GDR Updates

[mikesee]

Hey Gang-

It's finally here--the GDR starts on Friday. Dunno yet the exact number of folks that are planning to start, but it seems a lock that we'll have over double the competitors of any previous year.

You can get some idea of what the GDR is about here.

You can read the racers' daily updates here.

And you can find the daily podcasts here.

You can also plow through all of the pre-race scuttlebutt and hullabaloo if you're so inclined.

The blog page will be for racer updates only. Please use this thread to discuss, speculate, encourage and heckle as they roll along the spine of the continent.

Cheers,

MC

[alizbee]

Good luck everyone!

[PDB]

Good luck to all -
and try not to die

[vzman]

May the force be with you all.

[Guitar Ted]

May the GDR competitors have the time of their lives and be successful in their endeavors.

Can't wait for the next few weeks of "eyes glued to the internet" spectator fun.

Special shout out to Dave Nice. allez! Keep yer clothes on! allez!

[Pivvay]

We'll be watching from Denver. Good luck to all the GDR racers!

[Krein]

The leaders should be rolling through Whitefish right about now. Matt Lee says there is unofficial bragging rights for the first racer into town. That probably means it'll be him, but you never know. Everyone generally hangs out at the convienence store outside of town, with 100 miles down, 2400 (!!) to go.

Looks like there might have been a spot of rain about this afterrnoon, but otherwise a nice day for riding. More serious rain is forecast over the weekend.

Let's hope Tom P's fingers are feeling as fresh -- it's going to be a fair bit of keyboard mashin' for him with 21 racers calling in.

[Rich007]

Rock on guys. You are amazing!!!

BTW, the MTBcast.com has awesome updates. Thanks guys for putting it together. It's really appreciated

[Krein]

Originally Posted by Rich007

BTW, the MTBcast.com has awesome updates. Thanks guys for putting it together. It's really appreciated

I'll have to agree here. Big thanks to Joe Polk at mtbcast. His first episode with all the various interviews was very well done and quite interesting. Pretty cool to hear a few words from many of the racers as they are looking down the barrel of the GDR. Thanks for making the trip up there, Joe!

Looks like Pete, Jay and Mike are out ahead, with Matt close behind. Everything changes depending on where and how much everyone slept last night.

Pete sure seems to be flying. Seely Lake is ~242 miles into the route, with barely over 24 hours on the clock. There are some very flat, easy miles at the beginning of the route, but he's also gone through some slower stuff up on Richmond Hill.

The other leaders may not have gone off-route to Seely, instead opting for Ovando, which is only 30 miles down the road. We may hear from them there instead.

[Krein]

Hi all,

I took the liberty of making a table that plots the racers at each call in point.

Find it here:

http://topofusion.com/divide/GDR07.htm

I also included Mike's 2004 record pace at the bottom of the table. Both John N. and Pete B. are right on track with that pace as of the last update.

Accuracy is not guaranteed! If you notice any discrepancies between Tom P's updates and the table, please email me at smorris AT topofusion.com and I'll fix it. I will try to update it once a day or so.

There are still some folks we haven't heard from yet.

[trail717]

Originally Posted by Krein

Hi all,

I took the liberty of making a table that plots the racers at each call in point.

Find it here:

http://topofusion.com/divide/GDR07.htm

I also included Mike's 2004 record pace at the bottom of the table. Both John N. and Pete B. are right on track with that pace as of the last update.

Accuracy is not guaranteed! If you notice any discrepancies between Tom P's updates and the table, please email me at smorris AT topofusion.com and I'll fix it. I will try to update it once a day or so.

There are still some folks we haven't heard from yet.

Hey Scott, this table is great , thanks for making it up!!!!!!!!!

[davidarnott]

Anyone know whats going on with Nathan Bay?

[mtn_man2]

Originally Posted by davidarnott

Anyone know whats going on with Nathan Bay?

Looks like we just got a recent update and Nathan made it to Seely Lake at 1:30pm today (sunday).

It should be interesting with John Nobile's mechanical. Hopefully it won't slow him down too much but it seems like he'll loose precious time.

Go Jay!

[grroes]

Looks like jay and pete are into butte a little over 3 hours ahead of mike's record pace! i have a feeling these two are going to be seeing a lot of each other throughout this ride.

