Tour divide tips and tricks fb page is CENSORED!!

[aarond]

There has been a lot of discussion on this fb page about riding the divide in 2020.  It is looking more and more likely that people will be able to ride this summer, but david chirnside doesnt want you to know that.  I was banned for a second time from tour divide tips page.  The first time for asking bailey gene newbrey to clarify specifically what shops on the route didnt want us, after he claimed there were many and told some hapless dreamer to f off for thinking of riding.  Now im banbed for posting an article saying trump wants to reopen some state economies before may 1.  This is a relevant post because some states on the route will be open.  Unfortunately, david chirnside of the tour divide page
apparently has TDS and cant tolerate even the mention of trump.  Unfortunately, this kind of viewpoint based discrimination makes the him a liitle man.  Please keep in mind, if you look at the tour divide tips page on fb, it is censored and you will only learn what the administrator deems appropriate.
Update: the admin also deleted the specific 2020 td page.  He really doesnt want anyone to ride this summer, because he knows whats best. 

[taprider]

David seemed to "know best" about Lael too and has ended up on the wrong side of history in my opinion.  I hope everything opens up this year so you get to ride, but listening to the news about the USA, I am losing hope.

[bakerjw]

My son is on one of the FB pages and had an issue this last week with some of the posters. There's a reason that I don't do FB.

We have a safer at home order in Tennessee. I can hop on my bike where I live and go to gas stations and stores. In fact when my wife and I do our weekly shopping it is on the tandem with a Bob. With the exception of restaurants, it is mostly business as usual around here as it is in most rural locations.

Give it a month to sort out and we'll see where things are then.

FWIW. if things are opened in late July, I'll be pedaling South solo and will likely see very few people when I do stop.

[threepin]

AS someone who lives on the route I think very possibly yes- at least for the northern half of the us. Of course things can always change but the route goes through areas that have low infection rates and small business's that need money. This is not to say that all services will be open or welcoming or even that the border will be fully reopened. Too, appropriate behavior on the part of the cyclist is indicated.

Do you really think biking through 2 countries and 5 states and stopping at dozens of small town grocery stores, diners and bike shops is a responsible thing to do right now, or 8 weeks from now?

This isn't just about you either.  It's also all the people you interact with along the way and their vulnerability.

Trump should have nothing to do with this anyways, as if he's actually in control of opening the economy.  States rights and all.

[Julie K.]

If the places with low infection rates see an influx of visitors (aka asymptomatic carriers until we have widespread testing) from places with high infection rates then, well, guess what?

Perhaps bikepacking can be ok if we all take precautions. We can don face masks and use hand sanitizer before visiting a store, keep our public contact to getting the bare minimum essentials, camp in the forest, etc. Gotta figure out bathrooms and showers. I guess hotels/motels are still open. We need clear guidelines (and widespread testing) in place before we can return to normal. If not all of the Tour divide communities are on board, then respect them. Better to be too paranoid than not paranoid enough when lives are at stake, IMHO.

[threepin]

I believe that's what i was referring to as far as cyclists' behavior. If you are coming from a place that 8 weeks from now does still have an infection rate that is high then either isolate for an appropriate length of time or get tested. I get that things are bad in some/many places now but there are many others where they are not. And how could one begin to guess about 8 weeks from now. The route will be open - in many places it already is. When I bike pack, particularly in this region the woods are my campground, kitchen and toilet. I don't spend much if any time near other people.

[Julie K.]

I believe that's what i was referring to as far as cyclists' behavior. If you are coming from a place that 8 weeks from now does still have an infection rate that is high then either isolate for an appropriate length of time or get tested. I get that things are bad in some/many places now but there are many others where they are not. And how could one begin to guess about 8 weeks from now. The route will be open - in many places it already is. When I bike pack, particularly in this region the woods are my campground, kitchen and toilet. I don't spend much if any time near other people.

Yeah, we don't have widespread testing, so we are isolating.

I don't see a problem with a local solo backcountry tour if you have that in your backyard. I confusingly mentioned bikepacking in general, but I was thinking about the tour divide. If all of the stars aligned, maybe it could be done with precautions as an ITT later this year. But you can't plan an international gathering with close to 100 attendees for something that may or may not be the case 8 weeks from now. It's reasonable to cancel the grand depart this time around.

