The Race of Attrition
This year’s Tour Divide is shaping up to be the edition with the worst weather in its short 11 year history. The elements are taking their toll on the riders. Yesterday was the day when some of them could not bear it any longer and decided to bow out of the race. Others just could not deal mentally/physically with racking up miles day after day and decided to slow down to either enjoy the route more and/or prevent damage to their bodies. Moreover, equipment is not faring any better in this mud and bikes are braking down a lot faster than in recent years: broken chains, ripped derailleurs, seized bottom brackets, etc…
Slowing down is smart this year. Personal records will be a few, if any, so it’s better just keep touring the route, get more beta for the next year, come back and hope to race it again, in better weather. Touring, even fast-touring, is a whole different animal, both mentally and physically. It is lot easier to cycle 8 to 10 hours a day (80 to 100 miles) rather than waking up in wee hours at 5:00am and hitting trails cold and hungry and keep pedaling until 10:00 or 11:00pm night with some breaks for re-fueling and short rests… The top 15 racers are averaging from 125 to 150 miles a day through some really rough terrain. That’s simply mind-boggling in these conditions.
Yesterday, four racers pulled out: Josh Ficke in Jackson Hole, John Nobile in Flagg Ranch, Kevin Dean (with a pulled quad, near Togwotee Pass, I think) , and Steve McGuire in Dillon. Earlier in the race, Cadet Bryant in Eureka, Kevin Hall in Kalispell, Matt Thourot, Jeff Kerby in Butte, and Jeff Naylor in Butte, too.
Plus, three more riders switched to touring mode: Bruce Giroux, Martin Rendl and Justin Kline. Also, David Nice, the South-North ITT (Individual Time Trial) Tour Divide racer is out, after 1133 miles. That’s the farthest anyone rode on a fixie, just plain impossible!!! Dave, I don’t know you in person but you are one tough guy;)
Guys, keep your heads high. You achieved the unthinkable and challenged yourself to extreme levels of ultra-distance endurance racing. I applaud you!!! Plus, there is always the next year. Hope to see you out there in 2010. For the rest, still 30 racers left (out of 42), keep rocking all the way to New Mexico. Tailwinds!!!
More recent updates form the race with the first two as always entertaining Jon Billman’s write-ups:
