It's for everyone, here is the rebate form. To get the rebate you have to pay for a service plan, so you can't just get a free spot and wait to activate until later just FYI

Well crap, gotta go to a wedding the weekend of the grand depart. Looks like I will be starting my 750 a few days late.

For down I am a huge fan of the Mountain Hardwear Ghost Whisperer, and for synthetic those new North Face thermoball jackets. Can't go wrong with either

Is this route doable in late November/early December most seasons? I will be out in california for some interviews anyway and am hoping to put together a 4-5 day bikepacking ride while I am out there

This is an ~167 mile route from the Northern border of Massachusetts, to the Southern ocean border of Rhode Island. Not long, I know, barely qualifies for the bikepacking forums due to short length but should be fun nonetheless. Covers everything from gnarly steep and rocky singletrack to paved asphalt roads.

Anyone ridden it? I'm heading out to do it the week of October 27th, hoping to get it done in an overnight push without sleep, but I have the time off to do it 2-3 days if the legs don't want to cooperate. I can start on any day that week that the weather cooperates. Here are links to the websites for each route. Hit me up if you want to join. Having a car at each end would make the logistics oh so much easier.

It's too bad the NH Wapack trail is closed to bikes or else this could easily extend another 21 miles. Oh well...

1) Mass Midstate Trail
    http://www.midstatetrail.org/

2) RI North South Trail
    http://www.rinemba.org/north-south-trail/
    http://www.greatswamppress.com/north-south-trail/
    http://outdoors.htmlplanet.com/nst/nst_map00.htm


I have gpx tracks of both trails if anyone needs them. Also, if you just want to ride either the Midstate trail, or the RI North-South trail I am down to do either one in a day any day that week as a recon mission before doing both.

Thanks for all the tips guys. Lots to think about for sure. I'm starting to wonder if rigid maybe isn't the way to go for me anymore. Maybe more squish up front will reduce the pressure on my hands some as well? I'm already on the niner rdo fork which supposedly is great at vibration dampening on long dirt roads, but maybe I'm just not tough enough for it vs a real 100mm suspension fork

^^^ Actually they don't really know why pickle juice works. The initial cramping is probably related to local electrolyte balance (definitely NOT a total body electrolyte deficiency), but the way pickle juice fixes them is not, since after ingestion of pickle juice, cramps stop before the juice you ingested changes your plasma electrolyte concentrations a meaningful amount (see article below).

Pickle juice is the real deal, however. I actually carry one or two of these individually wrapped pickles with me anytime I am doing a really long ride when I know there is a solid chance I will cramp up. Open up the package, swig an ounce of pickle juice, eat half of it, and save the rest for if you cramp up again. Somehow the mechanism by which it works is not related to salt balance, it is probably some insane neuronal mechanism from the esophagus that tells the muscles to stop spasming in less than a minute. I have heard some think it is more due to the vinegar than anything, so they carry yellow mustard packets, or pickle relish packets since it is smaller than an individually wrapped pickle. I am going to try yellow mustard packets next time myself to save weight on carrying around an entire pickle packet.

My pickle story: I was totally dying with the worst hamstring and quad cramps I have ever had in my life at mile 90 of a 110 mile hill climb ride (D2R2 180km for those new england folks who have heard of it). There was another 2,000ft of climbing left (out of something silly like 15,000 ft total for the day) and I almost threw in the towel. Magically at an aide station up ahead there was a big bucket of pickles. I had never heard of the pickle juice and cramps phenomenon before, but something in my body told me I needed those pickles bad! I ate half a pickle, within a minute felt good as new and felt as fresh as when I started for the rest of the ride-- no more cramps! I even led my small group up the last few hills we had to climb (although, we were the last people still on the course that day).

My favorite to bring along. Big but delicious.
https://www.freestonepickles.com/xcart/product.php?productid=78&cat=20&page=1

The only other brand of individually bagged pickles I have found:
http://www.vanholtenpickles.com/products.html

Here is the pubmed article about pickle juice and cramping for the nerds among us.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19997012

I am all about the Fenix PD32UE, or PD35 with a few boxes of Surefire 123a lithium batteries. It is true extra batteries are hard to come by in rural convenience stores, but they are tiny and not too much of a weight penalty for carrying them all from the start. That, and the flashlights get crazy bright for fast downhills or spotting ghosts from afar on Sargent's Mesa Just involves planning exactly how many batteries you will need for the entire adventure but that's not very hard-- I assume 4 batteries per night per flashlight if riding all night and not sleeping. Just throw the used ones away when you get to the nearest trash can to lighten up your load. Not a great strategy for the Tour Divide since you'd be carrying way too many batts from the start, but I feel it's a great way to go on the CTR/AZTR. I hate not having enough light.

Yeah, I hate gloves so never wore them until this issue started. Since then I have tried everything from minimal padding, to tons of it and all gloves in between. No luck yet

[What grips are you using on your Jones bar setup? Any hand issues? Can I see pics of your handlebar setup to see how you have it setup?]