[aarond]

Do you really think biking through 2 countries and 5 states and stopping at dozens of small town grocery stores, diners and bike shops is a responsible thing to do right now, or 8 weeks from now?

This isn't just about you either.  It's also all the people you interact with along the way and their vulnerability.

Trump should have nothing to do with this anyways, as if he's actually in control of opening the economy.  States rights and all.

Timon, I saw a couple of days ago where you posted you were still training and hoping to race the colorado trail this year.  What changed?


Do you really think biking through colorado and stopping at dozens of small town grocery stores, diners and bike shops is a responsible thing to do right now, or 12 weeks from now?

This isn't just about you either.  It's also all the people you interact with along the way and their vulnerability.



 If health and government officials of 2 countries and 5 states allow recreational travel and approve stopping at dozens of small town grocery stores, diners and bike shops, why is that irresponible, especially when you are hoping to do the same thing a few weeks later?

[threepin]

Timon,
As someone who lives in one of the communities that you are concerned with infecting, I thank you for caring. However this situation won't really be going away for a long long time and in the interim the small business's in these communities need to survive. There will be some risk inevitably, but in areas like this most people are being cautious and intelligent in their approach. For example, today I got my hair cut, by the woman who has cut it for 14 years, she only is doing it for a week or so then not for a month in order to protect her family. I needed a haircut and she liked some sense of normalcy and I'm sure the income. This is in county that has not had a positive case in some time and people aren't even coming to the testing centers. All places are different and all times are different. Just by being respectful and cautious, as you seem to be, you are almost guaranteed to be welcome.

[aarond]

Nothing.  That's 3 months from now and 6 weeks after the divide (not "a few"...that's disingenuous at best) , and it's pending a decision by Jefe at the end of this month. I'm not going to stop riding my bike and give up on my goals right now because of covid, that's silly.

If Colorado is under social distancing guidelines and covid is still widespread in the state I will absolutely be a responsible cyclist and not participate even though it will be incredibly frustrating to me personally.

Really, you think im being disingenuous?  I stated repeatedly that i wanted to do an itt in late june or july, only 3 weeks before ctr.  I also stated repeatedly that i would only ride if health and government officials opened the whole route, and you know it.  This was the source of the dispute.  Even if appropriate authorities opened the whole route, people like josh kato, bailey gene newbrey and kurt refsnider felt like people shouldnt ride this year, EVEN if the route was open, and you jumped right on that bandwagon with your little lecture about responsibility.

I have to add, i am really disappointed in those i mentioned above.  Josh kato said there were numerous reasons it would be selfish and irresponsible to ride this year, but he didnt say what they were.  Then he undermined his whole argument by saying people could tour the gdmbr instead!  I think hes worried someone might have good conditions and set a record he might not be able to beat.  Then some innocent person asked about starting in whitefish, and bailey gene newbrey told him to FUCK OFF, because he knew lots of stores on route that didnt want us.  This was bullshit, it was simply an egoic reaction to someone who questioned the received wisdom of people who think being fast makes them authorities on all subjects.  Kurt refsnider did some good virtue signaling as well, suggesting the local communities dont want us.  Then, after delivering his lecture about not spreading covid, he took some of his bikepacking roots money and went biking with bailey gene in the santa fe national forest.  Wont be getting any more donations from me.  If anyone here is being disingenuous, it obviously aint me.

[aarond]

This is all news to me, I'm only familiar with what's been posted in this thread and my own thoughts about riding/racing during a pandemic.  I disabled my facebook about 6 months ago which has been a great decision....maybe you should think about doing the same since it's clearly creating so much drama in your life.

Not so much drama as entertainment during the lockdown, but thanks for the good advice. The fact remains that your lecture on responsibility was hypocritical given your hope of riding the ctr this year.  You have no reason to assume your decision to ride is based on different or superior information than my decision.

[bakerjw]

I am on several forums, bike and other. This Red China Flu has divided this country like nothing else that I've ever seen. My youngest, who lives in a state with a major lock down, will have little to do with me and my wife because we go out in public. FWIW, where I live the marginal infection rate is keeping pace with recovery rate. 10 people with active infections in an area of 275,000. Around 100 infections in total.
Just relax, people. Educate yourself. Discern the data. And turn off the damned media as hype and fear sells ads and nothing else. This is a virus with some dangerous vectors but it is not the apocalypse.
We needed a pause to figure out what we were facing and now that we have an idea, we move forward. some areas faster than others.
<rant off>

[aarond]

I'm not allowed to be cautiously optimistic for an event that's nearly three months away and can be driven from/to easily and only requires one refuel stop....because I chimed in about being a responsible cyclist on a route that goes 5x the distance, that's 5.5 weeks away?

