TD'11 Race Discussion

[eve55]

Karen, Just talked to Norb from the Great Basin and Dan just caught a ride into Rawlins. The were about 70 miles out. Norb said he had a big smile on his face and seemed relieved to be done. Just couldn't get past the stomach issues. Norb enjoyed riding with him and getting to know him. Great having company out there too! Take care and give Dan our best!

[29singlespeed]

Paul intends to ride main route sections between Basin and Ovando, (and possible the Ca. Flathead) so me thinks he's not in contention for first to either terminus. E has been suffering from knee pain since waking up with K & J (super cold) on Ute Pass. He said he had to let them go on the run into Breck. He's been riding piano lately and said he hasn't the drive to sacrifice his knee with the summer work season just beginning in CB. It's easy for us to imagine him making another run at the front, but at this point in the race it's also easy to 'settle' for what nature and the body are dealing you.

Good info. When did you talk with ethan?  I got a similar report last night from over Marshall.  Knowing Ethan he establishes himself out and front and thats his motivation. Just finishing in top 3 is a huge accomplishment. He kayak guides the taylor river in the summer, and the knee needs to work for that as well.

[ScottM]

'Tour de Hotel':

Jefe has not yet spent a night indoors and not yet showered (as of Salida).  He might beat you to the punch on a truly dirty divide traversal...

It looks like right now he and Kurt might be in Del Norte at the same time.  Their transition times will be interesting...

[Mathewsen]

Everything you said about sleeping out being faster, smoother transitioning and overall a better experience is true. Still, I disagree with your assertion that hotel use is simply a sign of weakness. The Tour Divide isn't a camping race. It's a cycling race. Each racer should be allowed to decide which ways they can best refuel and recover for the long days in the saddle this race requires. The Tour Divide also isn't a wilderness race — regular interactions with civilization are just part of the deal.
Of course if you really want to require "in-the-dirt style," the TD can set a "limited hotel stay" rule. But unless you want to go down that slippery slope of legislating "the TD experience," it's probably better to allow individual racers' experiences to happen organically. Eventually most rookies, especially if they ever return, will realize all the ways in which nightly stays in towns actually slow them down in the long run.

Organic is good, but i tend to disagree that towns are an organic part of TD (the race). Resupply intervals were not designed for today's ultralight/speed style. Every other interval is merely a speed trap. TD is a bikepacking race. An adventure race by bike. IMO, that makes it a camping race. The camping isn't required, like it is for CTR or some of the more wildernessy bikepacking ultras, but still, we carry kits for a reason--and its not for emergency use only. I would love to legislate out excessive motel use but as you say, how much does an event like TD really want to enforce that? Re. legislating experience, you say that like it's a bad concept. There's nothing wrong with legislating experience for a race. A race is a race, and rules are there to keep the playing field level, and to some degree, to 'legislate experience'. If one wants to experience the GDMBR without legislation, touring it is the way to go. Many TD challengers have defaulted to this, and there's nothing wrong with this. But regarding the 'race', getting motels is a sign of weakness because doing so limits one's mileage. The primary Divide racing objective is to get to the opposite terminus as fast as humanly possible. This is not accomplished by staying in motels.

Steve left very early this morning.
I am not sure about the time wasting, he got in eat and a phone call in 20 minutes, showered and crashed. Photo on website.
He arrived here at dusk left before dawn.

Once in a blue moon timing works out perfectly, particularly in Colorado, and these occasions are things of beauty.

Jefe has not yet spent a night indoors and not yet showered (as of Salida).  He might beat you to the punch on a truly dirty divide traversal

This just warms my heart to hear. It's no coincidence, then, he's where he is in the virtual GC.

[Groundshine]

Dave, When are you headed back out there? What is it like watching after doing it?

Wil

Dave, When are you headed back out there? What is it like watching

Dave, When are you headed back out there? What is it like watching after doing it?

