Intro - General Concept
This is not a how to tour or how to survive instruction, it is my guide on how to race the full divide route from Banff to Antelope Wells much faster than I managed in 2013. It is not a manifesto with musts and dogma. It is a guide to action. Aimed at me and my cycling and maybe adaptable for others. This has been developed from my thoughts and mainly as a result of questions I received from others.I am writing this for several reasons, first and foremost to teach myself. In 2013 I managed to race (poorly) for a few days and then ride far and fastish (poorly) for a few more days but ultimately I slowed down way too much and some other things happened that meant... regrets I have a few.
I rode a certain race and as with any 3 weeks there are good bits and bad bits. You will obsess about things afterwards, where you lost time or could have done better, it is all part of the game. Some days I am really reconciled to the choices I made out there and some days not so much.
If I treat it all as a learning experience then I need to ensure that I did indeed learn and improve markedly from there. Some of the improvements are in the margins but you need to push those margins as it all adds up significantly over 2,700 miles.
The second reason I am writing this is that I had the experience of following the 2014 Tour Divide from afar. It was a huge learning experience for me just to follow the riders and see what was happening and why. I know it was a difficult year but the immediate observations are that the fast guys still go fast and there were many riders who may be less happy with their outcomes as they could have been if they were a little more prepared. I want to take away every excuse I may use to slow down or stop. Don't be a victim out there.
I am not Mike Hall, Jefe Branham or Jesse Carlsson, I embraced everything that Cjell Monee is referring to when he talks of mid pack amateurs. This is my attempt to avoid as many errors as I can in 2015 and be able to feel like I raced the course the way I am supposed to.
Spirit of the Race
Know about the history and background of this race. Read and reread The Cordillera, particularly Volumes 1 and 2. Probably even acquaint yourself with whatever that movie was.
Know that this is a race and respect that it is an underground race and all that this entails. No money, no prizes, pure and simple bragging rights.
It is a race and if you don't want to race then go and tour and have a whole different experience. I am a tourer first and foremost and love that more than anything but this is a race and you will want to do yourself justice from a race perspective.
Know the rules and understand why it is important to respect the rules even though you are only competing for bragging rights. Understand what self-supported means and honour that for the entire race. If you don't follow this part and preferably you follow the rules as a conscious choice then you are diminishing the race for everyone before and after you.
My football club has a Latin motto. It is Palman qui meruit ferat. "Let him who deserves the palm of victory bear it." You will get lots of pats on the back and whatever kinds of recognition if you finish this ride, make sure that inside you can feel proud of your efforts. When your time comes, put your body on the line and do the extraordinary. Race. Race in the spirit of the pioneers of this route and be generous in the legacy that you leave behind for others to follow. If you wish to bear the palm of victory, make damn sure you earned it.
Know the course
Know about the what, when and how.
Please join the Adventure Cycling Association and buy Mac McCoy's guide. Study and learn from the maps. Make notes, write stuff down when you research to give yourself options and good solutions.
There is now so many places to get good information on the course, there should be few excuses. I am using my GPS data from 2013 to show me. Shows me how long in between those scarce resupply options I have in terms of distance and time. It shows me where I stopped and a little bit of further research shows me why I stopped there.
Know your resupply options before you reach them. It is about options as well. Subway or A&W fast food. Diner, much slower but better and more sustaining food.
Speak to as many veterans as you dare, not just on course knowledge. I suspect that most of them will be happy to reminisce and share knowledge. Be respectful of the fact that most of them spent a lot of time and effort to accrue their knowledge as well so if they don't hand over wads of their own personal notes because some trumped up rookie asks, then understand why that is.
Be aware that not all veteran knowledge is necessarily good knowledge either. Everyone experiences things differently out there. Some of us just aren't that cluey at things and the old pinch of salt may be appropriate.
