[But will Jefe be able to get pie?!?! And if so will he??]

I'm also often drawn to investigate those dots that seem to stray off course, and this bushwacking by (BL) is one of the strangest things I've seen.

Per the satellite view, he left the main road near a fork, followed beside a lovely cascading creek for a while, went pure cross country for a ways, forded quite a large river, then seemingly onto some game trails and deep into the boonies.

After a couple hours of such off-piste exploration, he hit the custom button on his SPOT which carries only the text "This is the default CUSTOM message. Please update".  He then retraced quite slowly for about half an hour in almost, but not quite, the direction he'd come, then hit his Custom button again.  Very strange.

Hopefully somebody who's following him knows what his Custom SPOT message means, and that it means something like "I'm not actually lost in the woods but just on a little side adventure."  Anyway, let's wish him luck, whatever he's up to out there.

(edited to add: upon further review, using the "MyTopo" mode of the map reveals he apparently got on some Pitchstone Plateau Pack Trail and got in an extra 700 ft or so of climbing that he probably didn't really need at this point.  )

I don't like the looks of that! If it isn't some weird Spot thing, then he is either having some serious delirium/confusion/low blood sugar to leave an obvious road (I remember that that is pretty straight forward section) for a trail. Or he was chased by a bear or a bear stole his spot......or?

And thanks for the advice on Canada with kids. It won't be until at least next year if I can't talk the wifey into letting me ride my bike for a few weeks. OH yeah that won't happen. Kids it is.

And now probably the biggest question I know several of you are thinking but afraid to ask. Bigger than if Jefe will catch JPDOT. But will Jefe be able to get pie?!?! And if so will he??

Here Here! although we have waaay better beers than Kokanee!

Found a Kokanee beer on the side of the road up there. That's trail magic!

So if you had kids and could take them on section of a few hundred miles what section would you take them? I really would love to go back to Canada. Maybe because I know the south or maybe I would like to see it without snow. Never met a Canadian that wasn't friendly either!

And GO Jefe!

What are the odds of Eszterdot staying in second place? assuming tandem team is behind her. May see if she needs anything on the way by.

Great story about Fernie SAR and Paul. It is a great learning experience. First if you're hurt, do it in Canada or most any other country than the US if you want to have a lower bill. Second, head injuries are hard to diagnose. The person may seem pretty normal but really shouldn't be left alone. I don't know about this case but from first hand experience I've let a friend go and shouldn't have. Luckily they were getting a ride and the person noticed on the ride to town that the injured didn't know who they were.

Well the bus to go see Jefe is about to leave so gotta go. JOKING. GO JEFE!
Jarral

In 2012 we were stuck in snow and rain. I had many layers but Serge from Fernie took it a step further. He lined his jackets with the water proof aca maps!
Other...Go faster to get warmer. And yes. Put on everything for the downhill. I really liked knicker rain pants from Ground Effect. Those Kiwis ride in the rain all the time so the know...
J

So some advice for all of these cold wet people.... When you get to Colorado and then New Mexico just remember that nice cool air and wetness as your lips begin to crack!

By the way in the Gunnison area it is cool and breezy. Very nice for riding but still cold/below freezing at night.
Jarral

Bill Peschka ITT and Jefe Branham dropped in this afternoon.  Bill slept in one of the "micro cabins" at Pettengil Campground last night.  He spent a few hours warming up and refueling at Montana High Country Lodge this afternoon before he took off for the Medicine Lodge. 

Jefe spent the majority of last night on top of Fleecer Mountain in several inches of new snow after being rained on all day.  He made it to Wise River very late, found shelter in the post office until the local business opened this morning.  He took some down time in Wise River before coming over the Pioneer Mountain's Scenic Byway this afternoon.  He was all set with groceries and was pushing on toward Lima when I talked to him.  It's been a cold, wet couple past days for all the TD riders in Montana.  Hope they find shelter when they need it!   

Great to see that they are ok! I hope the sun comes out for everyone. Go Jefe!

Jefe, Alex, and JP haven't moved all morning? Looks like a computer glitch?

Freaked me out for a second with the reroute-thought Jefe needed to sleep. Yep this way has to be better than along the freeway. I was in some pain then with ankle issues and rain 2yrs ago so no good feelings there.
Jarral

Hey all,

Jarmila Gorman here, safe n sound albeit bummed... I've decided to scratch because I smacked my head pretty hard coming down Sargent and ended up with a mild concussion and whiplash, leaving me unable to be on the bike for more than 2-3 mins at a time. I made it out to Rte 50 to hitch a ride to Salida - and Jim Dirksen picked me up and drove me all the way home!!!

