Well, while things are deep underneath snow in the north, there's an enormous blaze in the Gila NF ~5 miles west of the GDMBR 25 miles north of Silver City.

Yep, the Conti Divide has become a real poster child for the extremes of today. Uncontrolled development / mining / water export, pestilence, climate mania, emigration issues, land disputes, species endangerment, you name it. The only thing we haven't really seen come to fruition is the (predicted) locust swarms.

The cute irony of the Miller Fire is it (for now) forces all adventure cyclists to use the new official ACA alternate (CDT) deemed too hairy to be the main ACA route without proper vetting by bob-tugging tourists. Well, here's their chance.

Comprehensive NM Fire blog here: http://nmfireinfo.wordpress.com/

Where were the worst mud sections?

Russ, as a NoBo, with regards to MT (which is the mud these guys are generally remembering from past low pressure-dominated editions of TD) would be Red Rocks Pass (ID/MT border) north to Bannack, MT (a.k.a. Thunderstorm Alley). And then I would say Priest Pass (north of Helena) to Lincoln can also be bad with tons of rain.

My guess is none of this will be an issue for you. You'll likely be out of NM before monsoons arrive and not yet to MT for snowpack run-off peak.

I was thinking of packing it up and shipping it to Banff, then getting a plane ride to Calgary and renting a car to Banff.  This is a tentative plan that I haven't actually worked out yet. I've got a room in Banff for the night of the 9th, before the grand depart.

How's everybody else doing it, though?  Since this is all new to me I am completely open for suggestions.

http://tourdivide.org --> about --> rider resources --> start / finish travel Info

Find this info in the above links, but Do NOT ship your bike and Banff Airporter is the preferred Shuttle svc. Please be green(er)--don't rent a car unless you can fill it with other starters.

I guess the 27/31 day limit is too simple to define such a complex thing as competitive 'racing' on the Divide, but that's the nature of a limit - it's just a simple ball-park figure.

These 'conventions' are an interesting sub-topic for discussion. FWIW, the TD method is borrowed from Grand Tour road racing where 'competitive' is defined by your peers; as finishing within a (sliding) percentage of the winner's time. The harder the stage (as judged by commissaries), the higher the finish-time 'overage' afforded the blunt end of the race. Yep it's ball-park alright for the GDMBR. For now, 'difficulty of the stage' subjectivity is applied not to the course cuz that's mostly static, it's applied to the (perceived) strength of the course record. The closer that gets to what is believed to be 'humanly possible', the more those percentages will inch up...and yes, it's confounding to use the term 'humanly possible', but hey...it's what people relate to. The fact that the men's percentage is higher (50% as opposed to 30% for women) simply indicates that women's Divide racing is a bit less evolved (for now).

Of all the comparisons, I rather like the simple aggregate GC (thru the years). No mention of course conditions that year, age, kit weight, etc. I look forward to the day the data set is 10-fold.

The water in the flathead reroute will probably be pretty high, and/or covered in snow.  The other stream crossing is between Steamboat and Kremmling.  I can't think of any more.

Washed out bridges will probably be a bigger pain.

There will not be any washed out bridges, people, unless there are major rains on top of snowpack. Get a hold of yourselves on all this gloom n' doom talk. Just go ride your bikes, for now. TD has scouts on the ground on every pass that might be a problem. We will be making very informed, experienced judgments about the appropriate route come 6/10. The only ford of concern is high up in the Flathead headwaters. The Flathead is currently projected to peak at the US border on 5/25. Assuming these projections remain true, that puts all the tribs on the southern aspect of Flathead Pass well past peak by the time TD challengers arrive--assuming TD does run the Flathead.

Now about that route into Silver City, are we supposed to be coming in from the North or from the East?

