"Tight at the front of the pink dot race, with Bethany D very consistent with her daily 4am/5am wake-up-and-ride approach, having caught Lael W today after Lael looks to have rested for 8+ hours last night.  Alice D on the single speed, as tough and solid as she is, will find some spinning out in the long flat-ish Big Sky country and Great Basin roads for the next several days.  Eleanor M and Jill H just another 2-4hrs back.  Yes, tight."   
i nabbed the quote above, because the women are indeed putting on quite a show out there!  also it should be noted that both Alice and Eleanor are rolling single, and leading that catagory too!!

Also, word on the street is that AliceD has been riding a broken saddle (busted rail of some sort) since Wise River.

Why are the 25 day flag and the 30 day flag only 25 miles apart?

Because the flags are actually riders from previous years that finished in that time. They will vary but it gives an average "where one should be" to finish in that time.

And clicking on the 25-day flag while it's in Basin reveals that it has been stalled there for 19hrs+change (based on the 2012 rider actual data that it represents), so the 25-day flag will make a big jump sometime soon.

I am a bit worried though because Josh K. and Dylan T. did not seem to get much sleep last night.  I hope they don't burn themselves out.

Looks like they made a solid move last night.  They're racing!  As a native Washingtonian who stills spends a lot of time in the Lake Wenatchee area, I'm rooting for JoshK.

Wow...Tom DeVries (AKA Dad =) )  and slept in Butte last night.  I was under the impression that "slowing down" actually meant slowing down... (Mom and I were thinking he was going to stay at Polaris Lodge as he had told us...)  But no...he should be rolling into Lima within the hour, catching back up to Mitch, who left Helena 17 hours before Dad did!  333kms today, and Fleecer Ridge (which he was also super concerned about).  Unreal. I think he made up 20 spots on the board today.  What a guy...

Nice riding by Tom today, for sure. Very impressive.  RobertO and SarahJ also look to have made the jump from Butte-to-Lima in one day today as well.

First 'snow report' that we're gonna get is from the lead group as they go over the pass between Brush Mtn Lodge and Clark, CO, which is still a couple days away.  
If you look at Billy Rice's Facebook page, he posted a video of his NoBo ride from Pinedale north over the new route...lots of snow there as of two weeks ago. Looks like Jay is already over that stretch, hopefully one of those early riders will call in a report!

Right, thanks for the clarification.  I watched that vid a few weeks ago, but got my lines crossed on where it was geographically.  So, both JayP and NeilB are now through this 'new pass route' bypassing Union Pass that had snow weeks ago, and I don't see either of their dots showing a walking-through-snow pace.

Edit: another indicator of snow levels/issues would be lead NoBo rider KevinJ, who has made it through Northern NM and Southern CO (Platoro to up over Indiana Pass, plus Marshall Pass) without apparent issue.

And yes, good to see JoshK is still riding strong and I believe is now past his point-of-DNF from last year.  Nice!  Way to go, Josh!

Bummer.  Some people made poor life choices that are now deeply linked and associated with the event/name/ride/route.

Still a worthwhile route to experience, I believe.  For some reason, I never thought a Grand Depart-style event was suited for this route.  Not sure why.  Hindsight 20/20, I know.  If I ever bikepack through Silver Lake, hope I don't get treated with guilt-by-association and distrust, but wouldn't blame the locals if they acted as such.

Also, Robert O's dot came alive again today, after being dormant in Butte all day yesterday.  Whether the day off was mechanically-inspired or R&R-driven, the 60-yrs-young guy is on fire having started pedaling at 3:30am and is now well past Wise River.

And, I'm seeing the triumvirate of John F, Martin V, and Michele M making some good miles and gaining ground the past day and a half.  Perhaps a mini Euro-train in the MV Czech dot plus the MM Italian dot.

I don't think anyone's looking at possible detours, and I don't expect many riders to detour if any at all.  CDT and GDMBR are different beasts, regardless of snow/weather conditions.  Leaders aren't gonna hit Pinedale 'til late afternoon/early evening.  First 'snow report' that we're gonna get is from the lead group as they go over the pass between Brush Mtn Lodge and Clark, CO, which is still a couple days away.  My guess is that CO will be passable, with walking through a few lingering snow patches here and there, and some sloppy recently-melted out roads and 2-tracks.

Tight at the front of the pink dot race, with Bethany D very consistent with her daily 4am/5am wake-up-and-ride approach, having caught Lael W today after Lael looks to have rested for 8+ hours last night.  Alice D on the single speed, as tough and solid as she is, will find some spinning out in the long flat-ish Big Sky country and Great Basin roads for the next several days.  Eleanor M and Jill H just another 2-4hrs back.  Yes, tight.

Fortitude props to Josh J for overcoming everything that he mentions in his call (I'm sure he left some things out, too).  And he also indicates the Jeff H is riding a Rohloff, for those of you in the IGH vein of the discussion.

Rob D's call-in from Butte is good ... DNF Reaper sightings!

