2015 TD

[mountainbaker]

Hey there, I'm in for 2015, coming from the UK. I've been looking at flights, going to get into Calgary a couple of days before the Grand Depart, as for the end, I'll fly out of Phoenix, wondering if there's anyone who'd let me couch surf at their place in Phoenix for a few nights (depending how soon I finish before my flight)? I'm willing to pay, buy beers, cook etc Just be good to hang out with some like-minded people after the end!

Can't wait!

[hamirj]

Looking forward to this next year, and am accumulating knowledge, mileage, and gear. Just wondering about the maps. Are the current GDMBR maps on the ACA page going to be the maps to use for next year? Or is there an expected update that I should wait for?

Thanks for the help.

[dp]

Looking forward to this next year, and am accumulating knowledge, mileage, and gear. Just wondering about the maps. Are the current GDMBR maps on the ACA page going to be the maps to use for next year? Or is there an expected update that I should wait for?

Thanks for the help.

The US GDMBR maps were updated this year ('14), so they probably won't be changed between now and next summer. The map for the Canada segment was updated in 2011, so it may be good for next year, I don't know. A quick email to ACA could probably sort that out. However, be aware that the GPS track differs from the map as TD route travels southbound out of Elkford, BC. The change was instituted for last year's TD, and even though it doesn't show up in the rules, I have it on good authority that it will be an acceptable alternate for 2015.

[hamirj]

Thanks for the reply DP. I emailed ACA about the Canada Great Divide Map. I guess it is in the update queue and the Canada section will be out later in the winter.
 

[dp]

Thanks for the reply DP. I emailed ACA about the Canada Great Divide Map. I guess it is in the update queue and the Canada section will be out later in the winter.
 

Thanks for the info. Guess I'll be updating my collection before race day.

-dp

[Christopher R. Bennett]

I'm having a spring clean out and thought someone may be interested in some gear ideal for the Tour Divide.

1.  An 1000 Lumen K-Lite dynamo light (www.klite.com.au) with a Pedal Power+ Super-i Cable. This was a custom build for me by Kerry and the light is switchable between 1000 and 500 lumens. The Pedalpower + is wired in parallel with the dynamo and has a 1000 mA cache battery as well as the AC to DC converter. This means that you don't get the annoying 'Power Lost' messages from things like your GPS when your speed drops low.  The system is wired to run with a SP dynamo hub but could be easily adapted to run with another brand. It was only used for a few hundred kilometers in testing--I bought it for the Transcontinental Race but realized that the light was not street legal in Europe so bought one that was.  The K-lite is selling for $AU 179 (trust Kerry to have a sale right now!) and the Pedalpower+ US$ 185 from Peter White. Open to reasonable offers before putting it on ebay.

2.  An E-werk which is converts the dynamo output from 2.8 to 13.3 v and current 0.1 to 1.5 amps. You can read about it at peterwhitecycles.com/ewerk.asp. Peter sells them for $207. Again, open to reasonable offers before it goes on ebay.

[mattrove]

Hi Chris

Interested in the k light lot. Maybe meessage me what you want in NZ dollars?

Matt

[Christopher R. Bennett]

Hi,

If you know of any blogs/stories by riders would you please list them here:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1-Y_CAxrccLkZ8zy1zI8myzSd95Er1YZWdlbWkcbt4eo/viewform

I'm going to include an annex in Volume 7 of the Cordillera with the links. I've had good feedback on including the links to books so thought it would be useful to have a single resource.

Thanks in anticipation.

Regards,

Chris

[kiwidave]

Bear Spray - where to carry?

Hi,

I'm looking at racing in 2016, and I'm going to carry bear spray. (As they say, "you pack your fears", and I'm scared of bears.)

Can someone with experience of riding with bear spray please give me a heads up of the best locations to carry? In a handlebar bag? On a harness?

Cheers,

Dave

[Iowagriz]

Bear Spray - where to carry?

Hi,

I'm looking at racing in 2016, and I'm going to carry bear spray. (As they say, "you pack your fears", and I'm scared of bears.)

Can someone with experience of riding with bear spray please give me a heads up of the best locations to carry? In a handlebar bag? On a harness?

Cheers,

Dave

Center jersey pocket. If you pack on the bike and then wander into the woods for a nature break, it won't do you any good on the bike.

