Ulrich has won!

STATUS: Finished in 14d03h23m

Indeed!  What a fantastic, hard-core, dedicated-to-the-end ride for Ulrich.

Congratulations!!

Hmmm...Andrew Kulmatiski's dot hasn't moved for some time.  I hope he's alright or just has dead SPOT batteries and doesn't know it.  He got off to a wicked-fast start...

Ulrich has turned south toward Hachita. where it's 65 degrees with mostly crosswinds that aren't very strong, and no chance of rain.  He just continues to push and push and...

During the night, he rode the CDT, passed Silver City, and completed the road to Separ.  I haven't watched the entire replay to confirm, but I have him at about 10 hours of rest since Platoro.

I know Marshawn Lynch trademarked "beast-mode", but Lynch never met Ulrich Bartholmoes.

All the best!

Joel

I can't get over Ulrich. Forced to stop for 12hours and he's still THIS close to the record. Incredible.

Yeah, he's not going to catch Mike Hall, but what an remarkable ride he's had.  He (and Justinas...and Jens, for that matter, until his hands quit) has shown tremendous resilience.  It would have been so easy to pack it in when stuck in that port-a-potty, but he didn't...none of those three did.  And Ulrich has led that charge, matching Mike's pace.

Since Mike set the record, there have been several who have approached - Sofiane a couple of times, Josh Kato a couple of times - but something has always prevented it.  The combination of the vast distances, variable weather, and the vicissitudes of bodily injury just make this a difficult race.

But we have seen that the record can be bested.  When it will happen...?...who knows?

Was wondering the same thing.

I bet it's the "if you see this marker you're spending WAY too much time dot stalking, so get back to work!!!" marker.

Huh...I'm currently seeing a new marker on the route..."TL".  Right now it's sitting where the route joins Hwy 64 to go up to Hopewell Lake.  All riders from that dot going back to Del Norte are distance-referenced to "TL".

Any idea what that is?

ScottM, can you enlighten us?

Many thanks!!

I see Andrew Kulmatiski is out there for another NoBo run. That's really cool!

...and Andrew is out of the gate flying.  260+ miles as of this morning.  His bike is set to "boogie"!!

Agreed.  I know Mike Hall used the e-shift system in 2016, but yeah, I steadfastly run from it.  I feel that I'm way less likely to snap a cable than I am to have battery issues.  In fact, I don't think I've ever broken a shifter cable.

I still show Mike's dot this morning with about a 40-mile lead on Ulrich, who rolled into Pie Town right as the clock struck 12 this morning.  He took a 4-hour nap before heading out again.  Now it's a drag race to the border.  Ulrich has pace, there's no doubt about that, but can he pick up 40+ miles with about 260 to go?

...and a huge way-to-go to Justinas Leveika, who had a huge day yesterday and has just rolled out of Pie Town.  It's still possible for him to spoil Ulrich's day by snatching the win himself.

This has been awesome to watch.  The only thing better would be riding out there and kicking up my own dust.

...and another interesting development...

Some pop-up showers are running just north of Pie Town on the route.  I don't think there's enough rain to cause issues, but...

Winds in Milan are modest, but still from the WSW.  75 miles is now the gap as Mike's dot begins to rest.

To add to jjmundt's fine analysis here's my hot take.  Mike Hall pulled into Pie Town at 12 days 10 hours, then slept until 12 days 17 hours.  We're at 12 days 4.5 hours right now and Ulrich is still 123 miles from Pie Town.  If he manages 10+ mph he won't get to Pie Town for another 11 hours which would mean he'd only be allowed an hour's rest and then have to proceed to match Mike's pace (keeping in mind Mike had a six hour rest) for the remaining 295 miles.

Great point!  The gap is not impossible to overcome, but it will take a herculean effort.

Ulrich's gap to the record remains about 65 miles...and as he turns south from Pueblo Pintado towards Milan/Grants, he'll face mild headwinds (5-10mph).

I hope Justinas is alright and just resting.  He might be conceding 1st to Ulrich to spare his body...or his SPOT needs fresh batteries.

The gap to Mike's record is still about 60 miles this morning as Ulrich departs Cuba, and it's a numbers game...it's always a numbers game.

So here it is:

Mike's dot will reach Pie Town at 6pm tonight, where it will stop until about midnight.  Then it starts and doesn't stop until Antelope Wells.  That's fixed and won't change.

Ulrich is roughly six hours behind.  The way I see it, he has to ride from Cuba to the border - without stopping - and maintain a better pace than Mike through the Gila, the CDT section, and the push to the border.  That's basically 70 hours straight riding at the end of this race.

Joel - only of they finally find the tears in my dura and fix them. Procedure #13 this Monday. DOT watching has been a nice distraction! Missing the Divide.

I'll be sending prayers up that #13 is the last one.

I was just thinking...the leaders rode from Platora to the top of Polvadera Mesa in 20 hours.  That's some serious pace.  In fact, since they holed up in the Basin, they have been basically matching Mike Hall's pace mile-for-mile, just from a 60-70 mile mud-induced deficit.

And as we might remember, 2015 and 2016 were incredibly fast years.  Almost no snow up North, no Koko Claims, and a dry Basin and New Mexico for the leaders.

This year's leaders have been astounding.

Justinas' dot stopped moving 45 minutes ago at 60 miles from Cuba and I'm trying to decide if he has stopped to rest.  Last night, he and Ulrich appeared to stop in Platoro at about this time, resting until midnight...so it would make sense.  Ulrich is a few miles behind.  I guess we'll watch and see here.

Mike's dot is at McDonalds in Cuba.

Alexandra has made up for the slower pace in the North and has now passed her record pace dot.

Good for her!  She's a super-strong rider, so that gearing really hampered her.  Lael Wilcox is a couple of hours behind her record time, but I think it's going to be a while before anyone seriously challenges Chris Plesko's SS record.  In the same year that Mike Hall set the overall record, Chris' ride may still be the most remarkable of all...and he beat his previous record by nearly 4 days!!

And just like clockwork, rain is forming up in the Basin.  We'll see how much havoc it causes this time...

Joel - My car trunk came down on my head 2 years ago and gave me a concussion. I was misdiagnosed and given medication that increased pressure. I ended up with multiple spinal fluid leaks. 12 surgeries so far.

Oh my goodness!!  Is this something that will eventually get fixed so the surgeries end?