Does anyone know who is the youngest person to finish the tour divide? I plan to go in my gap year, and I'm hoping I may be the youngest (although I think this is unlikely)
Cheers
Ben

16 or 60, just go for it )
A guy called Nick from the US finished well in 2012, his blog is a good read. http://forums.mtbr.com/bikepacking-bike ... 30022.html I just remember him saying there he thought he was the youngest, not sure how old though.

Apparently this chap last year was 18! http://www.driven2divide.com/2013/08/15 ... -finisher/
And Deanna the fixie-chick was 19, but got DQ'd for a route deviation.

(too much of my time reading about this over the last year, obviously!)

I will be 18 when I plan to go, so that all sounds good :D
Cheers for the info, I shall enjoy reading that :)

Brilliant stuff, good luck! You don't need sleep at that age so you'll cruise it : )

Nick actually rode it in 2011 as I saw him early on. Last time I recall seeing him was in Swan Valley area where he had got soaked the night before. (2 of us headed into Condon and got some shelter from a storm). He was certainly the youngest up to 2011 and unable to recall a younger finisher since.

As jameso says above Deanna did an amazing ride a few years ago, my recollection again is that it was a very minor infringement but she did not quite complete the full course hence the disqualification.

You will be fine. It is not particularly technical just the ability to keep going when you are tired. Being so youthful maybe knowing where the tougher/easier sections are and just accepting you will not cover x miles per day in some areas is probably the best early advice I can give. You also need to be comfortable for long periods on your own. I had no problem with this but others have found this difficult. (I was divorced and have lived on my own since 5+ years before you were born)

Good luck