Tour Divide race discussion

[Kattamah]

TD14: Jean Fankhauser called in from Island Park. He is waiting with Scott McKinnon for his parts.
http://mtbcast.com/site2/category/td14/

With photos of the mechanical issue at hand... And what's for dinner! (Mathew Lee special, apparently) hopefully the images will attach while using an iPad...

[Kattamah]

Woopsie... Little bit bigger than I thought they'd be.. Sorry folks I have no idea how to fix it!

[Mathewsen]

With photos of the mechanical issue at hand... And what's for dinner! (Mathew Lee special, apparently) hopefully the images will attach while using an iPad...

Salted nut roll in the kingsize might be the quintessential Divide staple. weighs nothing, doesn't really melt, 6 or 7 hundred calories per bar, quite edible, pretty ubiquitous.

[ZackR]

Looks like Calvin Decker is chowin' down at Pie Town. Man, he's been haulin'!

[mtbcast]

TD14: Jefe Branham called in with his finish call. He’s spent but happy he is done!

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

[BrianR]

Good effort Brian!  Hard decision, but at least you can pedal  home.  I have often wondered about the psychology of having a hometown on or near the route... gotta be tough to keep pushing on if things aren't going as well as you'd hoped. 

I had the best time racing in the Tour Divide.  There were many reasons I chose to drop after 15 days and around 1,500 miles.  Thought you all might want to know why I dropped as I wonder why other riders dropped.  I'm not making excuses for not finishing, but just want to share the immensity of the Tour Divide from a family man/business owner/hometown on the route racer perspective.   Here you go:

   - Expected/planned for 130 miles per day, Actual mileage was roughly 100 miles per day.
   - Achilles swelling and pain started on day 4 and continued till end.  I was pedaling at 50% power.
   - Needed more sleep/restorative time than initially thought, approx 7 hours/day.
   - Passing the halfway point on day 14 was really tough mentally.  Another 1400 miles to ride?  Holy s#*t!
   - Head winds, rain, mud and lightning in WY beat me down.  Also, ran out of food in Basin because left backpack during stop.  Really no   
      food in Atlantic City (cleaned out from SOBO riders) meant long 100 mile hungry/headwind ride to Pinedale.
   - Psychological factors:  Really missed pregnant wife and 2 kids at home, business owner responsibilities, home a short ride away and already
      ridden the next 450 miles of the GDMBR.

[Mathewsen]

Nice riding Brian! Bonus miles for each child you rear and business owned. An important thing is how you apply your experience back home.

[mtbcast]

TD14 Day 17 and TABR14 Day 23 Episode and True Up! Jefe Branham posts a sub-17 finish, some bonus audio with Crazy Larry, and we true up your calls from today!

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

[dream4est]

In steamboat
Going for more
Loving it tonight
Night moves

[BobM]

In steamboat
Going for more
Loving it tonight
Night moves

Is anyone else enjoying all this great poetry?  Reminds me of haiku.

[omurphy]

Congratulations, Jefe! What a ride (beginning way back in the cold, dark months of winter). Your determination and endurance are amazing. Here's to many more adventures!

Scott and Ibis: Thanks so much for recognizing Jefe's efforts. This guy is the epitome of bikepacking: driven, adventurous, honorable, and overall just a really nice guy!

[mtbcast]

Processing a call from Lorenzo. He came over to Cuba from Abiquiu and reports forest fires up there. We may see issues coming through there.

[Woodland]

Is anyone else enjoying all this great poetry?  Reminds me of haiku.

I always love Mark's call-ins and 'snippets' from the trail...dude knows how to live for the moment!

[mtbcast]

TD14: Lorenzo Serra called in from Cuba. He reports fire on the way from Abiquiu! And Katy and Sam Newbury called in from just south of Grants! They fought through some heat and flats!
http://mtbcast.com/site2/category/td14/

[MDSeaburg]

Take this with a grain of salt because it's from a race non-completer. But I must say that the new route from Basin to Butte is very nice. The scenery is gorgeous. The hill climbing up to the continental divide crossing is pretty gradual. And the downhill on the other side is fun. It beats riding on the interstate.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1iyXrTvW-9Ev5PBdRTN2N41C_QHs1clo-ZkFdDBZfja0/pubhtml#

[mtbcast]

TD14: Valerie Kato called in from Steamboat Springs after a stop at Brush Mountain Lodge for some good food from Kirsten!

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

[Flinch]

Fire situation in New Mexico.

June 29, 2014, 3:00 pm – Santa Fe, NM – Firefighters are actively suppressing the Diego Fire, located on Santa Fe National Forest’s Coyote Ranger District, nine miles southeast of Coyote [Approx 12 miles SW of Abiquiu Reservoir]. It has grown to approximately 200 acres in size. The fire, lightning caused, was first detected earlier this week. It is burning primarily in dead fuels. The fire behavior has increased and includes some torching and spotting. This morning, a spot fire quickly grew to 30 acres in size, and is expected to burn into the main fire sometime today.

June 29, 2014 – Santa Fe, NM – The Diego Fire, located seven miles southwest of Coyote, New Mexico is currently at approximately 107 acres. This lightning fire started on June 15 and is burning in mixed conifer and aspen, at an elevation of 9500 feet just off Forest Service Road 93.

Fire is being managed with a full suppression confinement strategy. Yesterday’s fire activity includes a few spots east of the fire. Currently there are five engines, one Hotshot firefighting crew, one helicopter and various other fire personnel on scene.

Today’s weather is predicted to be mostly sunny with a slight chance of dry thunderstorms in the afternoon. Winds will be out of the west at 5-10 mph with gusts at 30 mph.

Smoke may be visible from Coyote, Gallina, Youngsville and Taos.

As a reminder, Stage 1 fire restrictions remain in effect on the Jemez Ranger District, Cuba Ranger District south of NM Highway 126, and the Valles Caldera National Preserve.

For additional information on the Diego Fire, please call the Coyote Ranger District at 575-638-5526.


ASAAYI LAKE: Incident Kind: Wildfire;     Strategy: Suppression
Located:: 5 miles southeast of Crystal, NM (35.9963N, 108.9202W)
Size: 14,712 acres.? 90% contained.? Started 6/13.? Human caused. Suppression strategy. [Note: Crystal located far NW corner of New Mexico, so no threat to TD route.]

Be safe out there.

And go Calvin!

[Kattamah]

Salted nut roll in the kingsize might be the quintessential Divide staple. weighs nothing, doesn't really melt, 6 or 7 hundred calories per bar, quite edible, pretty ubiquitous.

Heh, I think he's read your lists on gear and food before, and is now trying em out for himself. So far you haven't been wrong according to him. Cheers for all your input!

@flinch: thank you for the fire updates.

[bikeny]

Anyone know anything about Lorenzo? No Spot movement in like 14 hours!

[Mathewsen]

Anyone know anything about Lorenzo? No Spot movement in like 14 hours!

He texted me last night around 11pm MDT to relay info about the fire. I think he would have indicated if he was scratching. His batts may be failed, or he forgot to engage tracking.