Yo,
  Thanks for the reply!  I'm kind of in a spot with shoddy internet and don't have access to maps, so I thought I'd put it out there.

  Yep, kind of figured as much with the huge amount of Canadian style wilderness up there.

  I drove the Icefields Parkway last summer and was blown away, although I had to zip through there to get up to AK for work.  Definitely thought it would make for a great bike ride.

  I'm keen on the long distance hiking as well, and I know there is a Canadian extension of the Continental Divide Trail.  Maybe I'll have to strike out on foot to really see that country.

Thanks again,
Stevan

Howdy,
  Does anybody know if there is a dirt road route north of Banff?  I'm planning on doing the official GDMBR in Aug/Sept 2016 and have some free time in July. I was thinking of coming up with something from Northern BC to Alberta.  Any ideas?  Not too keen on riding the Alaska Highway (ALCAN) or the Cassiar.  Thinking more of a real dirt road adventure up there.
Thanks,
Stevan 

Didn't ride from the coast, but hey...

  I'm down at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station for a year, and thankfully I was able to ship down the 907.

  I went with Stephenson's Warmlite VBL socks, Smartwool Mountaineering socks, and Steiger Arctic Mukluks.  The Steiger's are sweet!  Not very racy, 'cus they're not stiff at all, but they are wicked light compared to other winter footwear.  They are made out of breathable moose hide and canvas with a pretty sticky sole (which works well on the flats).  They've got a felt bootie, another felt insole, and a form fitting insole on top of that.  Steiger recommends sizing up and going wide for temps around -40.

  I've ridden around at -70 for about an hour and the feet were definitely not the limiting factor (face and goggles were).  During the austral summer here at Pole, the ave temp was around -20F.  I'd be fine for hours at -40 with this setup.  Going into the dark winter, the temps are more around -60F and it's gotten down to -99.1F so far.  My BB starts to get real sticky around -70F, though, even with MolyKote 33 Med -100 science grease in there. 

  The rig also has plastic flat pedals, which I'm sure help to not conduct as much cold to the foot.

Anybody on here ridden around Mongolia, or planning to go? I'm planning to be there May-Sept 2016 with the ECR + Packraft.  Big loop from UB west via a centralish route dipping into the SW Gobi. Altai by mid summer and back east via a more northernish route.  There's lots of trip reports from folks doing big road rides from Europe to China via Mongolia, but they tend to stick to the more travelled routes, it seems, with big loads and skinny tires.  This place has tons of remote route potential for a lighter bikepacking setup (especially for 29+ I think).  The backcountry is scattered with herders and their horse/camel/Russian motorcycle/jeep/goat trails.  It seems like a place to go with a pretty loose itinerary, listen to some local route knowledge, and bring plenty of water capacity. Pretty psyched on it so far.  So any input would be great!

Thanks 'er body!

Becker Sewing (beckergear.com) in Fairbanks!  Mostly because I was up there for the summer and wanted to buy local.  Also, Tupper Becker let me come by his little shop with my bike to double check the pattern for my frame.  The bag I wanted was a super simple one zipper affair, so he whipped one up in a few days. He even snuck mine in before a multi week big order he was about to start. Super cool experience. Bomber bag.

Hey all,
  Since the Salsa Minimalist Rack is no longer available with the recall, does anybody know of anything out there like that?  That is, something not as beefy as the OMM stuff.  Doesn't seem too complicated to machine/weld something like that up, right? Maybe in steel?  With a little more solid fork mount?  Anybody know of any framebuilders out there that would be keen to whip something up?
Cheers + Thanks

This looks interesting:

http://bikespike.com/

like lojack for your bike.  Rustle up a posse and give them a little U-lock justice (by that I mean beat them with U-locks) ; )

Hey 'er body,
  I was wondering what folks are using to keep their feet warm.  I am using Five Ten Freerider VXi (which aren't waterproof) with flat pedals.  I like the idea of having real shoes for hiking around in, pushing uphill, and stumblef**king the unridable stuff.  I want something like an overboot to put over these shoes for those cold and/or wet shoulder season days.  Always seem like my feet are the limiting factor in those conditions.

  I'm thinking about a few options.  I have vapor barrier liner socks that could work and are light.  But, that ensures that the shoes outside of them will be thoroughly soaked, get nice and heavy, and potentially freeze through the night.  The other thing I was looking at are Neos Overshoes (Villager model), which are waterproof and warm, but look clunky and heavy (at around 2lbs).  Wondering if they would be worth hauling around for 5 months in Mongolia, where I might really need them 5-10% of the time.

  So, I was wondering if there is some middle ground here.  Some product I don't know about, or what not.

Fire away!