I was considering the Te Araroa Trail for a fastpack adventure for 2016 or 2017 if I can't make another long trail dream happen (Great Himalayan Trail.) I'm guessing you've done at least as much research as I have (not a lot yet), but it does not seem like a trail anyone will ever want to drag a bike across the entire length ... except maybe you guys.

It seems logistically difficult as a self-supported hike as well. Lots of water crossings, some packrafting (maybe not enough to bother carrying a packraft the entire way), overland travel, lots of hacking through thick brush, if you're not on exposed rocky mountainous sections you're on mud or sand, etc. But it also has long road detours that would be nice to knock out quickly with a bike.

Would be cool if you tried it. Depending on the timing, maybe we'll see you out there, probably glad we're not carrying bikes.

Makes sense. As such, it is good to encourage people not to purchase the eBook, because there is an high amount of the proceeds going to Amazon that they might not expect. Thanks again!

Chris —

Thanks for all the work you do for the Cordillera. I deal quite a bit in Amazon eBook pricing, both in my own books and in editing/consulting for other self-published writers. I've wondered if you've considered pricing the eBook at $9.99. This would yield a royalty of $6.90 versus $10.50 for the $30 version, and it's plausible you could sell three times as many books. I'm not saying it's a certainty, but I'd wager there are more than a few potential readers who want to read the Cordillera/support the cause, but don't necessarily have $30 to spend. Plus, at the 35 percent royalty, you are donating a lot of money to a Amazon that I don't think they deserve.

I realize this is a fundraiser and you are trying to maximize the proceeds. In my research of this market, I've come to the conclusion that it's a bad business move to price an eBook over $9.99 and always advise other authors of my opinion on this. Lower-priced eBooks nearly always bring in more proceeds overall. For example, when I dropped my personal eBook prices from $8.95 to $2.99, I actually started making more money per month, because I was selling to a lot more casual readers, not just a handful of fans.

Anyway, I'm certainly not telling you how to run this fundraiser. Just offering my own insight. Something to consider.

I'll be purchasing either way. And sorry, I only read eBooks these days. My apartment is tiny and full of bikes, so I don't really have room for more books.

Oh your right. I thought I had the route going down Grizzly Flat. I've only climbed Table Mountain as well, never descended, and agree it would be a jerky downhill ride. Plus, I am a rule abider to a fault. Recently I have been using Strava's heat maps to try to "discover" new trails and dirt roads in this region. There are a surprising number of completely blank spots on the map where nobody rides (probably private lands), and a not-so-surprising high incidence of trail poaching that skews the data.

I'm working on putting together a few more loops for winter training rides. I could link a few of these route ideas together for a comprehensive bikepacking tour of the Santa Cruz Mountains. Perhaps I'll post it here when I'm done. I'll do my best to avoid illegal trails.

Are you looking for a multi-day tour, or just day rides?

A couple of years ago I did a variation of a coastal tour designed by Rick Hunter, about 300 miles from the Santa Cruz Mountains to SLO through the Santa Cruz and Ventana Mountains onto Highway 1. It's a beautiful route but probably only ~30% dirt and not much trail. All the legal trail rides I can think of would be short day rides, but you could link a bunch together for a fun weekend.

This is an idea I came up with once for a big, majority dirt, trail-linkup, 111-mile loop. A chunk of Santa Cruz riding could easily be added. I'll get around to trying it someday. http://www.strava.com/routes/38052

Ha! I'd be curious to see this theory put into practice.

If you're using a bladder, having the water inside the bladder freeze solid is less of a concern than the hose and valve, which would easily freeze even if you had hot tub jets inside the bladder. I've used a tubeless MSR bladder in the past, but without insulation the water inside freezes fast and the jostling of water inside the bladder causes ice to form on the lid threading and can be almost impossible to open. If you really don't water on your back I think the best strategy is to buy 1-2 Hydroflask bottles, which I've had luck with keeping water slushy but drinkable for upwards of 12 hours in below zero temps (by combining with an OR insulation sleeve). They don't fit as well inside a frame bag, but bladders are pretty much useless unless they're on your body.

Good luck Justin!

voluntarily carrying a tonne more food on a dirt road bike touring route where you pass right through many a town along the route seems illogical and kind of pointless, each their own.

You captured why these types of debates are silly if entertaining. Style is always open to personal interpretation; very little is "necessary" these days.

