Reluctantly selling my beloved blacksheep. Great TD bike. Run her rigid with Knards or with the Lefty. However you like it...

Will include the cuben luggage although it's a little worn...

http://bend.craigslist.org/bik/4155204007.html

I feel like dru1962 must be an old classmate messing with my ego buttering me up like that. I bleed green and gold, the bike colors were obviously a tribute to my great alma mater. I really need to make it back there and smoke some weed with dr nazari. Lucky I went to college, without it I would never wait tables and snowboard like I do.

The ma da hey 100. Damn, I need to do that. At the present moment I need to be wealthier too so not sure if its in the cards. If I could score a sponsor then I could probably swing it but not everyone can appreciate the money like dru and my own narcissistic ass.

Check out cjellmoney.com for my grand plan to have tons of folks shower me with big endorsement deals. Surly wants no part of Cjell Money despite him pedaling around their big ass tires and reluctantly loving the shit out of them. 'Woah, those are some big tires...please tell me more about them.' Dammit, I love them.

Barring a stellar time from Ralph Yukon or Jay Pertervary I think we can call this one for Peter Haile. That was amazing. Few really know what it means to climb that thing in a half hour...but take it from me, one who does know, that sh!t was incredible. Dumping gatorade, pumping up the tires, what a spirited competitor. Extra points for stylie dollar bill art.

Peter or Mr. Haile, PM Bounce and anyone else who has loot with your address.

Congrats!

HOLY SHART! that is unbelievable. Congratulations Peter! Sorry you suffered through Brazos. Not that sorry. You should get rewarded for your efforts.

Message to Mad Max Morris: ride your ass up there and beat that. You should ride loaded but beating 32 minutes may require cheating which will be allowed in your case. Serious. Hit it on your way to the CTR. There $100 in gas money if you do.

Just finished up the new TD rig. Thought I would share it with you all. Under the gun to get on the road to tour down to Silver.

http://cjellmoney.wordpress.com/

Can't wait to see the crew in AW.

Message to all starting in Banff: You will be passing a number of NOBO's this year. We started on the same day and the same time as you. We started from the very place you are headed, and are going to the place you began. Do not be surprised.

I plan on upping my trash talking directed mainly at SOBO's this year. See you in Wyoming suckas.

Russ, you are the man. If anyone is looking to get the real beta on TD stats and info, Russ is you man. I know of no bigger fan of TD.

10 days, really?

The first thing I would say is that tire experiences vary so greatly from rider to rider. Your results will most definitely vary. The first thing I think about when people give their tire opinions and experiences is weight. Weights of TD riders are all over the board. A 50-60 lb bike with a 200 lb rider isn't that outrageous. I would be willing to bet that 260 lbs would eat a set of tires so much more quickly than 140+30 rider+rig would.

All that being said, I ran the same pair of Ikons the entire route. Used the same pair of tires to tour down to the AZTR and am still reluctant to throw them out as they do have some usable tread left, although I am a cheap bastard. I might try and get away with a racing ralph (fast as shit) if I weren't running Knards this year, but then again I'm that 170lb rider+rig riding carefully.

I didn't bother trying to mount my nanos on stans crest until a day before the GD last year and as previously reported I popped no less than 3 blood vessels in a failed attempt. Went with the Ikons instead. I came close to giving up on on TNT saguaros that I had for the AZTR but after 45 minutes and a pile of broken levers I got those suckers on. Sweet tire at an acceptable weight. Was very concerned about flatting during the race and not being able to get them off, which i did not, thankfully, but I have since rotated them and it was no problem. must have gotten some good stretch riding them.

Also, as krefs said earlier, I had stans to go coagulated monster no less than 2 times on the route and again touring down to AZ. Had not considered that it might have been a property of the tire before, but if Kurt Refsnider says it, it shall be considered gospel truth. I ran into some boys in bike shops down in AZ that run slime with their stans because it's so dry and stan's alone tends to dry up. Something I think i'll give a shot this year.

Hey gang, Just checking to see if anyone is driving through Flagstaff with in the next couple days. I am currently in Cortez, CO making my way down towards Flagstaff and would appreciate a ride to the race start or Tucson if anyone has extra room. I'll be on the bike most of the day turning my phone on intermittently. 5Zero7481Seven102 Leave a call back number if you have any leads on a ride. 

