2015 TD

[bouldernick]

Too funny!:

"Small glass pipe, lighter, etc. (CO)"

Now THAT is planning ahead!

I noticed that too. Awesome.

[pbarsom]

Well, in the interest of full disclosure, ya know?  I left that in there, vainly hoping that people would choose to ask me about my drivetrain or something instead.  Oh, well.  At any rate, once I got sick around Silverthorne that little medicinal expedient more than proved its value.  I did say there were a lot of things packed away, right?  Sometimes I had an extra chapstick in there, too, if I'm really gonna come clean about it.  Didn't I mention that the mental part was second to a pain-free bike?   

But seriously, aside from having a bike that fit me like part of my own body, the thing that helped the most was keeping a sense of hilarity about the whole thing (necessary long, long before Colorado even seemed a possibility, pretty much from the start in the cold rain and snow in Banff).  At the end of the day there were so many things about this event that I could only laugh at, and did.  Out loud, every day. From grappling, half-prone, completely covered in mud, dragging and carrying my loaded bike up that ridiculously steep Flathead connector trail, basically an oozing, cascading slime-fall after two straight days of solid downpour, to post-holing through the tops of trees in the rain on Richmond Peak's crazy side slope trail, to hitting mud so gluey and tenacious that it turns your bike into a 100-pound, solid mass of immobile glop in 60 seconds, the only solution is to embrace the complete absurdity of the whole thing and laugh about it.  So tip #2 is: Remember that this is a ludicrous yet perfect reality that you're experiencing when doing this race.  It's insane, and at the same time, the most natural and sane thing in the world.  It's just exactly and only what it is and it doesn't care about you or your opinion of it.  And that's just fine.  You're only doing one thing: riding a bike through a vast wilderness as beautiful as any in the world, and doing it as fast and efficiently as you can.  Everything you're doing is to serve that one purpose, eating, sleeping, planning, everything.  Honor the challenge and let it engulf you.  It's a gift (that, after all, you asked for).  Now, of course, this is a stretch when you realize that you've got 20 miles of food left and 60 miles to go to the next resupply, assuming that it's even open.  But that's got its own wry humor in a way.  Besides, what's your option? 

[THE LONG RANGER]

I like your spirit,  pbarsom!

[pbarsom]

I like your spirit,  pbarsom!

Thanks, Ranger.  I'm honored.

[pbarsom]

Quick thought about bike fit.  Even a professional fitter doesn't know the hundred little idiosyncrasies of your body and how it moves.  So while they'll get you close, or maybe even spot on if you're lucky, you still have to spend a lot of hours monitoring what's going on and making the little adjustments needed.  For example, I found during training for this that literally one degree of saddle tilt made all the difference between heaven and eventually getting chafed in a certain spot by the end of the day.  Attention and patience with this will save your butt.  And maybe your TD.

[SlowRide]

I would also add that no matter how well your bike fits, you should make sure that some(much) of your training regimen is on bumpy, washboarded dirt roads this spring. I did 3000 miles on dirt roads in the spring leading up to TD and didn't have call to use any chamois cream at all while on TD. I had zero saddle sores, no problems at all down there. I rode and spoke to many, many others who said they'd wished they'd have put more dirt road miles in their training regimen because they were getting physically pounded in the backside and were having all kinds of problems down below as a result, chamois cream literally oozing out of their shorts(gross!). Get chapped down there, it's the best defense.

[Christopher R. Bennett]

One caveat about bike fitters: you need one who understands long distance endurance racing. In the Cordillera V6 Andrew Schuhmann describes his bike fit experience:

Before the race began, I had adjusted my cleat slightly toward the toe, which pointed my foot slightly outward, in order to ease the ache in my left IT band. And while this worked well for my knee, almost 400 miles in that position had put added stress on my left Achilles, which had finally come to a climax, in that it started screaming at me. I adjusted the cleat back to neutral, and moved both of them back as far as they would go. My bike fitter had moved them forward, citing loss of power in the furthest back position. Although he may have been right for shorter races, I think the added stress it places on the Achilles for such long, all out efforts had cost me considerably. The tension in my Achilles, and the screaming, was gone immediately. Instantly, I had more power in each pedal stroke, and was able to actually pedal. It was a miracle!

[Editor’s Note: Rule #1 for racing the Tour Divide: have your cleats as far back as possible. This reduces the leverage on the pedal and thus the stresses on your Achilles tendon. Any good bike fitter would know that is best for ultra-racing. At least they do in New Zealand. Also reduce the tension in the pedal so it’s easy to unclip.]

