TD`13 Race Discussion

[liney]

Yes rumor on the trail was he had to be at certain points on the course to be at the appropriate office to get his permits lined up.  Truly planning on the fly and getting it done!  Very, VERY impressive run by Billy Rice!

[Chew]

We are in banff getting ready to head south for a couple of months. Anybody know the best place to find out if there is a glimmer of hope of following the trail south from here?

Latest email from ACA

Adventure Cycling Association issued a strong warning today to cyclists planning to ride its Great Divide Mountain Bike Route in Canada. The organization, which developed and regularly updates the route, advised that, because of the extraordinary flooding and flood damage throughout the provinces of Alberta and British Columbia, cyclists should not attempt to ride the Canadian section of the route this year.


“We understand that this is an unusual warning, but in all my years at Adventure Cycling, I have never seen such a complete washout of a route,” said Carla Majernik, Routes and Mapping Director of Adventure Cycling. “We are receiving many reports of washed-out bridges, destroyed roads, and fast-moving rivers and creeks, which could compromise a cyclist’s safety,” said Majernik. “In our judgment, there are also no viable alternatives to the route. It would be much wiser for people to wait until 2014 to ride the Canadian section.”

For information on the flooding, cyclists can turn to Adventure Cycling’s page on fires and floods affecting the organization’s routes. Check the box below the map for “Alberta Emergency Alerts” to get the latest on flood and damage warnings. Adventure Cycling also hosts a forum on temporary route closures; there are currently active threads featuring information about route closures in Alberta and British Columbia.

[dadana]

I am writing this on behalf of my dad & favourite Tour Divider, Greg Andre-Barrett, who called me yesterday from Colorado with the following question:

"Does the reroute at the Mexico border take more or less time than the original route and approximately how much time does it add/subtract?"

Pls. get back to me asap - he's behind his original target (tendonitis hasn't helped!) and needs this info to figure out how he'll catch his flight, or if he'll need to change his flight.

Thanks for your help!!!!

While i'm here, feel free to check out his adventures or follow his blog @ http://gregridesthedivide.wordpress.com/   

There isnt a reroute at the Mexican border so I assume you mean the Gila National Forest reroute. I havent ridden the reroute but have ridden the original route. It looks like the reroute may be a few more miles but propably is about the same elapsed time to get to Silver City.

[mtbcast]

Eric Foster called in from Grants. And Forest Baker called in with his finish call.
http://mtbcast.com/site2/category/td13/

[mathieu]

Latest email from ACA

What is the latest...? The cited ACA mail is from June 28 and the situation is continuously evolving.
Look on http://forums.adventurecycling.org/index.php?topic=11764.15 for the most recent advice of July 5, 10 am.

[Mathewsen]

As if the TD grand depart needs more routing complications, last night the Bursom Road detour (FR28/NM159), which is the 2nd NM detour (in the Gila), washed away in the ghost town of Mogollon due to a flash flood. It has at least 4-5 guys stopped there currently, but just as of late, it appears they are getting across. It's only a few miles from NM180.

This new closure precipitated a serious look by USFS at the FR150 closure from Beaverhead Work Ctr to NM35 on the main ACA route. It was deemed ready to reopen, despite some flash-flooding of it's own last night.

All riders north of the established Bursom Rd detour (orange line on the live tracker) may now take either the main route or the detour (when it reopens)

TD will email / text all affected riders. Hopefully some will be reached. Many won't be reached.

Nutty events.

[BobM]

As if the TD grand depart needs more routing complications, last night the Bursom Road detour (FR28/NM159), which is the 2nd NM detour (in the Gila), washed away in the ghost town of Mogollon due to a flash flood. It has at least 4-5 guys stopped there currently, but just as of late, it appears they are getting across. It's only a few miles from NM180.

This new closure precipitated a serious look by USFS at the FR150 closure from Beaverhead Work Ctr to NM35 on the main ACA route. It was deemed ready to reopen, despite some flash-flooding of it's own last night.

All riders north of the established Bursom Rd detour (orange line on the live tracker) may now take either the main route or the detour (if it reopens)

TD will email / text all affected riders. Hopefully some will be reached. Many won't be reached.

Nutty events.

Any word on the locusts and plague?

[BobM]

Where the heck is James Hodges off to?  He passed some services a short ways back and I don't think the turn he made off-route is at any sort of a problem point navigation-wise.

EDIT:  Zooming in I see he missed a turn.  Sending good navigation thoughts out for a speedy about-face.

[mtbcast]

Chris Arndt called in from Cliff on the re-route to Silver City. This call breaks up a little.
http://mtbcast.com/site2/category/td13/

[sdrffpp]

Any ideas what's going on with Greg Thompson?  After heading south from Pie Town on route for a substantial ways, he's now been heading east from Pie Town for a while.  Heading to Datil?  Seems from his stops in Pie Town on the way back through he might have had some trouble.  I sure hope this isn't the end of his race.  If you haven't had a chance to read his blog posts yet, you should.  Very engaging, informative and touching.  Best to GT.

[sjanes]

What is the approximate mileage from Silver City to Antelope Wells?

[BobM]

Looks like maybe another breakaway by Sara Dallman!  How many more can she pass on the way to the border? 

[BobM]

What is the approximate mileage from Silver City to Antelope Wells?

123.9 miles.

[forest_on_bike]

Hi TD Fans,

Forest Baker here...finally getting in front of a computer in Denver.

First, for the record, I finished on July 2nd @ 8:20pm. I came in just behind Team Swiss.

Here are some finishing picks:

Pic 1: At the finish with my wife, Annie.
Pic 2: Saying congrats and goodbye to Markley when he was about 15 miles from the finish. Sadly, his right quad gave out on him earlier in the day.
Pic 3: Starting the recovery process in a motel in Deming.

