The three leaders appear to have stopped together in an odd spot last night and have been stationary for more than 8 hours. Seems strange. Anyone know what is going on?

If I had to venture a guess, the rain that rolled through there last night/early this morning - and there was some heavy rain in there - has got them stuck.  There are flood watches in the area for today.

That seems so strange to me.  The notorious roads (the Bannack, the Basin, etc.) appear to be much like the gravel roads here in Iowa.  When we get rain, those roads do not become impassible, they just get wet and a bit soft, but they're completely rideable.  Those roads on the TD must actually be a different composition than what I'm used to riding here.

All the best!

Joel

Checking the radar, there's quite a bit of rain (and even a bit of indicated snowfall) in the Basin.  Right now it's just north of the TD route, but last night it may not have been.  I don't know what happens to the roads in the Basin when they get wet, but that might have slowed the leaders last night.

Weather can be so cruel in this race!!

All the best!

Joel

Thanks for the update.  I wonder if that will grow such that it forces a reroute?

Up north, Mike Hall's spirit is at Wamsutter and has opened up a 40-mile lead during the night.  The actual leaders appear to have stopped together to rest.  If I recall, Mike did the second half of the 2016 route more quickly than the first.  However it turns out, Ulrich Bartholmoes, Jens Van Roost, and Justinas Leveika have been remarkable to this point.

Grabbing the popcorn...

All the best!

Joel

Jens Van Roost has really closed his gap to the leaders in the last twelve hours or so.  SPOT has him just a few miles back now.

Love the Angler's Webcam. Fog will make for a beautiful sunrise out on the course!

And fog - despite its potential dangers - is my favorite way to ride.  It's so quiet...just you and the sound of the chain spinning over the gears.  I love it.

Anyways...back to our normal programming...

I just checked the Angler webcam in Ovanda and watched one rider take off...and there's some pretty good fog that's moved in.  I'm guessing that will burn off before too long.

Both Bartholmoes and Leveika appear to have stopped to eat in Wise River.  There's rain in the area and there may have been some rain on the Bannock, though at this point probably not enough to affect riding.  There's a good chance of rain in the area tomorrow afternoon, so we'll see what they do.

In 2016, Mike Hall stopped at MHCL and slept about six hours.  The leaders have barely stopped these first 4 days, so I have to wonder how much longer they can go without some sustained rest.

Great call-ins! Thanks for hosting them!

Indeed!  MTB Cast is one of the best assets for us dot watchers.  I wish more riders took advantage of it.  I love it...and I have to add that I miss the calls from our departed friend Hal Russell.

All the best!

Apologies in advance in case this has been discussed.... in depth.

Why does the TD always start in mid June? It seems like a number of years have substantial snow years. I'm not too informed about the weather variations throughout the course, but wouldn't a mid-August start improve the odds of better conditions. The northern half would be snow free and the final stretch (New Mexico) would probably a little cooler.

Thoughts?

The one big advantage of the June start is the amount of daylight available to the riders.

EDIT:  Apologies to BobM...didn't see your reply.

Josh is fantastic for many reason, but "2019 Josh" will be remembered as "the cyclist who first trailblazed the Watershed Divide in a wicked blizzard."

Way to go, Josh!!

All the best, and get well soon!!

Day 10 summary here. Pretty epic riding from the front four since Brush.

https://www.dotwatcher.cc/race/tour-divide-2019

More of that material should be posted here.

There seems to be a mud field north of Savery, but once they slog through that, most of the riders seemed to get up to Brush Mtn Lodge without much difficulty.  Apparently the real trouble begins right after the Lodge.

Any thoughts on Josh Kato's status?  He's been stopped for close to 5 hours, which might be longer than any stop he's had so far.  Maybe a SPOT issue?  Maybe he's sleeping for a night push over Boreas?  Anyways...if he is stopped there in Silverthorne, I've been pondering his strategy...after the last couple of days, one can hardly blame him.  I'd be a puddle at this point...

Hmmm...not too much mud there.  Maybe just a splash with some Simple Green...

Seriously, that looks terrible.  Yeah, it doesn't seem like there's been much precipitation in the area today, but without either cold to freeze it or sun to dry it, it's going to be pretty miserable to push through.  And it's a long stretch...15+ miles to (I think it's called) the Watershed Divide crossing at the top of the climb, then several miles down to lower elevation before things firm up.  Even at a three-mile-per-hour pace (which might not be possible), it's probably seven hours...pretty painful.

It's a good thing that bodies stack easily at Brush Mountain Lodge.  There are enough great cycling stories assembled there to keep my attention for days!!

looks like SS has scratched ?

He's listed as a scratch on Trackleaders...bummer!!!  A fantastic run for him.

Quite a turn of events with the weather this year.  I've been watching using the 'windy' api mentioned earlier.  It just went live on the main TD tracker.  Reload the sucker and look for the little flag button to toggle it on/off.

Here's a current shot of the rain/thunder layer, which shows ... snow.

You can drag the bottom slider to go into the future (forecast).

Can't believe how many people are still holed up at Brush Mtn (!).

The weather layer is fantastic!  Thanks so much for doing that.

If you are the praying type, please say some prayers for these riders. Many of them, not just the front runners, are wet from rain before even hitting the snow in the passes. That is a perfect recipe for hypothermia and can turn deadly very easily.

Will do!!  I wonder if that's what forced Sofiane back to Brush Mtn.  Josh has started down the other side.  Based on where they appeared to start walking (not far after Brush Mtn Lodge), Josh may have to trudge almost down to Rd 62 before riding...we'll see...

These are the times...

Looks like they will have to go through the Mines of Moria.

Dang!  Wish I would have thought of that...