[BobM]

I would also add that no matter how well your bike fits, you should make sure that some(much) of your training regimen is on bumpy, washboarded dirt roads this spring. I did 3000 miles on dirt roads in the spring leading up to TD and didn't have call to use any chamois cream at all while on TD. I had zero saddle sores, no problems at all down there. I rode and spoke to many, many others who said they'd wished they'd have put more dirt road miles in their training regimen because they were getting physically pounded in the backside and were having all kinds of problems down below as a result, chamois cream literally oozing out of their shorts(gross!). Get chapped down there, it's the best defense.

I agree.  I am zero knowledgeable about bike fitting, but it is my belief that fitting the body to the bike is every bit as important as fitting the bike to the body.  Many miles pre-race to toughen tender parts and zero last-minute gear changes in pedals, shoes, gloves, grips, saddle, and shorts would be my recommendation.

[pbarsom]

All excellent points, folks.  So it's really important to have spent enough hours on the setup to find out how your body reacts.  It shouldn't take more than, say, 2 days of 12+ hours of pedaling (probably less) to discover most of the signs that signal serious issues on the horizon.  This should be part of training anyway as soon as you're ready for it.  If you hear your body barking at you in some way besides general fatigue, something needs to be adjusted.  And ditto on the cleat position.  Classic "souple" pedaling with lots of ankle flex isn't what's desired here.  Also, this rearward position will tend to automatically ensure you're using more of the backside of your stroke when you're tired, overcoming the tendency to mash when you're smoked with fatigue.  When you mash, all your leverage is focused in your quads and lower calf.  The rearward cleat position can neutralize that a bit.  But you've got to get accustomed to it.  Among other aftereffects of doing the TD was my humorous and sometimes painful (there are lots of rocks in central PA) inability to clip in since I'd sort of forgotten where my cleats were on the bottom of the shoe once I moved them back to the "usual" position.

[BobM]

The last pieces of the puzzle are in order and I will be flying into Calgary June 9th at 11:40; 1:30 shuttle to Banff; dorm bed at the Y.  Plan is to assemble and test drive the bike that afternoon.  Wednesday will be shakedown ride and supply purchases (including pepper spray).  Thursday morning 5am is the plan for the start of my run - officially an ITT since it is the day before the GD.  I will be the rabbit, albeit the world's slowest rabbit ☺. At least this way I stand a chance of seeing/meeting most of my fellow riders as they pass me on the route.  The goal is to make the top of Galton Pass before getting passed; if someone like Jefe is riding this year I will not make that goal.  I also avoid being the 150th rider to stop at Boulton Creek, Elkford, etc, that first couple of days when everyone is still pretty bunched up.

I dropped in Eureka in 2012, so now I know what I need to work on the next few months - thighs, weight loss, and mental toughness.  Man, am I ever looking forward to this!  Best of luck to everyone on their preparations.

[SlowRide]

The last pieces of the puzzle are in order and I will be flying into Calgary June 9th at 11:40; 1:30 shuttle to Banff; dorm bed at the Y.  Plan is to assemble and test drive the bike that afternoon.  Wednesday will be shakedown ride and supply purchases (including pepper spray).  Thursday morning 5am is the plan for the start of my run - officially an ITT since it is the day before the GD.  I will be the rabbit, albeit the world's slowest rabbit ☺. At least this way I stand a chance of seeing/meeting most of my fellow riders as they pass me on the route.  The goal is to make the top of Galton Pass before getting passed; if someone like Jefe is riding this year I will not make that goal.  I also avoid being the 150th rider to stop at Boulton Creek, Elkford, etc, that first couple of days when everyone is still pretty bunched up.

I dropped in Eureka in 2012, so now I know what I need to work on the next few months - thighs, weight loss, and mental toughness.  Man, am I ever looking forward to this!  Best of luck to everyone on their preparations.

Best of luck to you Bob, I'll be watching your SPOT!

[THE LONG RANGER]

Oh, I believe Jefe is in again this year! https://jwookieone.wordpress.com/2015/02/28/letter-of-intent/

[Rorr]

Wow! Just read Jefe's LOI. Man, he hit the nail on the head. That's why I'm doing it again. That's why training doesn't seem like training just seems like getting ready. I can hardly wait!

