-->
Once
I convinced myself that I wanted to be on the June 9 start line there were a
few things to consider and organize. The
seed in my mind basically sprouted last year after following the race and
reading a few accounts. Anita’s
suspicions were aroused when oddball items started arriving in the post;
unusually large frame bags, handlebar roll, an odd looking handlebar, a book
and a set of maps. She helped things
along by giving me a spot tracker for Xmas, ostensibly so we wouldn’t disappear
without trace in the Jugungal wilderness over the new year period.
In
my mind’s eye I would have everything sorted by mid April, allowing an
assortment of test runs under various conditions before the real thing.
Life
has a way of shaking things up a little.
Jan/Feb/March were pretty full on at work, wrangling refinement of huge
datasets, submitting numerous structures to the databank and writing
manuscripts. Planning essentially
stalled, although a few more bits of kit rolled in, and some bike issues came
to light. The press-fit bottom bracket
housing on the frame was shot, the half-frame bag was too obstructive of bidon
cage positions, and both gear and hydraulic lines would have to be lengthened
in order for things to fit on the new-fangled bars. Hence, quite a bit of wrenching and re-wrenching, and a custom framebag was hastily ordered.
In
late April Anita dragged me to the travel agent to book tickets and a day later
she went over the handlebars on a benign stretch of fire road, highlighting
just how quickly things can go terribly wrong.
Then, three weeks later, in the middle of May, she collapsed with a
pulmonary embolism and had a week-long stint in the ICU. At this point my appetite for more adventure had
pretty much bottomed out and I was ready to chuck the whole thing in.
But
just weeks later here I am, only days from departure, and everything is mostly
under control, thanks in no small part to Anita convincing me I could still go,
and sorting out a myriad of non-bike technical details that I struggle
with. That said, I haven’t had too many
solid night’s sleep over the last month, no doubt making me (more) difficult to
live with. Other things that had to be
sorted included multiple flat car tyres, car rego, bank cards expiring whilst abroad,
travel SIM, and issues with GPX files, water bladders, bottom brackets, wheel building (built
the rear one twice), bike transport, tyres, and sourcing spare bolts for pretty
much every component. Not to mention whittling
down the riding kit, bivy kit, working out how to fit it all on the bike, and agonizing
over “hope-to-hell-I-don't-need-this” items.
As
I contemplate deconstructing it all into bike box #2 (thanks Sara!), and after
a few trips of riding loaded to the gunnels (Thanks Mikey!), I have some portage
numbers;
Me
+ std riding gear; 68 + 2 = 70 kg.
Bike
empty (zero water/food) = 21.5 kg (bike stripped 10 flat)
Backpack
(zero water/food) = 4 kg.
Total
= approx. 95.5 kg. So fully loaded close
to 100 kg, as compared to approx. 81 kg
were I lining up for a 7 hr race.
And
yes, I can confirm that the bike handles like a truck. Anything both vaguely technical and uphill
will require a walk. But it is
comfortable, probably a bit over-packed, and I should be able to shed some
weight come the half way point as heat replaces cold (and bears) as the main
concern.
I’m
somewhere between excitement and sheer terror, not helped by news of an early
re-route in the Canadian sector (downed bridges) involving what looks to be ~5 kms
of unrideable 10% hike-a-bike through slides of baby heads and basketballs to
throw my predicted schedule asunder, and almost guaranteeing there’ll be a bit
of sleeping with bears early on. To meet
Anita at the prescribed date on the Mexican boarder three weeks later I’ll need
to average 220 km and 2700m vert /day. I
don't see it as a race, but a journey of discovery; new terrain, vegetation,
fauna, silhouettes, horizons, constellations, and a physical challenge I hope
I’m up to, and no doubt befriending some interesting characters along the way. Not to mention satiating whatever masochistic
tendencies I still harbour. The side-burns are ready - I hope the rest of me is
too.
Hooroo
all!
Kicks
off June 9
http://trackleaders.com/tourdivide17
