Tour Divide 2015 - race discussion thread

[Angler]

Great job, Angler! Love seeing everyone going through Ovando! Next year maybe I can make there and catch the racers coming through.

Now THAT would be a great idea.  Anything I can do to push that forward.  :-)

[hamirj]

Awesome photos of the riders going through Ovando.  Nice to see that R Hammy is doing well.  Cheers, Gemma Hamilton

[soride]

I am really biased, but I think Josh Kato is doing amazingly well!  

Dylan also said as much - Josh pulled away from Dylan and Ryan C on the practically walk-a-bike climbs before Helena today and then he sailed through Helena! He's riding strong!

[mtbcast]

I am really biased, but I think Josh Kato is doing amazingly well! 

Yeah he's on a mission this year!

[skyepilot]

Krampus - I too am enjoying the women'  race - but it's kind of a back handed compliment you have given - I recall some pretty great cat and mousing from the front runners last year! That was fun to follow - as is this year - go ladies!!

[mtbcast]

Now THAT would be a great idea.  Anything I can do to push that forward.  :-)

I've got some ideas for next year. Time and money willing, I'll be heading South down the route instead of staying in Banff as long as I have recently. Love the town, don't get me wrong. There's just so much to be gleaned with the racers on the route. Haven't been to Montana in awhile so it's time.

[Krampus Snail]

I didn't mean a backhanded compliment. I meant a straight-up compliment. I think it's great that we have a competitive pack of women. It can only be good for women's racing to have women pushing each other. Plus it's fun for us to watch.

[mikepro]

Looks like Seb has opted for a dinner stop at the local bar in Basin ... not a bad choice for some local Montana hospitality.  Plus, a few riders doing the same up in Seeley Lake.

[mikepro]

IIRC, The JayP ghost will stay in Lincoln for a while. I believe he dropped his SPOT, so I'd expect it to bounce ahead by a good margin at some point.

Yeah, some past mention of that, and that the ghost 'comes back alive' in Lima or thereabouts, with speculation that next best comparative split be Island Park.

[ron]

As the sun is setting on the east coast, a question for vets: which sections of the route would you LEAST like to hit at night, for whatever reason(s)? The descent into Radium? Lava Mtn? Richmond Peak (if snowy)?

I did a lot of night riding in '13 and the midnight descent down the Watershed Divide (I think?) just after the Brush Mtn Lodge sticks out as being fun but sketchy. Also flying down Galton Pass, and conversely the flooded and super rocky downhill HAB into Mogollon on the second fire reroute come to mind, also all in the dark..

[Eszter]

As the sun is setting on the east coast, a question for vets: which sections of the route would you LEAST like to hit at night, for whatever reason(s)? The descent into Radium? Lava Mtn? Richmond Peak (if snowy)?

I did a lot of night riding in '13 and the midnight descent down the Watershed Divide (I think?) just after the Brush Mtn Lodge sticks out as being fun but sketchy. Also flying down Galton Pass, and conversely the flooded and super rocky downhill HAB into Mogollon on the second fire reroute come to mind, also all in the dark..

The Rez between Cuba and Grants.

[bgiro]

As the sun is setting on the east coast, a question for vets: which sections of the route would you LEAST like to hit at night, for whatever reason(s)? The descent into Radium? Lava Mtn? Richmond Peak (if snowy)?

I did a lot of night riding in '13 and the midnight descent down the Watershed Divide (I think?) just after the Brush Mtn Lodge sticks out as being fun but sketchy. Also flying down Galton Pass, and conversely the flooded and super rocky downhill HAB into Mogollon on the second fire reroute come to mind, also all in the dark..

The single track just after the summit of Boreas Pass.

[mikepro]

As the sun is setting on the east coast, a question for vets: which sections of the route would you LEAST like to hit at night, for whatever reason(s)? The descent into Radium? Lava Mtn? Richmond Peak (if snowy)?
I did a lot of night riding in '13 and the midnight descent down the Watershed Divide (I think?) just after the Brush Mtn Lodge sticks out as being fun but sketchy. Also flying down Galton Pass, and conversely the flooded and super rocky downhill HAB into Mogollon on the second fire reroute come to mind, also all in the dark..

