Tour Divide race discussion

[aarond]

Rode through a short blizzard leaving Banff, also some hail and rain most of day.
Max morris broke his front derraileur.
Road from Banff to elkford prob. Most beautiful place I've ever been!

[mtbcast]

Posted some videos over on the MTBCast Facebook page. I'll post what I can here. I'm still in Banff and fly out tomorrow!

Josh Kato called in from the Bolton Creek Trading Post! And NoBo Big Dave Wilson called in from Silver City!

http://mtbcast.com/site2/category/td14/

And here's a video of the group picture/video outside the YMCA!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTn_0Wlo8Mo

[mtbcast]

TD14 – Bill Peschka called in from Helena!

http://mtbcast.com/site2/category/td14/

[mtbcast]

#TD14 Day 1 and #TABR14 Day 7 True Up! The Tour Divide is on! Crazy weather for the start but it didn’t last. Weather broke with occasional showers as the racers turned South for the Mexican border! We talked to Jefe before the start and we true up TD and TABR calls!

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

[crazylarrybanff]

Amazing Rocky Mountain weather hits again!
Zipped over to the Goat Creek Trail head Canmore end to video racers and those touring the TDR as to what they might look like after leaving in the rain.
I got my ride from Shane's Rausch's wife (*Amazing person!) drove me and my bike in the back of a half ton only to encounter a full on snow storm with ONE INCH sized snow flakes wetter than a soggy diaper! Oh ya! Made everything even more miserable for each cyclist to get challenged as to what they chose for gear what they know about packing and preparation in this type of weather.
It ALL literally becomes a HUGE LEARNING CURVE as to what works and what doesn't  > QUICKLY! !!!

I will post some novice shot video of various TDR riders after I get some sleep tonight ok gang!? Thank Joe Polk for lending me your equipment sound recorder and two cameras to shoot the video's! Here's hoping you don't forget to send it to
Crazy Larry
P.O.Box 4147
Banff, Alberta
Canada
T1L 1E6 

Remember ~ Enjoy YOUR Epic Ride! Its personal.
It very much defines the person who you really are!
What an amazing testament to leave behind and learn of yourself.

This is Alex Harris zipping through the Mt. Shark area....We thinking we were early by 20 minutes when all of a sudden he Popped OUT on us; we QUICKLY pulled over to shoot this spontaneous video of him leaving the area fast.

Hope those that came enjoyed the QUESTION & Answer Session!??
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fIy1pTX2NSI

[landel]

Looks like Alex slept from around 1am to 5.30am but Jefe kept going. A little bit of breathing room but no sleep.

[seabrin]

Glad to see the Tour Divide 2014 underway after the floods last year. Good luck to everyone!


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[dream4est]

Sparwood
8am
I am hurting
Both knees

Whatever
Triple crowns don't care about knee pain

Weather was really bad
Pushing on after store

Having a blast even with some bad luck etc .
Tour divide is the shitt !!

[mtbcast]

TD14: Calls from Tony Litson, Max Morris, Charlie Kharsa, Josh Taylor, Mark Witcher, Ryan Lee, Andy Amick and
Payton MacDonald!

http://mtbcast.com/site2/category/td14/

[mtbcast]

TD14: Nat Cobb called in from Sparwood!

http://mtbcast.com/site2/category/td14/

[mtbcast]

Flying home today! It was so cool to see everyone at the start! Beautiful day as I leave.

[Team Rawson]

Thanks for all of the updates! My better half is riding without a spot tracker and it's good to know whats going on. No news is good news!

[Mrs.BigPoppa]

Is anyone very familiar with track leader?   I can see JV on the main leader board, but when I go to his individual page, it shows him stuck outside of Elkford.  Not that big of a deal, because I can see his actual location on the main page and on the spot page, but still… it's kind of driving me crazy.  I was glad to hear Mark Witcher's call in, we met him a couple different times while in Banff and chatted with him…  good guy and I wish him well!

[stappy]

Thanks Joe!

Jefe is amazing. Alex too and Eszter's ghost, she always holds her own. But right now I'm fascinated with Jefe, to my best estimate he has only taken 1, 1/2 hours or less of total stop time in the first 30 hours of racing. Amazing, no breakfast at cafe Jax for Jefe. I think it's safe to say that the conditions that everyone out there are prevailing over are far worse than we had last year. Great stuff.

[Coop]

Is Jefe riding singlespeed again?

[bmike-vt]

Is Jefe riding singlespeed again?

last blog post has a geared machine in a picture. not sure. don't they call out the SS folks on the track leaders page?

[JMThompson]

Jefe is riding geared. He mentions it when Joe from MTBCast interviews him in "TD14 Day 1 and TABR14 Day 7 True Up!"


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[threepin]

jefe cruised by my house at about 6:40 tonight
looked and sounded good considering no sleep and the snow.

[mbeardsl]

Looks like the no sleep strategy is paying off short term at least.  Looks to be just slightly ahead of record pace even with all of the weather he's had so far, although Jay did catch a couple hours of sleep where Jefe kept riding.  Either way, very fast start and just like Jefe to pull some BIG days.

What are some of the biggest pulls made to date in terms of miles?  Kurt did 360+ through Wyoming in 2011 I think (vs Jefe?).  I'm sure Mike Hall had a few big ones last year but I wasn't following very closely.  Jefe is at 372 as of last ping.