[forest_on_bike]

Me again...

While you are racing, you don't know what's happening with other racers (I have Sprint and only got service a handful of times). So, I started to review the forum thread, but it's massive, so I gave up and searched for mentions of my name. Here is my attempt to respond to some comments to me.

the tortoise: The triple crown race is fun to watch. Forest is in 10th place, Eric in 19th place and Max is in 20th place. Forest is a big guy. He must really haul on the flats!

You calling me fat?  That's actually fair. At the beginning of the race, I weighed in at 225 and definitely was carrying an extra layer of insulation. And, yes, the flats is where I excel against all these skinny, little guys on small bikes. On day 3, when we finally had a stretch of relatively flat miles after Whitefish, I unleashed my massive quads and made a big move up in the pack. After that, it was all about not losing too much time to others on the climbs and making up as much time as I could on the flats.

bnester: What a race!! Looks like a super strong field. The pace is incredible. After the conditions of 2009 and 2010, I have to admit I am a bit envious. Good to see Forest out there again and doing well. Would be nice to do a beer again in Silver City but I will just cheer you on from afar this year.
To all the racers, keep up the great work (or should I say play) and enjoy the ride.

Blaine, I thought about you a lot during my ride. I was basically doing what you did - coming back a second time to see how much faster I could finish this thing. As I got closer to Silver City, I kept thinking about our night out and wishing that I could repeat that fun experience. This year, however, was very different. I was chasing 3 guys all the way to the finish, so I only stopped in Silver City for about 5 mins to grab some Gatorade.

The snow conditions were so much better this year compared to 2010. On-the-other-hand, it seemed like I had a lot more headwind and heat. The number of rainy days seemed similar. Thanks for cheering for me.

Go Eric! Go Forest! Both remaining triple crown riders will need an IV at antelope wells to accelerate the healing process. CTR comes extra early this year and starts with a bang.

Thanks for cheering for me. Yes, I'll be starting the CTR on July 21st and don't have a lot of time to recover. I'm hobbling around because my ankle is pretty upset with me. I'm not, however, taking any IV thingy. That feels very incongruent with the spirit of these bikepacking events. I know that Eric Foster (my fellow triple crown hopeful) partook in this before the AZT 750 and TD. To each his own...

woody: Forest you are one hell of an individual and I hope someday I will have the pleasure in meeting you to shake your hand. I tip my hat to you and hoist a beer to Dave.

Woody, thanks for your very kind note. I was just doing what I could to help create some solace for myself and others who still feel the impact of Dave's passing. If you make it out the CTR or CSTR this year, we can raise a glass to Dave together.

desertrat: We are getting ready to drive from Yuma (winter home) to NM.  We're over the top excited to see our son hit the border!!  Brian has certainly exceeded our expectations.  We had no idea it would be this difficult and that he had this in him.  Thank you to all who said such great things about him.  I know we're partial but we think he's pretty darn special. :-)  Forest, Leo, Markley and Liam - thanks so much for riding with him.  I know he was glad to hang with such fine guys.    Blessings to all!

To Brian's mom (sorry, I don't know your name) - It was a real pleasure riding with Brian. Obviously, he is an extremely strong athlete/adventurists. He is also an old soul, who is very wise, mature, and compassionate beyond his years. He is going to lead/create an amazing life for himself. Congratulations to Brian for such an amazing ride.

JF-mtnbiker: Run Forest Run!!

John Foster - I did my best buddy. Despite my ankle giving me troubles, I got came close to finishing in 18 days. Thanks for cheering me on. I would have loved to have had you chasing me down the route again this year. 

mikepro: Nice work, Forest, Markley, and Double Swiss !  Here's to pulling for Forest to complete the Triple Crown.

Mike - thanks for cheering for me. It was easier than the AZT 750  . Assuming my ankle recovers, I'll see you at the start of the CTR in a few weeks!

mtbrob: I hope Forest Baker puts up a 2013 version TD movie like he did back in 2010.

Hi Rob. I had a number of riders introduce themselves to me in Baff because they had watched the video I made of my 2010 ride: http://teamkaker.com/tour-divide-2010-movie-gear/. My goal this year was to ride more and take fewer videos and photos. I don't plan on putting together another video, but I'm sure I'll write a blog post with pics. Interestingly, after day 3, I seemed to be the only rider in the 6-10 rank taking pictures. It was a pretty focused and fast group of riders out front.

[JF-mtnbiker]

Good old fashioned ground work. He worked on his own to get a permit to go through the closed areas. Perseverance, planning and making things happen are suppose to be a huge part of the TD!

I get the perserverance part but I'm looking forward to hearing that story. I've been pulling for BR all along and glad he got through. Just want to know what moves he made to get permited.

[goaussie]

Hi guys.
Hugh harvey just finished.
Anyone know if he has organised a ride back yet?
Just making sure he is ok as he was pushing himself towards the end.
Thanks

[davidhaile]

I have arrived in Deming with an 8-passenger SUV that will have four people and two bikes on a cheesy 4-bike rack. I have room in case someone needs a ride north on I-25 tomorrow. We're staying at La Quinta and have the rear window marked TDR. The SUV is next to two Texas cars, one with a bike rack. FYI, owners of the black SUV, your front passenger window is open!

[landel]

Congratulations Forest on a great ride again this year. I recently saw your 2010 video and it got me hooked on this thing. Only watching from the sidelines now but you never know. Looking forward to reading this years recap.

[BobM]

I hope everyone is watching Sara Dallman's amazing finish!  She just pulled an all-nighter and has passed the 3 she caught a day or so ago.  Incredible riding!