Hey Matthew... I wouldn't worry that the race has been defined by that right turn. I'd say there's been an effort -especially on the TD site- to steer the conversation toward more uplifting aspects of the 09 race and even some early gear questions for 2010!

I know one guy who surely doesn't think the 09 TD was all about some hidden turn in MT. His name is Evan Mettie; he's an injured Iraq vet who is getting a brand new all-terrain wheelchair thanks to the money raised from my TD ride. Most of the $14,000 I raised came in after I left and is almost certainly a result of the SPOT map and blogging features on your race website. My whole town went absolutely bonkers for the race because those features make it a blast to watch. The race was in the paper or at least the sport's blog nearly every day. They even had a political editorial contrasting TD racers who don't quit under pressure and Sarah Palin who does -honest, they did-. I highly doubt we would have done so well at fund raising if I'd just anonymously ITT'd the route. That's a big deal and you should feel good about not only the race itself but how it changes peoples lives -racer and otherwise-.

Eric