“People often ask: “How could you walk away from your career?’ I loved my career, loved my firm, loved my practice area, loved the pension community, but at some point you got to do things on a bucket list while you can and before you can’t” – Brick Susko

I am not 100% sure of when I became aware of the Tour Divide but I believe it was when I was training for my first cross country ride in 2012. I did a lot of training in the winter on my indoor trainer and usually tried to watch some inspirational movies such as Hoosiers, American Flyers, Rudi, Coach Carter, Miracle on Ice etc. Something to take my mind off sitting on an uncomfortable trainer and keep my motivation high. I had purchased the movie Ride the Divide

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMUX3kVmYI0

and that was the spur that I couldn’t get out of my saddle. Now, I am not doing the race and we are fully supported unlike the actual race. It will also take us about 45 days to complete. The fastest it has been raced was by Mike Hall in 2016 in 13 days and 22 hours. It covers 2800 miles from Banff, Canada to the Mexico Border at Antelope Wells and runs through Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado and New Mexico.

The actual route is still being defined and was initially conceived in 1997 by Adventure Bicycling Association. You can read more about the actual route here:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Divide_Mountain_Bike_Route

or the race here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tour_Divide

In the meantime, I rode my bike cross country three times all with CrossRoads Cycling Adventures run by the true wonder woman Tracey Leiner. https://crossroadscycling.com/ Tracey is all about the cyclist’s experience and pampers the riders. I heartily recommend them to anyone contemplating a cross country ride. The experience and knowledge gleaned from those 3 rides in invaluable in setting my sights on the newest challenge. The fact that there is a supported ride that covers this distance was brought to my attention by my friend Herm who cycled cross country in 2014 with me. If not for the camping, I think he very well might have signed up for this ride.

The outfit that I am riding with is Bike Adventures LLC and you can read all about the ride, route, requirements here: http://www.the-great-divide.com/Pages/Home.php

They also have a list with pictures of this year’s riders posted here: http://www.the-great-divide.com/2017/Riders.php

“You can’t change the wind, you can’t make the sun come out or go behind a cloud, you can’t stop the rain and you can’t make the road flat or smooth. You have to accept things as they are. I hope I can keep that feeling with me when I return to the real world.” – Brick Susko

I have no delusions that this will be anything but difficult and potentially hazardous. We will be camping in the mountains along the Continental Divide. I have a good tent, a Hilleberg Kaitum 2 and a bike that was made for this ride, A Moots Baxter. Think. I have gear and provisions for all weather and conditions and have put in the requisite training.  I have seen polar extremes in rides between 2014 and 2016 cross country rides. One was mainly headwinds and the other tailwinds. We did not experience the 120-degree desert heat though that we had in 2012. You deal with it at the time but are able to reflect back later and draw strength from the experience.

The reasons for doing the ride are many – unparalleled beauty, mountains, camaraderie, meeting adventurous and kindred spirits, pushing our limits and having a great time. However, as Brick points out, there are elements beyond our control. In the overall scheme of things, we can let these elements detract from the experience or we can take them in stride and do our best to prepare and expect them.

Ultimately these endurance adventures boil down to 3 major interconnected factors. First and foremost is training and preparation. The effort you put in prior tends to pay dividends in the actual ride. Secondly is avoidance of injury and that is often walking a fine line between over training and risking overuse injuries or some type of physical trauma. The last element is risk mitigation and that covers a gamut of things that you do to minimize risks from bug spray tp proper clothing to riding within your limits on gonzo downhills.

I am at the age cutoff so that not year I would be ineligible to do this ride with this group. Now or never. Something that really hit home with me  were Brick’s words :…”but at some point you have to do the things on your bucket list while you can before you can’t”. Brick died earlier this year doing a ride win Europe with 4 people whom I rode cross country with in 2014. One morning, he just didn’t wake up. It was very sad for the many of us who knew him, but we take some comfort that he passed doing what he loved.

As Teddy Roosevelt wrote, Brick truly was The Man in the Arena:

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”