All good advice on staying fueled. I will get to another tactic but on fueling I have used powder mix in small baggies to add to water bottles and find mixing calories in the bottle helps keep bonking at bay on my training rides. I use this for long training rides and endurance races too. Have also used high sugar snacks like sour patch kids in the feedbag to keep going while bike packing. But...last year while trying to lose a little weight I discovered what some others have hinted at, if I train myself to burn fat and stay in low heart rates I will not bonk. For training start rides without eating or go for a short run in the morning while fasting. Practice rides progressively longer too without eating and don't snack through out the day while you are not riding too. I found that when I was dieting I could go on 5 hour rides without eating and felt fine. Totally expected there was no way I could do that but did it easily. Have another friend who while dieting also found he could start riding 5+ hour rides without eating. Get your body used to burning fat and check our fasting ride training online. Even if not dieting let your body get hungry during the day between meals...don't snack. If always snacking your body will start demanding constant food. Good experiment to try.

Great read on the blog of someone who persevered when everything went against him last year. Good Karma for Josh this year and happy for him and Val too!

 While I am pulling for Josh, I love to see that both Neil and JP have their craniums down and giving everything then have in the tank. Many a race has been lost within sight of the finish due to a mechanical or leg locking cramp and you will never win if you sit up before the race is over. Three great competitors.

Yea Brent hard to believe with all JPs experience he underestimated the amount of pie it would take to finish. Josh called it. Definitely a three slice leg to the finish.

Hard to imagine this is the final when you look back at the Highland Lodge pics and see Josh in position #5 on page 21. Great race. He saved it for the last 1/3 to 1/4 of the race...textbook endurance racing. Have to give a shout out too to the blue dot watchers. This has been a grueling event even for spectators :-)

It is said "it is the riders that make the race" and this race is truly inspiring!  Josh has been in another league on the flat stretches of pavement and that is holding true now. Pretty sure its that 73mm threaded BB ;-)

I hope they slow down a bit and are blazing mega watt lights. They are in a treacherous area for descending even in the day time. Very, very difficult at night. My recall is some badly washboarded road on the steep segments with several tight turns.  Then the CDT to come with basketball sized rocks hidden in tall grass and a ride along a ridge. Hope to see three dots out front still moving in the morning.

Front derailleur and gearing: Advantages of a single chain ring up front may become apparent when they hit the mud. Broken chains and bent chain rings from the front derailleur jamming are mostly eliminated. Its certainly lighter (1/2-3/4 lb.)and did not keep Mike Hall from going fast. I don't think there is enough sustained downhill to give JP an advantage. Separ road is downhill but it is sandy and does have some washboard. The ONLY way I see his gearing working for him is IF they get a strong tail wind. Otherwise on a fully loaded TD bike on level ground the 1x system is more than enough.

JP: I think he IS racing and not riding with others. At this point in the race with three people so close their ability to sustain watts has to be roughly equal. No one has the power to overcome the others (Josh though certainly looked strong on the roads yesterday) so strategy comes into play. Its like watching single speeders dual it out.

Rest up Jill! Respect the heat!

Salsa Ti vs Salsa carbon...73mm conventional vs PF41...

Wow! Gone for a few hours and Josh Kato puts the hammer down. I thought he was an hour behind? He is picking up ground on the pavement.

Ditto Polvedera Mesa. What Matt Lee from Ride the Divide- "sand, rock, sand , rock...its brutal". I went up it all out as I was being chased by a storm the entire way. Several times i felt a tear well up as I crested what I thought was the last climb only to see it went on. A real kick in the gut. Physically and psychologically hard. Then as you get up high and you think you are done climbing..it just rolls up and down. The ups are slow...the downs are slower. One particular downhill had no ridable line. Not good at night or in the heat. I need a beer just thinking about it.

Marshal: Walgreens- Mueller neoprene ankle brace. It is a simple velcro wrap that does what Kurt was describing. Wore it for 2K last year. I was shocked at how effective that little bit of support was at managing my achilles. Easily fit in my shoe. I got the idea from a quick internet search on the road. A prior TD rider with a long track record of achilles problems said it worked for him so I followed.

Keven: Incredible ride. See a good sports physical therapist when you return and look at your Glut activation. Chances are you are using too much quad on that one leg, exacerbated when you get tired. It is a common issue with cyclists and long events and SS bring it out. Come back next year with "Gluts of Steel".

She might need more sleep. She just went 5 miles off course. ugh.

Ugh is right iainsm. Hope she is not using last years map...she is currently on the old route :-( Will check in the morning.

I cant even imagine what it takes to do this.  To do this fast- these guys are carrying next to nothing.  Unreal! 

"Guys" carrying nothing...what about Lael Wilcox! Her bike looks like the entire front packing system bounced off. Does she sleep! She's tough as nails. I would hate to think what would happen to a Grizzly if one ran into her.

