June Bug

Have fun and report back!

Alexandera is about 240 miles ahead of the next woman rider, Zoe Chauderlot. Four riders have finished, and Tony Lesueur finished just now. The next rider is still over 90 miles away.

So here's the deal. This guy writing the review was in southern AZ with extremely low humidity. It sounds like on a long hike, the fabric did work to some degree. Also, from my experience working outdoors in the summer in SW Colorado and SE Utah, the low humidity is sucking moisture out of you; technically, you're sweating, but you'd never now. At some point in humid Austin, the evaporative cooling just won't work as the temps climb into the high 90s. That said, Academy Sports and Outdoors has some of the Columbia Omni-Freeze shirts.

Tour Divide Sunday a.m. stalking report: Ryan is now just behind the Phillips 66 gas station in Grants and he may have briefly stopped in at the WalMart Super Center just prior. Alexandera is stopped and getting some nap time in the absolute barking center of nowhere on the Navajo Reservation; elevation there is close to 7,000'. Quite a slog to Grants. Although there is no dramatic mountain topography, this is not flat country -- there could be a lot of cumulative elevation gain as you roll along. Also, hadn't even considered wind as a factor until just now. High of 84 today in Grants, with afternoon thunderstorms and a west/southwest wind up to 10 mph by tonight, when it's out of the north (good). The roads look like pavement or maintained gravel. Nate Ginzton has also finished. TAF, I can't imagine having to turn around and ride back to Silver City! I'm guessing that Antelope Wells is not an amenity-rich locale. 7:00 am Mountain Standard Time update: Our girl is up and on the move at 8.6 mph.

Pics of Alexandera and her racing set up here: Chumba Cycles: Alexandera's DKXL, TDR, CT Singlespeed Stella Titanium 29er Note the small brown tarp under her sleeping bag. That's her shelter.

5:21 pm: I know, I know, creepy and stalker-ish, but Ryan Simon is at the Shell gas station in Cuba, NM, which is in front of a large McDonald's. Will he get a Big Mac or roll on with a gas station burrito under his belt? Tonight they'll be a long slog across the Navajo Reservation. Next checkpoint is Pie Town, almost 200 miles away, but he'll go through Grants, NM on I-40 about half way to Pie Town. Getting down into much lower elevation ~ 6,000 ft. The overall leader, Chris Seistrup, will finish this evening in a few hours.

Alexandera is at the checkpoint in Abiquiu (Georgia O'Keeffe, RIP) and should pass by the north side of Valles Caldera today or tonight. The next checkpoint (Cuba, NM, 77.7 miles away on US Hwy 550) is the home of El Bruno's Restaurante y Cantina. The green chile burrito at El Bruno's would probably stop all forward progress, so guessing she won't stop for dinner.

At my house near Braker + Swearingen, we had only a few drops of rain yesterday (Thursday evening, June 27) from the storm that seemed to drench everything south of here. So extrapolating that WC missed the rain as well. Did at short ride at WC around 4 pm yesterday (Inner and Outer Log and the flow trail) and saw only one puddle. Everything else was dry or dry-ish.

Valles Caldera is amazing and high elevation. The opening scenes of the TV series Longmire were filmed here. When we were there (4 years ago?) it was managed under Department of Agriculture. The trails we wanted to ride had been closed due to damage from a recent rain storm; the folks at the ranger station had a big van w/ bike rack they used to drive people here and there inside the preserve. They dropped us off on a dirt road and aimed us in the right direction for a nice ride. We turned around when the dirt road turned into a bulldozed track with razor sharp obsidian everywhere. I was really concerned that we might slice a tire open. The ranger folk said they'd find us on our way back and give us a ride back to the ranger station, which they did. It's now managed as a national preserve under the National Park Service. When we were there, only anglers with a reservation to fish in a specific area were allowed to drive private vehicles into the preserve and I suspect not much has changed. Worth a visit and bring your bikes. Also, Jemez Hot Springs are on the way.

Wasn't it amazing? However, now I feel my riding style is slow & uninspired, so but I'm going to try to add in some rhythm into my laps at WC. I noticed that the riders were always pumping for speed on single track. The 10-year-old grommets at Whistler were beyond astounding. I had to find Big Water on google maps. It's in southern Utah, on Hwy. 89, just north of the Arizona border and not too far from Page and Lake Powell. This was the downhill footage on dark gray slopes that included insane tricks on giant boulders and slabs of rocks.

Found this post on bikepacking.net from Josh Kato about the incident that ultimately led him to abandon his Tour Divide attempt:

Alexandera is rolling into Del Norte about now (5:18 pm Austin time), and the section from Del Norte to Abiquiu looks wicked bad in the good parts and brutal everywhere else. Ryan Simon is about halfway through to Abiquiu and Live Tracker shows his elevation as slightly over 11,000'. Hard to tell but I'm wondering if some of this is single track. He's climbing up to the 3500 m (11,482') contour now and it looks like he'll be at that elevation and a bit above for awhile. It'll be damned cold once the sun goes down and there are some rain showers rolling around.

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.