Good luck, Jill! The forecast looks pretty dang hot, but in reality, it probably won't be more than 5-10 degrees warmer than during the AZT300 in April. I hope the rocks and thorns are more friendly to your tires this time around!

I'm only asking because I will be traveling sans computer/electronics and I therefore will not be able to change any tracks in my GPS once I leave for Banff.

Don't forget that it's possible to upload tracks for the 'official' TD course and potentially permissible alternates ahead of time...then you're covered either way.

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. This fire has apparently been burning for more than 2 weeks, has scorched 70,000+ acres, and is only ~40% contained. Fortunately, it looks like fire crews have established a good line preventing the fire from moving farther east toward the route. Cross your fingers that there aren't more of these infernos as a result of the dry winter/spring down there.

http://inciweb.org/incident/2207

Seriously though, my worst mud was on Togwotee Pass. I've never seen anything like it. Grown men cried, Italians cheated, others gave up on Togwatee in 2009. It was a freak show.

I'm laughing pretty hard sitting here having just read that. Chris Plesko and I worked our way through that mud and snow starting at sunset, contemplated bivying, decided 30 degrees was too cold for sleeping, pushed on, marveled at Matthew's tracks covered by grizz tracks covered by black bear tracks, and eventually made it through to the plowed road. Perhaps this year's snow will be so deep that there won't be any mud on the pass, though...just snow! East of the lodge, it'll be plowed.

I was surprised to see the Bedrock Store closed and for sale.

It's been for sale for a few years now...sad to hear the shelves are also empty, though. I guess it's time to revert to the official Paradox Trail and not bother dropping into the Paradox Valley - no point if resupply isn't an option and the water is too contaminated to drink!

Kurt-Are you moving to flagstaff?

Not quite...Prescott.

Count me in for a through-ride effort next May. Hopefully by then I'll be able to see part of the course from my house!

Enjoy the new bike, Eric, and good luck, Dave!

Don't forget about snow on Union Pass. There's a TON of snow in the NW Wind Rivers from the sounds of it, and we even pushed through deep snow drifts in the Great Divide Basin this past weekend. That'll be gone in a week, but Union Pass could be problematic as well.

Union Pass webcam:
http://webcam.rangefamily.net/~snokater/

Togwatee Mtn Lodge webcam:
http://www.togwoteelodge.com/webcam.aspx

Yup, that's the good word from Matthew for the 2011 adventure...no other additions, no other legal alternates, and no other exciting singletrack has been mentioned.

Re ACA-designated alternates: Read the rules on the TD page - it's clearly explained there after a recent update.

------------
Challengers must always ride 100% of the 'main' ACA Great Divide Route as defined by the most current edition of the ACA maps. Previous map editions may not be used unless updated with the most current ACA Addenda.

Alternates: At times along the GDMBR, ACA maps provide cues for 'Alternate Routes'. No ACA Alternates to the main route can be used with the exception of the following THREE in NM:

   1. The 116-mile section between Cuba and Grants, New Mexico. The main route is impassable, potentially dangerous when wet, so racers have the option to follow the alternate paved route.
   2. The 40-mile section between Grants and the Pie Town road, through El Malpais National Monument. Zuni Canyon (main route south of Grants) is commonly closed for fire danger.
   3. The ~12-mile section of Continental Divide NST between Sapillo Campground on NM Hwy 35 and NM 15 (just North of Pinos Altos / Silver City) Item 3 FAQs
------------

Then there also will be the Gold Dust trail added for SoBo'ers off the east side of Boreas Pass...that'll be in the GPX file.

Despite how good the SNOTEL graph looks at first glance, based on what I saw in 2008, 3-4 weeks are probably required from the time the snow depth at Columbine Pass hits zero to when the singletrack at the top is mostly free of snow. Anyone else with observations of this, feel free to chime in. I think DaveH gave it a go in mid-May in 2007 and got shut down by deep snow up high, and 2 weeks later he tried again and smoked the thing without any snow problems...that year Columbine Pass melted out on April 29 according to the SNOTEL data.

Brush mountain ranch posted some pics on facebook.  Definitely a fair amount of snow.

That's nothin' compared to what's up above on Watershed Divide!

Those dang porcupines better not launch aerial attacks on me out of the bushes like they did a couple years ago. Beware of those pointy little guys...

There's a shop in Boulder called Tom's Sportique Eyewear that can make custom lenses for virtually any sunglasses frame that wraps entirely around the lens for somewhere in the neighborhood of $150. They've made a couple pairs for my Rudy Project Ekynox SX frames, and they've been fantastic. They can also adjust the tinting a after the lenses have been made to lighten or darken the lens to precisely the level you desire. I'm not sure if there are other shops around that can do this, but it provides a nice alternative option to the $400 Oakley RX models.

