Felix Wong of Colorado

Tour Divide: Trials & Travails

July 31, 2008

Here’s another slideshow from the Tour Divide mountain bike race, this one entitled “Trials & Travails.” There were many!

There’s still a lot of Tour Divide stuff I intend to post, but it may take a while due to an overwhelming amount of work I need to take care of. So the postings will probably come in a trickle.

[Day 2] It rained the night before, so the morning was a mudfest. After the mud hardened on the front derailleur, shifting it was difficult. (June 14, 2008)

[Day 3] The first night in Montana had over two miles of snow. Hike-a-bike time. (June 15, 2008)

[Day 4] In Montana, there were giant mudholes for miles. (June 16, 2008)

[Days 4 & 5] In northern Montana, there were also downed trees that I had to dismount for about 100 times. (June 16, 2008)

[Day 5] Some of the downed tree piles were ridiculous. I had to throw my bike over this one, and then climb over it like it was a rock climbing wall. (June 17, 2008)

[Days 3, 4, 5, 13, 16] Snow collected on the tires causing additional resistance, but at least it was much better than mud! (June 15, 2008)

[Day 5] Death trap -- traversing a crazy, highly exposed section of snow piled up at a 45 degree angle without an ice axe for at least half a mile. (June 17, 2008)

[Day 5] About a mile later I saw this perfectly laid out Go-Lite jacket and water bottle on the trail. I left a note wondering if it was an emergency kit left by Matthew Lee? Turns out racer Mike Dion lost these items here! (June 17, 2008)

[Day 5] Camping in grizzly bear territory inspired paranoia about what to do with food, how to fend of bears, etc. I resorted to a "mark your spot" strategy someone in Grant, MT advised me about. (June 17, 2008)

[Almost everyday] Lots of puddles to ride through.

[Day 7] Lava Mountain: one of the most challenging and techical sections on the entire Continental Divide Mountain Bike Route. I also got lost in the forest. (June 19, 2008)

[Day 7] On Lava Mountain, even two motorcyclists on BMW dual sport bikes made no more forward progress than I did in 3 hours. (June 19, 2008)

[Day 9] For the most part, I refused to allow hotel and established campground locations dictate my schedule -- meaning that I often had to stealth camp. (June 21, 2008)

[Day 10] This tunnel in Idaho had collapsed and I had to hike around it. That was "interesting." (June 22, 2008)

[Day 11] Entering Wyoming and the Tetons, I encountered snow again. Worse: mud and chainsuck. Worst: vicious mosquitoes that didn't care if I was wearing full-length clothing and 98% DEET! (June 23, 2008)

[Day 12] Deep snow and super-sticky mud resulting in constant mud-jamming. It took >2.5 hours to go 4.5 miles. (June 24, 2008)

[Day 13] I kept losing plastic spoons, so had to resort to using this 16mm cone wrench to eat on a number of occasions. (June 25, 2008)

[Day 14] The Great Divide Basin was so desolate, there wasn't even a single tree. Terrible place to be suffering from hyponatremia for 10 hours on my birthday. (June 26, 2008)

[Day 17] Had to ford a knee-deep river. This is John Nobile (the ultimate winner of the concurrent Great Divide Race) fording it right after me. (June 29, 2008)

[Day 20] Indiana Pass (elevation 11,900 feet) was super long and steep, with freezing rain at the summit. Came down with hypothermia and had to bail for the night at 6:00 p.m. (July 2, 2008)

[Day 21] Bovine blockages. (July 3, 2008)

[Day 21, 22] Cyclometer broke and I was forced 28 miles off-course to find a new one. (July 3, 2008)

[Day 22] This steep half-mile section of scree in Northern NM was unrideable. (July 4, 2008)

[Day 22, 23] The double-track in Northern NM was extremely rutted, but actually kind of fun! (July 4, 2008)

[Day 23] A 5.5-hour climb in Northern NM was extremely jarring with lava rocks.

[Day 23] The lava rocks were so jarring that one of the rack eyelets pulled out of the frame (this is because I had lost the screw for the other side). I used tie-wraps on both sides for the remainder of the race. (July 5, 2008)

[Day 25] I arrived in Pie Town at Monday at noon, yet both restaurants were closed. Extremely disappointing. (July 7, 2008)

[Day 25] 40 miles and 6 hours later, I arrived at this intersection expecting some sort of grocery store, but there was only this church! Had to resort to begging for food after that. (July 7, 2008)

[Day 26] My ninth flat with no more good spare tubes, no CO2 cartridges, a half-functional pump, and just one patch. Resorted to inflate-ride-inflate-ride strategy. (July 8, 2008)

[Day 26] To compound matters, a monsoon came through and would not... stop... raining. (July 8, 2008)

[Day 27] I was careful to hike over extremely muddy sections instead of riding, but mud-jamming still occurred. Sometimes it took 3 minutes to go 10 feet. Ridiculous. (July 9, 2008)

[Day 27.5] I was so ready to be done, but the monsoons (with fog) wouldn't stop. The low point was thinking I was lost when I wasn't, and needless backtracking 3.5 miles. (July 10, 2008)

[After the race] Inspection of my helmet showed severe damage, probably occurring during my 3rd or 4th crash. But at least my skull is still intact. (July 27, 2008)

Photos by Felix Wong are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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