TD'12 Race Discussion

[ScottM]

Really happy to hear that Craig finished.  Hats off to him, and a shout out to Garrett and Kurt for 3rd/4th place!  I used to race with Garrett with the UofA team ~10 years ago, and Kurt is this year's AZT 750 winner.  He, along with Beardog goldberg are going for the ultimate bikepacking triple crown of AZT, TD and CTR.  Kurt has so far not only finished but absolutely crushed AZT and TD.  All of the top four finishers are in the 16 day club.  What a year!

Sorry for Kurt and Garrett's dots falling off the map.  We have an auto-finish function that was active.  I was working on having it keep dots around (and make them bounce!) for 12 hours after finishing before clearing them from the map... but got caught up talking to the racers here at the lodge, then going into breakfast burrito production with Matthew.  It should be working now... and I also created a point for Craig to log his finish @ 11:45 on the tracker.  All three dots should be happily bouncing at AW if you reload the tracker.  (Thanks Michael G for the idea).

Cheers.

[bobloblaw]

With respect to weather in the rockies comments... I spoke with some guys who mountain biked in Fernie this weekend, and said it was torrential.  That's a little west of the route.  I was say probably only 40-50k east of the route with my office crowd on a charity ride that camped overnight, and suffice to say the rains were "biblical".  Here's the pictures to paint the feel of it.

Yep, it poured in Fernie Saturday night for hours and hours.  Then very little rain Sunday.  Currently sunny and warm - great riding weather but soggy ground could be slow.

[moosevt]

I'm on tenterhooks regarding Craig. ...

But maybe we have a bit of a lull here. So I have a couple questions... Someone recently mentioned SPOTS and security in a rather grave fashion. Have they ever really been an issue? Has a racer ever been harmed in some way due to SPOT info? My impression of bad people is that they are stupid ... opportunists, usually drunk, not web-savvy or educated as to what an event like this might actually in fact be. As if someone could be aware of the event (or any event) and then decide to harm a racer. That's not my imagination/experience as to how crime/harm works. Has it happened? I declare that I doubt it. But let's see...

I've had security concerns myself when traveling/biking solo. Do most folks in this event basically just carry bear-spray?

How are the locals? My impression is that cellphones and electric dog fences have greatly improved biking safety, but drunkenness and ragers still have to be out there. I mostly bike near habitation. Who knows, maybe Economic Hard Times increases stress... Are there areas that are worse for it, like does it get worse in more blighted areas? (I've heard that poor people are actually nicer to travelers but maybe that's more of a global thing and not referencing poor Americans who might be problematic. ?)

There is a built in delay on the transponder info with built in security from worry about those issues.

[DaveH]

Ah, that darn pedal.

Craig's forced time-out in Grants was about 20 hours.  Once he got rolling again he ripped it all the way to the border - the time diff between Ollie & Craig is about 14 hours.  Considering Ollie's lights stopped functioning on that final night, if it wasn't for the demise of  Craig's pedal it could have easily been a reversed situation with Craig powering to the finish while Ollie waited for first light.

It's rough the final selection came down to a mechanical, but I have to thank Craig and Ollie.  You guys came with a different sort of strategy, laid it down day after day, and were open and sharing with the world at the same time. 

Incredible sportsmanship, amazing execution.  Congrats guys.

Garret and Kurt - first US finishers!  16 day club no less, daaamn. 

And Ez is in Pie Town.  Hope she finds some pie.

[2wheeler]

A final update on Craig deciphered from his Spot location:

He appears to be in Tucson, either napping under the West Congress overpass, or having something called a "The Amazing Grilled Cheese and Bacon Six Dollar Burger" at Carl's Jr. 

[Cosmo K]

Looks like Eszter spent around 30 minutes at the Daily Pie Cafe...I'll be interested to hear her next phone call! 

[mtbcast]

Calls: Jim Stansbury called in from West Yellowstone where he’s still recouping. He says don’t count him out! He hopes to get back on route in a couple of days. And Jo Ann Burtard called in from Pinedale. She’s getting work done at the bike shop.

[AmyL]

Hats off and thanks to Joe, Scott, Matt and others who volunteer behind the scenes to make the race visible.
Hats off to racers (leaders through to the red caboosers) who race in an event that's entirely reliant on the honor system - your integrity shines.
Hats off to Adventure Cycling Association (non-profit, hint hint), who spent years researching routing options in order to define and document the GDMBR, the longest dirt-road bike route in the world, a true masterpiece of bike tour routes.
 
Although it's called a "mountain bike" route, there are very few short technical sections and anybody who can ride a bike and camp can go out and ride it at whatever pace and by whatever self-imposed rules, or absence of rules, they choose - so if you're watching the dots and feel inspired, grab hold of the inspiration and plan your own ride!

