For a Sunday afternoon change of pace, it’s on and It. Is. Awesome. Banff to Mexico along the Continental Divide self-supported on a mt. bike. Bookmark the links as a place to take a break from the dark side of human nature we all seem to be living in the shade of these days. Bio links at the tracking site reveal a whole bunch of fit, talented, interesting and highly motivated people taking on a major life challenge for a whole varieties of personal reasons. So, when you need a break from your daily exposure to all the yuck & schmucks, check out the riders’ progress in real time. I think I burned a few extra calories just thinking about what these people of doing.
Live, real time tracking: trackleaders.com/…
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Spirit: Above all, attempts are intended to be solo / self-supported, self-timed, and observed as one stage, i.e. the clock runs non-stop.
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Modus operandi: To complete the Route, a rider may resupply food / equipment, rent a room, launder clothing, even service their bike at commercial shops along the way. The intent is to ride unsupported between towns, and function self-supported when in towns. Any services utilized must always be commercially available to all challengers and not pre-arranged[1]. No private resupply, no private lodging.
tourdivide.org/…
The Tour Divide challenge is simple: Race the rooftop of North America by mountain bike; travel self-supported along all 2,745 miles of Adventure Cycling Association's Great Divide Mountain Bike Route; keep moving and be moved; exist well outside one's comfort zone in tackling a cross-continent bikepacking odyssey; finish as fast as possible without cracking.
Speed may be substance when it comes to Divide racing, but a flexibile, sang-froid style is the best attack for the Route's multiple personalities.
Divide racing format requires no designated rest periods or set distances a racer must travel daily. The clock runs non-stop. She and he who can ride the fastest while making fewer, shorter stops usually hold the course records. With an average time-to-completion of three weeks in the saddle, Tour Divide is the longest–arguably most challenging–mountain bike time trial on the planet. It is a challenge for the ultra-fit, but only if ultra-prepared for myriad contingencies of backcountry biking.