From the North on the CDT.
Way, way up thread I posted links to Gmaps of the three bigger route changes on the drawing board for 2011. See post here: http://www.bikepacking.net/forum/index.php/topic,929.msg17016.html#msg17016 Only the Gila change (change #3 in post) is required by all TD challengers. It is provisionally listed on the new ACA map as the 'alternate' route until ACA can collect enough feedback from BoB users, but regardless of how that pans out, it will be the TD line heretofore. The Gold Dust Trail (#2) will be for SoBo only, and the Wise River, MT section (perhaps the most expansive /interesting revision of all) will have to wait until after Casey Greene (ACA) can spend more time engineering a sweet route. Check the Gmaps for comparison to your ACA map that appears to be in error. I have not rec'd mine yet so I can't comment on this but I'm sure Casey will remark on it ASAP.

Ah, gotcha'.  Sorry Bro . . . I had no idea about your new little one.

No Worries! I'm just glad I'm not trying to organize and race this year. Before Alma arrived I struggled a lot with the inevitability of sitting this edition out, but now that she's here and the sleep dep is on, it makes it easier. That...and my form is terrible.

Congratulations, Daddy!  What's the new addition's name?  If you haven't named him/her yet I suggest Velveeta for a girl or Bubba for a boy.

Bob

Alma Francis Lee; inspiration from 'Alma Brown', Hud 1963

They'd printed off the section 5 changes and included them, the section 3 changes are here:
http://www.adventurecycling.org/routes/addenda2.cfm?id=213220278&rt=Great Divide

Definitely going to give them a call tomorrow  and point out that policy Bob.

TD would like to softly suggest you go a little easy on ACA when you phone them. They are used to serving a clientele with a more casual touring bent, not so dependent on utter cue currency (as our ultra forum is). In fact, getting lost is sometimes a bonus when you're touring

[Cadet Bryant]

Is Matthew Lee returning anyone's emails out there?  I've sent him three emails--the first one a week ago--and he won't respond . . . Anyone else not hearing from him, or is it just me?
-Cadet Bryant

Yes, Cadet welcome to the club. There are quite a few new members of late. I'll get to your SPOT questions as i unbury. Please don't take offense. We have a three-week old new baby at home / have been out of town on/off since last Wednesday.

Tour Dividians--Sorry for the indecision regarding the GPX track, but the snowpack up North is severe enough the Grand Depart might be forced to consider the original CA route (now the 'Fernie alternate') around the Flathead. This will be a big disappointment for record-seekers, but it's a real possibility. Only yesterday did the ridge of high pressure (warming trend) we've been waiting for build in up North. Trend is slated to last for up to two weeks, so we *hope* the normal route will be a go, but it's hard to say as of today. Certainly there will be an emphasis on Kurt's use of the word 'adventure' for 2011.

Challengers can expect at least a similar scenario to the past 3 TD editions on: Galton Pass, Whitefish Divide, Red Meadow Pass, Richmond Peak and Togwotee Pass; possibly even snow patches on Flagg Ranch Rd if things don't warm up soon in Yellowstone. Factoid: Parts of the Flathead rec'd more snow (SWE) in the month of April than Dec-March combined. Pretty biblical. This map says it all: http://ftp://ftp.wcc.nrcs.usda.gov/support/water/westwide/snowpack/wy2011/difsnow0511.gif TD's brilliant attack on the Divide's beautiful/dynamic 'shoulder-season' hasn't looked so brilliant the past few unusually late Springs, but I still maintain that over the decades, it's the ultimate race window. Of course, insult to post-holing knee-injury is the fact that Monsoons (perhaps worse?) have simultaneously arrived early in NM. Sometimes it's hard to win on the GDMBR unless you want to forgo 60-min/day of daylight and give`r in mid-August. I guess we'll see how that goes (in earnest) when former GDR record-holder JayP gives it a whirl for the third feather in his NoIdleTour cap.

Alternates Clarification: The first two legal alternates (listed above) are optional (although the de facto 'race-line'). The third legal alternate is (bidirectionally) mandatory. I'll reword it in the rules shortly. It is mandatory b/c it will likely only be an alternate for one (provisional) year...until ACA gets feedback from Bob-pulling tourists that it's good-to-go as the main line for all.

GPX: Russ, there will be a NoBo and a SoBo version provided so that you needn't worry about making any edits.
Karlos, as a NoBo you are more than welcome to sniff (er, hike) a little Gold Dust, but it will not be required (or recommended). -->NoBo, it's ~2.5k of gain in 8mi

If you are on the TD start lists you'll be getting correspondence on these matters shortly.

