Just need to say well done Alan Goldsmith! Look fwd to hearing how it went.

GPS: Sure the CT is well sign posted but you take several detours where the quick confirmation you are still on track will save time at least, and could save you a dq.

Already mentioned but there are sections of the trail over Coney / Cataract with no obvious path on the ground and it's difficult to pick up the next post or cairn in the dark. GPS tells you if you have strayed off route.

Heading up to Coney in the dark I got a bit carried away descending a twin track that intersected the trail. After a few minutes I realised I was moving parallel to the GPS track but clearly off route. I did wonder if I was wrong or if the GPS track was a bit out. Decided it was time to bivy. Retraced (hiked) in the daylight and sure enough I'd gone wrong and had missed a sign.

I'll stick with the GPS. It gives you so much more confidence to know you are on track. Stefan's / Scott's track is accurate and makes following the route so much easier. You still need the data book of course for water & planning.

Earlier in the thread JML mentioned the Exposure Spark;-
http://www.exposurelights.com/product/000022/spark
I used the same light in CTR, helmet mounted. This is an awesome light for bikepacking, especially for race type events.

It runs CR123 batteries, normally found in cameras. The disposables are best and give 2.5 hrs high (220 lumens), 8hrs at mid (fine except when descending). The low setting is enough to find your sleeping bag / set up camp when you grind to a halt.

I carried 8 pairs of batteries and disposed of them (responsibly) in towns on route. Not sure if these are available in stores along the CT but the weight was not so bad. I was going to take an additional rechargeable Exposure light but decided to save the weight. The Spark alone was near perfect.

This light weighs less than most conventional head torches but gives enough light to ride / descend safely at a decent speed.

SS looks fine for CTR. About 22x34 should do the job (for us mortals anyway). At least you'll be pushing a light bike.

Plenty of time in the saddle in the years before the race and extra thick chamois grease should help the undercarriage stay intact. Re-apply frequently.

Thanks Stefan. I like the idea of July 12th with the extra hour of daylight. Happy to go with your local knowledge though, especially if snow is still a risk. Can't be sure I'll be there but hope to make it.
John

The Black Diamond Magnom 16 has accompanied me through TD and (most of) CTR. Weighs 400g (just under a pound). Not as comfortable as a Talon 22 but half the weight and it covers less of your back, might be better for temperature control. The side mesh pockets were handy for drink bottles or water filter.

I tried a Talon 22 and found the waist band takes a lot of the weight off your shoulders. Some smaller / lighter packs feel heavier when riding.

I also have the BD Flash but decided it was just too small to be of use on these long trips. It claims 9L but I think that's a bit optimistic. On the plus side it's short enough that you can still use your jersey pockets and it only weighs 200g.

Anybody tried the Camelbak Octane (18 or 24)? They get good reviews and are pretty light.

The other blue pills have been connected with cycling...
http://www.bikeradar.com/fitness/article/health-keeping-it-up-20345
They might even help us lowlanders at altitude (CTR??)

Hi All, Just to confirm that I bailed at Bolam Pass (end of segment 25) and took the 578 / 550 route into Durango. 2 excuses: health (bronchial issues), and needing to catch flight home Mon PM (a tad ambitious perhaps?).
Congratulations to all the riders who have finished and those who are still out there. I met some great people out on the CT and all have been pushed to the limit by the conditions.

Cheers,
John

Hi All, Bit of a long shot here but I lost (or left in UK) the plastic adaptor that screws to my Etrex Vista HCX to fit it to the bar mount. If anyone has a spare they could bring to the start that would be cool. The REI don't stock it as a separate part. If not no worries!

Look fwd to seeing you in the morning!
Cheers,
John

El Paso in my case. Spent a long day hanging around airports due to lengthy connections in Denver and Chicago (United Airlines). On the plus side I got the flights with air miles so just had to pay the taxes. Watch out though, the ladrones at United might charge you $200 to carry a bike. The check in staff did not ask me to pay - the bike was boxed and my total baggage was well within normal limits. There are direct flights from Pheonix to UK.

