Here's a pic of the now infamous Brush Mtn mud…

 I am puzzled by the chain routing in this photo.  It appears that the lower part of the chain goes back up near the top part of the chainset. I have not seen this done before.  I can’t tell what’s going on because of all the mud, can somebody explain what’s going on?

I can't figure out what Gary Johnson is doing. It appears he stayed on Hwy 26 instead of taking 515, turned back and correctly completed the 515 segment, and then instead of continuing on 26/287 took another wrong turn and is now is heading back up 26 towards the place he took the first wrong turn.

Or am I misreading the tracking info (very possible)?

How is everyone notified?

I'd be interested in learning about this also.

Let the dot watching begin!

Indeed. It's amazing how obsessed I can get with dot watching.

Any favorites among the ladies this year?

Congratulations to Mike Hall! A truly awesome achievement.

smaller pics

What is that rig on the bottom of the front fork on the bottom photo? I've not seen anything like that before.

I bet half of the 30 year olds couldn't ride 20 miles. In fact, I know it.

You should look into electric assist.

20 at 72 is impressive. Keep riding man!

It's probably not as impressive as it sounds. I didn't say how long it takes to go the 20 miles. 

I've been looking at some of the information for the Tour Divide. I see a figure of a net 200,000 feet climbed during the event. Is this correct? This seems incredible. Assuming riding a 15-day race, riding 14 hours a day, and a difference of zero at the end (considering the difference in altitude between Banff and Antelope Wells is about 200 feet), that's something like an average of 13,000 feet altitude gain in a day.

If you assume and average equal time climbing and descending, that works out to 7 hours a day in which to climb 13,000 feet, or ~1850 feet an hour. Obviously, some days will have more climbing than others, but I find this to be remarkable.

I've been watching the Tour de France off and on this week, and I have to wonder how they can call it the toughest bike race in the world (other than ignorance). Those guys have ambulances, doctors, dozens of support staff, sponsors, and bikes that weigh next to nothing. I'd like to see one of the TdF mountain climb specialists try the TD. Maybe they would do well, maybe not. Unfortunately, the TdF starts only a week or two after the TD ends, so it's unlikely to ever happen.

In either case, I'm in awe of the riders in both events. I'm 72, have a bad knee, and max out at about 20 miles of trail riding at a time. My dream would be to be 30 years old again with good knees and ride the TD, racing or not.

Congrats to Lael! This has been an extraordinary race!

It looks like Jill Homer is back on the route again, after almost two days stopped in Silverthorne. I recall she had a health issue earlier in the race. Has anybody heard anything from her recently? I learned practically all I know about the race from reading her book.

I have to admire the determination of these riders. Since I'm an older guy (70+, but still riding a mountain bike on the trails), I'll never get to ride this route, but following the race makes my day.