Tour Divide 2013 - Superman on a bike, the early years...

Superman on a bike.  I guess that has always been my goal.  This is the day I got my first "2 wheeler"!  April 6, 1980.  Loved that bike and sticking baseball cards in the spokes with clothespins.  I actually did ride past several bunnies on the ride last year and dealt with a few demons.  Crazy foreshadowing. Love this picture.

Tour Divide 2013 - Gear Changes

First shake down ride of the year and I am making some changes.  Yes that is my dirty bike in the rec room and no, that is not a popular thing to do in my house.  Though I don't see the issue.

Having a small triangle on my frame I am forced to keep a lot more gear on in the saddle bag and the handle bar bag.  I am switching out my Porcelain Rocket Saddle bag for the Revelate bag.  Seems to be a little wider and deeper at the base and I can get a little more stuff packed close to the seat post.  This, I am hoping will allow me to get some stuff out of the handle bar bag and pack a little more bulk closer to the seat post.  I hope this will also help me get rid of the annoying, heavy dog tail feeling I got when my saddle bag was packed like and ice cream cone, top heavy and swinging unsupported away from the seat post.

I am taking a packable back pack for emergency food and water, and probably going to save some dough and use my old rain coat.   With no pack on my back my coat will be fine.  Trying to control temperature with the pack on was a terrible task last year, not to mention the extra weight.  Less to worry about as well, with my tendency to lose things.  I am looking for rainpant  suggestions. I will bring some but light and packable are a must.  I picked my last pair up in Banff before I left last year and they were terrible.  They had a mesh liner in them and they tore a hole in Day 4.

Also, Gore socks on order and Giro shoes.  Gloves are sorted and Long haul Greg you will be glad to know they do have clips that I can use to attatch them to my jacket. 

Thanks to E-Buddy for helping me get my bike back together. 

Tour Divide 2013 (playlist)

ipod...  coming with me this year.  Hopefully will help me fill some of my lonley hours.  Looking forward to getting lost while getting lost.  I went to an early Cake concert when they were opening for other bands and remember getting a cassette tape sample of The Distance. Yes cassette, it was that long ago. Love that tune.   Enjoy

Tour Divide 2013 - Best Birthday Ever

Ever have one of those weekends that was so awesome you wished you didn't have to leave? And it was my birthday on Sunday as well.

It was perfect.  Blackburn treated us Rangers so well.  What an amazing group of people.  California blew me away and I think it is now one of my favourite places.  Met some incredible people and did some epic riding.  It felt really good to get some climbs in that I can't get back home and test out my gear as I rode fully loaded for the first time this year.  All was great with the bike and new wheel set up but I am rethinking some of my gear choices now.  Still want to gear down and shift some weight around as I am still to front heavy. No jokes intended.  

 wEvery few miles seemed to provide a completely different view.  From the ocean to the redwoods.  Several miles actually made me miss being out on the route and really got me excited for June.  Some of the awesome people I was lucky enough to cross paths with on the weekend enjoying some incredible food in Spring Valley in the picture to the right.    Nick will be racing the TD in June (Blue Glasses) and was the ring leader for the weekend along with Robin who represents Blackburn famously but will not be racing (back with crossed legs).  The other Rangers all had great back stories.  Phil from Salida (not in picture), will be riding segments of the GDMBR and if you are reading this and planning on taking the route through Salida, you must stop at his coffee shop in Salida and say hello! Dr. Jennifer from Seattle (maker of great chocolate chip cookies) just had her appendix removed a few days before the weekend and didn't ride for obvious reasons (right side) and Dennis the "road rocket" (stuffing in calories between Nick and Robin) will be riding the entire Pacific Coast Highway. Jason the human Wikipedia from San Fran who happens to live on a sailboat (in hat) will be riding segments of that route.  Dom and Nadia from Encompass films (front left) also attended and will appreciate my use of... parenthesis.  Together we are the Blackburn Rangers.  More bios and info on their adventures to come. 

Did I say Awesome people already?  Hey Mark, thanks for the lift to and from the airport.

 

Tour Divide 2013 - I never left

It is a weird feeling with less than 90 days to go.  Last year this huge unknown impossible dream was just that, impossible.  With zero mountain biking experience or cycling experience behind me I had nothing to lose.  The real reason for doing it last year was to prove I could live.  Lots of us have dreams but not many of us attempt to live them, but instead we accept to live with regret.  That dream comes at a huge cost but in the end I won't regret trying. The race last year became this safe and awesome place where I actually felt like I belonged. I think Matt Lee mentioned something of that in the movie and I now understand what he meant. 

