Does anyone recall the name of the guy with a fat front setup who was pictured somewhere in this years TD discussion thread? I'd be curious to hear how that turned out for him.

I seem to recall that he had to bail shortly after the picture was posted due to an injury or some other unfortunate circumstance.

FWIW, I will likely ride rigid (it's what I have) on fairly high volume tires, if that makes a difference.

Goatheads aside, if you are riding rigid it might be a bit more comfortable tubeless (i.e. bump
compliance) to be able to run those high volume tires at lower pressure than what might be
necessary to prevent pinchflats on a tube setup.

If it is the FSR it probably has a seat-dropper post which you would most
likely need to leave fully elongated while the bag was installed (or swap
a conventional seat post in for the bikepacking configuration with the bag).

Hard to imagine needing to run a seat so low on a hardtail that there wouldn't
be enough room for the bag's wraparound on the seat post (and tire clearance),
but, you never really know until you try

I'm sure this is a FAQ, but since we have a newly minted eTrex thread going, I'll
just ask here.  For older Garmin units I see some comments that enabling WAAS
might shorten battery runtime?

Apart from that, do people find that the additional precision makes much difference
when recording tracks or looking for waypoints? 

On my Vista C I just turned it on (and left it on).  Performance was reasonable and
positioning was always quite good.  I haven't had the eTrex 30 out in the field yet
to see if this holds true for the new device.  Anyone?

I was checking out what Kurt and Garrett have listed for their bikes.  Wow!  Seems like their monster times
are rolling on a bit more bike than we sometimes see the leaders with.  Garrett is listed as running
a Specialized 29er Expert FSR - if it's like mine, that would be about 33% more bike than what Stappy
brought(!).  I have no experience how the additional weight might affect such a prolonged endurance
event, but I do know that I can feel the difference after a long day on a lighter 29HT than the FSR

Great inspiring TD 2012, thanks to all the rider's.  I'll be watching until they're all in!

Hasn't anyone had the chance yet to imply that this group may be operating as a ... team?
I find this part of the blue dot obsession ludicrous.  For the most part these people are on
vacation.  They put themselves out there and are experiencing the divide for everything it
brings to them.  We're here for whatever reasons why we're not out there too.  The least we
can do is not create a climate of suspicion about the possible appearance of impropriety every
time dots are close together or if riders fraternize for a bit in the only place to eat dinner for 200mi...

While trying to get the server back up and running both Matthew and I were cooking pancakes and bacon for the biggest group at the lodge yet - Al, Brett, Josh from Tucson, Billy, Jon Cox and Chris Z.  Great group of guys loving it and pushing through it together.

Here's some pics of the 2 leaders heading thru the 1/8-mile sketchy section below Richmond Peak at around 7am Monday.

Wow!  I wouldn't want to come upon that all iced up in the wee hours wearing bike
shoes.  Kicking steps in your bike shoes, into ice-over.  What fun!  Is this where Justin
slipped last year?  (I'll have to go back through the archives because I believe he posted
his story about a fall).

You might want to consider a daylight-visible tail light, such as the Dinotte.

As a driver I'm always impressed when I come up on bikes running these
things during the day. 

The Dinotte that I have is a rechargeable, but it uses a standard 7.2v
battery which I've rigged up so I can share with a headlight as well.

There may be other daylight-visible products out there which use
disposable batteries.

Google "Kent's bike blog".  He's done some nice rides leaving from Issaquah which include overnights.

I just picked up a patagonia nanopuff hoodie.  I'm very impressed with the added warmth that the well fitting hood provides.  It compresses well, and weighs about 14oz for size L.   I haven't been able to give it a good cold weather trial yet, but had it on over a short-sleeved jersey in high winds (air temp high 40's) and was quite comfortable.  Along the lines of what alirawk was saying, I'm wearing an ibex short sleeved jersey, and carrying an ibex indie hoodie, the nanopuff, and an arcteryx paclite goretex anorak.  It's amazing how light this stuff is and how warm it can be.

