Tour Divide race discussion

[sherpaxc]

Interesting. I thought I saw Jefe training on the El Mariachi.  That's cool though that he is using something different. In the end, he could ride most anything and still kill it.

[Mathewsen]

Hello Everyone, great discussion here, learning about this event is an eye opener.
I'm the founder of Ibis Cycles, and Jefe is riding a new and so far unreleased bike of ours.
Jefe has been amazing to deal with and it's good to see him doing so well.
It's an understatement to say I've been obsessively checking the Tour Divide Race Tracker since June 13th.
Just wanted to say thanks for the discussion. I'm in awe of all of you who have done this or are doing it.
-Scot

Wow, we're honored to have an MTB HOFer chiming in. Welcome. What I would give to hear your stories from the 80s. Would be great to see a klunker tour of the Divide one day. Cheers!

[dp]

If you're not sure whether you want to tour or race, tour first.  Have the courage and pride and ego strength to pick the one you'll get the most from...

Some wisdom here. 

It's a tempting prospect to add one's name to the spreadsheet and show up in Banff in June.  But there are other factors to consider as well, not the least of which is this year's "winter" start.  If I've never done this before (and I haven't), wouldn't it be wise to tour it first (maybe in August), in order to find my way without the pressure of the race clock driving me to do things I might not do otherwise? 

In Cordillera V5, racer Erick Armentrout recounts an interaction with the owner of the local mercantile who was kind enough to share some advice.  "The first time you race the divide you're not racing, you're learning.  When you come back you're racing."  Even Jesse Carlson (who finished second last year!) admits "Most of the time I was out riding I had no idea what I was doing.  I finished the race thinking, 'Right! NOW I'm ready to race the Tour Divide!'"

Food for thought...

-dp

[ComoDepot]

Jesse was hit by lightning!

Concerned at the time, and wondered if it had long lasting effect.

[mbeardsl]

"Most of the time I was out riding I had no idea what I was doing.  I finished the race thinking, 'Right! NOW I'm ready to race the Tour Divide!'"

That's seriously what I think every time I do a new race, and many times I repeat a race I've done numerous times before, regardless of length or results.  Each iteration allows you to fine tune your strategy and push your limits just a little more.

[robinb]

Jarral, not sure how rugged your cubs can handle, but I might consider just running the Spray Lake / Smith-Dorrien road all the way to K-country with a minor detour to camp along the west side of Spray Lake (at the campground). Elk River Rd is also super nice / more remote, but Elk Pass connecting K-country and Elk R. Rd might be a debbie-downer. Lots of side trips along Smith-Dorrien...and I'd carry fly rods. Mid to late July b/f their monsoons would be good timing. The only downside to the Smith-Dorrien would be gapers in cars. They can get thick at times. Start your program on the eve of departure with high tea at the Banff hotel and a soak in the upper hotsprings.

Just a note on dept timing... our monsoon season is June - monsoon june as we affectionately call it here. Any time after that is good. 

[Mathewsen]

Just a note on dept timing... our monsoon season is June - monsoon june as we affectionately call it here. Any time after that is good. 

I thought June was called 'la primavera'  What do you call the heinous afternoon storms that plague Trans-Rockies in Aug? In the southern Rockies, monsoons are characterized by that daily wind-reversal cycle that stacks & drops.

[robinb]

I thought June was called 'la primavera'  What do you call the heinous afternoon storms that plague Trans-Rockies in Aug? In the southern Rockies, monsoons are characterized by that daily wind-reversal cycle that stacks & drops.

when folks ask what the climate is like in Banff, I always say 'we have 7 months of winter and 5 months of bad weather'...

[ChrisE]

I thought, and maybe I was wrong, that you can take anything that is offered, equally, to all riders.  You can't take anything that is available only to you.  That way you can have a hotel room, you can use a bike shop, you can eat at a bar.

You could call at a house and sleep in their house provided the owners would do that for every rider.

You can't get your brother to drive out and give you (only) food, but your brother can drive out and sit by the trail offering every single rider food.

Maybe I am being simplistic.

You can take a ride in a truck, but strictly only going backwards on the route

C

[THE LONG RANGER]

In Cordillera V5, racer Erick Armentrout recounts an interaction with the owner of the local mercantile who was kind enough to share some advice.  "The first time you race the divide you're not racing, you're learning.  When you come back you're racing."

That's funny, the first time I was out on the divide, I was thinking, "snowshoeing in june is a funny way to get across the country!"

Then the second time on the divide, I was thinking, "riding a bike with one gear is a funny way to get across the country!"



