The pace is heinous in the TTW. The Silk road dude and the south african dude, both ultra runners have moved ahead of the local hero, who is originally from Ireland, but man I am uber impressed with the quality of the ladies.
A lot of them have no bikepacking history that I am aware of, but they must just be legitimate hard arses. Ladies currrently in 7th, 11th, 13th, 21st, 23rd, 24th, 25th, 27th, 28th, 29th, 30th, and 31st places.
The weather has cut up rough and it looks like 2nd and 3rd placed men are holed up at the top of the Hawdun range with snow flurries. Its like a moonscape up there. Not the kind of place to be travelling through with minimal gear. At least they are in a hut. Its wicked watching this event, knowing exactly where they are going and what they are experiencing, minus the pro level of sleep deprivation of course. Screw that.
Thanks for these updates, I appreciate your perspective for sure! I recall last year being impressed at some of the minimalist gear setups, but which relied on getting decent weather. Not sure I’m cut out for that sort of thing myself.
Yeah, I had a heated argument with a buddy about this thing exactly yesterday. The organiser himself, is a very experienced climber and outdoors person, but he reckons this other guy, Mark Rayward, he could drop him from a chopper anywhere in the bush in NZ with no gear and he would survive. No small feat. Mark actually designs adventure racing courses and does safety audits on other peoples courses. He was one of the guys travelling pretty damn light. But he knew the places he could exit the course, so once again, knowledge is power. My mindset was that I was finishing, come what may. Possibly a bit stupid if it got biblical. Anyway, my buddy who is a seismic modeller and knows a bit about risk reckons this guy is a twat because what if he broke his leg or got a head injury. And I came back with, most head injuries happen in the home, and he said that wasn’t relevant. I gave up as I am a shit arguer and he will always out argue me even if I am right. I have an uncanny knack of only doing these events when the weather is really good, and last years was so good.
Yip. I’ve been following them while they IG around the country, her on a nice Ti Singular. The Ghost road is one of two relatively new trails that I feel like I’m the only person in the country not to have done. The other is the Paparoa trail, which was closed by the biblical rains they have been having on the West Coast. The Heaphy track, another must do track was also devastated by the weather. Biiigg swing bridges completely washed away. Anyway, I got very close to doing the Ghost road one weekend with a hard won leave pass, but we pulled the pin the day before because the weather was arse and it’s dangerous when it’s arse up there. My buddies all do it in a day with a backpack which is what I would do. Maybe take a puffer jacket and bivy Incase of emergency. Not the kind of place you take a loaded bike at all. I am currently on holiday with my Mrs e/bike-glamping our way down the 300 km Alps2Ocean cycle trail. Weather is a bit cloudy on our first leg today which is a shame as the epic vistas are harder to see, and my phone had a hang which scared the shit out of me. Anyway, despite it being summer, the weather in the rest of the country right now is shit so we are doing alright.
Went from Twizel to Lake Ohau yesterday. Cold, but dry. Today was nice and sunny, from Ohau to Omarama, the place to come for gliding. One flew over our heads while we were in a hot pool.
I thought this was a pretty entertaining read from the guy that eventually came 2nd in the Tour Te Waipounamu, Scrimped a bit much on his sleeping system…
Did a two-night trip in Michaux SF in southern PA whilst visiting my partner in DC. It was on my list almost the whole time I lived there but takes some planning to get to sans car.
I’m planning a Finger Lakes tour later in June. I’ve finally pinned down what I think is a reasonable route and itinerary. This was tricky because we’re limited to 6 days, and it was hard to figure out consistent spacing between camping options. Any advice from western NY folks (@karl_dandleton, @BEEutiful_Wednesday_DDS) ?
Itinerary:
Ithaca to Campbell - 67 mi (visit Corning Glass Museum)
Campbell to Letchworth SP - 75mi (poke around southern Letchworth to see the waterfalls)
Letchworth SP to Rochester or Palmyra - 43 or 70 mi (via Genesee Valley Greenway and Erie Canal; no good camping options - stay at a hotel)
Rochester to Cayuga Lake SP or Palmyra-Skaneatles/Auburn - 70 or 77mi
Cayuga Lake SP or Skaneatles to Cayuga Lake SP - 60 or 87 mi (lots of quaint lake towns)
Cayuga Lake SP to Ithaca - 47 mi
More see-the-sights. A little adventure is good, but spending a day pushing bikes through muddy single track isn’t really in the cards for this trip.
One thing I’ve puzzled over is judging how much traffic some of these roads get and when it’s worth diverting out of the valleys to get smaller/quieter roads.
that is exactly the sort of info I can help you with!
at first glance your route looks pretty good but I’m gonna copy it, add some POIs, and suggest a couple lower-traffic reroutes (and some good camping options that might be a little off the beaten path)
EDIT also the Greenway Trail has some closures for resurfacing right now, and def won’t be finished by the time you’re gonna be here, so I’ll add detours for that too
i think the east side of the canal path out towards macedon is really un-fun. i haven’t ridden out there in a few years but it’s kind of rooty, obviously COMPLETELY flat, and gets super humid and buggy. i never ride this, i just ride the roads.
the bit you have going through montezuma on the north side of cayuga lake is not actually rideable although it appears on RWGPS as a road. just stay on 20.
cayuga lake state park is nice, when you are there let me know and i will visit you via boat or jet ski or bicycle! we can take a boat ride!
down by taughannock you could ride by Camp Barton the boy scout camp which is where my grandparents had a cottage for many years. but don’t bother.
you nailed it on the black diamond trail, that is fun to ride.
if you want to get More Rad on your way down there, you can go through fingerlakes national forest which dan can tell you more about than i can. the camping there is way quieter than in cayuga lake state park.
south side i can’t tell you much about. letchworth piece will be awesome.
i just rode the greenway two weeks ago and while it is “closed” for resurfacing it is still rideable although i’m not sure i’d want to deal with the gates while loaded.
up in rochester on the northeast side of your route you should go down the little green trail next to Village Ln rather than riding over to clover and then south. take that green trail all the way into pittsford and pick up the canal. do not ride on monroe
