Tour Divide 2016 - racing down the Continental Divide. Or at least into Montana. Again.
Rain was due by 10:00 and Crazy Larry's....well, I was ready to go.
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| OK, lets go. Ok, lets go....(Photo Bikepacker Mag) |
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| Class of 2016, Tour Divide 2016 Grand Depart, SOBO |
And the rain came right on time. I was not complaining though. It was so much warmer than 2014 when the first day was snow and sleet. But it was cold and the rain was no fun. Elk pass would have been ok the day before - now was rid-able but a slog.
I had timelines so there are few pictures. Stopping meant getting colder and though the daylight was long, the time was ticking by.
Stick to the plan. I arrived at the Bouldin Creek trading post thoroughly cold and wet so my stop there was longer than I would have liked. First, hot coffee and hot soup. Supplies at the trading post are so much better than 2011 when I ate a cold can of Wolf Brand chili.
I added hot water to the camp meal I'd carried and put it in my backpack to eat later.
I bought dish gloves for my cold hands and large baggies that I put over my soaked wool socks. Just these 2 additions made a huge difference.
Hal Russell was already at the trading post and asked if I wanted to share a room in Elkford. He was calling them now. I said yes, that I'd be a few hours behind him since I'm slower. Several racers opted to camp there near the trading post but that was just too few miles to stop even in such bad weather.
I carried on making Elk Pass and reached the snowmobile cabin 5 miles beyond. I stopped there long enough to eat the hot meal I'd been carrying. SheilaT and I had been forced to stay at this cabin in 2011 and 2014. I vowed I would not and I wondered if she saw my SPOT stopping there.
As the sun set, it stopped raining. I was alone as it got dark and for the next 3 1/2 hours badly sang out loud songs from my iPod in hopes of scaring off any bears. I suppose it might have worked as I saw plenty of scat but no bears.
At 1:30am I rolled up to the hotel in Elkford. Another racer told me that the management had given away Hal's room. I won't type the things I said. Hal got floor space in someone else's room and I was invited to join but in my tired state forgot what room the guy said. So I camped on the ladies room floor in the basement and it was fine. Dry and quiet.
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Day 1, Elkford 109.6 miles
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Of course I wanted to get an early start but with such a late roll-in, I could not take care of the bike or re-supply. The hotel had a hose so I made quick work of washing off the mud, re-lubing the drive train and re-packing. I don't recall what I did about re-supply but the cafe next door to the hotel was still closed which I suppose was a good thing.
The 30 miles to Sparwood seemed to drag on forever. There was a stiff head wind and I was whipped from the hours on the bike and little sleep the day before. The body will adapt somewhat but not by day 2. After a nasty What-a-burger and grocery shopping, I was off again.
I was still struggling for some giddy up all the way up the long boring grind of paved Corbin road. I stopped to eat and coffee up (I eat Starbucks Via) before tackling Flathead Pass when I was joined by a couple from Oregon. I think they did the Grand Depart though they were not racing. Super nice and strong riders. I was very glad for the company.
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| Coal mine on Corbin Rd. |
Since I'd weened myself off of coffee for some time before the race, the jolt of caffeine was awesome. And a good thing too. In the Flathead, the road has been overtaken by the river and it is a couple of miles of pushing the bike in and out of the riverbed/road. While in this section, we met up with Will Meyer and his friend Domingo from England. Very fun guys and now there were 5 in our merry band.
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| Flathead |
So SheilaT is one of those people who just remember every road, rock and tree. There is a section of the trail where you have to haul your bike up a wet vertical seepage a 1/4 mile. I would have sworn we were going to have to do it as the exit from the Flathead. I kept looking for it and it just never happened. Well, that's awesome I thought. They have re-routed the track and taken out the stupidest thing any cyclist has ever seen. Good job! (I'll come back to this)
While in the Flathead, we caught up with Hal and we were 6. At some point, Hal was in the back, the other 4 further up front so I was riding alone. I saw 2 black spots against the bar ditch up ahead. I blew my whistle and shouted but they didn't move. I back tracked on the road knowing Hal was behind me and waited. Once he caught up, we rode together. He was excited to possibly get a picture of a couple of black bears, not common in the area.
Or a set of culverts. So embarrassed.
It was maybe 9pm when Hal and I arrived at Butts Cabin. A forest cabin available or anyone to stay in, it was surrounded by TD racer tents. Because I carry only a bivy, I will always look for shelter to sleep and opted for inside the cabin with 2 other (snoring) racers. It rained all night and though the day was only 86 miles, I was glad of the roof over my head.
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| Fuzzy, but Hal Russell |
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| Butts Cabin, Day 2, 86.2 miles |
Butts Cabin sits at 4200'. Day 3 would start with a climb to Cabin Pass (1500' in 10 miles). My right knee that had been painful under the knee cap was really angry this morning. I stopped at the base of the climb, raised my seat that had slipped just a bit, moved the right cleat back as far as it would go and started a 3 Advil, 2x day regiment.
I made Cabin Pass, stopping to take a picture where SheilaT and I were hammered by a storm in 2014. I'm riding along reading ahead in the cues and what...what does that say? "Before crossing river a 2nd time, at a carin, go right on single track following blazes on trees steeply uphill for next 1/4 mile". I re-read another 2 times as it sunk in that no, the mud wall was not an exit from the Flathead, it was just prior to climbing Galton Pass. Well S&#T! Only one way to get there...
