TD Race Updates

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Jay calls from Ovando

Submitted by Kevin Montgomery on June 15, 2009 - 8:19pm
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Hello, hello, It’s 7:20, Monday and we’re here in Ovando, its JayP, things have been going well…uh…things of interest today were getting’ over Richmond Pass…there’s a bunch of snow…and pushing the tandem through that is a trip in itself…ah, today was a little wearing, we’re doing a little layover and just freshening up, showering, getting some good rest with the feet up, drying out all of our clothes. Um, we’ve been getting caught in some wet conditions for sure and just throughout the last couple of days and last couple nights of dew, everything’s wet.  Um, yeah, things are great, got see another cub today, got to see a huge cat, that was really neat, and looking forward to tomorrow and some good rest tonight, and we’re both feeling really good…And, I could use some services in Helena for…I need to get some air in my shock, I keep blowing the blow-off valve and keep losing air, so, we’re shooting for that and we’ll talk to you soon. Thanks again everyone. - DB

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Tracey calling from Ovando

Submitted by Kevin Montgomery on June 15, 2009 - 8:15pm
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Hi, this is Tracey calling in from Ovando. We had a wonderful day of riding, of course, beautiful fire roads, beautiful forests, lots of great scenery, and different views…and it was just great. Got to see a huge cat today, so that was pretty neat to see, and um, yeah, we’re in Ovando and just going to clean up, rest up a little bit, and then tackle the pass coming up here, Huckleberry Pass, and then just keep right on moving. But things are going good. The Love Shack’s right on track, holding up great…and yeah, we’re moving along, so things are good and hope all is well out there in the big wild world. Talk to you soon. - DB

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Race Report: Day 2 and 3 Media

Submitted by Kevin Montgomery on June 15, 2009 - 5:51pm
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Jill Homer at the start of the 2009 Tour Divide

We are happy to report there is a new crop of Divide media to check out.  Be sure to look at Marni Plesko's photo gallery of racer's at the start in Banff.

Also check out Joe Polk's latest Divide podcast over at MTBcast.  If you haven't already, be sure to donate to MTBcast and get yourself in the running for their Siren Bicycle giveaway.  Joe kindly donates a significant amount of time and resources to help make the call-ins and podcasts happen, so, if you are able, please help support MTBcast and keep it online for years to come.

Finally, Scott Morris over at Topofusion has put together another installment of the SPOT-powered race animations:

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Martin calls from Eureka!

Submitted by Kevin Montgomery on June 15, 2009 - 5:50pm
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Hello im Martin just calling in to say im fine uhh I froze my bottom brake all day yesterday but I think I must have done something wrong. Umm im in Eureka now uhh the road yesterday was fantastic. Stay the night and leave tomorrow morning for white fish so far everything is ok and yep that’s it. Thanks bye!

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Kurt, Joe and Chris call in from Ovando

Submitted by Kevin Montgomery on June 15, 2009 - 5:23pm
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Yo, Tour Dividers - this is Kurt, and Joe, and Chris, pounding some food in uh, where are we? in 'Hovando' - yeah, anyway, we're hiding out from this storm for a few minutes, and there's a grizzly bear ahead on the counter. Our first grizzly sighting. It's pretty awesome. And then we're heading into Lincoln from here, and we'll see what happens.

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Matthew Lee is in Lincoln

Submitted by Kevin Montgomery on June 15, 2009 - 4:34pm
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Hey tour divide Mathew Lee here in Lincoln, running from storms. I hope nobody’s on huckleberry pass right now because it is getting laid to waste . Anyway I just bought a sandwich and im sprinting out again to try to stay ahead of things or whatever… it seems to be pretty bad all around anyway things are going well and it sure is nice to be on the divide again alright cheers. 