On second thought, Facebook is probably your best home.

Sure, you can be cautiously optimistic, you just don't get to lecture me for being cautiously optimistic.  Thanks.

[kato]

Really, you think im being disingenuous?  I stated repeatedly that i wanted to do an itt in late june or july, only 3 weeks before ctr.  I also stated repeatedly that i would only ride if health and government officials opened the whole route, and you know it.  This was the source of the dispute.  Even if appropriate authorities opened the whole route, people like josh kato, bailey gene newbrey and kurt refsnider felt like people shouldnt ride this year, EVEN if the route was open, and you jumped right on that bandwagon with your little lecture about responsibility.

I have to add, i am really disappointed in those i mentioned above.  Josh kato said there were numerous reasons it would be selfish and irresponsible to ride this year, but he didnt say what they were.  Then he undermined his whole argument by saying people could tour the gdmbr instead!  I think hes worried someone might have good conditions and set a record he might not be able to beat.  Then some innocent person asked about starting in whitefish, and bailey gene newbrey told him to FUCK OFF, because he knew lots of stores on route that didnt want us.  This was bullshit, it was simply an egoic reaction to someone who questioned the received wisdom of people who think being fast makes them authorities on all subjects.  Kurt refsnider did some good virtue signaling as well, suggesting the local communities dont want us.  Then, after delivering his lecture about not spreading covid, he took some of his bikepacking roots money and went biking with bailey gene in the santa fe national forest.  Wont be getting any more donations from me.  If anyone here is being disingenuous, it obviously aint me.

Hmm...  Did I state that I didn?t want people to race/ride the route if it was open and things were OK?  On the contrary, I hope that people can get out there this year.   On the FB page you were banned from I?ve seen many people sharing their views .  People can have their own view right?  I have no problem with your desire to ride this year.  I especially don?t have a problem with legal and safe things occurring if people so make that decision.  I am not the TD police.  Below is the response I made to you on FB.  You don?t have to like me but misquoting me or prescribing opinions to me that are not my own is not OK.


Aaron D :Your suggestion that it might be okay to tour the gdmbr this year, but not race it undermines your contention that it is quite selfish and irresponsible to race
One could even say you are quite selfish for being ok with touring the gdmbr but not racing it because you personally feel it is unsporting. It is also unsporting, for example, that many talented riders cant afford the time or equipment to ride, etc. You mentioned numerous reasons you considered it selfish and irresponible, but you didn't elaborate at all. I have stated ad nauseum that this would only happen if health officials opened the entire route. Im genuinely interested to hear why this is selfish. If i were to get an antibody test showing i had antibodies, how would you feel?

Josh Kato : Aaron Denberg when I say,  I personally find it irresponsible and quite selfish to race this year. I also find it a bit unsporting to race this year.? It is simply that. As in I personally find it selfish and irresponsible. For me. I don?t prescribe this notion to anyone else. Almost any of us can be asymptomatic carriers or even get sick half way through the route. There will always be reasons people won?t be able to line up for the TD. As unfair and unfortunate as this is it is true. I think we can all agree these are unprecedented times. Can you imagine the Tour de France where only French racers with the privilege of being tested could compete? I believe that would be unsporting. I do hope some can go ride the Divide if the route is welcoming and all the stars align

Josh Kato: Also, if you wonder about me touring the route... Well, it would be touring a small section of the route. As in getting there in a car, with all my supplies and hitting a part of the route that is desolate. Alone. This would only be if things are agreeable to this even happening.  Sometime further down the road when conditions have changed.

[aarond]

"I have no problem with your desire to ride this year."

Thanks for clearing that up Josh, ride on!

[Biggus Duckus]

I am on several forums, bike and other. This Red China Flu

Thanks for showing the racism early on so I didn't have to read the rest.

[bikelite]

then there is the guy on the fb page that cusses everyone out who he disagrees with and he is not monitored....bullying at its best.