[pbarsom]

Regarding Jefe, watch out this year.  If the weather holds, and his run is anything like last year, he could well be in AW in record time.  Last year was a really slow year with all the rain, snowpack and avalanche debris and beat us all down pretty badly.  For perspective, in 2013 my Freeze Thaw teammate Brett Simpson finished 14th in a little over 20 days.  Last year I finished 15th in a little over 23, almost three whole days slower.  Results in this thing are pretty condition-dependent, especially in the first week when we all have similar weather.  Next year (when I'm planning another run) it may be totally different.  If he gets good weather and some luck, Jefe will have a good chance of breaking 15 days.  But as he points out, there's something waaay bigger going on with this show than the results.  It just stays in your marrow somehow.  Rock it, sir.  We'll be cheering you on, either from home or somewhere way behind you.

[BobM]

If the El Nino fprecast holds true, New Mexico could be wetter than usual - good news for fires, but bad news for mud:

http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/predictions/long_range/lead03/off03_prcp.gif

[wookieone]

Hello TD 2015!
Despite being older and wiser I am in for another TD.
Wondering if anyone from Colorado is planning on driving up to Banff?
I don't want to fly and would like to work something out if anyone is headed that way.

Thanks and happy training planning and scheming!

Jefe

[Guild44]

I am a real newbie to multi-day racing; I did the Colorado Trail (Denver to Silverton) last year, which inspired my interest in doing this race - plus, I'm on sabbatical next year and am not sure I'll get the time to do something like this again anytime soon. So, please forgive me ahead of time for my ignorance! I have a demanding job, so I have a hard enough time making time for TRAINING, much less the entire preparation process. This thread has been hugely helpful!

Basically, all this talk of dyno hubs is Greek to me. I ran a solar battery on the Colorado Trail (http://www.rei.com/product/835332/powertraveller-powermonkey-extreme-12v-solar-battery-charger). Is that a bad option? Is it really important to go with a dyno hub? I really like my wheels as they are and (as a result) am resistant to swapping out the hub or even lacing a new wheel. But if that's the best way, I'll go that way; I just wanted to see whether anybody uses a rechargeable solar battery.

If I do the dyno hub, what all would I need to buy? I need to power my Garmin, my Diablo light, my iPhone, etc. The usual!

Thanks so much!

Sarah

[BobM]

I am a real newbie to multi-day racing; I did the Colorado Trail (Denver to Silverton) last year, which inspired my interest in doing this race - plus, I'm on sabbatical next year and am not sure I'll get the time to do something like this again anytime soon. So, please forgive me ahead of time for my ignorance! I have a demanding job, so I have a hard enough time making time for TRAINING, much less the entire preparation process. This thread has been hugely helpful!

Basically, all this talk of dyno hubs is Greek to me. I ran a solar battery on the Colorado Trail (http://www.rei.com/product/835332/powertraveller-powermonkey-extreme-12v-solar-battery-charger). Is that a bad option? Is it really important to go with a dyno hub? I really like my wheels as they are and (as a result) am resistant to swapping out the hub or even lacing a new wheel. But if that's the best way, I'll go that way; I just wanted to see whether anybody uses a rechargeable solar battery.

If I do the dyno hub, what all would I need to buy? I need to power my Garmin, my Diablo light, my iPhone, etc. The usual!

Thanks so much!

Sarah

The list of past winners and record holders who raced this route without a dyno hub is long.

[Guild44]

What did they use, then? I'm not too happy with my current solar batter; I'm thinking I might upgrade to a nicer one. People who don't use dyno hubs: what setup do you use?

People who do use dyno hubs: did you just relace a current wheel with the hub or buy a wheel complete with the hub? I'm just trying to figure out what would be the quickest/most efficient way to transition to that sort of setup.

[pyerger]

What did they use, then? I'm not too happy with my current solar batter; I'm thinking I might upgrade to a nicer one. People who don't use dyno hubs: what setup do you use?

People who do use dyno hubs: did you just relace a current wheel with the hub or buy a wheel complete with the hub? I'm just trying to figure out what would be the quickest/most efficient way to transition to that sort of setup.

I'm happy to say that I will be lining up for the Tour divide GD. this year! Really looking forward to meeting all you folks, that have posted  your race wisdom, over the years, It has helped a great deal!  Thanks!!
  I too am a newbie to bikepacking races. I have been  climbing, and mountaineering for many years, and hope that some of that experience will carry over to bikepacking. for what it's worth, I plan  to keep things simple. If I can't replace it with AA or AAA batteries, it's not going. I Plan on using Maps, cues, and two bike computers only. still using the old flip phone, which will last 4 to 6 days without a charge. will not be listing to any music,(not sure about that one)? If any of the vets out there want to chime in on that approach, that would be great!

 see you in Banff!!  Peter