People of the Tour Divide
Some friendly folks I met in an idyllic corner of Idaho during the Tour Divide mountain bike race: Todd, Chelsea, and Rich.
On Day 8, when I encountered Mike Dion taking a breather under the only tree in southern Montana for miles, I couldn’t help withhold my excitement.
“You’re the first person [from the Tour Divide] I’ve seen in a week,” I exclaimed. We chatted and rode together for about 10 minutes before I took off, only to see him one more time later in the evening in Lima. If I had known he would be the last Tour Divide racer I’d see for the rest of the race, I might have stayed back just to talk with him longer.
While it is true that riding along the world’s longest mountain bike route (2,700 miles) of which >85% is off-road entails more periods of being alone than not, thank goodness I wasn’t completely isolated from human beings.
Below is a photo gallery of the folks I encountered along the journey. All of them offered words of encouragement, and some of them outright saved my butt during various crises. To all of them: thank you!
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Stephen Gleasner all set to go moments before the start of the 2,700-mile cross-country mountain bike race.
Due to the large number of photos, only the first 6 are shown. View photo album or slideshow.
michael said:
i truly enjoy reading your blog, thanks for sharing. what sets your posts apart from others is your appreciation of the people you meet and the adventures themselves. you’ve dropped the ego off and brought a generous human spirit to competition and sport. keep on truckin’!
and great job at the tour divide, i’m impressed.
Jim B said:
Great job Felix and I agree with Michael. It looks like you managed to meet some very special folks out there. Glad to see that there are people out there full of kindness.
I’m sure your memories are priceless. Keep on bloggin!!
B said:
you have some exciting adventure there… nice blogsite.