[alizbee]

Looks like snow is wreaking havoc on the main pack today. Fun reading, but I would guess those guys are freezing cold and miserable.

Keep truckin' fellas!

[Pivvay]

Inspired (as always). I've been tinkering all day playing "what if". Hard to imagine snow with temperatures in the 90s here though!

Go Dave! Go everyone!

[goldenboy]

Boy do I love this shtuff!! The write-ups and mtbcast are addictive and incredibly inspiring -and it's only day three. Thanks.

Even the missus has gotten the bug (not all that surpising really) and we are thinking about doing a camping trip with the 10-month old to cheer on the some of the riders. Anybody have suggestions for a good spot to see the non-stop-action close to the front-range here in CO. We may not even see anybody, but a sign on the side of trail would go a long way if it were me.

Thanks again.

[Krein]

Originally Posted by grroes

Looks like jay and pete are into butte a little over 3 hours ahead of mike's record pace! i have a feeling these two are going to be seeing a lot of each other throughout this ride.

Yep, and they will likely jump quite a bit ahead of his pace at the next few call-in spots. Mike had to wait for the Outdoorsman (awesome bike shop in Butte that has always helped lost GDR souls) to open. That cost him some serious time, and it's reflected in his Wise River split.

Sounds like it paid to be fast, avoiding the big snow storm on Richmond Hill.

Good stuff. Thanks for all the transcribing, Tom!

Oh, I updated the table as of Matt's last call in (between Helena and Butte).

http://topofusion.com/divide/GDR07.htm

[MarkoInTheBoat]

Originally Posted by goldenboy

Anybody have suggestions for a good spot to see the non-stop-action close to the front-range here in CO. We may not even see anybody, but a sign on the side of trail would go a long way if it were me.

Thanks again.

Matthew sounds right on schedule to hit the Colorado border around mid day Friday. Maybe Jay and Pete will be close behind.
If you wanted to set up a camp site to the west of Steamboat Lake on FSR 42 (the road up Sand Mountain and to California Park) Its right on the GDR route. If I were you I'd set up camp on Thursday afternoon to make sure you dont miss any of the excitement.

There are also some nice (fee area) camp sites south of Steamboat on Lynx/Gore pass that are right on the GDR route.
I will be heading north of Steamboat on my bike this weekend to see if I can stumble across anyone.

[Dave in Driggs]

Go JayP! Way to stir up the early portion of the race and maintain the fast pace!

The MTBCast is awesome, thanks!
Scott, the table is a great visual too, thanks!

[TomP]

Originally Posted by MarkoInTheBoat

...If you wanted to set up a camp site to the west of Steamboat Lake on FSR 42 (the road up Sand Mountain and to California Park) Its right on the GDR route...

Not to detract from the beauty and location on the route that Marko recommends, but the route comes almost right into Salida. Traditionally most all the riders come to the shop where I work, Absolute Bikes, and alternately, there are lots of lovely camping spots on the Marshall Pass Road where the riders climb up out of the Arkansas River Valley.

Ooh. I just remembered, the Marshall Pass Road is closed on the west side of the pass, at least to motor vehicle traffic--washout. I wonder if a bypass should be proposed.

Looks like I have a job for today.

[Krein]

Originally Posted by TomP

Ooh. I just remembered, the Marshall Pass Road is closed on the west side of the pass, at least to motor vehicle traffic--washout. I wonder if a bypass should be proposed.

Looks like I have a job for today.

Hey Tom,

If the washout is safely passable on foot (carrying bike), it will be best to stick to the official route. Most washouts usually are, and then it's just a matter of whether someone is actually there to enforce the closure. "Road closed" often doesn't mean the road is closed to foot/bike traffic.

Also, can you link this thread from the GDR update page? Maybe on the side "blogroll", or just in an actual post at some point. I'm sure some people following the race would like to make comments and cheer people on and don't know about this thread.

Oh, Pete and Jay called in from Butte, not Helena. Matt fell a little short of the usual goal of making it to Butte, which is why he was explaining that he didn't make it. It's not a hard ride from Basin (where he stopped) to Butte (unless there are strong headwinds, like he described), so he shouldn't be too far behind them this AM.

Thanks.

[edemtbs]

Originally Posted by TomP

Ooh. I just remembered, the Marshall Pass Road is closed on the west side of the pass, at least to motor vehicle traffic--washout. I wonder if a bypass should be proposed.

