Tour Divide 2019

[larsmars]

uh oh!

[Mart]

I spotted that too - Looks like hes now further up the wrong track. Fingers crossed its just a Spot issue

[wriggles]

He has missed the turn up Stemple pass. Its a smallish rocky track to the right off the main forestry road so easy to miss.

Edit; straight on is Stemple pass, the rh track goes up South Fork road to the famous Llama Cabin

[redefined_cycles]

Looks like JK has gained to within 15 miles of Mr Maniaco... 15 miles it seems so pissibly by time my shift finishes in 7 hours we'll have a new lead..

Question for the veterans who've watched this year on year... is this the most exciting and mad its ever been??

[PaulB2]

Out of curiosity, how do most people navigate the tour divide? I know it's not waymarked and I've seen remarks that people have made about hard to spot junctions and others about having copious route notes. I'm guessing that it's not really feasible to just be following a line on a gps display for that duration of time but I know some gps displays will spring into life at pre-defined waypoints to alert you which way to go.

[FLV]

JK is at the bottom of a load of climbing. I'd expect SS to speed up in an hour or so when gets up and over this

[Borderer]

I'm a bit wary of the stopped time on TL. This is again from bikepacking.net so presumably straight from JK's mouth:

2nd place Josh Kato returned to Ovando a bit over 3 hours behind Sofiane with SEVEN (7) hours of sleep under his helmet. In fact says he has been sleeping pretty darn good.

If you click on the "race flow" button on TL it shows distance against time. At about 40hrs JK's line is flat so he definitely stopped for a while at that point.

Ah ok. Makes sense.

Yes I wondered what Josh Ibbett was doing too. It doesn't look very positive.

[BobCatMax]

and he looks like he's got himself even more off the track too.

Thanks for the clarification whitestone, I too was going from the bikpacking.net info rather than trackleaders, though I didn't realise there was such a discrepancy!

[wriggles]

Its a very easy track to miss. Especially as the road carries on down a hill, so you are easily 1/2km before you glance at your GPS. Even further if you are chatting to some other riders
The right hand turn, South Fork Road goes past the famous Llama Cabin, where Lael looks to have stopped for the night.

[jameso]

Out of curiosity, how do most people navigate the tour divide? I know it's not waymarked and I've seen remarks that people have made about hard to spot junctions and others about having copious route notes. I'm guessing that it's not really feasible to just be following a line on a gps display for that duration of time but I know some gps displays will spring into life at pre-defined waypoints to alert you which way to go.

GPS now, probably exclusively. Some take the ACA maps as back up or for resupply reminders etc. It used to be done on ACA cues and a well-calibrated computer to track distances between turns (as far as I know I was the last to race it on cue notes and a computer only, in 2013. Would be interested to know of anyone doing so since 2013?)

Josh isn't the only one missing that turn..

[NewRetroTom]

I'm guessing that it's not really feasible to just be following a line on a gps display for that duration of time

It is completely feasible to do just that. I did it with an Edge 1000. I had it set up to give me an off-course warning so that if I missed a turn it would beep and wake me up!

[Borderer]

Kai Edel has followed Josh Ibbett up the garden path.

[larsmars]

I'm guessing that it's not really feasible to just be following a line on a gps display for that duration of time

It is completely feasible to do just that. I did it with an Edge 1000. I had it set up to give me an off-course warning so that if I missed a turn it would beep and wake me up!

I can't imagine doing a route as long as this whilst sleep deprived *without* following the line on the GPS with off route beeps!

[Mart]

Kai Edel has followed Josh Ibbett up the garden path.

Kai now on the correct line, but Im not seeing any updates from Josh (flaky spots!)

[sean_iow]

Hopefully Josh will turn back and not just follow the track round until it rejoins the route.

Great watching and they seem to be going faster this year. I don't remember anyone getting ahead of Mike's dot on previous years? As much as I like to see records broken there's a part of me which would like Mike to keep the record indefinitely as watching his dot leave the field behind each year is a fitting tribute.

[whitestone]

I listened to Josh Kato talking on The Hidden Athlete podcast - he thinks that the record will drop to around twelve and a half days but that he won't be the person to do it.

[NewRetroTom]

There was a fast guy called Andrew Kulmatiski last year who was doing a NoBo ITT last year. He looked set to break the record until he scratched just past halfway.

I think there is a chance of the record being broken, but there are not many people who are capable of it, and you can only realistically have one shot per year. There are so many things that can go wrong so it may be quite a few years before it all comes together for someone.

[jameso]

11.5-12 days is possible in theory but perhaps we'll be at the stage of fully-trained and sponsored Pro riders and custom carbon aero Divide bikes maybe on conditions-opportunist ITTs for someone to do it. I'm sure a big brand and sponsor could suck the roots out of this event as any other

[Alpinum]

11.5-12 days is possible in theory but perhaps we'll be at the stage of fully-trained and sponsored Pro riders and custom carbon aero Divide bikes maybe on conditions-opportunist ITTs for someone to do it. I'm sure a big brand and sponsor could suck the roots out of this event as any other

It has already started...

[wriggles]

11.5-12 days is possible in theory but perhaps we'll be at the stage of fully-trained and sponsored Pro riders and custom carbon aero Divide bikes maybe on conditions-opportunist ITTs for someone to do it. I'm sure a big brand and sponsor could suck the roots out of this event as any other

It has already started...

Yep, I hear the big brands are already all over the route, making their mark with their logo....

https://www.instagram.com/p/ByypkBWHouq ... axwj5x3s16

[voodoo_simon]

[cheeky comment]

Leave no trace...

[/cheeky comment]

[voodoo_simon]

Can’t believe the distances they leaders have completed, always amazes me to see the vast distance they can achieve in such as short period of time. Have been telling wifey_voodoo and it’s pretty incomprehensible to a non-cyclist what they are doing

Personally, I need my sleep and so, would fail miserably at even one through-night ride

Going back to Lael and the film crew, am I one of the few who thinks it’s more of a hindrance than help? I’d find it all too tempting if the car was nearby to hop in, get warmed up/cooled down and grab a soft drink from the crew. I’m weak willed and given the option, would take the easy way out

[whitestone]

Even the mid-pack riders have done 450 miles or so in three days. It's the time stopped that's the difference. Dave Barter has a moving average speed of 10.3mph, Sofiane Sehili's moving average is 10.4mph (but I think both figures rely on Trackleader's assessment of "moving")

[Alpinum]

[cheeky comment]

Leave no trace...

[/cheeky comment]

+1

Why can't riders leave no rubbish..?

[fatbikephil]

JI back on track but with a big gap in his dots. Hopefully he back tracked rather than follow the road shown on the google map.....
A few folk have gone off route over the years due to not having the latest GPX track, including LW herself in '14 or '15