Tour Divide Day 2

Didn't sleep much.  Realised I had the wrong sleeping bag.  It was the one item I saved money on by borrowing from a friend of mine.  For most instances it would have been great but it just wasn't warm enough this night.  about 4:30-5 am other racers started cleaning up camp.  I really wanted to try and get some sleep since I was kept awake most of the night by the violent jackhammering in my legs.  I really didn't know what was worse, staying in the sleeping bag or getting out. It was a bit of a reality check as to what this race was. I managed to convince myself to grab my clothes and head into a camp washroom to warm up.  I was miserable and I knew that feeling this way wasn't going to help me, so I decided to give myself a little pep talk.  I showed up in Banff! I made it 110 miles to Elkford through rain and snow and 8,000 feet of climbing! (I am sure you could debate that number but rounding up was really helpful at the time) Now I'm a rock star. 


Had a hard time managing the zippers on my equipment with my numb fingers, but I managed to pack up all my gear and head out about 5:30am.  In my haste to get warm and get to sleep the night before I left my GPS on.  That's bad.  I was already turning it on and of to save battery but now I had nothing.  I was already without a cycle computer.  Hoped the map cues were perfect.

 I was headed 30 miles to Sparwood for breakfast and I had passed a couple racers, goal number one. After passing a carcass of something that I am sure a grizzly was feeding on I decided to pick up my pace and started singing loudly a Bob Marley and Rob Base medley hoping that would let anything know I was on my way.  Ran into another Mike, from D.C. (I was hoping he didn't pick up on my singing) who was walking a flat section of gravel road.  I wanted the company so I joined him for a bit.  We ran into a couple of downed trees and snow barricades and slippery climbs.  When we hit some flatter sections I settled into a quicker pace and said goodbye to Mike. I was so in a zone with my head down just pedalling that I missed a turn. I started climbing up a hill on  Highway 43 when I heard a whistle.  At first I thought it was campers somewhere in the trees and then I heard it a little louder and I knew it must be for me.  I turned around and saw Mike making a left hand turn.  Checked the cues and realised my mistake. That saved me I am sure a 10 mile ride until I would have realised my error.  That was a bit of a wake up call for my mental awareness.  I really needed to stay sharper.

Made it to Sparwood.  Had to find a plug to get my GPS back up and running so I opted for the warmth of restaurant and found a plug.  Reviewed the maps, ate my french toast and packed up.  Decided to use the bathroom and when I came out I saw Chris Bennett sitting at the table I was using holding a light that looked just like mine, I had left it under the table.  Thank God for Chris.  I couldn't really afford to keep this pace of losing gear.  I headed to the mall to grab some food and water and wait for the GPS to charge in a little coffee shop. Anxious as I saw racer after racer pass through but I wasn't leaving until it was fully charged since I was headed to the Flatheads and no services for 2 days.  This section was intimidating enough just for me to think about, I didn't want to be lost in the Flathead.

I am not sure what it was but in researching the race sections, this is the one that scared me the most.  Very wild, very rugged and this is the first test on travelling a couple days between services.  I knew I had to make it to Butt's Cabin if I wanted to get out in two days.

Started through a mining area and then straight into a slow climb followed by another snowy pass.  About an hour in I noticed a figure in front pushing around the corner.  This was exciting.  Having Someone one to chase down was always a motivator.  It was Chris Bennett again.  He had left about 45 minutes ahead of me in Sparwood.  It was great to have someone to ride with.  It numbs the pain a little, and I was starting to feel the pain.  We walked out of the snow to find that it ended in a washed out road that resembled more of a river.  As I looked for my rain gear I realised I had left my booties in a bag at camp.  Man I am an idiot some times. My wife did predict that I might have this problem!  She said at some point I would be turning around to get something I forgot.  I wasn't however about to turn around.
I threw on some plastic bags and we continued on the rain through the rocky washed out roads and swimming pools.  Everything now was wet.  The pain in my shoulder was incredible. I took a few more pills, tried riding with my pack off and one handed. At the time I thought it was the backpack, but I think now it was more my tense riding posture causing me the issue.  On any other day it would have been my biggest concern, but I was cold, wet and tired and was looking forward to the cabin as my reward. We pushed on and made it to the cabin just before sundown.  No room at the inn.  The cabin and out building were full of riders.  Great to see everyone there but lousy that we had to set up to sleep in the rain.  End of  day 2.  This was awesome.  It was incredible to know I was doing this and one more day I will make it to the border!