Russ McBride here with my wrap-up post.  Big thanks to Matt, Scott, the trail recon'ers, and everyone else who helped maked the race possible.  I'm in Steamboat at the Rabbit Ears motel still eating, sleeping, and letting my wounds heal.  (Apologies to those trying to reach me on my cell; no reception here).  It turns out I have a "grade 1 tear" in my left quad so it'll be better soon (higher numbered grades are apparently worse).  I think peddling over the nasty section from Cuba to Abiquiu with only one "real" pedal on the left side predisposed me to a problem with my left leg. Didn't have the best of luck with mechanicals (one pedal break, two chain breaks, one broken derailleur and hanger).  Huge thanks to Dana  from the Abiquiu Inn who drove me to Santa Fe for a new pedal.  And big thanks to all the local race fans whose support was amazing, especially David and Sue from Como/Fairplay, Absolute Bikes, and the folks in the Breck bike shop that set me up with a new derailleur, hanger, and chain in record time.

Someone asked about why I wasn't moving for an hour on the pass above Como.  I broke my chain, then derailleur and derailleur hanger which I was able, with work, to convert into a chain-tensioned single speed.  Franck went so far as to double back the pass and check on me--very kind.  

I'll really miss riding with Paul and Franck.  I had the pleasure of riding with Franck my whole race, an enjoyably obnoxious french guy who's been riding from the beginning with some kind of lung infection/cold and zero complaints.  He's got a great attitude.  I wish he and Paul the best and wish I was still riding with them.  Paul is amazingly efficient at his pit stops and can get by on impressively little sleep.

I got lucky with the Arizona fire smoke and missed almost all of it, but it's horrendous.  Sobo's: if you run into it I'd suggest at least putting a wet bandana over your mouth to filter out some of the pollutants to protect your lungs.  And don't forget to get some apple/pinon/chile pie from the Pioneer Cafe. Mmmmmm.

Best memories:  the elk family on Marshal pass at sunrise, the sprint "fights" between Paul, Franck, and myself heading into Cuba, the folks at the Toaster house, the rabbit that weaved itself between the three of us at 30mph, the folks at Seargents, and Sylvie at the "Snack Shack" ... and that one really hard uphill all-out sprint to avoid dog bites in Vallecitos.

Best wishes,
russ  

Russ McBride here writing from the Abiquiu Inn. Barely scraped my way over the hills of Abiquiu on an old broken plastic Huffy pedal I picked up from an "enterprising" auto parts store owner in Cuba.  It was a bargain at $40! ;-) Getting a ride into Santa Fe shortly for a new one as my elaborate plans to have one shipped fell through. Itll be interesting to see if I can bridge back up to the front.  The theme of this race for me has been that of waiting.  The afternoons have been brutally hot.

Best pie ever:  Pioneer cafe's piñon chile apple pie.

Paul, Franck and I were almost stampeded by a pack of wild horses in the dark coming into Cuba.  Im quite grateful that I didn't snap my peddle during that stretch when we were out if the saddle at 30mph.

Thanks to the race organizers and everyone's support!

... yes I'm *just now* doing my cue sheets, elevation profiles, and I might even have luggage on my bike in an hour when Jeff from Carousel gets here.  My first bikepacking night will be Thursday night in AW on more or less totally untested systems ... because this TD experience needs more adventure. :-)

Question as I'm doing cues: Is it safe to assume that all (or at least most) campsites along the route have H2O?  I'm used to campsites in CA where all of them do (except for maybe Joshua Tree).

Thanks Matt!  I'll leave my snowshoes, skate skiis, and toboggan at home.  Emergency cyclocross tire? 

Did someone do some NoBo cues they're willing to share?

Oops, I meant, NOBO!  What's the best guess on the first area of significant snow the northbounders can expect to encounter?  Platoro to Indiana Pass?  Or the elevations between Cuba and Abiquiu?  Just curious.

For the SoBo'ers, is the first significant snow travel anticipated to be Platoro up over Indiana Pass?  Earlier?

No gear icon in the lower left?  I'm running Basecamp version 3.1.4.  Update your version??

On a different note:  I have a vague memory of a post where someone put up some NoBo Cues.  Can someone send me the link?  Gracias.

