Still Ticking!

Sorry for the lack of daily play by play! Lack of cell coverage plus the demands of survival have severely limited my time. I'll just give you my wake-up scene from a few days ago.
Cheers!

Quick update

Just got off the phone with JP. He said to let everyone know that he is fine, and better now after getting some food. They will have to take a re-route tomorrow because the trail they are supposed to use is on fire. Thick smoke covers the town of Abiquiu and ash is landing on everything.

He said to apologize that the media coverage of his ride has been sparse, but the satellite truck that is following them ran into technical difficulties. (that part is a joke!)

Okay, that's all for now!
EE

New Mexico update

JP just called from El Rito, NM. He is with Dallas area TD'er Ray and they've stopped for lunch at a restaurant. He said they didn't have enough food for the last day and a half. :0(

They are currently about 20 miles from Abiquiu where Tom has a hotel room. It's almost all downhill to Abiquiu so it should be a quick ride once they are done with lunch. They'll regroup today as the last big climb (from below 6,000' to over 10,000') is tomorrow. They'll plan their food/water, research reroute/fire information and rest up a bit. We're not sure at this point if the fires will require them to change their route or not. JP did say that there is smoke in the air where they are now and it dries up his throat and makes him more thirsty.

The girls (Gail, Gina and I) are working on travel arrangements for our rendezvous in Antelope Wells!! The prediction chart shows them finishing very late Monday night or early Tuesday morning. But, I'm told that the finish time predictions normally move earlier because they'll be able to speed up on the flatter roads in NM once they are out of the mountains. So, best guess is a finish sometime on Sunday. Not sure who is more excited for them to finish-- the boys themselves or the girls back home!

2,000 miles baby!!

A day of milestones! Into the last state and crossing the 2,000 mile mark. You are amazing, JP!!!

Tallest Peak -- check!

As of last night, JP has conquered the tallest peak of the race, over 11,500'. WAY TO GO, JP!!!! It's all downhill from here. (Okay, not really, but still...) :0)

Washboard

50 mi of wasboard roads sapped all energy. Goodnight Salida!

Sent from a phone I'd better not drop.

Stairway to Heaven

S to H, because today started very slow, and did not rock. Oh it was pretty, but being a drummer, I was quite bored. In fact, I fell flat on my face, couldn't find a tempo with all the stops and starts of the terrain. I had to pull out my L'il Book of Inspirational Phrases that EE assembled for me for low-ebb reference. Cue John Bonham! Commence the ROCK! Yes! You folks turned it around for me. I hit quite the tempo for the second half of the day, and rocked up to Ute Pass, where my shadow was taller than my soul. Thanks Friends!

Sloooow

For those following my dot today, I'm quite slow! Just tired legs. I'll catch up w my pals again late tonight. Meantime, here's Tom contemplating his swimming skills.

Restivity Pt II

Restivity

On the list of goals for any TD racer, crossing into CO is a big milestone. So whaddaya get? A small sign that says "Leaving Wyoming". So be it. Brush Mountain Lodge, an oasis that lies a couple hours ahead, is a better place to mark the occasion anyhow. Kirsten runs this halfway-house for the TD afflicted, and she'll do whatever it takes to comfort a haggard trail-beaten soul. She is every bit the trail angel she was billed to be. 5 AM breakfast? No prob! With a belly full of two too many pancakes, we slogged off through the tour's final (please?) snowy pass to Steamboat Springs where 3 of us, Tom, Martin and I, have decided to rest. Ahhh! Big thanks to the crew at Orange Peel Bikes for the service today. Ray rocked on ahead with our friend Norb. We look forward to catching up to them shortly...heh heh heh!

Sent from a phone I'd better not drop.

Final Trudge

Can ya believe it?

First Aspen

Into CO

Pictured are some of the first trees as the route escapes the Great Basin. Within a mile, I was in a fine National Forest. I'm not sure how far I'll move tomorrow, I'm awfully comfortable in CO at Brush Creek Lodge!

JP's Audio Call-in!

http://mtbcast.com/site2/2011/06/22/mtbcast-td11-jp-evans-called-in-from-rawlins/

Can't. Stop. Doing. Impressions.

Okay, he makes me laugh. A lot. :0) Not sure which of us is more excited that he's beyond the half-way point!

