Hell yeah!

Hell yeah is right! I finally did it. I managed to finish the Tour Divide in 27 days, 5 hours, and 42 minutes, and I did it alongside my riding friend Paul Howard of the UK. There were times when I didn't think I would make it, but here I am, finally back home in Montreal, eating something other than energy bars, tortillas and peanut butter!

I have to say congratulations to all the other fellow Divide riders who pushed themselves to the limit and competed in the event, finishing or not. It takes a lot of courage even to gather at the starting line in Banff and commit yourself to something so life changing. You can never really realize the physical/mental/emotional extent of this race until you actually do it, and to be able to finish it still blows my mind.

I think the last day was definitely the most dramatic/beautiful/crazy/wonderful of all. We had left at 4 am that morning in order to beat the desert heat. A few hours later we had just watched the most amazing Mexican sunrise and were all giddy that we had made it this far and couldn't wait to celebrate with some Dos Equis beer. Suddenly Per (another fellow rider from Sweden) hit some loose sand and crashed, really giving us a scare. He started to convulse, then passed out, lost short term memory, got better and came to and rushed away in an ambulance. This was all before 7 am, 3 hours after our start, 90 miles from the finish. Fortunately he got a clear bill of health, other than a slight concussion, and was just happy he hadn't done some real damage to his body. For the rest of the ride Paul and I were pretty somber. Reflective isn't a strong enough word to illustrate how we were feeling. In the end we both felt lucky to have been able to finish, and were thankful to the bike gods for allowing us complete our journey to Antelope Wells, Mexico.

The people of Silver City also made the finish what it should be. They were more than helpful in making sure we were taken care of. People were stopping us on the highway to cheer us on, telling us they had been following our Spots all the way in. Gila Hike and Bike were fantastic. Jamie (a local Divide racer) let us crash at his house and told us stories of his experiences along the way... he sure is an amazing character. We also met up with Baren Beard, Mimbres Man!! He was even kind enough to drive us to Phoenix so we could catch our planes. He couldn't say enough good things about the race and what it meant to bike fanatics.

The Tour Divide is definitely a special event in a special place. It goes to show how bikes break down so many barriers and open so many doors. There are so many good vibe ripples that are sent out through this event its unbelievable. It has been an honor to have participated in it. I just hope it doesn't change the more popular it gets. A big thanks to Matthew Lee and all the others who helped organize the race and put in many sleepless nights to make it possible.

I really have to give a big thanks firstly to all my sponsors and friends who made this possible and helped me to finish the race. Without their support I wouldn't have been able to make it as far as I did. Thanks to Oakley, Golite, In-Sport and Osprey, Tarptent, Rocky Mountain Bikes, and Carousel for making such great products... my set-up was indestructible the whole time, allowing me focus on the trail. Thanks to all my friends and family in Alberta for your moral and financial support, especially my mom and dad, sisters and the Tanners. Thanks to everyone in Montreal who helped me get on my way with your generosity, I couldn't have made it to Alberta without you. I also have to give a big thanks to all those people along the race who opened there arms and hearts, fed us, kept us safe and dry, bought a round for us, and made sure we were taken care of to get back on our bikes and continue on. To all you kind people, I hope I can return the favor one day. Most importantly I have to thank my girlfriend, Rachel, who saw this crazy race idea form in my head in the beginning and said "go for it!". She was my inspiration for finishing the race and has always been there for me, pushing me on to explore the world on two wheels.

Would I do this again? If you asked me on day 10 I would have immediately said "no!". But looking back... I may return next year to shave some time off and put my new divide knowledge to the test.

If you want to check out some of my pics from the Tour go to:
www.flickr.com/photos/eatdrinkpaperink/

You can also read some press out in my hometown of High River, Alberta. The article is written by Don Tanner for the High River Times.

Thanks for the support everyone!

He did it!!!

Today's the day!!

WOOHOO!

Stalker and Finish Line!!

