MegaSack DRAW - This year's winner is user - rgwb
We will be in touch
[quote=marvincooper said]How / where are you seeing that?
flatfish's link above has the CS retiring story and http://tourdivide.org/leaderboard has the current positions (click "riders by category" on the left hand side, then leaders)
The leaderboard still has CS in third, but didn't see the other page. What odds on a GB 1-2?!
This is also useful to keep abreast of discussion [url= http://www.bikepacking.net/forum/index.php/topic,5787.760.html ][/url]
Mike has blown stapler apart, broken man, came to win and couldn't, he must have gave his all!
Really stoked for mike, this race is really what he needs after the highs and lows of last years RTW and Guinness messing him about with the rules.
I liked Cjell's description of mike at the golden spoke as being like a scared bunny too! I suspect he was just apprehensive to get going again after hanging around a while for C$ to get there!
I followed the RTW wasn't aware of Guinness messing him about! Linky please if there is one?
Bit disappointed in CS, says he is good but quitting, is it because he feels he can't win now, which I see as bad form.
When mike set off he was allowed reasonable time in ports to transit where the clock was stopped. Afterwards it was changed to include transit times and someone else did it a day quicker later in the year, supported! That was the other bug bearer, they wouldn't differentiate supported and in supported!
Either way you look at it his time of 106 days or 92 riding shat all over the other guys time of 105 days supported. I think the next closest unsupported time is about 150 days. So he is the people's champion if nothing else!
CS dropping out: if you listen to his voice on the call in (mtbcast.com) he sounds very depressed and broken. I think he is suffering mentally from the days riding alone etc. He stated he has only 30 odd days experience of that. Very hard for anyone who hasn't experienced it to understand. We should congratulate him on the achievement up to the Kremlin.
has anyone checked if MH is actually human? Amazing effort and nearly 2000 miles done in 6.5 days moving time. wow.
Perhaps I misunderstood the call!
I thought he said he had exhausted his quota of big racing days so to speak
I am probably the only person around here to have met Craig so maybe a bit defensive about him. A really nice, helpful guy. Can't believe he quit because he was not winning. Mike is going great though.
I heard his call in the same as bland, he had done all his racing days already, maybe his prep was not all it could be. (He was 5th in the Trans-Portugal mtb race in May.
But correcting bland on the RTW bit; the calculation to days ridden was made after Mike finished and he believed he could have gone a little quicker under the new rules. The old rules allowed you to ride across the USA and take 6 weeks out before attempting to ride across Europe. Now the clock is constantly ticking.
Mike took 2 days off the old record of Alan someone, a British guy living in Thailand (?) Alan was partially supported, not really feasible for Guinness to follow everybody so self or unsupported is not distinguished between.
Richard Dunnett (Diss) took around 123 days and Simon Hutchinson (Cavan, Ireland) were also RTW finishers and Juliana Buhring (Germany) did an ITT in 152 days.
[url=[url= http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7257/7675298354_2f7c4ec6cb_o.jp g" target="_blank">
A photo here of Simon's finish on the day the Olympics opened. Simon (with Irish flag) and family with Richard Dunnett and Mike Hall on the right hand side. On the left is Sean Conway who rode a shortened version (14,000 miles) after having a bad car crash.
Here's a good news report about the weather Mike Hall is riding into at the moment.
[url= http://durangoherald.com/article/20130623/NEWS01/130629804/0/FRONTPAGE/West-Fork-Fire-Complex-now-at-70257-acres ]West Fork Fire[/url]
It's going to be touch and go as to whether they'll be able to ride through.
lets face it - craigs ridden further faster than nearly everyone(my self included) on STW with the exception of few.
Better to die trying than to give half measures and be an also ran you have to respect that.
It would be a shame of Mike lost the chance of an official course record due to fires.
jameso's SPoT has stopped again by the look of it. Kirsten at BML is very hospitable but 11+ hours is not correct.
Jesse in second place is having problems in Como - knocked off bike by lightening? - which could elevate James to second.
