But they also said beard. I don’t see how his need for anonymity would stretch that far!

Would take some doing if that instagram photo ( above) was taken only a week ago.

Well I will probably be in Frisco when they pass through so I will keep an eye on the tracker and see if I can identify.

Urgh, that would be hard to bear. Make it 2700 miles to the end only to discover you were following wrong gpx

Where’s his girlfriend and mum? After his wall of death programme the state of their emotions seem to be needed at all times.

What’s with all the stalking ?

If he hasn’t entered under his own name, and isn’t using a tracker, then surely he just wants a bit of peace and quiet and wants to get on with it alone !?

Nothing wrong with some good old fashioned stalking

He could still be using a Spot tracker to check-in with the organisers, just not signed-up to Trackleaders

It is a bit odd how much some of you obsess about him.

When hes done im sure he will tell us all about it in a book.

Well he’s one of ours, isn’t he? And it would be good to know how he’s going in comparison to our other dots.

It’s not as if we’re going to be harassing him on the track for selfies etc.

I like the chap & would like to see him do well so am interested in how he’s doing, but i save all my stalking for Emily Batty.

We’re not the only people wondering where he is. 🙂

2 words – Terry Smith, that’s the name he’s racing under, at least according to Twitter, although for his sake I hope he’s not. Terry Smith is way off course

It’s amazing how rumours quickly become repeated as truth

I didn’t say it was true I just said that’s what I’d read

http://www.morebikes.co.uk/guy-martin-racing-alias-terry-smith-weve-told-thats-right-heres-hes-going-tour-divide/

Nice that they don’t list a source.

Maybe my nan told them.

Long way to fly after publicly declaring your going to do x ride and then not do the ride. I give the man alot more credit than that he’s not a stupid cookie

Is he ?

http://trackleaders.com/tourdivide16i.php?name=Terry_Smith

Certainly seemed to deviate earlier on, by some margin! Perhaps he has an old GPX, the distances aren’t massive though.

But is very much on-course now.

Distances not huge ? What about the road deviation round nipple peak ?

Old route or not. It’s not doing the tour divide race. It’s a recreational ride. Bit like turning up to the puffer and deciding to miss out the single track and use last year’s fire track instead because it’s less boggy and a bit faster.

Meh.

If he was in it for the race then he would have started with everyone else.

In a 2500 mile route, the odd 50 miles isn’t significant when you’re not racing.

Indeed but at the same time it seems weird to publicise the fact you are going to the race then do the wrong route.

Plus someone on bike packing.net has ID’d Terry Smith out on trail. Nary a side burn to be seen. And I believe them more than a random he said she said statement on a bike website I’ve never heard of.

I reckon he is in the race and isn’t Terry Smith because he’s doing it for TV and they don’t want his result to ruin the tension of you watching it on TV. 20 odd days? that’s gotta be a 3 parter at least!

If he is doing it for TV he’ll have to be self-filming as having a crew following him would seem slightly against the spirit of the thing.

d isn’t Terry Smith because he’s doing it for TV and they don’t want his result to ruin the tension of you watching it on TV. 20 odd days? that’s gotta be a 3 parter at least!

This, and I reckon there’ll be a whole crew!

Who ever Terry Smith is, word is that he’s going to get a disqualified as he’s taken many wrong turns and not followed the exact route.

You might disregard ‘the spirit of the thing’ if there’s a ton of cash in front of you. This might also have been the reason Jase chose not to do it with him after he originally said he would … all conjecture of course.

Anyone know if the route TS has followed is an “old” one ?

Would be a bit of a cockup if so.

all conjecture of course.

Yep. From what I’ve heard he is doing it unsupported as having a film crew would be in contravention with the rules/spirit of the event. He want to do it anyway, so he is just doing it. Jason’s funding was dependent on the TV.

Anyone know if the route TS has followed is an “old” one?

I’ve certainly seen this suggested.

From what I’ve heard he is doing it unsupported as having a film crew would be in contravention with the rules/spirit of the event. He want to do it anyway, so he is just doing it. Jason’s funding was dependent on the TV.

sauce? or more conjecture?

It was either on here (on this thread or the other TD one) or on the bikepackers.net one.

sauce? or more conjecture?

I have a sauce.

Who ever Terry Smith is, word is that he’s going to get a disqualified as he’s taken many wrong turns and not followed the exact route.

Given that Mike was not awarded the record a couple of years ago due to mandatory diversion off-route to avoid forest fire, I can’t see any other outcome.

Presumably everyone got diverted, though? Mike seems to be making up for it this year – am I right in thinking he’s well ahead of the outright record?

details here

Yes, he’s well up on record pace.

The projection function on trackleaders has him well under 14 days so yes very much under the record of 14 days 11 odd hours. Long way to go and all that though of course. There seems no indication of diversions for forest fires this year. Here’s hoping.

I read a forum that says Guy is not racing, that he is a no show.

here

But there was a Facebook post on the tour divide riders group with a photo of him part way along the route. I think it was a Subway in Whitefish Montana. A few days into his ITT ride. It’s all rather a mystery we will find out eventually I guess.

I’m surprised some of you guys haven’t been through his bins to determine his wherabouts 😯

Apparently sighted in Montana. In summary:
[list]
[*]Not Terry Smith[/*]
[*]Riding with a big group so presumably not trying to do it competitively[/*]
[*]No tracker[/*]
[/list]Source is the bikepacking.net thread.

On the tracker website the owner/co-ordinator of said website has said that he’s riding but with a private tracker. Or words to that effect.

An amazing push from Mike over the last couple of days

meaning that we have: