I wasn't planning on weighing in...I am fine with my relegation, I am burning at the stake , and this is ok.

I see my completion of the course as a personal accomplishment now...I personally, and other people will certainly differ in their opinions and this is expected and fine, see no difference between borrowing a tool from a random house and my flow of events. I agree I violated the rules, no matter how complex and nebulous they may be...

...in the end, this race has shown me I am a cyclist first, an adventure racer second. I should steer my future efforts away from bikepacking races, reserve bikepacking for the respite...and move  back towards "real" bike races should any competitive spirit arise, although this whole fiasco has certainly quenched my thirst for "public" endeavors. In other words, I'm going back into the hidey hole I emerged from. I will enjoy watching future races from a distance however.

Signing out for good,
Erik Lobeck

Erik, I'm calling your bluff on 'calling it quits' on Divide racing--and bikepacking. What is "a real bike race" supposed to mean anyway? Loops on the ski hill? You'll be back. And I'm happy to oblige any request for a rematch whichever year it works for you. It was fun playing the game of trying to always stay an hour or two ahead of you, so I say we do it again soon (spouses-willing). Besides, as we both say, the record is as soft as the Divide route we've been pedaling the past couple years. What better way to hoe that row than mano y mano? While we're at it, let's remind John Nobile how motivating grand depart dynamics can be. Perhaps Pete Basinger will finally come out for the full monty? We know Jay P is itching to return too. Talk about a great race. Kurt Refsnider's in for `11 and Joe Meiser too (rumored). Dave Harris is ripe. I bet we could get Scott Morris--even Curiak--to come back then. Heck, such a party might even seal the deal on the magnanimous Chad Brown's Divide wager. Think of all that histrionics you'd be giving up.

Regarding relegation, you say you are fine with it, yet you are "burning at the stake", implying the punishment is too too harsh. which is it? are you OK with it or not? That you want to take your bikepacking toys home, not to play with us again is confusing to me if you are indeed OK with it. We're not letting you off the hook for bikepacking-ultras just b/c you 'sign out for good'. It ain't that easy. And like it or not, words alone cannot vex Divide race demons. IMHO you must join the historical GC to retire "for good".

See you next year?
Matthew Lee
(disclaimer: did not vote on Lobeck case)

 

This is where it gets weird.

Bob, i agree it can get weird, and might not always seem fair.

It's certainly easier to think it's unfair when a racer we know and like gets what looks like the short end of the stick.

One thing rule # 4 does not do is equivocate. It says four times 'never forward'. it opens with it and it closes with it.

If it is decided 'ok-backwards/never forward' remains fundamental to the TD challenge, then riders will have to do their best to think on their feet within that rule no matter how weird it might get.

Despite the cruel luck Erik's perfect storm may have appeared to be, there is still equal opportunity for breakdown...for rescue...and to make the best race-legal decisions.

not looking for loopholes here... just trying to think of some options.  Could he of left his bike - then moved forward on the route to get a part - then back to his bike, install said part - carry on?

Nope. Erik's only legal option was to push as far as he could get that night (he was about 15mi from the hwy), bivy and finish pushing to the highway in the morn. To split hairs, the route into Lima from Dell is 7mi of frontage rd., so he technically could have hitched on I-15 and not been moving forward on route.

I have a difficult time with  the "moving forward" on the route.  It is my assumption the intent of moving forward on the route by alternative means was to eliminate a rider from moving forward by  other means than bike/hike a bike power-in a way to cheat. The intent is the true issue here.  If a rider leaves the route at anytime they should be able to proceed  backward or forward.  However, the rider should then be required to retrace his/her route off trail by whatever means) and return to the point of origin where he/she left the official route or received assistance.  

The intent of "forward" needs to be addressed by the committee.  

Intent is a nebulous thing for self-supported race organizers to 'armchair'. No one but the rider is there in moments of duress so that's a slippery slope as it applies to any rule, IMO. In fact, i'd say 'never forward' was designed in part to ensure well-intended but stressed-out, bonked-out cyclists don't err in precisely where they resume riding on a route that often looks just like itself for miles on end (think great basin).