It's fun to look at where he is. Although just as I was wondering what this building is, he called! They will cross the finish line tomorrow around 1pm (3 our time).  He sounds upbeat but tired.  Yesterday they rode 160 miles (256 km).  They are starting each morning at 3am to avoid the heat so they get to see the sunrise over the desert as they bike.

mtb calls

I haven't had a chance to transcribe calls lately, but the audio is still all here:

http://mtbcast.com/wordpress/?page_id=576

He's so close!!

Not sure if he will arrive on Thursday or Friday.  

catching up on the posts

Sorry, I have to get this blog up to date!

Here is Trevor's call from Cuba 

Hello, this is Trevor Browne calling from Cuba.  We arrived kinda evening-ish. Had a nice big bacon cheeseburger with extra cheese and bacon just to fill us up.  Been a really hard past 2 days in New Mexic.o Probably the hardest for me anyways, for the whole tour. Roads are really super bumpy, muddy, trashed, full of lava. Anything you can think of has been thrown on the trail for us, but we've got through. Weather has been kind of off and on as well. We've gone through 3 thunder and lightening storms with hail today.  Yesterday, another thunderstorm. We also encountered New Mexico mud which is not so pleasant up on Bell Grande.  It's almost up there with Lima mud, but we made it through.  We met up with the Rainbow tribe today which os pretty interesting.  We are fitting in with our nice long beards now, so didn't look too out of place.  Smelled just about the same as everyone else.  Other than that, we're headed up to Grant tomorrow. I think it's mostly pavement so it should be a bit faster for us.  We lost Stephen back in Abecue, feeling quite sick to his stomach. Hopefully he gets better.  He's taking a day of rest there, but we had to head on. Maybe in the future he will join up with us.  Wish him the best, hope he gets well soon.  Looks like this might be our last week  Maybe in the next four or five days we'll be done.  Looking forward to not wearing biking shorts anymore, and biking shoes and to wearing normal clothes for once.  This is Trevor Browne signing out from Cuba. I hope everyone is well, and I'll talk to you soon.  Bye.

http://tourdivide.org/blog2009/trevor_calls_cuba

Unbelievable

I am just so damn proud of that boy!!

Trevors Mtbcast

Haven't had a chance to transcribe yet...

http://tourdivide.org/blog2009/trevor_calls_steamboat

He sounds so happy:)

Trevor, turn on your SPOT!

Looks like we've lost him again.  I think he's still with this guy:

http://tourdivide.org/blog2009/stephen_called_steamboat

'Night, Trevor

Is it just me...

or is Trevor FLYING!!!

Trevor's MTBcast from Flagg Ranch, Wyoming

Hello this is Trevor Browne calling from Flagg Ranch in Wyoming.  Trails are pretty good now. We've had some great weather, so all of our spirits have lifted and we're all quite happy. Had a great birthday ride yesterday,  not a cloud in the sky. Trails are drying up, so it made me happy.  The trails are great from Lima all the way through to Idaho.  Everything's going great. So that's good. We just went through part of Yellowstone, just skirted the outside of it.  Made it into Wyoming this morning.  We're getting eaten alive by mosquitoes out here. It's pretty bad. A few bike repairs to do at the ranch on my own to prepare for the upcoming passes. Everything should go well. Feeling good. All the trails are really great all the way from Lima to here; it's all dry, so anyone else coming through is going to have a pretty easy time.  I hope everyone is well. I just want to say hello to my family again and hello to Rachel.  Call you guys soon.

Listen to the latest call from this racer here!

The boys are back!

Given the mileage yesterday and today, I'd say that things have taken a turn for the better.  I am so proud of you!!

Paul's call

Trevor is riding with Paul and this is what he had to say before they set off today:

Hello, one more message from Paul here in Lima.  Just 2 things...firstly I forgot to say in my earlier message that we should say hello to Cricket.   Hope she's going well...hope she had a good day today and I'm sorry we couldn't...we didn't have the courage to come out with her.  We needed our day's rest...we feel a lot better for it but I hope she's done well and tell her we're going to keep riding so if she needs more company we're just always coming along.

