Saw this the other night. Some reason it reminded me of the TD! Have fun!!


http://video.pbs.org/video/1386970191

Yea, it is funny how TD riders look like the natural prey of wolves.  I was chased off Fleecer by a pack of 4 wolves in 2011. 

You will destroy the Ipad I would think.... I got really wet, muddy, dusty.... And it doesn't mount on handlebars? So you would have to stop all the time. The e20 or 30 works great.

You would need the strongest otter box case for your ipad to make it through.  IMHO, recharging is the biggest issue.  I went with the Delorme PN-60w over the etrex.  I had a PN-20 for about 5 years and in 2010 got the PN-60w with the SPOT build into it. I still use it today.

I was getting about 3 days of use out of 2 AA Energizer lithium batteries. 

Whatever you use, you better get it now.  I had 8 months with mine before the 2011 TD and I remember on day 1 of the TD, learning new things about it.  Most of these lessons were how it dealt with the track file for the route. 

Feb was a 800 mile month for me.  March and April were 1,000 and 1,100 mile months.  May was a 500 mile month. 

This was on 2011.  Looking back, this was too much.  I wasn't wrecked, but I wasn't 100% on 6/11.

Next time, I will have a sharper peak about 3 weeks out from start. 

In 2008 that was were John Nobile made his second break (the one that stuck). A bunch of us stayed in Wise River while he and Geoff rode over the hill. Not easy to do while dog tired, but still one of the easier stretchs on the divide, even with the cracks before the climb starts proper.

Ollie and Craig are doing awesome. If they make it to Island Park tomorrow, that'd probably put them a full day ahead of the chasers (starting from Butte, it's hard to see any of them getting to Lima, but I'd happily be amazed!).

The Scenic ByWay was surreal for me last year.  As I was going up, the sun was shining at the bottom.  It started raining about half way up and at the top it was snowing.  After a few turns at the top, I came across another pack of wolves. 

Hey Vance, 
    I remember finding you in the road and telling you about Hungry Bear.  I think it was John ( can't remember his last name) who took the photo.  I never saw it either.  I think he made it to Polaris and had health issues that forced him to drop.   I hope you are doing well. 
Cheers,
Derek 

Derek:
Yes, you did!  You are my Hungry Bear.  Oh, that sounds wierd!  Miss you man! 

Vance

Hate to poo poo a bike shop but I also had a very bad experience there at the Great Divide Cyclery. we pulled in on the tandem and they were not stoked, actually bothered. they wanted to charge me extra for working on it right there, i get the business end, i work a bike shop and if a touring cyclist is coming in we are going to do our best to get them right back out. the other problem was they weren't even busy, then i had to coach them on getting my cable housing correct...blah, blah. i did have an awesome burrito from a killer burrito shop and it was on the house, know that is sweet!!

yes, wait till Outdoorsman...

Ditto, JayP.

I'm wondering if some of these riders into Helena are going to start stacking up at Great Divide Cyclery for repairs. In my experience that bike shop wasn't very Tour Divide friendly — they seemed to be more heavily focused on high end road bikes in their inventory, and weren't in a hurry to do anyone favors when I was there. Maybe that's changed, but it seems to me there'd be a strategic advantage to holding off on repairs until the Outdoorsman in Butte. Of course, it's hard to commit to that extra distance if your bike has problems, especially with brakes.

Yea, I stopped in there last year and had a horrible experience or maybe I had lost my sense of humor.  I was having a problem with my forks.  They were saying they would need to send them to Fox and that was their solution.  They were saying there wasn't anything they could do. 

I then grabbed their shock pump and jacked my fork with some extra air, which seemed to fix the problem and I left. 

Terry's last point is at the Hungry Bear restaurant. Prob trying to get some dinner.

Time for my Hungry Bear story.....Last year, I was riding to Seeley Lake with my Kiwi friend.  The night before, I bought a lot of food at the last resupply stop before Seeley Lake, 100+ miles...thinking it would get me there.  We got about 15 miles down the road and heard these monkeys in the woods. It was DJ and Jake, so we camped with them that night.  I ate a bag of granola that night and thought that a bag of Fig Newtons, 4 King Size Reese Peanut Butter Cups and 4 Nutter Butters (the 4 to a package ones) would get me to Seeley Lake.  That got me about 30 miles and I was out of food and water with about 60 miles to go.  My Kiwi friend had to visit the "office," so I laid down in the middle of the road next to my bike and went to sleep after I finished the fig newtons and my last gulp of water.  

Shortly there after 2 more riders come upon me laying the road and thought I had died or passed out.  One jumped off their bike and starting yelling at me, asking if I was ok.  I was told there is a picture of me like this somewhere, but I have yet to see it.  

Back to the Hungry Bear, it wasn't on the list, but I was so hungry, we rode the mile to the the Hungry Bear and had a massive early lunch of 2 sandwiches, a salad, a bowl of soup and my first piece of Huckleberry pie.  Oh and 4 grilled ham and cheese sandwiches to go.  

