Tour Divide 2018 Race Preparation

[Kolson]

To your answer about the cold. Look at the things people bring in order to generate body warmth. Layers to the skin of wool, neoprene ect.  With leg and arm warmers and proper rain gear( GoreTex ect ) you will be dry. That saves half of it. When we are up in altitude and the atmospheric conditions kick in your moving will help. But this is part of what draws people to the divide.
As far as the ultra light gear out there, quite a lot of it is well made and durable. The waterproof socks and gloves make all the difference in the world.
Remember for every day of a bad experience comes a great memory. The divide is a unique trip for sure. Get gear and travel where you are in the adverse conditions and check out what works for you and what does not. From there you’ll get an idea.
As how cold it is going to get. Your guess is what it is a guess. Looking at the past trips of the divide. You could be going to bed in the rain and windy. Also it could be beautiful and cool.

Good luck on your decision to go. It’s going to be a tremendous trip and I’m fully in as a lot of experienced people will be going. Hope this helps!

[dskunk]

I think my biggest concern is cold wet weather too. I rode in 2014 and 2016. Both times it was wet (rain or snow) and sitting right at freezing for a couple of days at the start. I was soaked and cold both years. And either a motel room or my sleeping bag was the most amazing place in the world. That I think is the most important thing, to have a dry sleeping bag or somewhere that you can get away from the cold and wet, and recover.

[eec]

To your answer about the cold. Look at the things people bring in order to generate body warmth. Layers to the skin of wool, neoprene ect.  With leg and arm warmers and proper rain gear( GoreTex ect ) you will be dry. That saves half of it. When we are up in altitude and the atmospheric conditions kick in your moving will help. But this is part of what draws people to the divide.
As far as the ultra light gear out there, quite a lot of it is well made and durable. The waterproof socks and gloves make all the difference in the world.
Remember for every day of a bad experience comes a great memory. The divide is a unique trip for sure. Get gear and travel where you are in the adverse conditions and check out what works for you and what does not. From there you’ll get an idea.
As how cold it is going to get. Your guess is what it is a guess. Looking at the past trips of the divide. You could be going to bed in the rain and windy. Also it could be beautiful and cool.
Thanks Kolson! I think I'm fairly squared away on gear. However, the past few times I've been out in cold weather I've gotten pretty bad shivers, mostly because I sweat a lot and get wet from the inside out. So when I stop for any longish period of time and then get going again, man, it's terrible. I suppose the silver lining in that is I won't stop, and finish with a good time.

[eec]

I think my biggest concern is cold wet weather too. I rode in 2014 and 2016. Both times it was wet (rain or snow) and sitting right at freezing for a couple of days at the start. I was soaked and cold both years. And either a motel room or my sleeping bag was the most amazing place in the world. That I think is the most important thing, to have a dry sleeping bag or somewhere that you can get away from the cold and wet, and recover.

How did you handle the cold/wet weather?

[Kolson]

I handle the cold and wet by first maintaining my sleeping bag, as you stated in a dry place. The dry sack; sweet roll is what I use from Salsa. It is more expensive but will allow you to maintain the dryness which also equates to warmth. It is a down bag to allow the warmth while a little wet, plus lighter. As far as myself while I'm on the bike I go with light layers of neoprene, wicking type material, plus the rain pants from Showers pass and the rain jacket from OR.

With the "to skin" clothing a strong wicker if something does get wet it should dissipate quicker and wick off me. If it is cold I count on my body heat to stay on-top of it. Like you said do not stop until you have cover. It allows you to appreciate the dryness better. I always am on watch for hypothermia, but I have never gotten close to that. The coldness comes quicker to me having lived in AZ now for a while. The heat is what I crave now. The hotter the better, so I will look forward to NM! So I have to get ready for it more having been out of it. I have cycled across some terribly cold areas and what has worked for myself hopefully can shed some light on it for others.

[Woodland]

How did you handle the cold/wet weather?

Mostly cursed at it is my guess!

[dskunk]

How did you handle the cold/wet weather?