Hi Phil, no great help here but it seems to be fairly normal wear and tear in TD. I had same issue last year (well numbness at least, strength was OK). The onset of numb fingers was after just 3 or 4 days racing. They never really got any worse after that. In Sept 09 I was at a race and discussed it with the TD female SS record holder. She said "don't worry it will be OK by Christmas". Funny but it was about Christmas 09 when I stopped noticing the numb fingers.

My own experience is that Ergon grips put much less pressure on the sensitive area of your hands.

John

Loving Kent's humour. He found an awesome store at Seeley Lake and the highlight was some cans of SPAM! At the store in Horca that was one of the few calorific foods I could find. I ate it for supper with stale bread at Brazos Ridge and had recovered well in the morning. Alan being a strict vegetarian was less than impressed "that sh1t'll kill ya"! I bought more at Cuba and Grants.

Agree with Kurt re Blaine's call-ins. He must be the calmest divide racer ever, totally unflappable and great company. He'll press on unfazed by the conditions.

SS gearing: Don't know how Chris kept that big gear turning without blowing his knees apart. Impressive.

Hi Marshall, the bivy I used (Alpkit Hunka) had no bug net, just a chord to cinch up the opening. It was great on the cold dry nights but a poor solution for bugs or for rain when shelter was hard to find. I did have a separate bug net to pull over my head but when it's resting on your face those bad boys can still drill right through. Best option is to keep riding til you're out of those bug badlands.
Anyhow, it was only a big deal on one night with the bugs and one with the rain. If you're going to go light there's got to be some trade off.
Best of luck with the preparation. Having TD on the horizon last year gave me motivation to get out in all weathers and somehow that focus kept me healthy and injury free.
John

"Any fool can be uncomfortable". I know I certainly was on a couple of nights in a basic bivy. Damn, I was jealous of those guys in tents while I was feeding the mosquitoes on the Idaho / Wyoming border. You can soon lose your mojo after a couple of consecutive nights of poor sleep.

The scrolling road book was pioneered by Jenks, Stirling Moss's co-driver in their victorious 1955 Mille Miglia. Some history here;-
http://www.stirlingmoss.com/shop/books/1955-mille-miglia-722-replica-roller-map

Some aggressive dogs in NM. We had an impromptu sprint after being intercepted by some fast moving Doberman / rottweiler types in near Pueblo Pintado. Had been a long day but I still got the 12 sprocket turning pretty quick. Then you have to run the gauntlet of Valecitos. Seems every house has a pair of pit bulls.

A couple of us were buying bear spray in Banff. To save weight I went for the small can (designed for dogs rather than griz), not much bigger than a marker pen. The shopkeeper did say it had a range of 3m rather than the 9m of the big can.

Heading into Silver City I was bored and decided to test fire said dog spray. It emitted a feeble mist that was instantly dispersed by the wind a few inches from the nozzle. I laughed at the thought of squaring up to a charging bear armed with the placebo I'd carried for 2600m! I recommend you do a practice fire before heading into the Flathead.

There were a few old stagers in the chasing group / peloton of TD09. I think Blaine was the most senior at 47, a couple more years of experience over me and Alan. It's been said on TD Basics thread but within reason age is no barrier to racing the Divide. Experience (and conditioning) counts for a lot but it's a mental game more than anything.

Like many racers I went with the PT EOS(2?). I didn't do that much night riding on anything too taxing so it was mostly ok.

But, I did ride the descent into Radium in the dark and it was the scariest experience on TD for me. It's a long steep descent to the Colorado river and the road had been recently graded leaving the surface loose and soft in places. The bike was drifting around in the soft stuff and I sensed there were some pretty big drops off the side of the trail. Light rain was falling and I suspect the batteries in the light were fading - I couldn't see much. Then some birds (or bats?) were buzzing around and flashing in my dim light. It was somewhat unnerving.

