Do you single speed guys get through the whole route with one chain and one set of cogs?

For me: Yes. SRAM PC-1 chain, Surly Stainless Steel ring/cog. The Surly-brand chain tensioner: never again.

I'm thinking about TD13 nobo on my Pugsley s/s geared 32-18. Havent committed yet. Need to see how strong i am in may.

Is 32-18 too spinny for the flats? I hate the hike a bike and want to be able to cruise up the railroad grades and steeper climbs. the pugs is a heavy bitch. Am I crazy?

Nick, there was a challenger last year that had a fatty setup up front  - custom frame and everything. It looked really interesting to me and I think it worked well in the Flathead, but I lost track of him, after Butts. I do think he pulled out, not long after. He was familiar with a good portion of the course.

I'd be interested in hearing what you think of the fat bike tire's durability for such a long ride. If you make it to Idaho, I think your rig would be everyone's envy on the rail-trail. You may even have some fun!

I say, leave in March from the Southern Terminus on that Fatbike. See if you can't make the first winter/spring finish!

  Making a chart of the pros and cons I feel is the wrong approach.

Indeed. I spent about 3 seconds on the gear ratio. The conversation with my bike wrench went like this:

"32 x 19 sound good?"

"Yup."

Boom. Done. Time to ride bikes

Commit, and you'll find +'s and -'s to whatever and you'll adapt. If there is (ha!) a next time, maybe I'd gear a little higher, nothing *crazy*, but I'd do so, knowing I could push it.

Stop thinking so much!

I had similar questions about the issues with my contacts, so I got my prescription filled a little earlier than usual, and explained what the situation was going to be. Basically, like you, I didn't want to continually put my dirty fingers in my eye, in attempt to clean the contacts. My eye doctor gave me the go-ahead to keep my contacts in, a week at a time, at the most, which basically relieved me of most of my problems.

What I'd do, instead was take out my contacts whenever it was convenient to do so, and I knew I could wash my hands, before putting them in my eyes. This basically means, when stopping for meal. Take them out, put my glasses on, have the meal, put the contacts back on. I doubt I ever took my contacts out at night. It does lead to the bad habit of now, *always* leaving my contacts in (which I don't recommend), but for the race: it worked. I packed a few other pairs of contacts and had some antibiotics, just in case (and of course, glasses).

Whatever you decide, I'd just test out the system, before something like the TD. My eyesight is so bad, switching from/to glasses/contacts is a little unrealistic.

Histor

What time is the planned rollout for the Grand Depart in Banff? I've heard as late as 9am. Seems late. Who makes that call? Earlier always seems better to me. Anyone else?

Historically, it's been 8 am sharp, for the Grand Départ start.

Did you ever have any leg/bottle rub at all?

Naw.

And yeah - there's two different versions Profile Designs makes - one fits underneath your saddle; one attaches to your seat post.

Although I had no trouble in either of my TDs, I have snapped one of the little arms that comes off the "rack", where you then affix the cages too, in the past. There's a weakness in the design: the collar of the bottle rack has the bolt go through one of those arms, and it's just an easy place for it to crack under stress. 

Not much of a problem in a triathlon, or a road TT, but the part just isn't designed for flying down singletrack Still a useful piece of kit, as I go through ~ 1 bottle/hour on summer road rides.

It's a Profile Designs Aqua Rack:

http://www.rei.com/product/721789/profile-aqua-rack

It's certainly a convenient place to put some bottles, but it won't work for every setup. If you check out my rig, the frame has a fairly small front triangle, and a ton of seatpost sticking out, over two of my hands - which makes my roadie skin cringe. But, it gives enough room on the post to attach the aqua rack below the saddle bag, and still (barely) clear the back tire. This won't work for everyone.

I don't remember too many problems with ejection.. but notice I switched out the plastic holders that come with the aqua rack with some normal cages, that can be bent to get a better grip on things. Most of my ejections happened in NM, near the Gila, on those really fast, bumpy descents. Usually, it's the same place I'd blow out both tires at the same time. Happened every time.

Bottles are useful, though. I could easily keep track of which bottles I'm currently using to treat water and mix up some Gatorade-ish/EmergenC, without sullying my bladder. The front bottles weren't used until probably Colorado and by NM, I was using 4 bottles and a 60 ounce bladder (I have a thirsty body). Never ran out of water, except the last day.  The bottom pod on the downtube is a pod for tools.

Including fully rigid?  That is what I have right now (Salsa Fargo 3X9 and On-One Inbred SS), and I am not fully sure that a fork is in the cards financially-it's amazing what this "free" race costs.

It's been done fully rigid and single - if that's what you'd like to do, you can do it. My hands sort of hurt thinking about it, so I'd suggest getting some nice plush tires. I've done (precious few) parts on a single speed CrossCheck with CX tires - basically from Waterton to Bailey (and 285, uuuuughh), loaded with bags, etc. It's certainly not impossible. I'm sure I walked more sections than if I had a more manageable bike, but whatever. Welcome to single speed!

