Didn't she change ratio mid-race? I thought I saw that someplace.

Edit: bikepacking.com is reporting that she didn't change mid-race. Congrats to her on pushing through with the big gear. I love her outlook on life.

If my counting was correct. 71 riders under the pace mid afternoon Tuesday (day 5). There is a long way to go, but that is a solid group during lots of rain.

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I seem to remember the Nobo guys organizing amongst themselves and changing the start time to midnight due to heat (heat for that time, a few years back?).

Doesn't make sense to me, sobo doesn't get that option.

It will be interesting to see how Parks Canada responds if they really have 280 to start. It sounded like they pushed back fairly hard last year.

I haven't looked at this year's track yet, but it will be interesting to see how many people miss the initial singletrack sections. The short section right after you cross the reservoir and the section before Spray Lakes (High Rockies Trail?). When I raced last year, I know people missed those sections, and during discussions at Spray Lake store, they didn't seem to care.

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Alex Minge should have a good story to tell. Appears to go off route near Butts Cabin eventually ending up in Glacier Park and getting a heli rescue to Whitefish. His ping that he's ok is from the vicinity of the hospital.

I believe that is 3 heli rescues for this year's event. 

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Tom Anderson here in Eureka. I'm scratching from the race.

The conditions have been unbelievable. My tracker stopped working coming down Koko Claims. I went too deep on day 1 and paid for it later. Seeing my tracker blink red added stress knowing that family and friends would be worried, so I was pushing harder on the morning of day 2 to get to Fernie. I called my wife and gave her some nearby race names that would be in the vicinity so she could have an idea of my location.  More stress as those riders would pass me on the climbs. I slept 8 hrs near Butts Cabin and day 3 started promising. Short snow hikes on Cabin Pass and several miles on Galton were difficult.  I got to the hotel in Eureka at 8pm with a small group.

I hadn't check the weather forecast until 10pm and see the turn for the worst. It will be brutal out there today.

Yes I slept and didn't make the decision until this morning. Good luck to those north of Whitefish.

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Perfect!  I've only heard bad about that section, so more gravel is appreciated through there.

Scott/Mike - I see the new route skips the first half of the rail trail out of Sawtelle, staying on roads and passing through Island Park.  I'm not complaining, but noticed as I study for changes.  Was this on purpose? Or, a mapping error?

Thanks
Tom

No worries Scott. Warming up this week in Central Montana, I plan on riding Seeley to Lincoln and beyond (middle of this week). I'm hoping to see snow melting in our high country of that section.

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Thanks for the Koko info. Thinking small snow shoes of some sort might be good

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Scott, anyone scouting Koko for you this year? I'm expecting a ton of snow or water on that section.

I drove up Richmond ridge (?), the one just north of Seeley. Drivable with some snow to the end of the singletrack (which was surprising to me).

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Big (late) snow year for us in Montana. Grave Creek snotel is starting to show melting and temps will get warmer. I wonder how Red Meadow or Koko Claims are doing.  I an on riding the Seeley Lake area in the coming weeks and will report back.

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The last I heard, a US to Canada entry requires the $150 test to get in, but would not have any testing upon return (by car, foot, bike). This is for US citizens only. I had been searching for info to make a ski trip across the border.

Other Canadian rules also apply, they have a registration process (app) that must be completed prior. And some get randomly chosen for swap testing which has another set of rules for registration.

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If I had a dynamo, I'd make sure my power bank had pass thru charging and keep it connected to even out the power spikes coming from the dynamo. Then plug in whatever needed charged at the time (lights or gps).

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With the caveat that I've never used a half frame bag, I don't have any reason to explore going smaller.

Reasons that I like my full bag:
- bike repair gear at the bottom, all the heavy weight by the bottom bracket
- first aid just above that - again, hopefully never needed
- small pot/stove, basic cooking gear
- camelback with quick disconnect to longer hose
- water filter

If rain in the forecast, I might stash my compact jacket in the frame bag. Otherwise this works well for me. A combination of seldom used items and items with weight centrally packed.  If I pick up a bottle of tea or something else to drink along the way, that can be in my jersey pocket or in a feedbag.

I only knew as I rode it the year prior to closure. From memory, it was due to bear habitat. The road on the west side of Spray Lakes Reservoir, south of the campground at the north end of the lake, to the southern end.  Bummer as it was a beautiful section.  I had to double check myself to see if it was just temporary.

I found this pdf - https://www.albertaparks.ca/media/6493727/2016_bow_corridor_kan_valley.pdf

Unless I am reading it wrong, "Spray Road West" is hiking only for the majority of the west side.  Oddly enough, the map only points out no bikes at the southern point.  But, the purple line is hiking only.

EDIT: spelling

Spray Lakes road is closed to bikes - that wasn't a good choice

No problem accessing and completing from my end. Good luck to you

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Big tailwind thru the Basin for the leaders.  Looks to be 20+ mph

And RL way off track between Lima and Idaho. At least 1hr the wrong way (so far), hope he catches the error soon.

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Some good racing out there.  Brendan and Jay obviously in a shootout for 1 and 2. Good tight race.  3 to 4 to 5 to 6 are all 40miles apart, which could be closed up with a bad day by someone.  I'm rooting for Lauren B, she continues to have solid efforts and is sitting in 6th with the  next 10 people within 40 miles (including the 2nd place female).  That group will be interesting to watch.

Facebook favorite Linda G was in Helena for an extended time yesterday, left late afternoon and made it to the lake south of Helena to camp. Her dots appear to have her at the Helena hospital this morning.  I hope all is well with her.  The heat we had in Montana on Sat/Sun/Mon were brutal and seems to have hit many of them hard (no idea if that was an impact on her).

Some conversation on Facebook, but not nearly as much as in the past. Unless I'm missing a group section over there....

Try these links, they shouldn't require an account. Top 9 photos at the top, below that is the most recent photos using the hashtags. From there you should be able to click onto the peoples accounts (as some forget to use the hashtag). You'll stumble into the accounts of those posting more than others.

https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/tourdivide2021/
https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/tourdivide/