First, let me say that I find myself to be the luckiest guy to have had an opportunity to work as the shop mechanic at the Outdoorsman Professional Sports Shop in Butte, Montana since May 2009. The job kinda fell into my lap through a casual conversation with owner, Rob Leipheimer, one day in the fall of 2008 while I was in town to spend Thanksgiving with my daughter and her family. They had recently moved to Butte from Texas, and it was my first visit to Montana since I was nine years old. Little did I know that this chance meeting while visiting a local bike shop would lead to one of the greatest cycling experiences in my life.
It has been my good fortune to have become intimately involved in a phenomenal mountain bike race unlike any I have ever known. It's the Tour Divide. In my book, the most grueling, emotionally and physically challenging, unsupported race along 2796 miles of the Continental Divide from Banff, Canada to Antelope Wells, New Mexico. Along the route the racers do more than 200,000 feet of climbing. It's so unlike anything a pro peloton would face during a typical Tour de France. Totally unsupported! No service vehicles, mechanics, chefs, or masseuses! Where else would the racers substitute a warm bed in a hotel for a bivy sack on the cold ground under a bush or on the floor of a forest service outhouse to combat hypothermia? Where else would the riders face being attacked by mountain lions, wolves, grizzly bears, pounded by snow, hail, rain, and lightning, slog through derailleur riping mud, push their bikes through snow on high mountain passes in mid-June, or ride across a cattle gate at speed only to discover too late that a string of barbed wire was strung across the road. The Tour Divide! It's insane and it's humbling to the human spirit.
The brave few men and women that have graced the route and met the challenge of ultimate human endurance, whether they finish or not, are my heroes! Over the last two years I have met many of the racers and wrenched on their bikes as they passed through Butte on their way south. The stories they have shared and the brief time they have graced the shop have helped inspire me and shape a new level of understanding and respect for the strength of the human spirit. The only reward received for completing the race is the self-realization that seemingly insurmountable obstacles can be overcome with preparation, resource management, and shear unwavering determination. I see the racers as back country mtb ninjas! So much in a league of their own that no one can appreciate what they've gone through except another Divide racer.
Yesterday 4 time winner, Matthew Lee from North Carolina crossed the finish in 1st place at the US/Mexico border at Antelope Wells in a mind boggling 17 days 16 hours 13 minutes. Think about that for a moment! That's almost 17 stage days of 156 miles per day through all types terrain, in full exposure of the weather, and short nights of 4-5 hours sleep day-after-day-after-day! Freaking amazing!
I'm in awe of their humility, integrity, endurance, and friendly competitive spirit! I'd give anything to do this race because I know I'd be forever changed as they are! The Tour Divide is the ultimate character builder!
Sadly this year one of the racers, David Blumenthal from Vermont, was killed in a head-on collision with a truck of a narrow downhill blind curve just north of Steamboat Springs, Colorado on June 24, 2010. All of the remaining racers have dedicated their race to Dave in memory of his spirit and his love for cycling. Dave's spirit is riding close on their wheel as each racer approaches the Antelope Wells finish.
If I could script my own life, I would hope that when my time comes I die doing something I love! In memory of Dave Blumenthal. Ride on!
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