you seem to suggest that you do? come on spill it 😆 😛

No I haven’t. I’ve done a quick check through some likely names in the leading group, but they all seem to be fair dinkum.

Maybe his spot tracker is set so only the organisers see it – which isn’t really fair to the rest of the competitors but understandable.

I reckon if he was having a crew following him filming it for TV that’d be a reason not to have a public tracker. The appeal to make it for TV would be great.. the fantastic scenery against the dramatic tension of the race would make it ideal for perhaps a several part TV special.

Maybe his spot tracker is set so only the organisers see it – which isn’t really fair to the rest of the competitors but understandable.

I didn’t think there was much signal along the route, hence Spot trackers?

I reckon if he was having a crew following him filming it for TV that’d be a reason not to have a public tracker.

Wouldn’t there be a press release somewhere if he was being followed by a TV crew?

A TV crew would be regarded as a “sag wagon” and against the spirit of the event as there’d be the knowledge that in “X miles” there’d be a friendly face to look forward to and chat to, etc.

@jameso – it was a rhetorical “if”, MH has at the time of writing this done 636 miles in 63hrs or so. I’ve no knowledge of the route so don’t know if those are the hard riding or the hardest riding is yet to come. A hell of a pace to maintain though. It would be interesting to look at Josh Kato’s equivalent from last year and compare it to both his and Mike’s from this.

It would be interesting to look at Josh Kato’s equivalent from last year and compare it to both his and Mike’s from this.

There’s a flag for JK’s ride last year on Trackleaders – it’s currently in Ovando, so several riders are ahead of it at the moment.

@jameso – it was a rhetorical “if”, MH has at the time of writing this done 636 miles in 63hrs or so.

yes, and sorry that : ) wasn’t meant as dismissive, more that even Mike Hall may struggle to go to 10.5 days. Maybe not looking at it now?? The way he’s averaging 10mph overall is amazing. In 2013 I think he did 13mph while on the bike. If he can keep up 10mph overall untl AW that’s 11.5 days .. more sleep and pick up the pace? 😯

JK’s record flag was off the leader’s pace or Mike’s 2013 ride pace a little for the 1st week, but he finished strongly and caught up at the end. Mike’s well up on the JK record marker and a few hours ahead of his 2013 times so far based on the time splits.

It’s a balancing act isn’t it? What’s the minimum sleep you can get away with while still being able to maintain the average speed?

A riding speed that is below your threshold whilst slower is more sustainable: 3hrs sleep plus an hour grabbing food from stores etc leaves 20hrs riding which at 10mph is 200 miles. Up the speed to 11mph and you have 18hrs20 riding time, again allow an hour for food grabs so you have 4hrs40 for sleeping. That 10% extra effort on the trail might push you in to the red.

That’s it, Mike’s experience there is what makes watching his ride unfold so interesting. It’s a different strategy maybe. Many riders do long pulls over day 1-2, or a back to back 24+hr stints with 1-2hrs kip at times, I wonder if he’s using that ratio for the whole ride.

I’m certainly watching with interest as I hope to do it myself one day, that and I’m intrigued to see how Guy gets on, well I hope, though if Terry Smith is him then he’s a bit off where he hoped to be, that & he’s slept more than Guy planned to.

Mike hall seems to be dominating from the off, and is way ahead of the current record.

I never knew watching little dots move around on a map could be so addictive!!

Mike Hall 743 miles so far.

Crazy the speed folks are going these days.
Was beginning to prep for my own TD attempt a few years back, but illness decided otherwise. Back then 27 days would have seemed a realistic, and still respectable target, these days that benchmark seems more touring than racing.

People still thinking air forks can’t cope for the distance?

Last year’s winner Josh Kato has fallen back a bit by the looks of it; Mike Hall ahead by nearly 80 miles now

@adsh Whilst that was the original theory behind rigid forks for the event, i kinda get the impression that now rigid forks are selected as the most appropriate for the job.
I read a write up long ago, where the rider said that for ~75% of the route his thoughts were “these rigid forks are awesome”.

Also bear in mind that with some setups, bar bag/harness/whatever can buzz a fully compressed air fork, and you end up running fork either locked out or very low sag anyway.

Isn’t there a weight benefit to a rigid fork, too?

Wondered when you guys would find our pic of Guy when we handed the bike over to him

We will be updating our Facebook page with more info on the bike and Guy’s Tour Divide ride as soon as we can

Jesus – Mike’s over 100 miles up on Kato’s record pace from last year!

Going into Lima he’s almost a full ‘leg’ up on everyone.

I am sure you are all aware, but don’t forget to check out MTB Cast. Always good to hear the rider call ins. They even have an android app too.

Bit sad, but adds a human element to the blue dots.

The Chap in 2nd place is doing it on a single speed!!!! 😀

Rob’s been passed by another rider now: Chris Plesko.
What’s happened to Josh Kato? he’s dropped right off the pace, now running 9th!
Greg’s up to 19th, excellent effort. Go awn Greg!

Josh Kato has posted on Facebook that he is unfortunately withdrawing. He can’t cycle at a quick pace following a knee injury from being forced off the road by a truck.

What’s happened to Josh Kato? he’s dropped right off the pace, now running 9th!

It says on the Bikepacking thread that he had to swerve off the road to avoid a truck, crashed and twisted his knee and has had to retire.

Big shame

Reading that it also sounds like the truck deliberately ran him off the road 🙁

Robs completed 7 whole days and is at mile 900 so pretty much on target for an ITT of 20-22 days.

Not in the Mike H league though! Stunning effort.

That’s 3 of the early leaders scratched now – Josh, Liam and Seb – Mike Hall is still smashing it and is almost at the infamous ‘rail trail’ section.

Impressive that Chris Plesko is (relatively) close to Mike Hall on a singlespeed, and ahead of the previous record.

Not in the Mike H league though!

Well no, but then no other human is! Hopefully Rob will be following his own plan and not letting it get to him. Great to see people we know from the forums out there getting stuck in.

Mike Hall is flying, isn’t he? I see they’ve got Kato’s record from last year on the tracker for comparison.

Rob Colliver – you know the one with the tight lycra!…Making good progress hare at Grasshopper Valley MontanaRob Colliver Grasshopper Valley

Still think it’s a bit of a left field choice putting a Lauf on a FS.

Well at least hes put his punts on the inside this week.

Mental enema needed after his last publicity shot.

If you’re in the STW Forumites strava group Tom Rowntree’s tdr days are on there. Day 5 shows him cycling 140 miles with 13.4k ft of climbing.

Could any of you good fellows give a quick summary of what’s been going on so far? Kind of feel a bit out of touch dipping in and out of this….

I get the gist that Mike Hall is doing rather well and Guy Martin probably isn’t riding. But then again he might be. But probably not. If he is, he’s used a really dull pseudonym.

Anything else worth knowing?

Not a lot really, mikes just pootling along! You’d have thought he’d have put some effort in really seeing as though he hasn’t got the weight of a map or phone holding him back!

Bloody slackers the lot of them!

Mike is leading, almost a 100 mile out on second, Chris, who is on a single speed. Both of them are up on the record that Josh set last year. He was running second but got run of the road by a truck, twisted his knee, and had to scratch.

It seems Guy is racing, but without a tracker, and perhaps as an ITT (edit: it actually sounds like he has a tracker but its private).

It’s been windy and wet in places, but it seems all the forumites are trucking on.

It seems Guy is racing, but without a tracker, and perhaps as an ITT (edit: it actually sounds like he has a tracker but its private)

Do you have a source for that?