My impression is that many TD riders run lights powered by standard AA batteries,
which can be found easily on-route.  For 24hr or 1-2 night endurance racing, if
you do it regularly (and maybe have a bicycle commute?), then you might look
at something rechargeable.  I think there are a couple of TD threads on this site
about light selection.  I saved up and bought some Lupine lights with rechargeable
batteries; they're great, but you have to be sort of nuts to shell out that kind of
money for lights.  Having pedaled through many different light technologies over
the years, the output/runtime/weight properties of today's LED gear are amazing.

Maybe download the GPS track that the TD racers typically use, then look at it in TopoFusion or Google Earth around
the place you lost the trail.  (I'm assuming you weren't recording GPS points from your goose chase which you could
share with us).  That might jog your memory of landmarks or other reference points that could explain what
happened.

Otherwise, how was the tour?  It seems like a great time to be out there.

+1 for Dumonde Tech.  I'd also used Rock n' Roll Blue and found it OK as far
as rejecting dirt accumulation.  It just didn't seem to keep the chain quiet as
long as I'd like.  (I gave up on the mfr. recommended application of squirting
half a bottle onto your chain at the cassette and instead did the drop-per link
method.)  Still using that on my commuter bike.

The dumonde seems to lubricate really, really well - and, with just a wipe after
every ride, the chain stays cleaner. 

I've also read that dumonde works well in cold weather applications where other
lubes can be too viscous (or frozen in the case of RNR) to apply.  I don't have
experience with that apart from leaving the RNR out on the porch by mistake
and finding it frozen the next morning!

Next up: Matt tackles 150mi of rainy days and mud in the vicinity of Lima, MT. 

He's having an awesome flight across BC at the moment.  What a great adventure!  Looks like he's been up for hours and is now heading towards Radium Hot Springs.  I believe that competetive paragliding events have been held in the same area because the terrain is so favorable.

oops - I was thinking your bike was a 29er.  I think you'll still want to find a tubeless setup that works for you, but I'm not sure if the 26er tire volumes give as much of a cushion as with the 29ers.  With tubes on the 26er, I could never find a sweet spot for tire pressure that gave good bump compliance and reasonable handling (but I'm a clyde).  Looks like a nice ride however, and definitely solid for lots of abuse!  Get out there!!!

I want to get into bikepacking.  I currently have a 2009 Rockhopper Pro.

I am curious if the stock 28/32 Specialized Hi Lo hubs and DT Swiss 445d can hold up on the GDMBR.  If not advice on upgrading would be nice, wheelsets are my least knowledgeable area.  The specs on the Hi Lo:

I'm thinking your wheels and hubs will be fine, but you might want to start researching tubeless setups.  Some Specialized wheels come "tubeless ready", with blue tape inside the rim to seal the spokes.  Yours may already be setup that way if the bike came with a pair of valve stems.  Search the forum here for more info on tubeless setups.  If your rims are already taped, the Specialized "2Bliss" ready branded tires like Captain Control would probably set up very easily.  Some of the TD racers here run tubeless, then carry spare tubes with stans sealant inside to use along with a tire boot if the tire gets cut and cannot seal itself.  I believe Jill Homer ran the TD using slime tubes as a primary flat avoiding setup.  In any case, reasonable volume 29er tires setup tubeless with 22-30psi depending on your weight, handling preferences, etc - should give a relatively comfortable and flat-free ride.

Wow! An amazing trip.  Thank you for sharing!  Lots of mosquitos in those bogs?

How is the bike recovering? 

Great read.  Justin, you are a beast.  Very inspiring.   

I just posted a Q&A with Justin Simoni on my blog. Justin has such a great attitude and it really shines through in this interview

Wow - practically a stand-alone Cordillara.  Excellent!  Thank you Kent and Justin!

$108.35 for the book? Who are the donations going to?

I had a good laugh when I saw that too.  You can really see who's who in the various online marketplaces with a title like this that has been out of print for a couple of years.  Hint: it can be had for an order of magnitude less via http://www.abebooks.com.