TD'11 Race Discussion

[mtbcast]

Dan Bayley called in from Sargents. Justin Voss called in from Grants. And Dave Goldberg called in from Cuba.

You can get the audio here, via RSS,  or on iTunes!

[T.Ray]

Great Job Ethan!

[Mathewsen]

Roland (northbound, in southern Montana) meets McCoy, who developed the route, touring southbound.

Mac=The Man. He may be pulling a Beast of Burden but he is running big wheels now. I wonder if he is commuting home from the Missoula office to his residence in Driggs.

That rendezvous spot is amazing country. Although Roland was riding west (towards Idaho) and Nobo, he was cruising downstream along the uppermost stretch of the Missouri River, on the east side of the Divide, which 3700 miles later dumps into the Gulf of Mx not too far from where Roland began his ride in AW. To repeat that: In this area the east side of the Divide is west of the west side of the Divide. Hmmm...no, really. Talk about Roland coming full circle. I wonder just how long it takes that water to reach the gulf

Sarai Snyder's Push Pedal Crank Blog has some nice pics from this area as the Sobos went through: http://pushpedalcrank.com/?p=154

[THE LONG RANGER]

You guys are incredible!

Yes, you... the Bikepacking community: 114 Cordillera Volume 2 books have been sold since the matching donation was announced. 69 on June 25th alone. That's a record for us.

Over $2,440 has been raised for the college fund since the match was announced. We're well over $4,000 total, more than I'd ever hoped to raise.

Can someone get in touch with Justin Simoni? He needs to know his role in this as well.

Eric

I'm really exceptionally touched that I can inspire! Remember, it's all you gals/guys that make the community what it is. I just push the pedals. This is amazing news. Thanks for continuing to inspire me to keep pushing those pedals.

[Pelican Peloton]

Today we will get to see the Eurotrain sprint for the Mexican border.

[Mrs.BigPoppa]

I'm really exceptionally touched that I can inspire! Remember, it's all you gals/guys that make the community what it is. I just push the pedals. This is amazing news. Thanks for continuing to inspire me to keep pushing those pedals.

Justin S, your race is particularly inspiring (as are all of them in their own way).  I read up on Dave B. the other day, seemed like a pretty inspirational guy.  Thanks to the donor who is matching, I'm happy to do a small thing for this family in his honor (and get a pretty sweet book out of the deal too).  

[mtbcast]

Sheila Reiter called in from Kremling to say, "Yes, we did." Which no doubt explains their track.

You can get the audio here, via RSS,  or on iTunes!

[ComoDepot]

3 for Breakfast, and it looks like there is another chain around Kremmling that will be here tonight.

Looks like Simon Mark and Greg went right on 285 instead of left and then realised their mistake.

So add a couple of miles to their total.

[mtbcast]

Justin Simoni called in from Rawlins, appointing himself "King of the Mountains." Of course, he's about to head into Colorado! Yeah, that's home. Maybe we give it to him considering he's taking the hard road.

You can get the audio here, via RSS,  or on iTunes!

[mikepro]

Looks like Aidan went for bonus miles last night, heading left (South and downhill on hwy 35) instead of right.  He's well on his way to Pinos Altos by now ... maybe he went to the Ranger Station on Hwy 35 to get water, not knowing about closer option at Lake Roberts to "the right" (N) on hwy 35.  Whatever the case, it just adds to the adventure.

[mikepro]

Strong finish by Robert G (and presumably Parker S) , riding through the night and finishing in the early morning (some 4+ hours ago).  Minimal stop in Silver City.  Chalk another one up for a "Beav' to AW" finish in one shot (200+ miles in +/- 24 hrs).

[mtbcast]

Dave Bruno called in from home to say he finished about 8:30am yesterday. Dylan Taylor called in from Cuba after dodging some pit bulls. And Martin Wimpenny called in from Platoro.

You can get the audio here, via RSS,  or on iTunes!

[gpe]

Any idea what Lee Krumholz is doing off-course at Platoro?  I hope all's okay.

[mikepro]

Umm ... looks like Deejay is doin' it again, this time going from Grants to Pie Town road via the main route through El MalPais Natl Mon.  More cool points.  By the looks of it, he rolled into Grants last night at midnight or later, and got himself a long sleep and a LATE start this morning.

[mikepro]

Any idea what Lee Krumholz is doing off-course at Platoro?  I hope all's okay.

Spot glitch.  Latest point shows he's on course.

[mikepro]

In other news.... looks like our King of the Mountains is also back it after a late start out of Rawlins.  From his Spot history, he went and found himself an interesting location to spend the night across I80 from Rawlins.  Maybe he found a castle.

[tiggermm62]

Anyway, at least 5 of the 6 SoBo riders that have passed through the Gila have run out of food and/or water well before the end of the new singletrack section above Pinos Altos, so if anyone out there reads this and talks to riders yet to reach this section, strongly advise them to make sure they have ample supplies before tackling this last slow section of the course. In this heat, it's downright dangerous to push for several hours without water!
[/quote]

Hopefully I'm not repeating a question, but I've seen "passed through the Gila" mentioned several times and I don't exactly know what or where that is?  Can somebody enlighten me?

I appreciate it!

 

[gpe]

For the press listing:  here's an artical from Cyclingnews.com that a friend just sent me on the first finishers:  http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/refsnider-first-to-finish-2011-tour-divide-race

TS called me this morning from Platoro and it turns out his little pack did not know that people crossed the line on Sunday!  Well, I didn't tell JE, but I figured they'd hear about it at one of their stops.  That's what happens when you're riding out in the middle of nowhere:  you lose touch with reality, she said, as if a TD race were reality.  :)

[Mathewsen]

Hopefully I'm not repeating a question, but I've seen "passed through the Gila" mentioned several times and I don't exactly know what or where that is?  Can somebody enlighten me?

http://tinyurl.com/3m3ofeg

the home page part about, "Four gentle seasons best describe the climatic conditions in the Gila National Forest." is slightly inaccurate. maybe three gentle seasons. It has lots of phenominal MTB-legal CDT riding and lots of wilderness. The first tract, in fact. great winter destination.

[krefs]

Hopefully I'm not repeating a question, but I've seen "passed through the Gila" mentioned several times and I don't exactly know what or where that is?  Can somebody enlighten me?

I consider it essentially Pie town to Pinos Altos, though technically I don't think this is all in the Gila NF. Either way, it's along, rugged, dusty, washboarded section of 170+ miles with no resupply other than a couple of water spigots and a finnicky soda machine.