TD Race Updates

MTBCast: Matthew Arnold called in from the finish

Matthew Arnold called in with some thoughts about his finish. He finished with a time of 21:20:14.

MTBCast: Stephen Huddle called in from Cuba

Stephen Huddle called in from Cuba.

Stephen Huddle

MTBCast: Cricket Butler called in from Cuba

Cricket Butler called in with a recap from Cuba.

MTBCast: Marshal Bird called in from Deming

Marshal Bird called in from Deming. He finished with a time of 21:18:24.

MTBCast: Mike Prochaska called in from Deming

Mike Prochaska called in with some final thoughts from Deming. He finished with 21:22:28.

Age before beauty

Belated congratulations on the arrival at Antelope Wells of first Eric Nelson and then, only a couple of hours later, Forest Baker. Forest’s call-in from the finish provides an entertaining summary of the race and the toll it took to reach it that far – and the sense of enormous satisfaction to have made it to the end.
Now, the Lonely Highway is once again failing to live up to its name with a battle for 7th place involving four riders. It looks as though Marshal Bird is in pole position – do you think he’d mind the nickname ‘tough ol’? It’s intended as a compliment. He is, after all, 54 years young and, as far as I can make out, set to become the oldest official finisher of the Tour Divide – and a fast finish at that, with a sub 22 day result on the cards.
Not that age appears to be a major obstacle in this race. Endurance is as important as outright speed: Matthew Lee is 39, Erik Lobeck 38, while Blaine Nester just describes himself as ‘old’, which I have it on good authority as meaning in his late forties. Then there’s 47 year old John Foster, who is now a couple of hours behind Marshal and who called in to say he’d finally made it out of the Gila where he’d suffered from a ‘classic bonk’ complete with ‘that feeling of impending doom’. We’ve all been there.
In between John and Marshal are Matthew Arnold – a mere 29 – and Mike Prochaska, who was 37 on June 19th – happy belated birthday. I’m sure making it to the finish in the early hours this morning, which seems likely, will be a fine present. It’s nearly 2am local time and Marshal, Matthew and Mike are, according to their SPOTS – still riding. Read more »

MTBCast: Episode TD Day 22 GDR Day 15

MTBCast: John Foster bonks but manages to get some food, Marshal,  Mike, and Matthew A. bare down on the border, and Stephen and crew make to El Rito a little late. GDR racer Nathan Jones makes it to Silverthorn!

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MTBCast: Marshal Bird called in from Silver City

Marshal Bird called in from Silver City.

MTBCast: John Foster called in from Membres

John Foster called in from Membres after bonking hard.

MTBcast SPOT