It is me or do things seem much slower on day 2 than last year?  Since we didn't ride the flat head in CA, this could be part of it and quite possibly be the more "normal" pace for day 2. 

As everyone left Sparwood, it seemed to slow everyone down more than I have seen in recent years. 

Last year, we were fortunate, by the Spray River Trail, most of us were in arm warmers or no jackets. 

Rudi is hilarious!  Joe Polk, aka MTBCast Master, thanks for capturing these precious moments.  They really bring things home for those of us with such fond memories of the TD. 

Maybe it was / is just me, but at 6:23 PM MDT on day 1 last year, the chase pack (loose term to describe the second group of about 12 of us way behind the break away) were just rolling into Elkford.  The last of us came in around 7:30 PM. 

This seems about the same as last year. 

Dave:
I have been a fan of this:  http://www.transamtrail.com/about/   

Yea, it is about motorcycling, but it is off road. 


Vance

How are you Crossmark fans getting on with the non-UST version?  I've sliced beyond repair FOUR of them in a single season riding my local trails.  I do really like the fast rolling and fairly grippy Crossmark tread though so have been running a UST Crossmark on the back for a a few months now with no problems.  I hadn't heard about the sealant/bubbling issue though...oops.  Might have to put something else on there for upcoming races instead.  There's quite a lot of loose flint where I ride, and this does tend to separate the men from the boys with regards to tyres.  Race Kings, Snakeskin Ralphs and the UST Crossmark tend to hold up better than others I've tried so far.

Yikes, you must have some rocky trails.  My very first pair of Crossmarks, I put 1,200 miles on them.  During last summers TD and follow on riding, I put 2,200 miles on one pair.  No repairs, no flats with Orange Seal Sealant.  These were the non LUST Crossmarks. 

What is your setup?  Saguaro in front and Crossmark in back?  

Crossmarks on front and back with Edge wheels.  This is the best wheel setup I have ever had.  

I tried using the regular Crossmark for tubless but I couldn't get it to seal...I have a UST rim, its not stans.  So the rear tire search begins again, ugh.  I want something that is bomber and super fast rolling, any more suggestions?

Yea, the rim is a big part of sealing a tire.  On some instances, I have tubed a Crossmark on my rims to get one side of the bead to seat.   Remove the tube and it seats just fine.  I also unfold and hang the Crossmark for a couple days. 

For me, Crossmarks with Orange Seal is bomb proof.  Far better than all others. 

Enjoy the search....better settle on something quick. 

I never had any trouble with the 26er UST crossmarks with Stans(several pairs).
one of my 29er UST crossmarks did bubble up in southern New Mexico, without any catastrophic failures though.
YMMV I guess.

Stephen:
Yea, I had used UST Crossmarks for a while with full knowledge of this bubbling warning from everyone I have known.  The kicker is that there isn't any way to predict when this will happen.  For me, I was 42 miles outside of town on a training ride last fall when the rubber started unwrapping from the bead.  This created a catastrophic failure, which resulted in my carrying my fully loaded bike for about 10 miles before I could find someone to give me a ride back to town. 

We thought about having LOI's called into MTBCast but no one has done so to date. That said, anyone who would like to call in ahead of time can do so. It might be nice to get some information on what you're riding, your goals, SOBO/NOBO, etc. Feel free. I can compile these for a pre-race show. Either way, please avail yourself of the MTBCast call-in number. It's a good way for people to follow and hear how you're doing.

MTBCast, You Rock! 

Hey folks!  MTBCast does this out the kindness of his heart and pocketbook.  Please throw him some bones to help offset his costs. 

Thanks! 

I think I am going with the Geax Sagauro in front and the Crossmark UST in back after doing some more research.

Foster:
Do not use the Crossmark UST with any kind of sealant.  The rubber will bubble or come off of the bead. 

The regular Crossmark is an incredible tire and my tire of choice.  It seals super easy, especially with Orange Seal.  http://www.orangesealcycling.com/  I have sworn off of Stan's after it evaporating so quickly and having such a hard time sealing. 

pgadola:
As a caveat to what Chad said.  I use a Delorme PN60W for my gps.  The gpx file only provides the line for you to follow on your gps.  Without the maps, you won't have any idea of your surroundings.  You won't see any roads, towns, just the line for you to follow. 

My recommendation is to load the maps for the route. 

Guys, please, if you want to ride with the GD on 8 June, then show up. 

If you don't, decide on a start time and ride.

As others have said, just ride.

Hey Phil_Rad,

Thank you for your data.  I hope you don't mind, I reformatted it and put it into tabular data.  You can see it at:
http://www.driven2divide.com/?p=765

This will most likely sound stupid, but maybe I am too tired, or haven't had enough coffee.  What does the miles column represent? 

For this row:
Eureka, MT            10    Sec. 1 10
Whitefish, MT   101   Sec. 1 90   

The distance between towns says "sec.1"  Is this map section, so for this one, map 1.  Does 90 represent the mileage from Eureka to Whitefish? 

I have packed up my maps already, since my work boss cancelled my vacation this summer for my TD.