I rode carbon in the TD this year and loved it. With the wet weather TD destroyed a lot of bikes this year, I had no issues with mine other than a worn cog which got replaced when I got in to Steamboat(has nothing to do with bike material). As a testament, my Yeti ARCc now has almost 11,000 miles on it without issue, 5,500 miles of that were fully loaded with bikepacking gear. I beat the living heck out of this bike every day and it just keeps taking it. The only tip I would say to heed with carbon is to put a layer or two of electrical tape(or masking tape/helicopter tape or such) any place your bags will rub the frame.

Grand Depart from Banff is always the second Friday in June as stated on the TD website. That would make the 2015 Grand Depart June 12.

I took a Big Agnes Fly Creek UL2 on Tour Divide this year and it did great at just over 2 lbs. One of the other racers I rode with was in a tarp tent and said he we was getting wet with the single wall from touching it with his sleeping bag. I was using the Fly Creek UL2 for one person, I stayed dry and had tons of room. I think a married couple would do fine in it, it's an ultralight class tent so it will be close quarters for two. To carry it easily I put the pole in my harness on my handlebars and the tent body/fly/footprint in my seat bag.

I'll be trying my darndest to make it down for the 750 this year, it's going to come down to finances for me, hopefully I can pull it off.

Congratulations to Terry Brannick, he looks to have finished his ITT today. Great job Terry!

Looks like there is an ITTer out there. Just looked at trackleaders for some reason and noticed Terry Brannick out on it.

Go man go!!!
http://trackleaders.com/tourdivide14i.php?name=Terry_Brannick_ITT

Woody

Terry came through Clark, CO a couple days ago, unfortunately I had to go to work so I wasn't able to meet him after his ride in from Brush Mountain Lodge but I did leave him a note of encouragement and a couple bucks to get an ice cream at the Clark Store. I noticed he's holed up in Breckenridge tonight, my roomate just drove up from Breck and said it's hammering snow there right now and a couple inches had already fallen by early this evening. Hopefully Terry won't have any issues pushing through the highest places on the divide route which lie ahead, snow is forecast above 10,000 feet for the next few days.

Trying to imagine riding the Gold Dust Trail coming off Boreas Pass with a few inches of fresh snow... Go Terry Go!

Ive looked at yeti for my asheville nc biking life but think a salsa or a similar bike may be idea... also Carbon or Aluminum? I figured Alum for durability and etc..

I just rode Tour Divide on a Yeti ARC Carbon 29er and loved it. I beat the living hell out of the bike and had no real issues with it being carbon, from crashing a few times fully loaded with gear to taking huge rocks in the bottom bracket, this bike bore it all. The only thing I would suggest is to cover anywhere that your bags are going to rub the frame with electrical tape or such. It's a really subjective question though on both the bike preference and the frame material preference, you said you currently like Yeti's, so it would make some logical sense that you might like a Yeti for a touring bike. I've attached a picture of my Yeti ARCc loaded so you can get an idea of what's possible.

I took a Big Agnes Fly Creek UL2 this year and it did phenomenally(those who followed the race know how the weather was, extremely wet and cold). After the race I came home and lived in this tent full-time for another month weathering torrential rains almost every day here in Steamboat and never got wet. At just over 2lbs this two man tent gave me great shelter, great protection from rain, bug/critter proofing, the ability to bring my bike bags in my tent on especially rainy nights, and weighs in near what some bivvy shelters do, it also has a very nice option to fast-fly setup where you only deploy the footprint, the pole, and the fly giving you a nice shelter without setting up the body of the tent.

Loved the video, really great stuff, thanks for putting this together!

Huge congrats Mark! Amazing achievement. 

Here's a shot of Michelle and her rig this morning at the boat launch parking lot at Stagecoach Reservoir just south of Steamboat.

Is Michelle DuLieu no longer riding? I thought she was the Lanterne Rouge.

I saw Michelle's SPOT moving out of Steamboat this morning and rode down to Stagecoach Reservoir to greet her. We hung out and chatted for a few and I rode a couple miles with her, she's in great spirits and is definitely riding the race out. She got bronchitis and was laid up in Whitefish for 2 weeks, kudos to her for picking up where she left off and continuing on. She said she got her bike overhauled at Orange Peel yesterday and says she's feeling good and is ready to rock. I took a picture of her and her rig which I'll post when I get home. Go Michelle!

