Would Lael have been significantly faster if she had been healthy at the start? I'm excited to read her race report. Anyone have an estimate of when she might finish?

   How much do you think the excellent weather and conditions played into all the fast times this year, or are there just more fast riders? The records are being crushed. Any short reports from the finishers yet?

I proposed this a couple of years ago. My idea was to see if a couple of people wanted to try racing TD with the self imposed rule of having to make a 6 or 8 hour stop in every 24 hour period, say from noon to noon each day. I wanted to see if just a couple of people might like to try it. I got ripped a new one by Toby Gadd, who freaked out at the idea. He basically said that the only people who would want this are those not tough enough to do the real race. He and about two other guys were amazingly insulting about it. I have no idea why or how it challenged their manhood, but they sure got upset. It was a shock to me that a couple of people, mostly Toby, could be this rude over this idea.

Yes, it would change the character of the race. It would be safer and I believe allow people to ride faster when on the bike and perhaps make the race more tactical. You'd lose the sleep deprivation part, which can be compelling to watch. I believe it would make the race a lot more fun to do, but then I proposed the idea because I'm not a fan of the sleep deprivation part of ultra racing. I didn't see the harm in a small number of people trying it out.

>>JP looks to be on his way to selling a lot of them for Salsa.  There's no option to run a Rolhoff (me) or single speed on it but unless you want that it looks like a pretty thought out rig.<<

The White Industries ENO SS hub would be a great singlespeed option on the Cutthroat. I've run most of the SS systems and it works as well as any dedicated system on the steel frames I've used. I wonder if the dropouts on this would cause problems with the ENO?

This is the first carbon frame I'm tempted to buy. Really nice.

bruce b.

Now THAT'S funny!

Thanks JosiahM. When I posted the first time my thought was that somewhere between zero and three people might express interest. At most five people. That would then be the time to work out how to do it. Something as simple as a couple of people agreeing to do it this way and maybe do a NOBO run to not step on any sensitive toes.

As far as the touring joke, do you really think if you had several people racing the TD route as hard as they possibly can for somewhere between 15 to 16 hours per day that that would in any way feel like touring? I think it would be interesting to see how it impacts how you'd race it. Your average rolling speed would certainly be higher. Your race strategy would change too. You'd likely see more hard attacks on the climbs to get away, knowing you can recover that night. It also may attract a slightly different crowd of serious racers that might not like the sleep deprivation aspect.

I made it clear in the first post that I was only asking if this interests anyone else. The time to work out exactly how to do it would be when/if several people express interest.

While not entirely unexpected I find it odd and more than a little unfriendly that people would post on this thread to attack and belittle the idea. How about next time just not post if something doesn't interest you and you have nothing positive to say?

OK, so that's three people in as long as we make it ten hours. I'm a little surprised you like it Toby.

Yeah mbeardsel, the thread title is probably what set some people off, but it seemed the simplest way to say it at the time. I've thought about the point to point stage race idea too. Logistically that seemed harder to me. Both ways have their merits.

Toby, that is exactly the idea, to see if anyone else would want to get together and do it. I thought that was clear. As far as a name I didn't even think about that because it wouldn't be anything more than a couple of people who agree to do the TD and follow this rule. Until a couple of people say they're interested there is no reason to pursue it further.

Every year people argue about the TD rules and others always respond, "start your own race." That is what this is, just asking if there is any interest in a few people agreeing among themselves to try it this way. Nothing more. IF say, three or more people are interested then that would be the time to work out any details. Start date, SOBO or NOBO, the exact format, etc. Maybe even a name, but I wasn't thinking to formalize it like that, more just a gentleman's agreement.

It was just an idea on a long ride with my riding partner where we were talking about TD and both of us agreed that we love to do long rides but the idea of racing TD on no to limited sleep every night is probably our least favorite aspect of the race as far as racing it. We both thought it would be more fun to (for us) do it this way and make it less about sleep deprivation and perhaps more about riding faster when on the bike. In the same way that you pack your worries for a race like this perhaps we're just trying to eliminate what we consider our biggest weakness if we race it. Not sure about that, I just thought I'd find this way more fun.