I have hiked and biked thousands of miles without filtering anything. Would I recommend it? nah, but for some it works. I think there are some that can carry giardia and not show symptoms. http://www.backpacker.com/community/ask_buck/180

It started from being in the high alpine and figuring it was safe and after that it was just laziness. I have carried a dropper bottle with bleach in it. Couple drops per liter. Tastes like bleach but can be improvised at any grocery store. I think a MSR pump would be a very poor choice. The thought and work that goes into getting a light setup just crushed by something that can be replaced by a few pills or dropper bottle. just my two pennies.
 

Yea. Riding from Colorado if the weather permits. taking off as soon as I can. see you fools down there.

been working diligently to get my sh!t together and I think i'm there. Cjell Money will be joining in for the 750. I will be leaving on my bike within the next few days. We'll see if i can't pedal out of the snow to get my ass down there in time. pretty excited. still working out exactly which cues and h20 info is most pertinent and accurate. see ya'll at the start.

Lots of couch sitting and smoking P. I ski and snowboard 6 days a week and maybe hop on the bike for a commute once a week. I'm with stappy in thinking that the structure of ya'lls training is highly braggable. I will set out on a tour of the southwest as soon as I have the bank to survive for the few months til the end of TD. I'm thinking of throwing in an AZT this year as well. There's little short of big hours in the saddle to train for big hours in the saddle, IMHO.

I'm with you so far Cjell, thanks.  Your description gets a NB rider up I-15, but once atop I-15 over Butte I'm left stranded (mentally) as to how a rider crosses the interstate to get to the west side.  Is there an underpass I simply don't remember? 

As soon as there's an frontage, exit and hop on it. looks like exit 134 to me. After a while on that frontage the route grabs an old rail bed that runs up and above the interstate.

Northbound route question:  North of Butte, the SB route is on the shoulder of the interstate.  How does this work out if you are NB?  From my southbound experience I can't recall a provision for a northbounder to cross the interstate atop the pass. (I'm not in this year, just wondering as I imagine a NB attempt)

North of Butte is no biggie. The only time your the track on the GPS will fail you is leaving town. If my memory serves me correctly the route calls for the SB rider to take a simple interchange from I15 to I90 (as they arrive), where the NB rider has a interchange that lies a far ways off that of the SB rider's. Pull of google maps and have a look at the 90 to 15 interchange and you'll easily see what i'm talking about. North of there you're just on the other side of the road.

One last thing - make sure you tie the unit to your handlebars using some nylon string (or stronger) - there's a small metal loop on the battery cover. I had to grease (with lip balm) the rails of the mount to enable me to get the unit out easily for battery changes - mainly due to gradually weakening fingers as a result of hand nerve damage. Although the unit was always well clicked in after such changes, it still flew out of the mounting at least 5 or 6 times during the race - without the tether I'm pretty sure I would have lost it.

   

I couldn't stress this enough...with one qualifier.

First, anything that can fall off your bike, will. plan for it. As far as tethering goes...it's a must. grab some parachute chord and go to town. One thing that should be noted. The little C-rings on the screws on the back of Spots and GPS's are garbage. Your tether will certainly securely attach but the same can't be the the C-clips to the device itself. I ended up electrical taping my Spot to the tether. The electrical tape is much more trustworthy than those stupid C or D rings on the back of those devices that appear oh so convenient to tie a string to.

[Don't]

Thought i might chime in here. I have heard it before...fixie dave i think...but single is single. The same gear inches the entire ride. That is the same gearing, same crank length, same rolling diameter. Switching any of that mid-ride disqualifies you from single speed. Agreed, i'm on board with that. Kinda brings you back to the question of why you're out there doing it in the first place. TD is certainly very personal but not in the same way a regular tour is so if your goal is to have a good showing as a true single speeder then you should abide by the 'single gear inch' ruling. If your overall placement isn't your goal then things like dingles and 3X1's might be appealing.

With my limited experience i would have to say that the IGH would be the way to go for all out speed. Reliable in the fact that you have to futz with it much less than a geared set up. Minimizing futzing is key. Turn mind off and ride is the name of the game. I do agree that a 8 speed would be a close second though and the low cost for better reliability is sweet. Cassette and derailleur setups vary a great deal from year to year. 2012 didn't see the unending peanut butter sections that i've heard of in years past. That is where you'll toast your chain and cassette.