Yeah, I just read ttat on one of the above links.
Pasted for all.
Now in second position, Carlsson reportedly arrived in the small town of Como, Colorado, in a state of shock. David Tompkins, the operator of a bed and breakfast in town, reported that Carlsson arrived shortly after ITT rider Kerrin Walker. “We had a major electrical storm, thunder, lightening, a little bit of moisture, Kerrin just missed it,” Tompkins wrote. “What we think happened is that halfway down Boreas (Pass), Jesse had a flat, he was running tubeless and put a tube in. Coming into Como, it is pretty open; he was found on the town limits dazed and confused, cycling with a totally flat tire saying he was looking for a guy called Como. We sat him down, got some water and coke into him. We thought he had major concussion. He had obviously come down on his right side, knee and wrist hurt but no cuts or major abrasions. Now he is now lucid, but it took him sometime to come around, he was insisting he was third in the race, all he rembers was the thunder and lightening. We think he was near a lightening hit and was blown off his bike.”
jebus , this race is going mental this year.
What could be more scary? A confrontation with an angry bear in a thunderstorm???
Blimey!
craigs ridden further faster than nearly everyone(my self included) on STW with the exception of few.Better to die trying than to give half measures and be an also ran you have to respect that.
Definitely. I don't think anyone needs to defend him, there was only one person who commented that his quitting might be bad form...
I wonder how this will impact Mike Hall's race? Will he not be spurred on quite as much? Will he do better as he can ride his own race now?
What could be more scary? A confrontation with an angry bear in a thunderstorm???
A confrontation with an randy bear on a pleasant spring morning!
What could be more scary? A confrontation with an angry bear
Quote from here: http://suited.myomnipod.com/tony/tony-cervati-tour-divide-journey/
[i]"In 2011 Tony Cervati attempted the Tour Divide, a world-renowned, off-road, cross-country mountain bike race spanning over two thousand miles from Banff, Canada to the U.S.-Mexico border. During the race, Tony survived a near-fatal experience when he fell off a ridge into class III rapids and 40 degree water in an attempt to steer clear of a grizzly bear. He was carried down the river until he was able to climb back to land, where he tracked down his bike and rode seven miles with fractured ribs and hypothermia until he found assistance."
[/i]
😯
I knew there was a reason I'm not doing the race.
[quote=brakes said]craigs ridden further faster than nearly everyone(my self included) on STW with the exception of few.
Better to die trying than to give half measures and be an also ran you have to respect that.
Definitely. I don't think anyone needs to defend him, there was only one person who commented that his quitting might be bad form...
I wonder how this will impact Mike Hall's race? Will he not be spurred on quite as much? Will he do better as he can ride his own race now?
Jesse Carlsson is "only" 180 miles behind Mike so about a day's racing at the speed these guys are going. A major mechanical could burn time and there's always the desire to post a really hardcore finishing time 🙂
http://suited.myomnipod.com/tony/tony-cervati-tour-divide-journey/That's scary 🙁 - thank you so much for that....just what a mother wants to hear when her son's Spot has been silent for 18 hours!! It just adds to a few other scenarios I had already thought of, but I'm sure James O can look after himself 🙂 !
Hope he is OK and it's only a SPOT issue.
My mother says she never wants to know what I'm doing until I've already done it and got home - that way she doesn't have to worry 🙂
Jameso Back in third according to his spot.
Thanks everyone - it's good to know that there is support out there. 😀
Alex - yes, normal practice in our family, too, but this time was a bit different - he couldn't "hide" this trip!
Thank god you never found out about that week in Bangkok.
....oops I think I may have said too much!
James in Second now. That's Brits One and Two. Yippeeee!!
C
[quote=ChrisE ]James in Second now. That's Brits One and Two. Yippeeee!!
C
Has Jesse Carlsson scratched then?
Ah, bollocks, no Jesse Carleson was hiding behind another icon.
Sorry!! - first snd third!!
