I'll share a little about Eszter (I'm her coach). We made a deal that she had to be really disciplined with her diet for 100 days before TD and then on TD she could eat absolutely anything she wanted. Her call ins are cracking me up cause they are ALL about food - that girl loves to eat and to pedal. I think she is in pig heaven right about now :-)

So impressed and proud of her blazing trail across the nation. She is amazing.

Zoom zoooom EZ

Before Stagecoach, Eszter told be she had a bit of gluten intolerance and tried to follow a Paleo-like diet when not endurance racing. I wondered how that would affect her during the Divide because it's not like those issues go away, and suddenly you can just eat a big stack of pancakes without feeling a little off. I understand as well as anyone how difficult it is to stick to a remotely balanced diet on the Divide, but still wonder if recovery would improve if one somehow could. I had this conversation with a Pacific Crest Trail through-hiker recently, a guy who was putting in big miles — 25 to 30 a day on tough terrain. He kept his diet really simple and mostly natural — oatmeal, rice, beans, nuts, dried fruit and the like — and claimed he felt stronger every day. I ate pretty much entirely candy on the Divide had felt the opposite — Increasingly run down, sickly, fatigued. I convinced myself diet didn't matter as long as I was getting calories — and still think calories are the most important thing — but now I wonder if daily recovery would improve if one didn't have to eat so much high-sugar, high gluten, processed food. Divide lore places heavy emphasis on how awesome it is to eat so much crap, but for me, the intensity with which I was craving vegetables toward the end speaks volumes about the importance of quality food, not just quantity.

But, yeah, giant burritos make me very happy, too, so I totally understand Eszter's mindset. I also think burritos fall into the healthy zone, at least they're balanced with actual protein and some nutrients. My problem was too many meals that consisted entirely of candy bars and Sour Patch Kids.

Wow, that blister looks infected. That's really rough. I feel for Ryan. I've been converted to the school of draining a blister before applying tape. Do so with a sterilized pin and only make a tiny puncture to stave off infection. After applying a blister pad, if you can, get some Leukotape and tincture of benzoin. You can usually ask for these things at larger drug stores like Rite Aid, which he might be able to find in Salida. Smear the benzoin tincture around the blister, apply the pad, and then apply tape all the way around the toe. Otherwise those pads come off within milliseconds on sweaty feet, bunch up, and can do more harm that good. Duct tape works too but is not ideal because it has rough edges and the adhesive can irritate skin.

As for pressure, it's probably worth it to move the cleat to take pressure off the toes. Maybe larger bike shoes with thicker socks if such a thing is available at a nearby bike shop, although maybe not ideal for the heat of New Mexico. Good luck! I met Ryan at the 2010 TransRockies in Fernie. He's a great guy, funny and determined. I am rooting for him.

Here's a photo of Deanna Adams with her fixed-gear Divide cross bike in 2009. Her ride that year on that rig was impressive. It's really too bad she was relegated for veering off route for 40-odd miles near Helena, otherwise she would probably be more deeply embedded in Divide lore. Until Dave Nice wraps up his ride, she's the only one to mostly complete the route on a fixed gear bike.

And yes, I am super impressed with the depth of talent in the women's field this year. I am loving watching them put in strong rides and I'll be excited when the women's record drops below 20 days. Their solid efforts are inspiring.

Regarding Craig and Ollie,

There's a lot of conjecture on this forum from SPOT data. From the viewpoint of the "original intent" of Divide racing, I wonder if the original 2004 Great Divide race may have looked similar in front had SPOTs existed back then. That was the year Pete Basinger finished 20 minutes behind Mike Curiak. Also that year, Matt Lee started riding with Trish Stevenson. His own words: I’m losing my best friend from an effort that, although solo in concept, has been made exponentially more fun and real through companionship. Tomorrow when I ride from Big Springs to Black Rock bike campground, it will be difficult. A scenic stretch through Yellowstone / Teton country won’t be near as sweet as it should. I hope I can adjust." (Source: http://www.dirtworld.com/story.asp?id=515&article_type_id=2&articletypecode=racestories)

I'm just pointing out the "purist" viewpoint of solo Divide racing seems to have developed over time.

