Our Australian 24Hr World Champion Jason English had teamed up with Canadian Cory Wallace [Kona] for The Munga.

Like others on here I was interested to see how The Munga would unfold. Sleepless V Fastest? My reading of it was that it would have been won in close to 40 hours and there would be no sleepover. From accounts of the track it was relatively flat and fast…… toughest race in the world? …. I think not.

At the World Endurance Mountain Bike Organisation [WEMBO] 24hr Champs in 2013 here in Canberra Jason English rode 456K [283ml] and climbed 7000m [23,000ft]. WEMBO will be in Weaverville Ca next year so you can chance your arm against him if you fancy yourself. No one has finished in front of him over 24 hours for the past six years. He won WEMBO in Scotland a couple of weeks ago.

http://www.wembo.com.au/past-events/australia/about/canberra-2013

http://weaverville24.us

Cory Wallace is currently leading a very strong international field in the multi stage enduro race Crocodile Trophy here in Nth Queensland.

http://www.crocodile-trophy.com

With regard to the suggestion that prizemoney is the driver for these guys to race. The Crocodile Trophy costs $2490 for a solo entry and the Elite category winner picks up a cool $1250 so I think we can conclude they’re not in it for the money. The reference to Adam Hansen by JRA as a hard man on the European circuit is topical. Hansen came from a MTB background and in the small print on his CV you will note that he won the Crocodile Trophy in 2004 and 2005 and was the catalyst for him getting picked up for pro road racing.

This dude for instance:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Hansen

For my money the real hard man on the European Tour is the Orica-Green Edge rider Svein Tuft from Langley BC Canada. This bloke was bikepacking long before any of the contemporary trail races came along.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/08/sports/othersports/08cycling.html?pagewanted=all

Now there’s a man I’d like to see have a crack at the TD when he pulls back from the pro circuit.

Congratulations to Chris on finishing the Transcon.  13d:12h:31min

Seems he was very keen to make the after party .... on my reckoning he rode off @ 3:00am and 41h:30m later finished without popping the tent, not bad for a young dude.

As CTR14 and TDR14 draw to a close I'm curious as to the demise of conversation and viewing numbers on the respective race forum threads.

TDR14         66 pages       1313 replies       89,206 views
TDR13          97 pages      1937 replies       241,232 views

CTR14          15 pages       292 replies        14,076 views
CTR13           27 pages       525 replies        70,666 views

No doubt the shift to twitter, instagram, WhatsApp etc accounts for some of the drift but there are some massive swings in these figures. The 'forum' as a place for people to come together and share their news, views, emotions and pain seems to be in decline as a hub......... where have they all gone?


  

Anyone heard from our good friend Chris Bennett? He's been stuck in Italy waiting for a ferry for 22 hours ..... looks like winner Kristof Allegaert will finish in a few hours. Sensational riding, very Jefe Branham/Mike Hall esque saving on the accommodation ex's

So what is snowpack? Translation pls. I haven't seen this stuff before..... sounds Irish?

I've got a bunch of them US$25 a week or part thereof + postage back to a NY address.

Just to clarify .... these are SPOT Gen3 [20-30 day battery life] and will be by personal delivery to Banff 11/12/13 June. You can post them back to a US address in NY or SFran. If you're riding slow i'll give you a slow  discount ... $75 for three weeks +$2.50 a day....  that'll help you go faster!

Does anyone have the information about renting a spot tracker for the race?  Thanks.

I've got a bunch of them US$25 a week or part thereof + postage back to a NY address.

As coincidence would have it i'll be in Calgary on the 11th ... never been to Banff, so if I bring my bike I'd be happy to join you for the ride. How long you staying in Banff? Happy to split some accom costs.

Rider List and extended profiles up on the website

www.cloudride1000.com

24Hr live coverage on trackleaders.com/cloudride14

Starts 8:00am Easter Saturday

The Cyclery
5 Lonsdale St
BRADDON

All welcome!

Arran Pearson has been a late scratching ...


Ross Hamilton M 26 Melbourne Bike: GT Zaskar 29r HT
Alistar Cowan M 27 Melbourne    Bike: Niner MCR 29er HT
Ollie Whalley [NZ] M 28 Sydney Bike: Lynskey Ridgeline SL 29er Rohlff Rigid
Jackie Bernadi F 34 Melbourne Bike: Specalised Epic 26 Dual
Nathan Mawkes [NZ] M 37 Auckland Bike: Santa Cruz Highball Carbon 29er Rigid
Matt de Belin M 40 Sydney Bike: Niner S•I•R 9 29er Steel Rigid
Scott Robinson M 43 Wilberforce Bike: Giant XTC 29er HT
Nijat Imin M 44 Canberra Bike: GT Zaskar 26 HT
Neil Cowan M 56 Melbourne Bike: Salsa Fargo 2 29er Rigid
Steve Watson M 60+ Canberra Bike: Kona King Kahuna Carbon 29er HT

Who stole Mike Hall off the 2014 start list?