C
[quote=ChrisE said]Ah, bollocks, no Jesse Carleson was hiding behind another icon.
Sorry!! - first snd third!!
C
To see the leaderboard click on the "Riders By Category" link on the right hand side of the tracker screen, then select "Leaders"
Looks like Mike Hall is in the Peace of Art cafe in Del Norte. If anyone ever heads that way it's the best eatery in town - I had a fantastic carrot soup last time I was in, but I'm sure Mike is sampling something a little more calorie dense!
Not any more he's not - back on the trail 🙂
whats happened to max morris - anyone know ?
hes in a vehicle doing 50mph by the looks of it and well off course near pocatello pulling out of the hills via the valleys.
mechanical, injury or other.
Max Morris had achilles problems early on and then a mechanical in Yellowstone and he is out. Max won the AZT750 by nearly a day a few months ago (the one where they carry there bike through the Grand Canyon).
I remember that Tony Cervati moment. Think he came around a corner and they were both surprised one another. Tony was doing it for charity and was very upset when he had to pull out about letting people down. Was a bit worried for him really.
Cafe that Mike was in is certainly a fine one. I had a mid morning snack there before lunch. That was after breakfast 1 and another snack. I was in a bad state in Del Norte.
Mike's in New Mexico 🙂
Looks like race is to be re-routed due to forest fires in Beaverhead work station area. Means that Mike's quick time will not be a record run as you have to ride the full ACA route to qualify for the record.
If it is re-routed that will be the third time in four years. Nature eh!
Wonder how Mike will continue if race is re-routed? Continue to batter himself or back off a bit and save himself a bit for the transcontinental race in August. I would back off if record was not on, but then I am not Mike.
It's a shame that the fires appear to have blown his chances of getting the record.
that is a bollocks - like i said before , its not over till its over.
Blown chances, Beaver-Head. I'm surprised this gets past my internet filters.......
C
His idea of easing off and mine might not be the same. He's doing 12Mph at 2am in the morning. I am sitting down to coffee and toast at home. I don't feel like I have eased off!
C
A real pity if they get re-routed. Mike is absolutely killing it!! - so far ahead of JP's schedule.
With no detours, would he have been under 13 days?
C
Mike won the 'puffer which is 'merely' a 24 hour endurance race. A friend, Alex Slaven, has won the same event a couple of times. I've seen Alex two days after the ride still looking totally wrecked. Mike has to be superhuman to put so many big days back to back. RESPECT!
Strange ting is, he seems so.........normal.
Mike got kicked off the road in Croatia on the RTW by th police due to the wind threatening to blow him off the cliff edge but still cracked on, then mastered sleep riding on the nullabor, you think a road closure will put him off!
The man has beer and Yorkshire tea on his mind, not much going to slow him down now!
Also, did you hear he is riding to the airport after, Austin I think but may be mistaken. Anyhow, not just a quick ride to the shops!
Looks like he is taking the diversion because of forest road closures. 🙁
"And no sneaking through either, the forestry called the place I had lunch at, they were obviously following."
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He's tweeted that he's having an ice cream and a think.
Must be very frustrating for the bloke.
I'd imagine not just frustrating but quite heartbreaking. There's not much I've read about Mike that makes me think he's just doing this for the experience; it seems like being the drive to be the guy who did it best is very much part of his psyche.
Jump the barrier, the ultimate 'cheeky-trail'
C
James O is really close to 3rd...
Jump the barrier, the ultimate 'cheeky-trail'
Haha...do it Mike !
There's not much I've read about Mike that makes me think he's just doing this for the experience; it seems like being the drive to be the guy who did it best is very much part of his psyche.
There's a positive spin - he can start thinking about next year and use the current ride as a course preview - i.e. doing a race pre-lap. That way come 2014 he'll know the best racing line around all the corners 😯
There's a positive spin - he can start thinking about next year and use the current ride as a course preview - i.e. doing a race pre-lap.