Halfway Day

It's a cruel trick. These last two days traverse some of our country's most desolate landscape. Crossing appx 300 miles and escaping the black hole of the Great Basin requires two consecutive hard effort days with little to break up the monotony of a seemingly motionless horizon. At an unknown point that looks like 50,000 other points and struggling to survive the day, we hit the 1/2 way mark. Yay? Woof?

Sent from a phone I'd better not drop.

Ah, Scenery

Always a welcome sight at the end of the day!

The Great Basin

http://www.bikepacking.net/wp/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/TD_write-up.pdf

JP's sister Gail shared a link with me, a very thorough blog written by a TD 2009 competitor. I haven't had a chance to read the whole thing (72 pages!) but I scanned through until I found the section about the Basin where JP and the boys are riding today. It starts around page 33 if you want to take a look. Hope I can find time to read the whole 72 pages, seems very interesting!

Jackson Hole to South Pass City

Currently sheltered in the old Masonic Lodge above the Mercantile. There is no place to stay in this town, but I guess we are super charming (or super homeless looking).
160 miles through more amazing country! Tomorrow we finish the Great Basin with 137 to Rawlins, fingers crossed!

Sent from a phone I'd better not drop.

And the Big Finish!

160 miles later...

Huge Day!

2nd half of today's terrain was magic.

ID to WY

Long day folks! We broke through ID via 50 miles of rail-trail system maintained by the good people at Preperation-H. Found an oasis of pizza and bike service in Driggs, but sadly we lost contact with our Brit friend Martin. Martin, the man who Idaho could not find a potato for. We'll hear news tomorrow I'm sure. 110 miles today, I'll have to come back to Jackson Hole to actually see it.

Sent from a phone I'd better not drop.

Service

Peaked Sports in Driggs ID

Shoutout...

...to our Idaho friend Perdue! Sorry we couldn't stop for a pic. Momentum is our friend, especially with questionable cloud cover! Nice of you to greet us into Idaho!

Sent from a phone I'd better not drop.

Jordan Bear

Jordan Bear lives in Blue Ridge, TX on one of my training routes. Today I was the Boy and the Bear all the way up Redstone Pass.

So long Hanna, I loved you Montana!

Good Finish!

Rough day, glad to have 8 down! Sad to see some friends dropping out, but our group of 4 is still going. MT is so beautiful, but we're glad that we'll squeak into ID tomorrow.

TD video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zstZ6ZRE3ZI


This is footage from the beginning of the Tour Divide bicycle race that starts in Banff, Canada and continues to the Mexican border. Best of luck to all the races, stay safe!

At the end, JP yells out "Thumbs up for rock n' rolll!" He is referencing this video, check it out!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaIvk1cSyG8 I feel happy of yourself, JP!!

Call in from JP!!

http://mtbcast.com/site2/2011/06/16/mtbcast-td11-jp-evans-called-in-from-butte/

Can you tell that JP was a radio sports broadcaster in college?  Ha!!!!

He sent this photo a few minutes ago.  They are somewhere south of Butte at around 7,000+ feet elevation!

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Spoke with JP for a bit tonight, thanks to my 8pm class for being understanding about that. :0) He sent along a photo from Denny's where they had stopped for food. He also sent a short video clip of Ray from Dallas, not sure where it was taken. Nice to hear him laughing. :0)

JP sounded in good spirits on the phone tonight, maybe a bit tired. He said the weather had been all over the place. Windy, cold, sleet, rain, sunshine. Frost on the tent in the morning, no warmer than 60 degrees in the afternoon.

JP described a killer hill where he said no rider, even the most fit at the beginning of a race, would have been able to ride up it. It was so steep that they had to push the bike forward, then clamp the brakes, take a step, release the brake, push, take a step. Repeat. Makes me tired just thinking about it!

Big Day!

Canyon Creek, we started frozen and wet from a frosty camp and immediately hit a big climb through Lewis and Clark county. It is some if the most beautiful country I've ever seen. I lost count of the passes today that mocked us. We made a gutsy call, a gutsy call, to push on to Butte where we now await nutritive sustinence at Denny's. Rain, sleet, wind, sunshine...more fun tomorrow!

Sent from a phone I'd better not drop.

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Have gotten a few emails from JP today, which is a nice surprise when I stop by the computer.  This photo is from somewhere near Lincoln, MT.

