The team has one thing in common! Blame stefan and scott. http://bandwagonracing.com/
The site will eventually have some useful bikepacking and ultra info.

Dude, just sayin', but that's a road bike on your home page.

music, movies, and maybe quotes?      
Try this out for size: “You can motivate by fear. And you can motivate by reward. But both of these methods are only temporary. The only lasting thing is self-motivation.”  (Homer Rice)  
I'm motivated and we'll just have to wait till june to find out what kind of motivation it is.

Hey! that's an apropos quote. Rice served as AD of my alma mater UNC-Chapel Hill for a spell. Among other things, he was known as, "No micro-manager", so it's perfect that TD should take a quote from such a personality. No one in need of micro-management need race the Divide. You might just see that quote on TD.org someday.

Regarding quotations, here's a good one (not that i subscribe): "I hate quotations. Tell me what you know". -- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Regarding motivation, the question is, how well do you suffer for days on end, and how might that temper your motivation? For some, they feed on pain. For most, it's a game-changer.

Thinking about this for 2011. 
http://www.target.com/gp/detail.html/177-8614629-7016048?asin=B0026WQ72A&AFID=Froogle_df&LNM=|B0026WQ72A&CPNG=sports&ci_src=17588969&ci_sku=B0026WQ72A&ref=tgt_adv_XSG10001 
24 is the new 29!

There used to be a pic of that bike in the TD photo gallery. I'll just say (of the bike), its reputation 'supercedes' itself.

I Love the link's review from 'MN Lady':
"I imagine the gears would be difficult to change if you had creepy little sausage fingers or something, so that is something to consider. Sausage fingers - keep away from this bike! May I recommend a copy of Twilight and some Pepperidge Farm cookies instead?"

Where exactly is going to be the half way point for 2011? Might be more interesting if there are groups starting from both sides (and if there is a big peloton in Banff, I would start at AW). Must be around Rawlings, but my trail maps are pretty old (well before there was a TourDivide).

If there's ever to be a prime for racing to the middle, more than just miles will have to determine where that might be, as the GDMBR is backloaded with pavement, higher average speeds.

It may well be that (approx.) Atlantic City or even Boulder (on the north side of the basin) would make a more reasonable center. We'll have to look at splits data.

Hey yeah, can't blame him, seems pointless sometimes.

It might seem that way if you don't match racing miles with quality non-racing (bikepacking) miles. In the end, racing exists mostly just for ceremony to honor the tourista/commuter/explorer at the heart of our dirty wanderlust.

Something tells me Kent will be back one day. For `11, i think his program is more about dedicating that time away to touring part of the route with his wife than it is about 'giving up racing'.

Singletrack is always a welcome site, but to have to ride it when fatigued and conditioned to dirt roads sparks this little ember of of anxiety in the pit of my belly.

Rob, having raced with you at TNGA, you have nothing to worry about. Besides, NM fire roads are notoriously rough; especially Rocky canyon immediately preceding the Sapillo (new CDT singletrack). You'll be conditioned.

One of TD's long term missions is to (where available) thoughtfully replace sections of GDMBR pavement with quality fire road, and/or small sections of fire road with not-too-arduous singletrack (Wigwam River/Galton Pass, Canada bushwhack notwithstanding). And preferably on the CDT. Fortunately ACA trusts in our years of collective route knowledge, is happy to let us evolve the route so long as we don't get crazy with it.

On the horizon: Gold Dust Trail off Boreas Pass (Breckenridge) into Como, Colorado. It trades ~10mi of Boreas Pass railroad grade downhill for 8mi of legendary downhill singletrack.
Here's one description for the curious: I Found Gold

The only twist with Gold Dust is it's not great bidirectionally (drops nearly 2k); probably for Southbounders only, not required of Northbounders--which seems fine as long as challengers are consistent about it. See reroute map here

Above: One of several high-speed 'flume trail' sections of GD. Below: Aspen glade, edge of Como

Special thanks to Alma, CO (local) Josh Tostado for this reroute suggestion.

Is that 7 extra miles of singletrack or 7 miles of tail that are now on singletrack? A whole 7 extra miles might be the deal breaker!

new route is actually 1 mi shorter but now includes a campground with water at 5mi., singletrack cdt begins there, and contours/climbs for 7mi in typical Gila terrain. it's classic imba-style bench cut with only 2 hike-a-bikes (for tired bikepackers). this dumps you out on a fireroad (the only mud potential), which carries you up to NM15 (the tour of the Gila race course), over old mining outpost Pinos Altos, and downhill 7mi of pave into Silver. It's much improved to Hwy 180. folks should love it.

