Pretty amazing last 100 miles for the front 3, a movie-plot win for Josh Kato too. I wonder how he got 10 miles on the others in such a short time? Maybe he was simply fresher at the end. Amazing ride from them all. Interesting read from Jay Petervary here, http://salsacycles.com/culture/why_tour_di...

1600 miles isn't much, although mileage doesn't tell a lot of the story and I suspect like most sane people he's not recording everything on strava ; ) You'd not log turbo miles either, he's a Colorado local so must be doing something like that when the trails were snow-bound, XC skiing for base fit...

Stu's used them enough to know. Personally if it's on the forks I'd want it to be fixed 100% solid. If I can pull it out by hand I'm not fitting it there, ie bottles on my fork get a strap to back up the cage grip. The front wheel hitting bumps at speed creates a fair bit of 'ejection force' and I'v...

I think some of the pro roadies could drop almost straight in, after some basic BP-craft practice, but I'm not sure. What I'm basing that on is that the pro XC or road racer has the base fitness that means they could adapt to become a fast TDR racer in a fairly short time from making the call to rac...

i like to think that the bikepacking races can/are won by normal people with no big backing as such. Agreed, though the format itself is a good leveller. It's the full-time training advantage that pros have that may be seen as 'unfair', another debate I guess. Also even the back markers on the long...

what a pro road racer would make of this. Classic campfire debate .. I suspect anyone with pro road fitness has the capability to win the TDR but I'm not sure you could step out of that world into this one easily, the demands on the body etc mean it would at least have an impact on road-race form? ...

The compromise becomes "the way to do things"(TM) with few if any questioning if it's the best for every situation. True. Same goes for SPDs for touring and a whole lot of other stuff that make me realise that Grant Petersen was right after all / I'm getting older and it's just an age thi...

I remember hitting sections of washboard at speed and thinking it was the worst thing I'd ever felt on a bike :shock: no Morzine braking bumps are that bad, ever. A rhythmic shaking that made my brain rattle and all my muscles shake, horrible. You get up to speed downhill and try to take a line that...

But does being "loaded" change the way you ride at all? Yes. I do pack light and (I think) pack well but I can't ride a loaded bike the way I do unloaded. Getting wheels off the ground in a big way isn't my style but it's harder to hop and jump the bike with bags on and clanking a rim hav...

Maybe I should add, I use merino boxers under baggies rather than a like-for-like replacement for lycra shorts alone

Red bumps - that's heat / sweat / pores related I think. I've stopped using padded shorts now after being unable to avoid sores like that at times on longer rides or a long weekend of riding. I ride 4-5 times most weeks even if for just an hour or 2 at a time some days and have found the sore spots ...

What sort of ground is being covered? Mostly fire road type tracks or closer to what we'd term singletrack? Fire roads mainly, a lot of county roads which are just unmaintained (edit, dirt/gravel) back-roads. Some sections are quite rocky and much of it is loose and sandy, there's some singletrack ...

JP and NB in Abiquiu together earlier. Of the chasers Seb Dunne is out with broken ti forks. Could have been painful I believe. Jameso - what do you make of JP's bb issues in last photo of the link above? I saw that, 'interesting' mechanicals huh. I'd say Salsa are raving mad making a 'TDR' bike wi...

^ that is brilliant .. this made me chuckle in Spain -



'Hammer time' beats 'crushing epics', just.

Aw cmon : ) people don't need to see this video to think of the idea, they just like to see it illustrated or their ideas reinforced. Maybe I'm miles off, I don't really do or get a lot of marketing .. I just don't see the big problem with this clip, it's quite 'American' but maybe that lack of cyni...

It's an advert isn't it, I took it as some people riding w/o any sense of needing to express how epic/hard/original they were, just showing that a road/cx bike can have a bash at exploring. Pretty well pitched for the market who're looking for a road bike with a bit more options open to them, maybe ...

Great link Kevin, some really good insights there. Still rooting for Alex to be quietly biding his time for a long ride move rather than fading in that front group!

New places. That's what I ride for, that and the simple buzz of riding but the buzz can be dulled by overly familiar surroundings. Familiarity can breed contempt, it's true. I love my local short singletrack loops but the fire for riding further has to come from new places. I was out the other day o...

All good then.

Ton, Evans have a right-bike guarantee now - http://www.evanscycles.com/help/right-bike-guarantee If it's clean and only 1 ride old you can return it.
Sorry that it's not a good fit, intended to be ok up to 6'3" or more.

So sorry to read that Scott.

Remember that you succeeded the moment you stepped over the line to start.

100% spot on.

Jay P making a move now, or Neil Bletchenko fading? He's suddenly got 20 miles over Neil since Polaris.

Is it a tactic he uses or just the way he prefers it I wonder? Both, as I understood it. Certainly a strength he has, he knows he can deal with the sleep monster well and uses daytime powernaps to cope. Talked about the psychological / sleep-deprived side of it with him a bit in 2013 and got the im...

Alex Harris is back to his 'offset' ride/sleep patterns again. I wonder if that will put any pressure on Jay P and Neil B. As soon as you rest, he catches up.

Heal fast Scott! Sunburn, gotta laugh a little eh .. of all the things : )

Gabriel looks to have left the possible comforts of Seeley Lake and headed out after 1am?