Tour Divide 2015 for armchair viewers

[johnnystorm]

Well done Gabe. 21 days 16 hours 25 minutes or there abouts.
How many pieces of pie and what flavour in Pie Town?

I think it's best not mentioning Pie Town to Gabe!

[mountainbaker]

So I'm back in one piece, just about.

Pie Town sucks. What's with not opening until 10.30! We got a shitty microwave pizza and some beers at the toaster house at 8am.

The ride was amazing, we were super lucky with the weather, rain and snow on day 1 (and a broken rear mech in the mud at Josephine Falls before Sparwood). I rode 4+ days to Helena to get a new dropout fitted with 3 gears. I rode with some amazing people, and everyone was so lovely. It didn't really feel like a race.

The Wamsutter reroute in Wyoming was a piece of sub standard. 70 miles of fracking and oil fields and 20 tonnne trucks driving faster on purpose to dust you up. I really hope that section is removed in future.

My ass survived intact with no blisters, but my wrists are spent, lots of nerve damage, and I can't pull zips or open packaging. A Dr on the ride said it'll take 6 months to heal. I also lost about 10kg in weight.

I'll write more soon, just getting back to reality. But i'm happy with 21 days 16 hours and 14 minutes (ignore trackleaders, it's crap)

[FLV]

A strong ride mate, very well done. I'll look forward to a write up.

Hope your wrists recover quickly too. Get your self a nice bacon sandwich to start work on that 10kg

[Richard G]

Really impressive. vaguely exciting.

[gairym]

Amazing work sir!

I can't fully comprehend what it would feel like to do that mileage day in day out - crazy.

Enjoy the rest.

[johnnystorm]

Made for fascinating viewing!

10kg! It'll be prescribed on the NHS soon

[Blackhound]

Great to hear from you Gabe, a wonderful effort, and your view on Wamsutter route. My hands took about 6 months to heal so Dr is correct. However I still get some twinges from time to time on long rides, I did the day before yesterday.

Pie Town: I got there a bit late (about 16.50) and they were shut but they were open at 7.30 next morning and I needed some food as not got enough to get me to Silver.

[Blackhound]

Gabe; do you have the finish shot at the Mexico border for us to see?

[Ian]

Nice work Gabe - fantastic ride

[Wotsits]

Well done MB, great achievement!

[Richpips]

Well done Gabe.

[johnnystorm]

Gabe; do you have the finish shot at the Mexico border for us to see?

[Blackhound]

Thanks johnny ;-)

[Dave Barter]

Great ride Gabe!! I'm staying away from the Blackdown hills on my road bike now as I'll get even more done over.

[jameso]

Nice one MB, great ride, glad you enjoyed it! Faster than you planned right? Shame to hear about the basin re-route. I missed out on pie too, I feel your pain ..

[mountainbaker]

No finish shot yet, it was taken by another rider, who's going to send it to me soon/ It was dark, so will probably be pretty crap anyway.

Jameso, I planned 20 days, but as I ended up riding with my friend Morgan and another guy Brad, the whole group thing slowed us down significantly. Also the free 'go bags' at Brush Mountain meant we sat around there drinking beers puffing on pipes far longer than we should have!!!

When I go back and try again, I'd aim for more like 18 days I think.

[Richard G]

Watching Ride The Divide. As much respect as I had for people doing it before, now I've got even more. Incredible thing to be able to get through.

[ZeroDarkBivi]

Cracking ride Gabe - much respect!

Given the hand/wrist issue, would you consider using a Lauf fork for a future attempt, or would the extra weight and dubious aesthetic rule it out?

[jameso]

Go bags? And pipes :) ha. Quality..

[benp1]

Wow, amazing effort sir

[mountainbaker]

I'm bang awake at 4am, jet lag and sleeping all day has me all over the place.

I have however managed to get strava to play ball with my 100Mb .gpx file. Had to use GPSbabel to reduce the number of points below 400k. Suffer score of 5143!
https://www.strava.com/activities/341380125

I think I'll be back to 'race' TD again in the next few years.

[whitestone]

I'm bang awake at 4am, jet lag and sleeping all day has me all over the place.

I have however managed to get strava to play ball with my 100Mb .gpx file. Had to use GPSbabel to reduce the number of points below 400k. Suffer score of 5143!
https://www.strava.com/activities/341380125

I think I'll be back to 'race' TD again in the next few years.

You can definitely have some kudos for that activity Well done!

[Richard G]

Man, I can respect how careful you were with your heart rate. Literally no time spent in Zone 4 / 5 and very little in Zone 3.

[Pirahna]

The Strava ride is superb. Very well done!

[Zippy]

Welcome back Gabes, great work sir