Did someone say a (true?) Winter start? Sign me up for that one. Keep flavor going: "riding a bike in winter is a funny way to...."

That's something I'd want a trail partner and at the very least, some sort of collapsible sled. The logistics would be so insane. Avalanche paths to consider. Woo boy. Don't know if the route would go. Have to start early enough that it's still, "winter" when you're finished? Nobo or Sobo? I would give it 60 days, fer sure.

[kiwidave]

Looking at the pace out there Calvin Decker has been flying since a long layover in Ovando and is now in clear second place. He seems to be matching Jefe's pace as he was 2:10:34 behind at Lincoln and is only 2:02:14 behind at Salida. Maybe the good cheer from Angler at Ovando motivated him to go for it. Given how many people he's overtaken since Ovando whatever he is doing is working out very well.

Angler - do you know if CD had a gear issue, or was he on a start slow and then lift the pace strategy?

[THE LONG RANGER]

You could call at a house and sleep in their house provided the owners would do that for every rider.

You can't get your brother to drive out and give you (only) food, but your brother can drive out and sit by the trail offering every single rider food.

To make it legit, they'd have to do it, for every rider, for like, the entire year! At that point, they're a legitimate trail angel of Apple proportions and then Trail Magic rule comes into effect, where you should probably only take a little bit, but not like, an entire meal.

Oh, but remember, there's the, "no visiting" rule

So, see what happens? We're trying to find weird loopholes in the already confusing (to some) rules.

[Mathewsen]

I thought, and maybe I was wrong, that you can take anything that is offered, equally, to all riders.  You can't take anything that is available only to you.

Yes, and equally to all has generally been defined as a fixed legitimate commercial business, ideally with some sense of history year-to-year. Not an erstwhile tortilla truck spot stalking racers in the desert. That's why trail magic is such a slippery thing, in that it's highly situational / spotty. It's appropriateness really lies in an honest interpretation of how the encounter came to be and the size of the gesture.

[mtbcast]

when folks ask what the climate is like in Banff, I always say 'we have 7 months of winter and 5 months of bad weather'...

Yeah but man are those sunny days magical! I already miss it.

[THE LONG RANGER]

Banff is a beautiful place. I'd like to get back there, and climb some of those alpine routes. They're pretty serious routes. Hard to hang out there, and not trip on the sidewalk, looking up, with your mouth agape!

[Angler]

Looking at the pace out there Calvin Decker has been flying since a long layover in Ovando and is now in clear second place. He seems to be matching Jefe's pace as he was 2:10:34 behind at Lincoln and is only 2:02:14 behind at Salida. Maybe the good cheer from Angler at Ovando motivated him to go for it. Given how many people he's overtaken since Ovando whatever he is doing is working out very well.

Angler - do you know if CD had a gear issue, or was he on a start slow and then lift the pace strategy?

I'm going to be honest with you.  When Calvin was here with a table load of other riders he seemed kicked back.  I took him as a guy going for a personal best but not killing himself [in fact the café personnel were taking bets he'd never make it out of the state]. So I was as surprised as everybody else when he stepped it up the ranks.  For a young rider and a nice guy I rooting for him.

And wow just checked him out and 3rd place BEHIND THE TANDEM TERRIBLE?  I'm way overly impressed.

[Angler]

It's appropriateness really lies in an honest interpretation of how the encounter came to be and the size of the gesture.

I love it; it's like a marriage with off road biking racing and "Survivor".

[aschuhmann]

I hope he does, same with JP. I hope next year!!! Let's add Kurt into the mix too, and Jefe, and Mike and Ollie!

And me! And me!

[Angler]

http://www.nbcmontana.com/news/bicyclist-struck-and-killed-near-bozeman/26658856

Be safe out there.

[aschuhmann]

Regardless of whether he beats JayP's "ITT record" of 15:16:14, he seems destined to be close to beating the "Grand Depart record" of 16:02:46 of Ollie Whalley. The current projection on Trackleaders is for 16:11:35, so it could be a tight finish there.

In terms of records, maybe someone can clear this up for me, as I've been wondering this for awhile.

 The previous records that Jefe is currently chasing: am I incorrect in stating that neither of them had to ride the new Basin to Butte section, which as I understand it, was brutal. Certainly a time suck. Had Jefe not had to ride that section, and just rode the highway as the others did, he would be crushing those records right now. So it seems to me that Jefe is pushing his own record on a new course, as seems to the case for nearly every new annual attempt.

I guess my question is: How is the fact that every year there are more difficult additions added to the route remedied/compared with records established on easier routes from past years?

Thanks to anyone who can clear it up for me!