Divide News & Notes

(Originally submitted as a blog comment by Diana Gleasner on July 3, 2008 - 6:21pm.)

For those who made it and those who didn’t. And especially for the guy at the back of the pack still out there somewhere working the pedals.

Tour Divide

Listen my friends and you shall hear
A lone mountain bike in the granny gear.
You started in Banff seventeen strong
But this is a tale of things that go wrong

Achilles tendons and drifts of snow,
Grizzlies, big cats, nightmares-to-go.
Miles to go before you sleep
And all those promises to keep.

With lagging spirits and constant grief,
Utter exhaustion with no relief,
Wet, hungry, legs like concrete
Can’t feel your toes, can’t feel your feet.

Lugging your stuff, not to mention your bike
On this Rocky Mountain obstacle hike.
Some say that it was just never clear
They would need the skills of a mountaineer.

Swarming mosquitoes and one sore butt,
Mud everywhere, your wheels in a rut.
You’ve climbed 200,000 feet
And endured the desert’s relentless heat.

Emotional ups, emotional downs
Mysterious maps, vanishing towns,
Swollen ankles, fever and chills
Slippery paths and a hundred spills

Awesome country these racers have seen -
Canada, Mexico and all parts between
from Banff in Alberta to Antelope Wells.
Each rider enduring their personal hells.

The prize isn’t money, nor is it glory
It’s just being part of an epic story.
It’s you, your bike and your winning smiles.
You made it through nearly 3,000 miles. Read more »

"Demonstration Sports" were officially introduced in the 1912 Summer Olympics when host country Sweden included Glima, traditional Scandinavian wrestling, in the Olympic program. Many a successful demo sport--like Badminton--has gone on to full Olympic status.

2009 marks the inclusion of Tandem as an official demonstration category in Tour Divide. Though racing tandem is not a solo enterprise per se, it does satisfy the important "no-drafting" rule, and they are certainly no easier to navigate than a solo bike--so why not extend the challenge? Self-support is still the guiding principle, however, sharing gear between captain and stoker is permitted. Some say Divide racing is 75% mental. That would make Tandem 150% mental? TD would have to agree.

Mountain tandems are known for catching big air when stoking the flats

There have been successful attempts to Tandem the GDMBR but at this time we have no data on a benchmark for elapsed time. Two questions we hope to answer from this demonstration category are: Who decides when it's time to get off and push, and, is it possible for the stoker to get some shut-eye on the fly?

In recognition of the 10th anniversary of John Stamstad's Individual Time Trial (ITT) that spawned it all, TD embraces original Divide racing with the creation of ITTDivide (ITTD), a season-long SPOT Leaderboard and updates blog dedicated to following ITTs. ITTD will be much like group racing coverage, only lonelier. Whilst we recognize the format will never replace the drama of mass start divide racing, ITTs are no less harrowing, no less difficult and certainly worthy of documentation.

The ITTD mission is several-fold:

• Renew respect for ITTs as the original form of divide racing by recognizing and documenting them
• Alleviate focused pressure on the GDMBR from the growing popularity of June group racing
• Provide a forward thinking alternative should the unsanctioned group format ever become prohibited on GDMBR
• Give soloists who desire a pure ITT experience a virtual audience to motivate them and a GPS track to validate their performance
• Provide an arena for proponents of bidirectional racing to further pilot South-to-North records
• Lend impetus to those who want to race but simply can't make the annual June group start

ITTD Provisions: Race by Tour Divide Rules, carry a SPOT tracker and maintain a finish pace no more than twice the standing course record. If successful, any ITTD finisher is eligible for the annual GC (General Classification). ITTD recognizes both full GDMBR efforts as well as US border-to-border splits; North-to-South as well as South-to-North attempts. As Tour Divide is a SPOT GPS Messenger-supported organization, a limited number of loaner SPOT tracking devices will be available to ITTD racers on a first-come, first-served basis. More info soon.