Noticing a few of the riders seem to be making a wrong-turn at the base of Stemple Pass and headed up and over. My buddy Troy Hopwood looks to have lost time there today and Jean Michel Monot looks to have been wandering in the area before finally kicking out to the highway.

For those who have ridden it, is that a particularly tricky portion of the course?

Things have a way of looking, feeling, or seeming tricky to tired minds and eyes at this stage.  In addition, yes, the turn to S Fk Poorman Ck is notorious for the above average incidences of 'oops, missed a turn'.  Glad Mr. Dirtworld fingered it out sooner rather than later (i.e. he didn't climb all the way to Stemple Pass).  The man from Tahiti, on the other hand, looks to be taking the highway to Helena.  Hope he's okay.

Hey, Dustin from Southern Wheelworks here!  I just swapped messages with his girlfriend and she said they talked a good bit last night and he didn't mention it...so I'm hoping it's just a trick of the camera or something.  I PM'd the photographer to see if he knew anything about it or had a higher resolution version of the photo he could send me.

It's been fun watching the race this year, those guys are FLYING!

I'm leaning towards camera tricks, as Seb D and Dylan T pics have sim 'phantom spoke' effect in their respective rear wheels.  Not quite as 'phantom' as in the Neil B pic, but there.  Fascinating.

Hey, is there a leader list of riders over 60...top ten as of right now? Can anyone tell me how I can find it on trackleaders? Thanks! 

Don't think there's a list on TL, you have to do the leg word to click on each rider name or dot get their age.  As far as I can tell the 60+ pack is lead by Robert Orr, followed by Mitchell Potter.  Didn't go any further back than riders currently thru Lincoln.

Edit: although Robert O dot has not moved from Butte in 13+ hours.  Not sure what's going there.

Marshal Bird!  Crossed Fleecer this morning, and holding down 9th spot into Day 6, but just like years ago another Czech right on your heels, Marshal.  Speaking of Fleecer, here's what I think of the 59yr old MB's effort so far (pic) ...

Looks like Dylan T caught up to Josh K again, and they are cruising in 5th out of Lima (bean).  Top 4 are each reporting 10miles stagger (45mins to 1hr apart) - fascinating.

Also, I see that despite not having a bivy (per earlier post), Lael found a place to rest for 2.5 to 3 hrs last night in Basin, MT.  Looks like only brief stops in Butte this morning ... her pink dot looks to be moving with purpose.

The sleep monster roars on night #5 ... so many riders to sleep 'early' tonight ... 'cept for a few mutants out there still pushin' the pedals.  Booyah.

Interesting turn of events in Helena for the pink dots: Lael W at the hospital as prev mentioned, Alice D at the bike shop for 45min+ now, and Bethany D appears to have stop to eat ... looking to see what happens next.

Not sure why it appears Neil B to have slowed down and others not so much ... some 5-20min catnaps here and there is my guess (?)

Good luck, Lael.  Similarly, I had illness issues that persisted for first seven days, took some short days and hotel rest, and then ... could be just me, but there's something magical about getting South of Wise River and Polaris ... Medicine Lodge they call it ... just sayin'. 

As the sun is setting on the east coast, a question for vets: which sections of the route would you LEAST like to hit at night, for whatever reason(s)? The descent into Radium? Lava Mtn? Richmond Peak (if snowy)?
I did a lot of night riding in '13 and the midnight descent down the Watershed Divide (I think?) just after the Brush Mtn Lodge sticks out as being fun but sketchy. Also flying down Galton Pass, and conversely the flooded and super rocky downhill HAB into Mogollon on the second fire reroute come to mind, also all in the dark..

You mention the main ones for steepness, rockiness, speed in the dark, snow, etc... and the Fleecer final climb+look for connector+descent is in that mix, too, I think.  But, for other reasons, I second the Cuba-to-Grants section.  Also, the last 60-mile lonely highway to the finish.

IIRC, The JayP ghost will stay in Lincoln for a while. I believe he dropped his SPOT, so I'd expect it to bounce ahead by a good margin at some point.

Yeah, some past mention of that, and that the ghost 'comes back alive' in Lima or thereabouts, with speculation that next best comparative split be Island Park.

Looks like Seb has opted for a dinner stop at the local bar in Basin ... not a bad choice for some local Montana hospitality.  Plus, a few riders doing the same up in Seeley Lake.

how about green square with triangle inside? (not the tent symbol!)
and what about yellow square?

green square with black triangle - restart after a brief stop (the asset has moved)
yellow square with black double-vertical pause symbol - a brief stop

I'm also seeing that the Gen3 Spots will show a red square with white power icon - presumably when the unit has been powered off?  Gen3 units record every 5mins and show as blue diamonds.  Older Gen2 units record every 10mins and show as small white diamonds.

Scott, please chime in with a more detailed explanation of what determines when a pause or restart symbol is generated.  I'm guessing that it's when spot doesn't move (relatively, perhaps moving in feet, not miles) for 2 or more consecutive points, or something similar.

Anyone please chime in with more knowledge or correct me if I'm wrong.