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It kicks off on Friday. To whet our appetites, here's what 50 or so of the riders will be, well, riding:
https://twitter.com/bikepackingcom/status/1666418709110444034?t=yeKO7ua1dzIsVMZrF_rGIA&s=19
Been a fair hassle for some competitors just getting to Calgary. One of the Aussies bikes gone AWOL. Others have been heavily delayed.
Lael Wilcox didn't have that problem as she rode to the start line. From Mexico.
I love this race, everything about it. So unpredictable.
Lael FTW this year? Hanloch Redlich is racing, very quick Israeli who won the first HLC 9 years ago. And Ted King - he's fast over a big day. There's always some fast unknown racers too.
OG Pete Basinger is back, he raced the original Great Divide Race.
http://trackleaders.com/tourdivide23f.php
Super looking bike, reminds me of an old Marin I used to own
Those Tailfin pseudo panniers are never not going to look shit.
Alexandera Houchin is doing a lot more Instagram update stuff this year, which is great for fangirls like me because usually she’s very below the radar. Looking forward to seeing how she does again.
I think you can pick likely front-runners from the bikes - like this one. 'Bikes I'd race the TD on' #1 so far,
APRIL DRAGE
AGE 42 / MELBOURNE, VICTORIA (AUSTRALIA)
Fast cushy tyres, light build and minimal packing, looking good. The fast mattress on this bike is a smart choice, save 8-10 mins of faff setting up and packing each night, X 15-20 nights.. ~3hrs over the race, or 30 miles. Assuming you kip out every night that is, which is unlikely or although fast, not ideal for recovery.
Always think there's a lot of heavily-loaded bikes at the start. But in the past some of the bulky-looking bikes have been raced to top 10 finishes so what do I know : )
Alexandera Houchin is doing a lot more Instagram update stuff this year, which is great for fangirls like me
Any fanboys like me, she's an inspiring rider. A SSer with style and she's written some really good articles. Thanks for the link!
think you can pick likely front-runners from the bikes – like this one. ‘Bikes I’d race the TD on’ #1 so far,
winnerAPRIL DRAGE
AGE 42 / MELBOURNE, VICTORIA (AUSTRALIA)
I don’t know anything about bike packing and equipment (so I don’t understand most of the descriptions) but even I identified this as a quite extreme example of travelling light compared to most of the others.
What has she forgone to get such a minimalist setup?
Fascinating stuff. Presumably, the weather/conditions have the potential to be very variable, so you need enough gear to cater for that? But April's set up is less than I'd take on just a 1-nighter bivvy!
What sort of gearing will the SSers be using ... i know there's a LOT of climbing (7 Everests?) but is it all gradual, steep, or a mix? How much of the route is long flat plains ...?
I love looking at all the kit choices on the bikes.
On things that you must have/take,this made me smile ..
A squeaky dinosaur on the Ritchey Venturemax handlebars will scare off bears and a sticker of the Monty Python Black Knight in the cockpit will remind me to never quit. (“Tis but a scratch”)
😃
What has she forgone to get such a minimalist setup?
I'm not sure it's really that minimalist in this context, looks like enough kit for covering the basics of sleep and warmth. Possibly also expensive, compact and light gear.
And pack choices are personal preferences but I'll take a guess - not carrying a tent for starters. The faster riders will either bivi for minimal time trailside or get full rest at a lodge, more of an Alpinist type approach. Tents generally = camping / more of a touring pace perhaps.
But the race isn't only about 15-day racers, there's entrants in their 60s who will go all out for 22-28 day finishes and a tent and more clothing is part of what they need to do that. Many just hope to finish rather than being concerned about time.
A squeaky dinosaur on the Ritchey Venturemax handlebars will scare off bears and a sticker of the Monty Python Black Knight in the cockpit will remind me to never quit. (“Tis but a scratch”)
Love it.
What sort of gearing will the SSers be using … i know there’s a LOT of climbing (7 Everests?) but is it all gradual, steep, or a mix? How much of the route is long flat plains …?
Tends to be relatively high compared to typical UK SS ratios. The climbs are only steep in the first couple of days in BC, Banff to the border and after that most climbs are like the open sections of Cwmcarn, quite a lot of old rail trails and dirt highways at 5-7% - quite SSable. But altitude is significant in places and there's a lot of open plains and wind where twiddling a small gear seems tough. There's been quite a few 15-18 day finishes by SSers even so.
Alexandera is on 2:1 SS gearing. I saw her post somewhere that she'd been told that everything in her kit should serve two purposes. So, she has a tent peg that's also an Allen Key and stuff like that. Seems like a nice exercise in thoughtful packing.
Interesting... wasn't expecting to see Mira la Perra (and John) on the start list.
Looking forward to this.
Following Lael on IG riding to the start has been a nice pre-race build up. Good to hear Alexandera is riding too
Tyre of choice seems to definitely be the Mezcal this year looking at the rigs!
Always nice to see the huge variance in rider age
Now there's something I havent seen before, a reverse mullet:
Bikepacking.com has some details of a few of the front runners:
https://bikepacking.com/news/2023-tour-divide-who-to-follow/
Current leader Justinas Leveika has just crossed the border into the USA at 265 miles in under 24 hours.