Except he did his course preview ride in 2011 ready for 2013 🙁
Am I right that he has about 300 miles to go, it's 11:30am over there, it's very hot and if he blasted it non stop through the night could do <13 days?
C
I live in Albuquerque and it's going to reach 100 degrees F by mid afternoon and where he now is, turning south towards Crownpoint, it's likely to be even hotter as it's an open, essentially treeless span (except a bit around Grants) all the way south until he crosses the highway 60 west of Datil. Doesn't seem like it's going to be too windy today, so that should help as there isn't anything to stop the wind across that entire stretch.
Looks like Mike Hall has already covered about half the distance between Crownpoint and Gallup, New Mexico. Considering the heat, he is really cranking it up---it is a section of really long, gradual up-hills and down-hills, in the 6500-7500 ft elevation.
Correction to earlier post. I said halfway to Gallup, when I meant Grants. Looks like he has stopped at Grants for the time being. He must be whipped in the heat and the way he was hammering it.
don't want this ort of thing to happen http://www.watoday.com.au/wa-news/turias-nearfatal-decision-to-run-in-kimberley-race-20120430-1xutu.html
Have all the pie you need Mike.
http://halfpastdone.com/2013/06/26/tour-divide-day-13-holding-out-for-pie/
These guys are another type of human, esp MH!
What's happened to Jesse Carlsson?
JamesO in 2nd/3rd...
Jesse Carlsson is "off route" due to the diversion. He'll re-appear in 2nd place when he reaches Cuba.
Having had a long rest waiting to enter Pietown, what's the chances Mike Hall will do the rest in a oner and get back to a 200 mile/day average?
We presume it's because Jesse is doing the detour due to forest closure, etc, & therefore he's off the route. The computer can't account for that, so he's not ranked until he re-joins the route. I expect the same will happen with James, Alex & Liam. We're making the most of it while it shows James 2nd! But he & Alex are working their way up to the highest point at the mo....over 11000ft! Keep going guys - you're doing so incredibly well, & I'm a proud mum!
Can someone give me a quick rundown on what's happened with the re-route?
Did Mike wait until it was open again?
Or is it that he's already the other side of it?
He had to re-route. The section from Abiquiu to Cuba is closed.
Ta - I went for a bivi so missed this.
Although - my meagre (and knackering) 20km to and 20km from the bivi put all this in perspective. Just can't really comprehend it.
[i]Dangerous heatwave expected for south west US this weekend, with temperatures reaching up to 53.9C[/i]
[url= http://blogs.channel4.com/liam-dutton-on-weather/dangerous-heatwave-expected-south-west/4008 ]http://blogs.channel4.com/liam-dutton-on-weather/dangerous-heatwave-expected-south-west/4008[/url]
that's quite warm...
Yeah, going to be another hot one today here in New Mexico. Albuquerque forecast looking at 103F and it's likely to be even a little hotter as they head S/SW. As they continue, I hope they can avoid the massive smoke from the Silver fire. If the wind holds to the typical direction from the SW they should pass to the W and SW of worst of it.
Looks like Mike had a good break in Pie Town - hope he got to eat some good pies!
Is he going to have to make another detour to skip out the fires in the Gila?
I was looking at maps today and it looks like the official trail might run just to the west of the Silver fire, but hard to tell exactly. If it does run to the west, with generally prevailing SW winds, he might be OK and not have to detour. Not sure, though, how much of the area they might have closed off.
What's happening??? Likin this thread... Neeeearly there......
100 miles to go?
Mike's back on the official route after having to detour, can almost taste the border!
Just 70 miles of tumbleweed and dust storms between me and Antelope Wells now. Boy it's windy here too. Of course it's not a tail wind.
Love that Pivot bike. Go Mike!
I don't see much water on him...?
Awesome stuff.
This has been my tour of the Great Divide.
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Very good beer 😉
Think of all the national praise folks who win an olympic or similar event get. Wouldn't it be nice if a small portion of that praise could be given to someone who has smashed a major (albeit niche) event. MH deserves some recognition beyond avid blue dot junkies.