'Never forward' has been the rule for Divide racing from the beginning. Whether right or wrong, good or bad, it is the standard by which Stamstad raced, and everyone who came behind him. Frankly, i'm surprised it hasn't been an issue until this year. To play devil's advocate, perhaps it's best if Divide racing switches to the policy on motorized assistance that every other self-supported race uses (colorado trail race, AZT, Trans-Utah) which says, if you get in a car, period, your race is over. It leaves nothing to geographical chance. It would be a lot easier to officiate, and is likely why those organizers elected to write it up that way.

Part of Divide racing's acceptance of 'limited' motorized assistance is b/c the GDMBR is much longer/more logistically difficult to abandon than shorter routes (esp. for international racers), so limited allowance supports a higher goal of successfully thru-riding the course. The rule simply has a bit of well-thought out twist to it (only backwards or off-route). Is it fair that timing, weather, geography and geology play a role in how lucky one can be in such a time of need? I would say it's no more unfair than the ways these elements play a role in everyday forward progress of racers. Tour Divide is an adventure race. It's not just about riding your bike. Ask any seasoned veteran of adventure racing who has also raced the Divide (Jay P comes to mind). Circumstances can be quite cruel to overall individual and/or team goals in adventure racing. It is never taken for granted that a course is always going to be 'finishable'.

Editorial: It's possible that many pure cyclists object (emotionally) to any 'cruelty of chance' that 'never forward' might inject b/c historically we casually associate salvage of big-rides-gone-bad with our cars (come on, admit it), be those sag wagons, shuttling(god forbid!), the pick-up truck at the trailhead, hitching home when we double flat on the saturday group ride, etc. In our everyday lives there's simply no ethical debate about car-rescue, so some may ask, 'why should there be any stipulations on how in TD?'...And that's fine. I do not object to an everyday car-assist either. TD, however, is a slightly different beast.

While I agree all Divide racing rules ought be subject to periodic review, this is one that is best left idle until the emotion of TD10 has come back down to room temp. Every year it seems some aspect of the rules is tested by a new scenario. This is normal. Erik was caught up in the perfect storm of circumstances in which his only legal option was to push and scooter his bike out to the highway (the route was 100% impassable to motor vehicles going backwards). It sucks it played out that way, but is his incident by itself enough to rewrite a rule that has stood for 10 years (not that time alone is the best measure of legitimacy)? It's not for any of us alone to say. It's on the radar now and it will get figured out this off-season. Not that everyone doesn't deserve to be heard on the matter but it probably will not be successfully resolved in a rules thread like we endured last fall/winter on this forum.

How much does Cracknell weigh these days?

About 220, he says. But he's riding and swimming across the country for a Discovery Channel show just three weeks b/f they embark so that will likely change.

I just flew in last night from consulting with them for several days in NM. They're good fellas who mean well. In addition to doing some reconn in the Gila that ended in a mud fest, we spent quite a bit of time talking about the rules. They are pretty clear on the way things need to go to honor TD rules and desire for a small footprint. We even devoted discussion to film crew SUV tire tracks and other subtle ways a crew's presence can indirectly affect a rider. Though it's important for *any* racer to keep the course record in the back of the mind as a carrot, i honestly think they're being realistic about their prospects given they'll both be carrying hand-held HD cams and go-pro helmet cams. Their first goal is to stay together, tell a good story, and everyone knows what effect that can have on pure speed. I consider it a great bikepacking learning experience for them both and decent exposure for bikepacking in general. The fact that they're doing an ITT instead of the grand depart is neat too.

I could see James coming back for a solo go next year. He's sooo competetive, and gets this fire in his eyes when I speak to him about the exhilaration of pure solo suffering/record chasing.

They'll carry spot trackers and be followed on tourdivide.org, complete with call-ins, so let the scrutiny begin...i guess.

