TD'12 Race Discussion

[2wheeler]

Love the cross bike

[RossC]

Love the cross bike

+1

Nice to see someone going about it a little differently. That's what makes this whole thing so interesting

[mikepro]

Jarral has gone by, bed time.

I am pretty sure he stayed on the Grade, the Gold Dust is not something to do in the dark.

Nadda. He went down Gold Dust, as has everyone else coming your way from Breck.  Grade/road is not an option for Southbounders if they want a legit GC time in the end.

[Adam Alphabet]

Nice to see a good Canadian kid skullin' huge brews this late in the race. Keep Givener Craig! We're pullin' for you up here. (said in Don Cherry accent)

[mfw]

Nice to see a good Canadian kid skullin' huge brews this late in the race. Keep Givener Craig! We're pullin' for you up here.

Keep Givener Ollie! We're pullin' for you DOWN here. I'm hoping Ollie sneaks off for the win while Craig is fiddling about oiling his chain LOL!

But seriously, both those guys are giving that record a good nudge it's going to be an exiting last few days on the tracker 

And thanks to those guys posting photos it's great to see some of the action

[SimonK]

Gotta respect New Mexico. You think you're in the home stretch and the hard stuff is over but NM is tough.

True - gotta respect it, but once you get to Cuba the rest is pretty straight forward (thunder storms aside). 30% of it is asphalt. The psychology of it can be tough in the last couple of days. You realise you'll make it and then start to think you are done. Big mistake. Once at Antelope Wells, I couldn't imagine riding another 200 km the next day - it seemed impossible, but only because my brain said so.

If you swapped New Mexico for Montana, that'd be quite a bit tougher, I think. 

[vamtns]

Props to James Hodges, the 2011 Lantern Rouge, who is solidly mid-pack this year and has been pulling 100+ mile days lately.  At 61, he may be the oldest rider still in the race.  Crossed into WY last night.  Go James!

[Jeff Tomassetti]

So, who is the current red caboose that we can root for? TB just south of Helena?

[mathieu]

Looking at Cjell Money's statistics on Trackleaders, a blatant error pops up: route distance per day is only 83.35 mi. Apparently his Route mile (= distance-still-to-be-covered for northbounders) is divided by the elapsed time, which is clearly nonsense. In his case the distance-covered is 2745 - (Route mile) - (Gila bypass correction). The Gila bypass runs between points 39.2 mi and 183.4 mi on map 6A. According to Google Maps the bypass is 131 mi, so the Gila correction is about 13 miles. This works out to about 147 mi/day, which is close to Dylan Taylor's, currently in 10th position.

A nice picture of CM's bike is in his blog http://cjellmoney.wordpress.com/ under Divide Riding. Am I right in assuming that this is virtually a two-gear bike? To keep the chain tensioned, the number of teeth on the aligned chainrings must stay the same. Otherwise you would have to take chain links in or out, which seems unpractical in a race like this. Could one of the Black Sheep guys comment?

CM is my favorite racer. In true TD spirit he has soloed for almost 11 days now and has some 7 solo days ahead. No other front racer comes near to this. 

[JayP]

a few quotes from the TD home page, just a reminder of how this was born and the style and spirit it is suppose to carry.

"Tour Divide is a ultra-cycling challenge to pedal solo and self-supported the length of Great Divide Mountain Bike Route...as fast as possible(!)"

"The Tour Divide challenge is based on one guiding principle: Cycle the GDMBR end-to-end, as fast as possible in a solo, self-supported fashion."

"do-it-yourself challenge based on the purest of wagers: the gentlemen's bet or agreement. Nothing to win or lose but honor."

with growth and technology the rules have grown and unfortunately will probably continue to grow...

[feiter]

getting a bit nervous about your record being smashed aye JayP?

[JayP]

getting a bit nervous about your record being smashed aye JayP?

without accident i am confident they will at this point. no, not nervous. d

[Mauro_N]

For me I think  JayP record should still stand, given that the two leaders have spent the majority of the race together. As riding with someone will undoubtedly provide an advantage, thus being able to put some serious miles in. Its amazing what these two guys are doing and have done, but I think there could be a new category of a Team TD classification.

