I have yet to find any sort of case that I want to have my camera in while strapped to the bike.  Too much abuse.  Keeping it in the pack means my body is insulating it from the jouncing and jarring that the bike can't filter out.

That said, I'm always interested in a better way--share if you come up with something.

For those who don't like packs and/or who want fast access to their camera try a chest harness.  I use one for my DSLR and it works great. Plus if I crash I typically fall on my shoulders or back and not my chest! 

I'm thinking Bryan Heselbach may be deviating to check out some local geology. I know I'd be tempted to do this! 

JJ,  thanks for posting and giving us a taste of what riders go through towards the end.  Sleep deprivation is a tough thing. Way to push through it. Glad the dinosaurs didn't get you. 

John Ross is heading up the drainage to Kite Lake!  He must misplaced.  It looks like there may be a nebulous trail that crosses the divide heading south to Vallecito Reservoir.  I wonder if he has a GPS with him. Maybe he'll meet some campers or fishermen soon.


Jumpin' jiminy now he's climbing back up to the CTR!

Our Man...

I noticed John Ross' spot take a detour as well. My first thought is I would agree with you - he might be losing elevation due to altitude sickness. Looks like there is a road further down Pole Creek that heads West to Silverton.

DaveH,  Yep ET and GP are having a confab. 

Looks like ET and DH are passing. I can imagine DH asking how far Kevin is ahead and ET saying "Oh about 25 miles".

Looks like the silver spike thing is happening - ET and KT within sight of each other!

It's cool to zoom into the trackleader satellite image to get an idea of the terrain. In checking out Patrick's spot, today I've seen and learned about El Malpais - lava flow terrain that looks like a large black blob on the Earth's surface. And I just noticed that he crossed a large dike - type of igneous intrusion - that's about 12 miles long! Pretty cool terrain.