Hal Russell's last two call-ins to MTBCast have been incredible.  Torrential rains, gobs of hail, lightning, forest fires.

That man is TOUGH!!!  All kinds of adversity and he still seems so incredibly positive.  You go, Hal!!

Aaron Weinsheimer is closing in on Port Orford...he might make it today!!

Hal Russell with a call-in to MTBCast from Richfield, UT.  If I understood it correctly, his lights are no longer working.  If that's truly the case, hopefully he can find some kind of replacement shortly.

Hal Russell is just a few minutes from the Colorado / Utah border.  What an inspiration!!  What will I be capable of when I'm 68?

Awesome!

And Dylan's dot is bouncing...a remarkable achievement.  Congratulations!!!

Oh...and as of July 3 (yesterday), Imogene Pass is open!

Perhaps a moderator could move these posts to a separate thread? The race discussion has been hijacked a bit.

+1

Love the discussion, but maybe a separate thread would be better.  I've started several replies myself, but am too "wet behind the ears" to hit the post button, so I'll just read and absorb.

I wondered if Dylan would get finished on the 4th.  That won't happen, but if all goes well, there's a chance he could finish tomorrow or early Thursday.  And Indiana has dogged him the entire way.  A fantastic race!!

I think 2012 had the huge fires in New Mexico...?

Can you give the percentage of starters vs sub 20 day averages? That way it takes into account a weighted average of the starting wolf pack.

I know that this year, compared to 2015, it took me 2 hours longer to reach Elkford - and I'm in a bit better shape than 2015, although slower than the average GD racer (I'm 66, give an old man a break). Anyone have numbers for the route length considering the new Koko Claims and fire reroute?

My GPX files total out as follows:
2016 route - 2667 miles & 183000' of climb
2017 route - 2702 miles & 186500' of climb

That's using MapMyRide and I don't know how accurate their altitude / distance data is.  But it might be safe to say that the 2017 route is 35 miles longer with an additional 3500' of climb.

But I would take ScottM's numbers over these any day.

Yeah, JayP's ride is another remarkable effort for 2017's race.  Fifth overall after giving the field a two-day head start...well, what superlatives can you use?

Indiana has eaten up about half the lead that his back-tracking on Imogene cost him.  He's just 70 miles back of Dylan.  Wow!

Josh sounded very tired when compared with his other calls...not that it surprises me too much, considering how he's been pushing.  A great ride by him, and a great ride by Brian, who stayed just ahead of Josh throughout.

Another great year of riding, and lots more excitement still to go in this affair.

Just looking at the data of some the riders that have been moved to the alternate dots.





This rider had a shit of a time in Butte or quite possibly he had a lovely time having a look around. Regardless, he saw more of Butte than the rest of the field.

Who knew the little boy from "The Family Circus" was doing the TD this year?!?

I wonder kind of pie Josh is eating right now. Did he ever reveal his winning pie choice from 2015?

I've had blueberry/cherry from Pie-o-Neer and it's fabulous.  I've had blueberry from The Gathering Place and it's very good, too.  Have yet to eat at the Pie Town Cafe, but I'm sure their food is delicious as well.  There's something special about the Pie-o-Neer and Kathy's wonderful disposition (even though all they serve now is pie)...I can't wait to visit again.

It's the first year, so there will be some kinks to iron out.  And based on what I've read, the race may start a little too early to realistically include a 13,000-foot pass.  Next year might see an alteration to either the route or start date...?

Ben Steurbaut has moved into 3rd place for the time being.  He has shown remarkable fortitude!!

Indiana is approaching camp bird now...holy cow, is he gonna attempt engineer and imogene in one day?!?  Hard core!!!

Hi Dave,
I live in Phoenix as well (Northwest Peoria). I ride my road bike a ton. I ride (mostly) Lake Pleasant parkway/Wickenburg. I agree that the Arizona roadways are insanely dangerous. The area I ride is almost at the edge of town. I fear for only a few miles until I get out to Wildhorse West. From there, its safe, open and the shoulder is a full lane wide. don't give up!! there are plenty of places to ride safely.

I've not ridden it, but I've driven on the NW side up on Bush Hwy and Usery Pass Road.  There are some nice climbs and undulations and, for rural roads, they have really nice shoulders for cycling.  Any every once in a while we encounter cyclists on Hwy 87 between Phoenix and Payson.  THAT's some stout climbing and might make for good TD training.

AZ DOT publishes a study every year on all sorts of traffic accident including bicycles.  It is about 50 pages of accident statistics and they do break out bicycles.  They look at it from every angle.  The worst times for accidents is commute hours.  Urban areas are much less safe than rural.  The worst day and time is Saturdays early in the evening.  Holidays such as Forth of July, Labor Day and Memorial Day also have spikes.  This matches my experience closely.  Since I moved to Phoenix my road bike is used very little.  I spend my time on the Fargo and fat bike avoiding streets as much as possible.  After several close calls with 80 year old snowbirds in their mega RVs I am touring off road more these days.  Maricopa County had just under 1,000 accidents involving bicycles in 2015, that is enough to make a coward out of anyone.

Having ridden a few miles in Phoenix (our son lives in Scottsdale), I can vouch for your comments.  Even good drivers that aren't distracted still have to focus on a million other cars.  And from a driver's perspective, it's easier to prioritize the 4,000-pound car over a 200-pound man-bike combo.  That's why I tell my wife that, while I have every right to cycle on the street, it's just better to cycle someplace else whenever possible.  She likes that.

I would also add that mild winters in southern locales allow year-round cycling, while here in Iowa 8-9 months of riding is more the norm.  That probably also skews the numbers a bit.