[dream4est]

Bear spray. Bear bangers. Bells. Etc.
Costly, bulky and not necessary IMO. Just assume you wont be in first place. The others ahead will scare em off for you.

[Eszter]

Bear Spray - where to carry?

Hi,

I'm looking at racing in 2016, and I'm going to carry bear spray. (As they say, "you pack your fears", and I'm scared of bears.)

Can someone with experience of riding with bear spray please give me a heads up of the best locations to carry? In a handlebar bag? On a harness?

Cheers,

Dave

Feedbags cinch down nicely over bear spray. Easy access, secure. I found that the weight was worth the so-called peace of mind until Pinedale. I'd bet you could pawn it off on one of the outdoors stores there, I'm sure they could find it a good home. 

[dp]

Just assume you wont be in first place. The others ahead will scare em off for you.

Love it!  And remember - you don't have to outrun the bear, you just have to outrun the guy next to you.  Less relevant when doing an ITT.  Oh, wait a minute - that's what I'm doing...

I think I've heard/read more stories about riders having altercations with dogs than with bears.  Might want to hang on to that bear spray until you're past, say, Abiquiu?  Me, I'll be carrying mine on my harness/pack strap.

-dp

[bpeschka]

Bear Spray - where to carry?

Hi,

I'm looking at racing in 2016, and I'm going to carry bear spray. (As they say, "you pack your fears", and I'm scared of bears.)

Can someone with experience of riding with bear spray please give me a heads up of the best locations to carry? In a handlebar bag? On a harness?

Cheers,

Dave

You can ask the same question about the SPOT tracker, if you use one.  I carry the bear spray on one day pack strap and the SPOT is on the other.  If you crash and are away from your bike the SPOT won't do you much good in one of  your bags.  Small bungees or velcro straps work well for me.

[sfuller]

You can ask the same question about the SPOT tracker, if you use one.  I carry the bear spray on one day pack strap and the SPOT is on the other.  If you crash and are away from your bike the SPOT won't do you much good in one of  your bags.  Small bungees or velcro straps work well for me.

One more thing to think about as I don't normally wear a backpack when riding. Some sort of arm band and a holder maybe...

[SlowRide]

Carried mine in the top of my Revelate front pocket, had the zipper open about an inch to allow the bear spray finger ring to stick out so I could grab it easily if needed. I would agree with Mark that it's probably not needed and at the same time would agree with Eszter that it can be nice peace-of-mind wise, I kind of guilted myself into carrying it after initially thinking I wasn't going to. I kept missing open post-offices after Pinedale to mail mine home and finally ended up donating it to the Toaster House in Pie Town. That house sees enough northbound CDT through-hikers that I'm sure someone was happy to find it on the kitchen table with a note saying "Need bear spay? Please take this."

Eszter/Scott - loved your little "Eszter and Scott Continental Divide 2014" note that was on the wall at the Toaster House. 

[MDSeaburg]

Bear Spray - where to carry?

Hi,

I'm looking at racing in 2016, and I'm going to carry bear spray. (As they say, "you pack your fears", and I'm scared of bears.)

Can someone with experience of riding with bear spray please give me a heads up of the best locations to carry? In a handlebar bag? On a harness?

Cheers,

Dave



I had mine strapped onto my handle bar, presuming I would have easy access. On the way down from Richmond Peak apparently the safety latch came off and when I hit a bump, it sprayed directly into my face. As I was writhing on the ground in excruciating pain, the fellow who had been riding with me told me to HTFU. He said it would make a good story some day. After about an hour I was able to slowly roll down into Sealey Lake to get cleaned up at the gas station. Had to buy new gloves too. It was all over me.

I won't be bringing bear spray the next time. I'll just blow my whistle. Bears hate whistles.

[Marshal]

Bear Spray - where to carry?

Hi,

I'm looking at racing in 2016, and I'm going to carry bear spray. (As they say, "you pack your fears", and I'm scared of bears.)

Can someone with experience of riding with bear spray please give me a heads up of the best locations to carry? In a handlebar bag? On a harness?

Cheers,

Dave

As has been mentioned you need quick access or it can't be used as intended. Also you do not want accidental discharge.

I mount mine in quick draw position where I can pull, arm and shoot one handed while riding.  IE: I want it out and ready while moving or as soon as I have stopped. This also makes it easy to grab and slip into ones jersey carry into the woods during a pit stop or have handy in camp.