And fanboys like me, she’s an inspiring rider. A SSer with style and she’s written some really good articles. Thanks for the link!
Count me in too! Total inspiration, she doesn’t look like she should be there but ****ing hell she’s there totally on merit! Plus she always looks likes she’s having the most fun. Got total respect for her. Sponsored by an Indian Nation (The Cherokee). I happened across her on IG the other day, good to see her represented.
From the links I’ve followed the Stronger Together and the interview with Neil B. It got a little dusty…
I love how relaxed and positive Lael Wilcox is in this video
After perusing the bikes being ridden this year it has become obvious why Vittoria Mezcals are so hard to come by !
Justinas Leveika and Ulrich Bartholmoes have just ticked over the 2000 mile mark, heading towards New Mexico. Can't believe how close to Mike's record pace they are given the conditions this year and the 10 hours in a portaloo in the basin.
They have been keeping close.
Potential sprint finish? 😉 😃
It's hard to get my head around how many hours they spend in the saddle and at a high average speed.
They have been keeping close.
Potential sprint finish? 😉 😃
Could well be! Really exciting stuff
It’s hard to get my head around how many hours they spend in the saddle and at a high average speed
Same. It's just staggering! I wonder what the recovery is like post race, they must be at risk of getting ill
I wonder what the recovery is like post race, they must be at risk of getting ill
They are. I expect more seasoned racers have learned how to recover plus how to minimise the impact while racing, but if you're pushing hard there's no avoiding the cumulative effect of a couple of weeks or more at that level of effort and the lack of sleep. Plus the food is pretty poor quality and you eat junk calories most of the time, Subway is generally as good as it gets.
I raced it in 2013 and went well past the limits or ability I thought I had pre-race, it took me a couple of months to fully get over the fatigue. For the first few weeks back it was like everything I did was slowed down and I slept at least couple of hours more every night in that period. I hadn't done any long distance races as prep though, just a decent amount of bikepacking and long solo trips. So I wasn't prepared for how it would get 10+ days in at that sort of distance each day, rookie racer / rookie error maybe.
Waking up at 4.30am with that feeling of time pressure on you, knowing just how far you rode in past days and that you have more of that to come, a week more perhaps, so it can be mentally harder than it is physical (or, was for me anyway). Riding with regular nosebleeds or waking up with a totally dry, cracked mouth due to dry desert air, the saddle-soreness, knee pains etc, wasn't pleasant in many ways. You're trying to do it alone too - no contact with anyone apart from who you meet on the route, for me none of the instagram updates and social media contact that seem so common now. It all got a bit weird in the last 2 or 3 days, I remember riding along a road around 2am having wild hallucinations and what must have been actual dream sleep while riding, an awareness of having been somewhere else with other people for a moment. Had to get off the bike and ended up sleeping in the sand for a couple of hours just yards from the road somewhere in a New Mexico Indian Reservation. Started thinking maybe my race strategy wasn't very pro : ) But as deep experiences on the bike go it was all beyond anything I could have expected. In some ways I had a kind of post-traumatic feeling afterward as well as the fatigue, it was all positive but it was hard going.
Interesting stuff! Thanks for posting
That's interesting - how many days?
@martinhutch 17 days 4hrs - https://trackleaders.com/tourdivide13i.php?name=James_Olsen
(Mike Hall covered the same route in 14 days 11 hours!)
17 days 4hrs
Wow. You must have been so chuffed with that, not being a seasoned endurance racer.
Cheers @nuke. I was actually 5th, spot tracker had me in 4th but they're not that accurate an there were only tens of metres between 3rd/4th/5th. Alex and Liam caught me less than 30 miles from the border so we sprint-finished over the last mile. Alex's idea. Turns out he was a S African track champ in his younger years, Liam and I got hustled there..
I was Martin. Grateful for how it all went and so pleased just to have finished it, never mind the time. Everyone who finishes will feel the same.
Ulrich has pulled ahead by 60 miles, and caught up with Mike Hall's record breaking time. About 300 miles to go!
It's rarely this close between 2 riders towards the end, interesting racing this year! Justinas Leveika was a fair way ahead of UB only the other day. Mike's dot is now ahead by ~50 miles.
It looks like Justinas has been having lots of mechanicals, which is a shame!
Lael was throwing up in the night and has gone to medical centre for IV.... hoping she's ok 🤞
I was actually 5th, spot tracker had me in 4th but they’re not that accurate an there were only tens of metres between 3rd/4th/5th.
Ha, 4th or 5th, still awesome effort
Just watched Laels kit list video - she is so full of enthusiasm and seems a bit ditzy, but there's a very determined athlete under all that.
Mike's record intact. Ulrich has 60 miles to go and a very comfortable lead of 100 miles over the single pedal of Justinas.
Good work from Joe Nation in 3rd. He won the British divide. I went out to see him when his dot went near my house, and he stopped for a chat, nice guy.
We have a winner, Ulrich's dot is bouncing after 14 days, 3 hours and 23 minutes. Chapeau sir, or whatever that is in German. That was some time considering the conditions for much of the route.
Can Justinas find a pedal somewhere and keep ahead of Joe?