You mention the main ones for steepness, rockiness, speed in the dark, snow, etc... and the Fleecer final climb+look for connector+descent is in that mix, too, I think.  But, for other reasons, I second the Cuba-to-Grants section.  Also, the last 60-mile lonely highway to the finish.

[legendontour]

Interestingly, Nathan Mawkes and I did the last 60 miles to the finish between 1900 and midnight in 2013, and it was an awesome way to finish I felt.  gave me a lot of time to reflect I what I had achieved with very little in the way of distractions.

[ScottM]

green square with black triangle - restart after a brief stop (the asset has moved)
yellow square with black double-vertical pause symbol - a brief stop

I'm also seeing that the Gen3 Spots will show a red square with white power icon - presumably when the unit has been powered off?  Gen3 units record every 5mins and show as blue diamonds.  Older Gen2 units record every 10mins and show as small white diamonds.

Scott, please chime in with a more detailed explanation of what determines when a pause or restart symbol is generated.  I'm guessing that it's when spot doesn't move (relatively, perhaps moving in feet, not miles) for 2 or more consecutive points, or something similar.

Anyone please chime in with more knowledge or correct me if I'm wrong.

Pretty close, Mike.

Yellow pause icon = unit stopped for 30 min.
Green play icon = unit restarted after a 30 min pause.
Red Power icon = unit turned off.

However, only Trace units give the the Pause and Power signals.  They are not computed by us, but are actual messages that the Trace units themselves send out and we are just displaying.  Gen3 units will give Play signals showing a restart, but do not send Pause and Power, unfortunately.

Both Trace and Gen3 units can have a tracking interval anywhere from 2.5 to 30 minutes.  Most people have 10 min.  All our rentals are at 5 min tracking -- both Trace and Gen3.  Blue diamonds mean the racer has a Trace.  White is everything else, including Gen3.

Another tracking note, thanks to Eszter noticing they were missing, I added the nighttime bars to the raceflow graph.  It's a nice way to see who's riding late and getting up early.  Also shows the division of days nicely.

The dots are setting the route on fire this year!  Very cool to see.

[tanadog]

Looks like Seb has opted for a dinner stop at the local bar in Basin ... not a bad choice for some local Montana hospitality.  Plus, a few riders doing the same up in Seeley Lake.

Seb mentions on fb that has a bit of a sore knee and has been/ needs to soft pedal to Butte tonight....here's hoping Montana burgers can cure that....

[Krampus Snail]

Poor Chad Edge. He got really, really lost up in Canada.

[jryter]

As the sun is setting on the east coast, a question for vets: which sections of the route would you LEAST like to hit at night, for whatever reason(s)? The descent into Radium? Lava Mtn? Richmond Peak (if snowy)?

I did a lot of night riding in '13 and the midnight descent down the Watershed Divide (I think?) just after the Brush Mtn Lodge sticks out as being fun but sketchy. Also flying down Galton Pass, and conversely the flooded and super rocky downhill HAB into Mogollon on the second fire reroute come to mind, also all in the dark..

Oh the rez dogs! and the single track on Boreas pass and the section after Helena (Lava mt?) in the rain and the single track before Silver City. Those bring back the worst memories. Possibly because of poor lighting. But so much beauty at night.

[mtbcast]

‪#‎TourDivide15‬ - Scott McKinnon called in rom Columbia Falls! Josh Kato called in from near Park City! And Greg Goodman called in from Whitefish!

http://mtbcast.com/site2/category/td15/

[HughieP]

Interestingly, Nathan Mawkes and I did the last 60 miles to the finish between 1900 and midnight in 2013, and it was an awesome way to finish I felt.  gave me a lot of time to reflect I what I had achieved with very little in the way of distractions.

Till you reached the border and there was some madman cheering you on from the darkness.

I found it depended on the time of night as much as anything. I really struggled with the transition from daylight to night time. Was okay again if I was riding in the proper dark but that bit around 10 in the evening everything wants to sleep. Certainly anyone who endured riding with me in '13 would have received a fair bit of silence once the sun went down. Far less chatty at night.