All About The Bike !!

  Well, November has come to an end and went way to fast. I sit here thinking if the months keep going by this fast the race will be here way to soon. I am definitely not ready physically or mentally.  The month of November was spent working with Westpoint Cycles on the bike fit and set up. 
  I had scheduled a bike fit with Westpoints fit expert Andrew. After riding the bike for a few hundred kms I was fairly happy with how the bike was fitting. I had set the bike up to what felt good for me but it is always good to get a quality bike fit especially if you are going to have long days on the bike. The one thing I was definitely wanting to change was the seat as I had a problem on my two day test ride. In a matter of 350 kms the seat was not feeling very good if you know what I mean. Andrew and I discussed the demands of the race and what seat I was use to riding and came up with a road style seat that was much closer to what I normally ride. Once we had the new seat on, I rode on the trainer well Andrew checked the set up. He discussed how the bike was fitting and as it was we didn't have to adjust anything to much. I was happy to hear that everything looked good as an improper fit can cause unnecessary strain on the joints.
  With the fit locked in, it was time to talk to Jacob, one of the mechanics at the shop. The bike was not only ready for it's initial tune up (common after a few hundred kms on a new bike) but also with all the bags mounted we could go over some problems that have come up. First the front bag had worn through the outer casing on the front brake line. This was a bit of a problem as this is a hydraulic line and after only 350 kms of riding, it would never last 4700 kms. Next I was having some issues with the front suspension lock out button as the cable was interfering with the front bag and the button itself was sticking. Jacob came up with some great solutions to the problems and even noticed a couple of things that I had missed. It is always good to have the professionals on your team when dealing with these issues.
  As for November as far as training is going I have been trying to get out as much as possible and doing work in the gym (Strength and Conditioning) on the off days. I rode in the snow one day and also in temp. as low as -4 C on a beautiful sunny day in the Squamish Valley. The snow on the local mountains is starting to squeeze my training area smaller and smaller. I am also still pushing some kms on the road bike as it is easy after work to just jump on and go.  I have to admit I normally have hung the bikes up by this time of year and am getting eager to snow ski. As most of the rides at this time of year on the West coast come with rain and colder temp. I now remember why I do this. My mental strength is going to be tested if I am going to train through the winter this year !!! Good practice for what I'm going to face on the Tour Divide.   

What & Why

  Before I get to far into this blog, I guess I should explain in a little more detail what the Tour Divide Mountain Bike Route is. The TDMBR is the World's longest mapped off'-pavement cycling route with 90% of the route being off road. The total distance From Start (Banff, Canada) to finish ( Antelope wells, New Mexico, Mexico border) is 4418 Kms ( 2745 miles) with total elevation gain of approx. 200,000 ft.  This elevation is equivalent to, going from sea level to the top of  Mount Everest 7 times. The provinces the route passes through are BC and Alberta, and the states are Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado and New Mexico.
  Once a year Riders gather in Banff to see who can cover the distance fastest. This mass start is called the Grand Depart and is on the second Friday in June. In 2013 the date is June 14th. The Race is a self supported ride which means no support crew. Riders are usually riding on average 12 to 16 hours a day and are tracked with the help of a spot GPS. The fastest time can be challenged at anytime during the year but the mass start is when most riders hit the trail. This year 2012 a rider (Ollie Whalley) beat the Record only to have it beat a few weeks later by a rider that left after the Grand Depart. The Record as of now is 15 days 16 hours 14 minutes by Jay Petervary.
  My Goal for 2013 is to be one of the riders in the Grand Depart. Why would I want to do it? This is definitely something people are asking ( or they just think I'm crazy). I guess over the last few years I've read about and talked to endurance athletes and also watch endurance events, wondering what it would be like to push myself to the limit. I don't mean to the limit just physically but also mentally. I often wonder if I have what it takes to complete one of these events and have toyed with the idea for years. I guess this event is most interesting to me because it is just you where as most endurance events you are allowed to have support. I like that it is just you and only you that can make it or break it. I think that in our everyday life we are not challenged very often, and after doing the same job for 20 something years I yearn for this. The challenges of this race for me are of course the distance and terrain ( which includes grizzlies, black bears and courages) but also battling the mental side. One of the them being loneliness, out there on your own for weeks and missing the day to day contact with family and friends. For this reason I am attracted to this event, ( not that I'm trying to get away from them) it is one of the only events that I know of that is solo for that length of time. I think this is a great opportunity to see what I'm capable of.
  I hope you will follow my blog over the coming months to see how it all turns out!!!  For more info on the event check out the following link.   
     http://tourdivide.org/

The Fun Begins !!!!

  Ok, this event is totally consuming, the first thing I had to decide, what year was I going to shoot for. This event could easily take two years to prepare for. After going through a number of reasons why, I decided it has to be 2013. At this point I had 12 months. The 2012 mass start race had just started and it was all I was thinking about.
  Once I decided that 2013 was the year to do this thing, I had to start gear searching. This is no easy task as there is a ton of stuff to not only check out but everyone has an idea about what is best. I also don't have an endless supply of money to throw down. It starts with the bike which I got out of the way first, my choice was a hardtail 29er, Trek Superfly (Thanks again to my sponsor West Point Cycles they made this part easy). The next big task were bags, I began by looking at pics of past riders of cross country and bike packing events. There really seemed to be a common thread when it came to this area. The company I decided to go with was Revelate Designs out of Alaska. Everything I read about there product was it's quality and just great people to deal with if you have a problem. All the bags that I have on my bike are from them.