Not sure what happened to the start list, I looked at it just the other day and it was populated, now it seems like it's blank.

I got a note from Shane after I got back and he said that altitude sickness was his undoing. He didn't end up having giardia thank goodness. Haven't gotten to speak with him at length yet. Great riding with you, memories are still flowing as I recover here in Steamboat. My bike and bags are still caught up in the Greyhound shipping system days after I'm home... hoping for the best and that they're being gentle.

Congrats to Steamboat Johnny!!!
Jumping blue dots- nothing compares...
Enjoy it you deserve it.

Thanks Mark, great riding through the basin with you(I'll never forget the experience) and way to turn on your afterburner at Brush Mountain to jump ahead. Good luck on your upcoming CTR for the triple crown, I'll be watching!

Just finished TD with metal on front and back, no issues and no noise. With the amount of grit we had due to six days of rain at the start on gravel/dirt roads I heard of people replacing pads up to five times during the race, I never had to replace mine, had them checked in Steamboat and was still at 50% so I rolled them to the end. XT brakes.

Colorado Crew has arrived in Banff, we just got back from a group ride(Andrew Schuhmann, Les Handy, Jefe Branham, Michael docherty, and myself). The Spray river is definitely fordable right now, Andrew hopped in and the deepest spot was just over knee deep. Construction workers said if they aren't around, which they won't be if it's raining, to just cross the bridge. Crossing the bridge is simple enough, it's in tact other than about 15 feet at the far side which has a plank catwalk built for the construction workers. Spray River trail is in decent shape up to the bridge, a few puddles and mud/soft spots but easily rideable.

Thanks for the report Mike, I've been getting my logistics in order today since it's a rainy day here in Oak Creek, CO and have been bluedot stalking Gene and Lindsay all the while.
I can't believe I'm leaving this Wednesday to begin motivating towards my eventual arrival at the GD in Banff.

A quick report:
I rode through Lynx Pass two days ago and it's now clear, it thawed about 4 days ago and has dried up nicely. Here's a couple shots to contribute to the stoke:

Lynx Pass looking south:



Something about the following stretch of road on RCR 16 southbound in between Lynx Pass and it's intersection with hwy 134 has always made me think of TD:



Cheers all, hope everyone's preparations are going well, I'm completely stoked.

I did a little scouting in the Teton area this weekend.

I don't know what the snow level normally looks like in Mid April, but I can say that the pass from Victor to Jackson had less snow now than it did when I rode over it in Mid June 2011.

#gameon

Thanks for the report BigPoppa!

Did a little recon on Lynx Pass yesterday, I was able to ride 6 miles further up the road than I was able to 2 weeks ago so it's starting to thaw quickly even with the intermittent spring storms we've been getting(sloppy ride but fun!). The road is snowed in at the bottom of the last big climb to Lynx Pass Campground on the south side of the pass(about a mile south of the campground at approximately 8,500' of elevation). I haven't gone up the other way to check the north side yet. Snotel looks to be about right in their measurement of just under 3' of snow still standing. It's supposed to be 63 degrees out today so let the thaw keep coming, Morrison Creek is raging which is good to see. I feel like this should be clear in the next few weeks and hopefully nice and dry by the time we make it through. I know Lynx Pass isn't one you'd normally think of as a threat for snow but I figure any snow pack info along the route gives a more complete picture for what the rest of the route may be like. We've had a big snow year here in Steamboat so with this info I'm starting to feel a bit better about the snow pack north of here being manageable. I may have to head up towards Rawlins soon to do some recon from there to Clark. Getting psyched for June 13th!!


Bottom of the Pass, the pass itself is the 1st notch from the left in the picture for those unfamiliar.

Where did you find that out? (How does anyone/everyone find it?)

excerpt from TDR Website:

"Divide racing may be challenged at any time, however, TD emphasis is on a 2nd Friday in June (southbound) 'grand départ'."

This would mean June 13th this year.... Friday the 13th no less.