Wil

Wil, Ive been watching a bit and reading here.  Finally loaded all the mtb casts on my ipod and listen to them while driving at work yesterday.  Bittersweet with great memories and seeing others doing what I loved so much last year. Reroutes throw me off and perhaps fore shadow the race may neverbe the same again.  Tour Divide another canary killed inside the global weirding coal mine.  And then last night hopped on the TD race bike and peddaled into Montpelier to havea beer with Lexi. A beautiful vermont dirt road night with lunar moths flashing in front of my light with the river below and Camels Hump above.  She is heading out to Brush Mt Lodge tomorrow for the anviversary.  She hasnt been able to watch this year.  Heads up to the first racer thatcomes in on weds/thurs: there will be tears.  Hopefully Kirsten can work her angel magic.

Harder than watching the race is knowing the difference between me last year and thisx year.  There was allthe expected post race experiences and all then all the expected stages of grief.  Now I am in this weird "think I'm gonna get hit by a car" funk . . . then flipping back i.to all the earlier stages except (what seems so easy and sweet now) the stage of denial.  What really hit home was seeing you out on your 100 km ride in tbe snow last february. . . so pumped!  That was me last year!  Insane motivation!  Now all that is morphed into something else. . .needs to be explored on another adventure.  Thought it might be CTR but now I realize I must slay this border to border ride on dirt in my home state before going out in the world again.

[Biketour]

Karen, Just talked to Norb from the Great Basin and Dan just caught a ride into Rawlins. The were about 70 miles out. Norb said he had a big smile on his face and seemed relieved to be done. Just couldn't get past the stomach issues. Norb enjoyed riding with him and getting to know him. Great having company out there too! Take care and give Dan our best!

Oh, that is awesome news.  I am looking forward to his call to get him home safe and sound. THANKS A MILLION for the update 

[sluttyduck]

How often did you change chamois/shorts?

'09 I carried a spare set and rotated every 3-4 days
'10 one pair, washed 3 times, and cleaned with a wet wipe every now and then.

[Done]

How often did you change chamois/shorts? Fresh clothes is like fresh legs for a bit.

Wet wipes (baby wipes) help keep things clean and reduce the funk on longer rides. Sure, not as nice as clean shorts, but if you keep things REALLY clean after bathroom stops, wearing the same shorts for multiple days isn't as terrible as it sounds. Doesn't mean that you won't stink, just that you're less likely to have toxic problems!

[mtbcast]

Caroline Soong called in from Rawlins. Dylan Taylor called in from Rawlins. John Griffiths called in from Fort Collins to say he’s OUT. Jon Pettit called in from Pinedale. And Kurt Refsnider called in from Del Norte.

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

[ridingman1]

"Organic is good" ..... "A race is a race, and rules are there to keep the playing field level, and to some degree, to 'legislate experience'. If one wants to experience the GDMBR without legislation, touring it is the way to go."..... "The primary Divide racing objective is to get to the opposite terminus as fast as humanly possible.

Every considered a rule about racing clean, without prescription meds or performance enhancing supplements? I guarantee it would change the whole event.

[woody]

I feel like a Tour Divide stalker.  In the last 3 days I've seen/spoke to 4 of the riders just doing my normal routine and all of them are riding well and look happy.

I live in Boulder but this summer I have a place off Boress Pass road and am living up here part-time.   I'm training for the Breck Epic.

On Sunday while I was finishing up my 6 hour ride, heading home and feeling quite worked - Dave Bruno passed me right before the pavement turns to dirt on Boress Pass road.  I had to speed up to keep up with him and we had a nice chat.  Among other things he mentioned his stop at DQ and how great his milk shake tasted.   He was riding strong, looked like he was riding at a really comfortable pace and was very happy and upbeat.

Then I drove to Breck to get a bag of ice for my ice bath and saw Jefe on my way home and chatted with him a bit.  He was looking very comfortable and mighty strong too.

Sunday night we had a storm with a ton of rain and snow - the only "rideable" dirt was Boress Pass road so I went out to get my miles in and ran into Ross going the other direction.   He stopped and said hello and asked me "are you riding for fun??  in these conditions and weather?"(drivetrain eating grit and light snow)   I told him I'm putting in my miles for the BE an he said "that's a really hard race".   I just laughed -are you kidding me?  it's nothing like the tour divide.  He was in great spirits and was riding well.  

