Tour Divide Caveat

Are you a seasoned multi-day bikepacker? Have you ridden back-to-back off-road centuries? Are you an expert level mountain biker? Are you a veteran of Primal Quest-scale multi-day adventure races? Are you a proficient bike mechanic; skilled navigator; competent at self-rescue? If you cannot confidently answer yes to most of the above, it would be wise to consider simply touring the route or taking more time to prepare for a true blitz. - TourDivide.org

Uh, no. No. No. No. And not really, um, no, no. 


Guess I've got some training to do! At this point the idea of doing the Tour Divide sounds insane. Daily 150+ mile rides, mostly off road with tons of climbing? I'm not even up to doing one day at that mileage! 


It's really hard to imagine. And as they say on that page, you don't want to discover that solo racing isn't your thing when you're out in the back country. I don't know yet if this is something that I can seriously consider. I'm dreaming about it, thinking about it, and out riding a 29er these days, but I have a long way to go before I can consider doing the race. I've thought about a 2013 attempt but that gives me not quite two years to get ready. Right now I have no way of knowing if that's going to prove possible or not. Maybe I'll lose interest before then. I don't know.

That nice sticker is available from mbeganyi on flickr, free for personal, non-commercial use. 


So given all of that, what's my plan? 


Right now just to ride. I need to get stronger, get used to riding a bike, and build up my endurance. As that improves eventually I'll go for longer all day rides, start doing centuries and more. I guess I'll keep going so long as I'm having fun and enjoying the challenge. The goal isn't so much the destination, because I'll never reach that, it's the journey along the way. Ride to the next tree, the next hill, the next library and keep going!