The drama continues… Another 6 days have passed and leaders of the Tour Divide 2008 crossed into Colorado. Matt and Reuben (see photo above) are in Steamboat Springs right now, relaxing before another stretch (June 24th, 3:00pm MST). There are some nice pictures of Matt, Reuben and trail conditions near Steamboat Lake, CO posted by Marko over at MTBR.com forums. He went out and met the guys on the trail. You really get clear idea how difficult the Tour is this year, condition-wise. Crappy snow and mud almost everywhere. Really tough!!! I’m even more amazed that folks are doing as well as they are. Matt was having mechanical issues with his fork in Butte, MT and had to stay overnight waiting for replacement parts, while Reuben had been pressing on. Eventually, Matt caught up to Reuben in Rawlins, WY (to be truthful Reuben has decided to wait for Matt, too). They still are both on close-to-record pace, which for the Tour Divide would be around 18 days.
Ardie Olson, currently in the third place, is putting on a good fight and riding toward Colorado border somewhere before Aspen Alley. The fourth and fifth placed, Alan Goldsmith and Dominik Scherer, just reached Rawlins after crossing the long and dry Great Divide Basin. Leighton White is crossing the Basin now, just past the Sweetwater crossing, which has nice wild camp spots and last water for the next 70 miles. Adrian Stingaciu and Felix Wong have been plagued by mechanical breakdowns, crank (Adrian) and flats (Felix) but they are still riding strong. Adrian is in Pinedale, WY and Felix somewhere en-route to the Union Pass in Wyoming. Marry Collier had to take a break to deal with health issues but is back on the trail near the Flagg Ranch. Hopefully, she is past the rough sections with snow and mud… Stephen Gleasner is valiantly carrying the lantern rouge this year and keeps on trucking on his way to Idaho border. Ten racers still riding… Congratulations to all of you guys and gals. You are the toughest of the tough!!!
A few guys had to abandon, due to health issues: fever (David Nice), knee pain (Karl Wilcox), strained Achilles (Kevin Montgomery), or general tiredness (Mike Dion). All the best to you guys. Bring on the Tour Divide 2009;) The first week is the toughest one as the racers’ bodies are getting used to daily abuse. The joint problems usually appear in the first few days and after a week, or so, not enough sleep takes its toll, too… From there on, it’s really a mental game, keep focused, stay on pace and rest enough, and just keep rolling toward New Mexico. I know I make it sound so easy. In reality, it will never let up until the race is over…
PS: The best way to follow the race is with Google Earth: SPOT Tour Divide 2008 Leaderboard. You just can’t get a better idea of the terrain and up-to-date info. I say it loud and clear: Matt, Kevin and all the other organizers thank you for getting SPOT involved in this project. For us, armchair guys, it has been the best way to follow the race and turn into blue-dot junkies!!!
One more amazing photo gallery is posted on Tour Divide 2008 official website. All photos taken by Kevin Montgomery.
June 24th, 2008
Posted by
Rich |
Great Divide, Racing, Wyoming |
2 comments
I’m happy to report that my worries about missing out on cycling in Western China and Central Asia this year were quickly put to rest. In the past few weeks, following the Tibet unrest and embarrassment surrounding the Olympic torch run, I read and heard, either online (China Travel Feels a Chill) or from friends traveling there right now, how messy the pre-Olympics 2008 travel inside China is for foreigners. Ranging from visa problems (only short-term, hard-to-renew visas are currently available), dealing with over-zealous PSB officers (public security bureau), to just being randomly turned around and not allowed into many areas (Tibet is still virtually off limits as of June 22nd)…
But to keep my dream alive, here and there, I always find something to read for inspiration. The latest issue of Bicycling magazine (July ‘08) just published an article by Dan Koeppel “You Will Be Burried” about his travels around and on the Silk Route. He only spent 16 days cycling, fully supported, organized through Bike China Adventures, Inc. Full support comes for a price though: $2,590 (includes support vehicle, guide, meals and accomodation). Kind of steep, if you ask me. I could easily go on for at least 4 months unsupported with so much money. This is how I slept when cycling on the Silk Road in 2006. But that’s just me… Sorry to sound too frugal;) Notwithstanding the nuances of different modes of cycling, it is still on a bike and an amazing read. Thanks for sharing Dan Koeppel, wherever you are.
June 24th, 2008
Posted by
Rich |
China |
one comment
An interesting article was published by MTBR.com website: World’s Longest Mountain Bike Races Launch on Great Divide. I couldn’t agree more with their race description:
“In classic touring tradition, they carry everything they need — food, water, shelter — on their bikes and backs, with refueling stops in small-town stores along the way. Riders are truly on their own, with no support crews, SAG vehicles, or massage-teams allowed, making the Tour Divide the longest, most-challenging cycling race in the world.”
