fully solo. done.

Matthew, are you coming out to play?

That's my plan if I can just find time to get the cues together. It would be hard to miss the East coast's first BPing event. Plus, I have to deliver the SPOT rentals. Glad to hear others are foregoing the temptation for support. I expect David M. to say to any self-supporters afterwards, "congrats, you passed the test by foregoing the support trap". It would be neat if a self-supporter comes out on top as it might arguably eliminate the supported category.

My big question is, who all will be manning-up to race TNGA fully self-supported (despite the option). Its the proper way for anyone lurking on this thread.

36hours may be possible supported but who will respect it in the morning?

Thanks Matt, 
I wasnt sure if that was a feature in a link I failed to find but looks like it takes a bunch of work compile.  Really neat to see the flow of riders and where time was gained (or not gained) with sleeping patterns and pace.

it's pretty cool, ain't it? i think it does takes some time for scott to put together the playbacks but he also puts extra work into bells/whistles like manipulatling playback speed, zoom, etc. to help illustrate.

did you see the new race flow chart? also illustrative of lead changes and circadian rhythm: http://trackleaders.com/ctr-story

the same way almost no one looks at dopplar radar imagery anymore without looping it, animation is the future for tracking data presentation as well. i'd love to see animation become an overlay on the google map eventually. for now vimeo embeds are great and also have their benefits for sharing/blogging.

enjoy!

Can anyone show me how to see animated playback of the spot trackers on the map from the race?  I was in my own little bubble out there and was curious to see how it unfolded.

jesse, days 1-4 here: http://vimeo_dot_com/13928358 (NOTE: reverse the _dot_com longhand in that link, otherwise the vid auto embeds here in my reply)

i don't think scott has compiled a final replay yet

I may just be reading the tracker wrong.

no, you're reading it right. ethan is probably on the final downhill by now. he might have waxed a bit superstitious towards the end and powered down.

More when I get back to civilization.  Gawd I miss the warm dry desert.

strong riding dave!

Yep, ball up in the SPOT tracker.

you too jeff!

It's impressive how much time Jeff, Ethan and Jesse have made up. Tales of my demise can be found here http://pedalsnotpistons.blogspot.com/
Doug

Thanks for the write-up, Dug. You have been going well this year. Even your short course riding has been impressive. I dare say your bug last week had more to do with undermining any multi-day superpower (read: constitution) than being way past-peak. No worries. "The Race" ain't going anywhere--in fact it only seems to get better with each edition. There's always an ITT in a couple weeks if it's not sitting well with you.

Yeah, it turns out that a constantly wet chamois plus a 25 lbs pack is a bad combo!

i can't say enough about A+D Ointment as the ultimate chamois lube--especially during monsoon season.

At that very picnic table in `07, i ate city market out of house and home. i dare say DH doesn't hold the record split there. No matter, time spent at BV city market is inversely proportional to time spent bonking on Sargents mesa & beyond.

Bon appetit DJ and JB!

That was my thought also, if so it’s a good place leave the trail as it’s pretty quick to get back.

it might have to do with the couple of miles just prior to his detour. they drop a burly 1600ft.

plenty o' roots/rocks/reggae in there! a real brake pad-gobbler in the rain!

The title of the thread is taken from a quote in Ben Fogle's blog about their attempt which was due to take place on the 15th Aug this year. Looks like it won't now due to James's injuries.

Maybe they will line up next year for the grand depart?

SSP

talk of records when setting out on ITTD is more reasonable b/c historical times are the only carrot, only competition. if an effort is to be pitted against anything besides mother nature, the record books would be it.

still, i generally agree with early talk of records. the trackleaders.com projection charts are to be taken w/ a grain of salt early on in a 2700-miler--until they get enough data. alas, `tis human to begin comparisons early, though.

the fogle/cracknell ITTD attempt is postponed for sure. james still has a bit of swelling in his frontal lobes. i've spoken with the producers of their doc. and they'll be considering their options for next summer. they remain committed to the story, which will now include james' 'comeback from injury' (warning to those averse to melodrama). the grand depart has its appeal for them, but so does ITTD. i'll be encouraging them to pursue the latter as it will be more conducive to their documentary goals--plus its important to periodically highlight ITTD lest we get too caught up in the grand depart.

Marshall’s pass in to Abiquiu was the most enjoyable part of the whole GD route.  

Amen! Saguache county just rocks, and i echo your sentiment about that entire section--though I would throw in polvadera mesa for good measure.

Patti and Gary Blakley are living the good life on the edge of SLV.

Did any other racers besides me notice the amazing transition into pristine (often old-growth) spruce-fir/aspen country after Salida? Such a wonderful transition this year after riding thru 2.5 states worth of absolutely pillaged pine forest. I personally thought whoever the FS has contracted to remove beetle kill are giving no regard to the way they leave the state of FS roads or clear-cuts post harvest. I almost didn't recognize the route in many places.

 Hi Trail,

Thanks for your reply.  Congratulations on your 8th, or 6th place, and I'm sure your opinion is more valid than mine, seeing that you actually raced the thing. However, I'm not too concerned about whether my beliefs are flawed in your eyes or not. It is what I feel, so I stated it. I'll be riding from Frisco to Abiquiu in a few weeks, and I'll be thinking about how Matt came through there at mach speed, and a fine young man from Steamboat was nearly as fast.

