June Bug

She mentioned at her talk that she tried regular shoes with flat pedals and she got tendinitis in her heel. Maybe Red Wing Shoes should be one of her sponsors. That's a classic Red Wing-type boot. (It's the Minnesota connection).

Ryan appears to be at Sub Culture Cyclery in Salida. Trivia: Alexandera and Ryan about 28/29 years old, respectively. Update on Alexandera on the Tour Divide fb page <facebook.com/groups/tourdivide/>, posted today: Alexandera should be in Salida by late this afternoon or early evening. And this: Colorado's snowpack is 40 times normal after rare summer solstice dump

Ryan Simon is really stepping it up or Alexandera is slowing down a bit or slept (or both!). Ryan is now in Salida (!) and has about 50 miles on Alexandera. The route heads west into the mountains from Salida, and ends up going south to Del Norte. Is this the section with Indiana Pass or is Indiana Pass south of Del Norte? Whichever, it looks super challenging for the next few days. Hope Josh Kato comes out of this OK. Please post up with details, if any are forthcoming. There has to be something seriously wrong to be hospitalized these days.

Alexandera is about 15 miles behind one other single speeder (Ryan Simon), between Frisco and Breckenridge, CO. It doesn't appear that other single speeders have any chance of catching up with either of them. One single speeder hasn't scratched, but has taken a side trip to the suburbs on the east side of Denver, so don't know what's up with that.

She is indeed badass. I fully expect her to finish -- likely as first woman finisher and a good possibility of being the first single speed finisher! I think there is some very high elevation stuff coming up for her in the next few days in the Colorado Rockies -- definitely 10,000' + the Tour Divide wiki notes that Colorado's Indiana Pass, at 11,910' is the highest point on the ride.

RIP Music City Cycles. Awesome Dave Hartley did my bike fit and recommended the Selle Italia Lady Diva Gel Flow that worked so well for a long time. Dave also pointed out that saddle discomfort can also be related to how the sciatic nerve is routed in someone's particular anatomy. Apparently, there's a lot of variation. My thinking at this time is to try saddles with a fair amount of foam padding, rather than gel. I think it's the gel that has the squish factor; my Specialized Dolce foam saddle doesn't squish around. I like the Ergon saddle finder; the one they recommended for me is almost identical to the Specialized that I thought might work and both have foam rather than gel. I've been in enough discomfort that I actually considered trying this weird contraption: Spiderflex Bike Seat. Also, the Spiderflex site reminded me that the sit bones (points of the pelvis that touch the seat) are technically the ischial tuberosities. Thanks, Cody, for the clarification! At least we have a lot of bike seat choices; it "taint" as difficult finding options as it used to be. No, no, but thanks. I'll let myself out.

Two issues to address: pressure on sit bones and um, lady bits. Right now I have an SQ Labs seat on the mountain bike, a Specialized Lithia on the commuter bike and a Terry something on the road bike. All have a central relief channel. They are all OK and comfy for about an hour before the sit bones really start to hurt. My last tour two summers ago I used the original saddle from my 12-year-old Specialized Dolce road bike. It's old fashioned thick foam covered with leather and has a center cut out and is the only saddle I have that really addresses the issue of pressure on the sit bones; sadly, it's no longer made and mine is wearing out. Specialized does have a more current iteration of this saddle and I'm going to try it out as well as a few other Specialized saddles with more foam padding; gel doesn't seem to work. Due to age and scoliosis/neck arthritis, I'm using a more upright position when riding, which naturally puts more pressure on the sit bones, along with declining bum padding, so there's that. Some women love the Specialized Lithia, others swear by Terry or WTB Diva or other WTB. My last bike fit awhile back, the strong recommendation was the Selle Italia Lady Diva Gel Flow (pricey!). That was an awesome saddle for quite a few years, and then suddenly it just wasn't working, but many women adore this saddle. A few women like a Brooks saddle but honestly, just looking at a Brooks saddle makes me want to sit on a block of ice. Also, keep in mind that the lumbar curve/tilt of the pelvis can influence the type of saddle that feels comfortable. I have a fairly pronounced lumbar curve and the recommendation for that is a flat saddle surface, which I do prefer. Mr. JB has almost zero lumbar curve and he likes a rounded saddle. Yes to getting the butt-o-meter measurement. And CB, although I admire your advice and recommendations on many things, I don't think it's wise advice for women to put up with discomfort until they get "toughened up." I went to a talk by Alexandera Houchin about 10 days ago. She's currently 1500 miles into the Tour Divide and specializes in endurance/distance racing. She noted that one of the main reasons that people drop out of the Tour Divide is saddle discomfort (agony)/saddle sores. I think she had a Terry saddle which she said she loves and stays comfy for those 16- to 20-hour-days in the saddle. It drives me crazy that finding the right saddle is so hard, but it really is something that everyone just has to work through. Ozone (RIP) would get demo saddles when they received a shipment of WTB saddles. I don't know who carries WTB saddles these days or if that's still a possibility. I'm going to call BSS tomorrow to see what their return policy is with Specialized saddles; I don't think they have a demo program.