Since the CTR ends at Waterton Canyon Trailhead this year has anyone noticed that the canyon is closed from 1/2 hour after sunset to 1/2 hour before sunrise? The gates don't close but brings an interesting twist into the race.

I've been stopped by a Person of Authority in a truck about that, about a hour after sunset. We played dumb as we honestly didn't know.  We were going into Waterton, instead of out of and we told them our destination was the CT, not an out-n-back (which it was).

For real though, what-a-ya-gonna-do?  There's obviously no "closing time" on the CT - and no can honestly "stop" you from leaving it and go into Waterton. There's also no sign at the actual CT singletrack trailhead that says Waterton Canyon closes 1/2 hour after sundown. I... don't think. The only sign (which is easily missed) is near the parking lot.

Glad to hear Greg's been busy He'll still be the first I'd contact concerning a new frame bag. It helps that I can pedal to his house!

Bolder Bikepacking now has a site, with some nice shots of his gear:

http://bolderbikepacking.wordpress.com/

Greg does an incredible job with both turn-around and communication. More than thrilled to use his gear for 2 Tour Divides.

I have a handlebar harness/bag from Cleaveland Mountaineering which I'm pretty happy with. A fairly useful piece of kit!

Anyone else going  for the big three this year?

Ha. No.




But I may have something up my sleeves...

Got a pair of running shoes from the thrift store and a membership at the city gym. Both should last me till Spring. Probably join some snow hikes, and get to Boulder to run/hike/scramble Green/Bear/South Boulder.  I'll get to the climbing gym, if I can get my rock shoes resoled and I can get back to, at the very least, 5 pullups.

Far too much cycling leaves my upper body in ruins and my lower body woefully out of balance. Winter's a good time to correct that - if I don't, I'll just become injured come spring (ITBFS). When it clears up (a little icy yesterday, day before), I'll cycle as much as I can, commute as much as possible. Bikes need fixin' up. Need to cobble together some crud weather bike.

So, new goals before May become Boulder Skyline Traverse, a few winter 14ers, including Pikes/Evans winter speed run (?!?!) (on bikes!), 5.9 cleanly at the rock gym and 10 pullups in a row. And lose 10 lbs. Maybe.

I'm a little broke when it comes to equip., so there's no Snowbike in my future and I gotta trip planned this summer that'll sap my funds clean. Muaha.

No problemo - I've seen this duo speak before about their trips on the CTR with their single speed bikes.

Well, you know, there is:

http://singlespeeding-on-thecoloradotrail.com/

They mention 32x22 as well.

It's gonna be similar to saddle choice (or contact points, in general): usually it's what you're used to, and have good personal luck with. I've used Crank Bros. for forever, and used it for the TD. First year, a new pair of Candy 3's broke before Grants NM, second year a rebuilt pair I borrowed made it all the way. Not many places en-route to pick up pedals after Salida. The Walmart in Grants, NM will have pedals to get you to Silver City. Which, is what I did the first year, but I couldn't even get the broken pedal off - the tool actually broke in half, trying to loosen it.

Not a bad idea to send along an extra pair of pedals in the post somewhere half way, in case the pedals start to feel... broken...y. I did, in Salida, given my experiences the year before. If you send back some warmer-weather clothes at the same time, you should have plenty of room to stash them somewhere. Don't need them? Send them back with the clothes.

I need a new chain tensioner, anyways - as the Surly one I have is absolute garbage. This one was recommended to me, and looks fun. As I wrote, if one is found at a steal, I'll do just that It's fun to play with these types of things, especially when I don't want to invest in an entire new groupo.

Yeah, dingle is how I mostly roll, as the hills/trails are 10 miles away from me. I also have an assortment of front chain rings, all 4 teeth apart, and a few chains, depending on the ride I want to do.

If I find one of these for a good price, I may get a triple up front, and a second in back, and make my single speed MTB into a 3 speed. single speed MTB's are not fun to ride 10 miles on pavement to the trail.

When I brought my micro four thirds, I had some problems with fogging happening, inside the lens. Pictures came out beautiful, when the camera was functioning. I kept everything in a Sea to Summit bag. It was a lot more bulky that I would have had wished. All the video I took looked killer.

You may have similar problems, with anything that's not a completely sealed system. The GoPro would fit that bill, as would any P+S "water resistant" camera, the latter which I don't really suggest - no experience with the GoPro, but double-check that you like the focal length of the lens, it may not be what you always want.

Attached is an example of a totally awesome photo, ruined by condensation, within the lens of my micro four thirds.

you are in the 'what makes a hero' article...? Wink

Ha. No - it's a very strange article:

http://www.5280.com/magazine/2012/12/jeanne-assam-still-waiting