Thank you Scott and everyone
this format is still the best

[What is the current choice of GPS?]

What is the current choice of GPS?
I have used Garmin Map 62 and 64, and Extrex 10, 22x and 30x
Map 62 was the best for battery life and customizable colours and resolution to view while it was moving and everything was vibrating
Etrexes 20+ were too small (for me) to view detail without stopping (or getting bifocal sport reading glasses)
etrex 10 was viewable while moving because it is just showing a black line and the "you are here" arrow

Now test driving an Extrex SE. It's like the Etrex 10, but much more contrast to the screen so very viewable. 150+ hour battery life in screen always visible mode and replaceable AA batteries (so lightest overall choice when considering chargers or extra batteries). But it converts gpx. to FIT files which loses about 80% of the track points relative to the others. So a 160km/100mile track must be broken down into 5 files to not look like a bunch of zig zags with long straight lines (I suppose all the sport watches do the same).

Haven't tried GPS watches or bike computer GPS's like the Edge, Karoo or Wahoo.  I don't want to have to have my phone turned on (or at least just in airplane mode) when using the GPS and don't want all the fitness tracking, power etc. features. Just an arrow and gpx. line to follow.

What am I missing?

Looks like individual races have their own FaceBook pages and no one comes here to discuss things anymore.  But for generic planning advice, singlespeed vs geared, rules/ethics arguments, and other such info, where does one go?

Anyone interested in a Grand Depart for 2023? 
There is still a delay to officially use the rail trail from Sicamous to Rosemund Lake
Other sections of the trail were in great shape in 2022

Just wanted to see what might have been if I had mail ordered boots to arrive for Monday
Although first thing in the morning out of a warm hotel trails were fun and rideable But it was slower going and when it began to melt it got slower and messier
I will be home in Vancouver tomorrow so I don?t need a dot anymore to reassure friends and family of my whereabouts
Thanks

Some around flag then tusaysn to rim

I Should have left me as a white dot as I am going to tour a bit today

IMG_2149.jpg
It is not so much the snow and -12C but the death mud when it begins to melt

The mtbcast phone in mailbox is full

My rim tape got screwed from my morning rip
Back on course 5 hours behinder

Looks like next place on route is MalWart in Payson

Any where to get chain lube in Gold Canyon?

I will be touring south to the start and am looking for somewhere in Tucson to leave a small bag of extra kit, so I can give the Lemmon Drop a try, around Oct 12-13
thanks

didn't realize Queen's Ransom was added that recently. Always thought of it as one the longer existing routes

This might have something to do with the % of gravel routes on offer, and the number of people choosing them over trail.

A shame really
And according to the new routes being posted to bikepacking.com, the trend is more and more to gravel with not one long distance (at least 100 km) route that is singletrack dominant (or even greater than 5%) being added, and often what is included as singletrack, is just unrideable bushwhacking or short slogs along power and survey lines to connect gravel roads.
I would rather ride 100 km of maintained high-quality destination singletrack connected by 100+ km of paved low-traffic rural back road (preferably the climbing sections)

I have been a Canadian NCCP MTB coach for a long time, and do skills drills frequently with and without packs.
Such as:
- chainless-style (no pedaling allowed, coasting only, and pump more and brake less) on flat technical trails and in pump tracks
- re-mounting more efficiently (not the running leap used for cyclo-cross)
- walking a bike (there is no need to take pedals off, if you clock the cranks properly and use the terrain to do the clocking for you)
- wheel lifts and lunges with a loaded or unloaded bike
- packing up camp with warm gloves on
- and the most important skill - HOW SLOW CAN YOU GO while climbing and not putting a foot down

I have not seen much discussion on the web about bikepacking skills (camp craft and navigation not included) for technical trails.  Just how to eat, drink, text, and brush teeth while pedaling on pavement or easy gravel roads.

Sorry if I put words in your mouth, maybe it was someone else. I?m old

you are too young to play the age card yet ;-)

"Turn by Turn" seems to be a really bad idea for mtn bike backpacking, where you are going through mazes of trails at trail centres and every un-mapped naturally occurring game trail or cow trail, or social trail looks identical to the trail you should be on, especially if they already have tire tracks on them.
It seems pretty easy to me, to follow a gpx. line displayed on a device. Just keep your "you are here" arrow on your coloured line, and the racers that have got badly lost (such as Tour Dividers crossing the border into the US in the wrong place) were trying to navigate by "Turn by Turn"

Matt Mustin (one of the riders who shared photos of his bike on bikepacking.com) is shown as finished
Did 14 year old Myca Mustin also finish?

when using an ETREX 30x I could divide up the 140,000+ point track into 15 ~9400 point tracks and display them one at at time (like at had to with much smaller tracks for my old Map62)
will this slow my ETREX down too much?
with the 10,000 point track, last time there was many times there would be a straight line displayed but more than one choice on the ground that did not correspond to the gpx. line