Secondly, we've just seen Pete Basinger who apparently set off from Banff, he didn't say when, and who came over the pass today into Lima and said that the mud had dried an awful lot compared to how it had been yesterday.  He saw all our footprints and everything but could ride most of it, sat down for a bit and I think he rode most of it, over the pass anyway.  So if anybody is following, maybe things have improved a bit and maybe that will give you some encouragement.   We're hoping the same effect has happened on the road down south out of Lima and thereafter so we can actually do some cycling tomorrow. 

So that's it for now...I've just realised that Lima where Paddington Bear might live is also just away from another famous English children's television character - Dillon - from the Magic Roundabout...and magic roundabout is something I feel I'm on at the moment.  We're all heading off early, me, Per, Stephen and Trevor, at least as far as Mack's Inn tomorrow, further if we can.  Bye

http://tourdivide.org/blog2009/paul_calls_lima_late

Happy Birthday, Trevor!

Hope you're getting some birthday sunshine:)  

Trevor's MTBcast from Lima, Montana

Hello, this is Trevor Browne calling from lima, montana.  Been kinda sitting here all day we're taking a bit of a rain break and body break, I guess. It's been  pretty stormy the past couple of days.   Two days ago, we were going over the pass from Wise River to Polaris, pretty much freezing rain for the whole day. And got quite close to hypothermia a couple of times.  We were shaking so bad on our bikes, we had to pull over and dry ourselves off.  That made the trails really  slick between Bannock state road and also after Grants to Lima. Pretty much walked the bike half the way and got the mud all clogged up in the tires. Not a lot of fun.  

I think today we just needed to  take a break.  Our bodies were pretty tired last night.  We couldn't really move any further.  Everybody's probably feeling the same way, across the board.  I'm here with Per and Paul and Steve. Ray was here earlier, and Cricket was here earlier today, but she left.  Everyone seems to be kinda hurting but still wanting to go on. So I think we're all going to head off.  I'm off tomorrow morning and hopefully the trail gets a little bit better.  Just as muddy but things seem to be drying out a bit. Bike's running well.  I'm  OK.

Lots of sore knees and sore achilles and sore hands, but pulling through.  This little break has helped a lot.  Yeah, I'm still trying to keep in good spirits and push forward.  Say hello to my family.  Been trying to call you but can't get you home.  And say hello to my girlfriend, Rachel.  Bye.

You can listen here.

"This is hiking, not biking"

Talked with the boy today and it's been really rough. Driving rain at 8000 feet is difficult to say the least. They have spent 2 days walking their bikes through mud. One guy in his group has to drop out because his bike won't make it.  Trevor is worried that his chain won't make it then next 300 miles to a town.  He may have to make a major detour to find a bike shop. On top of the mud, they are fighting hypothermia and of course a lot of wear and tear on the joints.  Trevor says it's frustrating because his body/fitness feels fine but the knees, ankles, wrists are worrisome.  The whole group sounds completely demoralized.  They have had to take today off to dry their equipment because it is too cold to have soaked gear, and to make some serious decisions.  It sounds like a pretty despondent group at the moment.  From what I can tell, the leading guys missed this bad weather.  This section is supposed to be quite good at this time of year.  Anyways, I'm sending out positive thoughts to the Trevor and his travel mates!! 

Trevor's call from Butte

Hey, this is Trevor Browne. Just got into Butte, Montana this morning. Stayed last night in Basin, had some beers and had some excellent hospitality with the locals there. They let us stay in their house. The track yesterday was pretty hard. the top was a good walk.  everything is going well and we're all pretty happy to be here, I guess.  We'll talk to everyone soon and just say hello to my family and girlfriend.

http://tourdivide.org/blog2009/trevor_browne_calls_butte

A real live phone call

Had a great talk with Trevor today.  He's in good spirits and his knees are feeling a bit better. He said that every moment is the hardest thing he's ever done and he wants to quit, but then he'll see something spectacular and continue on.  Also, being in a group and seeing that everyone else is suffering and in just as much pain, is helpful.  Since the race is unsupported, riders can not ask for help, but if someone offers, it's ok.  After 7 hours of riding in the dark ( a 17 hour day) they arrived in a town where a woman offered to take them in and feed them and give them beds.  So they are feeling a little more refreshed today. Trevor is happy to know his Spot is working. 

It was so good to finally talk to my boy!