Tour Divide 2015 for armchair viewers

[Blackhound]

That's amazing to see the difference Andy. In 2011 I went over Indiana Pass with a few snow patches here and there on the banks but a clear trail. One of the NoBo's who I passed in the Basin (a French man based in Washington DC) posted a pic of the snow above his bike though a clear-ish trail.

We had good weather pretty much throughout starting in July and trails clear of snow. JayP has had some fast runs in August.

[johnnystorm]

Why didn't that picture come up ?

This link will find the picture, not quite what I wanted but hey ho !

https://www.flickr.com/gp/133365081@N08/K33n0q

It says "sharing is restricted for this photo" when I was trying to be a smartarse and post it up!

[GregMay]

IIRC someone asked about colours - looks like a slightly different annotation system:

[atk]

^ and rectangles are progress for an assortment of course records/time estimations, way easier than trying to figure it out from last year's timings!

[Scattamah]

G'day to all in Bearbones land. I'm currently laid up in Columbia Falls with a bag of ice on my right knee. Trails are superb this year. I bivvied on the climb up to Red Meadow lake last night and almost didn't recognize it this morning with no snow. Got some cleat/saddle adjustments done @ Glacier Cyclery in Whitefish and tried for another bash, but the knee started protesting in earnest. Will see how it's doing in the morning.

As to my crash, it wasn't too bad. 40mph down a greasy hill and I simply ran out of corner ending up in a ditch. Lois is fine. I have 2 x chunks missing from lower right leg. Scrubbing sunburnt legs with alcohol wipes was mighty interesting.

Anyways...waiting for pizza and pasta to arrive...I hope his finds you all well.

Greetz

S.

[jay91]

Keep in going scott! Just heard your mtb-cast

[FLV]

Indeed, keep going scott.

Also, looks like Gabe put some big miles in.

[jameso]

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?

[Blackhound]

Gabe is going well just outside 20 day pace according to the flag. He is on a fast section from Seeley Lake to a little past Lincoln. I found the Lincoln to the bottom of Fleecer Ridge to be one of the harder sections of the route.

Gabe is with Jill Homer who is well ahead of her previous pace but she is far more experienced these days. Interesting watching her ride and only a couple of hours behind Alice.

Just heard SCott's call in - trust all is well with him.

[Wotsits]

Hope you're ok after your tumble & your knee settles down Scott..

[johnnystorm]

Gabe is with Jill Homer who is well ahead of her previous pace but she is far more experienced these days.
.

Ooh, get him rubbing shoulders with the celebs!

Something up with the web browser here at work, it's not displaying the blue dots on the main map but I can at least see the individual progress pages.

[composite]

Hey good luck Gabe and Scott. Belated I know, I have been off the radar for a while and letting everything cycling related pass me by so it doesn't depress me even more that I'm (in the main) off the bike at the moment. I'm on the blue dot watching now though.

Welcome to the forum Kattamah by the way... we spoke on skype once very briefly haha.

[jameso]

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.

[FLV]

Is it a tactic he uses or just the way he prefers it I wonder?

ps. how can you tell on tackleaders when people have stopped?

[Mart]

how can you tell on tackleaders when people have stopped?

As far as I can make out the blue dot gets faint when it doesnt move for a while. If you click on the dot it gives you the time since last update, but you dont know for sure as it could be that the system hasnt updated or batterys run down

I hadnt noticed that Alex Harris was doing this - need to watch more closely!

[Justchris]

Just wondered if anyone knew why there is a reroute after Atlantic City. Missing Rawlins? Can't seem to find a reason on bikepacking.net

Thanks

Chris

[johnnystorm]

Just wondered if anyone knew why there is a reroute after Atlantic City. Missing Rawlins? Can't seem to find a reason on bikepacking.net

Thanks

Chris

Big set of roadworks. Details on P1 of this thread.

[Justchris]

Big set of roadworks. Details on P1 of this thread.[/quote]

Duhhhh.

Thanks

Chris

[jameso]

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 impression he almost liked testing himself under those conditions. Apparently he won the SA Freedom Challenge over 11 days on about 15hrs kip in total. He's not the fastest over a ~6hrs sort of ride compared to many but I have huge respect for his ability to just keep at it.
Edit - actually that comment about his pace is disrespectful / wrong. He's an ex Masters track champion in SA and his steady pace much of the time early on in 2013 was far more likely from experience - he didn't hang around on day one this year did he. I'd really like to see him win it this year, I doubt he'll actually beat Jay P but it'd mean a huge amount to him and he's lined up 3 yrs running which is quite something in itself.

[jameso]

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

[FLV]

Looking close again at the front. Seb Dunne getting into the mix too

[Farawayvisions]

Who, from this forum is doing the race? (Real names with forum names so I can make the association please).
Thanks.

[Bearbonesnorm]

Who, from this forum is doing the race? (Real names with forum names so I can make the association please).

Scott McKinnon - Scattamah
Gabriel Mac - Mountainbaker

[Blackhound]

Scattamah = Scott McKinnon
mountainbaker = Gabriel Mak

Also from UK is Andy Laycock, do not know who he is or frequents this forum.

[Blackhound]

Pictures of Gabe in Ovando on the TD race page at www.bikepacking.net on pages 17 & 18. Looks like a fat belly to me on one of them!