Great idea, Michael. I wondered if someone might put together a bikepacking-style race in Alaska. This is reminiscent of Carlos's Sweet Roll 200 — tales from that 2004 event were terrifying and yet intriguing enough to convince me to sign up for the 2006 Soggy Bottom 100. Not sure what was wrong with me then, but it somehow fueled the ongoing addiction. This promises to be a beautiful and likely brutal experience for most involved. Awesome.

http://forums.mtbr.com/29er-bikes/great-alaskan-sweet-roll-200-long-38958.html

Is anyone on this forum planning to go to the June 22 screening in Santa Cruz?

Brooks Lake Road must be completely clear and dry right now. It doesn't seem like that section has slowed anyone down so far.

and maybe look at trackleaders....hhhmmmm...nobody seems to want to chime in on how IPhones are a unfair advantage....it should become a new rule, just like no visitors from family and friends...

During the 2008 Great Divide Race, I was updating the Web site so I had instant access to all of the call-ins. That was the year of the No Cell Phone rule, but racers were required to call in from every "checkpoint." Whenever Geoff reached a town he would call me and ask about the position of his competitors. I thought it was harmless enough, but an unfair advantage? Yeah, probably. At least under the current Tour Divide format, information technology is open to everyone. If people really want that information, they can probably find ways to get it even if Tour Divide collectively decides to go stealth.

John Nobile was of the opinion that it was better to race your own race and wait until the very end to "attack," which is what he did by riding from Grants to the border virtually without stopping. When I told him about my relaying of information to Geoff in 2008, he didn't even really care. His race would have turned out the same either way, and probably turned out better because he didn't pay much attention to where his competitors were, so he didn't burn too many matches "racing" too early in the game.

I also wanted to chime in that I enjoyed the Rail Trail. I rode it in this drenching rain and then the sun came out just as I was rounding the gorge over the Warm River. That section reminded me of Alaska in its own way.

It's also where to rest. Arriving in a nice town with motels and restaurants at 7pm when you still have plenty of daylight and the legs to go make for very difficult but critical decisions. Especially when the next town is around 100 miles away.

Get tempted too many times and you easily lose a day or 2 on what could have been a much better finish. It also makes the difference between those who finish under 21 days or so, and the rest of us!

So true. But I also wonder how well "the rest of us" can really manage those tough decisions. Bypassing all those nice motels and restaurants for another night of crappy sleep in a bivy sack and a candy bar for dinner is great for one night, but what about three? Or Seven? I was constantly leary of getting too close to my perceived cracking point because my dedication was admittedly lacking (hence many "Why am I out here?" moments.)

Still, I'm more convinced now that crappy bivy sack sleep is fine for nightly recovery, as long as nutrition is better managed. I still as much of a candy addict as ever, and think empty calories are fine for "short" races (i.e. fewer than 48 hours.) But I really believe my horrible diet was a hinderance to recovery during the race and the fact I felt like warmed-over roadkill for weeks afterward despite being relatively injury free. Even with 16-18 hours of pedaling a day, I do think it's possible to become stronger or at least maintain strength in the saddle with good, complete nutrition. The question is, how to find it?

Lastly, when Josh Schifferly crashed, I was guessing that this caused Eszter, his wife, a significant delay. Therefore her miles/day may begin increasing as the days roll on. Thanks for the note on 'avg moving speed'. I hadn't been watching that as much as miles/day. The when, and how long, to rest decisions may be the most difficult ones for rookies.                 

Eszter isn't married to Josh. Her husband is Chris Miller, who rode CTR last year (not riding TD ... something about the mind-numbing tedium of fire roads.)

But you are correct about that last point. I wasted a ton of time in 2009 and it's easy to look back on that now with a critical eye, but at the time every moment of rest seemed necessary.

I've always said, the TD isn't about who's the fastest, it's about who can ride the longest.

As the TD site says, 'decidedly not for sprinters'.

I've given this quite a bit of thought and while I completely agree, I still think it's a tough balance for each individual to find. Just a little extra rest and recovery can pay huge dividends, while simply resolving to ride longer hours could be a game of diminishing returns. For all but the most focused pedaling machines, burnout can be as large of a threat to finishing as injury or mechanicals. I think the best chance of overall success (finishing in one's own goal time) is a combination of dedication, flexibility, experience, luck, and fitness, in that order of importance.

