I know lightweight racier mtb tires are common but I have been currious about more touring oriented tires like this one from Schwalbe http://www.schwalbetires.com/node/2179

Its designed as a touring tire so it is plenty durable and the weight is actually pretty good.

Also I'm sure it has been tried and is still not the norm so I am sure there are plenty of downfalls but I am just curious as to what they are towards semi slicks?

A bunch of the cyclo-cross guys used those on the Kiwi Brevet last year, and they seemed to like them. I was reminded of this on a MTB ride on Sunday - a friend turned up with those tyres on his CX bike and was raving about them for rough stuff riding, but said his bike no longer handled like a road bike, instead it was solid and a bit sluggish. I guess if you can't fit a really wide tyre in your frame then the extra thick tread might make up the difference to a certain extent.

Stans Crows worked for me. No punctures. I changed the 26" rear tyre twice. The 29" front tyre was fine the whole way.

I agree that making rolling resistance a top priority is the way to go. Specialist mud tyres are fine for short races, but they can throw up a lot of mud and that will end up in your gear, wearing stuff out fast. Better to have a slicker tyre which picks up less mud (even if that means a little bit more walking) imho.

Just to add to the discussion, you might be interested in this 'legit' 3,374 km event in Oz - huge entry fee and huge prize money. It'll be interesting to see who turns up and who does well.

http://www.bikemagic.com/event-features/trans-oz-bike-ride-launched/8632.html

True indeed. I put an extra layer of 10mm closed cell foam on the aero bar elbow pads, which helped heaps. But if I'd had suspension, I might have used them even more and that's gotta be all good for your hands.

I didn't say original, just legendary...It could be done on a 20" wheeled aero hutch as well. 

So if no rear suspension as a result of technique and potential for failure why front suspension?  Some know first hand that there is always an opportunity for failure and reducing those is part of the game.

Fully rigid works OK, unless you are susceptible to nerve damage in your hands - like you suggest, it's all a matter of trade-offs. Personally, I've switched to a Cannondale 29er and am enjoying the extra comfort of the suspension up front. Am looking forward to trying it in the next Grand Tour down under.

Seeley to Helena is very good, but it's not quite record-setting pace. Perhaps the weather was crappy?
Hopefully he has a better day tomorrow.

"He actually spent some of the first half of the race almost a day behind David Blaine and Geoff Roes."

That's not the way I remember it. John took the lead at the end of the first day in 2008. He wasn't feeling great when he was in Butte, so took the morning off to recover. That was when David and Geoff caught up, and David briefly took the lead. But that night David stayed in Wise River and only Geoff and John went on. David never repassed John, and I don't think Geoff ever opened up a significant gap on John before blowing up.

You can see the leaderboard my brother did during the race here:
http://www.kennett.co.nz/people/simon/greatdividerace2008/leaderboard-day10.gif

Simon, any idea what the specifics are of his setup?

I went on a singletrack group ride last night in the woods and it was a bit challenging with a dynamo. It did make it very exciting going over obstacles and ramps. Setup was SON Delux + Supernova E3 triple. I'm going to try the SON Edelux headlamp next.

/david.

Sorry, I don't know the name of it. It's very light and incredibly low drag, but also quite pricey (which is why I didn't commit the name to memory).

He has it set into his front fairing.
WRT the fairing, obvously it improves aerodynamics, but it also makes it a lot more comfortable to ride in cold, wet conditions (based on experience with a Zzipper fairing).

He's also gonna be riding in the dark a quite a bit if he is going for the record, which I suspect he is.

He has a great dynamo light set and seems pretty adept at sleep deprivation.

The snow situation will be interesting for him - less snow-pack, more fresh stuff than when he set the record for border to border.

Good luck!

Interesting to hear the Parks department finally noticed what was going on. Down here, the Department of Conservation gave us a terse call just three days into the inaugural Kiwi Brevet. Once they realised there was no entry fee, they were OK with it all (but the 64 riders is likely to double next time).

I agree that organising a qualifying system would be a pain in the arse - not what a volunteer unorganiser needs when they plan to sit on the saddle for 17 days. An alternative (especially if you want to focus on a faster field) is to introduce a fairly stiff time limit. Then scare people off by suggesting they won't make the cut-offs if they can't do an off-road century in less than 16 hour (i.e. give people the info to self-qualify).

The idea of a north-south/south-north challenge has enough appeal to have me thinking about returning. I'm assuming the scenery looks quite different from the south, and the navigational challenge would be interesting. You could change the rules slightly so that riders from the south have to ride the NM alternates, but could use a couple of the northern ones (hint: the island park rail trail detour).