If this happened my thought was to go NOBO to separate it further from TD, but to start on the same grand depart date. Maybe it would be better to start on a different date? I'd rather not spend any more time on this unless at least one or two more people show an interest.

slhappy, explain to me how this can IN ANY WAY possibly be construed as *regulating* your ride? Seriously, I don't get it. Are you threatened somehow by the idea of maybe a couple of people agreeing to race it this way. Why would you possibly care?

I asked if anyone was interested. Not who isn't interested.

No one would be getting 8 hours sleep this way as obviously, to me at least, you'd try to cram, as much as possible, all your housekeeping stuff, food procuring, bike maintenance, etc. into those hours.

  I'm just putting this out there to see if anyone feels the same way. One of the aspects of TD I am not personally in love with is the sleep deprivation aspect. I've often thought that an interesting variation would be to have a mandatory 8 hour rest stop at some point every night. Each racer gets to pick when to stop, but at some point every night, or maybe just every 24 hour period, you need to not move forward on the course for 8 hours. A spot ping at the start and end of the period to verify it.

  This obviously wouldn't be a rule added to the TD Grand Depart, but just a small subset of racers that agree to race under this added rule. It would be very interesting to see how this would impact the race. How much longer it would take and if racer's average speeds are higher and with less or basically no stops during the other 16 hours of each day.

  Does this interest anyone else?

The Moe brothers story in Cordillera #2 was incredible. I had read about the Moe brothers before, but after reading that story I spent a couple of hours reading about them again. Amazing and tragic story about two brothers that were larger than life.

Maybe it's time for a group of people dedicated to following the rules and spirit of the race all agree to do a NOBO start next year as a way of reducing the craziness? There are now so many people doing the Banff grand depart that this was inevitable. 119 this year? It's also maybe time to move this to it's own thread?

I'm sorry to read that Tom DeVries has pulled the plug. I was following him closely and he was riding great. I too would love to hear your thoughts Tom, on what you would and would not do differently. What mechanicals did you suffer and what gearing were you running and how was it not ideal?

The single speed race has been great. Tom DeVries, age 54, has been in the lead with the next two guys close behind and Alice Drobna not too far behind them. Then Jason Snell on a fixie another 120 miles or so back. The last rider, Josh Taylor hasn't had his spot update in 12 hours. Who knows where he is.

   I like calling it "riding style" much more than "purism." All my bikes are rigid, single speeds and style better fits why I prefer SS than purism.
I wouldn't even consider bringing more than necessary on a ride. I don't find it fun to ride a heavily loaded bike, which is why I got into bike packing.

Before you buy a bike you need to decide if you want to do it with drop bars or some variation of straight bars. There are pros and cons for each, obviously. I prefer something like the Jones Loop bars, so, sticking with the Salsa theme I'd get the El Mariachi instead of the Fargo. There are a ton of 29ers out there to choose from...... Salsa is a good choice along with many others.

http://salsacycles.com/bikes/2014_el_mariachi_ti_xtr

Purely personal and completely based on what bars you prefer. I'd prefer the Mariachi because I'd run some variant of straight bars, probably either Black Sheep Mountain Moustache or Jones Loop Bars for long rides.

I love 5/10 stealth rubber but I can't stand the Impacts. Too heavy, bulky and stiff. I have a pair somewhere I never wear anymore. I wear lighter skate shoes. My son has a couple pair of 5/10 shoes, Dirtbags (model name) is one of them and they are very nice when new. They wear out really fast though. He goes through several pair a year riding. I'm riding in some Adidas shoes with flat bottoms that are nice and wear well, but they aren't as grippy as stealth rubber.

Just checked the trackleaders map and it looks like a fast two way race between James Hodges and Kent Davidson, with James having a small lead. I see 5 others still racing, including ITT racers.

Anyone come up with a good way to follow the older guys? I guess I can just highlight each name and compare but that's a pain. It's so nice to follow the singlespeeders as they have their own category.