My Tour Divide 2016 (Yeah, I know what a slacker...)

Oh man, the Tour Divide. What a ride, a dream come true, taking part in the legend and all that. I had great plans to write up my experiences and a couple of technical cock-ups put paid to a detailed account. 12 months on I still have my notes here sat gathering dust so I'll commit them to a blog, they'll be disjointed but what the heck.

T-7 Friday 3rd June 2016
Flew West-Jet into Calgary, the original plane was grounded so I arrived via stand-ins Omni, could have put me onto a Dakota with a folding chair and I'd have been happy. I'm off to Canada baby! :)

Airport to Motel transfer

It was to be the last flight for my trusty Salsa Fargo cardboard box as I dumped it without ceremony in a Calgary Motel dumpster. Popped into MEC to buy bearspray and endured the obligatory training and signed the waiver. Can't remember if it was to say that I wouldn't spray humans with it or I wouldn't sue if I got eaten by a bear.

Bears weigh heavy on my mind as I pop into Tim Horton's for a coffee and snack...a bear claw.

A bear claw, to feed my body and my paranoia

T-6 Saturday 4th June 2016
Ah, a 5.30 am start and time to put the bike together and breakfast at 7am. Iced water in my bottles and off we go up the 1A towards Banff.
Leaving Calgary is a right faff, the bike paths don't follow the 1A so I say sod it and join the freeway and hug the shoulder. It's now Smokey Bears I expect to run into as surely I shouldn't be riding my bike up here....

Road's calmed down a bit

To relieve the boredom of the freeway I divert into the the Glenbow Lake park and crucnch some gravel to Cochrane via Glen Eagles (Yes, with it's own golf course). The Garmin craps out in Cochrane after I've ridden about 26 miles, Lord no, please don't let this be the theme for the next three weeks!

Stopped at one of the oldest churches in Canada for a bit of shade and to take a few snaps. Getting a real Little House on the Prairie vibe.

It's 80 miles from Calgary to Banff and the emptiness of Canada is soon driven home, past Cochrane I find one Gas Station to buy snacks before arriving in Canmore. It's also a quick lesson in North American cuisine, bigger is better and there's no such thing as too much of a good thing.

90% Mystery meat sandwich

I decided that Canmore would be my base before the TD kick-off, if for no other reason that it was waaaay cheaper than staying in Banff. I find myself a reasonably cheap cabin to lodge in and enjoy the strolls into town playing gopher spotting.

As common as pigeons on a UK high street

Everyone loves ice cream

As suggested by Gabes I seek out some Poutine. Chips, gravy, cheese and bacon, what's not to like?!

T-5 Sunday 5th June 2016

Starbucks has become my Canmore eatery of choice. The staff seem baffled by my request for a pain au chocolat and insist it's a chocolate croissant. Whatev's, the wifi is much better here than in McDonalds.

Poutine from Wendy's-very authentic I expect

T-4 6th June 2016

I move from downtown Canmore into Harvie Heights, even by cabin standards it's rustic. Still it's got a big TV and a variety of terrible TV channels to keep me amused.

As the weather looked good I decided that I ought to hit some gentle trails, enough to be fun but not so much that I break myself or the bike before the Grand Depart.

The ride up to Goat Creek was dusty as hell, I ask a chap for directions and it turns out he's from Halesworth, crazy huh. We ride into Banff together and I tell him about how Suffolk has evolved since he emigrated.

T-3/T-2 7th and 8th June 2016
Mainly mooched about town and enjoyed the river walk in Canmore.

So goodbye Canmore, next stop Banff and TD butterflies!

Back in black...

Ah, the BB200. Stu, the man behind BearBones Bikepacking and Forest Freeride is someone for whom a great many cyclists have a love/hate relationship with. They love the BearBones forum, the blog, the nifty little stoves. They love the events, so much so they sell out in hours......but.....and it's a big but, at some point, when you're on the BB200 I'm sure most riders will have cursed his existence.

Charge Cooker Ti 29er ready for action!

