Guy Martin doing Great Divide race?

SPOTs are not mandatory.

Take from that what you will.

He might not have switched his tracker on yet, his name is on the start list though.

Do you have the start list (or a link to this)?

Jason Miles, who I thought he was riding with, has gone to Sri Lanka for some event (as seen on Instagram)….

Hall had an issue with his Spot.

It’s been suggested that Martin is riding under a pseudonym.

Jason Miles, who I thought he was riding with

I noticed he was selling some things on the Classifieds when he should be pedalling last week.

Have they had a tiff?

I am surprised the combined It might on here has failed to find out where he is

No tiff. I think the length of time away was a problem this year.

If you were going to have a British pseudonym this would work, same age as Guy as well, either way he’s done a lot of miles

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

I was looking for some one called Norton Enfield or something like that!!

If you were going to have a British pseudonym this would work, same age as Guy as well, either way he’s done a lot of miles

Either he was getting lost, or was just doing a route inspired by the TD, he’s been off track a lot.

Either he was getting lost, or was just doing a route inspired by the TD, he’s been off track a lot.

There’s a suggestion on the Bikepackers thread that Spots aren’t brilliantly accurate.

There’s a suggestion on the Bikepackers thread that Spots aren’t brilliantly accurate.

there is that, but you can see where a tracker is just off track, and where the rider is obviously on a different road because the points are all equally spaced, and on a trail/road.

For example, SPray lake reservoir he’s followed the road on the east side, not the trail down the west, which looks like it would have involved turning off the trail from Banff to join the road, not just getting lost.

Then again south of Elkford, he goes down an entirely different valley (with a road/tail marked on google maps, rather than nothing, implying he took an easier route). Possibly lost, but you’d realise because there’s a 300m hill between them and a river just after the correct turn off.

High res image of the starters here:
I can only see one that looks like Guy.
White helmet, black top, bending forwards and smiling – roughly in the middle of the photo:
http://www.bikepacking.net/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=12355.0;attach=7690;image

High res image of the starters here:
I can only see one that looks like Guy.

On the other hand, if Terry Smith is the man himself he set off on 07 Jun so wasn’t at the Grand Depart.

True.
But then the reports of Terry Smith going off track doesn’t sound like Guy. Who knows!? Somebody on that bikepacking forum says they saw him in Banff a few days before the Grand Depart but not after, so that matches.

But then the reports of Terry Smith going off track doesn’t sound like Guy.

How good’s his navigation though? I imagine it’s hard to get lost on the Mountain Course 😛

😀 indeed.

I can only see one that looks like Guy.

Looks nothing like him.

His helmet fits, for one thing

I have a Spot Tracker – they rely on a clear view of the sky and are easily obscured by tree cover etc – mine sometimes goes AWOL for hours on end or suffers drop-outs.

According to the founder of Trackleaders posting on the bikepacking forum, Guy is indeed on the course somewhere…

http://www.bikepacking.net/forum/ultra-racing/tour-divide-2016-race-discussion-thread/msg83551/#msg83551

I see someone’s asked who Guy Martin is in the bike packers thread and has been told he’s a motorbike racer & TV presenter. I suppose someone saying he’s a lorry mechanic from Grimsby who does a bit of that on the side would just confuse the Americans?

I have to admit I’m a bit mystified by the whole Guy Martin thing currently. If he was doing it as a holiday (i.e just for his own benefit) then don’t publicize it in advance with things like interviews in STW. If he’s doing it for the competition then have a tracker and be in the race.

I can’t fathom a reason for this apparent set-up where he’s riding under an alias. Riding through the USA I’m sure 99.9% of people aren’t going to know who he is and so he’s essentially hiding from people halfway round the world sitting at computer screens.

Because they are (probably) filming it for tv and don’t want the outcome/results to spoil potential viewing figures.

Any number of possibilities. May be that he’s not expecting to be that competitive on a first go?

If he is doing it for the telly, I presume he’d have to be self-filming in a Mark Beaumont stylee?

Yup exactly my thoughts houns, the lure of doing it for TV would be too great.

Also, why are we doing this on 2 separate threads?
http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/the-tour-divide-2016-thread

Also, why are we doing this on 2 separate threads?
http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/the-tour-divide-2016-thread

Maybe the mods could sort?

High res image of the starters here:
I can only see one that looks like Guy.
White helmet, black top, bending forwards and smiling – roughly in the middle of the photo:
http://www.bikepacking.net/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=12355.0;attach=7690;image

Here’s the same chap from a different angle http://bikepackersmagazine.com/photo-gallery-tour-divide-2016-grand-depart/#prettyPhoto/0/ – doesn’t look like Guy Martin to me.

I think we’ve established he’s not doing the TDR. Kudos100 had some dealings with him and a mate.

Edited as being slow on the uptake

Ah, yes…

So he’s enjoying some nice tea then?

Going by this photo I came across on instagram which was posted 1 week ago…. he was in an airport going by the sign in the background….

http://www.imgrum.net/media/1266138673351740119_873295241

Anyone found him yet?

Someone on the bike packers thread said they’d seen an English chap on a yellow bike who wasn’t using tracking.

Can we please kit him out with a striped red and white jumper with matching bobble hat?

ratherbeintobago – Member

Someone on the bike packers thread said they’d seen an English chap on a yellow bike who wasn’t using tracking. But they also said beard. I don’t see how his need for anonymity would stretch that far!

They also said “English accent”. Have they ever heard GM speak? Those south of Watford Gap need subtitles! An American isn’t going to realise he’s even speaking English 🙄

As for a nice cup of tea (mentioned above): have you ever been to America?

As for a nice cup of tea (mentioned above): have you ever been to America?

Yep – it took me a while to realise that Orange Pekoe is only suitable for iced tea (if you like that kind of thing)

ratherbeintobago – Member
Someone on the bike packers thread said they’d seen an English chap on a yellow bike who wasn’t using tracking.

How does he get tracked, or does he just turn in a .gpx at the end?

And still no word as to where he is.

Might have missed this being stated earlier but isn’t Guy Martin riding under the name Terry Smith?

Might have missed this being stated earlier but isn’t Guy Martin riding under the name Terry Smith?

It’s not certain. There also appears to be some question about Terry Smith’s navigation – it seems he might be using an old GPX.