Tour Divide Blog 2008

Matthew Lee Making the Final Push

Submitted by sherry on July 1, 2008 - 9:30pm
Racer update about:
Hey there Matthew Lee at the Beaverhead Work Center. It is 8:40. I'm going to continue riding and try to get to the rim of the black canyon and dispose of a few more of the 45 miles of the Gila that I have left. So that I can hopefully finish before dark tomorrow, if everything goes well. So that's my story. More rain today. Soft roads, but not very hot. The trade off is there. Ok. Hope everybody else is doing well. that's all. Bye. (recorder time: 2008-07-01 21:41:31 ES)

Alternate Routes: Cuba to Grants; Grants to Pie Town Road (through El Malpais)

Submitted by sherry on July 1, 2008 - 9:21pm

There have been e-mail and phone calls to me over the past 36hrs as to why Matthew then Ardie appear to be off route btwn Cuba and Grants, NM. I wanted to let everyone know there are 2 alternates permitted during the race, according to the rules. If you see the blue dots veer west of the main route at Cuba, or south of it following Grants, (along El Mapais National Monument), it only means that the racers are taking both alternates which run back to back. It may be dangerous for racers to take the regular route if there is wet weather as the flooding is possible through the numerous arroyos crossings on the main route.

The two alternates are:

Alt. 1) The 116-mile section between Cuba and Grants, New Mexico
Alt. 2) The section between Grants and the Pie Town road, through El Malpais National Monument.

The alternates are paved. Alt. 1) is .3 longer; Alt. 2) is 17.9 shorter.

The racers do have the option to take the main route; however, if there is any risk of bad weather, its not recommended.

Sherry O.

Ardie Olson Bikin' and Bakin' to Grants

Submitted by sherry on July 1, 2008 - 3:37pm
Racer update about:
Hey again, This is Ardie Olson calling in from the payphone in Cuba, NM. It is 2:33 pm, Tuesday, July lst, 2008. Everything went good this morning. Ride was good. Now I guess I"ll get resupplied. I'll get a meal here in Cuba. I'll head out and bake in the sun for a couple of hours on my way to Grants. Probably won't make it to Grants today because its 119 miles. So I'll probably camp out on the side of road before I get there. Hopefully I'll make there for breakfast tomorrow. Other than that everything is going ok. Working my way to the end. Hope everybody is doing well. Bye. (recorder time: 2008-07-01 15:35:25 EST)

Adrian Stingacui gives a ride to a lady hitchhiker

Submitted by sherry on July 1, 2008 - 1:46pm
Racer update about:
Hi this is Adrian Stingacui calling in from Del Norte, CO on Tuesday, July lst, 12:30 pm. Yesterday I spent most of the afternoon suited up in my rain gear trying to stay dry but I never really got wet until I got into camp in the dark. Camped in cow field next to cow patties. Then it started raining right when I started eating and I was starving. Today I rode into town over here and picked up a hitchhiker, a lady friend and gave her a ride for a couple of miles. She was a really beautiful lady bug. Going to head out to Indiana Pass shortly after I grab something to eat. Hopefully it will be safe ride up there for me. Good luck to everyone. Sorry to hear about the guys who dropped out of the race. How they are home and recovered. Take care. (recorder time: 2008-07-01 13:31:04 EST) NOTE: recording was hard to hear. I had to guess at some of this.

Mike Dion and film crew in Pie Town

Submitted by sherry on July 1, 2008 - 1:41pm
Racer update about:
Hello, there this is Mike Dion. Its July lst about noon. Still out here on the route. I’m in Pie Town actually. I’m with Hunter Weeks. Hunter is the director on the film. We are still working on the film out here. We have been leapfrogging Matthew pretty much since Del Norte. Filming some incredible landscape, really roughed terrain and colorful locals. Matthew interacting with some of the local people, places and things along the way has been priceless. Speaking of Hunter, if you want to check out something he has worked on that is similar, check out www.10mph.com. We are kickin it here in Pie Town. Having some pie. Having a milkshake. Its getting pretty hot outside. We are going to continue leapfrogging and following Matthew to the finish line, which he told us would probably be tomorrow night some time. We’ll see how that goes. After that we’ll start working our way back North, and checking with some of people. Its been great still being out of the route even though I bailed back in Montana. Still getting to see the beauty and the terrain and everything else. So having a good old time. I’ll check in later with everybody.

