Yes, got my Fred Bar from Siren Bicycles as well. Love it and the way my aero bars are set up now. Huge thanks to Brian De Groodt!

Thanks for the direction mbeardsl. Found a great collection of articles by Scott Thigpen on his 2012 TNGA adventure. It's a great read, both entertaining and informative. Nicely done Scott.

Sherpaxc, I'll be sure to get out and test myself along with various loads of equipment. Slowly piecing together my arsenal, and have a few overnight trips planned for the coming months. Being in Dallas Texas at the moment, I won't have nearly the amount of elevation change that could prepare me for the TNGA, but riding any terrain is better than not riding at all.

As some of you have probably seen in the Introduction area and the "Ride Across Texas", I'm new to this site. Long days at work daydreaming about the upcoming TNGA adventure has brought me here, and I'm glad to have found this bunch.

Without going over the backstory again, might as well dive into the meat and potatoes. I'm registered for this years TNGA and have been training for a couple months. Has anyone on here competed in the race, and/or have any advice for this kind of race? I'm coming in cold in relation to bikepack racing, but have turned myself from an XC to a 24 hour and endurance racer over the past year. I realize it's far from comparable, given that the 24 and endurance hour races I've competed in are multiple loops and offer support rather than point to point and self supported.

I'm doing what I can to prepare myself both physically and mentally for this race, and I'd like to be as competitive as possible. Any horror stories are welcome, and actually encouraged, as well.

Hey guys. New to this site, but I figure I should share some information for those of you outside of the Dallas / Fort Worth area. Down here in Texas, we've been following multiple endurance riders compete in the Tour Divide and the TNGA over the years. This year, a local group (Spinistry) came up with the Ride Across Texas.

This ride will begin on November 1, 2014 in Texarkana, and end somewhere near the New Mexico/Texas border. I was one of the first registrants (R. Kota - Big Pig Racing) and was excited to be a part of this inaugural race. However, I am moving to Tallahassee in August and have to drop my entry. Fully supported (850+ mile) option is only $75 at this point. If anything, give it a little look for those of you in the area or those interested in someting Texan.

Not sure how many of you are from the DFW area, but I'll do my best to share with you all any happenings and interesting stories from my neck of the woods!

Links if interested:
http://www.spinistry.com/race-across-texas/

Hey all. This is somewhat of a new adventure for me, the extended trips and loading up a bike, so I've got much to learn. I've been mountain biking for the past several years, and just got into racing in the past year or so. I started racing XC, and it gave me a rush to be in that kind of atmosphere. However, the feeling only lasted an hour and a half.

This past winter, a close friend and endurance mountain biking mentor of mine passed away, leaving me in a mess of sorts. After a while, I decided to pick myself up and carry on his legacy as best I could. Over the past several years, he has attempted and completed the Tour Divide and Trans North Georgia multiple times. I was lucky enough to grab a spot in this years TNGA, and began training for it the past couple months. I'm looking to be competitive on this ride, but we'll see how the next several months go.

I'm doing my best to pick at the brains of those here in the DFW region on bikepacking (gear/strategy/etc), but there's always more information to be gained so I figured this was a good place as any to join.

Nice to meet y'all, the name's Ryan.