Looks like I have a job for today.

Hey Tom - do you think the snow will still be an issue by the time the leaders come through your neck of the woods? Saw your post about the drifts, etc.

Great job on the updates - thanks!!

Ed

[TomP]

Originally Posted by Krein

Hey Tom,

If the washout is safely passable on foot (carrying bike), it will be best to stick to the official route. Most washouts usually are, and then it's just a matter of whether someone is actually there to enforce the closure. "Road closed" often doesn't mean the road is closed to foot/bike traffic.

Yep, that's true. I will get my butt up there to look at it in person. But you're right, it would have to be pretty much an h-bomb crater to be impassable on a bike or on foot.

Originally Posted by Krein

Also, can you link this thread from the GDR update page? Maybe on the side "blogroll", or just in an actual post at some point.

Yep, I'll do that right away. I don't have access to the Blog "settings" (only Mike has that) but I'll put the link into a post.

Originally Posted by Krein

Oh, Pete and Jay called in from Butte, not Helena...

Doh! Yep. I got Pete's call mixed up with Rick Hunter saying "lovely downtown Helena". It got late last night, and I was waxed from carrying a chainsaw 12 miles on foot.

I know; excuses, excuses. I'll get it fixed up on the blog.

[TomP]

Snow won't be an issue at least around here. The GD Route doesn't go on the CDNST, it stays on the road. And the road is snow-free.

And I'm betting that the drifts on the CDNST will be gone 10 days from now anyway. Warm and windy up this way lately, and the nights haven't been below freezing.

[darceybennett]

Hi, new to this, table which shows routes/arrivals/times etc. absolutely brilliant, makes my life here back in the UK soooo much easier, huge thank you.
I'm following Bruce and the guys from the UK.... the reporting and coverage has been fantastic, so a HUGE thank you from all over here for the gr8 job you are doing keeping us posted on progress, helps me sleep easier at nights, rather than worrying that a grizzly has had a crunchy breakfast of Bruce or the guys! Keep up the excellent reporting, thanks again

[darceybennett]

Hi Tom, just want to say thank you for the fantastic job you are doing keeping us all up to date with the GDR racers progress. Following progress, checking where my younger brother Bruce and the other UK riders are is rapidly becoming a daily pleasure. The additional links you are giving are insightful for those of us not quite on your side of the world! The descriptions from riders, yourself and others following the race is truly helping me understand exactly what they are having to deal with on a daily basis. The interviews at the start were gr8 to hear, hearing my brother speaking via a phone call whilst undertaking the Prologue was bordering on surreal. Keep up the outstanding transcribing of phone calls, I for one really appreciate all the hard work you are putting in, THANK YOU so much

[SandyUtah]

Tom, Your chart is great. Thanks for the effort. I'm closely tracking the results on behalf of Team McFee. We think he may have hit Helena around noon today (Mon 6/18). We're hoping he may call in from either Basin or Butte later tonight.

[goldenboy]

Originally Posted by TomP

Not to detract from the beauty and location on the route that Marko recommends, but the route comes almost right into Salida. Traditionally most all the riders come to the shop where I work, Absolute Bikes, and alternately, there are lots of lovely camping spots on the Marshall Pass Road where the riders climb up out of the Arkansas River Valley.

Ooh. I just remembered, the Marshall Pass Road is closed on the west side of the pass, at least to motor vehicle traffic--washout. I wonder if a bypass should be proposed.

Looks like I have a job for today.

Thanks for the great recommendations guys. Steamboat could be an excellent choice, but then again Salida sounds fun too. It has to be hikable, ridable and have something besides a biker on a trail to offer Mainly tho', it was the 'when do they get there' question that I have a hard time guessing. Time to consult the map.

Tom, when do you think they will push thru your neck o' the woods? And have you broken 1OO degrees down there yet?

[Jdub]

Originally Posted by goldenboy

Thanks for the great recommendations guys. Steamboat could be an excellent choice, but then again Salida sounds fun too. It has to be hikable, ridable and have something besides a biker on a trail to offer Mainly tho', it was the 'when do they get there' question that I have a hard time guessing. Time to consult the map.

Tom, when do you think they will push thru your neck o' the woods? And have you broken 1OO degrees down there yet?