Curiak had a ~150-pound bike for 24 days on the Iditarod. Arguably you'd need roughly the same to complete the Tour Divide unsupported. Can you imagine dragging that much weight up and down some of those double-tracks in New Mexico, or avalanche debris in Canada for that matter? Would take some serious strength on top of the necessary illogic. Intriguing.

From what I've seen Jill, and you may have a broader perspective as I just run - you race,  is that really good marathoners critique say trail running courses for their "runability" - if the course isn't 99.9% runnable, it's somehow not a good course, which makes sense in their perspective, but leads to sort of boring courses.

I sorta think something like UTMB is a very boring course, and in comparison, all the unofficial FKT's that actually go UP Mount Blanc are what's actually interesting. It helps that say, Killian can go for those sorts of things, being a ski mountaineer racer half the year, and Sage Canaday still wants to qualify for prestigious marathons (or the Olympics? Again?) - but I'd doubt he'd ever try that sort of FKT, even though he wants to ALSO produce a film about exactly the type of athlete you're talking about: competitive marathon runners, turning into competitive ultra trail runners (which I think is weird, personally).

This would be an interesting discussion although off-topic for this thread. When it comes to marathoning versus trail running versus speed climbing, you're effectively describing three different sports, and excelling in one doesn't always mean excelling in another. This race has similar implications. It's longer than a 24-hour race but not quite a bikepacking race, in that most at the front of the field will either ride nonstop or with short naps at support stations. If I were to draw a parallel, I think it's closer in scope to the kind of multi-day mountain racing that is slowly becoming more popular in Europe, such as the Tor des Geants. A multi-talented runner like Kilian could dominate a race like that, but a top marathoner? Unlikely. With 80,000 feet of climbing in 200 miles, it's emphatically a hiking race for even the top competitors so far. Depending on the type of course the Munga draws out, it may be similarly unapproachable from a pure speed perspective.

I'm a hiker myself, but I don't fault runners for seeking runnable courses. I figure they just like running.

I agree it's short-sighted to not include a women's category. However, it's difficult to set up a prize structure without equal-opportunity giving, and my guess would be they don't want to dilute the eye-popping value of $700K.

I can't help but look at this from an ultrarunning point of view. Prize money was only recently introduced to that sport in a few races, and so far it hasn't changed much. The same prize-free races are still immensely popular, and no Kenyan has yet come out of the woodwork to crush the entire field. Joe Shmoes continue to do what they want to do, and even the faster runners in the sport don't seem to base their calendar on money races. But it still generates arguments about doping, purity of the sport, etc.

Still, distance running offers relatively small potatoes money — $12,000 for Run Rabbit Run, $10,000 for the North Face 50. These organizers decided to go big right out of the gate, probably in hopes of actually enticing people out of the woodwork. It's a big gamble for everyone involved, which of course is what makes it intriguing. You could be a decent 24-hour racer and sign up, but who knows who will show up on race day? Oh, the drama. World Series of Poker is an apt comparison.

Yeah, it's kind of silly. But it should make for good stories. I'll definitely have the popcorn ready if it actually pans out.

In fairness, it doesn't look like this Web site made a direct comparison to self-supported bikepacking races, beyond stating that one of the race organizers completed the Tour Divide. It's clearly not their market, either. They're looking for fast riders who are willing to put it all on the line for a whole lot of prize money, thereby generating the widespread interest they're surely aiming for (it takes a lot of sponsors to fill a $1 million purse; entry fees won't begin to cover that plus expenses.)

Not exactly my thing either, but I find it intriguing. No other ultra-endurance race of any sort offers that kind of money. People in ultrarunning are always chattering about what might happen if elite marathoners had incentive to show up for a 100-mile trail run. In a way, this might be similar. 1,000 km? It's a little more complicated than Tour Divide terrain, and it's hot, really hot, in December. One aid station every 200 km isn't exactly a ton of support. I'm guessing they're banking on pros showing up. I can't be the only one who thinks it will be interesting to see what happens.

A few more race reports from other people, although Josh Spice and Jill Homer had more suffering than fun. I think we have all the same suffering, but the key to survive is going at your own pace. I always think of this as randonneuring: Challenge yourself on the course, don't worry about what others do. In particular, I don't even try to keep up with the "neutral" rollout of previous years (which frankly seems more an uphill sprint).

