By the way, JayP appears to be flying!!

Update from Eddie O'Dea "In a dramatic change of events my cards are only 12 miles out, have been reactivated, I'm having another cup of coffee. This rookie move may only have cost me a good nights sleep bookended by loads of stress."

Wow, that's a miracle!!  Thank the Lord for the honest people still around, and for all those that offered Eddie help.

The radar in SW Montana is starting to look a bit ominous as the rain is starting to build up.  It appears to be falling steadily around Fleecer, Polaris, and on the Bannack Road, and is starting up in Butte.  The system looks to be drifting NE toward Helena, Lincoln, and Ovando, where it's mostly sunny right now, but for how long...?

Last weekend, flash flood watches were issued for the area for Monday night into Tuesday...the call is for heavy rain...1-2".  It looks like it's going to get a bit hairy for a LOT of riders, including the leaders.

EDIT:  I just realized that 1-2" of rain translates to more than a foot of snow...yeow!!!  Let's hope temps stay warm enough at height so that doesn't happen.

I'm pretty sure the TD is going to go into Fernie every year now.

Thanks for the video stream Kathy, neato!

I looked at the addenda for the Adventure Cycling maps over the weekend to see if they made mention of the bridge, and the one bridge on-route in the Flathead is a PERMANENT removal, not to be rebuilt.  I believe ACA is leaving their official route alone and just noting the change.

Here's the exact text:
(Sep 2016) The bridges at mile 60.1(96.7) and 61.1(98.3) will be replaced during the summer of 2017.
(Sep 2016) At mile 70.5(113.4), the Pollock bridge over the Flahead River will not be replaced. The river is easily fordable except during run-off which occurs during May to mid-June (in a typical year).

Because the TD runs in early June (during snow-melt), I'm guessing 2016 is the last year for Flathead Pass, and the route will indeed use the Fernie-to-Harvey-Pass-to-Cabin-Pass route.

I suppose whether or not Koko Claims remains is TBD.  I bet businesses in Elkford and Sparwood would like it left out.  But the comments on MTBCast are unanimous in the brutality of that section.

And the duck is looking dapper as usual.  Go Josh!!

Just curious, where in the route is "the wall"? Following a friend's progress and wondering if he's past it yet.

Using just my words...

The route follows the Wigwam Forest Service Road until it turns left to actually cross the Wigwam River.  At this point, the route turns right, leaves the road, and goes into what looks like the woods.  It's actually a trail that goes for a half mile or so...and then there's The Wall.  One climbs The Wall, continues for another half mile or so, and then comes out onto another road...the one that goes toward Galton Pass, the descent off Conner Road, and the final run to the US border.

I studied the route for a LONG time before I figured out where it was.  It took detailed descriptions from Dave Hoswell, Jill Homer, and a little help from Google Earth before I finally figured it out.

#TourDivide17 Peter Kraft called in from Fernie and NOBO Larry Hipskind called in to say he is OUT!

http://mtbcast.com/site2/category/td17/

Holy Toledo!!  I just listened to Larry's call...a 76-year-old marvel for even attempting this.  Fantastic!!!

Morning light in Whitefish (according to the webcams) reveals lots of clouds.  There is no precipitation in the area right now, but there was some rain/snow mix in the Richmond Peak area last night.  It didn't appear to fall directly on the route, but I didn't watch the entire evening.

I'm guessing we'll know the initial conditions of that section sometime today.

Lael Wilcox's ITT dot leads the riders by ~40 miles.  Mike Hall's spirit looks to be about 100 miles out...I think it's pretty safe to say his record will stand for this year.

I wonder which Red Meadows Pass will turn out this year. The picturesque 2015 version or its 2014 evil twin..

Based on Ben Steurbaut's dots, I'm guessing Red Meadow Pass might look a little like the 2014 version.

It appears Greg got over (I think that's) Harvey Pass without too much fuss.  We'll see what Cabin and Galton bring...

By my count. ~31 racers opted for an off-route Elkford night's sleep.  I wonder what the folks who run the motel complex are thinking?  Last year they were flooded with riders.  Sparwood of course, will see no one this year.

I'm guessing the businesses in both Elkford and Sparwood will campaign pretty hard to get the bridge repaired ASAP.

Anyways, in bigger news, there's a roller derby tournament in Fernie today starting at 9am.  I can't believe the leaders are passing that up!

https://fernie.com/events/snow-valley-slam-derby-tourney/

Thanks for the link to the webcams. It looks a bit wet there this morning.

Good luck to all of the racers and enjoy the journey! I am sitting at home itching to be there for the start - damn, this TD gets under your skin! I know what I will be doing the next 3 weeks or so...

I checked the webcams a couple minutes ago and saw 3 cyclists in full gear headed toward the Fairmont...it's almost go-time!!

There's probably too much snow to really attack Mike Hall's time (to say nothing of an additional 18 miles added to the route), but the challenge will be greater.

What were you doing when you were 68?

Hal Russell is skipping the TD this year to run the American Trail Race 2017:
http://trackleaders.com/americantrail17i.php?name=Hal_Russell

Go Hal !

And his calls into MTB Cast are still full of positive words and good stuff.  He's one of the most entertaining riders to follow.

If you want to look around Banff - and maybe spot your favorite rider or check the conditions - here are (at least some of) the webcams of the town...updated every five minutes.

http://banffmaps.ca/trafficcams/

So far I've seen one cyclist...on a road bike, so I doubt he's part of the Tour.

I wonder if Jen Marsh is the first casualty of the ATR (is that how we abbreviate it?)...either that or her SPOT stopped working some time ago.  Dylan Taylor and Indiana Schulz are setting a blistering pace so far.

I have said numerous times I would never race the route again, but man, the draw keeps getting stronger...

Hehehe...when you presented to us at the Des Moines Cycle Club meeting, you said that as well...one and done.  But I've never ridden any portion of the route and I know how much I've thought about it, pored over the maps, read and re-read the accounts, etc.  It only stands to reason that the "virus" stays in those of you that HAVE ridden it, waiting to re-germinate.

I hope you do ride it again...

LR,
Looks to be my error.  I went in 2013 and was comparing it to that route. In 2013 the route stayed on 26 a little longer and turned off on Union pass road.  The newer version appears to turn off earlier on Warm Springs Creek road and the two routes(new & old) come together at the top where the newer route comes into Union pass Road.
Sorry for the confusion, but what did you expect, I am from Florida. 

Hehehe...that's what happens when you follow a year-over-year race on a route that changes a little year-over-year.  The route over Union Pass now includes (I believe) a bit of the CDT as well as the Devil's Gulch Trail.

Great stuff, and I hope to someday ride it myself!

Yeah, a quick glance at my 2015 and 2016 GPXs leads me to believe the Union Pass route hasn't changed this year.  I'll look at it more closely when I update my Day 1 / Day 2 maps for the Flathead Pass bypass.

The Togwotee Lodge webcam seemed to show pretty good snow melt, but it only shows a very limited view.

http://www.togwoteelodge.com/webcam/

And they're off!!...Well, they got started a few hours ago.  All the best to all of them.  Ride safely.  Between this race, the Trans Am, and the Tour Divide, I'm not going to get much done the next month or so.

It truly might be worth carrying them for the first 100 miles.

This might be the video mentioned in an earlier post...not sure:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13mHVUCYtSc
NOTE: There is at least one naughty word in this video...

After seeing the re-route, if I were participating this year I would definitely agree with you.