TDR Route - psychological differences of north vs. south

[Iowagriz]

Any TDR vets care to chime in on the psychological differences of racing north vs south?

Seems like every race report discusses how people are so tired of the type of riding that they encounter in New Mexico that they dread that state.

My question(s): Is this because of the stress and fatigue of riding for 2-3 weeks by this point? Can we infer that from Whitefish to Banff (northbound) would feel the same?

For some reason I'm thinking that riding New Mexico when fresh would make it much more pleasant.

[bpeschka]

Maybe the mud.

[Iowagriz]

I do agree that the conditions would have to be right to get thru in that first week. But your mind would be clearer to make better decisions and in theory you could push further as you are fresher.

[Iowagriz]

bump, plus additional question and thoughts.

From the south, in the first week you would hit two of the larger, mandatory self-supported sections (limited or no services for long periods). Silver City to Grants on day 2 and 3 and then Cuba to Del Norte (approx. days 5 and 6).  Assuming weather was not an issue, it sure seems like being fresh for these two spots would make them somewhat easier.

Of course, with El Nino for this winter, the chances for increased snowpack in New Mexico and wet conditions could make all of my thinking and planning a moot point.

[sherpaxc]

When I do it I will for sure do a south to north route. Just seems like ending in Banff is way more awesome than a gate.

[Iowagriz]

I grew up in Columbia Falls, MT.  So, I still have parents and family in that area. South to North also makes it seem like it would make logistics easier for me.  I'd miss being part of the big start and riding with different peeps along the way.  On the other hand, you would get to see everyone as they come south and meet you.

[sfuller]

I grew up in Columbia Falls, MT.  So, I still have parents and family in that area. South to North also makes it seem like it would make logistics easier for me.  I'd miss being part of the big start and riding with different peeps along the way.  On the other hand, you would get to see everyone as they come south and meet you.

You'll see at least some of them, but many will only be a quick blur and wave. My experiences from this past year indicate that many people were good for 1 - 3 minutes of chatting and then wanted to get moving on.

[MikeI]

You'll see at least some of them, but many will only be a quick blur and wave. My experiences from this past year indicate that many people were good for 1 - 3 minutes of chatting and then wanted to get moving on.

I talked with most of the leaders who were interested in the snow situation further south in Colorado ( it was all melted but had been a problem a couple of weeks earlier for some ITT folks ), then there was a whole bunch of folks in the middle who waved and kept on going, then there were the folks toward the end who would chat for a while, and you get to talk to quite a few touring riders as you get further north. 

New Mexico was great in mid June, nice and dry, pleasant nights ... there was some wind in WY as the route tends sorta northwest and you catch some westerlies, and things were dry for me until Lincoln and a bit of Canada.

Banff was pretty cool for a place to end up. Just have to remember to wash the bike before the shop boxes it up .... there's a couple of check boxes on the Customs Declaration form about "bringing soil into the US" and "have you been on a farm or ranch or around livestock ?"   With a muddy dirty bike in a box that had two thousand miles of cow shit on it, that had me worried in the Calgary airport :-)