At the end of the day, if people the Tour Divide field is overflowing, there is an alternative event.

I've been comparing ping times, too. I think you might want to check your maths. The rider who's dot looks 1000ft back has an older date stamp - take that into account and they'd be very, very close.

With about 20 miles to go it looks like Blaine and Erik are riding together. It's such a boring stretch of road - the company will make it pass quickly. I imagine they are currently forging a friendship that will last a lifetime.

Too close to call as they approach Separ. From there on in the visibility down the road is generally several miles, so nobody will be making a clean break unless somebody stops for a significant rest.

I was a true weight-weenie on the divide, but still carried a very small cable lock (for use in town). A pair of bicycle cable cutters could have severed it, but the sort of casual thief that stole Matts or David Nices bike probably doens't carry a pair of those around with them.

Very impressive. That Matt can do these fast finishes year after year is truly incredible. To be running the event as well.....the man is solid!

Can only speak for 2008 (although some things don't change). I had an early dinner in Abiquiu and did the climb as soon as it started to cool down a bit. If you start counting from the big intersection down the road from Abiquiu, this is the longest climb of the Great Divide - the bottom half has some nasty corrugated bits and the top third has a lot of sand traps and exposed bedrock - riding 100% is a good effort. I set up camp near the top at about 10:30, feeling pretty content. What was surprising was the effort to get along the tops and into Cuba. This took me 6 hrs and I wasn't stopping anywhere for long (due to warnings about a mountain lion. I saw fresh prints in a sandy patch that morning). I guess the sand could be better in the wet.
[FWIW, my pace was 19 days for the GDR, so a bit slower than Matt]
The mud between Pietown and Mimbres is potentially much worse.

Conditions must be nasty in the Hila today. Matthew seems to be sheltering at the ranger station and Blaine and Erik have been in Pietown for quite a while (unless they turned their SPOTs off). There's only so much pie a man can eat.

It's terribly sad to read of Dave Blumenthal's accident. There was a lot of good humour and joy evident in his last call-in. I hope, in time, his family and friends find some small consolation in that.

I was also sorry to hear about the fire south of Abiquiu. The Polvadera Mesa is one of the more beautiful parts of the Great Divide. It will be interesting to see if many riders now choose to skip the alternate south of Cuba.

Safe riding to all.

I'm curious, to what degree do those who have ridden the TD coming from lower elevations notice the air? I just moved away from Boulder after 4 years and when there, I found I only really started to feel the elevation at 9K'+. A local brevet organizer advertised a ride that started outside of Boulder (~5400') and headed into Kansas as lowlander-friendly. Now that I'm hooked on the TD and have to start planning for it, I'm wondering whether I need to plan in several weeks at altitude first!

Having gone from sea-level to XC racing at altitude a couple of times before (and suffering) I did an 3 week altitude simulation course before heading over to Sante Fe for a couple of weeks acclimatisation. What was really hard to deal with for the first week in New Mexico was the heat and low humidity. It was good to adapt to that a bit.

'Racing' on the Divide is generally done at low intensity, so the lack of oxygen isn't a major problem (if you start out fit). For me, the digestive system was much more tested than the cardiovascular system (that and the backside). 

I've gotta say, I'm impressed with this guy Blaine. A few days ago there were a couple of big passes between him and Matt - now it's just Boreas Pass (which, while high, is relatively easy).  He seems pretty damn steady. And no mention of major mechanicals - wonder what sort of rig he's riding?

Fingers-crossed that wind change comes through as predicted.

Someone referred to the "basin" that ML is crossing. Can some of the past riders describe the terrain for some of the current riders. I was looking thru the photos on the TD site and was wondering ML is in the flat, rollers in WY while others are still slogging thru more rugged terrain.

The heat and isolation aside, the Basin is pretty straight forward. The hills are pretty minor and the track surface isn't difficult (aside from the odd corrugation, perhaps). I think there might even be a prevailing wind that is of help. Looks like Matt is timing it well for a night ride through the Basin, so I suspect it'll be one of the easiest parts of the whole race for him.

Baring some sort of disaster, I'd say Matt is looking good for the win.

As for the rules debate - you have to ask yourself if their was any unfair advantage gained. Nope. Are any of the racers offended by the use of a car in that situation? Nope.
Even the UCI aren't slaves to the rules (remember Lance shortcutting the course through the corn field - that was a breach of the rules, but they quite rightly let it slide).