To me, all that was achieved was that the fine young man from Steamboat was branded a cheater, left with a bad taste, and the official results became quite meaningless.

I see someone has posted as i typed, but at the risk of redundancy, w/ out mods., here's my response anyway...

Now, now...
Let's stop this volley over rules. I thought we weren't going to get meyered in rules on this thread?
TD never uses or utters the word 'cheater' when people get relegated for rules violations. Indeed, intent, is not all that important. It's more black and white than that for good reason. 'Intent' is a place for the violator to dwell on her/his own.

The rules are not really that complicated. Emotion is complicated.

Ditto what Scott said.

And, yes I am ripe but that has more to do with hygiene.

Perfect DH. Smelling yeasty is half the TD battle. i'll accept that as an LOI and begin working on Pete B. Thru Pete I will get to MC. JayP needs no prodding. So...that leaves ChadB. Perhaps I can entise him by announcing that TD has begun unofficial inquiry into a route change off the back side of Boreas Pass that will run the course down the legendary 8mi mostly-downhill singletrack known as 'Gold Dust'. It pops out in Como right back on the route.

i used them this year on the divide. they are fine for that route but if i was carrying more weight and doing lots of edging, railing, i'd want more. the other ztr series rims such as the 355 or even the arch are pretty dang proven. the one improvement in the crest is it supposedly has a marginally wider rim cavity. this may give a wider contact patch with narrower tires (if you like to run 2.1s). theoretically tire roll-off potential would be reduced too.






 

Or have qualifying races using, say the CTR, AZT or similar.

IMO the divide is a qualifier for ctr or azt 750.

qualifiers don't work so well for the international crowd.

perhaps we can set up retina scans, b/c to me the answer seems to lie in the eyes.

like jill's (friend's) notion of the 'two thousand yard stare', for instance.

or, do you see a bit of crazy in `em: www.crazyeyesblog.com

How do you handle things like that?  I imagine liability must be a concern as well?  even though you're not organising a "race", just facilitating tracking of a bunch of people doing individual time trials you're still kinda orgagnising a lot or could be held accountable as "the organisier".  

All I can see in a qualification process is making it harder for both the (un)organiser and people not in the immediate realm/country.  if I don't have a race in Australia because the scene doesn't exist or whatever, how do I qualify?  similarily, you'll get all sorts of resume's to deal with and process...  then how do you stop someone rocking up on the day anyway?

Cheers
Craig

All good questions and I don't claim to have the answers.
I am kind of just wishing we reach an easy saturation point, but it will probably ebb and flow.

As long as I'm involved with organizing Divide racing there will be no qualifiers, no entry fee, no prize money.

an entry cutoff is obviously a soft thing as an un-organizer (i like that term) to enforce.

maybe we need to start extolling the virtues of a simultaneous northbound grand depart so as to convince half the field to go for an AW start and half to a banff start. by the time they overlap in colorado it would be pretty dispersed.

it could be a cool (looking) concept (on the SPOT tracker), if nothing else. there could even be an interim race to to the center of the GDMBR--to kirsten's lodge (brush mountain outpost), for example. a key strategy could be picking (in advance) which start point you think would offer the most favorable weather window in that given year. One winner would still be declared. The first to either termini.

i find that hard to believe... i saw you eat $50 worth of burgers at the sparwood A&W alone.

Ha! that was 22 canadian dollars, to be exact! it gets markedly cheaper (for us gringos) as you go south! i averaged about $25/day in food.

note: that overall figure didn't include my half-way point replacement chain, sunscreen, a&d ointment, which i ship ahead from home to avoid paying ski resort/ bike shop premium prices.

oh, and my motel in MT was only $25. gotta love that!

Thank you, Matt! By the way, congrats on yet another inspiring ride. It still astounds me that you're already thinking about 2011. :-)

thanks for the kind words jill. it was another challenging year. i was emotionally exhausted in the latter half. guilt weighs a lot! i lost my mojo.

re. 2011, i'm not *quite* there yet. the fire on polvadera mesa was a VERY cruel joke by someone. i think i would have rested for good on even a 2-3 hour improvement in my time.

most of the above talk is gamesmanship to pull erik from his slum--though i do dream of a great front-running peloton 10 riders strong, each capable of winning it all. it's where things are headed, i hope. quality--not quantity.

FWIW, i got a call from parks canada the day before the grand depart inquiring about the race. I silver-tongued my way thru for 2010 but it's possible we may be held rigidly to 49 racers for a grand depart (read: a cut-off) in order to dwell below permit requirements.

it's hard to imagine enforcing a cut-off for a non-race but we may have to find a way if LOIs try to go north of that number. I hope they don't, honestly, as more racers than 2010 is too much to handle; too much for the route and too much to organize on a strictly volunteer basis. Boulton creek store must have been absolutely pillaged by the time the lanterne rouge left on opening day this year.

That aside, I actually signed on because I was looking for contact info for Lexi Blumenthal. Does anyone know how to reach her?

Hi Jill!

http://tourdivide.org/blog2010/memory_dave_blumenthal

...Total tally not counting up front equipment...replacement bike parts, and food/lodging: $2368.- Ouch.

wow! in contrast, my total on-race-clock tally, including one motel room was just under $500.00

i guess it goes to show that, by design, one can't just go out and throw a bunch of money at TD and be guaranteed a win.