bleach, 2 drops per liter.

Foster:
Do not use the Crossmark UST with any kind of sealant.  The rubber will bubble or come off of the bead. 

The regular Crossmark is an incredible tire and my tire of choice.  It seals super easy, especially with Orange Seal.  http://www.orangesealcycling.com/  I have sworn off of Stan's after it evaporating so quickly and having such a hard time sealing. 

I never had any trouble with the 26er UST crossmarks with Stans(several pairs).
one of my 29er UST crossmarks did bubble up in southern New Mexico, without any catastrophic failures though.
YMMV I guess.

The fine folks at Soul Ski and Bike(Formerly The Ski Stop) have generally held a cook out in a park near the YWCA the night before(at least in 09 and 10).
There has generally been a group ride from the Y to the back of Banff hotel where the trailhead is; just a few minutes before the start time.
If none of that happens, be at the trailhead at the start time.

Banff Airporter takes bikes too, probably the easiest (and cheapest way) to travel from Calgary to Banff.


-- sigma7

Matthew et. al. generally negotiates a discount for racers(same for YWCA).
Even w/out the discount Banff Airporter are very nice, they had a breakdown when I arrived; they found me(at baggage claim...we all stick out fyi), and arranged for me to ride on another charter for roughly the same price.

you should get an email sometime(soon?) about the spot registering.

anyone know about this:
http://www.adventurecycling.org/routes/addenda2.cfm?id=163020295&rt=Great%20Divide
At mile 155.6, the north end of FR 212 is now closed and unrideable. A new road has been built to connect FR 206 to FR 212. You no longer need to turn onto State Hwy. 134 to reach FR 212. At this time (Oct. 2011) there are no maps available to view this new connection and we haven't been able to collect mileages or see if signs are installed. If you can get this information and send it to us it would be appreciated.



That cue is just a few miles after rock creek. before that you pop out onto 134 for 2/10 a mile then onto 212.
I remember it being rutted real bad but it was not unrideable.

Newer mountain bike bars and road bars are 31.8 mm at the clamp.
Flat mountain bike bars will taper down to 22mm at the end(rough guess at work right now..).
Riser bars are problematic due to the rise.

The profile bars are for 31.8 and have a (laughable) shim to 26mm.
ditch the shim, buy a shim from your LBS to convert a 25.4mm bar to 3.18, cut it in half and it will work(on a 25.4 bar).
The syntace bars are 26mm you can get a 25.4 to 26 shim.

I have no experience using 31.8mm bars, my stem choice has me at 25.4mm.

I have an email from Matthew from June 9, 2011

oh yeah...for years to come. [The Gold Dust Trail] will be the required line in the future.
I was told it will only add 30min to your time. It's nearly all downhill

But I agree with Georg66, if it is official it should be on the official site.

I regard the mentioned web-page as the single source for the rules and routes, so even if ML or others will publish any changes in this forum, I assume that it will also be changed on the site. (There might be riders not looking in this forum here.)

So your main issue is the fact that there are 3 different places with results?
The GDR is a separate race from the TDR. So that's a non-issue.
2011 results aren't up yet on the TD site...patience
Your Wikipedia article will probably be deleted.
Due to this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Notability
And probably this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:NCYCLING#Cycling
In the grand scheme of things; this is a small race. It has been covered in only a handful of magazines (mostly American), a few professional blogs, and several personal blogs. Wikipedia is not an appropriate place for the results; they're not quite encyclopedic.

I don’t mean to belittle anyone’s achievement(s)-my own included and many of my friends-Wikipedia is just not the right place for this info.
 
Your comment about ITT being not equal to the GD and allowing drafting is utter nonsense.
Grand Departs became popular when Curiak organized the first GDR. It was just an easier way to get folks together; and still maintain the SOLO aspects (hence the no drafting rule).
The only thing that could be said to differentiate the two would be weather and weather related events.
I’ve done both, the saddle sores and sunburn hurt just the same.
It is very easy not to draft (ride on the side), and a hell of a lot safer too.

It is unfortunate that ML has not been available to comment. My last correspondence with him was in early February; when he was busy with work, trackleaders, and of course his kids. Life happens. I'm sure he or someone will find the time to take care of the Spots and Spot sign ups in time for the June 8th start.

Welcome to the wonderful world of grassroots underground racing.
The website has about the same info as it had in 2009 which is pretty adequate in my opinion.
Your friends will believe you when they see your spot moving south(or north).

I'm in June 30th ITT

There's also rumors of a way to ride from Calgary to Banff, I do believe.

HWY 1 will take you straight there, it's about 100KM; but I have also heard of some dirt roads/trails. check last years thread.

I would say going down richmond is not going to be fun.
Off and on snow drifts, small saplings at shin height(to a mountain biker), very narrow, and loose rocks

Dave T from VT ran and Alfine or Nexus. A friend of mine plans to run an Alfine 11 and has been using an Alfine 8 for everything the last few years. No issues for him other than keeping cables adjusted.

Alfine 11; EBB was a bigger pain for him if i remember correctly.
I've done it twice on a Rohloff.  It has it's draw backs, but the piece of mind it gave me was worth it.  I'd probably feel the same about an Alfine.

oh yeah Tracy Burge and Sara Dallman from the Cincinnati area will be racing.

Yeah she did that with Tracey before, but I think as just a trip and not the race.
Her knees are pretty messed up from last years TD and the Trans Rockies.
This will hopefully keep her active and sane since she can't ride as much.

Cricket is out until 2013

Matthew Lee explained one time that during the TD he purposefully sleeps colder than comfortable, so that when his alarm clock rings at 4:30am or what ever goddam o'clock he wakes up at, he's motivated to get up, as it's more comfortable to start pedaling in the dark and the cold than staying one minute longer laying down shivering in the fetal position.

Of course, that's part of why he's a 5-time winner and I'm not! 

My strategy was similar.
I slept in a 20 degree quilt and wound up sweating every night. That way I'd wake up at 5am cold and wet and had to ride to warm up.

When/if I get to do it this year I'll just have a 45 degree bag, sleep on top of my tent, and crawl in and air it up if I get cold/rain.

I'm a bit confused about the addition of the Gold Dust Trail near Como, CO.  If I understand correctly it was required for southbounders last year, but when I look at Scott's gpx file the track does not take Gold Dust but instead follows the regular ACA route.  Will Gold Dust be part of the race route for 2012?

I have an email from Matthew dated 6/9/11 that says "oh yeah...for years to come. it[Gold Dust Trail] will be the required line in the future".

It was fine, and I had plenty of options for tires when I got to Steamboat.
I did have a hard time keeping up with the 29er folks on the flat/asphalt section.
That was my only gripe