  After returning from our trip down south all I wanted to do was get out and test bike,bags and rider on an over night trip. I had always wanted to ride the Kettle Valley trail. This trail is an old railway route through the mountains of British Columbia. The section I would pick is the Carmi Subdivision, which runs from Midway to Penticton, BC totalling 215 kms. I originally wanted to cover the full distance in one day, riding out one day staying over night and then back on the same route the next day.  I had to adjust my mileage because of the time of year I was heading out. My plan, 180 kms per day starting in Penticton/Naramata area.

  The Tour Divide route I have been told has a lot of wash board on it and because the Kettle valley is used by off road vehicles I was hoping it would have this in common ( Ok who in there right mind hopes for wash board). I Started out on a Saturday morning at 8:30 it was a good climb from the lake where I started to the trail head I wanted. At this point I was already questioning my motivation behind not only this two day ride but the Divide. It was the  first time I had ridden the bike packed and although I have done some small road touring this is a different animal.  One hour in I stopped to check out the view and take in the morning.

  Once I had saw the view and gathered my thoughts I new this was what I wanted to do ( I can't tell you how many times in last 5 months I have tried to get this challenge out of my mind and talk myself out of it). I rode for 171 Kms that day with the last 100 hardly seeing anyone but a couple of coyotes and  campers. The trail had everything I was looking for, there was the wash board (once I found that I was wishing I hadn't ). It also had the challenges of finding food ( which is another common thing I hear about on the Divide from past riders). I rolled in to a small town Beaverdell after 140 kms craving something other then my energy bars. I had only eaten a bagel and a couple of pieces of fruit for lunch. A small country store was all I could find, I wanted a Coke and salty chips. After satisfying my craving, I looked at the time and realized I better check out dinner options. The choices made me laugh, I found a prepackaged sub, more chips and 4 pepperoni sticks(I could not stomach the whole sub, but lucky for me you can't mess up chips and pepperoni ). Laying in my tent that night after what was a great day of riding on the trail for 9 1/2 hrs. I was satisfied with my first real training day.

   Waking up to minus 2 on Sunday morning it took me until 10:30 to warm up on the bike. The sun was shining but when your riding through the trees in a valley it takes awhile for it to heat up. I made it back to my truck just after 6:00 pm greeted by friends, lucky for me they had Thanksgiving dinner waiting (thanks Betty and Alan for your hospitality). My two day adventure was a good start and the bike and bags work well. I have some small adjustments to make in my set up but for the most part I think I'm headed in the right direction.  Let the fun begin!!!

               Video on trail :      https://vimeo.com/51407991

Adventure of a life time!!!!

  This first post has taken a little longer to materialise then I wanted but "better late then never" they say. Well, It's official or should I say it's becoming a reality. What I'm talking about is doing the Tour Divide Mountain Bike Race. This is a mass start event beginning in Banff, Canada in which you ride unsupported along the Continental Divide ending at the Mexican border in the state of New Mexico.
  My dream was born when I was flipping through the pages of a bicycle mag. and read a short review on a book called "Eat, Sleep, Ride by Paul Howard. The book is about one man's adventure riding the Tour Divide. I was so intrigued by what I read I had to run out and buy the book. I was probably just over half way through the book when my wife asked if it was something I would want to do. In my mind I was definitely thinking one day, little did I know I wouldn't be able to let it go.
  My first hurdle to cross to make this a reality was getting a mountain bike as I am typically a road rider. I started following the 2012 Race which started on the second Friday in June.  I did a bit of research about the type of bikes people in the race were riding. I narrowed it down to a hard tail 29er. I approached a couple of people for sponorship as I wanted the expertise of a bike shop or builder. One was West Point Cycles in Vancouver. I was pleasantly surprised with how excited they were to be involved. We quickly narrowed down my bike choice and it was ordered.
  I remember walking out of the shop wondering what I was getting myself into, but also very excited. The ball was rolling and now everything I thought about revolved around the Tour Divide. My wife and I had started planing a trip to Utah ( Park City) in which we would travel back through Idaho, Wyoming and Montana. This would give me more of an idea of the terrain I would be biking through as I had never been east of Spokane, Wash.
  My new bike was ready two days before we left on our trip. I had been looking around at things to do and biking areas in Park City. I came across a site that listed a mountain bike race climbing 2700 ft. over 7 miles up the Park City ski hill. The problem, we were leaving Friday and the race was on Sunday.  We made a decision (or I made a decision and lucky for me my wife agreed) to try and make the event as it would be a good test for the new bike and old rider. We arrived at midnight Saturday and needed to be at the start area to sign up by 7:00 am. I made it into the race and was getting ready when I realized I hadn't even clipped into the pedals on this bike. Oh Well, there was no time to worry about that now I had a race to ride.
  The Climb was amazing, mostly single track and being a newbie I had some quick learning if I wanted to finish this thing. I watched the riders ahead of me and got into a rhythm, finally we broke out of the trees and I could see the finish line. I had made it without any major problems as the bike ran great. I was standing around the finish area with some of the riders cheering on the others as they came in. A fellow rider asked where I was from and the elevation. When I told him Vancouver, and sea level, he looked at me and said " you know your at 9500 ft. and you're still standing, good job!"

  The bike and I had passed the first test. The trip has really made the whole thing much more of a reality as now I have seen some of the landscape in which I will be riding.