Friday, October 14, 2011

The Tour Divide

in·san·i·ty/inˈsanitē/Noun:
1.The state of being seriously mentally ill; madness.

2.Extreme foolishness or irrationality.

The Tour Divide is arguably the hardest cycling event in the world, certainly it is the most difficult mountain bike race and because of its remoteness and insistance on being self reliant, it has to be considered much more difficult than the other Tour (de France)...
2700 miles of jeep track, gravel roads, singletrack, paved road and wherever else the course sends you from Banff AB to Antelope Wells, Mexico.  Insane.
But it can also be argued that my mental stability is fragile at best so this just might be the perfect place to either crawl back to the normal world (BORING!!!) or fully embrace to plunge to a life of perfect bliss.  You see, ignorance is not bliss.  Insanity is.  Crazy people have the most fun.
Where am I going with this, you wonder?  Simple.  I am stark, raving daft and have set my eyes on this race.  Sometimes the best way to ensure you actually accomplish something is to make yourself accountable to other people.  In that mindset I am stating that at this point I intend to begin training with the desire, hope, intent and fantasy of participating in the 2014 Tour Divide. 
Why?  Because many aspects of this race are very suitable to the kinds of skills and the personality I have.  Competitors state that the hardest part is the solitude.  Anyone who knows anything about me is aware that I crave solitude and alone time.  Another needed skill is random, bizaare problem solving.  My mind knows no box and my solutions to problems are often extremely creative and far outside of what conventional knowledge dictates but nevertheless they are effective and productive.  A flat  tire 20 miles from help?  I put duct tape on my rim and rolled on the inside of my tire.  No damage. 
This doesn't mean I will actually be in the race.  This means that I will do what I can to make sure I can be there and if everything works out training and time off from work wise then I will be there if at all possible. 
This blog will reflect my training, my thoughts, my sure to come doubts and what I consider to be hurdles overcome or successes along the way.  One of my fears is that after it's over I will be so sick of riding that I'll never ride again.  It is more mileage than I've done this season.  It is an entire season's worth of riding in about 3 weeks.  Having said that, it is 2 1/2 years away... many things can happen in the meantime.
I have been devouring anything I can find on the Divide race...  I've watched the documentary a dozen times, I bought a book a previous rider wrote about it, I buy any magazine that even hints of the race...It is the adventure of a lifetime, and besides; if you were certain you were to succeed, what would be the point of the adventure?

2 comments:

  1. I am in and have been training for some time. Two years ago I sprinted out to Kenora, and last spring I was doing 100 mile short rides every week, and this year I will do 120s, and prob ride to Ottawa to test equipment as well. Rene has been training, and has been seen testing his rig at the dump from time-to-time. I hope to work up to 120 miles a day, but not this year.

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  2. I don't really think this is crazy by any stretch or the hardest, just the longest and self-supported. Should be interesting.

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