I think a lot of this depends on what your going to use it for.  Epic is great for big loads and ok for smaller loads, CDW is great for small loads and not good at all for big loads.  I've used both.  I could recommend both depending on use.  I'd keep it as light as possible up front though.   You can't go wrong with either really.

Since you own a CDW you know it's a bit more of a hassle to get in touch with him, but the product he turns out is top notch.  Epic is very quick with all communications and puts out equally as good as a product. 

Winner winner chicken dinner.

How big of a tarp?  Get one too big and it's a hassle to get set up, to small and not enough coverage.  What would you folks with experience with them recommend?  The only experience I have with a tarp is under a hammock and I've used it once as a stand alone shelter.  It was Ginormous and I wouldn't want to deal with that every night.

We had a guy who was very experienced in racing bikes as well as adventure races.  He was up in CO training with his SPOT on, somehow fell of a cliff and died.  They were able to locate his body because of his SPOT.

I'm all for the SPOT.

Got it in the mail on Saturday.  Holy light jacket Batman!  Folds super compact, but not as compact as my Marmot Windshirt.  Got to walk around in the rain yesterday with it and yep, it works.  Haven't got to ride in it yet.  The hood was a little funky at first cause it was so big, then I realized there is velcro on the back that you can attach the upper part of the hood to make it smaller and more form fitting sans helmet.

The left side zip doesn't bother me at all, that's what my Louis Garnaue (sp?) stuff uses.  I wish the arm length was a little longer so when on the bike it covers my wrists better but when standing they fall to the top of my palms and would be to long otherwise. 

When on the bike it covers my back side just fine, though not as much as a showers pass jacket would I'd imagine (never used one but have seen them).

For $130 bucks from REI and a return guarantee it was worth the shot.  In the end I got an extremly lightweight and compact WPB jacket.  Time will tell how well it holds up.

BTW, I'm 5'10 and weigh 155 and got a medium.

My family and I are going to be spending some time up north (Co, Wy) for most of the summer.  We are wanting to do either a road tour or an off road tour.  Here's the catch, we will be towing our 1 year old in a trailer.  We have been practicing this and will be doing a few weekend tours here in Texas so we will be ready for that part of it.  What I want to know is, is there any part of the GDR up that way that would be good for this or would it be just way to bumpy and rutted out? 

We're up for just about anything.  We have experience with multi day (weeks) touring but none at all (yet) with our little boy.

Thanks for the help.

Only 30, but I've been running (or I should say, used to) competitively since 6th grade.  Anyway, they don't hurt at all on my local trails here in Austin, no matter how much I abuse them.  something about the extra weight I guess. 

Have no fear, plenty of super mega strong SS'ers from up around your way do plenty of multi day (weeks) rides.

I was and sometimes am.  For big multi day trips I'll be using gears from now on.  My knees didn't do so well on the CTR so I've decided to use gears for things like that.  I'll stick the the SS for around home though.  In the end just have fun with whatever you've got.

When my bag isn't loaded and compressed down I also get the floppy bag.  What I like about the bag though is that you can compress it (roll sides).  If you have the straps on the handlebars attached correctly it shouldn't be a problem.  I had a super hard time with the straps when I first started out.  It really seems counter intuitive but makes sense once done correctly.  The straps have to wrap around the bar, then through the "D" ring and back around onto the velcro.  I don't have any pics though.  There should also be some velcro thing that you can wrap around your head tube to more stabelize the bags.  You might need to shoot him an email for more clarification (and maybe some pics). 

I wish he was on these boards to answer some questions.  I know Eric is on here and doesn't push his product but will answer questions when needed.  He also has one of my all time favorite posts (Bolivia trip) It seems that if such a large portion of your target clientel posts/lurks on here you would be involved with the boards.  I love his work, great craftsmanship.  A little lacking on the PR part though.

Good luck!

I ordered one from REI today.  Should have it in about a week or so.  Hopefully after buying a rain jacket it will stop raining.  If not I'll post up a review of it.  REI had a total of 13 in mediums...total.  Crazy.

I don't think it does Matt.  It would be a nice feature for sure, but not detrimental to me.  I'm most concerned with weight vs. breathability/packability.

Gotta love the REI guarantee as well!

I don't think there is enough in the field info to compare the two (at least on this site and for the purpose of bikepacking).  I'm going to try to get one sometime in the next week or two.  Hopefully by buying a rain jacket it'll stop raining.

Looks like REI is now carrying the Mica.  I'm gonna go check them out soon and see how I like it.  I'm probably going to wait until my dividend and 20% off coupon come in to buy it.

I actually really like that idea and might be able to make that work.  I used up all my saved days last year with the birth of my son.  I restarted the year with 10 days but he's been sick for some of them so my days have dwindled.  If I can save up enough next year I'm gonna come out and see how far I can get.

I am not going to be able to make this happen this year. Realistically, I would find it hard to do an ITT in my the alloted Spring Break 10-day time I have.

Yep.  I'm a teacher as well.  It makes these middle of the school year (or later part in this case) much more difficult to attempt.  I think I'm gonna save my days and attempt the 300 next spring though.  Can't complain about the 10 weeks off for summer!

What is the product geared towards?  I'm always skeptical about people who post on forums (especially first posts) asking for help with product development.

Welcome!   There are several of us from Texas on these here boards...

That looks like a great jacket, the only issue is no hood.  I don't get the idea of having a rain jacket but no hood.

Each time I ride one of these ultra races, I seem to drift away from any notion of setting a record. I wish I had this mentaility earlier on in my ultra race career. That said, I think that completion seems a lot more important for this ride.

totally agree Chad.  While there are a few out there that are really able to push the envelope, I think completion is just as cool.  I've only tried one race and failed.  How humbling that was.  Once I let going of the mentality that I had to be fast with the big boys bikepacking become much more fun.  And a hell of a lot more freeing. 

Yes you did.  Good, I'm glad someone besides myself can now be responsible for navigation on our trips.  Figure out this whole GPS thingy.  I can't seem to.  Having a Mac hasn't exactly made things easy with them either.  I have a GPS (e Trex) but the software doesn't work with my MacBook.

I posted up some questions over there as well.  Hopefully I can get some clarification so I don't get lost like last time.  I love the OT and the Womble.  It's the only area I can think of that is singletrack friendly for bikes that you can ride on for longer than 20 or 30 miles without having to double back on in the region.