I have been putting in a lot of 100-150 mile days recently on my rigid carbon bike as training and have been dealing with serious finger numbness in the ulnar nerve distribution over my 4th/5th fingers. I am on 710mm Jones bars and use the ESI extra chunky grips as recommended by Jones. I change up my hand position constantly, try to avoid putting pressure on the nerve, have tried lots of different gloves with padding in all sorts of places, don't wear a heavy backpack and still can't shake the issue.

What grips are you using on your Jones bar setup? Any hand issues? Can I see pics of your handlebar setup to see how you have it setup? Also, if you look at your bike from the side is your bar tilted backwards at all, or flat to the ground? How far tilted back is it?

Who here has tried the Ergon GC1 grips which are supposedly made for very swept bars like this? I was debating putting the GC1s on and wrapping tape the rest of the way along the bar since the Ergon's seem like pretty short grips and I'd like to keep as many hand positions as possible. I am willing to try absolutely anything here to fix this issue. Having numb hands 5 days after a ride is disconcerting to say the least.

Lastly, do you know of any good small bags that fit well in the center loop of a Jones bar? Nothing big like a sweet roll setup, just something nice and shallow to bridge the gap in the center and hold some goodies in easy reach. I know it takes up hand position space, I am just curious.

Does anyone have a GPS track (.gpx) of the GAP?

EDIT: nevermind, found it

Last time I did it it rained every day and was the worst mudbath I have ever taken. This time I am switching it up and going Pgh to DC since I think I will be able to do it faster this direction. I am so stoked for the 20+ mile downhill from the divide into Cumberland and beyond.

Does any one know if there is a record for the completion of the C & O Tow Path and the Great Allegheny Passageway from Pittsburgh to D.C.? I have been hearing rumors of one, but have been unable to find the organization that recognizes it.

It's hard to find this stuff, but according to the bike washington website (http://bikewashington.org/canal/plan-days.php) "Paul Gruenberger also claims the unsupported record time of 12 hours and 36 minutes set in September 1991 for the entire C&O. The Supported record is 11 hours 41 minutes."

A couple recently broke/set the record for the Pittsburgh to DC direction. Just under 24 hours. http://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2013/09/06/pittsburgh-to-dc-on-a-bicycle-built-for-two/

Actually they finished in just over 24 hours and had a full support crew meeting up with them every 30 miles or so. As far as I have been able to find on the internet the sub 24 hour time has yet to happen, but it is entirely possible that someone (or maybe even several people) has already done it and just didn't brag about it. It is clearly possible, and I bet someone like Jefe could pump it out in 18 hours without even trying.
http://bicycletimesmag.com/335-miles/#more-14924861

There are speed limits of 15 on all of the paths, so you have to take that into account when bragging about your time.  Your time on the bike better add up to at least 25 hours or you were speeding.

Unless something changed that I am not aware of, the official distance on the GAP website is still listed as 335 miles, and 335/24= 13.95 mph average speed to finish under 24 hours. If you went exactly 15mph the whole way your time would be 22.33 hours and you're still not breaking any speed limits.


I am heading out for the ride from Pgh to DC on October 6th or 7th for my 2nd time on the trail.

Anyone been on the trail recently? Is the C&O dry for the most part right now?

Love the way you do those videos man, gives such a good overall sense of the trail. I've watched your CTR video many times on bored nights while studying. The call ins definitely added something to this edit.

How many gopro batteries did you bring to shoot that much? I only get a little over an hour per battery so pretty amazing you were able to get that much video.

Are northbound ITTers welcome on track leaders as well? I start middle of the night tomorrow most likely

CTR 2014 saw its first ITT starter a couple days ago... Mitch Fedak... but it looks like he turned towards Bailey after section 3 and no more tracker updates after that....

Anybody know if he is continuing on course?

http://trackleaders.com/ctr14

Good question-- hope he's all good!

If you want to leave your car in Denver, I am driving to Durango on Thursday July 31st and am happy to give you a ride. I will be starting an ITT northbound DUR to DEN on Friday right after the afternoon thunderstorms stop. I have a pretty badly bruised tailbone so might end up with a DNF myself, but will be attempting a 6-8 day pace depending on how bad my rear end hurts (so we may end up passing each other back and forth a bit if we started at the same time).

IMHO, if this works with your schedule then this would be better for you since it's probably easier for you to catch a ride back to Denver if you bail partway through than if you need to catch a ride back to Durango.

I am flying out to Denver a week from today to start my ITT. The issue is, my girlfriend is meeting me out there for a week after the race and I need to bring some extra gear I cannot carry with me on my ride.

Does anyone live in Denver who is willing to let me come over real quick early in the afternoon of July 31st and just let me drop off a suitcase and hold it for me for a week until I am done riding? I swear there is nothing sketchy inside it haha, just some outdoor gear and clothes. I will buy you a sixer for your troubles. Shoot me a PM if so!

Thanks Toby! Your work/time is much appreciated

great ideas guys!