Offhand, you wouldn't happen to be the Tigger from the old backpacker.com forums, would you?

Looks like Greg Gleason finished earlier this evening; he really smoked it! 

I just finished reading this thread (thanks to nightshift, haha).  I am basically a nobody when it comes to this, but I'm going to give my opinion on it anyways, because this is the internet.  I feel a lot of the discussion on the rules and violations could be solved by two very simple fixes.

1.  If your goal is to race competitively (20 days or faster for men and 25 for women) then you start on Friday.  Everyone else starts on Saturday.  This also takes a lot of pressure off of businesses along the route, and reduces the overall footprint of such a large group.

2.  Each group (racing and riding) has their own Trackleader Page.  This will make it easier to follow the race, and easier to follow your friend or SO. 

Just my $.02, which combined with an extra $1.48 will get you a cup of coffee.

I saw this and wondered how much better would it be if you could hang it on a downtube and supply power with a dyno-hub instead of solar?

I want to do a dirt route from Valdez, AK to Key West FL, using part of this.  Tentative route would go something like this:

Richardson Highway to Fairbanks
Alaska Highway to Whitehorse
Trans-Canada Trail to Edmonton
Edmonton S to Banff
GDMBR SOBO to Sargents
Trans-America Trail East to terminus
Gravel/dirt road connector to Trans-North Georgia west to east
Gravel/dirt connector to Cross-Florida MTB route
90 miles south to Key West.

Ahh, someday...  :-)

Looks like The Munga won't be happening this year.  I bet there's a lot of pissed off people, especially as close to race day as it is.

https://themunga.com/article/6

Here's a little more in-depth article:

http://www.thehubsa.co.za/features/_/news/mtb/international-mtb/the-munga-postponed-world’s-toughest-race-faces-a-tough-challenge-r1714

So I'm bored at work and was looking for alternatives to keeping water in a framebag in the winter vs. on your back and under your jacket.  My initial thought was some type of aquarium heater in a water bladder in your frame bag hooked to a battery and dynamo hub.  I did some research and the only USB heaters I could find probably wouldn't be too effective.  Instead of using a heater, would using this small pump powered by a dynamo hub and battery in an insulated water bladder, work? 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/DC-3W-USB-4-5V-12V-Submersible-Water-Pump-Aquarium-Fish-Pond-micro-mini-Pump-/150871183897

My thought being that moving water doesn't freeze.  Is this plausible, or am I way off base?

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/3nm71wwhvsa6gi8/AABF5OuFIpEFD-y1pBM0tGcEa?dl=0

NOTE!!!  The GPX track is NOT current, but the town lists and distances should be close.  I stored both of these plus the GPX track in my iPhone for reference/backup. 

Lone Ranger you mentioned mailing back the tent after Salida.  That brings up sending supplies to post offices along the way ahead of time, food, spare parts (chain, tubes etc)  Is this something normally done, or are the shops along the way enough?  I know it depends on what breaks and where it occurs. I'm guessing its tough to coordinate your progress with the PO hours also, going through a town after hours.  Are racers starting with all the maps and sending home the used maps?
Thanks

I sent out 4 small USPS boxes to post offices that had 9-5 hours in towns that didn't have bike shops for general delivery.  This way, if I needed something, I could get probably get it, even if it meant waiting a day.  If I didn't need anything, I just bypassed it, and they would return it after 30 days.

You can fit a lot of stuff in a small, box, btw. I raided my other bikes, spare parts bin, and even talked the bike shop into loaning me a few things.  In each box, I had a tube, a tire, a set of pedals, extra tire patches, a jersey or shorts, extra socks, set of brake pads, a small bottle of Stan's, chain lube, a few chain links, extra spokes, extra batteries, travel bottle of body wash, etc.  Altogether it cost me around $35 for all four boxes.  To me, that's a whole lot of insurance for not much cost.  I think the towns I sent them to were Seely Lake, Pinedale, Del Norte (?), and Grants. 

http://news.yahoo.com/canadian-city-calgary-struggles-summer-snowfall-161202779--finance.html;_ylt=AwrTWVWpfxBUcBMA9TfQtDMD

Could be an interesting start next year.  Calgary already has 14" of snow!

Thanks for helping me kill a half-hour at work, haha.  Great video!

No, it doesn't come with any type of mount, but I think there are some available on the store.  If not, it's just a flashlight, and you could easily jury-rig one.

http://www.fenixgear.com/fenix-uc40ue.html

This is what I use.  It doesn't have a dedicated helmet mount, but 4 zip-ties fixed that.  940 lumens, USB rechargeable, but it can also use CR123 batteries as a back-up.  I've found the burn times to be even a little conservative.  Durable, compact, lightweight, weatherproof, and less than $90.  I'm really liking it so far.

Tires are gone.  Fork is uncut and yes, disc only.  I will try to get a pic of it soon.

News just in from Twitter:

The Munga  ‏@TheMungaMTB  · 1h 
#JayPetervary and #KurtRefsnider Entered The Munga! http://www.themunga.co.za  Made for the tough, by the tough!

Now THIS should be interesting!

Team America.  F*%k yeah.   

Is this going to be supported by Trackleaders?

Brand new, never laced Marge Lite Rims for sale.  64 hole (can be laced offset or centered), 65mm rims, 690 grams.  

http://surlybikes.com/parts/wheels

Asking $150/ea

I also have a never used Karate Monkey Fork and a pair of used Endomorphs - shoot me an offer, I'd like them gone.

I do.  It's brand new and never mounted.  $100 shipped

Maybe you could try working nuclear outages.  Most are in the fall/winter/spring, plus you get to travel around a lot working at different plants.  There's a lot of different jobs available, too.  Might be something to check into!

Ran into Derek and Angeline today in Emporia, KS, which is about 50 miles off route.  They said they were taking the shortest route to the East Coast, and were going to try to make another ~60 miles tonight and staying in Ottawa, KS.  It sucks they had to bail on the course, but good on them for continuing on regardless.  Also good to see fellow bikepackers in Emporia!  Sure beats the gravel grinders we have around here, haha.  (I'm probably getting kicked out of our Thursday Night Ride for saying that!)

Saw this happened in Columbia Falls today.

https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/explosions-fire-columbia-falls-montana-plant-24079984

I wonder if Bill Peschka saw/heard anything.  I believe he passed by there earlier today.