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Re: Tour Divide 2015 for armchair viewers

Posted: Sat Jul 04, 2015 7:40 pm
by johnnystorm
Blackhound wrote: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! :wink:

Re: Tour Divide 2015 for armchair viewers

Posted: Tue Jul 07, 2015 7:45 am
by 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)

Re: Tour Divide 2015 for armchair viewers

Posted: Tue Jul 07, 2015 8:19 am
by 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

Re: Tour Divide 2015 for armchair viewers

Posted: Tue Jul 07, 2015 8:58 am
by Richard G
Really impressive. vaguely exciting.

Re: Tour Divide 2015 for armchair viewers

Posted: Tue Jul 07, 2015 9:06 am
by 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.

Re: Tour Divide 2015 for armchair viewers

Posted: Tue Jul 07, 2015 9:18 am
by johnnystorm
Made for fascinating viewing! :-bd

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

Re: Tour Divide 2015 for armchair viewers

Posted: Tue Jul 07, 2015 10:09 am
by 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.

Re: Tour Divide 2015 for armchair viewers

Posted: Tue Jul 07, 2015 10:10 am
by Blackhound
Gabe; do you have the finish shot at the Mexico border for us to see?

Re: Tour Divide 2015 for armchair viewers

Posted: Tue Jul 07, 2015 12:11 pm
by Ian
Nice work Gabe - fantastic ride :-bd

Re: Tour Divide 2015 for armchair viewers

Posted: Tue Jul 07, 2015 12:23 pm
by Wotsits
Well done MB, great achievement! :-bd

Re: Tour Divide 2015 for armchair viewers

Posted: Tue Jul 07, 2015 2:06 pm
by Richpips
Well done Gabe. :-bd

Re: Tour Divide 2015 for armchair viewers

Posted: Tue Jul 07, 2015 3:50 pm
by johnnystorm
Blackhound wrote:Gabe; do you have the finish shot at the Mexico border for us to see?
Image

Re: Tour Divide 2015 for armchair viewers

Posted: Tue Jul 07, 2015 4:23 pm
by Blackhound
Thanks johnny ;-)

Re: Tour Divide 2015 for armchair viewers

Posted: Tue Jul 07, 2015 5:51 pm
by 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.

Re: Tour Divide 2015 for armchair viewers

Posted: Tue Jul 07, 2015 9:45 pm
by 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 ..

Re: Tour Divide 2015 for armchair viewers

Posted: Tue Jul 07, 2015 10:00 pm
by 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.

Re: Tour Divide 2015 for armchair viewers

Posted: Tue Jul 07, 2015 10:17 pm
by 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.

Re: Tour Divide 2015 for armchair viewers

Posted: Tue Jul 07, 2015 10:24 pm
by 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?

Re: Tour Divide 2015 for armchair viewers

Posted: Tue Jul 07, 2015 10:32 pm
by jameso
Go bags? And pipes :) ha. Quality..

Re: Tour Divide 2015 for armchair viewers

Posted: Tue Jul 07, 2015 11:18 pm
by benp1
Wow, amazing effort sir

Re: Tour Divide 2015 for armchair viewers

Posted: Wed Jul 08, 2015 4:20 am
by 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.

Re: Tour Divide 2015 for armchair viewers

Posted: Wed Jul 08, 2015 7:31 am
by whitestone
mountainbaker wrote: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 :-bd Well done!

Re: Tour Divide 2015 for armchair viewers

Posted: Wed Jul 08, 2015 11:47 am
by 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.

Re: Tour Divide 2015 for armchair viewers

Posted: Wed Jul 08, 2015 6:58 pm
by Pirahna
The Strava ride is superb. Very well done!

Re: Tour Divide 2015 for armchair viewers

Posted: Thu Jul 09, 2015 10:47 am
by Zippy
Welcome back Gabes, great work sir :cool: