I gave the decision to pull out of the Tour Divide a lot of thought, and decided that this year’s effort, with the slow progress through cold rain and mud, on balance was simply just a bike ride that was time to end. With a good night’s sleep in Elk Horn, I made the decision. I learned, through this experience, that while I can do as many miles as I want on the bike, for me the miles need the balance of experiencing the wilderness that is the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route. To be sure, I had moments of adventure brought about by a requisite driving focus on a hundred miles a day and with the trail conditions. The scales tipped in terms of 100 mile days this year. Eight days – Banff to the tip of Montana – provided me with both great stories that will continue to live in the storytelling performances that make up the project, “The Poetics of Endurance,” and a more complete distillation of the project Divide ITT as we raise awareness and research funding for Dense Deposit Disorder.Sleeping in an out-house near Whitefish Divide and getting lost on the mountain outside of Basin,while not particularly enjoyable, involved moments of entertainment too: trying not to spill my pee bottle while peeing zipped up in my sleeping bag and looking like a caterpillar, my legs cramping when I got on my knees, left me laughing in the morning as I ate the last quarter of my 2 day old burrito.
A moment of clarity and adventure? I’m not sure Lore liked the fact that I was more confident of the outcome when pulling folks from the river in freezing temperatures, than when I was lost in the wilderness, cold, wet and freezing that night. I knew that if I continued that night, I would only get myself more lost and that nothing further could be done until sunlight. When I awoke, I simply back-tracked. As it turned out, the mud had contributed to more folks getting lost that night above Basin. Each time someone followed tire tracks, more tracks were laid down in the wrong direction. Eight folks ended up lost and sleeping up top in a relative snow field, most of us not knowing others were only, maybe, a mile way. I was high enough up, (9,000 ft) that when the sun rose, no other peaks blocked the sunrise. I slept with every piece of clothing on and dry bags over my feet, using my rain suit as a vapor barrier. The ¼ of a 14” burrito actually fueled me into Basin quite quickly after regaining the route.On Whitefish Divide I was caught in a thunderstorm, with the hairs on my neck rising with the lightning. I made my way into a National Park, and rather than sleep in one of the grizzly cages for campers that dangles from a tree, I slept in a warm out-house – a Montana Hilton! Who would have thought that some of the most important skills to have for this year’s event would have been survival skills. In the course of getting through days of rain and 30-41 degree temps, I returned every few hours to two critical actions. I would adopt the disposition of “party on”. In an entertaining way (and definitely not what I had imagined would be the case), riding up hill was more enjoyable than coming down the side of a given mountain, since climbing meant generating heat and descents meant frozen hands and uncontrollable chills.
An event like this can be as much about acceptance and the clarity of intentions as it is about endurance, and it’s that play of the world I really enjoy. Interestingly, while at age 51, I have lots of experience riding endurance events and soldiering on mentally, it is also much easier to accept, that enjoyment of the ride is as important as getting there. It’s the pace that drives this mediation. I am a tourer with the inclination to challenge myself with daily mileage. Folks were incredible all along the way, from support at home - my wife Lore and Lynne Lanning – to conversations: David Pals, Steve Merkel and Jon Billman. Seeing and talking with Jeff at the café in Basin was so good for the spirit, and so was my ride with Paul over Fleecer to Elkhorn. And, Rob Liphiemer in Butte is in a league of his own in terms of hospitality.
At the end of the day, this year’s event was about Jenna and Kidneeds. Jenna has kept me focused on the main event. For this reason, it’s great to be able to say, “let’s begin now planning next year’s event”. Tentative ideas include, a week of hundred mile days, Butte to Colorado, where folks will be invited to join the tour for a length and pace of their choosing. We want to create a map of lots of blue dots, each focused on Kidneeds. Best, Steve
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