I'm looking at the Spot Gen3 or the Garmin InReach Explorer +.

I think the big difference is that with the SPOT Gen3 you cannot send custom texts from the field. With InReach you can.

With the SPOT gen3 you set up messages before you leave home which you can then send from the field (you can set up two different messages: one that gets sent with a push of the OK button, and one that gets sent from the Custom button). They can not be customized in the field.

A quick look at findmespot.com shows the SPOT X unit which clearly allows custom texting.

Uhuh yup. I've had that happen about a couple of times now, even during the Tour Divide. That photo shows me holding my pedal after it gave out in NM.

You look exactly how I felt when mine broke on the Matukat road 50 miles from Bailey!

I'll check out the Time pedals

Anyone use the Xpedo M8 ti pedals? Is lightweight titanium a good idea for long rugged hauls like the Divide?

So I broke a crank brothers candy pedal on a ride last weekend. Pedal slid right off the spindle - gaskets and bearings all shot! I've literally run out of moula for this ride and am resorting to an old pair of shimano clipless pedals. I also have some straight egg beaters.

How much am I going to regret the shimano's when it gets muddy?

Photos of Boreas Pass! The good: it's been plowed for the year!

Oh man! How much of that is really going to melt in a month or so...wow

Hard to believe when you compare that to the fact that Conifer Mtn has received its lowest snowfall in 25 years

I've found I need 250kcal/hr - and if I get a bunch of that in one sitting or spread out over several mini 'meals' than so be it. It's hard to pass up a burger or pizza. And I don't mind climbing back on the bike with a full belly.

Someone mentioned that a place like Safeway makes a great stop because you can get supplies and 'dinner' in the same store thereby limiting time resupplying - of course there are only so many Safeway's on the route...

Grilled ham and cheese sounds a lot better than Hammer and a few bars.

Never thought to put a frozen burrito in a jersey pocket to warm it...that's clever!

I'm sure I will overpack food during this ride as I'm always scared of running out. I've got a decent cue sheet together that has distances between towns and notable landmarks/water along the way - so that when I am in town I can quickly see how many miles to the next store/restaurant/water.

I'm bringing a small pencil and notebook in hopes I can 'prepare' a list ahead of time and not walk into a gas/grocery store and walk aimlessly down aisles. I've been there and bought a bunch of crap I shouldn't have. Not sure if the notebook will work or not...we'll see.

I feel like any more planning I do now is redundant and superfluous...time to ride. I'm getting antsy

Which prepared foods do people find carry well and last at least a day without getting nasty? I've carried xtra cheeseburgers from McD's, fried chicken, fries, and sandwiches...

Snowshoes are a pain when pushing a bike. If your thinking that's the way to go bring a sled to put the bike on and pull it.

Maybe if I was leaving from Banff now! No, I was just picturing some year where there were several riders carrying snowshoes - or maybe it was just the Long Ranger in his epic snow year.

Good to know stuff is melting fast, thanks for the intel. I may bring some stout plastic bags as vapor barriers to keep my feet dry though while pushing through snow...

Are we going to see snowshoes strapped to bikes this year? I saw someone say there will be more miles of pushing through snow on Red Meadow Pass than ever before...

FYI - Webcam at Roosvile. 
http://images.drivebc.ca/bchighwaycam/pub/html/www/196.html

They have a 'Replay the Day' feature. Bet that would be fun to see a couple days into the race...

Man, that looks gnarly.

Can't wait to make that stream crossing in the dark 

I can see why everyone talks about it now. Thanks for the local geography lesson.

Koko is just over 2,000m in elevation, which is higher than a lot of the mountain peaks in Fernie.

Is 'Koko Claims' (in the TD world) considered to be the climb that takes you west off of Hwy 43 just north of Elkford? Is it a pass? I'm confused when you say it's higher than the peaks in the area...

Also, from what I've read, it's a bitch of a climb, usually happening at the end of day 1 and usually a wet and muddy/snowy affair - that about right?

Subway bags and dishwashing gloves...classic. That is some great trail side resourcefulness.

Now I'm embarrassed about my $65 zpaks overmitts 

Thanks for sharing the link. Probably not mac compatible as I ran into problems right away with both utilities either not installing correctly or not running.

I've got some other decent OSM basemaps from gpsfiledepot...

Anyway, I don't want Scott to do ALL the work for me 

I mostly wanted to load it in Basecamp for research, but I've found other basemaps to work for now. I'll see if I can use your method, vs transferring data via Basecamp. Thanks

On the Topofusion site where you get the gpx file, there is also a basemap of all the sections to cover the route.

http://topofusion.com/divide/GDMBR-basemap-v4.img

I couldn't get that to work on my Mac for some reason...

Look into gpsfiledepot.com for free basemap data. I use Garmin's Basecamp software (I should probably buy Scott's Topofusion!)

You could buy Garmin TOPO data that is probably better...but I guess I'm too cheap for that

I wasn't able to make the call to ride this thing until November...kinda last minute for a race of this caliber.

I'm guessing I won't truly be ready to ride the Divide until around, oh...Helena? 

Awesome! Are you ready, Woodland?

Negative 

Anyone as excited as I am for June?

Yes, yes and yes