Macro level Course knowledge
The first week is the hardest, most people that quit don't make it past Butte and statistically if you make it into Colorado you are a huge chance to finish (as opposed to the 50/50 you were in Banff). I strongly urge you to race as hard as you can in the first week. You are setting the habits that you will keep for the remainder of the ride.
Everyone is hurting not just you. You may feel like you are in absolute self preservation mode, this is definitely when it hurts the most. The roads are steepest and roughest and you are still learning about being out there and how hard you can push yourself. You probably will not yet trust in your instincts and you aren't yet in love with just being out there but you may well fall out of lust for being on the bicycle. If you make week three you will not want to be anywhere other than on that Divide route, that will come but in the mean time, ride hard.
In the first week you will absolutely feel like you are riding from one coffee pot to the next and it may feel like that is all you are capable of. Embrace it, embrace and love the pain, be a fair dinkum masochist. Ride hard, set the precedent, tempo and expectations for the remainder of the race.
Day 6 is the hardest, ride hard and far on this day. I did less than 150km from Butte to Polaris on day 6. Day 5 had the most climbing for me as well so maybe day 6 was hard because day 5 was big? Yeah, I know, Fleecer is a pig and the weather for us was truly awful but they are just my excuses and in 2015 I wish to remove these excuses. The hill and the weather are still going to be there so shut up and ride big.
The second week, don't take the foot off the pedal. There are some comfortable commercial little towns in Colorado that make it easy to get a hotel room and pizza and beer. Gee that sounds good. Keep moving, ride and sleep, ride and sleep.
Stay in race mode. If they are spinning spanners for you at Orange Peel Bikes in Steamboat then eat and resupply while they work on your steed. Orange Peel Bikes is on route and you can't miss it. They were absolutely awesome for me. Excellent mechanics who went above and beyond. Remember it isn't just you hurting out there. Everyone who is working hard is hurting. Embrace the work your body is doing. Honour the Work.
The third week, you are so going to make it now. If you can, pick up the pace from here and really go for it. You won't be able to cycle any faster but spend more time on the bicycle. Ride later, get up earlier and no more diner meals, just bang in big calories from gas stations. Go for big miles. No point leaving anything in the tank. Can be very hot in New Mexico. Look after yourself, stay hydrated. Know your resupply points, they can be a long way apart. Missing opening times can be problematic. Do calculations to the next resupply before buying food where you are. You may need more than you realise. Be prepared for a detour.
The course can be really rough in New Mexico particularly after some of the pretty good roads you had in Colorado, the steep pinches feel steeper and the sand and mud can be heart breaking. Expect it and deal with it like a grown up.
Only other Macro is keep it simple. Ride the bike. Empty your mind and just ride your bike every waking moment. She be right mate, get out there and enjoy it.
Micro level course detail
I am not going to give away all of my secrets and strategy but some of this may help you over the first couple of days and gives an indication of how far away from the money I was in 2013. I had no idea about this when I started and just kind of made it up as I went.
Banff to Boulton Creek Trading Post whilst awesome and spectacular is a pretty mundane and easy 100km ride. Ride how you feel. There are a couple of sharp pinches but only short ones and nothing to worry about. If you have some nervous energy then maybe blow away some cobwebs, otherwise just enjoy it and settle in to a sustainable pace. I think I missed the turn at 17.2 miles, watch for that.
Try not to stop at Boulton Creek Trading Post. Only 60 miles in and you should have the food, water and energy to make it to Elkford without stopping. In 2013, I reached the store, didn't even know there was a store there. There was a queue where everyone was going in, buying stuff and lounging around eating sandwiches and chilling. I suspect it is just time off the bike you don't need.
Maybe just stop quick and stretch, eat something that you have carried with you from Banff, check the bike and that your packing is still exactly where it should be. The first real test is immediately after Boulton Creek Store with Elk Pass. Not an easy one, particularly if there is some weather. How about if you don't stop at Boulton Creek but instead stop on or soon after the top of Elk Pass, you will probably want to put an extra layer of clothing on for the descent after the climb anyway? It is only another 5 odd mile past Boulton Creek but you will have knocked off the major climb for the afternoon.