I'd guess that there would be some SNOTEL sites in the vicinity of the route in various places.  Anyone have any idea how this year's snowpack compares to other divide racing years?  Here in the Washington Cascades we've seen a cool, wet spring which has left a good amount of snow intact which normally would be runoff by now.

tourdivide.org has about as comprehensive a weather resources section as any geeked-out divide racer or armchair gripper could want or need.
http://tourdivide.org/weather_resources

of interest to me are things like historical snowpack maps and historical el nino/la nina records.

i'm not sure what it means in the long-term climatological scheme of things, but in the past three years many places on the northern half of the route have rec'd 30-50% of their entire annual snowpack in late april and may.

this year should be a nice display of extremes on course, with late snowpack melt/cool conditions from banff down through to south pass, and (predicted) warmer than normal conditions beyond that. I for one would be happy to pull off a finish at the border before july rolls around and monsoonal humidity creeps in. as we saw w/ last year's biblical weather, diurnal t-storms and monsoonal flow have the biggest impact on pace--and emotional health.

the 'snowy pass report' as of wednesday 6/2 is: Red meadow (MT) about a mile of 1-2ft deep corn snow, and Togwotee (WY) a couple of miles of intermittant mud and snow on brooks lake road (descending togwotee). with any luck WY will improve before racers get there.

I should to be a little more forthcoming on my 'personal preference' for not filtering in TD (emphasis on 'personal'):

As much as the risk of fouling up the process is real, for me I recall it was simply a buzzkill to go from cranking the pedals, HR elevated, cooled by a 13mph breeze to a stand-still, munched by mosquitos and horseflies, fumbling with a pump and hose at the edge of a precipitous or muddy slope, esp. when your knees/achilles are on the edge of blowing up. In `04 my filter element was often clogged after just two liters b/c rarely was water quality very good in cattle country (which is most of the route). how do you easily clean a filter element without potable water? i didn't. i would give up.

Wilderness is a word I would use for some portions, but not for most of the route. This lack of true wilderness has it's downside, sure, but it's mostly good for the speed-charter divide racing is about. I can't imagine racing at my utmost mental/physical limit 16hrs/day for three weeks straight without periodic services, near-daily resupply. It wouldn't be fun--or certainly I would slow way down--which might be boring on the GDMBR. The GDMBR is a perfect course for blasting 100+mi/day days thru the gamut of what the 'true' divide offers (the good, the bad & the ugly). Yep, it's meant to be seen/enjoyed by racers, but also macro-managed, knocking off as many mtn chains as you can in a day, always with an eye on the next state down. Me thinks dwelling on this big picture is an effective way to not lose focus.

All that said, Bob, learning what works for oneself in TD is best, so bring your filter along and see how useful it is. If you're not using it everyday, it may not be worth the weight and you can ship it home. Cheers!

Matthew & Joe:  So you think a filter or micropur tabs are not necessary? Or, if you would do the TD again would you bring one or the other?

Thanks again for all of your and the other Vets input.

Phil

you need have a small quantity of emergency back up, be that bleach, iodine or chloride dioxide. running out of water sux.

with all due respect to the many different ways to do water on the divide, i personally choose never drink surface water except between banff and glacier (and only high elevation then).

after that, i carry it all from town to town or outpost to outpost. IMHO TD is long enough, gear (and mind) too disheveled to risk making an innocent mistake with handling water. getting sick from bad water is almost impossible to recover from (while staying in the race).

have a very detailed potable water resupply plan (map) and it will serve you well in not carrying too much over passes (a big momentum killer). know exactly when the next potable source is available before leaving the last source. binge at those sources, try to be a camel in between.

If you live in the states and want to obtain a signed copy of Paul's book directly, he's in the process of setting up a means to transact directly with him (Paypal, maybe?). His book won't be distributed (directly) stateside until 2011. If those eager for a copy can stand by for a couple more days, hopefully Paul will post a link here, or I'll do so when I learn of it.