[ABfolder]

Took a trip to Banff in the drenching downpour yesterday morning to pick up some Geronimo Pain Cream that Mark Caminiti -- Go Mark Go! -- so kindly dragged up from Idaho Springs, Colorado for me. (I'm breaking in a Brooks Champion Flyer on my rig and paying the price on longer rides.) It was raining heavily all the way from Calgary to Banff with no let up. Of course, I had to partake in the Grand Depart at the YWCA as a spectator while picking up my goods.  The Y was a hive of activity as everyone nervously attended to their bikes and gear. As usual, Crazy Larry was in attendance and injecting the necessary local energy to the soggy festivities -- more on him later.

I had a nice chat with David Wicks out back of the Y -- Dave's a fast-riding Kiwi but currently resides in the Pineapple Belt of Australia at Brisbane. As a native Albertan and wildlife biologist -- one with dual Canadian-Australian citizenship -- I gave him a quick, fair dinkum rundown on the merits of having the canister of bear spray lashed onto your body rather than the bike. If a close encounter of the furry/toothy kind -- bear or cougar -- results in you getting knocked off and separated from your bike, you'd better have that spray on a hip holster or in your jersey pocket! Keep the trigger guard off it too, until you're back in civilized quarters with folks around. A griz can top out at 35mph -- that's 15-plus metres per second -- so you ain't gonna get a lot of time to get that trigger guard off, especially if the critter is coming at you at close range: http://www.thejasperlocal.com/exclusive-biker-describes-grizzly-attack.html .

I also ran into a friendly, bearded older fellow from Missouri who had raced the Divide before and took a few group photos for him using his camera. Later, I realized that I'd read an account about him on someone's TD blog and they noted that he was ALWAYS smiling when encountered. I assume he'll be spreading that happy attitude on this Tour as well. I'll have to track his name down unless someone can furnish it. Eventually, Marshal Bird showed up with his fancy yellow helmet rain-cover topping his outfit off. Marshal gives an old guy like me hope -- we're both 58 -- and I'm crossing my fingers that he'll lay some serious mileage ahead of a few of the younger whippersnappers. I offered him some ancient weather forecasting courtesy of the Blackfoot people who've hung around southern Alberta and Montana for about 10,000 years or so: In the Blackfoot calendar, the month of June is known as "When Long Rains Come". No kidding! June is not the ideal time to be out riding long distances in this part of the world -- unless you like rain (or snow at higher elevations). But the Tour goes on regardless....

I then drove up and over to Goat Creek trailhead above Canmore (more rain, streaming muddy road runoff and then HUGE flakes of snow) to see the early birds wing through enroute to the Smith Dorrien-Spray Trail (#742 South) and beyond.  Turns out a cheerleading squad was forming there with Crazy Larry as captain of the squad and Joe Polk of MTBCast as his chief assistant -- or was that the other way around. Two cheering ladies and a cheerful gent from Guelph, Ontario rounded out the motley crew. The entire surrounding was a winter wonderland with the flakes coating the nearby cliffs and trees. Great setting for some cheerleading and tour watching. We saw Alex Harris belt through early, Jefe next and then a steady procession of mere mortals following in their muddy wakes. Marshal Bird held his own plowing through at about 28th position. Thattaboy, Marshal. Kick some youthful butt! Best dressed award went to Katie and Sam on the tandem (I loved the matching skirts!) with "Mad Max" Morris sharing the honours with his Riding for Hanna(h?) outfit. Colorful, especially in the snow.

Note to future spectators: There are three squeeze-points where you can see all the riders zip by. They absolutely have to ride by you at these strategic spots so you're guaranteed action: Firstly, the Goat Creek trailhead above the Canmore Nordic Centre, then the Mount Shark exit off the Spray Lakes route and finally the Elk Pass trail over to B.C. I visited all three locations with most of my time spent at Goat Creek. Seeing Crazy Larry in action at Goat Creek was worth the trip from Calgary all on its own. That guy is like an Energizer Bunny on steroids! And I mean that in a good way. Joe Polk is a true gentleman of the south and I was impressed that he made the trip all the way from Atlanta, Georgia for MTBCast coverage. Two thumbs up for Joe and his work. The snow was coming down so heavy that the golf umbrella that I was using had to be shaken periodically to get the piling accumulation off. Note to the lady cheerleaders: Consider the other umbrella that I lent you as yours now. Just pay it forward in some way. To me, Goat Creek was the highlight of the day and showed the true grit that the riders had in them -- especially as they pedaled up the last steep rise (with some muttering under their breath: "If you weren't watching us, we'd be WALKING our bikes up that killer rise right now!"). Crazy Larry admitted that he'd never been able to bike up it himself and always hike-a-biked it.

After a short trip to Mt Shark -- where Crazy Larry talked me out of the remainder of my lunch (it was for a very good cause, folks, I swear) -- I finished up with a hike up Elk Pass and saw the three frontrunners spin their way up the notorious Wall. Steep it is -- but luckily it was fairly dry. Even so, I saw some tire spinning going up on the loose gravel. I also ran into a couple of guys from California bikepack touring the route. The giveaway? Revelate Designs gear festooned both bikes: front, frame and rear! And they also had platform pedals for touring, not racing.

I have a bunch of photos to share of the Goat Creek riders and now have to figure out how to resize them to smaller files. Wouldn't you like to see Katie and Sam in their skirts or Alex Harris running through the deep rain/snow pool (first) at Goat Creek? How about Crazy Larry egging on Jefe Branham (second at that point)? And maybe some other shots?