I'm surprised no one has yet mentioned Mike Hall...I was more impressed and inspired with his World Cycle Tour ride than probably any others that I followed or read about this year, aside from perhaps the Charlie Fowler Tower Tour, but alas, that wasn't a race. Eszter, Jefe, Ollie, and Jay all had some very impressive rides, too.

But why bother ranking all these achievements at all? I still am convinced that many middle-of-the-pack racers suffer considerably more than race leaders, and many very impressive performances come from these riders. I'd be more inclined to vote for guys and gals like Mark Caminiti, Chris Neumann, and Tracy Petervary after hearing the stories of how must suffering they pushed through to finish races (as well as *anyone* who managed to finish the Iditasport race to McGrath this year!). They may not have gone fast, but they sure exude passion and demonstrate how physically and mentally strong they are.

Regarding water on Mingus mountain. Is Mingus Lake good for filtering? Or is Potato Patch the nearest watering hole?

The water in Mingus Lake is thick and brown. It'd probably be fine if you let it settle overnight and then filtered it, but without doing so, it'd be worse than drinking water from the Colorado River. Either plan on riding down to Potato Patch CG or hauling your water up from Cottonwood. Once you start riding the following morning, it shouldn't take more than a couple hours to get to Coyote Spring.

I'd argue that SPOTs actually are advantageous along the route and can really benefit riders. There have been quite a few times during past TDs and other events that I've stopped by places right near or after closing, and the owner/employee had kept the shop open just because they had been following the tracker and seen that I was coming. I always felt a bit sheepish about that, but it's what's evolved with the increasing popularity of these races. So not having a SPOT can be a bit of a disadvantage if it means you miss a hot meal, a place to resupply, or an on-duty mechanic at a shop. Whether or not a new SPOT should be delivered to a racer mid-race really infringes on the "purity" aspect for which some racers strongly advocate. I'm personally not particularly opposed to it, but I think it's worth acknowledging that SPOTs definitely can change the outcomes of races, and in far more ways than just letting competitors know where you are or how much sleep you've had.

That Loch Lomond section of the WHW is definitely slow with a lot of hiking, but there's some really fun, techy riding in there too (and only a couple gates and one ladder over a fence). You're probably right that starting off with that wouldn't be so much fun.

I'm not sure I'd fly all the way over to Scotland to race this and miss all the scenery and culture! I'd love to tour the route at some point though, perhaps combining it with some of the riding over in the Cairngorms and perhaps heading out onto Skye. Now that'd be fun!

Very nice! Thanks to you and your collaborators for putting this route together! How's the race going to go? Start on the W Highland Way and then which direction around the figure 8? And why not start in Glasgow at the southern terminus of the WHW? I'd think that might make logistics easier. AND that riding along/above the shores of Loch Lomond is a ton of fun. But what do I know Scotland?

I think of bikepacking as doing what backpackers generally do, but faster and on wheels: Stick to the trails. You could call it singletrack touring, too. Riding the Great Divide Route? That's dirt road touring in my mind. But if you were hiking the CDT, you'd do a heck of a lot of walking dirt roads, but it's still considered backpacking, although they seem to like to just call it "walking."

So in the end, what's it really matter what someone calls it? Just get out there and ride. Bring gear for overnight if you've got time.

Nice one, Kurt. Alaska for you next?

Nah, I'm done racing for the year. My legs are toast. Time for some mellow bikepacking and recon for some future trips around the southwest.

I've got one more "ITT" finish to add to the list, even though I slept almost 8 hours every night after the first one so I could see everything during daylight hours! I made it to Durango last evening for a total time on trail of 5:16:51. As I rolled into town, a huge fireworks display kicked off over the college. I thought it was a pretty awesome welcome, but then someone told me it was for the USA Pro Cycling Challenge kickoff party. Then I learned that they changed the route for the first stage of the race because some of the climbing was "too steep." Hmm...I'm sure those guys would think differently if any of them tried to tackle the CT!

Almost all the through-hikers that I stopped and chatted with were amazed by Jefe's performance. He's truly a legend on the trail, though no one knows his name. I also encountered possibly the world's most angry hiker, out of water 8 miles shy of the next stream out on the ridge north of Indian Trail Ridge. He went on a 5-minute rant, I gave him half my remaining water, and hopefully he learned that he will find no warning signs along the trail before the long dry sections like he expected there would be.

Stefan, thanks for the CT stoke. I'm glad I finally got around to riding the whole thing. It was even more spectacular than I imagined in the San Juans.

Mixing it up gets the best results.

LW knows, and I agree completely.

And whenever I start to feel my head getting tired of riding within a couple months of a big event, I get off the bike and spend some time doing something else...hiking, relaxing car camping, catching up on work that I should have done when I was riding, etc. You can have all the fitness in the world and still never finish an ultra if your head isn't in the right place.

what would be the minmal gear setup for this ride?

For the stage race, it's generally 5-8+ hours of riding per day depending on your speed, and the rest of the time is spent at the stage stops (2 camping, 1 motel). You'll need clothing, a sleeping kit, and water/food carrying capacity to allow you to be comfortable for the remainder of the day and overnight at the stage stops, which could be chilly (lows around freezing are possible) in October.