[JF-mtnbiker]

Just want to chime in on the safety of route issue. Like many, seeing Craig's spot frozen made me feel an sense of concern. I was pretty certain that he was motoring to the finish but it's hard not to wonder. That wonder, knowing what these folks are going through, and seeing how they thrive through it keeps me close to my computer.

One "big" thing I brought away from my Divide run is how much good there is in this country. I don't mean the businesses and fans. I mean the random person out there. The nicest people were the ones that you may hesitate to approach normally. So, you can't judge a book by it's cover. Some of the scariest looking characters turned out to be the nicest, most giving type people I met. When someone ask me about my experience on the Divide, I feel that it is important to let people know this.

[bikingbakke]

Are any of the very informed watchers able to summarize the finishers unofficial times?  Forgive if I'm missing the obvious, but I'm not seeing it from the trackleader stats the way I'm looking at it.  I saw an earlier post that Ollie was 16 days, 2 hours, 54 minutes.  I've seen time reference to Craig's, and  understand he finished at 11:45pm, but I'm missing the start time of the grand depart to back calculate it properly.

Thanks!

[Cosmo K]

I believe the Trackleaders times are official, but I could be wrong.  Go to Trackleaders tour divide page, half way down is Leaderboard, hit Refresh below it, go all the way to the right (on Leaderboard), click on Antelope Wells to sort.  You will see finishers and their finishing time.

[DaveH]

The trackleaders reported times are best estimates based on SPOT data.  The resolution of SPOT data is fairly loose (point ~ every 10 minutes, not all get through) so those initial values are estimates.  Official times come from riders reports at a later date.  Also, SPOT use is not mandatory.  I don't know if there are riders sans SPOT this year, but obviously they would need to report their times also.

The initial estimates are plenty accurate for armchair speculation, though

Also, down the main tracker page a bit there is also a "race clock".  There is also a race clock on the event home page in Bluedot.

[bikingbakke]

I believe the Trackleaders times are official, but I could be wrong.  Go to Trackleaders tour divide page, half way down is Leaderboard, hit Refresh below it, go all the way to the right (on Leaderboard), click on Antelope Wells to sort.  You will see finishers and their finishing time.

Thanks, I had missed that way over to the right of the leader box.

[bmike-vt]

DaveH, BlueDot is fantastic. 
i get the occasional glitch where things seem to be stuck sliding up the page:


Untitled by mbeganyi, on Flickr

seems if i go 'back' or refresh it goes away.
iOS 5.?
iPhone 4s
(way better on iOS than it performed on my old android...)

[DaveH]

Thanks and glad you are enjoying it!  I have seen that glitch a time or two - only on the iPhone though, it hasn't yet appeared on my iPad.  It's probably not something I'll dig into anytime soon.  I have updates planned for early next year, and those will likely take care of it (and hopefully not introduce more bugs!!).

[DaveH]

It's hard to imagine putting in an effort of this consistency.  That is a lot of bike riding!  And, not much sleeping.



Who is this?

[northofbeyond]

Ester has been incredible -- very regular with early starts.

[thethinline]

Hey TD followers!
Looks like Jarral's coming in a couple days ahead of schedule and is probably going to finish sometime tomorrow! Here at the Thin Line we're hoping for an epic show down between Sergei and Jarral. Our documentary's funding campaign will be closing right about the time he finishes the race!
Follow us on facebook so you don't lose track of the project when the race page winds down!
www.facebook.com/thethinline
We're hoping to secure an interview with Ollie Whalley, because our production happens to be New Zealand based!
Please consider donating. Our page is at: www.indiegogo.com/thethinline
If you have any questions don't hesitate to ask!
Thanks so much for your help!

Kyan Krumdieck

[Cosmo K]

Looks like Cjell and Serge both have around 150 miles left to complete.  I'd guess Cjell has the tougher terrain plus it looks like rain is forecast.  Either way, both these guys have put in strong efforts.  Jarral seems to moving well.  The only way I think he'll catch Serge though is if he puts in an all nighter and Serge doesn't.  Still a lot of good racing going on.  Ezster is 5 days ahead of record pace...unbelievable!

[kucebags]

Can Confirm Sparwood is dry but heavy rain in Banff and through the Spray Valley at the moment http://www.sparwood.ca/visitors/terex-titan/webcam
http://www.explorerockies.com/banff-webcam/
http://rockies.com/banffwebcam/downtown-banff-live-webcam/

Cjell is gonna have a cold night if he tries to go for it in one final push... 

The Gang from SOUL will be up and waiting to greet with both HOT Coffee and a Cold PBR if he decides to go for it tonight.  Cant help but be a fan of you Kooky riders, stay awesome.