Only stop for a very short period. Stretch eat and sort out your stuff into the right bags if you have to. No fluffing around.
Big supermarket in Elkford, easy to get lost in there. Know up front what you are going to buy. Provision pretty big if you want to race hard over the first couple of days. Don't dawdle in Elkford, resupply in supermarket and go. Lots of people go for a hot meal in the cafe. Don't do that. Supermarket closes early in Elkford 4PM on the Friday? If you miss it, just gas station and away. Another chance at Sparwood to resupply.
It is not a difficult ride to Sparwood. There is a sharp pinch to get out of Elkford but the road is sealed as is a significant portion of the ride all the way to Sparwood. In Sparwood, there is an A&W burger joint that I will stop at. Fast, high calorie and the lady working there was excellent. Otherwise don't go into town, gas station and away. You will need to resupply unless you bought big in Elkford. It is a big push from Sparwood to Eureka.
If you are feeling good and it is still early/light outside, then don't be scared to push on. Only 20 miles of I think paved roads to Gated Mine where you may be able to bivvy. These are miles that most others will be having to do the following day. You will be climbing hard until you crest Flathead pass. Good one to do on day one, otherwise you have three monsters on day 2.
The descent off Flathead Pass is not one you are going to like. Even if it hasn't rained for a couple of days, snow melt will be running rivers down that path.
Butts Cabin is 55 miles or 90km Past Sparwood. 5 or 6 hours ride for me. Highly ambitious to make it to Butts on day one and only the really hard frontrunners do but if you crest Flathead Pass and don't think you are ready to sleep then enjoy some descending.
Day 2, doesn't matter how late you cycled on day one, set your alarm and get up early. Use the day light every opportunity you get. Much easier on the body and brain to be riding in natural light so get up at 4AM and ride when others are sleeping wasting good day light hours. If you get up at 4AM you will really surprise yourself how quickly you start feeling good once you are cycling and find that rhythm.
Be aware it is a desperately hard ride to the Canadian border. I found Galton Pass and Cabin Pass are steep and long, maybe because I wasn't yet in the zone. Good reason to try and get over Flathead Pass on day one.
Things went really smoothly for me at Roosville border control. I think others had different stories in 2014. Be nice, smile and do nothing to make things any more difficult than they have to be. Understand if the bloke wants to chat or ask questions. Enjoy giving him answers. Don't make jokes about Hugh Harvey having half a kilo of recreational drugs hidden in his bike shorts.
There is a bar that will sell you warm food and beer at the border control, don't go there, it takes way too long although conversing with the drunk people was quite entertaining.
Eureka is only another 10 easy paved miles down the road. Do some internet research on your resupply and food options in Eureka. There is a Subway (fast and reasonable food). You will need to resupply big and a proper meal may be badly needed by the time you reach Eureka.
Plan on a big difficult push from Eureka to Whitefish. Whitefish Divide and Red Meadow Lake were not easy climbs and plan on the likelihood of snow. We still had to trudge through snow at Red Meadow Lake in 2013 even though the folklore being perpetuated is 2013 was this super fast race on rock hard flat dry roads that had been freshly graded and all climbing removed all the way.
How to Race
When I was out there I knew so little. I thought it was a balance of brain, body and bike and to keep going you had to keep it in that sweetspot where you kept all three out of the red zone. In hindsight I didn't push the body hard enough and it was the brain that let me down. Pure and simple, weak in the head matched only by my lack of smarts on how to race this thing.
Don't be Cjell's mid-pack amateur. Know how to race and race all race. Push hard, take calculated risks and challenge some of your limits. You will be amazed what the body can do. This is my final chance to do this, stay motivated and in race mode for the whole route. No procrastination.
Be an old fashioned hard-man. Stay hard and strong and challenge yourself the whole race. Don't be a martyr with it, be hard.
