Nice job in the race,  even more so since you were carrying those clunky panniers 
My experience, from several road tours, the panniers do add aero drag.  Not quite as important on a mtb race/tour but it's there.  The bigger thing for something like the CT is the weight, as someone pointed out the rack + panniers is at least 5 lbs, unless there are some ultra lite panniers out there which I haven't found.   
If you keep all or most of the water off of your back and put some gear on the handlebars and seat bag you can keep the pack under 10 lbs easy, even w/o a frame pack which is even nicer but harder in many full suspension frames.

Way to go Ryan!!!  Perseverance !

Brad & Maureen

Anyways I was thinking about just getting a really thin, packable jacket, but now I'm wondering if I should look for a more insulated one that would also feature a more breathable material. I hate being cold, by the way.

Don't get an insulated one, you'll be too hot in that 50 - 55 deg rain.  Get a light breathable one. Most of the high end gear outfitters, like north face & marmot, make one that weighs about 8 oz.

Trail angels?? Is leaving food on the trail littering or is it trail magic!?

Littering!    The critters are going to find it before any 2 legged animals will.

Echo that, way to go Andy,   He should be about done now, his last pt was almost 2 hrs ago and he was almost on the last big downhill,  but he's getting rained on!

Way to go the rest of you too, that's a phenomenal achievement to put that many miles down that quickly especially in the rain.

And keep on trucking BB and Ryan who are still out there plugging away.

So my question to everyone is whose the oldest guy in the race. I guess at 62 I can only dream, or generate some trail magic.

jeffhigham posted a link to his pix & video early on,  there was a grey beard in there, anybody know who that is?

Also, wondering who the guy w/ the front panniers is & how he's doing?

Nice work Jeff!
http://highonwheels.blogspot.com/2010/08/ready-set-suffer-scenes-from-2010.html

Looks like JF bailed at Bolam Pass ?  So close.

I too am wondering if anyone has insider info on the trail angel...

I kind of doubt he's there again, but someone else might be...

Loved the Chex box photoshop job, Joe.  Awesome!

No insider info, but i went thru there about 2 wks ago and he was there & he mentioned how cool it was to be there when the CT racers came thru!   I think he goes back to Gunny at nite tho, so hope everyone planned accordingly  His name is Apple.

It may be rainy, but there is 1 section that might be pretty dry for drinking water.  Razor Creek in segment 17 was dry when I rode thru there last week, so unless you drop down to Baldy Lake, there is no water btwn Tank 7 creek and Lujan creek.   Not too far as long as you know it's not there.

I think ditching the multi tool has potential, but like she said, what about the chain tool?  For a lite multi tool, the lezyne SV10 looks interesting, but I'm not sure about an aluminum chain tool.   http://www.lezyne.com/products/multi-tools/sv10.html.  Anybody used one?

Isn't anyone bikepacking a without front and rear panniers a weight weenie?

While not true for all trails, imo a filter is the most efficient way to go for the CTR, faster and lighter than any other system, including chemicals.

I'm curious how you arrive at this conclusion since the chemicals are lighter than the filters I've looked at.   Are you counting on carrying less water since you can drink it right away?