I'm planning on the tour divide race next year, my family has already gave me an OK to do it, now I just need to get the time off from work!

Driving or biking it? Err.... I mean, are you doing any races up before the ride?

I am not sure which is worse, leaving pizza crust (carbs) or peeing a smiley face/your name in the ground.

American Canal to the Biltmore

Great site....thank you for the hard work.

So my roommate uses the same computer as I do. He is always on match.com and eharmony (the list goes on and on). The reason I bring this up is that my Google Ads are always interesting. Like, "Single Mountain Bikers Club" or "SpicyCyclists.com" "Meet Singles in MTBing" or "Ultra Light Dates for Cyclists"

Does anyone ever see those ads on bikepacking.net?

Mid June is an optimal time for the West side of TU - especially if the goal is to go fast.  More light, more water. The date for the East half will depend on how high the route ascends into the Henrys...and you may need a flotation device

You have my attention and vacation days now....

Otherwise I want to bikepack and explore something new.  A thru-trip on the GET trail is a possibility in the spring.  And there's some big talk about a full CDT trip, and that would be a massive trip.

ahhhhhhhhhh siiiiiiii. As you mentioned earlier in a comment, it was great to see an exploration/dream of a route come to fruition. It is hard to quantify how you feel after you finish an endurance race, even harder when you design it and make it happen.

I wanna explore more.... and am excited to see other folks (like in SoCal) wanting to do the same.

Ah man...this summer following the Tour Divide I was captivated...But one more year, 2011 I think. So I am gonna go for the triple crown plus, AZT 300, GLR, CTR, and maybe Trans-Utah and the Coco.

Impressive indeed. You one hellova job last year, hope to ride again with you soon, perhaps in the right direction/time.

No thanks.

But I'll take my endurance races for free, thankyouverymuch.

Scott, I guess what I meant to say is that I will buy the food if you bring the beer/chocolate milk.  

Rob, nice pictures. Seems like you managed to score some of the best shots of the ride. "Chadisms"---now, if we can only add Airport Mesa (going up) to the CLR 250!

At any rate, I think it's worth trying to cooperate with the BLM. Hopefully I won't be proven wrong, because I'd like to ride as a free man next spring!

I think most of us are fine with the current status of the ride. If you want to put together a birthday ride for you and some friends, go for it. Let's not upset the balance between rides and BLM, please

Troy,

I am looking to make the Coconino Loop 350 on the 2010 late spring/early summer calendar, would you be interested in that?

----------------------------------------------

As of now my tentative bikepacking calendar

AZ Trail 300
Coconino Loop 350 (?)
Grand Loop (in my car this time, instead of on the bike)
Bikepacking Trip in Peru/Colorado/Continental Divide Trail (anyone wanna join? not sure which one yet)
Colorado Trail Race (depends on start date and school)
Coconino Loop Stage Race 250

Toby,

It is now a group ride that comes every May. It's not a race. You need to be in the loop to find out when the ride is.

For sure.

Scott, WTF? How many times do I have to coach you! It is fo' shizzle not for sure, or at least fo shu at the bare minimum.

I see us having more stage riders next year and a BBQ at the park (on the Urban Route)....Although next year will not be completely free... a 6-pack of beer gets you into the stage race, thereby securing your free food at the BBQ.  

The 18t is a lot bigger than the 20t though. If you were thru racing, not stage riding, would you run the 19t still?

Therein lies the question. I think I would definitely ride a 19t as a thru racer (18t as a stager). There are some pretty flat sections in the first and last stage:



Either way, you'd want a good light setup to ride some of the techy sections at night and/or route finding on Lime Kiln (as David found out, it's a little tricky at night).

You are correct. Amazing how easy it is to find someone when they use their real name in a forum, eh? 

You seem legit.

And yes my name is Marshal Bird, thanks for tossing it out, and you are?

My guess after a quick google search:

Toby Gadd, President
Montage Graphics, Inc.
225 North Lemay Ave., Suite 8
Fort Collins, CO 80524
(970) 484-2330

I went back though and read all the posts, I understand what Marshall is getting at now.

Toby,

Next time I see you on the trail, I am going to not only steal your twix but I am going to punch you.



























jk- What are we fighting about in this thread? I glanced it over and see no real reason to fight. We all like to ride bikes and drink beer (minus Scott), ergo I think we need to walk away from this thread. Moderator, can you delete this thread?

At my level this course felt one day shorter then the AZT 300. I should think you could take 10-15 + hours off of your time on the 300.

That sounds about right.

Some singlespeed thoughts: I'd recommend a 32x19, maybe even an 18 if you think you could push that on technical terrain. I was spinning out a lot on Stage 1 and 3 with my 32x20, although it was perfect on Stage 3.

Some thoughts on my blog and a few more pictures: http://chadfbrown.blogspot.com/2009/10/blog-post.html

This is the golden rule of endurance racing:

People: please don't bring The Race down to your level--elevate yourself to the
level of The Race.  If you find yourself looking for loopholes, consider taking
another year to prepare before racing.  Most likely you'll go faster and enjoy
it more as a result.

Source: http://www.topofusion.com/azt/race-rules.php


The second rule of endurance racing, do races with singletrack