Awesome! I have been meaning to explore this part of the world and this could be the perfect excuse...

Nothing to report. I'm currently living in Australia so a bit out of the loop, but I'd expect the website to be updated shortly. I am checking it weekly!

I raced both too and found the GSB quite a bit tougher (in a good way). Longer between resupply and tougher terrain. As they are both at the same time of year the weather will be pretty similar, it is a pretty settled time of year.
If I had to choose one, it'd be the GSB. Both are in beautiful parts of the world with the central Otago region slightly more so.
Will be great to see you over there!

After years of being a Crank Brothers fan boi a string of catastrophic failures turned me to Shimano. The new Shimano XT and XTRs are awesome and hard to beat for reliability. Both Craig and I were running XTRs and while mine finished with no worries, his developed a rumble which turned into a heartbreaking failure just outside Grants. There are just so many stories like this in the TD where you can do everything you can to get the most reliable gear, but bad luck can put an end to all the preparation. My advice, buy the XTRs and get them blessed by your relevant omnipotent spiritual figure.

Loved my Egde 800. As Craig notes, the rechargable batteries were risky but I had an 8000mah USB battery that could provide top ups for lights etc. The Minty boost meant I could run anything of AAs too, another backup which I used a couple of times. These were about 300g all up and for all the weight and hassle I'm going to be testing the new Exposure Revo setup, with an 800 lumen light and the ability to charge other devices, I reckon it'll be a winner.
On the Edge, another feature which I found awesome for motivation was the elevation profile, which thanks to the trackleader's course wizards gave you an accurate and scalable picture of the profile ahead. Nice to be able to look down and see you had x climbs left between you and your goal, much better than a dark road or trying to interpret contours from a map. As far as I'm aware no other GPSs have this feature.
I had issues with the buttons on my Edge getting full of crud, and they'd often get stuck down rendering it inoperable. Nothing a swish in a stream wouldn't fix, but a bit annyoing.
I loved having a proper 900 lumen light setup in my Exposure Diablo, it gave me the ability to ride the steep descents at pace. I'd find riding with woosy AA light setups like Craig's shit scary, especially when you are falling asleep!

I’d give the Rohloff a chance, especially if you can find a pre-loved one. I picked up the one I used in the TD this year second hand, number 3800 of about 150,000 or so made so a bit of a veteran! Cost me about $550 and is still going strong. There are some guys (mostly German’s called Hans) who have clocked up 150,000km tours on their hubs so I’m not really worried about breaking it, especially not with my Divide emaciated legs. Stappy showed that there is bugger all difference compared with a traditional drivetrain, but I like the ability it gives you to just forget about looking after your drivetrain and ride. You get all the advantages of a singlespeed with durability but also a full range of gears. It kicked ass in the snow and mud and happily purred all the way to Mexico.
Alfine 11 is another option and much cheaper new, but the range is less and I’ve heard mixed reviews about their off road durability.
I reckon I’d have to be certified crazy before I did it on a single speed through. Mad respect to those dudes!

Awesome effort by JayP to smash my record by a solid margin! I followed with interest and a smile while the controversy was brewing on this forum, meanwhile he was doing his solo thing with panache.
His outspoken views have certainly ruffled a few feathers and I wouldn't be surprised if some of the contenders from this years race decide to have another crack at the record.

While some may view JayP's comments as an attack on the style I raced with, it is water off my back and I respect and admire his solo approach. I've experienced a relatively short durations of solo riding (~4 days in this years Kiwi Brevet) and I'm not convinced it is harder or easier either way, just different.

I'm certain that if the indulgent cultural experiences I had along the way in this years Tour were replaced with snappy stops the course could be ridden faster. But with the weather playing such a huge part, if it would be record setting is at the mercy of the omnipotent weather being.

One of the greatest things about the Divide for me was that it consumed more than a year of my life, with decisions and plans all revolving around the event. To back it up year after year in defence of a record could reframe the race from an adventure to an all-consuming obsession. Not sure if this is where I want to be.

So I'm in no hurry to get back on course, but as memories of the minor suffering fade and I finally regain some feeling in my hands, who knows what will happen!

Finally got round to finishing my report. Hopefully it'll give people another insight into the amazing adventure that is the Tour Divide!
http://mountainpedalernz.blogspot.co.nz/

Good spotting Jeff!
Will be good to catch up at the Kiwi B. too.
Safe to say the skin suit will not be rolling. Not enough pockets to hold all the food I'll need!

Ollie here from New Zealand. Inspired by tales from Simon K and more recently Lance Griffin I'm throwing my hat in the ring for 2012 departing Banff.
I’m hoping that TDR will go a long way towards satiating my thirst for long mountainbike adventures!
We have a couple of good races coming up which will be a good tests for body and gear; The Great Southern Brevet (http://www.greatsouthernbrevet.blogspot.com/) starts this weekend, with Simon's own Kiwi Brevet (http://www.kiwibrevet.blogspot.com/) two weeks later.  I'm flying in to San Francisco and driving a rental car to Boulder for some acclimatisation and other adventures, so would be cool to catch up with some fellow TDR riders prior to the event.
Otherwise I'll see you all in Banff!
Ollie