My first attempt at the BB200 was in 2013. I'd competed in the Bontrager 24/12 earlier than year and achieved a top 20 finish in the 24hr solo. I felt ready for the BB200, it was only 125 miles compared to the 175 I'd achieved in 24 hrs at Bonty, it'll be a doddle, right? Wrong. Doing 20 odd laps means you know what to expect, you pass your pit every hour and you're carrying little more than spare tube and a C02 cart. On the BB200 once it gets dark any town or village you pass through the shops will have long since shut, you have to carry everything you might need (including an obligatory sleeping bag & shelter) and any groomed/buff singletrack will be pure fluke. I'm pleased to say despite a couple of OTBs, a 3am bonk and a "minutes from home" navigation cock-up I rolled in after 22.5 hours to claim a black badge.

2014 was another story, I'd brought along a Carbon hardtail instead of the Fargo, stripped everything back and.....25hrs. The infamous 2014 route will go down in history, and forever mentioned whenever Sisyphus crops up in conversation. Stu appears to have been called every name under the sun (even contacted mid-ride) for creating a course comprising more bogs, tussocks and labyrinthine navigation than was previously thought possible.

And yet, when the 2015 event opened for entries it was a sell out in mere hours and a waiting list soon developed! So, as I rode off from the start, preparing to ride 200k on a bike, and more importantly a saddle, I'd not done more than 6 hours on. It gores without saying the previous year weighed heavily on my mind. The forecast was good but the sky overcast and to nobodies surprise less than an hour in and the bog trotting began.

Typical Welsh Bridleway

Luckily my fears were unfounded and this was a temporary blip. The route was a real gem, of course there was a section of tussocks, and the boggy track above but I defy anyone to link 125 miles of trails through Wales and avoid them entirely. I'm also pretty sure that it took me down the steepest trail I've ever ridden. This was a  challenge, but it wasn't just a slog.

I stuck to the nutrition (if sweets and pies constitute nutrition!) plan I used last year, forget having a large meal and instead eat a small snack every hour or so. I had a few gels, including some caffeine ones, but only for emergency use. I've given up on gels generally and carting sticky wrappers around for 125 miles didn't appeal. It's interesting to note how on a ride I can make a bag of Haribo last 18 hrs but on a sofa they vanish in minutes! 

So, how'd I get on? Well, after a shaky start where my Garmin didn't do very much I was happy with my pace and the Charge rode like a dream. I avoided making (m)any stupid navigational errors and rolled into Llanrhaeadr-ym-Mochnant, after the chippy shut, but before the Spar closed. I didn't need any supplies, (and in fact I'm eating some as I type) but there's a positive boost from *knowing* you definitely have enough fuel in reserve.

With this year's event having an "open" start time of anywhere between 8 & 10 am there was a lot of leap-frogging between entrants with differing pace, it also meant that if some passed you you weren't sure if they were faster or has stopped for an hour and were still technically behind!

About 20 miles from the end I was starting to flag but I knew that once I'd got to Staylittle, it was essentially downhill all the way. On seeing the "Llanbrynmair 7" sign I knew I could go all out and if I bonked I'd still be able to coast to the finish! I felt a bit bad leaving the chap I'd been riding with for the last hour or so but I was keen to put in a good time. The Charge had a 34t Absolute Black Oval ring paired with an 11(-42 expanded cassette) so the Cadence I could muster was  good for about 35mph. I rolled in at 6.23 a.m. 20hrs and 53 minutes after I set off. It was hard to work out my finishing position as many riders listed as returned were DNF. Thanks to Zippy on the forum for waving his magic Excel wand and establishing that I'd come back in 6th place. 39 riders were listed as finishers with the final one making it back after 36hrs in the saddle. Around 25 riders, or their perhaps their equipment, were unable to finish the route.
One BB200 tradition that is popular with all riders that was again in evidence was the welcoming breakfast courtesy of Dee and the collection of your finisher's badge.

Back in Black!

If the idea of the BB200 appeals, and you want in before next October have a look at http://bearbonesbikepacking.co.uk/index.php and see about the other events that carry the Bear Bones certificate of sufferi......err approval!