I went with a 20 deg bag that was right at 2lbs. Overkill, even for 2014. I was sweating most nights. But really that's something you would have to tailor to your needs.

Stay at the Y.... You will be up half the night anyways anxiously awaiting the start..... Why spend a bunch of money to do that?! Haha

Is there a printed map of this route? I guess I'm old school. Haha. Trying to see if I can make the race this year prior to a GC kayaking trip.

Thinking point to point. 6-8 days. Starting west of Strasburg at the northern starting point. Still getting with some of local guys on a date, so in the works.

Grab your bike, like now. Load it with everything you think you need. Go for a few rides for a week or so. Evaluate how that feels and what you can do without. Repeat, until you are satisfied with your setup. Unless you absolutely have too, stay off the trainers. I Rode in rain, snow, and wind all winter long, with my bike packed, to train. It helped me mentally and physically dealing with the 2014 TD. 

Best advice for the hike a bike difficulties. My personal experience was to pick my first hard hill of the morning, get off my bike, and stretch my Achilles a few times while walking a few hundred yards. For me, that helped a ton. I wasn't stretching as soon as I woke up, only after a few miles, so my legs were somewhat warmed up.

Feet.... I used two pair of mid/light weight merino wool socks. Allowed a pair to dry out. Plus a pair of waterproof sealskin socks. My feet were completely fine. Slipped the sealskins over the other socks in hard rain/cold. Once again, this was for 2014, cold and wet. Felt fine with that set up.

just ordered the maps, I've ridden out that way a bunch, but without route cues it would be just me picking my own way through. I'm from Culpeper, Va. So it's pretty easy to  get out and check portions out here and there. I will probably pick your brain here soon. Thinking of an April departure, make it a warm up for another TD run! Will download the gpx and go from there.

Aprilish. Or late May. Was trying to get out before too much vegetation came up. April into May I'm headed west.

Hey man, I was gonna attempt this in the Spring. My attempts at getting any sort of map from Chris (thought they were going to sell some) has left me empty handed. Did you bring any forest service maps or just your gps? Your blog was definitely a good read.

Looking for interested parties to partake in a self supported ride of the VA Mt. Bike trail. 400+ miles

Back to the tarp vs bivy debate, my 2 cents..... Tarp. I used it for 2014, obviously a wet year. Brought a collapsible pole (never used it), but always found something to tie up too. It's super easy to set up. Had a unique way of using my bike as tie off points so I kept myself and gear dry while only bringing 4 stakes and cord. Also allowed for my wet gear to somewhat dry out overnight. Used a SOL escape bivy as a splash guard for my bag and slept great. But everyone has different preferences. You can sit here and read every post on this site until you are blue in the face, but until you get out and try different approaches you won't know what works for you. .... And a side note. Once you figure that out, and it's a month or two out. STOP reading this forum! You will question your setup and what to bring. By that point you should know what's best for you.

I might be heading back in 2016. Finished 2014. The weather was terrible, I want to see it with nice weather and to push more. I played it safe more or less, mostly because of the weather that first week.

Haha road to pie town smooth....... Lol. Don't know if it was all the pavement prior too, but that seemed the most wash boarded out of the whole 2700+ miles!! Didn't help I had a dump truck going 80mph down the road at me. Fun times for sure though. Good luck to everyone riding. An amazing journey!

Wondering........ Have there been any attempts to map an eastern Divide route? Maine to Fl/Ga?

I was planning on starting in dc and going west sometime in April after they open the gap tunnel. Unless I can manage a ride to Pittsburgh. We did a beginner ride from Pitt to Cumberland last fall. There are shuttles that will take you from cumberland to Pitt. We used them then. This year I was trying to see how fast I could do the whole thing. I'll be on a SS.... But planning on a lot of mileage per day.

Don't know about how many people attempted or finished only for last year. Think it was somewhere around 155 attempted and about 49 finishers. I attempted and finished last year. Personally my three hardest parts were the rain the first couple of days, the wind in Wyoming, and lastly my lack of route knowledge! Haha. I think everyone probably has their own hard parts. I saw guys that were way faster and better riders not finish due to things out of their control. It's a toss up. But good luck on the race. I tried to talk my wife into letting me go out there again but to no avail!

Pack your bike with everything you think you will want then ride for a month.... Anywhere. Then relook at your gear drop some stuff, ride some more. Repeat in snow, rain, sun, and any other weather you get out there on the left coast! Start visualising success and your bike above your head in triumph in A. Wells...... Good luck! I usually left right from my house just so I could have more riding time.

I agree on the wireless working flawlessly. I too had the cateye wireless and it worked great in 2014. Rain snow and all sorts of weather. Had no issues. I would just reset it each time I flipped the map.

As a 2014 finisher, outside the debated cut off time, I'm completely fine with it. I know exactly what I finished and how I finished. I literally completed 100% of the main route, down to the inch on my trusty single speedI remember being in silver city, obviously almost done, looking at the route a block away and having to backtrack three blocks to do the whole route. To me that's what I needed to do for me. If that makes sense.

Debating the cut off time and rule violations will probably be an ongoing discussion for years to come. But it's a free race, a race in which you push yourself, a race that will push you, and a race that is an adventure. For me I enjoyed every minute, didn't fret about people breaking the rules. To me, I knew what I did and that's all the counts. It's not about rules really, it's about what you get out of it. I rode it all and was happy with what I did, and followed the rules. So don't worry about the things that you have no control over and get out on the bike and enjoy it!
Just a side note about ML.... I and other racers received personal texts and phone calls regarding route issues from him. He is Aces in my book!

Just wanted to say thanks to all the people whom I met on the trail this year! It was trying at times but I had a blast! Haven't been on here, and yes it's been over a month now.... But the first two weeks were spent eating, sleeping and family time! In any case, congrats to all the racers who managed to gut it out to the end, it was a tough one!

Bike is packed up with gear and I'm ready to roll! Epic indeed! Leaving tomorrow and amped to get on the trail! See everyone soon enough!

So planning on fernie alt then? Hate to get way back there then have to turn around, although I could tow my kayak! Now that would be an adventure!