Tour Divide Day 14

Tour Divide Day 14-Marshal Pass to Del Norte, 130 miles

This was a tough, tough, tough day. Effing epic toughness. Off the charts for anything that I had experienced up until this point in my life. 


Although it started out amusingly enough....




I awoke from my nice comfy outhouse/B and B slumber to the sounds of foot steps. I thought for sure a bear had caught a whiff of my food and was coming to investigate. Then to my surprise, somebody knocked on the door. What the hell was somebody doing out in the middle of nowhere, knocking on this random outhouse door at 5 am??

I said, "Uh.... just a second?" and hurried out of my bag. I opened the door just in time to see Aidan Harding speeding off into the distance. I later learned that he had slept in the wood line just next to the outhouse. He had seen me the night before and he thought he was hilarious by not letting on that he was there.... I'll get that meddling kid some day! (I said that in a classic Scooby Doo villian voice FYI.)

I had planned to sleep a little extra because I was really feeling tired but since I was up and my adrenaline was going I figured I should ride. The descent into Sergeants was absolutely frigid and I was really hoping for some warm food to start the day. Unfortunately when I arrived everything was closed. I was however able to refill some water and drink a liter while I was filling. In hind sight, I should have brought more.

By time I left Segeants, the sun was up and I was getting hot as I rolled the easy pavement. I realized there were very few clouds in the sky. I was in for a hot one. The rubber on my Ergon Grips even started melting on this day.

Melty grips from the top....

Melty grips from the front....

Here is a video that I shot about noon. I recant a hilarious interaction with a local.

The riding between Sergeants and Del Norte really isn't very bad but the miles are long, there aren't really many places for water refill (which I was hoping for by time I reached the last 20ish miles to Del Norte) and there is not respite from the heat.

I really don't remember much about this day until the last stretch before Del Norte. I think I don't remember much because I was suffering from heat exhaustion, hunger and dehydration. At least that's what I say in this video... that I don't remember making.

It just got hotter and hotter out there.

Eventually I neared Del Norte, and the outskirts of a small town that is outside of Del Norte. I was about out of water, with maybe half a liter left. It was roughly ten miles to Del Norte. I figured I would be ok even though I saw a church just a couple blocks off the road that I could likely get water at.

I turned a sharp right and headed into a pretty strong head wind. Even in my aerobars while hammering, I was only riding in the small ring up front. It was painful and the wind was blowing tons of dust. As I slowly made my way along the route the road deteriorated dramatically and became very sandy.

In my tired and dehydrated state I could barely ride in the sand. I had to walk some flat sections. Normally the riding wouldn't have been that bad but I was just whooped. I had been making forward progress since I started riding at 5 am, except for refilling water in Sergeants. The sun was now going down. That means I had been riding for about 17 hours nonstop.

The headwind continued to drain on me physically until I was about in tears. I had only made it about three of the ten miles into town and I was out of water. My mouth was so dry I couldn't even chew gum. To top it all off, the setting sun made it so I couldn't see the arch that the course goes by. I was so pissed about suffering and missing that.

The route then turns into rolling single track with lots of baby head rocks. I fell a few times. After about my third fall I just laid in the sand staring up at the darkening sky. I just wanted to go to sleep and never get up again.

I rallied the proverbial troops and got on the bike again. All I could think about was food and water. Finally the trail started to head downhill towards Del Norte. I could see the town in the distance across the arid terrain. Then to my surprise the route turned away from the town.

The turn opened the technical trail into a large flat gravel roadway. It seemed like it might actually be an old airport. The route criss crosses the old runways and the head wind seemed to follow me no matter which way the route turned. (Bonus!!!) I can't tell you how hard it was to be able to SEE the town while I was riding in a circle away from it.

As I rounded the last turn towards town I saw a family. They were all standing around their truck, in the middle of the old runway, at sunset, for no apparent reason. It was kind of odd looking.

When I neared them they all started cheering. They were actually all out there to cheer racers on. No joke! It was a great lift to my spirits which were incredibly shot. I'm so thankful for fans like this. Thank you family of four in Del Norte!!!

I made it into town and found a gas station that was still open. I bought a ton of Gatorade and food for dinner and the next day. As I was leaving I was stopped by a guy outside of the store. He said he was planning on racing the tour next year and we chatted about gear for a bit. We quickly exchanged emails to continue our gear geekery and I was off. (Hi Steve!)

I realized that it was now dark out. I also really wanted warm food but everything was closed. I found a subway in the other Del Norte gas station and figured that would do. As I sat there my inner racer and my inner tourer fought it out. The racer really wanted to move on but the tourer didn't know the road conditions nor where a camping spot could be found.

Then I remembered meeting Patti and her suggestion to call her husband Gary, a couple of ACA map infamy. I called Gary like his wife had suggested. I was really just hoping for a camp spot in his yard but he offered up a room and a shower. The inner tourer wins!!

I made it to Gary's place and was out after a quick shower. This was the best shower that I had on the divide and I was so thankful for Gary's kindness. This shower was made even more special because it was the last one that I had in the race!

Toughest day in the race yet, followed by the best ending.