Tour Divide 2013

[BobM]

I'd say it's never too late to drop an 1120g rain shell, but otherwise yeah what Bob said..

WHOA!  I missed the 1120 gram part.  That's just a pound short of my entire camping kit (bag, bivy, pad) and it's not particularly light.

[the tortoise]

Billy Rice is in Platoro and having breakfast I imagine. Will he be able to eat the Big Foot Special and get a free T-shirt??

[mtbcast]

No word from Billy Rice. I got some short calls, no audio. Well, one had some moaning so maybe it was a butt dial. He's in Colo so maybe we'll get a call from Del Norte!

[the tortoise]

No word from Billy Rice. I got some short calls, no audio. Well, one had some moaning so maybe it was a butt dial. He's in Colo so maybe we'll get a call from Del Norte!

Well knowing what he has been riding through, I imagine there was a lot of moaning going on! But later today he gets a great cruise down to Del Norte!

[mtbcast]

Just got another short call. A little background noise but that was it. Well, could be worse...could be screaming! 

[Foster]

If I'm reading the NWS map correctly, I see recent (24h) snowfall in ID, WY, and CO, and very slow melt up in Canada (although it is picking up).

If anyone has any on-the-ground route beta about snow depth and snow quality (postholing into slush puddles?), I'm sure many of us would love to hear.



I fully expected some snow up until about Whitefish, but was hoping that would be about the end.  Any veterans care to guess what the trail will look like two weeks from now?

Check out the site. It gives comparison to last years snow levels.  Generally lower than last years snowpack.

http://www.mt.nrcs.usda.gov/snow/data/comparison.html

[ETURK]

best bit of advice I can give is... get some gore tex socks...

Or SealSkinz!   They have worked all winter long during training rides in Colorado: http://www.sealskinz.com/UK/

[DocTrike]

This might need to be on a new topic, so mods feel free to move this. Does anyone have any experience with private passport expediting companies, like fastport? I only have 11 days to get a passport and can't take time off getting bike and gear sorted to drive to regional passport office in Seattle.

Opinions please on these services or are they a scam??

[Mario]

Hey Doc,
If I were you I'd plan for TD14, it seems like you have a lot of important "details" to iron out. Speaking for myself, but I suspect that most riders this years already have all their kits packed and are ready to roll. My kit is probably versions 8 or 9, and I have been training with the full load for more than three months. Even with a good fitness base, poor kit selection will probably be a bigger liability then not having enough millage in your legs.
Mario

[Mario]

All good! Hope to see you on the trail!

[Done]

Never let anyone discourage you from trying something that you really want. If you're prepared, you'll make it. If not, you won't--but hopefully you'll learn enough to succeed on a later attempt. Either way, you're in for a great adventure.

The stuff that naysayers spout isn't worth the breath that delivers it!

[bpeschka]

This might need to be on a new topic, so mods feel free to move this. Does anyone have any experience with private passport expediting companies, like fastport? I only have 11 days to get a passport and can't take time off getting bike and gear sorted to drive to regional passport office in Seattle.

Opinions please on these services or are they a scam??

I can't speak specifically for FastPort, but we've used these type services in the past for passport and visas without problem. One we've used is PVS and we've sent our documentation to them in Arlington, VA.  They've always met their promised delivery dates.  As you're probably aware, they're not cheap, but in our case it was cheaper than driving from here in Phoenix to LA to stand in line.  pvsinternational.org

The turnaround is affected by how soon you get the docs to them and make sure they're complete so that you don't have to resubmit.

Good Luck ...

[hikernks]

WHOA!  I missed the 1120 gram part.  That's just a pound short of my entire camping kit (bag, bivy, pad) and it's not particularly light.

That's not a rainshell, that's a ski jacket.  That thing weighs a half pound more than my jacket wrapped around a full water bottle.  Wow.  Yeah, I'd definitely look for a replacement!

Even more wow is the weight of the offroad trike on Doc's website is 41 pounds!!  Holy sh!t!!  I can't imagine trying to push that thing on a hike-a-bike or over deadfall.  Not just because of the weight, but also the shape of it has to be incredibly awkward!  As another poster said earlier, you're the man if you do this! 

[THE LONG RANGER]

Even more wow is the weight of the offroad trike on Doc's website is 41 pounds!!  Holy sh!t!!  I can't imagine trying to push that thing on a hike-a-bike or over deadfall.  Not just because of the weight, but also the shape of it has to be incredibly awkward!  As another poster said earlier, you're the man if you do this! 

It's kinda comparable to doing the route w/a B.O.B. trailer. Places like the connecting trail that gets you out of the Flathead may have to be done in two trips - one for the trike, one for all the other gear. Give a little yell out everyone few meters, so that there's no one below you in the line of a Runaway Trike! Everything else should be alright. Doing Richmond Peak may be a little iffy, if there's just one trenched out part to "walk". Never seen that part when it's not snowed in - how  destroyed is the road, there?

The vast majority of the route is almost uncomfortably wide. Just don't get plowed by a passing automobile. Really, please don't. I don't like doing that part right before Steamboat on the road on a good day.

How well do these trike's climb? 'bents don't have the best rapport when climbing. There's you know,  a little bit of climbing, while en route.

[DocTrike]

thanks guys.

[Donald]

I, for one, hope to see your trike at the Grand Depart. Only one man wins. Everyone else is an also-ran and free to judge their performance by their own standard. Most of the tough-talking cowboys will finish behind a woman if last year is anything to go by and eccentricity is now an established feature of the race. There have been fixies, single speeds, tandems and unicycles. Last year there was a fellow from California pulling a BoB trailer. He laid on a BBQ at Butts Cabin and very well received it was. Maybe someone soon will do it on a Brompton, the world's best folder. Anyway, it must be time for a trike.

[DocTrike]

@donald, hey thanks it is just up to the US passport office on if I do the GD or ITT now. The trike is set up and ready to go, picked up my sleeping bag yesterday and two new compression bags from REI. Haven't given up on a light racing trike, I have some friends that are machinists getting me some numbers. For now I have everything set up on a customized KMX trike. One thing is for sure with the KMX brand the trike won't ever break, and the seat is very very comfortable.

Will try and get some pics later today of the loaded trike, I might buy or borrow some recumbent seat bags and alter where my gear sits on the bike for better access while riding.  

[Mental-Miles]

 Brompton, the world's best folder.

.... does S&S-Coulings making my 29er being a folder?

[DocTrike]

The newest version of my trike with under seat steering folds, and it weighs less!

[phil_rad]

Gunnar, you have S&S couplings on your Serrota? Cool.

Been watching Billy Rice on his ITT, seems his spot has stopped working. James Kirwan from Ireland looks to be underway, wonder how much snow is still up there.

Go guys!!