Tour Divide 2015 for armchair viewers

[Taylor]

Loving the pic of Gabes with a fag in his mouth.
Athlete of the highest order.

[Farawayvisions]

Thanks Kevin and Stuart.

[gravitysucks]

Keep an eye out for Lael Wilcox she's totally smashing it! I followed her through Israel's HLC which she skipped through. Currently about 5 miles behind the pace of the women's record despite suffering illness since day 2 and making a visit to the A&E in Helena.

Have a nosey at her and her boyfriend's blog for some updates from the trail...
https://gypsybytrade.wordpress.com/

Oh and after returning home to Anchorage from Israel she'd peddaled the 2140 miles from home to the start of the divide race in Banff!! Machine!

[FLV]

Oh and after returning home to Anchorage from Israel she'd peddaled the 2140 miles from home to the start of the divide race in Banff!! Machine!

in 19 days I believe...

[rando nomad]

She did really well last year in an Ultra road race in Alaska. Her first try at road ultra's and I think she came second on a borrowed bike.
She's really understated in her own blog about the racing.

[Blackhound]

Is Scott ok? Not moved for ~18 hours. hat is a lovely spot mind:

103_0094 by blackhound59, on Flickr

And a little further on it gets betterer (Glen Carter in '13)

103_0096 by blackhound59, on Flickr

[Scattamah]

Alas, I'm done. Knees semi behaved yesterday from Columbia Falls to Holland Lake but today they've failed me in a big way.

Got up Richmond Peak ok, albeit a bit wobbly on 2400mg of vitamin I, however the descent did the knees in completely. I could stand up but not bend at the knee, and then to sit down from standing was excruciating.

No point in me continuing when I can't push hard without seeing stars.

Gutted.

S.

[Bearbonesnorm]

Alas, I'm done. Knees semi behaved yesterday from Columbia Falls to Holland Lake but today they've failed me in a big way.

Got up Richmond Peak ok, albeit a bit wobbly on 2400mg of vitamin I, however the descent did the knees in completely. I could stand up but not bend at the knee, and then to sit down from standing was excruciating.

No point in me continuing when I can't push hard without seeing stars.

Gutted.

Bad luck fella ... I've been there and no amount of over the counter drugs will numb it, IMO it's the right move.

[Taylor]

Gutted is an understatement.

[Wotsits]

Unlucky Scott, hope you're ok & not too despondent..

[Ian]

Bad luck dude - really disappointing when the body doesn't play ball :(

[Blackhound]

Sorry to hear Scott. There are no words to ease your pain and disappointment.

[Dave Barter]

Bollocks. Know how you are feeling. Remember that you succeeded the moment you stepped over the line to start.

[GregMay]

:(

[Zippy]

What they all said. Tough luck. :(

[Mart]

Scott, Heard your MTBcast call, and was hoping you would be OK. Such a shame. hope you bounce back quick and it doesn't keep you off the bike too long

[jameso]

So sorry to read that Scott.

Remember that you succeeded the moment you stepped over the line to start.

100% spot on.

[Scattamah]

Thanks folks. Your comments are appreciated. Took me 20 mins this evening to walk 500 meters and back to get food. Other than that, I'm ok - just nursing some reminders of the route.

Note to self: do NOT mess with your cleats two days before race and don't get sunburnt either.

My hope now is for MB to crush the rest of the course.

Greetz

S.

[gairym]

Gutted!

It's one thing to push past a bit of pain but when there are literally thousands of miles left to ride there's not much to be done.

There's always another year.

[Richard G]

Was just reading up on Jay Petervary when I saw this quote from his 2012 TD ride video...

Hello, my name is Jay Petervary from Victor, Idaho, 40 years old. I'm heading out tomorrow on my fourth and final Tour Divide Run.

How's that final tour working out for you?

[Blackhound]

Enjoying watching the race still, crazy pace up front for first 6 with a ~220 mile gap behind them - over a days riding. Gabe is still riding and headed for Pinedale by the look of it and has caught up Jill Homer again and is on for a ~21 day ride if he holds it together.

The other evening I stayed up late to 'watch' Glen Carter leave Lincoln Mo. There was some mention of people missing a turning off Stemple pass road to Helena which is easily missed. (It looks like you are going up someones driveway and the sign mentioned in the cues cannot be seen from Lincoln side). I had warned Glen a week before the off not to miss the turning and he did so losing about 20 minutes. I dropped him an email not expecting an answer but got one the following day acknowledging his error. I had also told him to try to avoid Seeley Lake if he could (food / time of day may dictate otherwise) and he managed to do this saving himself some hours he tells me. ( These tips were pre race, not helping him out during the race itself)

Turns out he also middle ringed up Richmond Peak and took just over 2 hours from the Seeley Lake turn-off to Ovando feeling great. His call in at Lima suggests he is now going through a bad patch though.

Some great pics from Eddie Clark:

http://www.mountainflyermagazine.com/vi ... -mark.html

[jameso]

Great link Kevin, some really good insights there. Still rooting for Alex to be quietly biding his time for a long ride move rather than fading in that front group!

[gairym]

Maaan it's getting close up front!

There'll likely be riding together soon which will make things very interesting.

Great (non) race!

[Blackhound]

This is where Gabe was yesterday:

103_0308 by blackhound59, on Flickr

In 2011 I camped roughly between where JP and NB are now, a beautiful spot:

101_0144 by blackhound59, on Flickr

First breakfast the next morning before landing in Platoro:

101_0145 by blackhound59, on Flickr

[Richard G]

Wow, so the leaders are pretty much right on top of each other.