"More and less 750km sweet singletrack!"

He might be disappointed when he sees all the hike-a-bike!

Big congrats to everyone that started, and an even bigger congrats to everyone that FINISHED! And Mark Caminiti, I don't know how you suffer through these things one after another while dealing with so many bike and body malfunctions! I think you must hold some sort of record for the most hours of serious suffering in the past few years of these bikepacking races. Impressive ride, yet again!

Oh, the new day works better on my calendar. Perhaps I'll join in this time around. But I sure haven't forgotten the pain that this loop induced this year...one utter failure in May and a second go at it three weeks ago when it still beat the heck outta me! So perhaps not...

My vote is for keeping the start date earlier in April...the 12th would be my preference. But that's purely for selfish scheduling reasons. The following weekend would put it too close to the Whiskey 50 (Apr 27-28)!

I used White Indus. M16 laced to FRM 388 rims which worked perfectly.

If you go with the M16, it'd be a good idea to get a couple extra pawls and pawl springs to carry with you. They're tiny, but should they fail, they're tough to find in shops. If you go armed with those, the M16 uses common cartridge bearings, and a shop needs to get them apart are cassette removal tools and a 1.5 mm (I think that's the size...) allen wrench to loosen a set screw. I far prefer this design to the Shimano hubs where the freehub is usually sealed and unserviceable. If the shop doesn't have the correct replacement, you're stuck.

That being said, I'll put in another plug for the DT Swiss hubs...they let you replace drive-side spokes with no tools other than a spoke wrench!

This would be a great one for a beginner bikepacker. It's got a bit of everything, and resupplies aren't too far apart. Just be ready for some sections of rocky, technical singletrack and a some hike-a-bike here and there. None of these techy sections are too long, but they really do slow you down after a section of dirt road! I just rode the loop for the first time last week (http://krefs.blogspot.com/2012/07/coconino-revisited.html) and sort of enjoyed myself. The weather in October and a bit more sleeping should make it much more enjoyable.

Sara D informed me that the official race cue sheet instructed her to take the route Prentiss is now taking out of Cuba, though the redline on her gps directed her to the Chaco Alternate route.  She looked back through all of her pre-race briefing materials and found nothing about the Chaco Alternate.  Needless to say, she was thrilled when she realized that was an alternate.  It's unfortunate Prentiss went with the cue sheet, instead.

Caroline and I carried along the NM map this year because I wanted to ride the non-paved sections between Cuba and Pie Town. We ended up skipping them since we were fried and Caroline was sick, but I'm a bit envious of Prentiss. We're probably going to head back there at some point and ride these sections as a loop just to see them!

As for knowing which way is TD legal to take, the rules on the website (Rule 3) and the pre-race email that Matthew sent out very clearly specify the options. There really shouldn't be any confusion on these. It was also unfortunate to see that a few riders missed Gold Dust and/or the Sapillo CDT segment.

DT Swiss and White Industries hubs have proven incredibly reliable for me. The DT Swiss rear hubs have a freehub that can be removed without any tools, and the two star ratchet pieces can be replaced in roughly 30 seconds should they wear out or break (I have yet to have either happen). Those pieces are small and light enough that you can easily carry spares if you're paranoid about them failing. With all other hubs that I'm aware of, you need tools (big hex wrench, hammer, and/or sockets) to remove the freehub body. Then you need to find a shop that has the appropriate replacement or replacement parts, which is often easier said than done.

As for the Rohloff option, Ollie's seemed to work well for him this year, and we loved ours on the tandem. And if something survives 2700 miles of abuse on a tandem, it'll probably survive whatever you could dish out.

As for what more you could ask for...2700 miles of it and with your favorite person? 

Hmm. Good point, as long as there isn't too much snow or mud. I'm going to predict that when the going gets tough, it's going to be exponentially tougher on this big bike.

...any male rider would have tucked tail and descended back to the Colorado

I tried that once. Unfortunately, you'd just find yourself back at the Colorado and still in the middle of nowhere. It really didn't solve any problems at all!

These two put down a very impressive time, indeed! I'm envious they got to spend a few days out there...it's a beautiful ride through quiet and unforgiving country. What more could one ask for?

So next question for meterologists, is the current weather pattern associated with an early monsoon season in NM?

It will be interesting to see if the FS does indeed initiate preemptive closures...and what an alternate may look like.

I'm certainly no meteorologist, but the long-term outlook is looking very similar to last year's, with a late start to the monsoons and relatively weak monsoons throughout the southwest. It's going to be a long fire season down here.

As far as detours would go, the Sante Fe NF closure of the Brazos-to-El Rito-Jemez section last year forced a detour SSW from the CO-NM border on 64/84-95-112-96-550 (I think...) to Cuba. The Jemez-only detour would be 84-96-550 route you had to take in 2010. The Gila detour that looks most obvious (of the only 2 good options I see) would be west from the Plains of St Augustine on 12 and then SE on 180 to Silver City...a LOT of pavement. Fingers crossed that won't be necessary...