Photo by Aaron Teasdale
Adventure Cycling Association
No support vehicles. No support crews. No calling anyone on a cell phone. No prizes. Few paved roads. What the hell kind of a bike race is this?
It's the Great Divide Race, the world's longest mountain bike race and arguably the most grueling.
Twenty-four mountain bikers set off from Port of Roosville, Montana, on the Canadian border on June 15 to tackle the 2,490-mile route to Antelope Wells, New Mexico, at the Mexican border.
They're following the stunningly beautiful and remote Great Divide Mountain Bike Route charted by the Adventure Cycling Association. It's pretty much all dirt road and trails criss-crossing the Continental Divide, with 200,000 feet of elevation gain along its course. (Mike Gibney is pictured above fording a washed out road in Montana; more Great Divide Race photo gallery.)
This is the fourth year for the race. While all the racers want to finish, most would like to win, and a few would even like to beat the course record set by race organizer Mike Curiak, who did it in 16 days, 57 minutes in 2004. That's 155 miles a day.
To compete, the bicyclists have to agree to race entirely self-supported. The race rules are pretty simple. Here's a summary rules from the website:
“The overriding principle is simply to do it all yourself. All the pedaling, pushing, bike wrenching, food buying (and eating…), water filtering, suffering, and all logistical figuring.”
While being “self-supported” between towns, the racers can buy a meal, buy food, get a shower and a bed whenever they hit civilization.
As for the cell phone, the rules say it's a good idea to carry one for emergencies. It's just that as soon as you've used it, you're disqualified.
The racers are urged to call in from towns along the route; their reports are online at Great Divide Race Updates blog. Here are some excerpts:
“We spent last night in grizzly gulch. Crazy. We had to fight a few bears off to keep our food…
“Scared a huge moose, scared two bears, one with three cubs. All of them were like grabbing brakes situations, and whoa …
“Got chased by a bull moose for about a quarter mile down off of Red Meadow Lakes area. Yep, it's all good. …
“It's hotter than the hinges of hell. And uh, doing pretty OK. Some slight muscle issues, and, pain, and all that normal stuff. But, doing just fine …”
As for equipment, the racers go ultralight, carrying as little as possible. Jay Petervary's 29-inch wheeled Orbea and all his gear weighs a total 35 pounds. Low weight helps cyclists climb the many mountains passes, but also keeps them from losing control on the downhills, which can be trecherous.
Snow, desert, washed out roads, these 24 cyclists will face it all on this race. You can check their progress at the Great Divide Race Updates blog, or podcasts at MTBcast.com.
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