Emergency services in Fernie is seeking donations to help recover the costs of rescuing TD riders.  Here is the link:  https://ferniesar.ca/donate/

I made a donation and thanked them for being responsive to the situation with the cyclists.   Fernie is a great town - we travel through there to/from Calgary and always try to stop there.

Looking at the elevation profile in Trackleaders it looks like there is a significant drop right before you get to Ellensburg.  At mile 356 you're at 1618' and then at mile 358 your at 3' and then back up to 1620' at mile 359.

Locals know the site as "Mel's Hole"

Nice write-up - thanks for sharing! 

FYI - a quick note of support (soon) would be greatly appreciated. Getting the Renslow trestle fixed would be spectacular and hopefully create some momentum for addressing the Columbia River crossing.

- - - - - -

Ted Blaszak of the Tekoa Trail and Trestle Association writes:

Hey Folks we need letters of support sent to brian.patnode@parks.wa.gov
these are notes to encourage the parks pursuit of a RCO grant to repair the Tekoa trestle. So to see two trestles repaired, and graveling done, please send Brian a note. Say something like you love the JWPT and want to see it get fixed.

The official grant application names are:


16-1886 Iron Horse-Renslow Trestle Decking and Railing

16-1320 Iron Horse-Tekoa Trestle Decking and Railing

16-1930 Iron Horse- Malden to Rosalia Trail Development

Please keep connected to our growing movement to save the trail. Most active current conversations are found on Face Book at the Tekoa Trail and Trestle Association. Or visit our web site at JohnWaynePioneerTrail.org

Washington air quality monitoring: https://fortress.wa.gov/ecy/enviwa/

Definitely escalating smoke levels along your route corridor being fed from fires on both sides of the border.  We are hoping for some air movement over the weekend as we get a bit of a break from the high pressure system which has fueled a heat wave over the last couple of weeks.

Personal favourite of all times was Racing Ralph but they tend not to live very long. I liked it as it was a solid "good" across the board tire. Now trying out a an Maxxis Ardent 2.4 EXO, very stable and fantastic traction on most surfaces but painfully slow on pavement, almost enough to make me cry...

Just curious if you are running tubeless and at what pressures?  On my (lighter) aluminum 29HT I was running a 2.2 nano front and back.  On a new steel El Mar, I have Ardent 2.4 EXO front and back.   All on stan's flow rims, running about 20 up front and 25-28 out back.

The improvement in traction on fire roads and trails w/the 2.4 ardents is quite noticeable.  They are also maybe 20-25% heavier.

The El Mar with the 2.4s seems to roll really well compared to the lighter bike with demonstrated fast rolling nanos.  Maybe a hair slower, but nowhere near the drag I have with Purgatory/Captain Control front-to-back on a full suspension bike for trail use.

For my application, the trade-off is worth it to me - and I am thinking of trying to get 2.4s onto the aluminum bike when it is time to re-tire.  The ride with the big 2.4 in back at 25psi is quite pleasing.

One thing I discovered is that there is now a tubeless-ready 2.4 EXO 29 Ardent in addition to the standard one, which seems to be dual-compound.   I have that one on front, and a standard on rear.  A lot of my rides have paved segments between home and mountains, so I will see how long they last.

I will say that there is absolutely no comparison in terms of comfort and handling between tubed tires and typical pressures and what I've come to run now. 

Excellent first week wrap-up, with pictures:
http://www.mountainflyermagazine.com/view.php/2015-tour-divide-half-way-mark.html
(Hope someone didn't post that already and I missed it.)

Thanks to the background masonry, the pictures of Jay and Neil's bikes show an interesting contrast in saddle angle preferences.  For those 200 mile, 10,000' a day, 2500 mile outings, I think I'd prefer Jay's setup!

Ryan,

Take a look at Kent's Bike Blog http://kentsbike.blogspot.com

I know he rode from western WA to Banff as a warm-up for the Tour Divide
one year.  There might be route details in the blog archive.  The good
folks at Adventure Cycling Association can probably help you as well.