Don't race the other people, race yourself. They are your comrades out there and will be a big part of your race experience. Encourage and support the other riders, the friends you make out there are something you will keep for a very long time. The TD is not a war zone but the experiences will stay with you and your comrades for as long as you choose to reminisce.
You need to be racing yourself and pushing yourself well beyond what you have ever comprehended and not racing others. You need to ride your race. Don't worry where everyone else is. If you are riding to your absolute limit and they beat you then they have ridden amazingly and you will be proud to have met them and shaken their hand. Always be racing yourself, always push yourself to do more and further.
To pair up or not to pair up?
Okay this is all up to you. In 2013 I am certain I cycled further and faster on some days because there were others around me to drag me along. I need to believe that this was only because I didn't know how to race and what to expect. They certainly helped then. I also know that there were times in 2013 where having others around slowed me down and cost me a deal of time.
Be strong enough not to need others and you will race further and faster every day. Just keep riding.
Outside contact is also a bit funny. It was always really hard to speak to my very significant other whilst out there. Every time we spoke I finished on an absolute downer just because I really missed her and then things became a bit self fulfilling with me dreading making a phone call to her because although I desperately wanted to hear her voice, I knew it would be difficult to hang up.
My plan for 2015 is one based on absolute honesty. My other knows up front that phone calls during the race aren't going to happen often if at all and that she needs to trust that I am okay unless I say otherwise. It is great having someone looking out for you and caring and I received so much great energy from so many different sources but being out there next time is going to be about racing.
Setting Goals
Don't be conservative, set an aggressively fast goal that you commit to and tell people about and then aim higher. Make it a specific goal not just I want to race this, or I want to make it to the finish, a specific achievable measurable goal. You are not in middle management now, you are allowed to commit. If you are going to go, go all the way. That is kind of the point of this being a race.
I knew up front just like you do what you have to do to make it to the finish and we all plan to really ride a lot of hours and do big days each and every day till we finish but when you are ahead of your plans/goal, it is too easy to slow down. As a rookie, I just wanted to finish and everything was about that rather than going fast. I was aware that historically anything under 21 days was considered fast and so I put in 21 days and convinced myself that if everything went well then that was a desperately good goal to hit.
As it was, for most of the first half of the race I was on pace for maybe an 18 day ride and could have gone much faster in the first half of the race. Once I broke in the head, it was too easy to just tour and take things way too easy. I finished in 21 days because that is what I aimed for.
Believe in the goal that you have set. Do the training and preparation to achieve your goals.
Positivity or motivation
You know what motivates you and everyone is motivated differently. You have to find what works for you. I had some Latin sayings and a poem about stuff I connect with. Look up and around at the amazing hills, while you are cycling, take a deep breath in and be thankful that you are one of the luckiest people on the planet in that moment because you are living something that you can only have dreamt about for so long. Many, many others share your Tour Divide dream and never get to complete it. You are lucky just to be there.
We have all watched the little videos of the route and how amazing the scenery is out there, make sure you take the time to see things like that when you are riding.
It is absolutely amazing out there. Be grounded about it, it is going to be desperately hard work as well and the reward is in the accumulation of that hard work. Not a single turn of the pedals is going to be fun but happiness doesn't come from an accumulation of fun it comes from achieving something truly awesome and difficult.
Don't use negative emotions to drive you forward, that stuff isn't sustainable. There were a couple of times where I was thinking I am not going to quit because someone I really dislike is going to get a kick out of pointing out my failures, that stuff is a bad spiral.
Know that what you are achieving by racing this thing is much bigger than the small thing is that might make you stop. When you are down that small thing seems insurmountable so just know about the positives, know them. 15 months after my 2013 ride, the pain, hurt and dark moments are difficult to recall but I still get big waves of emotion when I see video of guys riding into Antelope Wells. Huge happiness. I remember the highs vividly. I know where I was and how I was feeling. You have got to do the work but the huge highs are there.
