Tour Divide 2009

[AmyL]

I kind of lost track of who has left the race and who is still racing, so I took notes.  Please comment if anything here is inaccurate.
[Updated July 2nd...]

SCRATCHED:
Bruce Giroux; June 15th; Sparwood;  Mistakenly left course in Canada and bailed out to Elko.  Switch to tour mode.
Kevin Hall; June 15th; Whitefish?;  Crashed.
Cadet Bryant; June 15th; Eureka;  Bad knee pain.
Matt Thourot; June 18th; ??;  Crashed and hurt knee.
Jeff Kerby; June 20th; Butte;  Sick.
Justin Kline; June 20th; Jackson;  Switching to tour mode.
Martin Rendl; June 20th; Helena;  Mistakenly left course between Lincoln and Helena.  Switch to tour mode.
Josh Ficke; June 21st; Jackson;  No reason given.
Steve McGuire; June 21st; Dillon;  Weather conditions.
Kevin Dean; June 21st; Togwatee;  Injury, pulled quad.
John Nobile; June 21st; Jackson;  Exit early in order to save vacation time.
Jeff Naylor; June 22nd; Butte;  Weather conditions.
Jacob Johnsrud; June 22nd; Dillon;  Mechanical problems.
Ray Porter; June 23rd; Butte;  Knee pain.
Brunello Godio; June 24th; Rawlins;  Sick (as reported by Diego, who is apparently his son). He has not confirmed that he has withdrawn.
Rick Ashton; June 24th; Lima;  Deliberately took paved route at Big Sheep Divide north of Lima.  Continue to tour until June26.
Rudiger Muller; June 24th; Atlantic City;  Sick.
Jeremy Noble; June 27th; Kremling;  No reason given.
Cricket Butler; July 1st; Hartsel;  Sick.
Erick Lobeck; July 2st; Pie Town;  Sick.

COMPLETED:  
Matthew Lee completed June 30
Kurt Refsnider completed June 30
J&T Petervary completed June 30
Chris Plesko completed July 1

STILL RACING:
Blaine Nester
Leighton White
Steve Wilkinson
Alan Goldsmith
Cannon Shockley
John Fettis
Joe Meiser
Eric Bruntjen
Dario Valsesia
Jill Homer
Jamie Thomson
Trevor Browne
Per Nilsson Eklof
Stephen Huddle
Paul Howard
Deanna Adams
Brad Mattingly
Michael Komp

[ScottM]

That looks pretty close, Amy.  Everyone that I know for sure isn't riding anymore is listed as a scratch on the split chart and also their individual page.  Let me know if you see any errors / omissions there.

The possible DQs and tour mode folks will continue to be tracked and all that stuff will be sorted out when the dust settles.

[ScottM]

Meanwhile the leaders are not far from finishing.  It looked like Kurt was closing the gap on Matthew for a while, but major rain on the paved alternate seemed to not only slow him down but kill his spirits (see his last call in).  I expected him to make it much further yesterday.  Matt now has a healthy 100 mile lead on Kurt, and JayP and Chris are not far behind.

Matt is into Gila country, the last significant obstacle before the finish.  There are a series of ~6 puncher climb/descent pairs that are loose and often take racers by surprise.  After emerging from the Gila (also the longest service-less stretch on the divide) he'll soon hit Silver City and then be on the homestretch -- a blast downhill into the Chihuahuan desert and a final fast but boring 80 miles of pavement to Mexico.

[carlhutch]

a friend pointed out to me Matt Lee`s 07  record riding split between silver city and Antelope wells.124 miles in 5hrs 42 mins. Poor guy must have been fighting a headwind 

[ScottM]

a friend pointed out to me Matt Lee`s 07  record riding split between silver city and Antelope wells.124 miles in 5hrs 42 mins. Poor guy must have been fighting a headwind 

Heh.  Note the "less than" sign that I added before his time.  I have no idea why it was less than that time (maybe he called in from Separ?).  Thinking about it, I'll bet it's actually his Separ split (right on I-10).

[ScottM]

Matt has about 12 hours to cover the last 124 miles, if he's going to set a new record.  The problem?  Only a few more hours of sunlight left....

Did you listen to his last call in?  Only 2 days without rain/mud and pushing his bike through goop?  No breaks, for sure.

[ScottM]

Hmm... no points from Kurt for 10+ hours.

Stealth mode?

[protoceratops]

Matt still boogeying along...Chris Plesko asleep for the last six hours...no posts from
JP and T-Race for the last 4.5 hours...nothing from Kurt for 14 hours now...hmmmm
indeed!  Great stuff! 

[richNYC]

Looks like Matthew was riding through the night. He has a little over 20 miles to go to finish!!!

[ScottM]

HUGE congrats to Matt Lee for his 6th finish of the GDMBR, and winning this year's TD.

http://tourdivide.org/blog2009/matthew_lee_first_racer_reach_mexican_border_antelope_wells

[edemtbs]

HUGE congrats to Matt Lee for his 6th finish of the GDMBR, and winning this year's TD.

http://tourdivide.org/blog2009/matthew_lee_first_racer_reach_mexican_border_antelope_wells

Freakin' amazing, well done Matt!!

They're all amazing actually. Congrats to all of the riders who entered this year's event and to all who finish.

