Tour Divide 2016

[Ian]

Correct, Nigel Leech's real name is in fact Johnny Storm. No, wait...

[Bearbonesnorm]

Trackleaders updated with riders names.

No Guy Martin then?

[jay91]

Trackleaders updated with riders names.

No Guy Martin then?

fake name ?

[sean_iow]

I wondered where Guy was, then thought he might not want his spot to be used by stalkers to know where he was as endless fans at every town would spoil the experience? so did think he might not be racing under his real name, but can't work out who he's listed as? But then if it was that obvious the stalkers would work it out as well!

Jonny's having to race under a fake name for the same reason

[GregMay]

Surprised no one has noticed Mikes name is not there :)

[johnnystorm]

I've told work I'm off with a really bad cold hence the cover name.

Tarmac ain't so bad to ride on around here:

IMG_20160604_203741.jpg (399.47 KiB) Viewed 3996 times

[johnnystorm]

Oh and Sean, if that frame snapped then it was another Nigel.

[jay91]

Surprised no one has noticed Mikes name is not there :)

jay p is doing the trans am?

[GregMay]

Surprised no one has noticed Mikes name is not there :)

jay p is doing the trans am?

Yes he is.

[Blackhound]

Good luck to all going out to race. Will be watching progress on Trackleaders

[Ian]

Surprised no one has noticed Mikes name is not there :)

I've been out of the loop on this; why isn't his name there?

[Blackhound]

Well you don't have to carry a SPoT in TD but would be surprised if Mike isn't especially as he is likely gunning for the record.

[voodoo_simon]

Well you don't have to carry a SPoT in TD but would be surprised if Mike isn't especially as he is likely gunning for the record.

Maybe that's why! He must have saw the way it finished last year and maybe wants to ride stealth so it doesn't motivate other riders

[GregMay]

Well you don't have to carry a SPoT in TD but would be surprised if Mike isn't especially as he is likely gunning for the record.

Quite true, not a necessity, we'll see in the next day or two I'd suspect.

[JohnClimber]

Well you don't have to carry a SPoT in TD but would be surprised if Mike isn't especially as he is likely gunning for the record.

Maybe that's why! He must have saw the way it finished last year and maybe wants to ride stealth so it doesn't motivate other riders

That's not playing fair though.

[sean_iow]

Oh and Sean, if that frame snapped then it was another Nigel.

Thought I'd better reply, wouldn't want it playing on your mind over the ride The frame is fine, it was 2 years before I rode it anyway so guarantee would of run out by then I've got a friend who's a RNLI composite technician (usually building carbon fibre ribs for inshore use) so he refinished it for me. Unfortunately it's actually a bit small for me but too much work has gone into it so I'll keep it for now and if I do ever stop riding it I'll put the frame on the wall as art. It ended up as a sub 21lb bike so pleased with that, the only thing I paid full price for were the bars, All the rest was in the sales or off forums, but I did have 2 years to gather up the parts.

[Trail-rat]

Who too ?

Petervary and basinger at least have both done this when gunning for records with only mike curiak having tabs on their trackers

[jameso]

Well you don't have to carry a SPoT in TD but would be surprised if Mike isn't especially as he is likely gunning for the record.

Maybe that's why! He must have saw the way it finished last year and maybe wants to ride stealth so it doesn't motivate other riders

That's not playing fair though.

I've been told Mike doesn't do 'Spot games' so I expect he'd either ride with or without, with most likely.

I think it's fair to use a spot or not, the Great Divide Race was done w/o phones as a rule so it was more chance-tactical in that way. I think it's a shame that everyone now feels that smart phones and GPS is part of a level playing field but that's how it is, I'd use GPS anyway. It's been said, if you want to follow other racers via your smartphone as you go you're already faffing and not focussed on your own race. I think smart-phone use (when you have a signal .. ) can remove the element of suprise like Basinger and Curiak's final miles of the ?2004? GDR and that's why Josh Kato's win last year was such a great story, but it's part of riding and racing now, just make your own choice. I love the lo-fi and delayed news aspect of the TDR on trackleaders so my opinion is only coming from that pov, bit like following the Tour of the early years in the daily paper.
Further on the stealth aspect, I've heard of twitter accounts being used to notify riders of being passed, by spectator supporters watching trackleaders, so the notified rider could get on with chasing. Similarly riders being notified of other elements of the race that may give them an advantage over others by logging into forums has come up before, but very few riders manage a totally solo race over 15-20 days anyway and I can't see how it's likely to affect things much. Better to race your own race, there's no other reason for riding.

[GregMay]

Can't agree with you more James. My phone, is going in a ziplocked bag and will get opened very, very infrequently. It's a non smart phone, I don't want to have the external crap that comes with the race. I want the immersion.

[johnnystorm]

My phone is my camera so it will see a fair bit of use. I'm wifi only in Canada but I can't see me using it too much in the States, especially not spot watching....trackleaders is painful on a mobile.

Back to riding, popped up to do the Goat Creek trail to Banff and back on the Legacy trail. Dusty as heck, no mud and when I asked a bloke for directions it turned out he comes a town about 5 miles from my house and emigrated to Calgary!

Grassi Lakes

IMG_20160605_160724.jpg (108.78 KiB) Viewed 3769 times

[johnnystorm]

Thought I'd better reply, wouldn't want it playing on your mind over the ride

Cheers, looking very smart!

[GregMay]

Canada still looks crap. Maybe I won't go. Not like I miss living there every waking day

[atk]

Greg's going to vomit all over Josh Kato :(

http://www.bikepacking.com/plan/josh-ka ... ivide-bicycle/

[GregMay]

Greg's going to vomit all over Josh Kato :(

http://www.bikepacking.com/plan/josh-ka ... ivide-bicycle/

I know! I had a giggle as I'd just put these fellas on my bike again

DSC00124.jpg by Greg.May, on Flickr

[Trail-rat]

tbh the cutthroat suits the lauf forks look...... the santacruz full sus does not.