Day one was mostly sunny in the morning, cold and miserable by days end.
Day two was sunny all day, but a LONG PUSH to the border.
Day three I almost died.
Day four was recovering and riding
Day five ended with cold and misery and I almost died.
This is Divide racing in JUNE. Who's Idea was it to pick such a horrible month. I mean why not go in August when its not so wet in MonFreaKINGTANA .....
Once again, it looked like a gear bomb had gone off in my room. I was up and busy working, adjusting to the challenges of the conditions. I wrapped all the stuff I need to stay dry in plastic, knowing full well that rain could come at any minute.
I spent the morning, 2 hours exactly, trying to fix my fading brakes. Had no luck, if I put in new pads and rotated the fronts to the rear everything was rubbing. NOTHING I was doing was going to fix it, and the only solution was to put it all back the way it was and push on, hoping that the shops in Helena could get it fixed. So yes, today I was heading up and over 4 major peaks, with fading breaks. Ahhhh the magic of racing the divide.
As soon as I finished packing and opened the door, it was cold and raining outside. It was like it never stopped from the night before. UGH..
If I wasnt racing I would have stayed there another night. But thats not what HTFU is about, so I rolled out, stopping to get espresso on the way out of town. LOVE that stuff.
It wasnt bad, when you wear a ton of gear, so I kept riding, goal was a repair in Helena. Next thing I know, I get passed by the Australians. Apparently they had made it to Lincoln as well. O well. I kept going, finally hitting the first Continental divide crossing and for the first time in the race, bearing down into my lowest gears to make the climb. The road was cut into the side of the mountain and there was barely 8 feet of surface across. I could see the muddy tracks. As I climbed higher, the hail started falling, and when I finished one, the other started, higher and higher I climbed, until I actually emerged from the storm and started my descent, and it was a fun one. I was flying, having fun, hitting one of those sections where you could push the big ring and just go fast for miles and miles. Eventually I pass some guys, do a creek crossing, stop to check something and notice my spot FELL OFF. WTF, REALLY??????
After cursing for a bit, I decided I had to back track to try and find it. The worst part was that I had the black and grey spot 2 and the whole area was dark soil and granite rocks, might as well be a Boa in the everglades.... I passed the guys I saw going backwards, and not even a mile down the road I found it Hooray, a bit of good luck to offset the 100% shitty luck I was having.
I attached it to my rear pack this time not using the leather case, but using the actually built in holes in the back door with the remaining zip ties I had.
It wasn't long before I passed the two guys again, and we pretty much did that back and forth, till I crested the third crossing and lost them. Eventually I crested the fourth and knowing I was close to HELENA was exhilarating. The weather had let up and I was flying so fast that when I approached the final cattle guard I bunny hopped the whole thing!
On pavement I was straight dropping hammers and before long I saw a pizza hut and pulled right in. I ordered a large thin crust meat lovers pizza and huge order of their bread. I must of drank about 7 sodas, and even packed a couple of slices to go. While I ate it poured. I saw the two guys pass by, but then saw that they stopped in town. I was determined to leave HELENA that night since I had missed the shop opportunity. I went to Starbucks to fuel up for the long push into the night, but they were closed. I noticed a storm was rolling in so I stayed right there waiting for it to pass.
Eventually it did, I thought about staying in town, but decided to climb to the top of the next pass and camp up there so I could go downhill the next morning. Kevin Greten had told me there was a cabin up there that I could sleep on the porch. Well there was about 100 cabins and they all looked occupied. After reviewing the elevation sheet I figured I was close enough to the top and set up my tent. Another day was in the books and another late push had been completed.
So far, the divide had its moments of Fun, But not much sun, and not much room for mistakes.
NK
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