Josh just posted his, cute title too, and a very vivid description of his state of mind.  Most of us can relate to it, it was a pizza oven ride, but this year is going to be about the same despite being a month earlier.
http://www.staysanesleepoutside.com/stories/2014/3/10/how-to-cook-a-snowman-2013-stagecoach-400

http://arcticglass.blogspot.com/2012/05/endless-climb-stagecoach-400-intro.html

My race report wasn't all suffering narrative, was it? I remember enjoying the beauty and variability of the route. But I was in strangely poor physical condition that spring, plus desert mountain biking is a big weakness of mine and Stagecoach 400 helped me finally come to terms with that.

Anyway, I dropped in to check on updates about this year's event. Hope it's going well for everyone!

Hey Jill, is there a write up of Billy's adventure?

As far as I know, there was a Fairbanks Daily News Miner article published shortly after his trip, and not much else. I've been meaning to interview him about it for a while now.

Great topic Scott. So many great achievements this year! This would be worth a blog post of some sort. Personally I'd also throw in another limit-pushing distance effort, by another Billy nonetheless — Billy Koitzsch's first west-east ride across Alaska on the 2,000-mile Irondog route. He did end up completing the final hundred miles on pavement after spring beat him to Fairbanks, but still an incredible ride nonetheless.

Of the fast riders, my vote for "Bikepacking Performance of the Year" would be with Mike Hall's Tour Divide. Eszter's Iditarod for women.

Thanks for responding to my post, Alex! I sent you an e-mail.

Out of print but still available on Amazon. New copies are only $114.96: http://www.amazon.com/River-city-rides-Mountain-west-central/dp/0963984209

But that's great that you have a book out there, Toby. You should update the information and put it back on the market.

And, for what it's worth, the term "vanity publishing" has fallen out of favor because self-publishing is an actual viable business venture for many authors these days, and is largely managed by the author/publisher themselves rather than dedicated vanity presses. But this thread has ventured way off topic so I won't derail it any farther. I'm very active in the "independent publishing" community, so it's always a topic I feel compelled to weigh in on. Now, to finally read Adam's book. ;-)

Sorry to interject. I felt compelled to chime is as well in defense of writers who are also sometimes bikepackers.

There's already a fair amount of ultra-bikepacking literature and media out there, actually. Paul Howard's "Two Wheels on my Wagon." Jon Billman's Outside Magazine article. Many smaller magazine articles. The Cordillera (first two versions did not donate proceeds to a cause. I helped with the design of V.2.) "Dividing the Great" by John Metcalfe. Ride the Divide. Reveal the Path. Not to mention all the bike-touring adventure books put out by Alastair Humphreys. You're entitled to feel the way you do, Toby, but singling out Adam and blasting him on a public forum just because his book is about the Colorado Trail is unfair.

Personally, I would love to see more outdoor adventure and endurance racing literature reach the wider world of readers. Bikepackers and people who are interested in bikepacking read and share information largely with each other. But someone who has never heard of either is more likely to stumble across and possibly gain inspiration from Adam's book. Over the years I've received e-mails from people who are never going to race the Tour Divide or the Iditarod Trail themselves, but felt compelled to plan an adventure or try a new thing after reading one of my books. Most of them had never heard of these races before and would have never stumbled across my blog in an Internet search. People on this forum obviously fit into the first group. Still, even CTR enthusiasts might appreciate a more story-driven format about a rider's particular experience. Literature and play-by-play race reports and gear reviews are, in my opinion, separate entities. I've written both.

Also, Amazon receives 30 percent of eBook sales. It's a more than fair margin for a retailer who provides the world-wide reach and specific and effective algorithm-driven marketing that they provide. Brick and mortar book stores take 40 percent for a much smaller customer base.

James, thanks for the suggestion. I'll see if I can get ahold of Alex. I'd love to hear his thoughts about how the experience and terrain of the Freedom Challenge compares to the Tour Divide. From my understanding from another friend who's ridden part of that route, there's a fair amount more trail, or at least animal track, as well as some off-trail hike-a-biking. The navigation aspect seems like an nightmare for people like me who are dependent on modern GPS crutches and thus have few real map navigation skills. But it's intriguing nonetheless. I've long wanted to visit South Africa; to tour across the country on a mountain bike would be fantastic, and the semi-supported nature of the Freedom Challenge is inviting due to the scary factor of wild camping alone in Africa. Anyway, I'd love to hear from anyone who's ridden it before. I want to get a few more opinions before I commit.

Bumping this thread. Out of curiosity, has anyone on this forum ridden the Freedom Challenge? I'm giving some thought to 2014.