Also could consider the Silverthorne area, good riding to be found that direction and its really close to the Front Range.

[goldenboy]

Originally Posted by Jdub

Also could consider the Silverthorne area, good riding to be found that direction and its really close to the Front Range.

Thanks Jdub. I thought of that too, b ut it seems we are always driving that damnn I-70 corridor.

[Krein]

JP continues to fly along the route. If my math is correct, he's into Lima 12 hours ahead of Mike and Pete's '04 pace. He said he was continuing on and seems to be feeling good.

Impressive stuff.

Hopefully we'll hear from Pete soon. Matt will also likely be pushing to Lima, but it could be a late arrival there for him.

Table is updated, and visually easier to understand now too.

http://topofusion.com/divide/GDR07.htm

[TomP]

Originally Posted by Jdub

Also could consider the Silverthorne area, good riding to be found that direction and its really close to the Front Range.

... we've been seeing quite a bit of those summit county folks. Still LOTS of snow up on their singletrack.

FYI.

[TomP]

Originally Posted by goldenboy

...It has to be hikable, ridable and have something besides a biker on a trail to offer Mainly tho', it was the 'when do they get there' question that I have a hard time guessing. Time to consult the map.

Tom, when do you think they will push thru your neck o' the woods? And have you broken 1OO degrees down there yet?

Matthew Lee got here 10 days from the start last year, and the monsoons were raging starting around the 1st. He lost lots of riding time during the northern CO route. Considering how fast JP is going, and how close Pete, Matthew, and Rick Hunter are behind him--if the weather holds I think it's conceivable they could be here late on the 23rd or early the 24th? All speculation at this point. Lots ahead of them.

No 100 degrees. It got pretty danged warm today, with a pretty hefty dry wind (chinook). Maybe 80s?

[Jdub]

Originally Posted by TomP

... we've been seeing quite a bit of those summit county folks. Still LOTS of snow up on their singletrack.

FYI.

True. Really the only advantage Silverthorne has for me is proximity, as I'd take the Salida riding anyday.

[grroes]

Originally Posted by Krein

JP continues to fly along the route. If my math is correct, he's into Lima 12 hours ahead of Mike and Pete's '04 pace. He said he was continuing on and seems to be feeling good.

Impressive stuff.

Hopefully we'll hear from Pete soon. Matt will also likely be pushing to Lima, but it could be a late arrival there for him.

Table is updated, and visually easier to understand now too.

http://topofusion.com/divide/GDR07.htm

interesting that pete hasn't called in all day. can't wait to see if he calls soon from Lima or if he's already pushing on from somewhere beyond lima and calls in from further down the road. at any rate, we likely won't know until the morning. come on pete, how are we all supposed to sleep tonight with the suspense?

[creativetype]

Jdub, I came here to follow the discussion of the GDR, which my brother is riding in as a rookie ... I couldn't help but notice you were rockin' the O-State logo, which happens to be my alma mater ('92) and longtime employer (since 1995). Also, starting this fall my brother Jon Billman (the one in the GDR) will be a professor here at OSU, so you can cheer for a Cowboy in the race. Anyway, just wanted to say "hi" and "GO POKES!"

To the others, please keep the info and informative comments coming. It definitely is addicting to follow, but sometimes agonizing between blog entries. My brother hasn't called in since Seeley Lake, but in this type of event, it seems that no news is often good news.

As for my own mountain biking experience, well I'm just now getting into it (bought a new entry-level bike last week in fact to ride with my brother on the trails and my young kids around town) and am enjoying what the sport has to offer.

Cheers!

Clay

P.S. to Jdub: My new bike is ORANGE & BLACK!

[Jdub]

Originally Posted by creativetype

rockin' the O-State logo

Yep, I'm a proud OState alumni myself ('98), and even though I've relocated to Colorado in recent years I still keep very current on the Cowboys.

Always good to stumble upon other Pokes, and good luck and wishes to your brother in the race. I'm in awe that anyone even attempts this and dumbfounded that people can actually finish it.

If I make it out to cheer the racers on, I'll be sure and look for your brother and tell him he's got a fan club.

Oh and my latest bike was a 29er singlespeed in bright Cowboy orange too.

