TD`13 Race Discussion

[AZLobo]

A quick update on the West Fork fire. The entire town of South Fork is being evacuated. While this is still quite a distance from the route S of Del Norte, it serves to show how volatile southern CO and all of NM are right now. The moisture content in our fuel here in central AZ is at an all time low and I am sure it is the same there.

Riders need to be aware of the potential for fast moving wildfires triggered by lightning strikes or human carelessness. In that terrain you can be caught in a matter of minutes. No record or route completion is worth a life. We also need to consider the ramifications of a multi rider incident on future NFS regulation of this non event. Be smart and safe out there everybody.

[Adrienne]

Adrienne, thanks for confirming what I suspected.  Myself & Martin called in briefly 2 years ago with Craig & Manny and I recall a fair bit of climbing to the house.  Pleased all well and hope Calgary recovers quickly.  It looked a nice city from what I saw at the time.

Kevin

It is just devastating...so sad for everyone who's homes are destroyed.

[redtabby]

It is hard to imagine conditions at Prince's Island park, and the River Cafe.  Our thoughts are in Alberta for the many displaced people and animals.

This is Craig's sister...our family isn't affected by the flood...We don't live in the flood zone. I feel for all the people who live close to the river. Everything is under water. Downtown is flooded. The Saddledome has water up to the 10th row. I guess it is a good thing the Flames didn't make it to the playoffs...Very sad day

[Cosmo K]

Good point Mathewsen...plus a 2 hour stop in Rawlings by Craig stretched the gap back to 64 miles.  Should be an interesting night.

[bikingbakke]

It is hard to imagine conditions at Prince's Island park, and the River Cafe.  Our thoughts are in Alberta for the many displaced people and animals.

River Cafe shown on TV just now under water with most of the island - I've got a wedding there this fall!  Island just had trees showing, none of the ground visible.  My blog link below has a bunch of local photos I got where others wouldn't go - I waded through some water this morning with my bike before leaving the area.

[Donald]

The section between Rawlins and Clark is a really hard slog. Many of the roads are graded with sand and pebbles that do not make for fast rolling and there is a steep climb to Brush Mountain Lodge. The downhill to Clark is one of the most technical on the whole route and some riders will go down not much faster than they came up. So, Hall's lead may be more significant than it looks.

[threepin]

Stahl peak snowtel- at head of wigwam drainage and probably 10 miles from the connector only shows 3.2 inches of precip from start of event till last night so things might be ok on the connector and bridge

if i get time i might go check

forecasts for the upper flathead are crests near flood stage but not currently above

[skipandmadge]

Stahl peak snowtel- at head of wigwam drainage and probably 10 miles from the connector only shows 3.2 inches of precip from start of event till last night so things might be ok on the connector and bridge

if i get time i might go check

forecasts for the upper flathead are crests near flood stage but not currently above

I was planning a ride from Waterton across the Flathead to Butts' Cabin and then on down to Whitefish following the route in early July so I'm pretty anxious with respect to conditions.  Currently thinking that my time would be better spent helping trail-rebuilding efforts locally (or working to make a higher-ground Wigwam-Phillips connector if it did get washed out).  

Please let me know of conditions if you go check.

Still thinking that the Canadian chunk of the route might be a write-off. The Spray Lakes Smith-Dorrien Road road is impassable (at least on the east side of the lake near Grassi Lakes), I suspect the west side with have similar issues.

No word about the southern part of the road from Mt. Shark to Boulton Creek or conditions south of Elk Pass.

More info here about the 1500 people currently stranded in the Kananaskis and road conditions:

 http://www.rmoutlook.com/article/20130621/RMO0801/306219998/-1/RMO/1500-stranded-in-kananaskis-country

[Blackhound]

Hope Kirsten has the kettle on and a supply of Yorkshire tea as Mike is not far away.

[MikeI]

If you are heading east out of Laramie, Wy it is legal to ride RT 80 for about 4-5 miles as it is the only paved road...just wanted to make a note of that.

The race coverage here is great....thanks!

I think the deal with riding on Interstates is that it is legal if there is no alternative.  You can ride on I-10 through most of New Mexico ( and the area around Separ between Lordsburg and Deming ) and on into Arizona, but when you get to Tucson you have to exit ( because there are alternatives ! )  Might be a national Interstate kind of rule that all the states abide by.

[mikepro]

To understand the significance of gaps on the GDR, you have to know the average speed of the terrain between two riders. There are some monster wind-blown hills between them that deceive.

Middlewood Hill in a SoBo direction sucks ass!  Gravel with rocks the size of golf balls.  Steep.  Hot. Windy.  Long.  No love lost here.  The many climbs from Rawlins to Clark are deceiving indeed (in a harder than expected way)!  I call it the WooHoo-I-Made-It-To-Rawlins Hangover.  Let's just call it the Rawlins Hangover for short.

[desertrat]

How long does it take to recover, physically, from a race like this? 

[mikepro]

So I wasn't the only one that noticed that... at least he gets to enjoy a long downhill now!

TD just wouldn't be the same if at least 1 or 2 didn't miss the Brook's Lake turn at the top of Togwotee Pass.  AH flew downhill on pave for approx. 3 miles before turning around.  Props for the backtrack!

[mikepro]

Looks like Max is getting his bike looked at in W. Yellowstone, enough of the SS??

Yeah, I'd like to know the story of that detour.  Maybe he'll share via call-in.  His tracking shows going North of West Yellowstone for a few miles for some reason. He's almost back on route now.

[the tortoise]

Max is on his way back to the route. It looks like he will beat Eric Foster (another triple crowner) to the point where he left off. Interesting stuff!

[mikepro]

How long does it take to recover, physically, from a race like this?  

Depends on so many factors: how deeply one fries their adrenals, how hard one pushes their respective limits/boundaries of fitness, what level fitness one starts the race with, what one ate during, what one eats after, how much sleep before/during/after the event, etc, etc, etc, and so forth.

[Donald]

Hope Kirsten has the kettle on and a supply of Yorkshire tea as Mike is not far away.

It looks like Hall was not tempted by a cuppa. It must be said that UK and US traditions of tea brewing are very different. I'm not saying that one is better than the other.....

[Jilleo]

South Fork isn't all that far from the GDMBR. About 10 miles west of Del Norte? I wonder about smoke concentration and other dangers going over Indiana Pass. http://gazette.com/wildfire-roundup-crews-say-town-of-south-fork-likely-to-be-consumed-by-blaze/article/1502587

[mtbcast]

Hal Russell called in from Helena. He’s at Fireside Coffee sitting out the rain. And Bruce Giroux called in to say he’s OUT!
http://mtbcast.com/site2/category/td13/

[mikepro]

It looks like Hall was not tempted by a cuppa. It must be said that UK and US traditions of tea brewing are very different. I'm not saying that one is better than the other.....

Oh, he's tempted by somethin' at the lodge alright.  Maybe he should wait 40 mins or so for C$ to top out and cruise downhill to lodge, for another golden spike moment there.