In the long run men hit only what they aim at. Therefore, though they should fail immediately, they had better aim at something high. - Walden, Thoreau

aaaaah, Long Ranger this is true ... but

"All men dream: but not equally.
Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that it was all vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dreams with open eyes, to make it possible."

T.E. Lawrence, The Seven Pillars of Wisdom

So we need to know who are 'the dreamers of the day'?

Hi All,

Since people are getting keen, I've resurrected the unofficial starters list. Please put your names down here if you're planning on racing 2014 in addition to the LOIs:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AnV6xT65HkPRdE5WZ2c4S0pyZnd5Tk51cko1ZzJneFE&usp=sharing

Don't forget your e-mails so I can harass you to contribute to Volume 6 of the Cordillera which will be on the 2014 race.

And in case you are wondering ... The Cordillera Volume 5 on the 2013 race is finished, just waiting on the cover. It's almost 250 pages this year. Expect a posting soon on how to get your copy. Essential reading if you are planning on racing in 2014!

Hope springs eternal in the human breast;
Man never is, but always to be blessed:
The soul, uneasy and confined from home,
Rests and expatiates in a life to come.
– Alexander Pope, An Essay on Man

So it appears after the pace set in 2013 others are embolden .... 45 on the [unofficial?] start list so far a few less than at new year 2013.

Big difference is that 28 riders have posted a 'Goal' time of 21 days or less compared with only 9 riders on the 2013 start list [as at Jan 1] ... I can smell the rubber!

Fo those who like their enduro rides in metric...

http://www.cloudride1000.com

A nice little warmup training ride for aspiring TDR contestants

Thanks Chris,

Mine arrived yesterday. It's gone into the Santa Sack... I'll look forward to the read over the holiday break and the introduction of conversations that gently meander towards Friday 13 ........ in  Banff. 

Update please ...... I'm not going to sign on unless I can nail one category.

Cut it back to 14 daze and save 30% on road costs....

Thanks Toby, a bit odd but I guess it's just one of those events .... the journey is nine tenths of the holiday.

Here is a link to the evening Q & A in Melbourne a few weeks back with Jesse Carlson, Liam Crowley and Hugh Harvey you all might enjoy. I didn't go to it but from accounts 90 peeps attended with a great deal of interest from all.


http://goo.gl/V1dAOt

Is that all there is?

Summer is over... is there going to be some sort of summary of results, DQ's, penalties, adjustments whatever? Is there a mushroom club we voyeurs are not privy to?

The TD website has listed results up until 2008. Trackleaders has it's robotic listing of track spots which clearly does not take account of the on the ground realities...... ie;  finishing order

Feel free to enlighten me........

 

Looks like AP ran the original route to that point another "geared racer" did that yesterday.  my guess is the road closure has been moved down that road. This sure makes that NB SS race more interesting as SM and AP went back and forth for a while, AP has been in the lead the last week but now SM is ahead.  With this little left to go - I wonder if they know where they are?  when AP catches up to SM it could be a two boy race to the finish...  they are both strong SS riders there is at least 100 miles of not more between those two and the 3rd place guy..  Interesting to watch!

Arron P certainly gave up his race position with his route choice [?] but maybe he wanted the purist ride. ScottyMc seems to have got the jump on Arron now and is going to take the SoBo SS 'title' unless he gets a flat and doesn't have a patch.  Arron will certainly get a top 20 finish and a sensational ride from the lad. Next Aussie over should be Hugh H ... no sleep, no meal breaks .... also top 20, no pressure

How does one click two separate spots on the route that a rider has passed today and get the mileage between the spots? I could add up 400 10-minute estimates but there might be an easier way.

David, As a suggestion for your earlier post. You can try Ridewithgps.com. It's very handy plotting routes and getting an overview of elevations/gradients etc.

Sign on and open an account [free].

Search for a near location. Zoom in a bit and you can see the trails and roads that are 'live'. Pretty much all of the TDR has been on live roads and trails. Choose metric or imperial.

Select 'Follow Roads' Choose cycling [or driving] Just click on a start point and travel along negotiating the road intersections by clicking a progress. If a section is not live you will have to plot with 'draw lines' cross country 'till you get to another live track. After you have done a few hundred miles from the comfort of your lounge room you can feel pretty exhausted!

The route elevation will be at the foot of your map page. Put your curser into the elevation plot click/hold and drag along a section over a climb and it will give you a highlight of that section. Run the curser along the profile section and it will show you the gradient percentage for the climb, the distance and the total assent and descent. When they get to 12% or more get off and walk if you're over 50!

If you have a big enough screen open Trackleaders on one page and ridewithgps on another, zoom in and you can follow the TDR route with very accurate detail.

Have fun, say goodbye to the couch!