This morning on my way back from town to get my morning beverage i saw Josh.   I said hello and we spoke briefly.  He was riding very well and seemed extremely motivated.

it's been really cool to see the racers - i am totally amazed that they have been riding for a while and they all looked like they were riding in their comfort zone and they were all moving at a good clip.

good luck to all of them!
cyn

Hey cyn,
Thanks for the info.
On a side note is there any chance Gold Dust trail is ridable in a few days? You know since you up there riding Boreas pass Rd.

Woody

[mtbcast]

Jefe has not yet spent a night indoors and not yet showered (as of Salida).  He might beat you to the punch on a truly dirty divide traversal...

This just warms my heart to hear. It's no coincidence, then, he's where he is in the virtual GC.

That's because you're not riding with him. 

[Aidan]

Hi all,

I'm at a loose end so here are some thoughts from the trail:

My original plan was to go hard early on in the race and stay with or set the pace a bit. That didn't work out as planned since Kurt, Ethan, and Jefe are so outstandingly strong. The pavement reroutes were pretty bad for the SS, too, but Jefe has been showing the way. Nevertheless, I was sleeping less and riding more than in 2010. A tribute to the quality up front that this wasn't enough to be up there.

As I got into the groove and was a bit more ready to put long nights in, we hit rain in Colorado. Josh and I pushed on a bit with wet a bivi an early start to Silverthorne. I was looking forward to bending sleep a little on the run-in with the chance of fairer weather and more of my favourite terrain (mountains!) but aware that others would be doing the same.

Unfortunately, my frame has cracked and I'm on my way back to Steamboat Springs for repair/replacement or maybe just commiseration with Kent Erikson. So, I'm out of the race (in terms of competing for a decent placing), but still looking for the border.

Not least because my house keys are in Silver City

[Georg66]

Hi all,

I'm at a loose end so here are some thoughts from the trail:
...
So, I'm out of the race (in terms of competing for a decent placing), but still looking for the border.

Not least because my house keys are in Silver City

Great rider, awesome! Good luck to you, Aidan!

[29singlespeed]

Aidan: Nice effort. Bummer card's thrown at you. Josh is a close friend, so I am sure you had some great conversations.

Enjoy the 'tour' to your keys.

[s8tannorm]

Really sorry to hear that Aidan ... my mum will be so upset.

Hopefully you'll get something sorted out sharpish and get underway.

Good luck, Stuart

[sluttyduck]

Every considered a rule about racing clean, without prescription meds or performance enhancing supplements? I guarantee it would change the whole event.

I hope you're kidding, some people need prescription meds to keep them alive, or in my case sane.

[Done]

Every considered a rule about racing clean, without prescription meds or performance enhancing supplements? I guarantee it would change the whole event.

Are you "guaranteeing" that TD riders are taking illegal performance-enhancing drugs, or are you just throwing stink bombs? Honest question.

[woody]

Hi all,

I'm at a loose end so here are some thoughts from the trail:

My original plan was to go hard early on in the race and stay with or set the pace a bit. That didn't work out as planned since Kurt, Ethan, and Jefe are so outstandingly strong. The pavement reroutes were pretty bad for the SS, too, but Jefe has been showing the way. Nevertheless, I was sleeping less and riding more than in 2010. A tribute to the quality up front that this wasn't enough to be up there.

As I got into the groove and was a bit more ready to put long nights in, we hit rain in Colorado. Josh and I pushed on a bit with wet a bivi an early start to Silverthorne. I was looking forward to bending sleep a little on the run-in with the chance of fairer weather and more of my favourite terrain (mountains!) but aware that others would be doing the same.

Unfortunately, my frame has cracked and I'm on my way back to Steamboat Springs for repair/replacement or maybe just commiseration with Kent Erikson. So, I'm out of the race (in terms of competing for a decent placing), but still looking for the border.

Not least because my house keys are in Silver City

Aidan - sorry to hear the bad news, that sucks man. You were riding so strong and have been fun tracking. Hope Kent gets you squared away and back on your way.
Good luck,
Woody

[ComoDepot]

Hey cyn,
Thanks for the info.
On a side note is there any chance Gold Dust trail is ridable in a few days? You know since you up there riding Boreas pass Rd.

Woody

The pass officially opens on Friday for cars etc, there might still be a bit in the trees however on the trail.