuff should probably come off. I think the key is to play with it before too. You can get VB clothing instead of a liner which might be more comfortable and you should only have a light base layer on under the VB area.

Setup a RSS feed craigslist search (email if you need help, it's easy I promise), esp in the Denver area. -20 bags come up relatively frequently there. Also summitpost.org and mountainproject.com also sometimes have -20 bags though not as often. You can post a want to buy add there which can drum up some options.

I bought my -25 Western Mountaineering bag when i was still an engineer. It was big money for something I didn't need then but I knew that down the road it would be so hard to justify and if I take care of it then it will last me for years and years.

She likes PB cups Toby. Those will get you far with her

And yes, my rule of "take no trail magic from people I know" is my own construction, designed to eliminate all appearances, no matter how silly, that I planned to run into some random person I knew in the middle of Montana and took the race changing Twix. (a joke)

Further discussion of the trail magic and the related SPOT stalking rules is warranted however Matt should really be in on it too. I'd hate to see it go away though. For something as long as the Divide or Colorado Trail, it really is MAGIC and a little pick me up. Like the time I got my room and food comp'd just for rolling in somewhere exhausted, scared of bears and looking for a little civilization. It was just amazing. Totally unasked for or hinted at, just granted out of kindness and someone's appreciation of what I was doing.

Scott, do you think you can apply your new riding somewhat to your thru rides and be faster?

I think under 40 sounds reasonable but it's all BSing until someone gives it a shot. Hopefully next year.

And Chad, at some point you just have to pony up and try the big gear, knowing it may end in flames. Of course that's harder to do on a big race but I'm super curious how much faster someone is on the flatter stuff with an 18t vs a 20t in a racing context with tired legs. Fresh doesn't count.

This bench racing is so fun because there are so many strategies to be tried out and experimented with

Interesting SS thoughts Chad. Did the unrideable stuff seem unrideable 20 or not?

It's funny, a bigger gear sounds all well and good until you go too big, then it goes horribly wrong really fast. I pushed 32x20 at the AZT300 and I was worried it would be too big but I don't think it was.  I wanted to run a 16t for Tour Divide but I was scarrred. I would have had to bring a lot more mozzi repellent!

The 18t is a lot bigger than the 20t though. If you were thru racing, not stage riding, would you run the 19t still?

Hey Chad,

Even though it's kind of a lame thread, i'm not really in favor of deleting it. I bet Scott can lock it if no further discussion is warranted which is probably the case.

I think Jill will agree with me. A Pugs is an immensely fun bike. If you can afford to have one in the stable and have a purpose for it, I doubt you'll regret it.

Wow super cool. How fast do you think the course could go in a single push Scott?

So far the biggies are looking like:

Arrowhead 135
Iditarod to McGrath (somehow...)
Grand Loop
Colorado Trail

So far anything beyond that and even the Colorado Trail becomes highly suspect if Marni and I actually finally get lucky enough to get and stay pregnant. To say there are other ideas floating around would also be true but after the Divide this year I'd like to be in Colorado in late May/June to enjoy a classic couloir season. A few more classic 100's (Breck) may also be on the to do list.

Like Chad and Scott's races! They're haaaaaard!

Sounds good Toby. If you want to reup the discussion, by all means later you should. It's hard to express feelings over the webz. Certainly I am passionate about the issue but I don't take your position personally.

The rules topic is such a bummer anyway because it 95% of the cases or more, you just have to look inside yourself to know the right answer. I pretend I was riding by myself and what would I do then? Is it incidental contact (i'll give ya a piece of my twix for your cheezy stick) or cheating (did I not bring a twix on purpose to save weight and now want to mooch yours cause I saw you carry that huge pack out of town?) 

Once I'm off the percaset then we can have the beer

I think if you study the Tour Divide rules and GDR rules, you'll find that things that seem like violations perhaps are not. Self supported certainly has different rules in different sports. If this were polar travel, they'd laugh at our "solo, self support" I think. But for ultra cycling we've been playing by the same rule book pretty much since day 1. It's become more "spelled out" over the past few years due to all the new people involved. Some things, SPOT tracking and stalking have led to some new issues. There may be further clarification in the future as it's growing.

I think you are feeling that people aren't "playing by the rules" when perhaps you just haven't read up on the rules and history and how exactly they apply in those instances.

A group of people that will eliminate a awesome record of their own accord due to a small unintentional error (ex. Owen Murphy Colorado Trail ITT 2008) do take cheating and rule following seriously. To state repeatedly that you see something different is inflammatory no?

You said:
"But I noticed that many riders don't follow them terribly closely--as detailed in their blogs/stories"

Regardless of the use of the word many, this statement is pretty counter to the ultra MTB racing scene as a whole so it's got to be backed up or made due to misunderstanding.

And if you want to chat about it in depth, come on down to Westy. I'm laid up in bed with a broken ankle but we can have some pizza and beers (if I lay off the drugs) and I'll share anything with you that I know, from rules differences between the races to gear to whatever. It's not that we take the questioning personally but what you are stating is claiming that some people have violated the rules, unintentionally or not, and they don't care. That is a big claim and a big deal. Otherwise Matt wouldn't bother to relegate anyone in the Tour Divide and take the flack that comes with it.

You got it Jill!

haha I totally agree. And since you guys had NO IDEA it was going to be there, then that's trail magic. Awesome, wonderful and amazing.

Finding out about the rules is good. Walking in and claiming a large percentage of people cheat is not good. Read here: http://tourdivide.org/the_rules

Post specific examples. Change the race, the participants name, whatever. I disagree that cheating, even in a minor ways is common place. Self DQ for minor infractions is far more common in my readings.

I agree that trail magic can be a grey area. Accepting NO trail magic certainly would be easiest way to handle it. However if all race participants and perhaps extend that to SPOT followers really understand the rules it doesn't seem to be a big deal. It's hard not to feel like a dick turning down an apple from someone in the middle of nowhere when you're obviously hungry although I have done it. You just explain the rules or ethics of what you're doing and it's all good.

You used the word many. I disagree and would expect specific examples to back up such a claim. I don't feel like many riders stretch the rules.

trail magic - totally unexpected and unplanned support on the trail. IE. a random person giving you a coke or an orange. Finding a gel on the side of the road. Also the trail angel tent on the southern part of the Colorado Trail this year.

I am unwilling to accept trail magic from any person I know though if it's totally unplanned I don't know that it's against the rules.

Self supported racing is primarily self policed and you need a firm understanding of the rules so that you know you don't break them.

I think if you read the rules carefully and apply them to specific instances, blog or whatever, you'll find that they are either against the rules or not. There is rarely a gray area. Shipping supplies to hotels vs a post office depends on the race and trail magic isn't against the rules.

I think that saying riders don't follow the rules very closely isn't accurate at all. In fact I'd say most riders pay very close attention to the rules. In the Divide, most competitors that broke the rules, DQ'd themselves. They may have finished the course which is fine but are relegated finishers vs an official finish.

Toby,

The rules are the rules. The Tour Divide/GDR ruleset makes this pretty clear. Almost every other race uses the same rules with small tweaks depending on the race/organizer.

The idea is that there is a level playing field so that publicly accessible services are used by all.

If there is a hard surface underneath, road, trail etc, I can ride a Pugs over 6" of fresh. Maybe more, maybe less, depends on some things. Does that help?

But it won't ride over bottomless fluff in mid winter.