People do ride US 97/97A down from Penticton; You might also be able
to research coming down through Invermere on 93/95 and then west on
US 2 by Sandpoint, ID towards Wenatchee and then meet the 97.  I've
only done these as a driver and if it were me I'd look into ACA routes
and maps to minimize highway time through these corridors.

There have been a lot of major forest fires in N. Central WA this summer;
recent rainfall has knocked them back a bit and so hopefully smoke won't
be severe by when you start.  Something to research a bit more once you've
picked a route. 

Safe travels!

-tabby

Always enjoy reading about your adventures.  Great trip!  Thanks!

-tabby

I've been following the flash flooding situation in Colorado with a deepening
sense of dread for everyone and everything affected by it.  Could some of
the locals explain the scope of the event with respect to the CT and other
areas which frequently are discussed on this site?

I did also get a little bit of tire rub on the bottom of the roll at full stuff. This is on a freshly rebuilt, 140mm Rock Shox Revelation running 170psi, which is the rating for a 200lb - 220lb rider. I'm 220. I'll go up a little on air pressure, and also perhaps put something on the bottom of the roll to protect it.

With you and your bike fully loaded see what the sag is like on the fork versus your
normal day ride load.  Some people take shock pumps along if they will be establishing a
base camp for multi-day rides (i.e. the difference in optimal pressure with front loaded/unloaded
is enough to where you might enjoy your bike the most by setting a pressure for each configuration).

Wow!  Thanks for that!  Great trip and write-up.  I wonder if someone
has compiled a resource with all of the great Canadian rail-trails in one
place?  I know there are cross-island trails on PEI and Vancouver island,
and the big Kettle Valley trail system in BC.  I'm not sure what might be
available in the Rockies but you'd think there might be more trans-Canadian trails
through the prairies, making a cross-country trip largely by rail-trail feasible
(if not bone rattling

Unfortunately these days if your in it to win it and know you can't win its easier to drop out.

That's pretty cruel, particularly considering the circumstances of this year's ride.

All the best to Stappy at a difficult time.  He's established
himself as a top divide rider and it wouldn't come as a
great surprise to see him back out there again someday.
I hope we do!

It is hard to imagine conditions at Prince's Island park, and the River Cafe.  Our thoughts are in Alberta for the many displaced people and animals.

This is Craig's sister...our family isn't affected by the flood...We don't live in the flood zone. I feel for all the people who live close to the river. Everything is under water. Downtown is flooded. The Saddledome has water up to the 10th row. I guess it is a good thing the Flames didn't make it to the playoffs...Very sad day

I had the Renegade S-Works 2Bliss as a rear last year for TD. It did work great - but didn't last long. It was nearly bald by Pinedale. Still lasted without a flat until Steamboat, and by then it was as smooth as a baby's butt.

The S-Works tires are a trade-off towards light weight at the expense of durability and longevity.  Something for a race which doesn't last 2700 miles.  I find the control casing (e.g. Captain Control, Purgatory Control) tires to wear well, resist sidewall damage and be very consistently easy to run tubeless.  Any of their tires in control casing would fare much better on such a torture tour than an equivalent S-Works version of same.  Captain or Purgatory would probably be too much tire for the divide but the Fast Track sounds interesting ...

San Francisco is ~1000mi from the route, give or take.  If you have limited time
and want to spend most of it on the divide, consider taking the California Zephyr
AMTRAK train from the San Francisco area into Colorado and joining the GDMBR
there.  I haven't done this myself but I do see reports that AMTRAK can be bike-friendly
and probably a lot more fun for you than some of the alternatives.  If you've got tons
of time and want to bike the entire time, you'll certainly get a workout crossing the
Sierra Nevada range and could probably find some interesting ways to do that either
north or south of SFO.   

Thanks for the info on PEI.  Is there enough salinity in the air that you notice the corrosive effects
on your equipment over time?

Truly stunning!  Thank you for the write-up.  How many months of the year is this area
bikeable?  Someday I'm hoping to get out to the maritimes and would like to do some
biking.  Do you have any riding experience on PEI?

Great pictures!  I particularly liked the lynx you photographed.  It sounds like you would
have had regular encounters with semi-trucks on the gravel road.  Were they typically
screaming along or was it a non-issue?