On your marks, get set, go!
It starts today. [It’s Day Five as of 6/25.]
It’s the new Tour de France.
The way bike racing is meant to be.
In the Internet age.
Online registration. But no entry fee, that I recall. Online check-ins during the race. Well, payphones. Keep it simple!
What’s the GDR you ask? It’s a dozen riders who show up and race unsupported from Canada to Mexico along the Continental Divide on dirt roads and trails. 2500 miles.
It takes 15 days to 20 or so.
You can ride together if you like.
It’s real riding and real racing. True spirit. Some guys have ridden to the start from ‘cross country. No money, no need to get too crazy. Just ride the bike and see how you do. About half the riders drop out.
UPDATE 6/25: Here are some great tools for following this race online…
Check out the daily blog at greatdividerace.blogspot.com.
[UPDATE: John Nobile is in the lead so far and he’s using aerodynamic fairings/panniers! …That’s what I’m talkin’ about! (I’ve been yammering about fairings for roadies/touring for years. Here’s a link to my own design/test-results: outyourbackdoor.com/OYB8/bikes/bikeaerobag.html.)]
[UPDATE 2: John won! He set a new record, too. More info in Remarks below.]
Follow the Forum chat at: forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=375191.
Here’s the Leaderboard: topofusion.com/divide/GDR08.htm
Here’s daily podcasts: mtbcast.com
An interesting tidbit is that half the riders are using the same ultralight bikepacks which are being sewn under the radar by Jeff at Carousel. He makes stuff to let folks ride trails for days without feeling like they’r loaded, making it easy to ride technical singletrack while on tour, for the first time. He also makes light roadbike rigs. Check it out: carouseldesignworks.com.
The main GDR site is basically just an intro to the race. There are several other sites for ongoing race results/info. Several are somewhat hidden. Some belong to particular racers.
Here are a few neat sites from the 2007 race…
*A racer’s blog: thegreatdivideproject.blogspot.com/
*Here’s a blog with reports from the 2007 race: greatdividerace.blogspot.com
*Here’s a 2007 chart showing how each racer was doing as they phoned in. (X’s are for towns that they didn’t phone in at.):
topofusion.com/divide/GDR07.htm
Pics…
The starting line-up for 2008.
A view from the course.
A fairly typical rider’s ultralight set-up. David Blaine, singlespeed. (The SS isn’t so typical but not so rare either…but there are maybe 6 SS riders this year!) Barpack, saddlepack, framepack, backpack, bottles mounted here’n’there. Packs typically courtesy of Carousel.
https://www.greatdividerace.com/
