Sounds like good news on Mt Elden:  https://www.knau.org/post/public-allowed-more-access-recreation-areas-museum-fire

"Among the trails open Friday: the Arizona National Scenic Trail, Schultz Loop Trail, Heart Trail, Little Bear Trail, Little Gnarly, Lower Oldham Trail from Buffalo Park to the ANST Junction, Rocky Ridge Trail from ANST to Schultz Creek Trail, Sunset Trail from the intersection of Schultz Tank to Little Bear Trail."

In-depth interview w/ Alexandera Houchin for those that can't get enough of the superwoman:  http://bikesordeath.libsyn.com/
From post DK350 & Pre Divide.

Looks like Scott can take that old, obsolete Women's Singlespeed Record flag off the tracker!

HUGE congratulations to Alexandera.  You are the best (literally)!

Alexandera rode all night & has taken a full day off the record. Shout Outs to Alexandera and Alice both!

Yup,

[is]

Having phun with words? Otherwise I'm confused - A pinon tree [pinyon?] is a pine... 

Pinon country is also referred to as P&J, not the sandwich but Pinon & Juniper (think rocky trails & uber sticky mud if wet), THe pine refers to Ponderosa Pine, a much taller, shadier tree which tends to come w/ flow type hardpack trails.

Looks like there's a bit of thunderstorm action in the Gila today, and judging by Steve's speed he might have been caught in it. That Bursum Rd is pretty nasty if it gets wet...

If they can get to the CDT (last spike on elev profile) the single track mud can be way more ridable than the roads.

They are entering the blast furnace now. I remember crossing onto Bursum Rd. that Chris is coming up on now, and saying aloud, "This is Hell." the 90+degrees F headwind blast furnace pouring across that valley, water seeping out of every pore faster than you can drink. Stay hydrated you noble Dividers!! 

And just add to the degree of difficulty, monsoon is kicking off early in Southern NM. Think hybrid contact cement/peanutbutter mud.  Brush Mtn pt 2?

More chatting with Sofiane on the Bikepack Canada podcast https://www.bikepack.ca/podcast2/2019/6/27/54-sofiane-sehili-armistice-at-brush-mountain-lodge

(Also enjoyed Steve's chat with Evan Deutsch a few episodes earlier. And there's a good one in the archives with Josh K prior to start of '17 TD)

Can't wait for Leal's story/vid to come out. I think they are still following her down the trail w/out the race rules restriction.

Bike or Death Pod w/ Sofiane Sehili post race:   http://bikesordeath.libsyn.com/

But then a critical decision on logistics - Pie Town is not 24/7 and the next real supply is Silver City

The 'Toaster House' hostel in Pie Town usually has food in the freezer on the back porch. Just be sure to leave a donation in the jar by the kitchen table.

I once tapped a 2 gal bag into a triangular shape, it lasted a couple of years before springing a leak. now I just add a second caped 3l platypus bag, partially filled & get the same amount of storage (smallish ft triangle). platypus bags are also good for springing leaks, but gorilla tape will usually get you through the trip.

Alright, bikepacking has peaked my interest big time. I’ve been riding road bikes and fixed gears for some time in the city but I moved to a more rural area about 8 years ago now and haven’t been riding much.

My buddy and I are doing a budget build for a 300 mile trip here soon.

Any ideas for some budget friendly gear storage solutions? Or budget gear in general?

Here’s a couple pics of my super budget friendly $50 Raleigh 26’er feel free to laugh because that’s what it’s all about, I may put a smaller basket on my rack, I’m a zip tie kind of guy. Home Depot was nice enough to let me borrow this basket lol

Cheers, Marc

go with the last pic, Make a handlebar roll with largest strongest bandana you can find. Attach with straps spaced from bars through short pieces of PVC

Rehab is your race now Josh. I'd shoot you a peptalk, but the mental tuffness your packing is just what the doc ordered.

Dead Fricking Last??

Or any F'n verb you want substitute  😉

 John Schilling's signature on this forum kind of sums it up  DFL>DNF>DNS   acronyms to live by. As a DNS I'm gonna refrain from criticizing anyone in the greater categories.

Chris Seistrup hit the snooze button! Twice!

He might be 'burning daylight' waiting for a resupply store to open. It's a fair bit to the next resupply.

Brush Mtn Lodges web site pics:  https://www.brushmtn.com/photo-gallery/

More pics from Lasl's FB post:

Care to cut & paste for us non FB users?

the text:   A momentary truce. Scenes from Brush Mountain Lodge and Clark, Colorado. Josh Kato, Chris Seistrup, Steve Halligan and Nate Ginzton have all been successful in getting over the pass and descending into Clark and Steamboat Springs. Rain, snow and mud soon after have made the road impassable. It’s 16 miles from the lodge to the peak and there’s word the other side of the pass is worse. This group made plans to set out at 3 a.m. this morning in hopes of better conditions, but awoke to snow. Hours later, it’s still snowing. In Clark, Josh Kato told us about looking for shelter near the top of the pass and finding a cave. He quickly kept trudging on when we spotted a cougar inside. This is a Tour Divide for the books.

If you think about it, he was prepared, as he knew his limits down to the temp he could endure, and did precisely the right thing by having enough oomph to self-rescue. Hats off (er, berets off?) to him for going to the edge and not falling off the other side.

All very true, but I can't help but wonder, had he been 15 mins later at 1st light & seen he was on the lip of the downhill, could/would he have kept going.
 It's always darkest before the dawn, especially after an all night HaB in blinding snow & rain.

I think it was more in the context of wandering around lost at the top of a pass in the middle of the night.

If you change the TL's base map to USTopo (Mytopo seems to have gone away) you can see where the gpx track seems to get off trail right at the spot Sofiane got lost.

Chris Seistrup has just left Brush Mtn Lodge, even though the weather doesn't show signs of improvement towards Steamboat Lake today.