I’ve been trying to write an answer to that question, and everything I write sounds like it came out of a cheap self-help book. Dealing with the wet and the cold is more of a mental game than anything, I believe. You can have all the right clothing, but you’re still going to be wet, cold and tired at some point. Perhaps even very wet, very cold and very tired. Accept it, keep going, enjoy it even, but always be ready to stop and go to ground in that warm sleeping bag (kept really dry, inside a dry bag and plastic bag) if you need to.
I didn’t enjoy TD2014 as much as I thought I would. It bugged me that I hadn’t. When I got back I started doing internet searches on “being happy”. A lot of what came up was the idea that happy is an internal state. That “happy” doesn’t really have anything to do with external factors, like your job, or money, or hunger, or the weather. Something in what I read must have stuck, ‘cause I really enjoyed 2016, even the cold, wet bits. Anyway, that’s my answer, for what it’s worth. ( and  I cursed,  but just a little bit )

[BobM]

How did you handle the cold/wet weather?

Jill Homer advises "wet and warm".  The idea is that if it's really wet out, you WILL be wet, but if you've layered correctly, with wicking base layers and maybe some wool, you will be warm.

[eec]

I’ve been trying to write an answer to that question, and everything I write sounds like it came out of a cheap self-help book. Dealing with the wet and the cold is more of a mental game than anything, I believe. You can have all the right clothing, but you’re still going to be wet, cold and tired at some point. Perhaps even very wet, very cold and very tired. Accept it, keep going, enjoy it even, but always be ready to stop and go to ground in that warm sleeping bag (kept really dry, inside a dry bag and plastic bag) if you need to.
I didn’t enjoy TD2014 as much as I thought I would. It bugged me that I hadn’t. When I got back I started doing internet searches on “being happy”. A lot of what came up was the idea that happy is an internal state. That “happy” doesn’t really have anything to do with external factors, like your job, or money, or hunger, or the weather. Something in what I read must have stuck, ‘cause I really enjoyed 2016, even the cold, wet bits. Anyway, that’s my answer, for what it’s worth. ( and  I cursed,  but just a little bit )

Thanks, great advice. I'm not so worried about the mental aspect -- having been a racing cyclist I like to suffer! It's the physical part that I'm worried about. I've been out backpacking in the mountains and went into hypothermia and it's not great. I do believe in the "wet and warm" philosophy, it's just finding that balance of being weighed down by packing that fear and being safe. Hoping some trial runs this winter will nail down a good system.

Great advice everyone! Looking forward to seeing you guys out there!

[kiwidave]

Outside of the perpetual obsessing about gear and what to bring/not to bring, I think my biggest concern is cold weather. Like frigid, hypothermia cold. Wet, can't stop shivering cold. Does it get that bad? I'm afraid of packing that fear and being waaaayyyy too heavy with uneccessary items. I know it's all relative to what is too cold for someone and what isn't, but what are temps like at the coldest?

I rode '16 and it was seriously wet and cold the first week for the mid-pack. (Front guys were fast enough to get ahead of the weather mostly). Many racers were passing me from Lima onwards who had had to take a motel/hotel during daylight hours (e.g. mid-day) due to the conditions simply to avoid hypothermia. It is nice to be heroically light but it is nicer to finish. YMMV. 60% scratched in '16.

If you're racing all day in the rain you're going to get wet either from the rain or perspiration. Test what works for you being wet at 6C all day. Wet your gear, put it on and go out for a ride for 4 hours when it is sub 6C.

Personally I found wool singlet (Icebreaker)/wool cycling jersey (Icebreaker short sleeve) / wool arm & leg warmers (Defeet) with windstopper vest (Gore) and Gortex jacket & pants (Gore Bikewear AlpX), wool socks and Endura Waterproof gloves (hahaha) with Zpacks Overgloves (worked great but too tight to take on/off whilst riding) perfect for the conditions and to be able to keep warm whilst wet. The key is work out what will keep you warm enough when wet. The snowy and wet descent at 0C from Richmond Peak was too much for this and I had to put on a synthetic puffy (Rab Xenon) to Ovando. Never been cold enough to ride in a puffy before as I usually overheat after a few km's, but my base temp was so cold and wattage output so low that I rode a few hours like this without overheating.

