Katie and Sam were the first SOBO racers I encountered as I was NOBO just south of Steamboat.  So happy for the two of them as they finish!!!!!!!  They have good energy as a pair.  

[Psychological factors:]

Good effort Brian!  Hard decision, but at least you can pedal  home.  I have often wondered about the psychology of having a hometown on or near the route... gotta be tough to keep pushing on if things aren't going as well as you'd hoped. 

I had the best time racing in the Tour Divide.  There were many reasons I chose to drop after 15 days and around 1,500 miles.  Thought you all might want to know why I dropped as I wonder why other riders dropped.  I'm not making excuses for not finishing, but just want to share the immensity of the Tour Divide from a family man/business owner/hometown on the route racer perspective.   Here you go:

   - Expected/planned for 130 miles per day, Actual mileage was roughly 100 miles per day.
   - Achilles swelling and pain started on day 4 and continued till end.  I was pedaling at 50% power.
   - Needed more sleep/restorative time than initially thought, approx 7 hours/day.
   - Passing the halfway point on day 14 was really tough mentally.  Another 1400 miles to ride?  Holy s#*t!
   - Head winds, rain, mud and lightning in WY beat me down.  Also, ran out of food in Basin because left backpack during stop.  Really no   
      food in Atlantic City (cleaned out from SOBO riders) meant long 100 mile hungry/headwind ride to Pinedale.
   - Psychological factors:  Really missed pregnant wife and 2 kids at home, business owner responsibilities, home a short ride away and already
      ridden the next 450 miles of the GDMBR.

Just rode the section from Grants to Silver City, NM. The Toaster House in Pie Town is a special place. Pretty dry out there! Hope we don't get diverted by fires this year. Allow extra time for the CDT alternate, big winds have knocked down a lot of dead/burned trees across the path. Some are big enough that I bet even Cjell couldn't bunny-hop 'em!  
Can't wait to be in Banff. Four short weeks.
Nat

Thanks for the inspirational photos! I've been in a funk lately with all the training, planning, family, work and snow still falling here in NW Wyoming.  You made me smile and focus on what it's all about... the beauty and the ride!

Just some more tire info. I've been using and am very pleased with Fast Track, S-Works 2.0. (except in really rocky stuff, go to Controls) That said, I pre-rode a gravel grinder race, Saturday last up in Chino Valley, Arizona. I put a set of 1.8 Renegade S-Works on for this event. VERY light and roll really nice.

We got caught in a dang blizzard and 40 MPH winds...and death mud. Lots of it. To my point; My pal was riding same bike, with 2.0 Fast Track S-Works 2.0's. He was stopping to find a stick and de-mud his tires every little bit. With the much thinner profile, my Renegades never stopped the bike from rolling. I just rolled on to a place where the mud changed from peanut butter into regular mud and they flung themselves "kinda" clean.

Going to race on them this weekend and just may roll them out of Banff.

Steve

I rode the S-Works Renegade 1.95 on gravel and paved roads last year.  Great tire, rolls fast.  Knobs wore out around 500 miles though.  Consider replacing it a few times on the Tour Divide.  I weigh 185 lbs.

Hey NOBOs -
Looking into shuttles from Silver City to Antelope Wells for the Grand Depart, 6/13 (8am?).  I'm thinking of setting up a shuttle from Juan More for the evening of 6/12, Thursday and bivying at Antelope Wells.

Two questions:
1) Anyone interested in sharing the shuttle with me?  Saves $$$
2) Has anyone camped at Antelope Wells before or after the race?

-Brian

Snow...
I've been watching the snow fall pretty steadily and hard here in NW Wyoming this winter.  The following link provides a very good picture of the snow situation along the GDMBR's northern half... and it isn't looking good.  Many snow monitoring sites are reporting 150% or greater than average snowpack.     http://www.nwrfc.noaa.gov/snow/

I am now considering a NoBo Grand Depart or even an ITT later in the summer.
I would like to hear from those of you who rode in the 2011 TD and endured the reroutes.

Trying to figure out the issue of getting my bike up to CA. I had already booked my flight out of Yuma, AZ which is a very small airport. I was told today by U.S. Airways that any of the dimensions of the bike box could not exceed 33" and the max total dimensions could not exceed 99"...

Tanman1337 - Just spoke with United Airlines on the issue with the CRJ jet and bike boxes.  I am flying on the CRJ-700 from WY to Calgary and they said the box may not exceed 43" x 33" in width and height.  Length was not an issue for a bicycle.  My brother also used to fly a CRJ and he said it shouldn't be a problem, unless it is the CRJ-50.  That is just what I have learned.  US Airways may have a separate policy and plane than United.  Good luck!  See you in Banff.

Two navigation questions for those of you in the San Diego area:

1.  Has anyone download and used the Garmin topo files from http://www.sandiegotrailmap.com/ ?  If so, is it worth the $25 for the Stage Coach 400?

2.  I like to carry paper maps as a backup.  Any suggestions on what maps to get?

Thanks for the help and see you in March in Idyllwild!