Last Friday, June 12th, at 10 a.m., a number of people set out on a journey that will take them 2,745 miles on bike, solo. Before lining up at the starting line of the Tour Divide, some participants wrote letters of intent, officially committing themselves to riding and navigating the course on their own. Even before the start, many people referred to themselves as “fools,†“crazies,†and “Epic seekers,†fully acknowledging the madness of a three-week race across the rugged, remote terrain along the Great Divide, otherwise known as “longest off-pavement route in the world.â€
The Tour Divide began in Banff, Alberta, and will end for each individual when they reach Antelope Wells, New Mexico (the Mexican border crossing). This back country bike race has few rules, and simply emphasizes that each participant must use his or her own “pedal powerâ€, be 100 percent “self-supported,†and must “always follow the official ACA main route based on the most current edition of the maps.†In addition, racers can’t make any beforehand plans for accommodations to be used during the race. And because the race covers such isolated territory, everyone involved has to be willing to and capable of bivouacking.
As one participant, Jill Homer, puts it in her blog, “–my race strategy is to have no strategy. I have a few tentative goals for the first couple nights, but my plan is to be completely flexible.†She’ll be blogging about her experience at points along the route, and you can track her progress daily via her SPOT individual map.
[Photo: Tour Divide]