For the future, there are also 40+mi of additional singletrack cdt coming into Silver should we want more.

here's the reroute map" http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=106704007933562457636.000492ee51f197e39cf1c&t=h&z=10

Imo if you plan on racing the 2011 TDR the sooner you get the maps the better. 

Sorry to put a damper on prospective TD`11 challengers' autumn map parties but aca does plan to redo several of the GDMBR maps in the spring.

I only know details of two of the changes; one that won't affect racers (cuba to grants main route), and one in the gila NF that will. these changes *may* be available in electronic form a bit earlier than in map form--not sure. it would be considerate of aca to publish a tentative revisions schedule for all its maps, but perhaps they have enough on their plate already.

note: the gila NF revision is compliments of the TD mapping dept., and includes 7 new miles of delicious cdt singletrack on the way into silver city. woot!

Props to everyone for making it...I hope you are all enjoying a shower, pizza, warm bed and above all.....drinking an IPA. TroyM and I are drinking to Coconino Riders tonight....salud!

Yuri, you mind drinking one tonight also?

Hey ML here in Flag, joining the IPA club from the budget inn, (nearly empty) large pizza box on the bed. Cheers to ya--and Yuri, for the PBR in Oak Creek.

Dang.
Sweet loop. Big props to Chad and Scott for putting it together.

Chad, props to you for your ITT of this route in june. I just experienced first-hand 'what you did last summer'. `Tis a burly loop.

I thought for a while like it might be possible to do it faster but things started to come unraveled for me when i double-flatted coming down Bill Williams trail. There's a heinous little deciduous thorn bush flourishing on that mtn that will puncture tires, but then eventually the thorns can eject, leaving behind holes small enough for stans--no problem--but only if your tires are topped-off well enough to keep plugging `em. Alas, my reserves were apparently low. My front, almost dry when i put a tube in.

Yep, losing my stan's protection in thorn country got me a bit frazzled, but i'd have to say my under-estimation of the difficulty of riding the final stage in the dark was my real undoing. By the time i got to the (unnamed) trail off the Snow Bowl road (leading into Shultz creek), i had no stomach for, or forearm strength to style those boulder gardens on an HT in the dark. I felt like a pinball. The incessant dabbing, dismounting and kaleidoscope of shadows was just too much. I folded. Also (retro a bit) maybe it was just me losing my grip, but i swear i was going in circles on the Wing Mountain moto trail! Anyway, by the time i finished i was a sorry excuse for a mountain biker, yet pretty psyched to have survived the Coco-loco. I'm ready to come back and do it again! I would start 30min b/f sunrise instead of 8am, closer to solstice than equinox, and do my darnedest to get most of the way through the Lime Kiln trail into Cottonwood b/f darkness day 1. Lime kiln route finding for an out-of-towner was quite hard to follow at night. At times it was nothing more than a faint cow trail. Those kind of tweaks (and lots of good luck) would (hopefully) amount to a 36hour finish. That's the carrot with this loop, anyway...me thinks.
 
To the blue dot junkies: Sorry about my SPOT conking out before the end. I reset it on Mingus (how `bout *that* mountain!) at 2 am or so, and never pulled it out of the h-bar bag pouch till the end--it was powered off. From the tracker data, the batteries must have been jarred loose on that real MF of an MTB trail called Sycamore Rim (pronounced sick-of-more--cuz that's where one's head is at by this point). I've never seen that happen to a SPOT before, so perhaps it's a real testament to Sycamore. I flatted again there, and began to really curse the course designers at that point. The very narrow track between the boulders was muddy, making preloading and restarting post dabs/dismounts a bitch. I was quite happy to see the east end of it.

All-in-all good times, and i'm glad i made the trek. 250-350 mile events are lots of fun; all the pain and suffering of longer events without the hassle of sleeping.

What is the correct length for the newer Canadian section? The TourDivide.org splitchart says its 263 miles to the border, yet the distance to AW is 2796 miles. I thought the US section was 2490 miles, not 2796-263=2533 miles?

Alex, the honest truth is figures are a bit mixed up and the sum so dang long no one has yet to properly split hairs on the matter.

There's GPS miles, and there's ACA route (map) miles, with not much (serious) reconciliation betwixt the two. ACA says Canada is now 254 miles (with the Flathead addition). I have not clocked it (on the ground) myself, and would appreciate hearing from any 2010 riders as to what their speedos read at Port of Roosville.

If i'm not mistaken, the split chart overall distance incorporates a slight addition from new bike path in Steamboat + math from the two alternates (usually raced) in NM. The first alt is 1 mile longer than the main route and the second alt is 17 or 18mi shorter.

