TD'11 Race Discussion

[Marshal]

Just catching up--

gurr—some one tell David Goldberg to re-turn his Spot on (hopefully that’s all it is)

[caseygreene]

FWIW, Ethan's error is a minor detour snafu, not an egregious main GDMBR error, so (unofficially) he won't be relegated for this one.

[Marshal]

Justin is in the heart of this particular snow area.  He has about 4 more hours of usable daylight.  His last two spots suggest it’s getting tougher

Go Justin and be safe

[Marshal]

Will JB or EP (or perhaps both) close up the gap to Kurt tonight?  If they try ‘and do’ then all is a wash.  If not it’s a stern chase.  And if Kurt gets going tomorrow with a lead will he be catchable? 

Well now this is so fun

Go ya all!!!

[Marshal]

Paul Attalla is nearing the top of Boreas, if it's all plowed he gets a early dinner and easy bike path/road for a ways.  Wonder how far he will get tonight?

[elobeck]

Wonder where the TD "golden spike" will be driven? Just south of Rawlins?

[brunch]

Despite the detours this TD is shaping up to be as exciting as any. Kurt R is a monster as is the lone purist out there slogging along the original route. Amazing!

If you've been bitten by the Tour Divide Bug and don't have it yet check out the Cordillera:

https://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/the-cordillera/15659154

It's an anthology of the best Divide Racing stories, articles and photographs around. All proceeds from the Cordillera go to benefit the college education of Linnaea Blumenthal, daughter of the late Dave Blumenthal who died during last year's race.

So check it out and buy a few for your friends. The book (also available as a download) has been getting great reviews.

More information here...

http://www.bikepacking.net/forum/index.php/topic,2096.0.html

Along this same line I should applaud current TD racer David Goldberg for stuffing $20 for Linnaea into my hands at the start in Banff. I thought that was cool enough but then a woman whose name I never learned handed me $100 for Linnaea's college fund! I wasn't really prepared to take cash donations but the gesture was so great that I didn't complain and will get the money to Linnaea's 529 plan somehow. As for the rest of the community... buying a Cordillera is the best, most entertaining and concrete way to help a fallen racer's family.

Eric

 

[JF-mtnbiker]

I caught Aidian H. and Josh S. finishing up lunch in the Tetonia cafe today. Aidian and I rode together a couple days last year so it was good to see the the guy. I thought that there would be a big brotherly hug coming when he recognized me but he wasn't about to put down his half eaten burger. haha. Both guys were a little haggered looking as expected but in good working order. They rode into town right after the Georgia boys (Parker and Robert) who were already well on there way down course. The 4 of them have been riding in close proximity for days.

Aidian is feeling good about his position in the race because there is still a long way to go and alot can happen. He said the hardest part right now is getting out of his bivy in the morning. Josh seems to be taking things in stride as a rookie and has a positive attitude.  They were drying out their sleeping bags outside. A few rain clouds were rolling in while they loaded back up to hit head towards Teton Pass. They want to get a good distance passed Jackson.

[Marshal]

Wonder where the TD "golden spike" will be driven? Just south of Rawlins?

Why at Brush Mtn Lodge of course

[DaveH]

Someone a while back asked how to see when riders stop and get going again.  As Marshal explained, scanning the individual spot points, looking for the tent icon is how to get the exact timeframes.  But, you can get similar info and more - a rider's daily "flow" -  at a glance on rider pages, just scroll down to the speed vs. time plot.  You'll see something like this (Ethan's plot):



The flat sections are where speed = 0, or when the rider was stopped, and the horizontal axis units are in hours.  The plot is also scrollable, so you can zoom in to a particular stop to get a more accurate measure of the duration stopped.

Similar data is on the race flow chart, but that is only for the top 10 sobo riders.  Here's the latest.



The take home point from this chart is that Kurt is a BEAST.  There is a short stop for brunch in Pinedale, other than that he has had no appreciable stop time for ~35 hours and about 370 miles.  I'm having a difficult time wrapping my head around that one.  It looks like those back-to-back-to-back-to-back yougetthepoint long days he did here in Feb have paid off.  Listening to his call in the "attack" sounds like an accident.  I think JF hit the nail on the head tho, he picked the perfect section for an all-night ride.

