TD Race Updates

John Nobile on the 30-mile railroad-bed hell-trail
outside of Big Springs, Idaho (2006)

Rain, hail, thunderstorms and deep mud continues to be the main topic of this years race.  Over the past few days, the weather has ceased to let up and has made for some very non-ideal conditions on the route.  Racers had to trek through nearly 70 miles of deep mud in the Centennial Valley from Lima (mile 878) to Red Rock Pass (mile 948) after the valley received 2 weeks of straight rain.  In Big Springs (mile 967), Matt Lee was forced to deal with quarter-inch sized hail, which is beginning to be a near-daily occurance for many of the race leaders.  Due to the weather, racers are likely wearing through their drivetrains much faster than previous years, which will likely cause many of them to have to pre-maturely replace them once they get into Colorado.   Read more »

Hi, it's Alan, it's 10 o'clock on Saturday morning, I'm in Flag Ranch in the Tetons. Just had breakfast with Canon, Blaine, John, Josh and Steve, who caught up just coming over the hill there. Last night we were planning on staying at Squirrel Creek Lodge, but there was a wedding there, so we couldn't. So we bivvied in the woods with the mosquitoes! They said the road was impassable but it was wrong. No snow at all, not like last year! So, going well. Three of the boys are in the toilet having a shave. Going to head through the Tetons, get some 5c cowboy coffee at Buffalo Valley, go up and have more food at Togwotee. So, life's good. Hopefully bottom of Union Pass tonight. OK, feeling good and talk to you tomorrow!

Hey, it’s Justin. It is Saturday morning, cruising through the end of Idaho into Wyoming. Overlooking the Tetons. Had a decent night’s sleep. Pitched a tent last night and slept out in the woods. Um, body’s actually dealing with my knees and Achilles a little bit better, but after over 1,000 miles and the first week here, what I’m learning is that I’m not really having fun riding at this pace. And the reality is, I know this is over a year’s worth of vacation time, so I want to make sure I’m enjoying myself, and having to ride this fast is not enjoyable. Y’know, I want to be able to stop and smell the flowers, instead of looking at them, pissing on them and keep riding. So, I want to make sure I’m making the most of my time out here and we’ll see what happens. I’m getting close to Flagg Ranch and I’ll either keep going on the route or maybe spin in Yellowstone and check out some geysers and enjoy myself a little more. But, we’ll see. I just want to have fun. That’s what it’s all about for me, so we’ll see what it takes to make that happen. So, keep an eye on the SPOT, I’ll let you know where I go. See ya.

Good morning all you blue dot junkies out there. It's Kurt, I'm with Chris here at Lava Lodge, between Togwatee and Union Passes. It's a beautiful morning here, we had a pretty long day yesterday, making our way across the Idaho/Wyoming border only to be met by an enormous cloud of very thirsty mosquitos. Made it through that area down to Flagg Ranch, and hit Togwatee Pass late in the day and got over the summit just as it was getting dark and discovered there was a lot of snow up there.  So, needless to say, it was a slog to get through that, but we made it. I almost ran over a porcupine coming down the road on the back side, which was unexpected. There were some pretty impressive bear tracks all over up there, so definitely in some bear country here. Union Pass is the last big challenge and now we're heading off up that, and out toward Pinedale and beyond. Things continue to go well, hopefully you'll hear from us again sometime in the next day or two with more big progress. Alright, later!