Stay positive and know that the dark times pass. Just keep riding. You will have dark times but don't dwell in them. Probably don't think too much about the negatives before the race either, don't let the negatives dictate to you. They will pass when YOU let them go. They do pass.
You are going to be learning the whole way down the route, so you will be getting better at what you are doing. You will screw up, you may even feel like you are just making a constant array of errors. That happens, keep moving and learn. You will find your groove, the stuff in the past has gone, the here and now is where you are.
Keep riding
Okay, this is probably the important one. Reviewing my 2013 GPS data, I had lots of days where I had 5-6 hours in total awake time between first and last pedal stroke, where I was not cycling. Resupply, waiting in restaurants, eating, resting, whatever.
You want to be riding or sleeping, the rest is not in race mode and you want to stay in race mode. Quarter of your riding day where you aren't making forward progress is not good enough. Probably practice this in your training. Have at least a couple of days, not necessarily consecutive where you are just riding and measure your stopped time. Work on reducing the time off the bike. Do 14 or 15 hours of riding in a day, see what it is like. Learn this. Just learn it.
Keep riding, constant forward momentum. Constant forward momentum even if it is slow, constant forward momentum. You will get there, every mile done is a mile in the right direction. Ride late and get up early. I stopped too early just about every single night other than the night we pushed late to get into Butte.
When everyone else has stopped, ride another 10 miles, one hour extra riding and then get up early. You want to be riding before the sun is up. Best time of day. It will be cooler and difficult to get out of your bivvy but you will be feeling good and making miles while others sleep or pojke around procrastinating.
Jump straight up and make the conscious effort to pack your kit up as quickly as possible. If you want to practice something other than riding, practice packing your bike and unpacking and packing again. Start methodical and then try and pack quickly and effectively. Some people are just slow at that stuff, don't be that guy. Don't get caught in restaurants lounging and social media stuff. Connect with the route and the racers and the race, not the outside world. Order, eat and get riding again.
Don't check email or phone or facebook or any of that. Ride the bike, that is what you are out there for, because you love to ride the bike. I didn't take music last time and I won't take music next time. Big part of loving being out there is disconnecting from everything normal. I definitely sang along to tunes in my head and even made songs up but it was part of the moment. Enjoy being in that moment, let that moment happen. Don't search for it, just let that moment happen. Past is gone and the future is too far off to worry about. You have the body, bike and brain to be in the moment.
Make sure that your riding patterns are sustainable. No point pushing late into the night one night and blowing it for the next couple. Regular patterns are best. Asleep by 11 or midnight and up at 4 or 5. Don't vary your pattern, it will make it even harder on the body clock. The only exceptions to this are I would consider a night ride through the Basin to avoid a head wind, particularly if you missed resupply in Atlantic City and try and ride non stop from Pie Town, riding through the night.
Constant forward momentum at your pace. Be happy to get off and walk the steepest hills. Good to do something different with the legs and you are moving forwards. Don't stop and rest. If you are off the bike during the day then be walking or in a restaurant.
Every hour you lose is an hour that you never get back, the clock is always ticking, use those hours to be moving forwards. You will be stunned how many miles you will cover. If you are hurting or gone out too hard, then slow down but be ready to start riding faster again as soon as possible but always move forwards. Better to be going slower than stopped but better still to be setting a good tempo.
Shelter
You probably have all of this sorted so I will not write much. Do what you know and are best at. I bivvied and much preferred this. Stay away from the hotel rooms. If you are not cycling or eating then sleep, no resting or being social, just sleep. It is all personal decisions, I don't think the extra weight of a tent is worth it but one of the good parts about bikepacking is that things aren't always black and white, right and wrong, find what suits you. I want to go uber light weight, so no tent. You will always be able to find somewhere a bit sheltered to lay your head down.
