With 2,711 miles (90% of which were off-road), 200,000 feet of climbing and the mandate that each racer ride completely self-supported, the Tour Divide Canada-to-Mexico mountain bike race had been described as “the toughest bicycle event in the world.” A friend of mine — one who had done numerous 100-mile runs on foot — even suggested it was “impossible.” But to me, it sounded like an adventure of a lifetime, a challenge unrivaled by anything else I have ever done. Guess what? It was!
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. Continue reading »
I suppose I can’t say I hadn’t been warned — even if it was at the last minute.
“You will get numb hands,” advised the other racers in the Tour Divide. Not “might,” but “will.” Continue reading »
I already had a reputation for breaking bicycle parts — and that was on the road. So before the Tour Divide, I couldn’t help but wonder what was going to break during a 2,700-mile mountain bike race that was >85% off-road.
Turns out, a lot! Continue reading »
I mentioned in a post a couple weeks ago that seemingly every piece of equipment I used took a beating during the 2,700-mile Tour Divide mountain bike race. This is true particularly for the components on my mountain bike. Here is one example. Continue reading »
“Hi, this is Felix Wong calling on the 4th of July. Its Friday, 10:20. I’m couple of miles from the New Mexico border. Every holiday it seems like I have some sort of vehicular problem and this is no exception. I had my second crisis. Last night my cyclometer died. I think it has something to do with the sensor. I’m not sure if it is the sensor itself or the sensor battery. It doesn’t really matter because the sensor battery is a very rare 12-volt double-A-size battery. One that I’m not going to be able to find anywhere. Right now I’m heading off to Chama. I’m going to look for a cyclometer…”
One month after that call-in from Day 22 of the Tour Divide, I finally inspected the aforementioned cyclometer sensor. I now know for certain why the cyclometer no longer was working after the first 2,000 miles of the mountain bike race. Continue reading »
. Think I can repair it though...&title=Assessing the Damage: Part 1 "My poor bike, now with a hole in the seatstay where a rack eyelet pulled out (a result of overstressing that side after losing a rack screw). Think I can repair it though...")
