I enjoy 24 hour solos. Bear with me, it’s relevant. I was trying to figure out why I enjoy them and it occurred to me that part of the reason is that in order to race them well I have to keep my pace at a level that is really quite comfortable both in terms of effort and staying in control of the bike.  They’re not really very hard, they can hurt but they’re not really hard. I don’t do many short races but when I do I have to push so hard, all the time, that it’s non-stop hurt. And my lack of skill really shows. I’m riding on the ragged edge. But they’re short and then you get to chat and drink beer.
So here’s my take on what constitutes the hardest mountain bike race: it has to be short enough that the pace required to be competitive requires each rider to be riding at the very edge of their ability to control the bike. It has to have terrain that requires that level of control for most of the race. It has to be short enough that the pace required to be competitive makes you hurt the entire race. And, the flip side, it has to be long enough that the hurt takes you to a whole different level (does that make sense?) My personal opinion is that 100 milers fill those requirements, and are probably the hardest form of mountain bike race. They require a high level of skill and a pace that really hurts. I don’t have any particular one in mind but it would be a point to point, technically difficult, with a lot of elevation gain and loss.
Not the sort of race that one would necessarily consider an ultra, eh?

( by the way, I kinda feel like a five year old sticking my hand up in a university class and trying to answer the question, you guys are all gonna laugh at me, but there ya go )

Anyone know what's going on with Robert Orr? His dot has been stalled a mile from AW all day.

My guess would be that he turned off his spot as soon as he finished. Mr Orr will be stalled a mile from AW. for a long long time. Well, according to that blue dot anyway.

How these guys decide to finish the race is up to them. However they do it it's an exciting event to watch unfold.
(I won't be able to make fun of my wife for watching golf for a while though, whatever)

Is there roadworks or something going on through Silver City??

Tiana Tallent (ITT) must have dropped something. It appears that she backtracked by several hours yesterday and then camped in the same spot 2 nights in a row.  That must have been a bummer.

I'd be quite interested to know what really happened to the young lady there. Two nights at Brush Mountain Lodge wouldn't be a bummer though.

Union Pass felt kinda wierd last year. It was a good switch back climb ( up and up and up!) but paved and with very expensive suburban-spaced summer homes on either side. I didn't feel comfortable there. Especially since it was getting dark, I was looking for somewhere to sleep and it felt like security alarms were going to go off if I even looked the wrong way at a promising spot. I won't miss Union Pass.

Has anyone other than Billy Rice completed a yoyo? Just curious.

Saddle? Rails fatigue and break after a long training season on gravel or dirt.
Same brand and model that you've been using.
Cheers, Dave

TD drop boxes/care packages.

This isn't going to answer the question you asked but ...
I didn't use any care packages last year during the divide. I'd seriously consider whether it's worthwhile for you.
Bike stores in both Steamboat and Salida seemed pretty well stocked and getting stuff from them means using their tools (perhaps), getting advice on everything and the chance to chat to a human being who actually has an idea about what you're doing. If it's non bike stuff that you were going to stick in the package then perhaps research multiple locations along the route where you can buy what you need (town knowledge like that is invaluable anyway). If it's stuff that you can't get along the route then I would carry enough supplies for the entire race (it would suck having your care package lost/ missing /"it might get here tomorrow").

Well. In my case it is a bit of a moot point 'cause I missed Gold Dust too and that was solely because I messed up.
The CDT is just one of those grey areas I guess. Emails aren't going to reach everyone ( I didn't have a cell phone, I was riding alone at that point, and I believe I was probably pretty close to the CDT when the email went out anyway). But there was also apparently a bulletin board somewhere near the entrance to the campground that described the closure in detail. Shrug.
I guess it's one of those situations ( almost like a fire reroute) where the best thing to do, after the fact, is to declare that you missed a section and see whether it was allowable or not.
Cheers, Dave

I’d like to add my support of a ranked list of finishers after the event is complete along with a complete list of all those who started the event ( FoldsInHalf's idea ) . My belief is that all those who send in a letter of intent are committing to a race and deserve to be included in a results list. It is also my belief that not all of those who start are able to hold to those commitments. I think that part of the race should be a completion declaration stating that the competitor did or did not manage to hold to the race rules, or that they had to withdraw at some point. The easiest way to do that would be a form letter sent to each competitor upon their completion of the race reminding them of the rules and giving them an easy way to declare whether or not they managed to stay in the race. There are grey areas in the rules admittedly, but really the best you can do is rely on each competitor’s integrity and conscience (and it seems to me that that is how the race was run in the beginning too). Having a list of ranked finishers within a list of those who committed to the race (with their results too) merely highlights how hard the race can be and does not detract from the achievement of any.
My (Dave Stowe, TD2014, GD, Southbound) race declaration:  I reached Antelope Wells in 22 days 6 hours and some minutes (‘bout the same time as Alice D.) I cannot be ranked as I missed two sections of the course, 1) Gold Dust,  due to navigational error, and 2) the CDT alternate, due to bad judgment and a mistaken belief that trail closed meant trail closed.
Which is ok ‘cause I’ll be back to be ranked in 2016.
Cheers, Dave

Hey guys! I'm getting my rig ready for my Divide debutante, and I was looking at getting some Ergon grips, but was puzzled to see on their website that they're not compatible with Carbon bars. Now I'm freaked out by putting anything on the bars, specifically my aero bars. Should I not use a Carbon handlebar if I plan to mount all of this stuff on it? I know that Carbon doesn't like to be squeezed... does anyone have experience with this?

Ergon sells a plug for carbon bars so that their grips are compatible. That's what I will be running. Everything else that I have attached to the bar will be lightly clamped, enough so that I'm not worried about it. (No aero bars).
Oh, and I'm a stalker. Been peeping into this thread since it was on the second page. 2014 will be my first TD. So I really don't know what I'm talking about, but I might as well put in my two cents worth, eh?