It is true that willingness to give up creature comforts is perhaps the best single strategy to gaining ground in this race, and limiting stopped time is key. But I still think it's important to find that balance of physical effort and mental stamina, ever-elusive because the former weighs so heavily against the latter.

I'm wondering if some of these riders into Helena are going to start stacking up at Great Divide Cyclery for repairs. In my experience that bike shop wasn't very Tour Divide friendly — they seemed to be more heavily focused on high end road bikes in their inventory, and weren't in a hurry to do anyone favors when I was there. Maybe that's changed, but it seems to me there'd be a strategic advantage to holding off on repairs until the Outdoorsman in Butte. Of course, it's hard to commit to that extra distance if your bike has problems, especially with brakes.

For fun, I've been comparing some of the leader's splits with old SPOT dots on trackleaders. If you look at the current leader's time stamps you can see they're almost exactly on pace with Matt Lee's 2009 splits up to this point. Craig and Ollie tracked at the first pass outside of Ovando at 2:30 p.m. Monday, and Matt's time was 2:25 p.m. Monday. http://tourdivide.org/leaderboard/2009/individual?name=Matthew%20Lee

I'm not sure if Jay P's track from his 2011 ITT is posted anywhere, but that would be the place to find the current record splits. Did this year's race start at 10 a.m. Friday? I'm just curious.

The lead women are setting a blistering pace given all the brutal trail conditions and weather through the Flathead and northern Montana. Eszter is about eight hours ahead of my 2009 time stamp from Richmond Peak, which I hit at 10 p.m. Monday. http://tourdivide.org/leaderboard/2009/individual?name=Jill%20Homer Of course I only put in 65 miles the next day and plenty of short days following that. As soon as weather and conditions improve, the women's race is going to break wide open. It's exciting.

Wow, current conditions in Banff: Heavy flooding on the Bow River, snowline down to 6,000 feet.

In the not to distant future (say 2014-15) I am dreaming of a race Mathew Lee and I discssed once on dirt from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego. Any cartographers out there?? And yes work is a 4 letter word - but a means to an end not the other way round.

I'm curious where you guys are planning to get through Yukon and northern British Columbia on dirt. In Alaska there's the Denali Highway and Top of the World Highway for gravel, but beyond there I think dirt routes are pretty sparse. There are fire roads here and there but the odds of finding enough to string together seems low. Old roads and trails disappear quickly in the North. I've headed out looking for both the Fairbanks-Circle Historic Trail and the old rail line along the Copper River between Cordova and Chitina. As far as I explored, both are heavy bushwhacks just a few decades after they were regularly traveled. So outdated maps aren't going to be much help either. As far as a "Northern" Divide route, I would think the Alaska/Cassiar Highways would be your only options.

My first day had 6,152 feet of climbing. (http://connect.garmin.com/activity/174409294) Going from 0 to 3,000 up Fish Creek wash helped in that regard. There was plenty of ups and downs throughout the ride to rack up the cumulative elevation gain. Personally, I noticed that the sections I thought would be easy based on the pre-race elevation profiles were anything but. The big climbs on Day 4 were easier for me than the rollers through suburban San Diego.

However, I'm with you on the Tour Divide. I had an HCx at the time and also registered closer to 150,000 feet overall.

I plugged my tracks into Garmin Connect. The supposed map-corrected route has 34,600 feet of climbing. I wonder if that seems more accurate. Although looking at my average moving speeds makes me wonder if I should stick with trail running. Ha!

Part 1: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/174409294
Part 2: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/174409654
Part 3: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/174408795
Part 4: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/174408839

I used a Garmin eTrex 30 in the Stagecoach 400. It also has a barometric altimeter. I've used it regularly for about a year now in my riding and running, and the elevation estimate has never been more than a few hundred feet off the expected number, even in very long rides. So I'm surprised you and I came up with such different readings, Roland. But yeah, my GPS registered 43,500 feet of climbing over the 385 miles I rode. I had a few "extra bonus" spurs but nothing long off course. I was very diligent about starting at that purple line on my GPS, often to the detriment of my downhill riding.

I put some photos of the race up on my Facebook page. I figured I would link them here for anyone who might have been racing too fast to take photos. http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.3453441588909.142343.1656886970&type=1