The Tour Divide is a mountain bike race unlike any other, and the 2011 grand départ is Friday, June 10th.  It’s a self-supported race along Adventure Cycling’s Great Divide Mountain Bike Route, which is a patchwork of mostly gravel roads, some singletrack, and just enough pavement to connect everything while more or less following the Continental Divide in the Rocky Mountains.  Racers start in Banff, Alberta (Canada) and follow the route 2,745 miles to the US/Mexico border in Antelope Wells, New Mexico.  The route has over 200,000ft of climbing, which is equivalent to climbing Mt. Everest. From sea level. Seven times.

There is plenty of climbing on the GDMBR.  Photo:  Nathan Jones

Self Supported

The Tour Divide is 100% self supported, meaning the racers must take care of themselves.  There are no pre-arranged SAG stops or feed zones, and support crews are forbidden.  Racers must carry what they need with them and resupply along the way.  It is a bikepacking race after all.

Racers are allowed to use any services along the route that are available to the general public.  They can eat at restaurants, stay at hotels, or get mechanical assistance at bike shops.  But much of their time is spent alone in remote, beautiful, areas.

Custom frame/saddle bags allow for gear storage while keeping weight low and aero bars provide alternate hand positions and a way to get out of the wind, at least a little.  Photo:  Stephen Huddle

Records

The current Tour Divide record was set by Mathew Lee in 2007.  He completed the entire route in 17 days, 21 hours, and 10 minutes.  Jill Homer is the current women’s record holder, with a time of 24 days, 7 hours, and 24 minutes.  Tracey and Jay Petervery hold the tandem record of 18 days, 13 hours, and 50 minutes.  Yeah, you read that right: tandem record.  Chris Plesco has the singlespeed record of 19 days and 21 minutes.

Divide racing can get lonely.  Photo:  Stephen Huddle

Learn More

To learn more about the Tour Divide head over to their website.  You can also purchase the film Ride the Divide which is a documentary about the race.  In my opinion this film is a must see for every cyclist; no matter what kind of riding you do you’ll enjoy the movie.  If the idea of bikepacking for days at a time sends your brain into a tailspin, head over to bikepacking.net.  They’ve got photos of different bikepacking set-ups, ride reports, and a forum where you can get your questions answered.

Of course, it isn’t always lonely.  Photo:  Stephen Huddle

Follow the Race

There are several ways to follow this year’s Tour Divide race.  All racers carry a SPOT Personal GPS Locator, and TrackLeaders.com provides tracking for the race.  You can see a map showing where everyone is on the Tour Divide’s website by clicking here.  The coolest way to keep up with the race, to me at least, is to listen to the MTBCast podcasts.  Racers periodically call in and leave a quick report of how things are going out on the route.  It’s really a great way to get into the heads of the brave men and women attempting this ride.  You can find the podcasts on iTunes, and you can check out their facebook page right here.

Photo:  Nathan Jones

I would like to thank Stephen and Nathan for allowing use of their photos, and wish them the best of luck on this year’s Tour Divide.

These days mountain bike movies seem to come in two flavors: documentary and music video montages. Both formats seem to work well, though we’re a little bummed no one has found a way to make a scripted mountain bike film that isn’t completely cheesy. Anyway, this week we came across two mountain bike films that deserve your attention.

Ride the Divide

Following three riders as they attempt to complete the “world’s toughest mountain bike race,” Ride the Divide promises to be an epic film. Even if it isn’t the toughest mountain bike race, it’s certainly the longest and the self-supported riders who complete the route join an elite club. The race has no sponsors, no prizes, and just one checkpoint (the finish line). This should be a good film to watch if you’re considering an epic bikepacking trip next summer.

Screening in Denver Grand Junction this week: Thursday, Sept. 16 @ 7:30pm, Avalon Theater. Tickets are just $10 and the filmmakers will be on hand to talk after the show.

Life Cycles

Lame title aside, based on the preview this mountain bike movie should be pretty fun to watch. The Life Cycles film was shot using a RED camera which is a super portable high-def camera that seems to be all the rage in Hollywood. The DVD should be shipping sometime in mid-October and pre-orders are $5 off. Too bad more stuff like this doesn’t show in theaters…

photo courtesy BlueRidgeAdventures.net.

Over on the Facebook fan page we asked for 2010 mountain bike goals and many of the responses had to do with long format racing (anything over 6 hours) and endurance racing. Along those same lines I’m hoping to try a multi-day stage race in 2010 or 2011 so I started doing a little research. Mountain bike stage racing seems to be growing with new races popping up each year and in 2010 you can find races pretty much everywhere.

Here is a list of the 2010 MTB stage races I was able to find online. Feel free to fill in any I may have missed via the comment form at the bottom of the page.

Arizona Trail 300 (starts April 23): The AZT 300 isn’t technically a stage race (there are no checkpoints) and it’s probably the most low key event on this list with zero official support. Still, the 300 mile race covers the scenic and rugged Arizona Trail starting at Parker Canyon Lake. Last year’s winner took just over 2 and a half days to complete the race.

Trans-Sylvania Epic (May 30 – June 5): This is the first annual Trans-Sylvania Epic and the race will take place in Central Pennsylvania in the area around State College, PA. Over 7 days riders will complete stages from 10-60 miles in length.

Tour Divide (starts June 11): Tour Divide is the world’s longest mountain bike race and covers 2,745 miles in a single stage. Racers start in the Canadian Rockies and ends in badlands of the Mexican plateau. All riders must be completely self-supported.

BC Bike Race (June 27 – July 3): This is the mack daddy of mountain bike stage races and covers some of the best mountain bike trails British Columbia has to offer from Vancouver to Whistler.

Trans Rockies (August 8-14): Trans Rockies is easily one of the most well-supported mountain bike stage races and like the BC Bike Race, this one takes place in British Columbia (Canada). Solo riders may compete in the 3-day race while teams of 2 are welcome to compete in the 7-day event.

Trans Wales (August 14-21): Sponsored by Gore Bike Wear, this is the fourth annual event and is limited to 300 riders. If you’ve never been to the UK this could be a great opportunity to explore.

Pisgah Mountain Bike Stage Race (September 14-18): This is just the second annual event but if the 2009 race is any indication, this will be a quality race. Pro riders Jeremiah Bishop and Sue Haywood competed last year so get your entry in early to secure your spot!

On June 12, 2009 the Tour Divide kicked off in Banff, Alberta (Canada) with an international field of 42 riders. The completely self-supported race from Banff to Antelope Wells, NM at the Mexican border is roughly 2,500 miles long, making it the world’s longest MTB race.

This year all the competitors are using Spot GPS devices, providing real time location updates to an online leaderboard (using software powered by none other than TopoFusion). At last check the front runners had entered the state of Colorado which is a bit over the halfway mark. Not bad for just 11 days on the trail Matthew Lee has a pretty good lead at the moment but anything can happen when you’re racing your mountain bike 2,500 miles!

So far competitors have encountered icy trails, wild animals, broken equipment, rain + hail – pretty much anything you can imagine and more. You can track competitors and read more updates on the TourDivide.org website.