There really is no way to describe this section adequately and only video would do it justice. It is a vertical seepage/creek used as a trail and it is slick as snot. I'd made a plan based on the experience with SheilaT in 2014. At the base, I dumped any excess water. I kept 1 bottle and put that in my silnylon backpack. I took the front and rear bags off the bike, left the bike at the base and hiked up with the bags. It is so steep. I'd get myself up hill of a tree, brace myself, toss the bags ahead and hand-over-hand it to the next rock, stump, tree or whatever I could leverage against. I pretty much took them to the top then headed back for the bike. California Joe had caught up to me and was muscling his loaded rig up as I came down. Just not possible for me to do that - impressive. Hauling up the bike was hard but so much easier unloaded. Got everything re-attached and moved on.
Next up was the 2200' gain in 8 miles of Galton Pass; a walk some, ride some endeavor. In 2014, SheilaT and I descended this pass at 3am in snow and sleet. Our hands so cold we had to go slow and often stop. I put on more clothes at the top and started down and was cooking in the heat by the bottom. Such a different year.
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| Cabin Pass |
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| Water stop |
I soon crossed the border from Canada into Montana. Though Eureka was not far, I was really hungry and got food to go from the red neck bar at the border.
To rest the knee, I got a room in Eureka; careful to not stay in the same hotel that had been so mean in 2014. I made it to the cafe next door before they closed and had one mighty fine dinner.
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Obligatory border selfie with me and Sharetha
Day 3, Eureka ~71 miles
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Day 4 was a push to Whitefish. I'd had no rear brakes on night 1 after the cabin and though I adjusted them in Elkford, I knew the mud had taken their toll. I felt lucky having brakes at all for the long descent of Galton Pass - I needed to get to a bike shop.
It was mostly a rain free day with beautiful views. In 2011, huge snow detours took us into Whitefish via Stryker Pass (a 14 hour 40 mile day as I recall). In 2014, I only made it to the border. This was all new. Unfortunately I was in a hurry.
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| First view of Tetons |
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| Red Meadow Lake |
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| Had to capture "snow" |
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Where the gravel turns to pavement. Seems like a stupid picture to take
but you just had to be there in 2011 to understand |
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| Whitefish Lake |
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Found Tim in Whitefish
Day 4, 101 miles |
The very very kind mechanics at Glacier Cyclery were staying late and got my bike fixed up. I got dinner, a room and was out cold.
Day 5 was rough. My knee was a mess. I'd tweeked my back on the mud wall and though not a show stopper was just 1 more thing. I headed out of Whitefish in a slow rain. It was still raining when I rolled into Columbia Falls just 10 miles later. I knew I was not riding any farther that day. My knee hurt so much I could not get out of the saddle. That and pissing rain wiped every motivational saying I'd jotted down right out of my head (don't fight the route, prepare for your tired self...).
I stopped at the Montana Coffee traders. When I got up the front of the line, the sever asked if I was Sheila. Yes I replied. She said my friends John and Marcy figured I'd stop for coffee and paid for it in advance. That was it. I cried. That made the woman behind me cry and she insisted on paying for my breakfast. That my friends is magic.
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| Day 5 Columbia Falls, 10 miles |
I found a hotel room with a kitchen. I spent the day with ice on my knee and a wet towel heated in the microwave on my back - slept and listened to the rain.
I left in the morning grateful for the paved early part of the days route. I stopped for breakfast 30 miles later at the Echo Lake Cafe where an older gentleman joined me and I answered his questions about the race. I saw William Lamb from Waco Texas just as I was leaving. I wish I'd stayed and waited for him and his friend to finish. I'd ridden alone for ever and company would have been nice.
It was another 70ish miles to the Holland Lake Lodge. I don't remember much about it except how hard it was. I walked a lot. Even on the gentle rolling gravel to the lodge I had to get off and walk. I'd made bike adjustments. I was taking as much Advil as I could. I'd taken a rest day. I had to stop. I had no plan but this was at least a good place to stop for the day even if I had to ride the 30 miles to Seeley the next day (with the monster Richmond Peak in between).
There are some spectacular refuges on the TD. Holland Lake Lodge is one of those. It is a mile or so off route and worth every foot. Met by a warm fire, staff immediately set about getting me a room and my dinner order to the kitchen though their official dinner time had passed.
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| Day 6, Holland Lake Lodge, 101 miles |
From a back corner near the fire, a familiar voice says "Wow. You are like a bad penny." I turned to find California Joe in running clothes with an ice pack on his leg. He'd had a crash early on and was struggling to make mileage - the only reason I kept coming across him. He was none to pleased to learn that I'd caught him there even after taking an off day. No matter. He too decided to end his race there.
After what I think was the best meal of my life, I turned my attention to extraction. Enter lodge owner and extraordinary human, Christian Wohlfeil. It had been 5 years but he remembered me.
Without hesitation, he offered up one of his vehicles for me and Joe to use. He has a house in Missoula and we could leave it there. So amazingly kind! The next morning after a breakfast that rivaled dinner the night before, Joe and I loaded our bikes and headed out the 80 miles to Missoula where we both had flights home booked. I'd made arrangements at Missoula Bicycle Works to pack and ship the bike home (it arrived just yesterday).
And that's that. Jeff picked me up in Houston and we had lunch with my mom and returned to Austin where all my peeps were in full Texas Water Safari mode which turned out to be a great distraction.
2 Weeks Later
I have an angry tendon in my left ankle that presents as a small knot and the foot swells if I sit or stand too long. Back pain is totally gone. After 2 weeks rest and ibuprofen, the knee will not tolerate going down stairs or cycling. I've been swimming and even pulled a boat out and paddled. I saw someone for the knee yesterday and will give that treatment plan 2-4 weeks before escalating it to the ortho. I've been referred to a bike fit guru in College Station and will do that too as soon as I can arrange it.
I keep getting asked what's next and it's too soon. I'd wanted to do the Texas Water Safari next year but now unfinished business lingers.
For now, hanging with my peeps, some house projects, get stronger.
#tourdivide2016
