Tour Divide Blog

Felix Wong Has a 170 mile day

Racer update about:
Hi this Felix Wong calling at 10:40 from Grants, NM. Before I talk about today I wanted to add something to my last message that I forgot to mention. Another problem I have had mechanically. One of the eyelets holding my bike rack separated from the frame. There are two screws attaching the rear rack to the seat stay. One worked its way loose so I’m using a zip tie on one side. The rack was attached with one screw on the other side. Apparently all of the jarring from the really rough trail on the really long climb yesterday was too much stress for the one eyelets. Now the rear rack is attached to the seat stay with two zip ties and zero screws. Another interesting thing that happened yesterday when I was going up that really long climb was a guy a pickup truck stopped me and warned me about cougars that he claimed were mauling people in the day. That just motivated me to not stop and is why I did so well on the climb. Today was a big day for me. I managed to ride 170 miles today. I had a puncture on the rear tire. Other than that everything has been going well. Pavement really has helped me put on the miles today. I also saw Simon from the GDR again. I saw him maybe about 3-4 times today. I managed to just barely keep ahead of him for the 2nd day in the row. We’ll see how long I can keep that up. He is clearly a stronger rider than I am. It is great to see him out there and know that I’m not completely alone. Right now I am staying in a motel off Route 66. It is great. It was really cheep. Only $30. I’ve always wanted to ride on Route 66. Originally I was …. (recorder time: 2008-07-06 23:49:43 EST)

Alan Goldsmith Onward towards Mexico Border

Racer update about:
Hi its Sunday the 6th of July, 5 to 6 in the evening. We are in Silver City. Just been to the supermarket and loaded up with supplies for the final stretch down to Antelope Wells. We are going try to do as much in the dark as we can. Maybe catch a couple hours sleep and try to get there before mid-day tomorrow. I’m still with Dominik, Leighton and Adrian. If you haven’t guess, we planned to finish together and further the cause of the United Nations ____ Team. Today was a beautiful day through the Gila. Really nice stretch from Beaverhead Work Station. Very spectacular. Unexpected for me. Hopefully talk to you tomorrow. Bye. (recorder time: 2008-07-06 18:57:08 EST)

Dominik Scherer gives a Report from Silver City

Racer update about:
Hello this is Dominik Scherer calling in from Silver City, NM on the 6th of July at 6pm. I was a little lazy with call ins lately because all of the four of us are still together, Alan, Adrian, Leighton and me. I just wanted to let you know that I’m doing good. I’m doing fine. I feel good. We are going to have our last stretch of the whole tour. Looking forward to finishing. I guess we get there tomorrow. I’ll just make another call in there. Thanks a lot. I just wanted to thank my family and friends at home for their support which I can feel. I’m so glad that I’m going to see you all just a bit. Be good out there. Be safe. (recorder time: 2008-07-06 19:01:09 EST)

Stephen Gleanser's Ice Cream Saga

Racer update about:
Hello this is Steve Gleasner calling in from Horca, just south of Platoro. Its about 3 o’clock. I was just about to have an ice cream when I realized that they whole thing had been melted in a funny shape and I took it back to the retail clerk, who was I think was 8, I kid you not, playing with his video game. He said "No sir, that’s shell". I told him he can keep it. But anyway I’m without ice cream. Apparently everything in Horca is melted and they are claiming that is the way it is supposed to be. So Steve Gleanser is down the road with no ice cream and leaving a confused little boy at the register. Here we go bye. (recorder time: 2008-07-06 16:15:08 EST)

Felix Wong Overcomes Mechanical Issues and Physical Conditions

Racer update about:
Hi Felix Wong. Calling at 10:34 Sunday July 6 from Cuba, that’s Cuba, NM. Yesterday was an awesome day, never mind that I had a number of things going against me. For example at one point in the afternoon my thermometer read 105 degrees. While I’m not sure how accurate that is, it was definitely hot. But that didn’t bother me at all as I’d much rather be riding in dry heat than 30 degree temps (can not hear rest of sentence). Mechanical problems. I had a flat tire. This time was the front. It was puncture. Delayed me about 25 minutes, because I had to fix my air pump that was malfunctioning. My rear shifter also is extremely hard to press so instead of using thumb I had use my whole palm. Lastly there was a humongous climb. The climb took about 5 ½ hours to go up. I was feeling phenomenal. Despite all the lava, rocks, I really enjoyed the climb. Managed to ride just over 100 miles yesterday. Today I was rewarded by a screaming descent .into Cuba. I’m really looking forward to all the pavement in front of me for the next 121 miles. One message for Kevin Hall. I just wanted to say Hello to him again. I encountered Simon from GDR in El Rito yesterday. He mentioned that he met you in Whitefish and even gave you a bike box so that made me think of you and I hope you and your family are well. Take care and I’ll talk to you later. (recorder time: 2008-07-06 11:38:49 EST)

Mary Collier on a Mission to New Mexico Today

Racer update about:
Hey its Mary. I am near Platoro, CO. I stopped off at a little campground here to grab some food this morning. Yesterday was a super amazing day. Covered about 100 miles. Hit some really big milestones, I crossed the Rio Grande, rolled over 2000 miles and climbed the biggest peak of the route. So it was pretty amazing day. It was really awesome. I am really glad that I didn’t quit before that many times, many ups and downs. When you look at quitting you miss out on days like yesterday. It was extremely difficult but extremely rewarding. I made it into Platoro last night. In this morning, in my haste to get out of camp, I decided I’d catch groceries down the road. Unfortunately, its Sunday and nothing is opened until 11 and I’m headed out into the backcountry and unable to get food. I actually ran into a lady named Dorie about 15 miles past Platoro who invited me into her house, gave me breakfast, loaded me on fruit and good stuff for the day. So I’m heading out. I’ll probably stop at the convenience store in Horca to get a little more carbs if possible. Head off to the Pass and make another great day of it. Thank you everyone for being so amazing and wonderful and supporting me. Today I am going to get to New Mexico and its pretty awesome. Bye. (recorder time: 2008-07-06 10:25:35 EST)

