This is a very exciting time of year for me. Two great races going on, the 1st Trans Am Bike Race which is coming to the end of its first week and The Tour Divide. I will be spending probably too much time as a Blue Dot watcher this year...
Business in the front, party in the back
Tour Divide 2014 features some familiar names this year Jefe Branham, Alex Harris, and Max Morris are among my favourites. Jefe claims to be aiming for a 14 day finish! Several racers out for redemption after being forced out in previous years. Sarah Caylor is at the top of that list for me. She struggled through the snow and rain, and blizzards in 2012, had nav issues and an unfortunate bear spray to the face accident that year. I am really looking forward to seeing her finish this year.
So many racers accomplish so much just finishing this monster. Though I think that all racers should be racing each other and the clock if they are taking part in the grand depart, there is a second race inside every one out there. They are racing to push themselves. Usually it is yourself that is the hardest person to beat.
You must keep smiling and expect for everything to not go as planned. Have fun in the rain, the wind, the mud, the sandy washboard roads and smile through the cold, the wet and the heat. If Montana doesn't chew you up and spit you out then you often have a great chance at finishing, so always focus on the day and the mile ahead. If the weather is bad this year, accept the days where you miles are low you will get faster and stronger and more sure in your mind. Push through and have a blast. When it gets hard, stop look around at where you are, realise how lucky you are and laugh. Laugh hard, because you did this to yourself :) and you love it.
The racers in the mid pack and even the 'red caboose', the ones who take a few minutes to look around, take a picture or two between the pain, stop to talk and smell the roses are some of my favourites. These guys and gals are the dreamers, the doctors,the barristas, the teachers, the lawyers, the students, the mail carriers, the lab techs, the unemployed, the dads, the moms, the husbands and the wives. They are us. They have decided to go after this, to live a dream. They are inspiring and that is as life should be. I think we are going to get some great stories out of this years race.
Here is a video of my 2013 Finish