Matthew,  any updates on the changes for this years route?

Bruce

Bruce, not yet. I am not inclined to give thumbs-up on cues for the Gila section (the only reroute you, as a NoBo, are concerned with) until they've been vetted by aca, anyway (April).

Regarding your water info for the Sapillo spigot (on Gila reroute), i think your source might have been slightly misinformed. What i was told is that it was not producing the flow they had hoped, and they were going to revisit the well later in the spring. Perhaps low flow = contaminated water, but not sure. The water alternative (which will be much more of an issue for SoBos) is to go 1.5 mi SW on Hwy 35 to a store/lodge to resupply. For SoBos this will be a strategic scenario as it is ~2.5hrs to water in Pinos Altos and the off-route re-up will cost / save 45min of riding.

Yes it is Jake's bike. My buddy George just built his TD wheels for it.
http://bike29.com/ride29er/?p=4616

Man, with TD rookies Dejay (SS National champ) & Jake pushing Aidan, there could be some impressive SS finish times. Paging Dave Harris (also SS National champ)?

On a related note, I met Mcmurve at NAHBS and had a great time talking TDR.

I now see Vance is going to be tough in the intra-TD Beard-growing classification. Not sure if he can beat Kurt R., but we'll see...

http://www.bikerumor.com/2011/03/03/black-sheeps-full-custom-continental-divide-racer-wins-nahbs-best-offroad-prize/

sickness! i think i know who it belongs to but i need to confirm. (a certain colorado LOI makes reference to an unspecified custom jobby)

Greetings!
Russ here from Berkeley, CA.  After a 4-year dissertation delay, I'm officially committed (although still undecided about whether I'm going northbound or southbound).  Woohoo!
Looking forward to meeting everyone.
Cheers,
russ

Welcome to your post-doc Russ! We look forward to a TD write-up from a cognitive scientist. Perhaps you ought race Sobo, just for all the fodder.

WTB Nano Raptor has won 7 out of 9 editions of Divide racing, and been runner-up in many of those years too...if that might be considered an endorsement.

Does anyone have a link to snow depth (current and historical) for the passes in Montana and Colorado?

There is an obscure but extensive weather section at TD Home > About > Rider Resources > Route Weather Info

So far Colorado hasn't been a problem by the time southbound challengers get there. The worst ever was a few hundred meters hiking across deep slush atop Sand Mtn (FR 42 N. of Steamboat).

Historical culprit passes are Galton, Red Meadow, Richmond Peak, Grassy Lake (Flagg Ranch Rd), and Togwotee. (linked snowtel stations are loose correlations)

The March `11 snowpack data have been released by NOAA. They are definitely in contrast to lower-snow years like `04 `05, `06 and `07. The key is what happens March-May. Spring snowfall + an earlier / later warm-up can have a + / - 50% impact (make or break) on route speed thru problem passes. As the Jan-to-Feb, and Feb-to-March snowpack differential maps show, Jan/Feb `11 snow in Flathead Valley + along the Eastern Divide nr. Helena, MT was good; South-central Colorado, too, but elsewhere, what's on the ground now has been there since the big Nov./Dec. storms.

Time will tell. Diurnal T-storms (which can be made worse by high snowpack) have far broader effect on riding conditions than snow. Prolonged mud doesn't come from snow. Riders should pray for no dew at night (especially along the west side of the Divide) and they'll be in good shape. Dew at night, Divide racer's fright.

If we have our own SPOT device, can it be used for the TD?  I would believe that ESN number can be added to whatever is used for the TD website.....

Normally the answer to this question is 'No, SPOTs must all be on the same account to be viewable on the same map', however, Scott Morris from Trackleaders.com has some crack code that makes this merge possible. You will be provided a link soon that will walk you thru the private SPOT info submission process.

pretty smooth sailing for us northbounders?  that section of pavement "wont" be missed by me

Oh yeah. A swank downhill for sure. Your concern will be too much heat in the corners, crashing out at mile 130 into the race.