Tour Divide 2023 - Race Prep Discussion

[geekonabike]

I believe Kyle Peterson is just now finishing as the 1st single speed. Also Adrian Stingaciu the only Fixed gear Ssp will get to New Mexico today. I wonder if Adrian's dot is yellow only because he had repeated tracker outages early on? If that's the case it'll all be legitimized when submits his gps track for those days.

[jjmundt]

I believe Kyle Peterson is just now finishing as the 1st single speed. Also Adrian Stingaciu the only Fixed gear Ssp will get to New Mexico today. I wonder if Adrian's dot is yellow only because he had repeated tracker outages early on? If that's the case it'll all be legitimized when submits his gps track for those days.

Adrian's name looks familiar...was he one of the riders in "Ride the Divide" documentary...I need to check...


All the best!

Joel

[jjmundt]

Adrian's name looks familiar...was he one of the riders in "Ride the Divide" documentary...I need to check...


All the best!

Joel

Yep...Adrian is from the documentary...coming back 15 years later.  Good on him!!

[jjmundt]

Congratulations to Peter Kraft on a strong finish.  I'm a little behind on his MTBCast call-ins, but he's had a bunch of really entertaining ones this year.  The call-ins seem to be less frequent and that's a real shame.  I really enjoy them...way more than reading some Snap-o-Chat message or a 20-second video on facebook.

[mtbcast]

#TD23  Overnight: Alexandera Houchin called in nearing Pie Town.

http://mtbcast.com/site2/category/td23/

[jjmundt]

We're seeing a little more rain in New Mexico, and nowhere in that state is the wind helping very much.  I'm keeping my eye on Matt Miller, who's riding well and is thirty miles from Abiquiu.  The women currently at the front (Houchin, Brown, Dowell, and Simon) are all fighting the Gila within thirty miles of each other.  This will be a very exciting finish for those four.

All the best!

Joel

[catchacold]

I believe Kyle Peterson is just now finishing as the 1st single speed. Also Adrian Stingaciu the only Fixed gear Ssp will get to New Mexico today. I wonder if Adrian's dot is yellow only because he had repeated tracker outages early on? If that's the case it'll all be legitimized when submits his gps track for those days.

Adrian is yellow for ITT, he started a day before the Grand Depart

[jjmundt]

Look at Stephen Whitaker, taking the actual GDMBR around Mt. Taylor rather than the alternate!!  I believe that "off-route" is perfectly legal on the TD (along with Zuni Canyon).  When was the last time someone did that?!?  I mapped that part of the route once (vs the hard surface to Milan via Pueblo Pintado) a few years back and discovered the actual route has about 2000' more climbing, but is 6-7 miles shorter than the race route.

There's currently no rain, so kudos to him!!

All the best!

Joel

[jjmundt]

...and we have a bit of a race between Hannah Simon and Sacha Dowell over the last seventy-five miles here.  They're neck and neck...somebody is gonna have to go for it!!

[jjmundt]

Look at Stephen Whitaker, taking the actual GDMBR around Mt. Taylor rather than the alternate!!  I believe that "off-route" is perfectly legal on the TD (along with Zuni Canyon).  When was the last time someone did that?!?  I mapped that part of the route once (vs the hard surface to Milan via Pueblo Pintado) a few years back and discovered the actual route has about 2000' more climbing, but is 6-7 miles shorter than the race route.

There's currently no rain, so kudos to him!!

All the best!

Joel

Well, Stephen appears to have turned around, gone back to Cuba, and is now riding the race route.

[jjmundt]

The race is on for the last medal on the women's podium...and Gail Brown is joining the fray, just 9 miles back with 45 to go...

Popcorn is percolating for this one...

[jjmundt]

What a race for 3rd among the women!!  Hannah Simon pulled out a 5-minute lead over Sacha Dowell - probably about one mile - and Gail Brown finished less than 15 minutes adrift - three, maybe four miles.  Given the terrain of those last miles (mostly flat with a slight rise), it's possible all three riders were within sight of each other as they pushed to the end.

Wow!!  Congratulations to all three on a fantastic ride and a fierce battle through New Mexico!!!

[Shawn]

Alexandra is about to set a new women's SS record.

Congrats to her for terrific strategy and perseverance!

[jjmundt]

Alexandra is about to set a new women's SS record.

Congrats to her for terrific strategy and perseverance!

I wish I could push like that with a ten-speed cassette on the back wheel.  She is super strong.  It begs the obvious question...what could she do with a ten-speed cassette on the back wheel?

Congrats Alexandera on another record run.

All the best!

Joel

[samh]

...It begs the obvious question...what could she do with a ten-speed cassette on the back wheel?

: )

[Iowagriz]

Didn't she change ratio mid-race? I thought I saw that someplace.

Edit: bikepacking.com is reporting that she didn't change mid-race. Congrats to her on pushing through with the big gear. I love her outlook on life.

[Shawn]

I had asked here if changing gears on a SS was permitted. But, yeah, she gutted it out on the big climbs and chased down her record.

She is just an amazing cyclist.

Moving average speed on a loaded single speed of 8.3mph while climbing 117K feet on dirt and gravel. I couldn't do that on an empty bike on pavement.

[jjmundt]

I had asked here if changing gears on a SS was permitted.

That's a great question.  The rules do not explicitly prohibit gearing changes, so I'm guessing it's allowed.  From a more practical standpoint, if Alexandera (or any rider with a multi-speed cassette) pulled into a bike shop needing a cassette change due to severe wear/slippage and the shop couldn't exactly matching the rider's existing ratios, the rider would have to take what was available.

I don't know if Matt Lee still follows the forums here, but maybe he or ScottM could clarify.

My guess is a gear change is permitted.

All the best!

Joel

[samh]

Didn't she change ratio mid-race? I thought I saw that someplace.

Edit: bikepacking.com is reporting that she didn't change mid-race. Congrats to her on pushing through with the big gear. I love her outlook on life.

A friend of mine, and former multiple-time finisher of the race corrected me on this a few days ago and said she had not changed ratios.  From a ethical standpoint it's arguable it would not qualify but I feel that an equally strong argument could be made in favor that it would still qualify you.  Perhaps if the race was 1,000 miles uphill and then 1,000 miles downhill, making a gear swap at the halfway point would provide unfair advantage but that's certainly not the case for this route so I don't see how making a single change could really be advantageous considering the reason you'd probably have chosen to do it is that you made the wrong choice to start out which ultimately would have slowed you down. 

[jjmundt]

samh,

Good thoughts!!