I picked up a "used" (never actually used, though!) Brother CS-6000i on CL. It's worked well, though it doesn't have enough power to get through more than 3 layers of thick nylon webbing. Most of the time I use thread equivalent in thickness to Gutemann Extra Strong or slightly thicker, and this seems to be at the limit of what the machine can handle. Because of this, I usually sew thicker fabrics with the thread tension cranked all the way up to minimize the tangling (I think the technical term is birdnesting) of the thread on the backside of the fabric during backstitching. It also has some problems with insufficient tension on the bobbin thread, and it doesn't seem like this is adjustable. So if I was sewing things that I wanted to have beautiful seams on both sides, I'd be annoyed, but for outdoor gear, it's doing just what I wanted. Just make sure you always have a very sharp, heavy-duty needle. An 18/110 seems to work well for me, but it leaves slightly larger holes than you might want for thinner fabrics.

That's the advice I can provide...I don't claim to know much of anything about sewing, but I've muddled my way through a few bags so far, and they've come out better than I thought they would.

First he's got to get across that last series of drainages between him and that awesome descent. They kicked my butt, but all the switchbacks through the flower-filled meadow more than made up for it! Hopefully Max gets rewarded with those same wildflowers. He'll be grinning for hours if he does! He'll probably be grinning for hours even if he doesn't given his adventure!

After crawling out of the canyon, I was very happy to have some highway miles to ride the following morning, and even more happy that I could eat two breakfasts in Jacob Lake since all I had left for food when I awoke was a bag of horrendous mustard-flavored pretzels. Max seems to have planned out the food far better than I did from the sounds of it, though. He's put in quite an impressive ride...can't wait to hear more about it. Hopefully the dinners at Jacob Lake are just as good as the breakfasts!

If much of the singletrack is too snowy to ride, he could well finish tonight!! Go Max go!

Toby, I'm not sure why you're taking such offense at some of these comments. I don't think anyone has implied in any way that anyone who has shown up for the TD in the past has diminished the event. The Mountain Turtle was indeed inspiring, putting in long days, short nights, and racing just like almost everyone else. And like I stated, none of the problems I myself foresee with the dramatic growth of the event have even occurred yet! But given a number of inquiries I, as well as a handful of other veteran TD and ultra racers, have received, the Ride the Divide film really did inspire a new crop of TD-hopefuls, some of whom have never ridden appreciably in their lives. That being said, there's absolutely no reason in the world to discourage such individuals from taking on the TD, but I think it's of paramount importance to convey to them just how important it is to be as prepared as possible. If 200 riders showed up in Banff, all having put in big training hours and done all their route/gear/bike repair homework and all ready to push themselves as hard as they can (at whatever speed that might be), the route sure would be crowded and there would be some problems associated with that, but it wouldn't diminish the event in the slightest, and I'd be excited to watch the show.

Perhaps my mind is clouded by my, uh, "really hairy balls" as Toby so elegantly put it, but I don't see anything inappropriate about impressing upon potential TD racers what they are in for and to consider putting off the race for a year in order to sufficiently prepare, especially in coming years given concerns over the size of the traditional group start. I don't think its fair to those that are truly ready for the challenge to necessarily be forced to deal with a potentially less exciting group start format to accommodate a growing number of unprepared participants. I'll extract myself from this polarized discussion since I've stated my opinion on the matter. I'll close with a quote from the TD website, but take it with a grain of salt...Matthew mooned me in Silver City a couple years ago after he had won the 2009 race and I was nearing the finish, and his backside was pretty damn hairy.

"Many wonder if they're capable of such a true solo blitz. At some point there's an inevitable leap of faith into grand tour racing. One thing is for certain: 2-3 weeks of back-to-back 16-18 hour days in the saddle are certain to bring about changes in body, mind and equipment of even the world's most seasoned ultra-endurance althlete. Are you the type to roll easily with this painful transformation? How well do you suffer for days on end? Are you prone to depression? Can you be happy sleeping in the dirt as it rains all night? Does post-holing through thigh-deep snowdrifts over a 10,000-ft pass sound like fun? A robust Rockies winter + late spring can leave behind just such mid-June diversion on the GDMBR.

It's easy to be attracted to the romance and camaraderie of a 'shared' cross-country MTB adventure. The rugged Divide backcountry is not the place to learn solo 'racing' is not your speed or style. Are you a seasoned multi-day bikepacker? Have you ridden back-to-back off-road centuries? Are you an expert level mountain biker? Are you a veteran of Primal Quest-scale multi-day adventure races? Are you a proficient bike mechanic; skilled navigator; competent at self-rescue? If you cannot confidently answer yes to most of the above, it would be wise to consider simply touring the route or taking more time to prepare for a true blitz."

Camping is only allowed in official campsites in the Grand Canyon along the Kaibab and Bright Angel trails and at Phantom Ranch, and a permit is required for any of these campsites. So that means racers can either wait for the Backcountry Office to open to get a permit, gamble and buy one in advance, or knock out the full portage in one painful swoop.

Toby, I'm not sure I'd say anyone shouldn't have started in 2010. While I hate to see riders throw in the towel early, I don't see any harm in anyone joining the group start as long as they don't have any negative impact on the rest of the field. I also forthcomingly acknowledge that riders can learn more from failure than success. It's not until the field grows past some critical size that I think any negative impacts will occur, and that's when riders need to really question whether or not they are sufficiently prepared to join in the group start.