This year the Tour is a part of me.  It is not an impossible thing, but rather an excepted reality.  The race has become a metaphor for a lot of things in life. It keeps me moving.  It helps me align my priorities and determine what is truly important.  It is motivating, awe inspiring, rewarding and beautiful.  It is soul crushing, defeating, exhausting and a gross and nasty place. I realise that even though I am by myself I am not alone.  No one can do this alone.  Help and support are needed to get to the start line and knowing you have the support of friends and family will pull you to the end. 

I guess when I left in Butte I didn't quit, I just haven't finished yet.

Tour Divide 2013 - The Bike and Set-up

Tour Divide 2013 - The Bike


Well here it is.  90 percent complete:

A few changes from the previous post. I went with the White Bros. carbon rigid fork instead of the Shimano Pro since apparently Shimano was out of stock and I heard they weren't planning on making more.  Great snow and mud clearance up front!  I am very happy with the weight I dropped from the fork and wheels and hopefully the addition of the carbon bars and seat post from Easton with shave some weight and add a little comfort. I added some Ergon cork grips with bar ends so I should have some comfortable hand positions and I will be adding bar tape to my aerobars as well.

I have learnt so much.  I am in a much different mindset than I was last year at this time.  Last year I endlessly studied other riders gear lists, spent hours searching for the perfect gear choices.  I wanted to have the right stuff.  For my lack of knowledge I think I did alright.  Again, in my ignorance and 6 months of cycling experience I didn't know what I didn't know, and that took me a long way. Or to Butte, you can decide if that's a long way. 

I think this year though I began to understand that there is no perfect setup that suits every rider.  Every kit is so very different.  So many different components, clothing options, accessories,wheel types and so on. The goal is to get something that works for you.  I am trying to cut my weight back this year, on my bike and my body.  So far between the 2, I am down almost 5 pounds on each. 

Each rider has a different threshold of their comfort, pain, and budget.  In order to keep my kit small, I am going without many items from last year, and trying to stay to these principles:

Do I need it to survive?

I used to be a spelunker and when you are travelling underground and sometimes over night, I needed
3 of everything.  3 lights and 3 battery backups.  If your first one runs out then you need to get back in case the other one breaks.  I use that theory a lot when planning for this trip.  I am going to be using the Blackburn Scorch on my helmet and bars and I carry a small mag light for setting up camp or for emergency.  I had to use this to ride last year when I accidentally left my headlight on in my bag and it ran out of power when I needed it.

Water storage is huge so I am making room for extra emergency water  storage.  I will need different amounts on different sections

I take two cycle computers and a GPSas well as my spot tracker.  To many this is over kill. I went without after busting two computers on the first two days.  I do not want to be lost again.  I am swapping out my Garmin 605 for the AA convenience of the Garmin etrek 30.  That was a rough couple days last year.

Does it have more than one use?

Several item fit this category. 
Bandanna.  used for filtering water, carrying food, and a dust shield
Duct Tape. and zip ties. Plastic bags. Enough said.
My wool arm bands.  Doubled as socks on a couple cold nights when I only had wet socks. 
TT bars.  Glove holder and sock dryer.  also great for tying gear to.  Also good for riding with

Can I live without it, or can I get it on route?

Clothing option needs to be really thought out since this can fill your gear quickly.  This is where I try not to double up.  I had one extra pair of riding shorts with me. base layer and dry set for sleeping. Rain gear, down jacket.  Dry and warm.  But you will be cold and wet.
Sunscreen, butt cream, and such I can get on route and don't need the size of what I took last year. First Aid Kit will be scaled down as well.  Towns are usually a day away.

I am watching my bulk as well.  Found a smaller warmer sleeping bag, and still considering a bivy though I have to sell my one man tent first. Adding a small wind vest and replacing my rain gear which was much too bulky last year.

The more space I save the more food and water I can add when I need it.

"Say Hello to my little friend" from the Tour Divide 2012

Tour Divide's Most Wanted!  This animal was actually attacking racers as we passed last year.

Found this on YouTube today.  This was the most agressive animal I encountered on the route climbing near Linclon MT.  It kept attacking my ankles and actually took flight to attack me in the back of the head when I passed it.  Funny that Jim found the same bird.  I think Tyson ran into her ahead of me too, so I know now it wasn't just me.  I may re consider not bringing a camping stove after watching this.  That would have solved the problem.  Watch out for this crazy thing in 2013!
http://youtu.be/VMAWrMaCHUg?t=1s