Bike4Becky

Winners and scratchers all happening in significant numbers since my last blog. On June 23, 2023 these three reached their goal on the 2745 mile race on the extreme continental divide route.  Note-  the great throw together podium.    FIRST WINNERS Ulrich (Uba) Bartholmoes from Germany finishing first in the 2023 Tour Divide with a time of just 14 days, 3 hours and 23 minutes, making the second-fastest time ever recorded.  Followed by Justinas Leveika from Lithuania who finished second at a time of 14 days, 16 hours, and 57 minutes and Joe Nation from New Zealand takes third place.  (The men's record still belongs to the legendary late British rider Mike Hall, who finished in 13 days, 22 hours, and 51 mintutes.) Sadly Mike was struck and killed instantly by a car on an inaugural 5000km Indian Pacific Wheel Race across Australia on March 31 in 2017.  We chuckled looking at the photo of Justinas. It's obvious in his outfit that he did what Tim spoke of d...

Dave is still well ahead of the broom. The broom is a location on the track map where your dot turns white if you're not keeping up to race speeds, you'd then be considered in touring mode rather than race.  Dave's wife Linda is in touch with him and keeping us up-to-date on how he's doing behind the dot. They had their first phone call on June 19th.  Dave is now in sync with a new race friend -  Erich Gnewikow, 44 years old from Missoula, MT. They both had some issues with their bikes and cold. When they arrived at Pinedale MT they took a room there for 2 nights to regroup and do some fixing. They've had their fair share of peanut butter mud during these storms. To a point where you are not riding or pushing your bike anymore, but rather dragging it forward as the wheels no longer turn with clay mud locking everything up.  Yesterday June 20th, they made it to Atlanta, Wyoming and report having had a better day. Starting off warm and rested and not having to deal wi...

The title of this blog sounds like a lead into one I used to do with our teams on Everest.  Dave reached Pine Dale, Wyoming an elevation of 7175ft/2187m.  He’s almost at the half way mark with one of the extreme challenges ahead of him. The Great Basin in Colorado where he will cycle for 100 miles without access to water.  I was catching up on the three leaders. Things start to hit the wall at this point. Some who went too hard too early are starting to suffer the consequences. It was interesting to learn that leader Ulrich who was the front runner for most of the race early on, was suffering from swollen ankles. This is what happened to Tim as well as his butt. We were trying to figure out what was wrong. As it was painful and looked worrisome to me. Apparently from sitting in the saddle too long in cold and wet, your Achilles starts to tighten over time. Ulrich is nursing this condition by lowering his seat a bit and now in the dryer weather it will hopefully help....

 I’ve got grandpa! He proudly says he actually got called that at one point on the trail.  He’s on the mend now after 2 days off the saddle  He’s eating a lot  Yesterday he had his ritual cheerios and yogurt. Followed by fruit salad, 2 egg and cheese buns, 2 avocado and cheese buns, 2 donuts, popcorn, 5 Bavarian sausages, 3 baked potatoes and the whole bowl of Greek salad. Dave is moving along at a good pace according to his track and beta from the track leaders site. He’s now cycled 962 miles. Yesterday the track dots changed colour for some. Those who have fallen too far back from finishing in the running time are now white dots and categorized as touring instead of racing. I'm not sure on the percentage of drops out yet, but there appears to be a few.  I also see a larger separation between those in the upper times, more resting time as they are getting tired and starting to have more fun. There is also more paring up in groups of two. The three leaders are t...

Tim is out!  His old rebuild bike, the one he purchased at a used bike shop to put on the back of our van -  the okay to steal one for when we are on the road is disintegrating. Butt the real stopper is just that....his rear end is skin to bone. He bought a new Brooks leather saddle for this race  that is too new making it way too hard.   Uphill is ok, and down hill and single track is ok, but the flats are deadly  because  you need to sit. He never really doubted his endurance and everything that comes with it and he enjoyed every minute of it.  I asked if he'd do it again and I didn't get a no. He said the best part for him was the changing scenery, every corner drawing  him  onward with one more mountain and another valley. I could tell how much fun he was having until today. I heard pain, but still with laughter on how crazy challenging this race is. It goes against all the philosophies of mountaineering. The methodical way of appro...

A tire fix and a Canadian carrier US phone plan needs fixed.  The carrier doesn't seem to be compatible keeping up with people who take them off the beaten path to the top of mountain passes and deep into the valley floors several times a day. We were able to establish text last night but that doesn't help much for updating followers on the days ups and downs and overs.  I'll make this one short so I can get on with phone repair as Tim and Dave have had their share of tire repair. Dave sent this photo with a text  "flat x 2"  so I'm not sure if they both had one, or both of Tim's went at the same time.  Donations to find a cure for Parkinson's are keeping in pace with their race speed. We reached the milestone set for $4,000 for Montana. As they move towards Wyoming we are looking to reach $8,000. Just this morning I was surprised to see a nice size donation come in so this may well be a reality. As fast and gruelling as this bike race is, so is the ra...

DAY 3 - WHITEFISH MONTANA - Waking under a train bridge .  Never mind ascending three mountain passes and putting in 210  in one day and night, the peanut butter mud was the challenge of the day yesterday. Everything on their bikes starts to shut down. Tires won't turn, derailleurs seize and your shoes gum up. But they made it to Whitefish, Montana and managed four hours sleep. Seems to be their average amount of sleep they are going with. There are some forerunners going with much less, and one they think hasn’t slept yet— he’s going for a record.  Tim’s shifter wire snapped so that was the quick stop in Fernie for repair. I asked him what’s their waypoint was for today? He laughs saying he doesn't know yet because that they both lost their manual cheat sheets that they had attached to their bars out front. They didn’t even notice when they fell off. I’m told some of the descents were epic, high speed rocky and muddy, and they were whaling down them. But have no fear bec...

  Fernie B.C. for lunch and chores. 12:00pm First day and night on the trail.  They had 4 hours of sleep last night arriving in Fernie at noon. A quick text from Tim to say they were going to a bike shop to get some tweaking, jelly-bean top-up from Save-On and A & W-  two burgers each, onion rings strung on the handle bars and 4 bacon and egger's to cover tonights dinner and tomorrows breakfast, or forfeit to a hungry bear.  Looks like they are in the middle of the pack where they thought they might be. Keeping a notch or two below their abilities, slow and steady. They also talked about walking the steeps and not trying to pump up them avoiding burnout.  There were over 250 riders on the unofficial list (not all with trackers) about 195 on trackers. It will be interesting to watch the numbers deplete as burnout kicks in due to fatigue, injury,  forest fires, snow, washouts, extreme heat, wind, hunger and so on. Till we hear again......

Our new neighbour Dave Rutledge rides up to our place this past fall. He stops to introduce himself from the other side of our grape vines bordering the road. Tim and I are working in the garden. Sometimes first impressions can be everything, but especially coming from a seasoned athlete like Dave Rutledge with his big smile and warm heart that he wears on his face and his joyful laugh.  We learn we have people and places in common, but what really did it for both of us was the fact he was on a bike. Say no more! We organize a neighbours dinner party for Dave and his lovely wife Linda to meet some of the gang. As I was prepping fresh prawns for appetizers for everyone, I hear trouble from my left ear behind me. Dave says the words to Tim "would you", to me it sounded like......"wooooould yoooou" in slow motion, I feel my body start to cringe and my eyes squint. Sure enough before Dave had finished Tim yells out "YES" with that look like of dog waiting for ...