Alan Goldsmith and his Amigos are Shut Out in Pie Town

Racer update about:
Hi this is Alan its 23 minutes past 9 on Saturday, the 5th. I’m at the Beaverhead Work Center camping on their lawn with Dominik, Leighton and Adrian. We came over from 20 miles north of Pie Town. Our big plan for breakfast in Pie Town was shot to pieces when it was shut. The PieO’Neer didn’t open until 11 and we were there at 7:30 and the other one, The Daily Pie, was shut for the Holiday. The toaster house was locked and the woman was away. So pretty disappointing with Pie Town. It was about the only town in America that we’ve been through that we didn’t have Pie. SO BOO! We carried on thinking there was groceries and gas station at the intersection with Hwy 12 which is shown on the new ACA maps as gas station and groceries and that wasn’t there so 3 of us had to detour to a town called Aragon to the shop. Adrian carried on because he had enough bird seed to keep him going for the day. It was a good trip across that. Stayed cool luckily. Pretty canyon along the way. Tomorrow, we are going to try to get a really early start, get to Silver City as early as possible, have a proper meal, hopefully an American Breakfast, an all day Breakfast. We haven’t had a Breakfast since CO and I’m missing it. Then we are going to head out and try to get down the road as far as possible and finish this thing up Monday morning. That’s the plan. OK, Good night. Bye (recorder time: 2008-07-05 22:26:49 EST)

Ardie's Post-race Comments

Racer update about:
Hey, this is Ardie using Sherry's blog. Just wanted to say a BIG thank you to all my family, friends and apparently even strangers that were cheering me on during the race. It kept me going during long days and rough times. This was truly the toughest event that I've ever done. It was more of a competition against Mother Nature and myself than anything else. Congratulations to Matthew Lee for winning the race. He is an awesome person and amazing endurance mountain biker. Here are some things I remember about the race: 1. Great racer camaraderie 2. Missing Sherry, my wife 3. There always seems to be a headwind 4. Largest bear tracks I’ve ever seen outside of Island Park, ID 5. Postcard scenery and wildlife 6. Butt pain 7. More butt pain until the knee pain started then I forgot about butt pain 8. Warmth of my down sleeping bag after a hard day’s ride 9. Never enough food 10. Sleeping under a bridge outside of Fernie, BC during a storm during the first night 11. Friendly local people that couldn’t understand why I or anyone would do this race 12. Putting my pack in a bear proof garbage can while I slept in the Tetons beside a convenience store 13. Biking up to a DOT crew outside of Grants, NM who knew my name and said they were expecting me 14. Missing pie in Pie Town 15. Finishing and seeing Sherry at the Border My Giant Anthem did great. Had a little a problem with keeping air pressure in my forks for about 1,000 miles (so I had to ride with the forks locked) until I figured out that the valve was loose and got it fixed in Steamboat Springs. Just one flat outside of Lima, MT which the Stans fixed and I never had to repair. Only thing I had to replace was a set of tires in Breckenridge. I used one pack of zip ties to constantly repair my water bottle holders that were slowly disintegrating from the washboards. My Old Man Mountain rack worked well.

Stephen Gleasner Enjoying his Tunes

Racer update about:
Hello this is Steve Gleasner calling from Del Norte running sweep on Tour Divide. Its about 4 o’clock and I’ve got the big climb ahead of me. I want to see what I can get in the bag of it today. 14,000 feet of vertical and 20 something miles. I’m not sure what is going to happen with that and my day. I’m going to give it a whirl. I wanted to send great thanks to the group of reprobates who put together my I-Pod selection for this trip, it has been everything from Barry Manilow, Barbara Streisand, some really off-beat, deep thoughtful stuff, that sent me into a tailspin laughter to tears. Here is a big V-Twin taking off from the stop light. There you go, that’s Del Norte. Off I go, down the road. (recorder time: 2008-07-05 17:15:32 EST)

Adrian Stingacui Update from the Middle of Nowhere

Racer update about:
Hi this Adrian Stingacui calling in from NM, about 43 miles S of Pie Town. There is a thunderstorm brewing. I’m off a dirt road out in the middle of nowhere. I nice family stopped to give me some food, Gatorade and let me borrow their cell phone. Lots of thanks to the ________ family. Really appreciate their help. Alan, Dominik and Leighton stopped in Aragon, they headed off route about 7 miles because they are out of food. The gas station/convenience store at the junction that was suppose to be on Hwy 12 was not there anymore. They had to detour to get some food. There is still another 100 miles to get into the next town. I’m carrying about 7 liters of water for the next stretch. I another ½ liter of Gatorade. I got a big box of Oreos cookies, 3 pop tarts and lb of grapes. Really thankful, really thankful out here and having a great time. Looking forward to finishing up and going home, being with my family, wife and daughter. Love to everyone and lots of hugs out there. (recorder time: 2008-07-05 14:43:41 EST)
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