Super aggressive racing before the midpoint, it's going to be exciting to the end.

[AmyL]

Justin cleared the steep north facing slope.  Phew.  The east facing slope he still needs to contend with should not have as much snow and hopefully he will get down off the mountain and out of the snow before dark.

[ScottM]

...he has had no appreciable stop time for ~35 hours and about 370 miles.  I'm having a difficult time wrapping my head around that one. 

IIRC, not since Curiak in '04 have we seen racers making 36 hour pushes.  He did it mainly to catch up ground lost due to mechanicals and weather, though attacking Pete B had to be part of it as well.  It is an interesting strategy for a race this long, and so early.

This is good old fashioned racing.

[6thElement]

My spot was blinking red on the power button, I've swapped to new lithium batteries but it's just not getting a gps lock, the gps light is red despite it sitting out in the open, clear view of the sky, not moving.

Suggestions?

JG

[multisportscott]

So frustrating sitting in New Zealand watching you mate ride the wrong way 

[ComoDepot]

Paul stopped here this afternoon for a bite to eat, he managed to make it to Frisco before dark.

Pictures on my Blog: http://comohotel.blogspot.com/

[elobeck]

IIRC, not since Curiak in '04 have we seen racers making 36 hour pushes.  He did it mainly to catch up ground lost due to mechanicals and weather, though attacking Pete B had to be part of it as well.  It is an interesting strategy for a race this long, and so early.

This is good old fashioned racing.

It will be interesting to watch. Mr. Lee has had good success in the past with being consistent day upon day. I see Kurt's push, and then I see a "rested" Ethan fairly close behind...and gaining ground. It will be interesting to see how Kurt manages to recover after that admirable effort, but at the same time today has likely been a "more normal" day on the divide for Ethan and Jefe, which they will likely strive to repeat again tomorrow. Perhaps the three of them will hold hands for a while? I wonder if Jefe will spin out his single speed in the basin? A headwind may be a blessing in disguise for Jefe, but if there's a tailwind there is no substitute for a big ring....

[AmyL]

My spot was blinking red on the power button, I've swapped to new lithium batteries but it's just not getting a gps lock, the gps light is red despite it sitting out in the open, clear view of the sky, not moving.

Suggestions?

JG

I had the same problem last month in Turkey.  With fresh batteries, GPS would not get a read.  My brother contacted SPOT here in the states, and they offered to have a distributor in Turkey get a replacement to me via overnight post.  I was lead to believe that if the power light is green and the GPS light stays red, then it is a bad GPS chip.  You should have somebody contact SPOT customer service and have them ship a unit to you c/o Orange Peel or Absolut Bikes. 

[Marshal]

After a short stop at the bar Kurt's Spot shows he headed out of Atlantic City the wrong way for just a bit.  I wounder if this is the occasional Spot glitch or if he really did go up the wrong hill?  Maybe, could have, maybe too much beer?.  You know he is a wee bit tired by now

[bbaker22]

I had the same problem last month in Turkey.  With fresh batteries, GPS would not get a read.  My brother contacted SPOT here in the states, and they offered to have a distributor in Turkey get a replacement to me via overnight post.  I was lead to believe that if the power light is green and the GPS light stays red, then it is a bad GPS chip.  You should have somebody contact SPOT customer service and have them ship a unit to you c/o Orange Peel or Absolut Bikes.  

I had the same deal with my Spot II during Vapor Trail last year.  They warrantied the unit afterwards.

Brad

[mtbcast]

Dan Simas called in from Lima. He was snowed on again today. Dave Goldberg called in from Henry’s Fork. He sends good luck to Matthew Arnold and Dave Preston on the RAAM race. Richard Ridlehuber called in from Lima to say due to issues with his right leg he’s OUT. Take care of yourself, Richard! And Caroline Soong called in from Lima. She injured her right thumb and is icing it tonight.

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