Sister Gail came across this great blog from a female TD racer.  I haven't finished reading the whole thing yet, but JP is mentioned in Day 3.  Isn't it funny that just seeing his name somewhere makes me smile?  http://www.observatori.ca/

Lincoln MT

Monday Recap

Monday was good but a lot of rain, as I understand.  The boys (JP, Tom, Ray and Martin the fellow from the UK) stayed at the Holland Lake Lodge.  It looks absolutely gorgeous!  http://www.hollandlakelodge.com/  Definitely not roughing it last night!  They had wifi but no cell signal, so I didn't get to talk to him on the phone.  Only email.

JP sent this photo of the view from his room.  I could get used to that.  :0)

Today, they're back on the trail and the radar looks a bit better for them.  JP seems to be in great spirits and loving the adventure!

For the Hank Williams Fans

Day 3 Eureka to Columbia Falls

The historic portion of the day was our 6 hour (!) hike-a-bike through the snowed-over Whitefish Divide. Word of the Day: Trudgery. So, 2.5 hours up to the pass approach, 6 hrs on the pass, plus maybe 3 to CF. I don't know how (endorphins?) but we all feel great!

Sent from a phone I'd better not drop.

Whitefish

This photo cannot tell today's story. Livin' the dream!

Listen to JP's Call In!! (audio file)

http://mtbcast.com/podcasts/2011/TD11/jpevans183525_061111.mp3

Sent from my iPhone...

Border Crossing

Back in the USA!

Last I heard from JP they had stopped in Eureka for dinner. 

Below is a bit from an email from JP today. 

Tomorrow I'll be traveling from 9am to 8 pm so away from wifi/no Internet.

Go JP!

Today looked easy, but no.  Lots of rain, lots of climbs. 

Early start tomorrow, 4am ish. Ton of hikeabike thru snow!  We will hit it frozen, in theory. 

Sent from my iPhone...

From JP: All good in Elko!

He looks to be about 35 miles from the US Border crossing. Nice to see a photo of him lookin' good!!

Day Two Begins

Looks like the boys got up and going in the last half hour or so, around 5:30am local time. Will let you know if I get any updates. I did get a texted SMOOCH last night that made me smile. :0)

Sent from my iPhone...

Day 1 Banff to Elkford

Epic Day! Most of the day was the best day of my Cyclo life! Scenery is amazing and my legs kept a'spinning easily for 100 miles. But we covered 114. Just a bit tired the last 14 is all. Spent prolly 2 hrs trudging thru snowpack and postholed a few times. Many riders will ride on tonight after this post, so you'll notice our drop in the standings. Not to worry, this is a great start to the ride of a lifetime! No pics from me, sorry I was a'focused on the ride! Great to get one last hug from a cutie on the trail!
Cheers,
JP

Sent from a phone I'd better not drop.

Dinner in Elkford

After a stressful (for me!) day when JP's satellite tracking spot wasn't work, I've heard from him and all is well.  The spot is fixed somehow.  He's having dinner in Elkford with Tom, Ray and some others.  He reports that he was in the lead for a little while.  (gulp!!)

*sigh* Now I think I can eat dinner.  Was too worried before!

Last glimpse, for now...

Bye bye Banff!

JP is on his way! More later...

Follow the Dots!

http://tourdivide.org/leaderboard

All racers will be wearing a satellite tracking device so you can follow along with their progress during the race. It automatically updates their location every 20 minutes or so. I've been told there are some areas where the signal is weak and not to panic if the dot stays in one place for a while.

JP's dot is called JE.
Our bro-in-law Tom is TS.
Our friend Ray from Dallas is RP.

About an hour until the start! Will put up photos later today when I get back to free wifi.

Sent from my iPhone...

Thursday: So Far, Great!

Had a tasty breakfast this morning and enjoyed chatting with (non-TD) folks from Atlanta and Australia who are staying at the same B&B.

JP is now assembling the bike. So far, it appears to have survived the airline transport without mishap. Final verdict will be when he's done and can take it for a spin. He expects this to take about four hours, so I'll likely walk down to town and wander a bit.

And yes, that is SUNSHINE!!

DFW

Waiting for a plane with Ray Porter from Oak Cliff, a Tour Divide repeat offender.

Training is Over

I lost count of the all the knickerbockers I've worn out. Mules are packed, next stop Banff!

It starts Friday????????

Last night JP discovered that the race starts this FRIDAY, not Saturday. Wow, it woulda sucked to show up Saturday morning and find no one there!