In addition to Matt's astounding ride other standouts include the tandem team J and Tracey P. rockin' to a finish, Plesko is likely hammering to a record time on his rigid, ss, Jill H. is still rolling and Deanna Adams is still out there turning the fixed gear. Amazing!

Well done all!!

Ed

[rocky rode]

About the time Matthew was getting to the border Jill rolled in.  She had some of Patti's home made pie and pizza.  She stayed less than an hour because she wanted to get over Indiana Pass before the thunder boomers got going and she plans to spend the night in Platoro.  Fortunately it looks like they may not happen today.  She is doing great.  The knee is fine and she seems to be having fun.  Patti rode out with her for awhile till she turned off to do some trails.

Jill is running clips and straps, she claims because of frostbite clipless shoes make her feet go numb.  Her Karate Monkey is set up really well, I think, for someone that has to buy their own stuff and is frugal.  Smart build.

Pete B slept in the same campground (Storm King) as Jill but he got there after her and left before she did.  A friend saw Pete here in town at the supermarket but we didn't hear from him.  I wish him the best.  Jill ran into Mike C on Marshall Pass and he gave her some treats.  Apparently he was looking for Pete. 

She, and everyone who stopped here are running Nanoraptors, it's definitely the tire of choice for this route.  I don't know about Jill but the others we saw are running them tubeless.  The fred (aero) bars are on everyone's bikes too now, two years ago not many used them.  Matthew used to use a Thudbuster but doesn't now.

It's hard for me to imagine how the front riders can maintain the motivation to ride the way they do day in and day out.  They have all of our respect, I'm sure.  Jill is averaging 100 miles a day, that seems rational to me and she really seems to be enjoying herself as well.

We never heard from the Brits and the group of 6-7 when they spent the night here in Del Norte.  We heard after the fact that they were trying to find us but apparently none of them looked for our phone # on the ACA map.

A huge congrats to Matthew! 

Gary

[edemtbs]

I read an update reported by Jill H. that Pete Basinger was injured but "appeared ok". An accident on Indiana Pass. Any further info.

Link ==> http://tourdivide.org/blog2009/pete_basinger_injured

And the MTBCast from Jill H ==> http://mtbcast.com/wordpress/

Again it appeared that Pete was ok and talking but there were two ambulances and it involved a vehicle.

Ed

[ScottM]

Pete was released from a hospital in Pueblo last night.  That's a very good sign.  The word is that he has broken bones in his arms, but no critical injuries.

Definitely big healing vibes to Pete.  What a terrible way to end what was a solid divide racing effort.

Until the accident, Pete was matching record pace at nearly every split, even with major setbacks like a taco'd wheel, broken fork and of course, this year's nasty rain/mud.

[edemtbs]

Thanks Scott, definitely good news that he's going to be ok but a bummer in regards to the ride itself.

Heal quickly and completely Pete!!!

Ed

[rocky rode]

Anyone know if Pete has a ride form Pueblo?   Patti has offered to go pick him up.  Call her at 719 849-8181 or me at 719 849-8183 if we can do anything.  Our thoughts go out to him.

Gary

[wookieone]

Ah man hurts me to hear about Pete, I actually just met him on the GLR, he was out getting some miles, I was pushing thru the mud. Anyways, he seems like such a great guy, kills me to keep seeing him having issues year after year. Pete hope you heal up soon, nice work out there, keep on rocking, funny it was Pete and MikeC's GDR in 05 that got me into this stuff, inspirational!!! Peace Jefe

[AmyL]

I just stumbled on this album.  It includes very nice photos.
http://photos.rvinteractive.com/Competitions/244740

In the album called "Great Divide Bicycle Race"
2007:  Nathan Bay, John Billman
2009:  Petervary Love Shack, Kevin Dean, Erik Lobeck, John Fettis, Alan Goldsmith, Joe Meiser, Jill Homer

The album called "Continental Divide Bicycle Ride (no race)" has some nice images of people touring the GDMBR, many of whom have painfully large loads.

[rocky rode]

I got an email from Pete B.  The good news is he just has a broken clavicle, not two broken arms.  It sounds like the scratches, cuts and bruises are bad though.

Jamie Thomson stayed with us the night before last.  What a character!  He's having a great time, listen to his call ins.  I'm getting the impression the 100 mile-a-day guys are getting the most from this ride.

He's from Silver City and we have some mutual friends there.  He decided to do TD at the last minute because a free ride to Banff appeared.  He threw his gear carrying stuff together at the last minute.  Cool!  His seat post rack broke early on, they all do it seems, and he did a creative seat bag attachment with his stuff sack.  He ripped a Nano sidewall and replaced it with a Small Block 8, he likes the Nano better.

We have a crew of 4 riders tonight and one tourist last night.  Busy times here in Del Norte...

I can't get photos to load this AM, sorry.

Gary

[ScottM]

Thanks for all the updates, Gary.

Just a note on the leaderboard -- I pulled the 'dots' of the scratches off the main map to unclutter things (at Matt Lee's request).  Everyone's individual pages remain, though.

Also, I added Rohan Freeman and Jason Koski, who are doing an individual time trial, starting from Banff on Jun 26th.  I will get their stats to reflect their actual start time (miles per day, avg speed, etc) when time allows.