Tour Divide

They're shifting though. Seriously.
Well up on record pace.

Ah, they've switched the ghost riders on now, nice!

They are shifting! crazy pace, Banff to the border is a really tough section, amazing they got through so fast in shitty conditions. Go Mike!

Mike is on one. http://trackleaders.com/tourdivide16

60miles on JK already.

Edit: Josh has just had a good sleep, mike hasn't had a good sleep in a while. So that's why there is the bigger gap.

Josh run off the road earlier in the race but seems to be doing ok http://www.bikepacking.net/forum/ultra-racing/tour-divide-2016-race-discussion-thread/msg83589/#msg83589

AH didn't know. That's shit.

Mike is on course for a 12.2 day finish at his current rate.

that's just a smidge over half the time I did it in. Fuck.

More bad luck for Seb Dunne, taken ill and driven from Holland Lake Lodge to the nearest city for assistance.

Stupid forum not emailing me thread updates.

cycling tips has done an artice (I've not read it)

Good ultra racing is getting more press this year.

Shit, gutted for him. He had a great run last year until his fork snapped.

Rob Brown has dropped out too, he was on for a fast finish (16days ish) but got bitten by a dog and it got infected.

Yeah, must be gutted, lot of training and a long way to travel for it...

Josh been stopped for 7 hours, hopefully just taking time to rest his knee and nothing serious.

Front group all look to be in good spirits, even the guy who smashed his arm up trying to take a selfie... not sure if you need to sign up to see the photos...

http://www.bikepacking.net/forum/ultra-racing/tour-divide-2016-race-discussion-thread/msg83668/#msg83668
http://www.bikepacking.net/forum/ultra-racing/tour-divide-2016-race-discussion-thread/msg83670/#msg83670
http://www.bikepacking.net/forum/ultra-racing/tour-divide-2016-race-discussion-thread/msg83682/#msg83682
http://www.bikepacking.net/forum/ultra-racing/tour-divide-2016-race-discussion-thread/msg83712/#msg83712 (Tom Rowntree... looks like he's finally running gears...!)

Individual links because the thread is currently being spammed to shit :(

Weather seems to be changing too, looks like temperature's dropping up north, picking up in the lower states (40c in New Mexico later in the week, nearer 50 in Arizona...)

He rode the Bryan Chapman Memorial Audax this year, we finished at roughly the same time. Me having barely stopped, with no sleep. He had taken a few detours and wild camped for about 7 hours.

Mike is riding SO hard.

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He's entereing serious sleep debt.

He's having a long stop at Montana High Country Lodge now, they do good food, and are super fanatical about the race. Great hospitality, so great it's almost verging on creepy.

We rode straight past it last year, and the dude drove down the hill and chased us down, insisting we stop for food. Didn't really want to, but glad we did in the end.

If mike get 5-6 hours kip, he'll be very fresh when he gets going.

Ah that's cool! Nice they chased you down and got you to stop.

Yeah, he knows the route so will know where he wants to stop. Experience counts for a lot in TD.

Bet some great memories of the race are flooding back as you get jogged of forgotten moments.

Any highlights?

Yeah, loads of memories, and it's really making me want to do it again. I've penciled in 2018 for my second run at it.

Highlights. So many. The great basin was incredibly beautiful, and incredibly horrible, in two halves. The first half being beautiful, hot, dry, vast, aurora borealis in monochrome at night, herds of mustang running alongside, then the second half was oil fields, fracking wells, and roughnecks driving 40 ton trucks too fast on gravel too close for comfort.

Then a long drag through southern Wyoming into Colorado. Just before Savery, there are proper suicidal jack-rabbits, and I killed one with my left pedal. There was bunny fluff on the pedal when I arrived at Brush Mountain Lodge that night.

The Basin

Mike Hall will be heading up Medicine Lodge today, it really is stunning.

Great! When you have memories, drop them in here, nice for us to relate to points as the race goes along.

I really want to go and ride it soonish. That and the Pamir highway. Hopefully I'll find time to go and tour one or the other in the next few years.

Sure thing!

Yeah, ride it if you get a chance. Touring it would be amazing too, but I quite like the buzz of trying to reach the next supply point that day etc and travelling light. Also, less sleeping in grizzly country. I sleep so lightly anyway, that out there, I basically don't sleep.

Stupidly I'm half considering doing it singlespeed next time. Just because.

Greg thought about doing it singlespeed this year, he had a chat with Aidan Harding and changed his mind...

Interesting to read Aidan's prep and accounts from 2010/11 http://www.aidanharding.com/category/tour-divide/