Absolutely Awesome, Alice!

The occasional detour near Lake Roberts (N of S.C.), which was first taken by the tandem, is in the vicinity of the Roberts Fire, which was started by lightening last Tues. So far as I can tell, it never grew beyond 4 acres, and has been 100% contained, smoke cleared, crews released, etc. for several days.

I don't know for sure how close the fire was to the course, but it doesn't appear to be on the course, although there could've been access overlap between crews and riders. I don't see how it could be affecting riders today, but who's to say. Intermittent enforcement could be a part of the explanation.

Still a big mystery to me as to why, of all the riders that have finished and taken the detour, no reference has been made to it. 

Heightens spectator interest. Pretty easy to see why some are included. Harder to figure why some are not.

Now, for all those people that you might be following, it's not just, oh, hell, why aren't they moving? It's also, go!, go!, get to the finish before your route turns orange! And when you refresh, a big sigh of relief when you see their route hasn't turned orange. Definitely one step closer to network coverage. 

All in all, not a bad idea, imo. Easier to get my head around than the idea that if you cross any one of a multitude of thin lines, then you may as well be riding a bus, because you cease to exist for purposes of the "race".

Just a spectator. Wtf do I know?

Apparently Walter B finished yesterday morning after all.

As of this morning, there's a new 4 acre fire in the Gila area called the Roberts fire. Might refer to the community of Lake Roberts - right where the tandem, and now Geof, returned to Rt 35. Just a guess.

Tried to verify at the local ranger station, but got transferred to voicemail. Probably will find out what's going on from racers first.

Nothing seems to be stopping Lorenzo.

Anyone else notice Markus_Meier's balloon on Trackleaders recently?

I really like that guy's taste in recovery rides! I'm guessing he's feeling lots better by now.

I was in colorado this weekend doing a ctr prep ride with Scott Shirey and we ran into Jill Hueckman on climbing of Boreas pass.  I had a good chat with her for the last third of the climb and she was in great spirits and seems excited about the journey... and pedaling strong as well.  It was great meeting you, Jill and keep up the good work.

I don't suppose anyone has any idea why Jill appears to have stopped just a few hours into her day today. Hope she didn't drop her Spot (*again*). But that'd be better than any number of other reasons why she might actually be stopped.

In banff
Wow
It's beautiful!!!
Cyclists everywhere and the vibe is very pro tour divide
Even a customs agent who talked to marshal knew about the race

Totally excited !!!!!
Good luck to all this is gonna be the adventure if a lifetime !!

Hi. First post here after following the big 3 the last few years on this board. I'm surely in awe of this madness since the longest I can hang onto a handlebar is 24 hrs, and if I sleep on the side of the highway, the doors are locked.

I find your post particularly interesting since it never occurred to me that one of these races could actually foster a festive community scenario, as opposed to a bunch of hooligans standing out in the middle of nowhere waiting for a race to start, or crawling into the only car in the p-lot, or across the street to the lbs after they finish. So it's nice to visualize a healthy vibe at the start in Banff.