[Priority Mail]

This might not be relevant for the CTR, but is still true:

If you mail yourself a box c/o General Delivery via Priority Mail, and when picking it up, if you don't open the box, you can forward it to another address for no additional charge.

Not sure 'hold for pick-up' is quite what one wants for a drop. As DaveB and Pivvay mention, drops are what's called 'General Delivery'. You need to write this phrase on the addy label so they do not return it thinking it is misdirected. General deliveries remain for 30 days--i think. DaveB makes another good point re. priority labeling. This is the best way to label a drop of any real value. Not necessarily for the in-person fwd option, but for the remote option. It's very easy to miss a drop. Having the option to fwd a missed drop down route or home (remotely via payphone) is nice, and simple enough provided you have some identifiable info on your box (like a number or code) that you can relay to the postmaster to 'prove' you are the owner. They are funny about releasing boxes. ID required in person. If you want them to release remotely you need something very unique written on the box.

One question for the OP: Where on the CTR is there a PO that you cannot buy what you need on the spot? Are you thinking freeze-dried items? The trap of mailings is how easily one can roll away from the PO with too much weight. Be careful NOT to mail 5lbs of skittles just b/c you can.

Those who have raced the Divide with me before may remember me by my GDMBR handle, "buffalo soldier", inspired by the heroics of the 25th infantry 'bike corps' out of Missoula, who were the first fat tire tourists to ever cruise the Conti-divide north of Helena.

A relatively new blog is up, dedicated to the story of these VERY early bikepackers. http://www.bicyclecorps.blogspot.com/
It has some good reading if, like me, this kind of history inspires you.

As well, there's always the excellent PBS documentary about the bike corps if you want to know more. It's on netflix: http://www.netflix.com/Movie/The_Bicycle_Corps_America_s_Black_Army_on_Wheels/70095992?strackid=3188d91531a877a4_0_srl&strkid=1172194782_0_0&lnkctr=srchrd-sr&trkid=222336

Not to be a negative nancy but this is a pretty significant ultralight endorsement considering ACA's past, hardline attachment to front/back panniers and BOBs.

We have Aaron Teasdale to thank for spreading the UL gospel in their ranks...and too, their membership is aging out and a newer-school UL touring demographic is replacing them.

It's all the more reason for lurkers of bp dot net to support ACA thru membership.

As far as the weather goes...why all the fret, do you have a connection with the gods to change it?  The hike-a-bike is always epic! 

I'm not being at all sarcastic about that Flathead singletrack.  I loved every minute of it!

i hear you joseph. it takes a great 'personal' sense of humor to race the divide well-- as you can attest. if you can't laugh at your own jokes out there, you're screwed.
i bet the connector is cleanable as a northbounder?

speaking of upper flathead valley, great news on the conservation front as UNESCO just recommended the proposed coal/gold mines not go thru and the valley be united with waterton/glacier into one super park, mounting even more pressure on mining interests to get out and stay out.

here's some background if interested: http://tinyurl.com/yj7hxfe

here's the UNESCO story: http://www.wildsight.ca/news/822
and this pro photo expedition to raise awareness produced some unreal photos of this new section of the Divide route: http://flathead.ca/rave

sometimes peeps ask if they can donate to TD to offset organizational costs, etc. I usually refer them to causes like this along the Divide. Even just the fact that we're riding the flathead valley and exposing it to adventure cycling assoc, convincing them to include it in the GDMBR will have a longterm conservation impact. you can think about that benevolence as you vomit up your lunch on the hike-a-bike connector!

So I just returned from a ski vacation in Banff. I thought I'd share this picture for those getting psyched up for the summer tour. I took it from the top of Sulphur Mountain. Mount Rundle is on the left and the Spray River runs down the valley on the right. The Spray River trail runs right beside it - that's the beginning of the GDMBR.

mmm. very soothing. it's named for this (pre-race requisite) public sulphur hot springs at the base of the mtn: http://tourdivide.org/photos/canada#91
did you stay with that cute girl leslie who rides her cruiser bike around banff?
better yet, did you see crazy larry?!!