I chose my synthetic puffy over down due to performance in humidity and ability to ride wearing it and maintain most insulation performance even if damp.

I was on 24 day pace which is not putting out the same heat as those on 16 day pace so they can of course get away with packing slightly less warm gear as they'll generate the body heat.

Coldest riding temps for me in '16 was -2C or -3C on a cloudless night riding south of Butte - but it was dry and better than the previous week in the rain. Overnight under -5C. Some mornings were sub zero and worse if on the west of a ridge line keeping me in the shade too long after sunrise. I think the 6-12th placed guys hit some serious -10C coldness south of Polaris.

[jthops]

Cold & wet. Good rain gear is a must. Layer as you would normally to get you down to 40 degrees F. Then have an emergency piece that you break out only for a cold descent or other stretch. For me that was a Montbell Anorak. Something else for me that makes a big difference is a neck buff. For some reason that helps trap a bunch of heat, plus I can pull it up over my face if needed. The hardest part for me was hands and feet. My experience is that a thick (7mil) pair of disposable gloves under your insulated gloves makes a huge difference. I'm still looking for a similar solution for my feet.

[Larry Shaw]

I planned on a grand depart from Banff for my first TD, but unfortunately work scheduling conflicts won't allow it. Thinking about a northbound ITT departing around 20-22 May. Are the NM/CO passes "doable" this early in the year? I would expect a little post holing higher up and I'm OK with that.

Wanting to make sure I don't miss any steps before the race. Sounds like I need to write a letter of intent as mentioned in the first few posts of this thread. What is the process to register my Spot device when the time gets closer? Is there a standard for Spot transmission intervals? When should I expect the ACA (or any other site) to post the official GPS track data file for the 2018 race?

[THE LONG RANGER]

In CO it could be very snowy above 9,000 feet, so a pass like Indiana could very well be impassable, even at that late date. Far too early to know right now. The snowpack is sensationally low this year, 30% of normal in some parts of the state, but that could all change. A late blizzard in May could bury passes like Indiana, Marshall, Boreas. Very, very hard to guess. I've been on Boreas on May 28th on recon, and it was snowshoe territory.

To get an idea, here's two charts to check out:

https://www.wcc.nrcs.usda.gov/ftpref/data/water/wcs/gis/maps/co_swepctnormal_update.pdf

https://www.wcc.nrcs.usda.gov/ftpref/data/water/wcs/basinsweplots/co/basinplotco18.gif

It seems the big snow dumps are happening later and later in the year, and it gets me nervous when it's been SO dry. Either it'll dump way later in the year this year to make a somewhat normal year precip-wise, or it'll be SO dry, forest fires become a big concern for the summer.

Different story up north of CO, where snowfall seems a bit more normal.

[THE LONG RANGER]

And honestly, I say just go for it.

[Larry Shaw]

Thanks for the great resources! I think you are right, it will come down to the May snow season to dictate pass conditions. I'm with you, go for it anyway, and worst case you get turned back, but I'd be happy just waiting for the snowpack to crust up overnight and try again to pass it before sun up the next morning before calling it.

[Woodland]

Sounds like I need to write a letter of intent as mentioned in the first few posts of this thread.

Do people still do this via tourdivide.org - or do most people just sign up via the trackleaders form once it's available?

[Woodland]

Anyone have experience carrying prescription meds across the border?

[BobM]

Anyone have experience carrying prescription meds across the border?

I've never had them look or even ask.

[Iowagriz]

Anyone have experience carrying prescription meds across the border?

2x crossing by bike without them looking as well. But, I've heard that you should carry them in the prescription bottle or original packaging. You could do that until Eureka, then consolidate into something else.

Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk

[Erik_A]

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Wgily7rwXq0G5OaC_IeXllI-VzZEcIBY6HugfQ3UzQs/edit#gid=2026310916

List is up.  A lot of Salsa Cutthroats...