If you take the main route border to border length (US-only), which is 2493 (+3 mile for `07 Ovando, MT reroute) then add 254, and subtract 17, you get about 2730. Since neither the main route or the alternates in NM are compulsory, it's a bit of a head-scratcher as to what figure to publish on the TD home page. In the end we erred on the side of listing the main route figure and rounding down 1mi to call it a clean 2745.

Scott Morris generously helped TD with the split chart and based some of his 2010 (re)calculations off Chris Plesko's `09 GPS track. He may have a comment on GPS miles vs. map miles in Canada and what, if any, adjustments he may have applied there or elsewhere on course.

Has there been anything further said regarding the cap on riders that Parks Canada had mentioned (59)?  The idea of S to N sounds interesting, as the thought of trying to escape AW seems a bit daunting.

Nothing further said or determined. The discussed cap number (49) is rooted in a definition of what parks canada considers a maximum acceptable 'group ride' size. Look to Winter Solstice (12/21) as the unofficial release for 2011 TD plans, but if you must carve out your details before then, use the TD contact form to get your dialog rolling.

Northbounding is always encouraged under the ITTD premise, regardless of what southbounders are up to. Scott Morris has held the northbound record way too long! It would be good for divide racing to see it challenged, and a concurrent start with the grand depart would be neat.

Did John ride the Titus 26" FS this time? I rode the same bike on tour this year and it seemed fine with full lock out capabilities. I am considering a 29" Hard tail for 2011 but is it worth the cost?

John did ride his Titus. He's an engineer and says he's done some of his own study on wheel size. His opinion re. the GDMBR is that if it's hard and fast, a 29er offers advantages. If it's soft and muddy, he feels those are negated.

I have personally chosen a hardtail (HT) for the GDMBR due to all the long smooth climbing out there. As I ride into Divide racing form, my style morphs to incorporate lots of sustained, out of the saddle climbing. This style has merits in a grand Tour-scale effort but is better suited to an HT. So, if I am going HT, I am going 29er, no matter what the slight mechanical advantage/disadvantage may be. It's just softer on the body --especially for washboarding and emedded river rock-style pave. There's also the rear shock failure question. Sometimes it happens. you're kind of screwed then unless you carry one of these: http://www.topeak.com/products/Mini-Pumps/PropShock

...talk about legendary

From Bicycle Rider Mag 1985

Dang!

John strategizes exit locations based on nearby airports, and Island Park is reasonably close to Idaho Falls.
Seems tomorrow is the crux day. Send out good vibes!

Sending good vibes...

Shoot...I have been very (perhaps overly) optimistic that a record-breaking ride by John can only be good for the TD storyline. Perhaps that's selfish and John's knee is what's most important. FWIW, Lima, where John stopped last night, is the easiest location to get to Idaho Falls. It's directly over Monida Pass on the 15. Yep, John's on bikecation and missing the fantastic Centennial Valley (one of the hydrological epicentrums of the CD) would be a bummer, but if he must bail, Lima is the simplest. Mike and Connie at Lima's Mountain View Motel will shuttle him straight to IF.

It's tough when knees act up, though. I'm not even sure how he can recover from that. Last year, he never did. But ... he's still going. So hopefully optimism will remain. 

If you check in w/ BP.net, John: Let's go Nobile! Consider knee braces or patellar straps and, (of course) blue pills; Glucosamine and MSM; weed, maybe? Whiskey? There's a point when the pain will subside. The body is brilliant that way. There's lots of weakness in the latter half of those `09 record splits. Keep pushing! Bannack to Big Springs is surely rock hard and super-fast.

Looks like he stopped in Seeley Lake tonight. Not such a good sign. I'm guessing he was aiming to make it to Lincoln.

tracking history doesn't support that john returned back to the border from a night at eureka's ksanka inn to 'restart' a b2b time. it's possible he did this off-SPOT, but john already holds this record. it wouldn't make sense to do this. he is challenging the full GDMBR.

there are plenty of places down route where in 2009 we got hosed by biblical weather and were forced into short days. john still has plenty of time to make up mileage. in `09 i bivied just outside helena on the 4th night so he's only starting the 5th day about 100mi off group-race pace, which (as jill notes) is always more furious.

UL tarp for me... can't stand to be in a bivy in extended rains. A little more hassle but the comfort factor outweighs the minor weight / bulk increase IMO.

what is the talk of rain about? is there concern over Earl? Fiona?

John Nobile renews for September...

http://tourdivide.org/2010_ittdivide_start_list

Btw this is not the first east coast bikepacking race. 

Doh! Sorry Karlos. Though, for XFL do you carry bivy gear/do you sleep(off the bike)?