I know, I am an idiot but I couldn't access the interview.  If anyone can figure out how to do it please post it.  Being half Kiwi I found Ollie's ride particularly interesting.

  Sorry slowdave - on checking that link i can't get it to work either.  It's supposed to be streaming using Media Player.  I'm on XP and can't get it to work.  There are some notes on the site for Vista.  I'll be fortunate to listen to on the wireless.  Once its runs "live" it will be filed on the site in a different format such as MP3 or Ogg Vorbis - these seem to work ok.

Great to see riders still trickling in.

Ollie will be giving an interview on NZ National Radio in a few hours (12.50pm NZ time).  If interested you should be able to get a stream of it on their website.

"And before the 1pm news we speak to Kiwi cycling record-breaker Oliver Whalley. He's just spent 17 hours a day sitting in a bike saddle for 16 consecutive days, pedalling nearly 4,500 kilometres in the process. He's just won the Tour Divide, an ultra-cycling event that crosses the US and Canada, smashing the course record by almost 2 days!"

http://www.radionz.co.nz

Cjell - I hope that chastity belt is working out for you!  Probably unecessary given the well documented effect of long distance cycling on reproductive capacity.  Hilarious.  The mounties sound about as thorough as our Customs can be in NZ.  Any whiff of illicit fruit or vege when coming into NZ and you're up for a big fine.  Brings to mind a crossing between Chile and Argentina in the mid 1990s.  My partner and I, on a long term tour of Careterra Austral, had stocked up our panniers with "wild" apples before crossing in the rain.  We spent hours in the customs shelter watching others having fruit and other stuff confiscated (we helped eat some of it) before we went on our merry way unsearched.  Awesome effort, love the minimalist setup.

Great to see Kurt and Garrett going for a sub 17 day finish pulling an allnighter in the process.  Impressive in light of their long days in the last week.  Has anyone heard from Craig.

How do the fast guys manage to carry enough water with so little water carrying capacity?

That pic is only 2x600ml bottles and I don't see any likely location for a bladder
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That looks like a bladder tube around his front bag/handlebars?  Also cehck his blog out to see his gear list/photos.

Ollie has run a meticulous race.  I was surprised to see the length of his sleep on the last night, but then saw his time for the last 100miles.  Still storming after 15 days Ollie obviously decided why break a winning formula.  Excellent inspiring result.  Looks like Criag has put in some useful distance to retain 2nd place.  Another gret effort and hope that pedal holds out.

Looks like Craig is pushing thru the night!       

Can he bridge the gap between him and Ollie??  There is still over 100miles between them at 2am.  Anything is possible and I suppose it depends on how long Ollie sleeps for?

Could be an interesting last day for Ollie and Craig.

Go Ollie, go 

Looks like Craig's tracker has stopped suspiciously close to the Geronimo Guest Ranch or at least off the road enough to not be a tracking error?  I can't see him catching Ollie unless he's gone into stealh mode and Ollie sleeps in.  Garrett and Kurt must be hurting after that long stint on the bike.  I won't be surprised if Criag pulls away more from them after a short sleep. 

I show him moving pretty good just north of Silver City with last tracker update as of 2 minutes ago.  He probably made a prudent water stop.  Services in the Gila are extremely limited.

The spot updates can be glitchy - sometimes I have to select the rider and open a new track to get it to update correctly.

Now in Silver City, will Ollie push on into the night for 10 plus hours or take a break?  Currently looks like he's stocking up.  He's had such good rest stops up to now I imagine he'll push on liek he has i other brevet events.  May the wind be at your back Ollie.

Now in Silver City, will Ollie push on into the night for 10 plus hours or take a break?  Currently looks like he's stocking up.  He's had such good rest stops up to now I imagine he'll push on liek he has i other brevet events.  May the wind be at your back Ollie.

For all my skepticism, I'm starting to think CS is having a real problem. The spot shows a tent symbol (which I assume is something the user sets), and the travel around town does have a certain desperate, "stuck" look to it. Good luck to CS---hope he gets it fixed soon.

I think from memory the tent function kicks in automatically after 4 hrs in one spot without moving or if you've turned it off overnight.

It will be a real shame if this all comes down to a mechanical with the finishing line in sight.

Agreed, but maybe bad luck was all that could've separated them?  Mean time Ollie's spot hasn't moved for 30mins+ in the middle of nowhere just north of Pietown.  Hopefully just a tracking glitch.

Easiest way would be to flag down some guy on a bike and offer him $100 or whatever for one pedal. But I'm not sure it would be within the rules. Or that's there are that many people biking in Grants.

Edit: OK, wouldn't be the easiest thing to do, since I doubt some random bike would have compatible pedals to existing cleats. But flats would work. Anyway, might not be legal.

Looks like he's back at Walmart - maybe the cheap flats are the only option.

Perhaps he is going back to where he left the course?  It looks like he may have shortcut a bit to get into town?

I've got him at the local Ford dealer - looking for parts (or an engine?)?

Looks like last night CS finished earlier than OW who did an extra ~15 miles.  Craig up earlier this morning and just caught up to OW.  Back together again!

I think its more likely Craig's spot was turned off earlier or didn't transmit as late as Ollie's last night before they both stopped at the camp ground at Pueblo Pintado.  Both of their spotters came back on within 5mins of each other - too much of a coincidence.

I agree with fully loaded re:Craig and Ollie. If one zooms in there are long distances between them except for when they happen to stop at the same time to eat or call it a day. If you look at any of the other groups, much the same is happening. No rules broken.

I'm in no doubt that Ollie and Craig are playing by the rules and its intriguing watching how this plays out.  Whenever I check on the spots they are generally apart in space but also in time.  When you allow for the time difference there is usually very little difference in distance between them so it seems to me they are riding together most of the time.  Exception to this in the last 6-7 days was when Craig's legs went on him and he stopped off at a golf course.  If there hadn't been an accident that day to hold up Ollie it would have been very interesting to see what happened. There's nothing against riding together, but independently, in the rules and its clear others are doing the same.  All power to them.  And for the record, as a parochical kiwi I'm hoping Ollie crosses the line first with a new record - but I'll be just as happy to see him cross with his new mate in a scorching hot time.