@oneplusone:  You've probably already imported the gpx file into basecamp using File-->Import....  Once it's in there, double-click on the track which will bring up a modal window with detailed info on the track.  Hilight one row where you want to split the track, then click the "gear" icon in the lower left and choose, "split at selected point".  You probably didn't have a row hilighted.  That will create a second track for you split at the break point you selected.

Don't feel bad.  Garmin's user interface team consists of little more than a ground squirrel in a tree next to the Garmin building.

cheers,
russ

Sweeeet, thanks!  It stops at point # 10,001.  I split the track in Basecamp into two parts and they looks good.  You'd think there'd be a warning when you try to load a track that exceeds the limit ....  Yeah, I'm using a mac and I try not to dip into windows too often

See my fellow NB'ers in AW soon!

Same issue as DBent.

Anyone have any tips for me about why my Dakota 20 suddenly only shows about the first 90% of the NB TD "track", stopping mid-Montana--???  The track looks fine on my laptop.  I deleted and re-loaded many times, restored to factory settings.  It always stops in the same place.  I believe it loaded fine and looked fine on my Dakota 20 for awhile.  I've loaded the track from Basecamp and from the Road trip software and the track stops in exactly the same place in each case.   

I saw this:  http://www.bikepacking.net/forum/index.php/topic,929.msg19902.html#msg19902    DBent, what did you do to fix this?  Any luck?

TIA

russ

[post moved to TD2011 discussion]

Anyone have any tips for me about why my Dakota 20 suddenly only shows about the first 90% of the NB TD route, stopping mid-Montana--???  The route looks fine on my laptop.  I deleted and re-loaded many times, restored to factory settings.  It always stops in the same place.  I believe it looked fine for awhile.  I'm loading the route from Basecamp on a Mac.  I should use the proper term---"track".  I also loaded the track from the road trip software and the track stops in exactly the same place.  

I saw this:  http://www.bikepacking.net/forum/index.php/topic,929.msg19902.html#msg19902    DBent, what did you do to fix this?

TIA

russ

In case anyone is suffering through my particular flavor of GPS pain right now---i.e., you can't get the miscjunk.org topo maps working---here is the hard fought solution:  you MUST disable Garmin's own NT map.  Voila, you can now see topo maps!  Why this is the case only an advanced alien species could explain....

@AT, in case you haven't seen this:  http://tourdivide.org/TD11_detours    I would go to Monod Sports and get them to hook you up, eh.  129 Banff Avenue.  Offer them a beer or two, eh?

On the topic of fun with one's GPS.  Has anyone gotten http://www.miscjunk.org/mj/mp_mttopo.html topos working on their GPS yet?  Only the NM topo will show on my Dakota 20.  Been working on this for 3 days.  Any other suggestions for 24k-resolution topos for the TD route?  TIA

Where were the worst mud sections?

Cool, thanks Kurt.  It's been awhile since I've looked at the rules page.  The Gold Dust trail is *only* for SoBo'ers?  And as far as we know, those 3 alternates are the *only* legal alternates, even with recent changes and new maps?  If so, this will make GPX modifications (and things in general) simpler.

Question:  I'm assuming that any route listed on the official ACA maps is a legitimate route, right?  There are lots of route options via alternate routes and it's each racer's choice as to which of these alternates he wants to (or does not want to) use, correct?  This means that for those of us using GPX files, we'll have to modify accordingly based on our decisions about these alternates....

I just got the newest Map#6 and it looks like the 2nd page is incorrect.  It's still showing the old route north of Silver City but the other side, page 1, shows that you're on the 15 north of Silver City (not east).  I.e., page 1 and 2 contradict each other.  Not a problem for the SoBo'ers, because you'll already be in Silver City before you check flip over to page 2, but NoBo'ers take note!

My buddy was mauled by a grizzly in Yellowstone some years ago; he was lost in thought hiking, not making any noise and surprised a mama and cubs.  He was able to hike out 18 miles, albeit bleeding profusely.  Me, I'm a LOT more worried about pick-up trucks than bears or mtn lions. 

I think ML will post something on the main TD 2011 thread here, I'm guessing next week probably.

How are NoBo'ers getting to Antelope Wells?

Update on SPOTs:  according to Matt there will be about 65 SPOTs available for rent from Trackleaders, $50 for a SPOT1 and $70 for a SPOT2.  That will save a little for those who don't want to own there own unit.  Matt will be sending out a mailing sometime soon with details and a form for those who are interested.