Keep on killing it guys!

[mosibiker]

So, who is the current red caboose that we can root for? TB just south of Helena?

Looks like it and I have been watching / cheering.  My goal is to complete the route someday, not race it.  TB is averaging over 50 miles per day, which was in the ballpark of what I thought would be a good goal.  Go pink dot, go!

[Cosmo K]

Another quote from the rule section:

"TD is a solo challenge, however, racing in the company of other challengers is tolerated. Again, no drafting, and each rider must maintain separate gear. "

[bmike-vt]

For me I think  JayP record should still stand, given that the two leaders have spent the majority of the race together. As riding with someone will undoubtedly provide an advantage, thus being able to put some serious miles in. Its amazing what these two guys are doing and have done, but I think there could be a new category of a Team TD classification.

Keep on killing it guys!

This is where the flaws in the whole 'you are out for your own ride' sort of thing start to get tricky.
If they break a record, and they have truly followed the spirit of the rules - no drafting, no sharing of equipment, tech, strategy, etc... then it is what it is. 2 guys who had similar pace who rode off the front, and finished together or nearly together.

Still a long way to go. And no one here really knows what is going on out there.

FWIW, the whole idea of 'records' for this event seems silly. Weather, snow, re-routes, surface conditions, fires, water availability, rookie vs. veteran route knowledge (bivy locations, water taps, stores that are open / closed, missing turns, etc.) complicates the whole mess.

Only real way to have a 'record', in its strictest sense is to get on the track in a velodrome and go for an hour or two or three weeks straight. And then its down to willpower + horsepower vs. weight and bike tech and nutrition. Almost formulaic.


Fast times are that - fast times. Hold them with respect, but I don't think one can truly have an apples to apples record from year to year, or even in the same year if someone does an ITT later vs. the group start.

If it is to be a 'race' - then line up and race against other people.

If its to be a solo, self supported, all out effort against oneself and the course given the variables that are present - then line up and make it that.

[DenisVTT]

Another quote from the rule section:

"TD is a solo challenge, however, racing in the company of other challengers is tolerated. Again, no drafting, and each rider must maintain separate gear. "

In late 2010, I was considering doing the 2011 race with a friend from Canada. I read those rules, and it seemed to me that I could indeed ride with her as long as we maintained separate gear and didn't draft. But to make sure, I came on this forum and asked. It was then made very clear to me that what I was "planning" to do was very much against the rules. Precisely because I was planning it. After i used the words "gray area", Marshal sent me a PM that very much clarified his thoughts on the topic: there is NO gray area; the TD is NOT a TEAM RACE. Emphasis not mine.

Basically, what I understood is this: if you do happen by another rider, it's fine to ride with him/her as long as you just happen to have the same pace. But you can't plan it, whether before or during the race. And if one has a mechanical, needs to stop, slow down, etc, the other isn't supposed to wait or adjust his pace.

After I informed my friend, she decided not to race that year and I did it on my own, going NoBo and seeing almost nobody on the route most days, except for the occasional SoBo riders. But it seems to me that there is some planning going on in this year's race at the front (and elsewhere, but that might be for another post). Craig's post on this very forum actually said that, no?

[bmike-vt]

Looks like Jo Ann B is on a cross bike.

[Cosmo K]

I count at least 14 "groups" of riders riding within very close proximity...I don't think this is much different than last year (SB).  I don't believe there is any indication that the two leaders planned anything as your example of riding with a friend would be.  If two riders ride in close proximity but are not drafting, sharing, etc., this appears to be well within the rules.  I think anyone who has seen Ride the Divide would recognize that Matthew Lee and Reuben rode for quite some time within the same proximity.

It may be possible that these two guys are very evenly matched and each believes that they have one chance for a break that will stick...and each is waiting until closer to the end to make that break.  I for one am enjoying the race and am interested to see how it unfolds.   

[Cosmo K]

Yea, it does look like Jo Ann B is rockin' a cross bike.  Didn't someone else attempt this on a cross bike?  Maybe, Fixie Dave...prior to being Fixie?  I remember someone saying, never again would they try it on a cross bike.