TD'12 Race Discussion

[bikingbakke]

Is the route incorrect right about where Serge is now (straight west of Kremmling)?  Seems like everyone goes "off route" there so I assume the route is actually wrong.

Touching end to Serge's last call BTW.  Sounds like he was choking up as he was ending the call.

A friend of mine checked this and sent this to me yesterday, wondering about the same area, I can't confirm or haven't checked myself: "just downloaded the official map into google earth. the one on the spot trackers is wrong"

[sluttyduck]

Or the two Italians a few years back who pedaled up from the hiway to the store where some other racer's were stopped. I remember a call in from Allan Goldsmith or another Brit noting how clean they were comparatively.

steve wilkenson(sp?) called them out.

[mtbcast]

steve wilkenson(sp?) called them out.

Thanks, Stephen! He was pissed too!

[DenisVTT]

Or the two Italians a few years back who pedaled up from the hiway to the store where some other racer's were stopped. I remember a call in from Allan Goldsmith or another Brit noting how clean they were comparatively.

I wasn't there but I remember hearing about that during last year's race (or maybe that was in the forum). I certainly also heard about the "Eurotrain" (which is why, as a proud Euro myself, I wanted to make sure not to be amalgamated with them. I may be eurotrash, but I ain't doing the eurotrain!    )

So what happens to those racers? I suppose they aren't going to DQ themselves.  Someone makes the call at some point? Or do they just have to live with the thought that it's 2 years later (or whatever) and people still call them out for it on this forum and maybe elsewhere.

I must admit, when you work hard and sometimes extra hard to stay within the rules and others don't, it can be a bit frustrating.

[Russ Kipp]

His Name is Mark B, he's from California.  He doesn't have a race tracker but is riding the TD. Not sure how that works...

That guy is Mark? There is only one Mark in TrackLeaders and it's Mark Farnsworth. Don't tell me that's the Mark Farnsworth of FFC's fame!

I mean, the guy's got a BOB trailer! A BOB trailer! On the TD! Riding a singlespeed!

If it's him, sign me up immediately for FCC. Only request I have is to switch from tall boy budweisers to PBRs!  (That's what they gave me at the finish line, so I consider it the official beer of the TD)

[Russ Kipp]

It snowed on the Pioneers last night.  Melissa L, Michael C, Tyson F & Mark B just left our lodge for Lima and beyond after overnighting here...warm and dry is good.  There are not to many TD riders left to come by...could see the first northbound TD rider in a couple days.

[ThatDudeOnABike]

Eric Schraufnagel has been at the Yampa Valley Medical Center in Steamboat Springs for more than an hour.

[ride MT]

it seems to me that there are evolving two divisions of mindset for this event: Competitive-(I want to place highly), and Recreational (I just want to finish). The recreational ranks seem to have grown exponentially in the last few years, and the competitive seems about the same? Will there need to be a change in the system to support this many people in the future? It seems to grow and grow each year.

[RootingforEveryone]

Here's a huge shout-out & hug to all of the riders (past & present) for doing what you do. Listening to the call-ins & looking at the pictures is amazing. Thank you all for allowing us to "be a part" of the ride. To those of you who had to drop out due to health/injury issues, know that you are still awesome!! Take care of yourself now so that you can potentially enjoy the trials & trails at a future time. Thank you all!!!

[Cosmo K]

Looking at trackleaders it appears as though riders are spread out a lot more this year than previous years.  Digging a little deeper it looks like the field is split in half with those averaging above and below 100 miles per day.  I'm wondering if this years hike a bike was significantly more than in previous years, or weather was more drastic or just the fact that there are more people this year which stretched racers over a wider distance than previous years....maybe a bit of all of the above.

** Update - Ha!  Just noticed when I was typing my message lttrain was recognizing the same flow of the race.

[DaveH]

Watching Dave Nice tackle his nemesis head on is gripping in a slow-motion way.  Anyone seen the wind he has been pushing through? More importantly, anyone know if there is a water source anywhere near his current location?

He is having such a determined, impressive ride on that fixie.  Go Dave go!

[DenisVTT]

it seems to me that there are evolving two divisions of mindset for this event: Competitive-(I want to place highly), and Recreational (I just want to finish). The recreational ranks seem to have grown exponentially in the last few years, and the competitive seems about the same? Will there need to be a change in the system to support this many people in the future? It seems to grow and grow each year.

Looking at the unofficial Start List and the TL info, I think most people had a fairly fast goal at the start. Most wanted "25 or less", which is a lot more than recreational (it's more than 100 miles a day). Reality sometimes settles in after the first couple of days.

I think the cut-off time that already exists (27 days?) should probably be enforced, so that people who realize they won't make it might drop out more easily.

"Competitive" for many might not be just "to place highly", but also to finish in a competitively decent time. Which it seems to me most people seem to interpret correctly as being under 25 days. At least I think that's a competitively decent time.

[sluttyduck]

Using the projections from yesterday's leader board.
36 people are projected to finish 5 days slower than their target finish. Some more than 30 days(again, according to projections!).

21 people are projected to finish within or below their target finish.(Ester's target finish is "zooooom" so I'm counting her here).

The rest fall between those two extremes(again, according to yesterday's projections(when I made my spreadsheet).

[sluttyduck]

There is no finish time cut-off, however, current convention considers a competitive Divide Route finish time as within approximately 50% of record time for men, and 30% of record time for women. Currently this = 27days (100mi/day) for men, and 31days (90mi/day) for women

[SlowDave]

Could you include age in that spread sheet?  It would be interesting to see how age plays into this.

[woody]

Looks like Eric S. made a beeline to the Steamboat hospital. Hope he's OK.

Woody

[sluttyduck]

Could you include age in that spread sheet?  It would be interesting to see how age plays into this.

I really should be working.....

[SlowDave]

I really should be working.....

I really should be riding.  :-)

[Climb On]

Anyone care to speculate on Eszther Horanyi's finish time? She's on pace for 18+, so she could dial it back and still finish in 19+ or 20+. Even if she cut her miles/day by 30% and rode 100 mile days to AW, she would still finish in 21+. Whatever the end result, she has ridden an amazing race! 

[mikepro]

Recent call-ins are great.  Listened to them in the car on the way to work ... didn't really pay attention to traffic as my mind had me: pedaling through headwinds and with tailwinds in the Basin (yes, both at the same time, that's why day dreaming is so great); experiencing pain threshold; managing swelling and achilles flares for hundreds of miles on end; standing up hammering downhill into the wind at 4mph; riding while talking into a phone to make a call-in; thinking of what cherries must taste like after ~1,500 miles on bike; imagining what it's like to drink Rockstar for the first time on Union Pass; imagining what it's like to hallucinate about food and places to sleep only to find out thought I'm hallucinating, and that second-guessing whether the real lodge that's supposed to be there is really there after all; thinking that Rawlins stands for "really crappy windy place to ride a bike"; and wishing my dad Happy Father's Day while my voice cracks.