Tour Divide Partners with SPOT.

TD is pleased to announce partnership with SPOT Inc. to provide real time tracking for this year's racing. SPOT recently brought to market the world's first personal satellite messenger. The brilliance of this device as a tool for following self-support racing is in its outgoing-only messaging design. They cannot be used to gain advantage on course. Divide racing has been waiting years for a reasonable alternative to satellite phones to fill the GPS tracking void. Finally we have it in SPOT Satellite Messenger.

Data from each racer's unit are collected by SPOT and compiled onto a Google Earth map of the route so fans can follow the action real-time. Access to the cumulative data points for each racer's unit are also available, making meta-analyses such as average speed, overnight location possible. The technology gives us an interesting view into Divide racing we haven't had before and serves to complement the semi-daily racer call-in reports.