Tour Divide Resignation

I’ve just made the hard decision to throw in the towel and make my Tour Divide resignation official.

I still desperately want to ride 4418 km down the spine of the Rockies, attempting to prove to myself that I’m capable of grinding out such an impressive ride. I’ve been obsessed with this race for the past six months, spending much of my winter toughing out rides either on my indoor trainer or outside in the cold. I bought a new bike and a complete Porcelain Rocket bike-packing bag set. I upgraded my GPS. I selected my gear, figured out my riding and camping setups, and plotted a navigation plan. I learned to sleep in a bivy bag, rather than a tent. I fueled long rides with gas station delicatessen, dialing in which foods my body craved and which provided enough fuel to battle through another 100 km ride.

While I did all this, I ignored a few important aspects of my life. I slipped behind in important matters of my professional and personal life. Slowly, the Tour Divide became a distraction rather than a dream.

I spoke with Ryan Sigsbey about the possibility of canceling the race. He admitted that he was looking into any reason to bail out leading up to the grand depart in 2013. He also admitted that he realized he was just making excuses.

I thought some more. Was I making excuses? Could this stuff, much of which I’d been ignoring since January, wait another few weeks?

Ultimately, I decided I had little choice. My Tour Divide experience must wait until 2015.

That doesn’t mean my obsession with Tour Divide is anywhere near finished. I intend to complete this race. And now I have an additional 12 months to start shaving days off my original 22-day goal, which means I get to spend plenty of spare time on my bikes this summer.

It also means I am looking for another ultra-racing event to attend in 2014, but I am still trying to narrow down my choice, but I’ll have more on that soon.

In the mean time, bummed to let you all know I won’t be riding out of Banff but encourage you all to watch those blue dots work their way south.