Tour Divide Kick-Off

They say that the Tour de France is the hardest bike race out there.  The proverbial 'they' have obviously never heard of the Tour Divide.  2,745 miles of self-supported miles from Banff, Canada to Antelope Wells, NM.  72 people are signed up to race the route from north to south, and 15 are signed up to race south to north with an additional crew choosing to take the route on as an ITT later in the summer.

Why later in the summer?  Snow. 

As we know here in the valley, it's been a record snowpack year and up until recently, the snow wasn't making haste to melt.  Large sections of snow along the route have forced massive detours from the normal route through areas of Montana and Wyoming.  Even with the detours, riders are talking about packing snowshoes as part of their bike packing kits.

 

(The view from Banff where riders are assembling for the journey of a lifetime)

Among those starting in Banff on June 10th are the Valley's own Ethan Passant, Josh Shifferly, and Jefe Branham.  Ethan, two-time winner of the Colorado Trail Race always has to be regarded a favorite in a race of this format.  Jefe, also with a Colorado Trail Race title to his name will be contesting the route on his single speed.  Yes, this valley is home to some crazy people.

The route generally takes between 16 and 25 days to complete and all riders will be carrying SPOT trackers so we can follow along from the comfort of our homes.  Keep an eye our for our locals at the Tour Divide homepage.