It is nice to shower every now and again but every hotel room costs you lots of time. Everyone has stayed in a stupid hotel room, but not everyone has stayed in some of the amazing wild bivvy spots I found. Wild camp anywhere down the length of the Rockies and you are doing something pretty special.
You may have to do this. :-) Stretch whenever you can, particularly the neck and shoulders, which you can stretch whilst riding. Look after your arse. Best way to avoid saddle rash is to not get it in the first place. Anti septic cream as often as possible and don't sleep in your nicks.
Use sunscreen and often, even in Montana where the sun was much stronger than I had anticipated. Eat constantly. Stay hydrated.
Looking after yourself during the race also means being as prepared and ready when you are in Banff. Have a strong and rested body on the starting line.
Food
Eat constantly, which is sometimes harder than you realise. Remember to eat, sometimes I got distracted and realised too late that I hadn't put anything in my mouth for an hour or so. You need every 15 or 20 minutes to eat something.
Cherry pies. Frozen burritos. Eat on the bike. Only real advice I have is make sure that right before jumping into your bivvy of an evening have a big feed of carbs. Jump straight off the bike and smash in a soft drink, spend 5 minutes getting yourself ready to sleep and then polish off as many carbs as you can, if there was a supermarket some time in the afternoon or evening, they often have pasta salad, perfect. You will feel much better the next morning.
Probably try and eat healthier than I did last time. Dried fruits and nuts will be much better and fresh fruit and vege supplementing rubbish diet. If supermarkets have fresh buritos, grab them.
I have heard it said that a proper hot meal is worth two gas station meals. I suggest balancing some of this. Time is important. If you get the chance at a fast hot meal, take it.
Water
You will learn not to carry too much water. I had purification tablets but only needed them twice and only because of my poor course resupply knowledge. Don't take anything more challenging than a couple of purification tablets, it is overkill for this course. Keep it simple.
If you are going to drink sports drinks and I suspect that they are what you should drink with the salts etc, then make sure that you drink them on your long rides now. They upset my stomach if I am not used to drinking them. Make sure you have enough water in New Mexico, heat deserves a whole load of respect.
Training
Okay, so this is probably the bit I know least about and you should probably be looking somewhere else for any kind of certainty. There are wildly divergent views on how to train specific to a race like this.
Oh and just as you should read anything Cjell has written about the race, you should read anything Justin Simoni has written on training. Everyone's training and ideas on training are different but I like Justin's take on fitness versus craft and being good at what you do out there.
How much to train? Build a big base. I think this is the first thing. Don't worry about speed or hills or anything like that. Jump on the bike every opportunity you get and ride big. Enjoy the kilometres you are doing. Just enjoy riding the bike. There are no junk kilometres, even if it is just a few kilometres or a short commute. They may not be part of a formal training plan or far enough to be doing you any physical good but they will be fun, because you are on a bicycle.
Consistency. Do it very regularly. Ride lots of kilometres often. Don't have many days off. You will feel fatigued every now and again but at this stage you are only building a base. A solid base from which you will later more specifically train for your divide ride.
Intervals. Don't worry about this until you have built your big base and I would probably wait until the start of March before even thinking about intervals, before then, just focus on enjoying riding big kilometres week in-week out.
Once you start incorporating intervals, wind back the amount of kilometres you are riding. Still do the big rides on the weekend but less so during the week. This is where some quality over quantity starts being important.
Make sure you do have a rest day the day after your intervals. Firstly, the sprint intervals are supposed to facilitate the adaptation of the muscles. Second it means you can go even harder when you do your intervals because the next day is a rest day.
Core strength. Throw some weights around. Do your situps. Bit like building your base, doing it regularly is the key. Stretch afterwards.
Okay, build a huge base, incorporate some intervals, make sure you rest and work on core strength. Above all else enjoy it. Enjoy being on the bike lest you get stale.
Ride mostly on your own but ride with mates when you need a little inspiration and motivation. Keep the Tour Divide as your goal not other races you do along the way.
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