Good call from Doug. Squirrel Creek Guest Lodge just after the Rail Trail is an oasis. The gentlemen running the place last year was a hoot. He lives on site and fixes meals any time...just say what you want and when you want it.

Phil_rad: Easiest way to find someone is to roll your curser over their name on the right. Their dot will start jumping up and down above the others so you can pick them out easier.

Using Trackleaders on the road: Sometimes the dots are stacked and it looks like people are riding together but with Spots transmitting at different times the riders may be a few miles a part. At other times the dots can look miles apart but the riders are actually together on the road. I did look at trackleaders last year usually in the morning and evening if I had access but it can be difficult to tell when coming into town if someone is actually there or if they recently left. Early morning in Cuba last year I saw a dot from a guy I had ridden with for several days. We would occasionally get separated for days at a time and this was one of those times. I saw his dot just making the turn out of town as I was finishing breakfast and I was keen to catch him. I jumped on my bike and chased and chased and chased. After 3 hours I figured something wasn't right because I couldn't even see him on the wide open roads. Stopped to check Trackleaders and he was way behind me :-( Turns out he was at a hotel parking lot at the turnoff getting ready to leave. He hadn't left town and I went right by him as he was yelling and waving at me. So using it on the race course was cool because I always felt I had company even if I was alone...but each dot only represents a moment in time. Most of the race we can only guess at what the person is doing until the next dot appears. Thats half the fun of watching this year.

Josh Johnson call in...will second or third that recommendation to listen. Having raced last year I can empathize... I almost cried at his plight...but then it just got so much worse I switched to laughing mode. I am sure between his choice words he had to laugh to get through it too. He has to have used up all his bad Karma. Sending good vibes your way Josh!

To Val (rode with a you few hours last year looking for a washed out turnoff..you talked going up hill while I gasped for air) watching her husband Josh Kato: Great to see him getting some redemption! Cant hear his call ins too well but hope he is feeling as good as his stats look. Now don't you wish you were out there in this epic women's battle! I miss being out there but then recall my Josh Johnson moments and think perhaps it is good to watch this year. Enjoying the competition and seeing all push themselves beyond what they thought they could do. Head winds and Peanut butter mud to come..:-( My air conditioning and cup of coffee don't seem bad right now.

Kent McDonald

Didn't quite get that one either. I liked the route last year. Once you made it past the residential area up the 4-5 mile dirt switchback road you descended into a valley and there was a sign on the right for a 24 hour bar and grill complete with rustic lodging. That place was heaven..great food and beer. Then you get up the next morning and start the long ascent of Union pass. Never stuck out in my mind as a piece of the course that needed revision but I did see there is a reroute that cuts off my bar and grill :-(

ZybnekR - The Tour Divide "RACE" route is not the same as the ACA GDMBR Maps. It is based on it and 90% of the route follows the maps but for the "RACE" there is a prescribed course with no variations permitted unless you get a text from Mathew Lee stating there is a reroute due to course conditions like fire or floods. For example the ACA maps say the Fernie alternate is acceptable but that is NOT part of the "RACE" route. Conversely the CDT (alt) section and the El Malpais paved (alt) sections in New Mexico are ARE the "RACE" route...not alternates. In addition there are the new sections around Union Pass and Rawlins that are not on the maps at all. So look at maps for long range planning but use the GPS track or pieced together route descriptions for the race.  DO NOT view the MAPS as the "RACE" instructions. Went on a bit because many last year followed the maps and ended up off the "Race" course. Hope that answers your question.

Another electronics issue that I have not seen discussed yet. IOS 8.3 something for iPhones has now enabled the GPS locater to work in Airplane mode. The inability to run the iPhone in airplane mode while using GAIA GPS has always been a big headache for battery life and discussed in many forums. I ran a search this morning to see if anything had changed and noted a thread started about a week ago where several hikers noted they could now use Airplane mode and GAIA with their latest IOS update. I just returned from three hours active mapping using airplane mode and GAIA and it worked great. Should have much improved battery life for the long 4 mile an hour slogs.

I had five liter capacity on the bike. Two one liter magnum bottles in Feedbags by the bar, another liter bottle on the down tube, and a two liter camel back bladder in the frame bag. I left the frame bag bladder empty most of the time and used that area to store my filter. Filtered water only once and never used it. Had some tail wind through the basin so I never stopped pedaling. Did not use my full five liters but I did of course try to down at least a liter of water before I left on that stretch so I had a liter already in my stomach to start. The section in the Gila is another long stretch but there is a pump at the beaver head ranger station. I got water there so once again, did not use my full 5 liters. In addition I did at times carry water or sodas in my jersey pockets and I had a sea-to-summit collapsable backpack I also used. They collapse down to a size smaller than your fist so you can pack it, then when you need extra food and water carrying capacity break it out and fill it up. It was a popular accessory. I believe for the Gila and Basin I started out carrying some protein drinks and a few sodas so I did probably use five liters of fluids total.