As a person who has compromised a few times on the colour of the bikes I've bought I would say if you're patient get the exact bike you want, in the colour you want it.

I'll second that. Color (frame in general: size, geo, etc) is the one thing you can't [easily] change about a bike.

I'll also second the frustration that a few others have described with regards to salsa's (not mentioned here, but surly's as well) lack of ability to build/deliver the bikes they hype. What's the point in having a big unveiling party in July for a bike that you *might* have ready for stores *maybe* by, what, March at this point?! I can only speculate at how much business my LBS has lost having to repeatedly tell potential customers "sorry they're out of stock and we don't know when/if they'll get them", thanks to Surly/Salsa. The owner is really good at pivoting and directing people to bikes that fit their needs, but let's me honest, if you're looking for bikes with as big of an identity crisis as the ones in Surly/Salsa's line(s), it's gonna be hard to steer you to something else. /rant

I was looking forward to picking up one of the new gx1 spearfish (orig. stated delivery Nov), because i think that raw with the blue accents is money, but who knows when they'll be in at this point. One of last year's SLX builds popped up in inventory spontaneously a week ago and the shop called me so I pulled the trigger on it (it mostly matches my tiColossal, and most of it will be covered up with bags anyway :-/ ).

... the touch screen IMHO, which is MUCH easier to navigate with, rather than using the little nubby ... I HAVE had problems with the touch screen being unresponsive if it gets too cold. Which IS infuriating.

Can't speak to the etrex touch but i've had [two] oregons (I'll second the lanyard comment above, way cheaper than a broken screen), and while I've had no problems with the screen in cold, it can be an absolute bane when it's raining. raindrops register as touches, so you look down and all the sudden the map is somewhere totally different and you've created a bunch of waypoints or gotten into and changed settings.

You can lock the screen out to prevent that when it rains, but then you have to unlock the screen to do any map functions (zoom, scroll, etc), and then lock it back when you're done.

The other thing I've noticed, from looking at my oregon vs others' etrex, the better the screen resolution, the thinner the lines. There's no setting for lineweight, and depending on the area/road/path colorings of the basemap (I use OSM openfeitsmaps), i've found it very difficult to discern my route line from the rest of the map. zooming in/out doesn't change lineweight either.

-Donald

I try to either eat just before big resupply stores OR, go in, grab a few quick recharge items (coke, sandwich, etc), get those down and get the brain rebooted into safe mode, THEN I go in for the grocery shopping.

...When you are numb from riding, it is easy to be overwhelmed in the store and not know what to buy and you end up getting crap you won't eat/not get enough food or get too much food (i.e. try to count calories ahead of time to know what you need).  Plus, it can be a time suck in the store if you don't know what you are looking for and just wander around...

Hi Tom,
I'm getting pretty excited myself. I've left a good bit of 'surge capacity' in my bags for that stretch. I have a Sea-to-Summit 20L backpack that stores about the size of a pingpong ball that I might toss in the handlebar bag just in-case. I think it's called the ultra-sil if you're looking through their product line. Straps aren't padded so i'd probably move clothes/light stuff to it and stuff the bike bags with hard/heavy things.

Apple is mentioned/posts in just about every planning thread for the CTR, I think there's even an 'angel Apple' thread in this subforum. He's also the spot on the trackleaders replays where 95% of the riders take a break in the backcountry ;-). I made it a point to know where he is, just like I made it a point to know where to look for water in certain areas, but I never 'plan' on using angels/magic as a resupply. Surprise is a wonderful flavor enhancer.

See you at Waterton.

-Donald

I'm also shooting to do the TD next year with a 20ish day pace, and CTR in < 2 weeks with a 6-7 day pace. From my experience on bikepacking routes (SE mostly: TNGA, and FL stuff), sfuller is spot on about loaded vs unloaded bikes. I rode part of the TNGA with a guy last spring who hadn't really done any loaded riding, just road, and going from 19 to 8mph even though he was putting out the same power messed with his head so much that he pushed way too hard. Psychologically, he wasn't prepared for how slow he was going to go for the effort he was putting out. he was focused way more on speed than sustainable power/effort and was blowing himself up.

I'll also piggyback on Dave's point about descending and say that you want to be comfortable on technical [surfaces] with a loaded bike. Or at least, know where you are uncomfortable, so you can rein in your speed before you're caught by a hazard.

To get back to your original question though, I replay trackleaders archives of races I'm planning on, pick out people who rode my intended pace and study their speeds/distances/rest intervals etc. when i'm studying for a race (this helps to pick up on the areas where I won't make good mileage vs areas where I can expect easy/free miles). Then I strap 10L of water to my bike and go ride hills and trails because regardless of what I plan, I'm only going to do what my legs can get me through. (And core, your core is gonna work way harder on a loaded mountain bike than on a road bike, so throw some planks or something into your routine).

-Donald

Just had to cut an attempt short when my buddy's knee blew out.

I'm looking to finish the route, either picking back up from where we bailed (Wolfpen), or restarting. Trying to hit 70 to 80 miles a day. We were averaging 7-8mph (moving average) over the first 125miles. I'm down for night riding, but I'm also OK with making camp before dark.

Pace is 4-5 day. I'm out of Atlanta, so I've toyed with rolling to the Piedmont campground on the Ladiga trail after finishing, camping there and then cruising back into town the following day.

I am planning on starting in Banff around the same time dp is (+- a couple days perhaps).
I've got one definite (90%+) and one waning probable (75% and falling) ride partners right now.

I'm sure I'll know more as the months progress and everything gets nailed down.

Donald