Tour Divide Blog

Woo Hoo, Hey everyone its Mary Collier. I am in Lima, MT. Its Sunday, June 22nd abtou 3:30. I have hit the road again and I'm back at. Have a good one.

(You should listen this message too on www.mtbcast.com - she has a great Woo Hooo!)

(recorder time: 2008-06-22 16:34:07 EST)

Hi this is Felix Wong calling again. I'm still in Big Springs, ID. I just wanted to thank every one for leaving messages on the blog or text messaging me. A friend of mine has been reading them to me. I really appreciate the support. I just wanted to thank you all. Hope you are having weekend and a good time following this race which has been very exciting for me. I hope for you too. You guys take care.

(recorder time: 2008-06-22 16:03:56 EST.)

HI this is Felix Wong calling on Sunday, June 22nd 2:38pm. I'm just west of Big Springs, ID. I finally made it out of MT. It has been a gorgeous day. Great Weather unlike yesterday. Yesterday was very hot with armies of blood sucking mosquitoes swarming on me anytime I would stop. But today has been absolutely gorgeous. This part of ID is really beautiful. This has probably been the most enjoyable day of the Tour so far. I've been taking it easy all day just because I've put in a pretty hard effort the last 4 days. It has been nice not having any major climbs today. A couple of coincidences I would like to mention, yesterday at Lima right after I called in a woman got out of her van and ask me if I was Felix then she handed me a phone. I thought that was pretty funny. It turned out that it was Mike Dion's mother who had a friend by complete coincidence who was driving from Salt Lake City to Montana (they were moving) and by complete coincidences was passing through Lima and she found me in the parking lot and apparently knew I was Felix. Then, today when I crossed into ID I saw a guy named Rich. He was wearing a Fat Tire Jersey. Fat Tire is made in my home town Fort Collins, CO. So I really enjoyed seeing that and we talked. I met his brother-in-law, Todd and Todd's lovely daughter, Chelsea. We talked for a bit. It has just been an all round pleasant day and I hope it continues that way. I’ll call in later. I’ll talk to you later. Bye.

(recorder time: 2008-06-22 15:41:56 EST. )

HI this is Alan Goldsmith. Its Sunday, its 12:30. We have just come over Togwotee Pass and done the little detour around to Brooks Lake. Now that is not fun. Its 4 1/2 miles taking ups 2 1/2 hours. Its 1-2' deep in soft snow and where there is no snow its about 6" deep in mud. My wheels wouldn't go around. It was hideous. Luckily from Brooks Lake, the other side is plowed. So you only have the 4 1/2 miles to the Lodge to wade around in the snow and the mud. We are a little bit further on now. Trying to refuel before Union Pass. Pinedale today is a long distance memory. Bye.

(Recorder time: 2008-06-22 13:28:43 EST)

I'm off to get a final diagnosis on my Achilles'. It is definitely swelling (can you guess which leg?)... Before I go, I wanted to share the beginning of the 2008 Tour Divide Photo Album. These are all shot by me, but, as racers finish, we'll be adding their photos to the collection. Those following divide racing could be interested to see the snow on Red Meadow Pass and Richmond Peak.

Hi its Sunday the 22nd. This is Alan Goldsmith. I'm at Togwotee Mountain Lodge. Just had breakfast. We rode out from Turpin Meadows Campground this morning. I saw two grizzly bears. They were my first grizzlies. I guess it was the last chance today. We are on our way over the Pass, then Union Pass headed for Pinedale hopefully. Unless we get snowed in up there. Yesterda was a bit of an epic. There was 8 miles of snow affect trail between ID and WY. I guess, about half of the time there was actually snow on the ground and the rest of the time it was pretty muddy. We just made it over in time for lunch at Flagg Ranch. So it wasn't too bad. Anyway we got a big day. Better get going. Bye.

(recorder time: 2008-06-22 09:18:21 EST)

Hello this is Dominik Scherer. It is the 22nd of June 8:15 am. I am here up at Togwotee Lodge. Together with Alan Goldsmith. We gonna to Togwotee Pass, Union Pass and try to get to Pinedale today. Be good, be safe.

(Recorder time: 2008-06-22 09:15:00 EST.)

NOTE from Sherry: Under Weather, you can see a real time webcam of the Lodge. Check it out. Beautiful.

Hey, good morning, its Mike Dion. Its Sunday the 22nd, 7 in the morning. Had a good night's sleep in Lima last night. Got some good rest. Ended up having a couple of Moose Drouls at the bar. A fine amber ale brewed in Missoula, MT. Feeling good this morning. I was hoping to roll out a little bit earlier try to beat some of the heat today, but that's alright. Gonna get on the bike here in a few minutes. Body is feeling OK. Speaking of the bike. Bike is doing great. The Moots 29er is just been sucking up the trail and fallen trees and eatin it all up. The soft tale has just been amazing. Read more »

There were two messages from Mary. I think she was having a little payphone problems. Both seem to cut off early so I think she had to be brief. This is GOOD NEWS.

The first message was:

Hey its Mary Collier and I'm calling in.....

(recorder time: 2008-06-22 07:27:44 EST.)

The second message was:

Hey its Mary Collier and I'm back on the road. Bye.

(recorder time: 2008-06-22 07:28:25 EST. )

Hello there this is Mike Dion. Its the 21st, 9 days in at 8:46. I'm at Lima, MT at the Peace Bar, home of the cook your own burger, cook your own steak. So I'm cooking myself up a cheeseburger. Today was a crazy day out on the route. Started in Polaris, MT this morning. Mary and I rolled out there and not too long into it she pulled off and was having some swelling issues which I am sure everyone is aware and I kept rolling on. It got hotter, and hotter and hotter. I started slowing down and slowing down. I started running out of water. Read more »