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Cricket is in Whitefish

Submitted by Kevin Montgomery on June 15, 2009 - 3:04pm
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Hi, It's Cricket Butler it's about 10am in Whitefish.  I came in last night, the 14th around 9:30 with Jeremy from California.  Um, rough day yesterday going over the pass with snow and um it was great getting into Whitefish to have some pizza and a nice room and um trying to get my bike computer fixed today at Glacier Cyclery and heading out later today.  It's 10am right now, probably about 10:30 heading out.  Unfortunately, got to have a good computer so I do not get lost um that's it for now.  I will talk to everybody soon.

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Race Report: Day 3 and the Morning of Day 4 - Snow, Hail and a Growing Lead

Submitted by Kevin Montgomery on June 15, 2009 - 2:18pm
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Alan Goldsmith hiking his bike through the snow on Richmond Peak (2008)

The past day has been another exciting one on the route.  Jay and Tracy have finally gotten back on pace after getting lost over the Whitefish Divide and have been riding with Chris Plesko, Joe Meiser and Kurt Refsnider up and over Richmond Peak.  Matthew Lee, who has been leading the race from the start, has developed a 5 hour lead over the chase group.  He checked in from Ovando (mile 486) at 11A.M. as the pack was beginning their ascent up Richmond Peak.  His lead grew in part from his early start, as he began his climb up Richmond Peak at 5am whereas the others did not start until 5:45am.  Moreover, Matt skipped going slightly off-route to Seeley Lake in favor of delaying his resupply 26 miles until he reached Ovando.  If the chase group goes to Seeley Lake, Matt will likely gain another 30-45 minutes over the group.

Yesterday's progress was certainly slower for many of the racers than anticipated.  A popular resupply point at Swan River (mile 354) was discovered to be burned down, likely causing a number of racers to go off-route to Big Fork.  Additionally, bad storms ripped through the Mission Range, dumping hail on Matthew Lee and forcing him to wait out the storms off his bike.  Chris, Joe and Kurt likely encountered the same storms and forced them to get off their bikes as well.

One of this year's favorites, John Nobile, has also been severely sidetracked by intense knee pain.  He also backtracked 12 miles to restart his border-to-border time.  Since his backtrack, he has been riding with Jill Homer, putting him over 115 miles behind Matthew Lee. Read more »

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Bruce got lost and went offroute

Submitted by Kevin Montgomery on June 15, 2009 - 1:10pm
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Hey everybody this is Bruce.  Got sidetracked last night.  Uh kind of a bad circumstances, my GPS battery failed me and uh my cycle computer for whatever reason wasn't computing milage.  And uh, so I took my best stab at where I thought I had to turn up the canyon and I got half way up there and it looked like I was on a four wheel drive road and not the road I should have been on.  So I back tracked and on the way down with all the rain and everything else up there, the map kind of disintegrated and uh I thought well, I didn't know what to do.  I was out there without a map, the best thing to do was to head towards town.  So I got out my map, from the original Canadian route and tried to figure my way back and ended up in Elko last night sleeping on the south side of the pavement of a gas station and then from there I just picked up the regular route and headed south.  Uh, I imagine I'm disqualified, but I'm going to continue to ride.

Listen to the latest call from this racer here!

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Eric B. checking in from Whitefish

Submitted by ebruntjen on June 15, 2009 - 12:25pm
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Hi, Eric Bruntjen calling in here from Whitefish, Mont. Getting a really late start. It’s driving me crazy but I had some mechanical issues I needed to get taken care of at Glacier Cyclery. Had a bad bottom bracket, a broken spoke, and I needed a new seat, too. I’m all hooked up now, getting some breakfast, about ready to hit the road. I feel like I’m making pretty good time. Still don’t know what Stephen Gleasner met by “Be Known,” but I’m thinking maybe I’ll find out on Richmond Peak. I’ve got about 200 miles before I can probably check in again, so it might be a little while. Thanks. Bye.

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The blog now only displays entries relevant to the 2009 edition of the Tour Divide. If you want to read past entries, check out the 2008 blog
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