[paulclimb510]

Clay, my name is Paul Jacobson. I went down to Dirty Kanza with Jon. Please let him know that I am watching the updates daily! Here I rode with him for hours and rode in the car with him for nearly 12 hours and he didn't say a word about going to the GDR. I sure hope that he is writing an article on the way! We would all love to read it!

Paul Jacobson

[cruiser13]

Thank you so much Joe & Tom for keeping me on the edge of my computer seat!!! The upates are awesome!

[creativetype]

Hi, Paul! Small world, huh? The Dirty Kanza was Jon's major tune-up before the GDR.
I think he was afraid of jinxing his ride if he talked about it too much. A few times he wondered what he was getting himself into. He will be writing about it, definitely, but I'm not sure when it will come out. He's already talking about doing the Kansas ride again next year, but hopes to eliminate all the flats next time around.

Tom, a small favor to ask: Somewhere along the GDR, Jon lost the other "l" in his last name. Can you correct the update pages to read "Billman" instead of "Bilman?" Great job keeping up with the race, by the way. Thanks so much from all of Jon's family back home.

[TomP]

Originally Posted by creativetype

... Tom, a small favor to ask: Somewhere along the GDR, Jon lost the other "l" in his last name. Can you correct the update pages to read "Billman" instead of "Bilman?"

Sorry for the mistake. It's been cleaned up.

[goldenboy]

So I got to planning a camping trip with the wife and wee one that might include some Great Divide Racer action. Then I realized that I don't know the exact route. The only place I can find it is on the Adventure Cycling and you have to pay for a copy. It won't arrive in time and I don't have the $ anyway. Are there any other places I could find the route through CO?

[Krein]

Originally Posted by goldenboy

So I got to planning a camping trip with the wife and wee one that might include some Great Divide Racer action. Then I realized that I don't know the exact route. The only place I can find it is on the Adventure Cycling and you have to pay for a copy. It won't arrive in time and I don't have the $ anyway. Are there any other places I could find the route through CO?

If you have mapping software that reads GPX files, you can go here:

http://www.topofusion.com/divide/gps.php

I recommend the 10K, route-only file. You should be able to figure out the route through CO. If you've got a GPS, even better -- you can load up the whole route if you want. There are instructions on that page.

[Krein]

Table is updated. Jay needs to slow down -- I didn't think I'd need to extend the table further until tomorrow's round of updates!

Jay's comment about the washboards hit home for me. That was the only day on the divide (when I toured it) where I was miserable. Miles and miles of soft railroad bed that has been destroyed by folks on ATVs. I have never, ever, seen worse washboard than on that rail trail. And it just... never.... ends.



Washboard doesn't usually show up in photos. The fact that it does here tells you how deep those corrugations are.

[BoundaryZeroChris]

I am touring the GDMBR from Banff south starting in late July and have posted some simple photo type maps with the route included to my blog so my friends and family can follow along. The posting itself may be kind of confusing as I posted them in an odd order, but I built menu links on the left sidebar to clarify.

Enjoy,
Chris
My Blog:
http://boundaryzerochris.blogspot.com/

[creativetype]

Originally Posted by TomP

Sorry for the mistake. It's been cleaned up.

No need to apologize, Tom. You are doing an awesome job with all of this! Thanks again for keeping us up to date.



I'll quit bugging you now.

[mtn_man2]

Things are really starting to get interesting with the top 4! It will be interesting to see how Jay does as he starts to get on familiar trail in the next couple of areas through WY.

GO Jay! and good luck to all the riders out there. You guys are crazy.

[bd.sahib]

and the gps info from Adventure Cycling

http://www.adv-cycling.org/routes/gp...4k&f=gdgpsdata

If you:
1. download the route
2. Extract files
3. Drag and drop each of the .gpx files in the sub folders to the "places" table of contents in google earth.

The low res. screenshot shows the location of the store at Flagg Ranch (apple/milk carton). The waypoints are turned off as it kinda clutters the route.

[alizbee]

The Grand Loop kept me glued, and now this is doing the same. Forget that skinny tire nonsense in Europe---this is where the real action is at!

Thanks Tom, and also the crew at MTBCast. It's all top notch coverage. I love reading the updates, and then later listening to them, because I always interject my own tone of voice when I read them. Hearing them gives an idea of how wiped/wired/discouraged...etc everyone is.

If I lived nearer the route, I would go spray paint peoples names on the big mountain passes

Keep on keepin' on guys!!!