JP swears he looked at the website back in November and wrote the date on his calendar. He's always talked about it being on Saturday so it didn't register in my brain either on all the times I've looked at the official website.

Good thing we are traveling Wednesday, rather than Thursday as JP originally wanted. I thought it would be good to have an extra day in case of luggage (bike transport!) delays. I guess we don't have that cushion anymore!

Thursday JP will reassemble the bike, and I'll be available to do whatever he needs help with.

And now I have one extra day in Banff to do... ????? I guess there are worse places on the planet to spend extra time.

Sent from my iPhone...

Cartographers Rejoice!

A fine map to guide me.

Testing a post from iPhone

Thumbs Up for Rock and Roll!

A little motivation for your Monday morning!  This was JP last week.  :0)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaIvk1cSyG8

Working working working on cue sheets

The last two weeks have been spent working on JP’s cue sheets, aka very detailed written directions of the 2,745 mile route.  Our schedules:  morning I teach, JP rides.  Afternoons we work together on cue sheets.  Evenings I teach, JP rides.  Not much else getting done around here!

Yes, he will have a GPS unit loaded with the route.  BUT, it has never worked properly and finally after multiple calls and emails to tech support, the Garmin folks had us return it for a replacement.  The new one arrived on Thursday and now JP is figuring it out.

Given that, we’ve placed a big emphasis on written directions of the route. 

When we downloaded it from the TD organizers, it started as 24 pages, single-spaced, 9 (yes, 9!) point font.  We’ve spent hours going through and editing out things to make it quickly readable.  It will be mounted on his bike under the handlebars (see photo) in a rig that he designed.  Pages are printed on waterproof paper from REI.

  

Sample edits: 

- remove (km) since he’ll be using miles

- add abbreviations:  National Forest=NF, cattle guard=CG, railroad=RR, etc.

- BOLD and CAP directional commands like LEFT/RIGHT

- notes about water sources along route in blue, towns with services are in green, etc.

- delete cues that are unnecessary, like “beautiful mountains to your left”

Original:  161.3(259.6)–Cross French Creek. Water source and possible primitive camping.

New:  161.3  X French Creek. Water, possible camp.

Original:  *162.0(260.7)–Bear right downhill at saddle, as FR 214 goes left. Start the long dive, keeping your speed in check as you descend through pinon and juniper-covered hillsides. There are some dangerous, sharp corners ahead.

New:  *162.0 Bear RIGHT downhill at saddle, not left on FR 214. Descend.

Original:  *167.7(269.9)–Radium, at end of long, steep descent. Turn left at stop sign to cross RR tracks, then ride over the Colorado River.

New:  *167.7   Radium. Left at Stop, X RR, over CO River.

Friday night, race organizers announced that some of the mountain passes are closed because of extreme snow, so they issued some alternate routes.  It's meant more work on cue sheets (spent 6 hours on it yesterday) but I'm happy that he gets to avoid some poor travel conditions.  Carrying a bike and gear through miles of deep snow = not my idea of a good time.

Lesson learned:  Getting ready for the Tour Divide is more than just riding a bike!

Surprise "Bon Voyage" Party

JP thought he was going to an 8th grade graduation party for his young friend Moose, but wasn't he surprised to find a group of friends who gathered to wish him well on his adventure!  Thanks to folks from the TV production world, music, bicycling and dog friends who came together to let JP know how much we love and support him.  Special thanks to Deb for getting the snacks, Suzi who brought cheesecake (yum!), EA picked up the Tour Divide movie (too bad the DVD player never did work!), Shelley took photos and the Jones' who helped me devise a plan to get JP to his party!

JP even got a "long distance" well-wish from friends over at a trial in Fort Worth.  Thanks to Michelle and Derek for having the idea and arranging that!  It made me cry!

Welcome to JP's Tour Divide 2011 Blog!

Hey friends and family,

This blog will be used to share updates from JP as he travels by bicycle from Banff, Canada to the Mexican Border.  Sometimes he'll post if he has a cell signal, most of the time I'll be posting updates as I get phone calls and texts from JP.

At some point, I'll post the link where you can watch JP's SPOT tracker -- it's updated automatically every 20 minutes during the race so you can see where he is along the route.

For now, you can look over the website that tells all about the race.  http://tourdivide.org/

Thanks to everyone for the support on JP's epic adventure!
Elizabeth