TD'12 Race Discussion

[DenisVTT]

That Walmart is decently stocked with mountain bike gear: tires, tubes, tools, lights, bags. I even bought a replacement rack which lasted me until Seeley Lake. Not sure about pedals, though. Maybe some flat ones.

[lonefrontranger]

I don't know about those guys but flats would absolutely SUCK for pedalling the 200ish(?) miles to Silver City IMO.  My husband is from Grants, and quite frankly my butt is killing me just thinking about that horrible piece of chipseal between Grants and Pie Town.  I've ridden it 3x on a road bike and between the heat and the chipseal/bumpy pavement my butt and feet both surrendered.  Never again.  I can't imagine doing it after 15+ days of 170+ miles in the saddle.  Ow.

[Snowy D]

Looks like Craig sorted something out - he's back on course.  And back at the convenience store for lunch? (guessing)

[cc4005]

That Walmart is decently stocked with mountain bike gear: tires, tubes, tools, lights, bags. I even bought a replacement rack which lasted me until Seeley Lake. Not sure about pedals, though. Maybe some flat ones.

Hope he finds what he needs and gets moving quickly. Part of me knows equipment failures are part of the race, but the rest of me would hate to see that be the decider with what these guys have done up to now.

[Snowy D]

Maybe he got some flats and some duct tape

[Cosmo K]

What the heck is Craig doing?  It looks like he's backtracking.  Now this is going to get even more interesting.  Ollie's got 40 miles on him at the moment...that's not an insignificant distance.

[Joliver]

Hope he finds what he needs and gets moving quickly. Part of me knows equipment failures are part of the race, but the rest of me would hate to see that be the decider with what these guys have done up to now.

Boy, I was about to type the exact same thing.  These fellas are riding such an incredible race, that I would hate for this to be the defining moment.  Maybe Ollie pull over and wait for him to get back on track a la Armstrong/Ullrich?  

Just kidding.  I know it is all part of the game, but dang this is great racing!  

[2wheeler]

What the heck is Craig doing?  It looks like he's backtracking.  Now this is going to get even more interesting.  Ollie's got 40 miles on him at the moment...that's not an insignificant distance.

Looks like he's at Handy Andy's getting some supplies.  

Good thing I'm not anywhere near there as I feel like yelling at him to get going!

[elitheknife]

What the heck is Craig doing?  It looks like he's backtracking.  Now this is going to get even more interesting.  Ollie's got 40 miles on him at the moment...that's not an insignificant distance.

Perhaps he is going back to where he left the course?  It looks like he may have shortcut a bit to get into town?

[Pooh]

Perhaps he is going back to where he left the course?  It looks like he may have shortcut a bit to get into town?

I've got him at the local Ford dealer - looking for parts (or an engine?)?

[DenisVTT]

Boy, I was about to type the exact same thing.  These fellas are riding such an incredible race, that I would hate for this to be the defining moment.  Maybe Ollie pull over and wait for him to get back on track a la Armstrong/Ullrich?  

Just kidding.  I know it is all part of the game, but dang this is great racing!  

If CS gets his problem fixed and OW stops to sleep overnight as I think he's done every single night so far, then I think we're right back to where we were this morning in terms of respective positions. But this is the last 300 or so miles and some people have been known to go for it in one stretch. If you're Ollie and you've got the legs and stamina, that definitely would be the right time to do it!

[caseygreene]

Maybe this works out for Craig. Let Ollie get ahead. Let him go to sleep. Then pass him at night in a dash for the border.
I've always though this could be an interesting TD tactic.

[woody]

Maybe this works out for Craig. Let Ollie get ahead. Let him go to sleep. Then pass him at night in a dash for the border.
I've always though this could be an interesting TD tactic.

I believe this happened last year between Kurt and Jefe. Kurt slept by a water pump and Jefe rode on by without stopping.

Woody

[gramma]

Craig just called. His pedal is "shot". No where to get one. More than a little discouraged. Trying to figure something out.

[DenisVTT]

Maybe this works out for Craig. Let Ollie get ahead. Let him go to sleep. Then pass him at night in a dash for the border.
I've always though this could be an interesting TD tactic.

In my NoBo race last year, I caught and passed Craig Dolwin, who was then in 2nd place (NoBo only) about 10 miles south of Elkford. Stopped at Elkford to resupply, where he caught me back around 8pm. I had the legs to go at least another 40-50 miles, maybe up to the cabin up there about 70 miles up the road. Craig said he was going to overnight in town. But the last thing I wanted was to have him change his mind and pass me in the middle of the night while I would be sleeping. I wanted to know exactly where he was. So if I was behind him I could try to catch him, keep up and sprint him to the finish, or I would be ahead and he would have to catch me and then I would know if he'd pass me. So I put my tent right next to him in the Elkford campground, barely slept, got up at the same time as he did, went to the same convenience store for breakfast, and left before him. I didn't know how far he was behind me, but I knew for sure he was behind  me! Went at race pace so not to be caught up (I'm really bad at sprinting!), looking over my shoulder all day, up to the last few hundred yards. Turned out he had a mechanical and had to turn around to Fernie and actually made it a day later, but I had no way to know!

[pro_out]

I know there have been some late nights and some early mornings, but has anyone ridden ALL night yet?
I guess our leaders are proving you don't have to...?

Cjell Money has put 1 effort of 73 hours with out a tent icon from near Kremmling to Boulder and another one 32 hours from near Jackson Lake to north of Polaris.

[Jilleo]

Craig just called. His pedal is "shot". No where to get one. More than a little discouraged. Trying to figure something out.

He wasn't able to find flat pedals at Wal-mart? Normally these stores stock at least one kind of BMX pedal.

[mforness3000]

Craig just called. His pedal is "shot". No where to get one. More than a little discouraged. Trying to figure something out.

Looking at the pictures of Craig's rig, the pedals appear to be XTR. I'm really surprised that these died on him. When I heard that he was having pedal problems, I really expected them to be Crank Bros..

That's really too bad. I hope he can come up with a solution ASAP! Go Craig!

[DenisVTT]

I know last year at about the same spot Russ McBride had to hitch a ride to Albuquerque to find a replacement pedal. But he was NoBo so he had like 2400 miles to go and flat pedals wouldn't have done it.

[Thumby]

Ollie "might" have a resupply point in Pie Town, a grocery off route.  The cafe should be closed, unless he called ahead for a brown bag drop which is not unheard of.  Is Pie Town's Toaster House stocked?  My point is, with their timing, both Ollie and Craig could be without resupply (with the exception of the Beaverhead Coke machine) through Pie Town and the Gila until Silver City.  This is quite significant!  To their advantage though, they look to be well timed to knock out a lot of the Gila at night.  Surely Craig can scare up a pedal...perhaps he needed the Ford dealer for a 14mm wrench.  Race is on!