The Tour Divide is a 2, 745 mile unsupported, off-road mountain bike race from Banff, Alberta, Canada to Antelope Wells, New Mexico, on the Mexican border, following the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route created by the Adventure Cycling Association. The route closely follows the spine of the Continental Divide from Canada to Mexico. It is mountainous and remote with over 200,000 vertical feet of climbing and 29 crossings of the divide. Weather is unpredictable - high passes are snow-covered; torrential rain showers are common; and heat persists in the badlands of the New Mexican plateau.



The route is unmarked and circuitous, traveling through Canadian provinces of Alberta and British Columbia, and the US states of Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado, and New Mexico (map). It travels through remote back country on dirt roads, jeep trails and forgotten mountain passes.



The Tour Divide tests ones endurance, navigational, mechanical and decision making skills; along with hydration, nutrition and shelter challenges. And of course the Grizzleys and Mountain Lions call this land their home!

Sunday, June 5, 2011

Following the Race



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There are several ways to follow this year’s Tour Divide race.   All racers carry a SPOT Personal GPS Locator, so you can see a map showing where everyone is in near real time on the Tour Divide’s leaderboard by clicking here, which will take you to the trackleader site.   
Save this site to your desktop so you can be a blue dot junkie all of June and into July! 
And another very cool way to keep up with the race 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 riders attempting this ride. You can find the podcasts on iTunes, and you can check out the MTBCast Facebook page right here.


Eve will also be doing some updates as she gets them from me or from the other sources.  She will post to Facebook and the blog as she is inspired and has time.



EAT.SLEEP.RIDE.GREAT DIVIDE





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