The Tour Divide
It looks like Matthew Lee will win the 2009 TourDivide today. Seventeen days pedaling 150 miles per day. What a machine.
As remote, unsupported backcountry races go, the TourDivide has been a ball to spectate from the LCD. Competitors carry GPS tracking devices, updated online constantly. A good many phone in daily reports; Joe Polk assembles them into an entertaining 20-30 minute podcast at MTBcast.com.
Their stories are familiar, unique and rich. Helpful cowboys, dubious bears, shortcut intrigue. It’s been a rainy year along the route. The recordings paint a portrait of the collective cyclo-tourist soul: a constant reminder of disheartening conditions without sounding disheartened. (There’s a lot of laughter in the background.)
Take Jill Homer’s call from Steamboat Springs. Her brakes failed. She crashed hard. From the confines of my iPod, whose sound-seal earphones blocked the roar of a power mower, the delicate arch of Jill Homer’s emotions made me cease my athletic endeavor of battling tall grass and sit down for a bit. She’s a clear thinker on her feet and probably a superb writer.
Other MTBcast delights:
Paul Howard started off a bit whiney about the ol’ route-finding/map-making conundrum. Now he’s filing goofy, charming bits, like adopting a Russian accent as he files from Kremmling, Colorado.
Deanna Adams rambles amusingly.
Jackson Hole locals Jay and Tracey Petervary are the big draw. Their tandem mountain bike, the Love Shack, sounds like it’s been relatively bombproof. I made a wisecrack early on that I came to regret as callous, about the potential disadvantages of Tracey’s riding position from an olfactory point of view. Turns out I was merely empathetic; hear Tracey’s call from Del Norte.)
The Petervary’s are currently running third overall, a real feat of endurance and companionship. They should hit the Mexico border finish at Antelope Wells, New Mexico on Wednesday.
Matthew Lee closes in on the Mexico border, 18 days from the Canada start. Source TourDivide.Org.
To be updated as soon as DS can wrest himself from an estate on Lofty Lane.
Tagged: Adventures, Mountain Biking
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