As I said, once is never enough!!
In the immortal words of Alexandre Dumas, “Never fear quarrels, but seek hazardous adventures!”
Now, I’m not one for SEEKING danger, but sometimes a hazard or two is the price you must pay for a truly epic adventure.
So it is that I am once again planning on racing the Tour Divide. Since Ray Johnson and I missed out on the opportunity to complete the entire 2745 mile route, due to the fact that non-residents were prohibited from entering Canada during our 2021 race, I (and possibly Ray) will be racing the whole enchilada from Banff, Alberta Canada starting on 9 June 2023!! This provide an additional 250 miles or so of perhaps some of the most challenging terrain of the entire event. More snow, mud, grizzly bears, rocks, rain, and adventure! Who could resist!!!??
What does training look like for the Tour Divide?
Similar to the training I did in 2019/2020, prior to the 2020 version being completely cancelled, and training in 2020/2021 for our first successful attempt, my training actually started in late October.
Training for an event like the Tour Divide (at least for me) involves a great deal more than just riding a bike, though there is more that enough of that!!
Because of the hike-a-bike sections on the TD, where you are forced to lift, push, drag, etc. your bike up hills and over fallen trees, overall body fitness is extremely important. One of the biggest issues that TD racers contend with are Achilles issues due to all the hiking sections. As a result, I start hiking daily up Tortugas Mountain in Las Cruces in October of the year before the race. In addition, this year has see the inclusion of once or twice a week hot yoga sessions, basketball, and hopefully some more indoor climbing sessions at the NMSU climbing wall.
The result of all this, in addition to a full time job and family, is a VERY tight schedule. Luckily, Lola is 100% supportive of the effort to once again race the TD (maybe it’s the Grizzlies, who knows :) ) and all the training that entails. Weekdays start every morning about 0500 or earlier with the hikes up the mountain and are followed in the evenings by a 2 hour training ride. Some day I add in Yoga (Tuesday and ?). Weekend days start about the same time, and as of January, involve 4-8 hour rides on Saturday, and 3-4 hour rides on Sunday. Eventually these weekend rides will move into the 10-12 hour range on Saturdays and 6ish on Sundays. Weekly training time totals about 25 hours and will be maintained until just before departure in June. The difference is that starting in about March, the morning hikes will be replaced by morning rides, thus allowing for 2-4 hours a day of riding per day during the week. Usually the morning rides will be up a climb (Usually Soledad Canyon or Dripping Springs).
This is a pretty aggressive schedule for a 59 year old, but one that I believe served me well during my successful 2021 edition of the race. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. That said, while the riding portion of the training is close to a mimic of my previous training, adding in the Yoga, hoops, and climbing should (as it seems to be already) help core strength and flexibility. Hopefully it pays off.
Another change to this year will be my overall weight. I departed 2021 at a weight of about 214 pounds (I’m not a little feller!!). My goal this time is to toe the start line at 195. This is still way above my ideal road racing weight of 185, but is a bit of an unknown for a Tour Divide race. In 2021 I weighed about 185 at the finish, a weight loss of 29 pounds!! NOT IDEAL I believe I learned a lot about nutrition (and about 1000 other things) for the TD on the first attempt, and will be better able to manage weight loss and nutrition this go. Part of this is due to the fact that we are largely racing in a non-COVID world, and a lot of the stores that were closed down, or closed for the night at 7PM, will now be open and open later in the day. This should also allow for more successful re-supplies during the day, again allowing for better nutrition overall.
At any rate, I want to virtually bring as many of y’all along on this journey as possible, so I’m going to be providing a lot more insight into what’s going on before, and during, the race as possible.
The moral support, well wishes, check-ins, texts, and even waves along the way is a HUGE part of successfully completing this race, and it means the world to me to have you interested and engaged in the process.
If there’s anything you want to know, just ask. I’ll be posting about equipment, gear, clothing, lighting, etc changes and explanations of why that’s so. I’ll also update you on how the training is going, travel plans, etc.
Thanks for following along. It’s going to be a helluva ride!!!
Live life well.
Shane