Two logical locations are along the top tube (between the gas tank bag and frame bag) or along the aero bar, left side for left hand etc. Both positions have worked for me.
 
You can buy inert spray cans to practice with to insure solid mounting and also to practice hitting a target and avoid spray back in wind etc. --highly recommended if you have never fired in distress...........

[ABfolder]

Bear spray. Bear bangers. Bells. Etc.
Costly, bulky and not necessary IMO.

Mark, those of us who actually live and/or recreate in grizzly country disagree with you. In the Flathead -- and actually down most of the TD route -- there are also cougars to think about. Bear spray will normally stop anything on four legs or two. Wildlife biologists -- me being one of them -- will caution you to keep the spray on your body either holstered or on a pack strap. If you get knocked off your bike and it's attached to your top tube, handlebar or frame pack, you're crap out of luck. And an attack -- by bear or cougar or anything else -- can be over in seconds so it better be readily available. Everyone pictures a long distance view/warning of an animal before it closes in. That ain't how it usually happens:

http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2014/05/26/21697946.html?utm_source=addThis&utm_medium=addthis_button_addthis-service-code&utm_campaign=Grizzly+attack+ends+when+beast+bites+bear+spray+cannister

ß

http://www.wildsmart.ca/pdffiles/Wildsmart_0514_bearspray.pdf .


Bear bangers are the first line of defense at a distance, but spray is what you need close in -- especially with an aggressive beast that wants a piece of you: http://www.bearconflict.org/2012/04/a-lesson-to-remember/ . You can stick the spray in a jersey pocket or on a side holster but there's one catch with doing that: if you happen to take an unexpected spill, you might crush the canister and have it go off suddenly in a big way. I recommend using a Bear Cozy if that's a fear http://bearcozy.com/ -- and, alternatively, you can use that Cozy in a fanny pack (in a water bottle holder) while riding. That'll give you a bit more protection from a rupture if you take a spill. That fanny pack can do double duty and carry bangers at the same time.

http://www.mec.ca/shop/bear-safety/50448/ The Scat belt is another option if you're riding with a coat over a jersey.

The chances of ever getting mauled by a griz or black bear -- or a cougar -- are indeed small but that doesn't help you much if you happen to be in that tiny sample size one day/night. I carry the spray and bangers as much for my own personal safety as I do to help get a critter off an unprepared victim. Also realize this: If a rider without spray is attacked and mauled, the bear is the one who usually pays for it -- with a bullet between its ears a few days later. Riding through a well-known bear/cougar hotspot, you have a responsibility to ensure that doesn't happen due to your negligence.

Having live-trapped black bears for a number of years myself -- and also having been around griz and polar bears, too -- I have a very healthy respect for what they're capable of doing, including decapitating you with a single swipe from a massive paw. I have to say that when I read Jill Homer's book and came across the nonsense that John Nobile pulled off around ol' griz, one word came to mind: MORON (in capital letters).

People with even an ounce of backcountry sense do one of two things: a) they avoid known bear hotspots b) they come prepared to deal with the critters. Fact: The Flathead has one of the densest griz and cougar populations on the continent (Alberta's K-country not far from the Spray Lakes is also a continental cougar hotspot). Either avoid the areas or come prepared. The rest of us really don't want to fight to get a bear or cougar off a fresh carcass. Nor do we want to see an animal die unnecessarily in retaliation.

Something else to keep in mind: If you're planning to outride/outrun a bear, know that a lazy ol' griz is good for 35mph when annoyed (or hungry). Cougars? They're a little speedier at 40 to 50mph!

[megand]

I'm with ABfolder on this one - although the chance of coming across a cranky bear is hopefully small, and bear spray can be heavy and annoying, it has the enormous benefit that it might help stop me from becoming dead. I usually keep it in my jersey centre pocket on short rides, but I've found it tends to irritate my back if I have it there for a full day in the saddle - I think I'll start using the scat belt for long days, it's quite a comfortable way to carry it without having to think about it.  Making enough noise so that bears know you are coming is never a bad idea though.

Oh, and bear spray has the added benefit that although my partner is totally happy for me to do the Tour Divide, he'd probably lock me in the basement for the month of June before he let me consider riding it without bear spray.