What an adventure. I was sooooo looking forward to the fun sections of the race, after all that brutal pushing. So glad to have been a part of it and wish the remaining active riders the best of luck!!

Jim Dirksen! What a guy! by the way there was still a lot of pushing to go... Glad your OK.

I bet Jefe is happy he has gears this year for that last few miles! Go dude!

Great push by both guys and chapeau to every one else that started! So jealous but then again it was nice getting up after a good sleep as it rained out..

I really hope they get that figured out.. I'd hate to see Will and Brue call it quits early! They've been doing so much better today and yesterday. The first day was painful to watch. I'm assuming they got caught up in that hale storm and possibly decided to get some rest as well.. They only got a few hours of sleep prior to the race start.  Well, I will continue to check up on them constantly as I have been!
-Chelsea (Brues gf)

I have stuff like that and will actually be driving that way tomorrow if he is in peril. Don't think he would mail insulin which you need to live so probably extra test strips. If anyone knows send me a message.

Jarral

Oh and I noticed that Jefe's dots are not directly on the route. I'm sure he is on the route as he knows it so well. Maybe it is the ghosts on that mesa?

And if Eric Lobeck is out super tough and feel for the guy.

Jarral

Nice pics Scott and E! Really hard not riding and looking at the great weather today! But as I don't have E to chase what's the point?

The rider with the beard in the picture is Nate Stewart.

Go Jefe! And good luck to all the other riders!

Jarral

Looks like Kristen Arnold is moving pretty quickly.  Do I see it right on Trackleaders that she is on target with Eszter's early pace from last year?

I don't think so. Last year Eszter was pushing through miles of snow. And she still was at the border way before Kristen.

I think that they should throw out the results this year. Not enough rain and snow to justify a true Tour Divide! I know some riders from last year and their pace is way ahead of where they were last year. I guess we need to drag out the snow machines!

Ha. Ah the hands of fate! Not only the hiking in the snow but the wet everything, the bike problems, the sore ankles... But at least it didn't rain down south like some years!

Jarral

Impressive looking at Eszter's pink dot from last year as she is still ahead of quite a few and she had hiked for 10mi? of snow and mud by this point.

Loved my Egde 800. As Craig notes, the rechargable batteries were risky but I had an 8000mah USB battery that could provide top ups for lights etc. The Minty boost meant I could run anything of AAs too, another backup which I used a couple of times. These were about 300g all up and for all the weight and hassle I'm going to be testing the new Exposure Revo setup, with an 800 lumen light and the ability to charge other devices, I reckon it'll be a winner.
On the Edge, another feature which I found awesome for motivation was the elevation profile, which thanks to the trackleader's course wizards gave you an accurate and scalable picture of the profile ahead. Nice to be able to look down and see you had x climbs left between you and your goal, much better than a dark road or trying to interpret contours from a map. As far as I'm aware no other GPSs have this feature.
I had issues with the buttons on my Edge getting full of crud, and they'd often get stuck down rendering it inoperable. Nothing a swish in a stream wouldn't fix, but a bit annyoing.
I loved having a proper 900 lumen light setup in my Exposure Diablo, it gave me the ability to ride the steep descents at pace. I'd find riding with woosy AA light setups like Craig's shit scary, especially when you are falling asleep!

900 lumens?? AA lights I had sucked. 900 freak'n lumens?? I road all the single track and that awful trail after Helena in the dark with crappy lights. I think that would huge to have good lights. My weakest part of the kit for sure. And the mounts came loose so I had to keep pointing them back up on the trail.

Etrex 20 was fine little GPS and it told where the tops and bottoms of the climbs were but no profile. Not as good as 800 but worked well. Some guys found a really good price at the outdoor store in Banff last year if you don't have one.

Eh?  I'm confused.

You're joking about the "buff it out" part... I hope.  Just keeping the CT open and somewhat maintained is plenty on the CTF's plate.  And its primitiveness, in places, is part of the attraction.  Buff = boring, after a while.

Rode section 18 and cleared downed trees etc and made sure markings were obvious and added new ones. My wife, kids, inlaws and many friends also hiked parts of it. We have been doing this with Martha Violet, retired music prof at Western State Colorado University. She and her husband, Ted, maintained this section for years and hiked the trail. After Ted died of cancer many of us who worked with him go out and help with the trail and have a great time and lunch after. If you can't give $ give in other ways.

And thanks for all the other people helping in anyway. So glad I had the chance to ride all of the trail at once and the many other shorter rides.

Apple was a great motivation for riding across that awful trail from Marshal pass if only to see a friendly face. So with the race going the other way it would be cool if he was at marshal pass! I think it is fine with him on route and hope he stays on route.