I mentioned this to Wilko a couple of days later. He said he'd had the same experience in 07 and it was the reason he took that 720 lumen light in 09. Ha.

Sleeping mats- I used a Thermarest prolite 3 short and was happy with that. From memory a few other members of the peloton had the same. It's reasonably compact when packed and doesn't take long to inflate or pack away. We rode with Kevin Dean for a couple of days and he was really happy with his full length NeoAir, I heard the phrase '3" of loft' a few times. Watch out for the puncture risk though as pointed out by Joe Meiser although you could probably repair one of those with glueless patches?

Computers - I took 2. A Ciclo one (can't remember the model) which I'd used on a big brevet event in Wales (it rained a lot as usual) but when I got to Banff it was dead so got posted home. I relied on my backup Cateye Strada wireless. It worked ok but only allows you to adjust the odo which requires taking it off the bracket and was a pita.

Alan G used a Ciclo one (the one with a large display) and was happy with that. I'd also tried a VDO one in training but found it totally unreliable (got a refund at least). Steve W had 2 older VDO ones and had no problems. Chris Plesko had a VDO (from his photos on line). It seems some of VDO's recent stuff was dodgy looking at reviews on mtbr, but I noticed they have a new range and I plan to buy one of those.

Great to see this open and frank discussion on racing the Divide. As a first timer in 2009 here’s my take on the issues raised.

Maps – I found them useful a couple of times when the cues weren’t 100% clear and one time when I’d missed a turn. The profiles give a heads up of the major climbs but not the difficulty of the riding.

Cues – vital and well worth investing time in them to add services, water, hotels, gradients, and of course the ACA addenda. Formatting them to be easily readable on rough tracks and to fit your map holder is all time well spent - more important than those extra couple of training rides. Print them on waterproof paper. If I ride TD again I’ll also take a macro level route summary to keep an eye on the distances between re-supply points.

GPS – I wouldn’t rely solely on a GPS in which case it’s additional kit so gets the axe.

Bike computer – the best advice I got was to get a computer with navigate function, basically a trip meter you can adjust to match the route cues. Be sure to test it in wet weather before TD.

Bivy kit – I went with a basic bivy and a 0C bag. Twice I wished I’d taken a tent. Once due to mosquitoes on the Flagg Ranch road and one time in a thunder storm in the Gila. The bag was a bit warm overall but perfect on the cooler nights - the Basin and Brazos Ridge – these were also the best rest I got. Having a good bivy kit might help you push on past that siren motel room.

Motels – can be a distraction from the objective of getting to AW as fast as possible. On the other hand if they help restore your physical condition, they might get you to AW. Only you can decide.

MP3 – Didn’t use it that much but really appreciated it at times. Re ergogenic aids, try riding to Iggy and the Stooges and staying below that 69% sweet spot.

Preparation – with time constraints (work & family) I rarely rode more than 10-12 hours per week but mostly at higher intensities. Riding long distance at steady pace is easy no? I only did a couple of long weekends in the lead up to TD. Better to arrive in Banff strong and healthy than tired / stressed from trying to fit too much into your busy life. But follow Jay’s advice – you have to decide what will work for you.

Saddle sores – this was a worry but not a major issue. I suffered with the bruised sit bones type for which I blamed the saddle. I gambled & bought a new one in Steamboat that was equally uncomfortable but a different kind of discomfort. Be sure to get plenty of chamois time in on your chosen perch.

Recovery – it was also early Sept before I felt the power and desire return. July was hopeless for me, even handling skills had gone (fatigue impact on reaction time or some kind of nerve damage?). I told myself the top end had gone but in reality I was burnt-out. I put this down in part to my lack of big miles in preparation. Also, going straight back to work when you just want to sleep is awful but there’s no option if you’ve used your year’s vacation.

Ultimately racing TD is hard and something you have to really want to do. Mental toughness and determination are the fundamental attributes you’ll need (then zen maybe). If you ask yourself “why are you doing this” you’ve entered the wrong event. But, it’s also a fantastic life changing experience.