The dingles and 3X1's or whatever aren't worth disqualifying yourself from the SS category if your aim is to make a good showing as a SS'er imho. I probably shifted my dingle less than 10 times on the ride. I also ran a 2 speed which was mint. Wore holes in my shoes shifting the thing 100's of times a day. I ran a 33-25 to spin up hills and still had overdrive for the flats which brought it down to a 33-16 maybe? If i ran it again I would go to a 33-27 even. The simplicity is there as with the lack of derailleur and tensioner. I also believe the limited ratios keeps you honest. I could see myself spinning out of laziness if i was running a full set of gears. I run the 2 speed at home all day every day cause its fun. I don't have the weight of the IGH out back f-ing with flikability and i never ever hear the sound of a chain hitting a chainstay.

My opinion, for what it's worth: SS because you want it. Don't do it for cost or reliability. 8 speeds of IGH's can take care of that. It's been said before but, the TD will kick your ass all on its own. SS shall be left to the freaks who love it for what it is. The aesthetic adventurers who do it for reasons unknown to the rest.

Finally got around to my race write up. A few here requested it. Here ya go

http://cjellmoney.wordpress.com

Big up to Chip for an amazing ride. Finished last night at 1145 and wa received by 3 drunk canucks and one drunk Cjell Money. Sprayed some bubbles on him and wisked him away to more celebrations. Chip entertined us with tales of wolves and mountain lion encounters. His run in the a straight line wind storm sounded most epic. Be listening for Steven Huddle's updates as he get around Ferndale. Chip descibed the route as unpassable and many stretches of down tree area exist in areas gated off to cars which would indicate a slow slow cleanup. I personally know how gnarly Chip is so when he says it's bad, it's probably really bad. Chip caught me in Pie Town and kept me nervous the entire ride that old bastard. Epic Stuff. He and I are just enjoying banff a little with the fellas from Soul Bikeshop. Loving live in Canada. Thanks for letting me in. The Chastity belt is however chafing me a bit...leaving back for CO in the morn.

Congrats to all the idiots that chose to race southbound. Some awesome efforts. Keep an eye on Blake from Truckee on his ITT...strong rider for sure.

So glad my mother found this forum and my blog.  420 hooray.

Sounds like a bit of chatter about my gear choices...maybe address them a bit.
No Helmet - wasn't expecting the TD to be as tech is some sections as it was. Never toured with a helmet. Sketchy choice - maybe. If I do it again it will probably be with a cowboy hat.
POC t-shirt- Ha, Helmet company on the shirt. The tattoo in Silver City was a bit untimely as is required the wearing of a shirt for sun protection but i chopped off the bits i didn't need.
Bike - 2 speed BlackSheep snow bike ran 29er. Those wizards at Blacksheep help me build a snow bike with a 68 mil BB. If I ran the Tour again I would do it fat for sure (I am a pussy)Love the shit out of my 2 speed. Allowed me to climb and move when i needed to. Oiled the chain ~ 5 times and rotated the tires once...that was it! No bike maintainence. The BS ti fork and frame takes some finess but is unmatched in compliance over shitty rocky grav and washboard. SO NASTY.

Thanks for everyone who watches here. Super fun to check in and see all the chatter. Awesome to check in on all other racers getting radical.

Blog update coming.

BOOYA!

Hi There! Cjell Money here!

Finishing up the last couple hundred miles on the TD heading NoBo finishing in Banff. I have not arranged an exit after I arrive in Banff. I plan on going back to Colorado and wanted to see if anyone knew the best way to travel South from Banff...or know of a ride traveling South after completing the TD

I'm running a double dingle with a shlumpf. technically an 8 speed bike. The schlumpf has a bit of  lag on pickup but the on the fly 2 speed is money. front and rear 135 spaced wheels with 2 cogs per...each it's own dingle. couple master links changes chain length between front and rear wheels' dingles. (two chains? really?) A mouthful, but it works. Dingles aren't perfection either...the equal teeth difference makes sense, but the difference in ring/cog diameters isn't accounted for... compensating with a deeper tooth profile on the taller gear is supposed to be the trick (not known through personal experience, I just live with the slightly slack chain in the easier gear).  Derailleur-less and tensionerless is the point. 8 speeds with no shifters. Can't feel any extra drag on the planetary gear, not that it's not there, just undetectable. The extra drag only exists in the one gear as well, the other gear is direct drive. I rarely change between dingle gears and even less between wheels, but changing once a day depending on wind or terrain works decently. I wouldn't consider it to be a single speed at all, just a way to build a more reliable bike.