Apparently Lael Wilcox was racing to win; she scratched in the last few hours.

From Sofiane Sehili on facebook, six hours ago:

So the racers who got through will have the advantage, with all the others stuck at Bush Mountain Lodge losing their time advantage. If there's a hard freeze tonight everyone can escape. Meanwhile food and rest.

The Telluride 100 has added a 2-person relay option. One person races Loop 1 (40 miles), the other Loop 2 (60 miles). Same as 2018, there's a 40-mile option (Loop 1), which starts off with Black Bear Pass and includes Opir Pass.

Did a social ride with friends on the Drippings Springs/Onion Creek Loop last summer. We were still about three or four miles from the car and I stopped and dipped my jersey in the creek, thinking the evaporative cooling would help a little with the heat for the last part of the ride. It didn't do squat, because it was too damn hot and humid for anything to evaporate. So, that brings us to these facebook ads I've been getting for Arctic Cool Instant Cooling T shirts with, wait for it........HydrofreezeX cooling technology! Their claims have to be complete hype, because evaporative cooling only works within certain parameters of heat and humidity no matter what claims you make for HydrofreezeX technology.

Things are heating up. Lael Wilcox (7th place) is only 28 miles behind (now leading) Josh Kato; Sofiane is now 5th, and about 15 miles behind Josh. People are getting bunched up at the front and heading into some serious climbing ahead. Northbound leader and southbound leader are now only about 130 miles apart.

Alexandera is regrouping at the Lodge on Pinedale! It's snowing/raining/sleeting in Vail and other parts of the Colorado Rockies, but that weather seems to be heading off to the northeast.

Can it be taken orally? I've been really creaky lately.

I know, and they've been keeping this monster pace going since they started a week ago today. Also, the north bound folks will start seeing the southbound folks in a day or two.

Kato is 42 miles behind Sehili at the moment. Alexandera is knocking out about 160 miles/day while Lael Wilcox is averaging 180 miles/day.

Done and done for the early show!

I was doing a social ride with friends on the Drippin' Loop last year and we ran into a guy on a fattish bike fully decked out for bike touring. It was Dr. Mike McElveen, Payson McElveen's dad, doing a training ride for the Tour Divide. I don't think he did it last year, but did complete the Tour Divide route in 2013 (https://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/?doc_id=12850) Also, Don Schwieters (60+ Cat 1 TMBRA racers), who lives just north of Walnut Creek and rides there almost daily, completed the Tour Divide race in 2016. He also has completed the AZ Trail race.

Well yes. Comfy, puffy recliner chairs are recommended for the demanding and prolonged sitting required to follow some of these racers.

Armchair mountain biking definitely has its place.

It was my understanding that her previous races were geared with front suspension, but don't know about her fat bike. There are only 12 single speeders in the entire Tour Divide field, and single speeders must maintain the same gear ratio from start to finish.

Might be King Many Thing Cage You just put whatever fits in there and cinch it down, from stuff sacks to water bottles. The cage is also in use to attach bags on the fork legs. Both Lael Wilcox (female) and Sofiane Sahili (male) have set Tour Divide records in the last 24 hours. Alexandera is holding at 15th place overall out of 167 riders. If Sahili can maintain his pace, I don't think he can be beat by anyone. The daily mileages of the serious contenders are beyond savage and would shred normal humans. As far as I can tell, these people have a "you can sleep when you're dead" thing going. Pics of Rigs of the 2019 Tour Divide from bikepacker.com My sense is that the serious contenders are minimalists. They aren't carrying an ounce more than they need for the basic survival on the trail. They aren't setting up a camp at night; they're throwing down a sleeping bag (if that) to grab a few hours of sleep. Again, you can follow along at trackleaders.com/tourdivide19 Keep in mind you can filter out the few people starting from the south.

Holy Crap! We're three days into this, Alexandera is already just south of Helena averaging 186 miles a day on a single speed with 652.7 miles total and 15th overall. And then we get to Lael Wilcox, the lead woman, 6th overall, who is averaging 200 miles a day. She's at mile 720. The leader, Sophiane Sahili, is almost at 790 miles. It'll be interesting to see who can maintain this insane pace.

I'll keep this in mind. I do a social ride every Tuesday morning and we re-group at the turnoff to the tennis center before continuing on to the end by Decker Lake. We're seen a rat snake or two there, but no danger noodles so far.