I sure hope they didn't get rid of the singletrack!  So Epic, so smooth, such great flow...

Ha ha ha!

meiser the wiser-guy. as jilleo can attest, it's even more flowy on platform pedals.

what would the GDMBR be without a couple hike-a-bikes? in all melodramatics though, that segment is to the flathead valley as the land bridge was to asia/alaska. without it, we would never see that incredible valley! the plan is to bench that miracle mile more gradually later on. one day it will be rideable. for 2010 those tourists who pull bobs are in for some goooood times!

for those who bought the old map, don't fret. there's only like three turns so you really only need the cues here: http://docs.google.com/View?id=dgjmpj64_0gzmj6jfc

Welcome to El Nino 2010 year... This can actually work out to our benefit even though it is to soon to tell...

I'm not a meteorologist but here are some links I found. Please if someone knows how to properly interpret it, feel free to chime in;):

http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/analysis_monitoring/enso_advisory/ensodisc.pdf
http://www.environment.alberta.ca/forecasting/WaterSupply/jan2010/overview.html

Basically, the way I read it the southern US states might be colder and wetter than usual and northern drier and warmer...

Maybe it is too simple explanation but either way I'm ready for anything, weather doesn't really bother me that much and I find myself performing a lot better when conditions are miserable... Now, when they are miserable for 20 straight days, that's a whole different ball game;)

i wouldn't dare call it yet but usually el nino years are fast on course. andy, who told you snow was deep up top?

a look at snow telemetry in the TD weather resources section will say otherwise. everyone's below 100%. Togwotee (buried the past two years through july) is hurting. here's the snowpack map: ftp://ftp.wcc.nrcs.usda.gov/support/water/westwide/snowpack/wy2010/snow1002.gif

@ Todd, the south looks full now but usually el nino years warm up early so just bring your kayak for a northbound run. Though, we'll all be gutted if you don't bring your talent to Banff. I guess if I were a Eureka resident I'd want to 'race homeward bound' too. That northbound record is just itching to be set hard.

Ya, I never did understand the restaurant oil thingy??  Mental fatigue, pleasant smell, emergency food supply? 

Why not just buy some 3-in-1 oil or a bottle of motor oil and a small shampoo bottle from just about any convenience store re-supply stop—empty/use the shampoo bottle and fill with motor oil etc.

ha! yeah, that might have been my "mental-fatigued", yet indefatigable canola oil-sniffing self. which, btw marshal, is 4-in-1...and why pay for it when you don't have to? you'll understand how divide comedy of error works soon enough.

the reality is my canola oil stint began after del norte, co when 'moses' was still forecasting the weather and lubing was an hourly past time. the only resupply of any kind until abiquiu, NM were a couple short order cooks.

i was instructed by scot banks/absolute to apply hefty amounts too as, in missing my new chain in steamboat i wore things plum out by salida and he refused to install the new one promising certain failure if i made any drivetrain mods before mexico.  so, take home: even in a good weather year if you want to avoid chain skip with a new chain, do it no later than steamboat. my PO drop there contains a chain, new sunblock, new A&D tube, new dumond tech, new shorts.

I carried spare brake pads in my kit. They're light and field serviceable at least on my bike.

Salida is a good place to send stuff. The bike shop there is very GDMBR friendly and the town is well located on route. A good working bike in Salida should get you to the end. Steamboat would also be a fine option.

As Chris says, carry pads, extra chain links, etc. (light stuff). the time/timing required to get on route makes it worth carrying. I can't speak for everyone but with the exception of last year I have always comfortably finished the route on 1 drivetrain with a simple chain replacement in Steamboat. Rawlins is the halfway point so if you wanted to do it there, all the better for your rings.

I think age 23. Pete B. inaugural year.