The first five days of the Tour Divide race were full drama, mostly weather-related. The field separated quickly into a few groups. Leading the pack is a group of three riders: Reuben Kline, Ardie Olson and Matthew Lee (in that order) pulling ahead of everyone else. Right from the start they were putting in serious mileage. All three crossed the border in under 28 hours. That’s fast… Right now, as of June 18th, 3:00PM local time, Reuben in near the top of the Medicine Lodge - Sheep Creek Divide, Ardie is in Crystal Park in the Pioneer Mtns. and Matthew is most likely re-fueling in Wise River. By tonight, Reuben and Ardie should reach Lima, MT. And some time tomorrow, they all will leave Montana and cross into Idaho. Amazing!!! Despite all the trouble with snow en route (described below), they are still putting in over 150 miles a day. Mind-boggling!!!
The second bunch of riders consists of Kevin Montgomery, Alan Goldsmith and Dominik Scherer who are somewhere around Butte, MT. These guys are more like my kind of pace group;) Great effort guys…
This year, the route has been snowed in high up. On many passes riders had to push their bikes through miles of deep snow drifts swallowing up the Great Divide trails. From guys’ comments left behind on the race blog, especially the area around Richmond Peak, seems to be in the worst shape. Not only it is peppered with sections of precariously steep and icy snow but also blocked with many fallen logs. Luckily, most folks are safely past that point.
The route has been so tough in fact, that two riders had to abandon due to health issues. Get well fast guys and come back again in 2009!!! Another one, David Nice, rested for a day due to fever. But it looks like he is doing better now and is back on his bike. Respect brother!!!
BTW, Joe Polk from MTBCast.com posted a SPOT leaderboard on his website too. I like his a bit better than the original one over at the Tour Divide website: For one, it’s bigger and more importantly you can change ‘plain’ maps to satellite images or topo maps to get better idea of geography.
So for now, good luck to all the guys out there, stay safe and healthy and keep on rocking!!! I’m just one more dude rooting for you;)
June 18th, 2008
Posted by
Rich |
Great Divide, Montana, Racing |
2 comments
As I mentioned in my previous post, this year Great Divide race will start next Friday, June 20th. Just in case, you’ll like to experience it from your chair read this amazing writeup (nice pictures, too) by Matt McFee from 2007 GDR (Results). He will take you on a trip of a lifetime. Really worth a read if you are into adventure cycling…
Dirt Rag magazine, the best adventure cycling mag there is, from time to time also publishes good stories about the Great Divide. In “A Long Way from Home” (Issue #130) piece Dirt Rag writers interviewed Mike Curiak and David Nice, both former racers. Another good monthly is Bike Magazine. Inside June 2008 print issue was a race account of 2007 GDR “Visions of the Divide” written by Rick Hunter. Great writing…
More background and route info on the Great Divide:
June 14th, 2008
Posted by
Rich |
Great Divide, Racing |
no comments
So, it started yesterday. The inaugural Tour Divide race of 2008 has just begun. The 2,711-mile long off-road mountain biking race from Banff, AB, in Canada to Antelope Wells, NM on the U.S./Mexico border. The goal: To get to the finish line as fast as possible, relying only on your own lungs, two legs and a bike. The rules: Follow the official Adventure Cycling Association Great Divide route and stay self-supported throughout the whole race. This is race is tougher, both mentally and physically, than Tour de France!!!
There were 16 racers on the start line in Banff, Alberta. Some of them were familiar guys from previous years Great Divide races, but there were plenty of fresh faces, too. It’s amazing sight to see how little are they packing for the next 3 weeks of suffering.
Following the race gets better and better every year. This year, not only you can read a race blog, with transcripts of phone call-ins, but the participants are also wearing SPOT GPS tracking devices, so it is easy to check actual progress in Google maps… Plus, you can subscribe to MTBCast podcast which has daily updates on the race. MTBCast.com has also posted the Tour Divide leaderboard in Google maps.
And if one race is not enough, next Friday, June 20th, the Great Divide race is on, too. You can follow it at Great Divide Race Updates blog. If I’m not mistaken it’ll be the 5th edition. In previous years, the Canadian section was run as an unofficial prologue with racers re-joining with the rest of the field at the U.S./Canada border in Roosville, MT. In 2008, for the first time, we will have two separate races. Twice as much fun;) Good luck to all the racers, be fast, be safe and don’t forget to have some fun, too;)
PS: Originally, I should have been at the start of the 2008 edition but due to personal conflicts, I will only tour and “scout” it in August/September 2008. Again!!! This year, I’ll try to do it nice and easy but still fast enough to average around 90-100 miles a day and go the whole distance.
June 14th, 2008
Posted by
Rich |
Canada, Great Divide, Racing |
one comment