Matthew Lee enjoying pie in Pie Town

Submitted by sherry on July 1, 2008 - 1:30pm
Racer update about:
Hey, Matthew Lee calling in post-breakfast from The Daily Pie Café in Pie Town. It's about 10:22 on Tuesday. Rueben, I just wanted to tell you that I ate your piece of pie and mine. I figured you would want it that way. It's good to be here although I’m sad that Nita, the Toaster lady, is out of town. I had really hoped to see her. Today I hope to finish with the Gila National Forest. I expect it to be as mentally challenging as anything I’ve faced so far. Usually I hit it fresh so we’ll see out it goes. My guess is that I will be pretty wrecked by the time I reach Silver City. I’d like to say Congrats to my sister Amy with her new 10 lb baby and tell my own baby-momma, Katie, due with our baby boy (and future Tour Divide racer) in just a couple of weeks to hold on a bit longer. I’ll be back in NC as soon as I can. That’s all for now. Bye. (recorder time: 2008-07-01 11:23:26 EST)

Stephen Gleasner ~ laundry, its a public service

Submitted by sherry on July 1, 2008 - 1:23pm
Racer update about:
Good morning, this is Racer 4, Steve Gleasner calling in from Steamboat. Got in late last night after a run from South of Rawlins, about 20 miles. Camped out of town then made the run into Steamboat. I’m out the KOA doing laundry as a public service to the rest of the world. It has been a while. Lost track. I feel like I’m at a confessional. “How long has it been since you did your laundry, my son?” Well anyway, I’m going to be here for a little while. I’ve got to go to bike shop, get some groceries, get my laundry dry then hit the road again, then On The Road Again. There it is. Racer 4, Steve Gleasner, signing out, good day. (recorder time: 2008-07-01 09:56:07 EST)

Alan Goldsmith closing in on New Mexico

Submitted by sherry on July 1, 2008 - 1:17pm
Racer update about:
Morning its Alan calling in from Skyline Lodge in Platoro. Just had breakfast here after another chilly night out in the hills. I think we were up above 10,000 feet again at Stunner campground. They really looked out after us here. They’ve got a score sheet of who is coming through when. We are still third but Ardie is getting further away and Matt’s history. Anyway we got over the hill yesterday without being struck by lightening. It didn’t really rain on us too much either. Apparently, it really rained on this side so it was a good job we weren’t over here. We were going slow for a reason. We are off to Horca today for a second breakfast or early lunch. We will try to get some miles in between breakfast and lunch today. Then up over Brazos Ridge and we’ll see how far we can get. We need to get some kit dried out before we camp again. It looks awfully wet now. We’ll probably lay it out in the sun in Horca. See if we get some offers for our stuff. Maybe give up, drive down to Mexico. No, we are nearly there now. New Mexico later this morning. Talk to you later. Bye. (recorder time: 2008-07-01 08:59:04 EST)

Felix Wong travels through South Park

Submitted by sherry on July 1, 2008 - 5:58am
Racer update about:
Hi this is Felix Wong calling at 10:09 at Monday, June 30th from Salida, CO. I’m actually staying in a hotel tonight unlike last night when I camped at a campground near the beautiful Dillon Lake, I just jumped in the shower with all of my clothes on trying to get them clean and I guess I’ll sleeping in the nude tonight. Today was a good day unlike yesterday where it seemed like I was going up hill for most of the 107 miles I rode. Today seemed to be mostly downhill. There were just two major climbs both were beautiful climbs. One was Boreas pass and the other was up the watershed divide. Both were beautiful climbs. Boreas Pass was very gradual with great scenery, great views and even though it topped off at 11,500 feet it was a very pleasant climb. The last climb was much steeper but had great views of the 14ers. At least when coming down to the Salida. In between seemed to be mostly downhill. My progress was only impeded by an extremely fierce headwind in the afternoon. But otherwise it was great day. I think other than the two passes, the highlight of today was passing by South Park. Previously, I thought South Park was a fictional town in CO so I was very happy to see it is a real region. One of my favorite tv shows is South Park. In fact, I resolved that after this race is over and I am back home in CO, I would do a South Park marathon. By which I don’t mean running 26.2 miles but instead I will be laying on my couch with my feet propped up on a some pillows and watching this seasons episodes and maybe last seasons also. Right now that is sounding really good to me. I’ll talk to you later. (recorder time: 2008-06-30 23:11:54 EST)

Ardie Olson had Hail, Rain, Snow and Mud on the Way to Abiquiu

Submitted by sherry on June 30, 2008 - 6:28pm
Racer update about:
Hey this is Ardie Olson. I'm calling from the payphone here in Abiquiu at the Hotel. It is Monday, June 30th, 5:50 p.m. Everything is going pretty good. I think Mother Nature is winning most of this race. Yesterday, after my call in when I was in Platoro it started hailing, marble size hail, but luckily I was inside. It hailed enough to cover the ground, it looked white like snow, then it rained for 30 minutes. The road out of Platoro was a little muddy. Once I got into New Mexico, the roads were mess. The mud was like glue. It stuck to my tires. So I had to push 3-4 miles until I finally got to the ridge line that I was trying to get to and it was 10 o'clock so I camped out. Then got up this morning and things were a little bit better. At least I could ride. Did have a little bit of snow that I had to push through, not very much, where it covered the road in a few places. Other than that the day was going pretty good. Now coming into El Rito, I was trying to out run a thunderstorm before I got into mud again. So I beat that and got to the hard road and got to the store. The storm caught me on the way to Abiquiu. Now I'm at the hotel. I guess I'll get something to eat here. If it lets up or doesn't come all the way through Abiquiu here and mess up the roads, I'll head out again and I'll try to put a few more miles in today before calling it quits. Everything is going ok. Its a tough race. That is for sure. Again, this is Ardie Olson, bye.
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