"One of my biggest problems is I can never leave a puzzle alone." – MacGyver

2007

1.      The Physical Train Up.

2.      A Thorough Bike Fit.

3.       Full Gear Training Rides/Equipment Validations

The Physical Trainup. 

I heard/read several accounts of folks that did no training at all to prepare for their Divide Trip and made the route just fine.  But if you read between the lines, assuming they have an online journal or other account, you start to see a lot of physical adjustment issues particularly in the first several weeks of the ride.  No training is a technique, but probably not the preferred technique, at least in my case.  Okay, that made my plan pretty simple.  I did not want to suffer physically, at all, at any time on the route.   If I suffered physically; I didn’t want the root cause to be because I didn’t prepare adequately.  “The more you sweat in training, the less you bleed in war” applies even though, obviously, a GDMBR tour is nowhere near a war.

No real training model for two month, off road bike tours exists out there, so I had to improvise.  I decided that simulating “Divide Days” as much as possible and practicing a ton of yoga was the strategy to follow.   Having ridden one of the highest elevation gain sections of the Divide Route in late 2006, I knew that about 60% or more of my riding time on the route would be climbing.  I knew that I needed to be able to climb almost all day, at altitude, for up to about six days in a row.   The problem with this training plan in my case was not an availability of big climbs at altitude, I live in Boulder, Colorado…it was managing the time to do it while still working both full and part-time.  Life was tough.

Regardless, I managed to pull off several really good training rides in the months prior to launch that got my body ready for the trip.  I tried to do as many with a loaded bike as possible, as the core dynamic is considerably different.  I started an intensive, yoga based core strengthening plan nine months before launch.  I had done yoga semi-regularly for several years prior to the Divide trip but made it as regular as possible in the months prior to the trip.  Consequently, I am now absolutely addicted to intense, core focused yoga and have made daily practice one of my top life priorities upon returning from the Divide. 

Lessons Learned.  Outside of the obvious, yes, I could have done more training on the bike and more yoga…much more…had I managed my time better.  But now that I’ve done the trip, I’d rather focus on the more subtle lessons learned.  One was that I lost 25 lbs of body weight within the first three weeks of the ride…my body weight and composition stabilizing within the first third of the ride.  Part of that was fat that I didn’t need anyway and the other significant part was muscle loss.  I have been lifting weights regularly for years, and I should have restructured my strength training program to eliminate bulky and heavy muscle and started the trip leaner and lighter.  Think of dragging a 25 lb anchor behind you on a 4000 ft ascent in low gear and how much quicker and easier you could get to the top if it wasn’t back there dragging you down.  I spent a ton of money and time trying to get the lightest and leanest equipment when I should have spent more time on tightening up the most important piece of equipment. 

All in all, I can say I didn’t have any significant adjustment to riding everyday issues and can say I was pleased with the performance my body turned out.  My physical problems on the route had mostly to do with hand nerve damage and fatigue.  I had some knee issues, but not enough to affect enjoyment…the bike fit had a lot to do with that.

A Thorough Bike Fit 

An endurance mountain bike racer friend of mine, via his experience and his top ranked female endurance mountain biker coach’s (yes, Thank You  Lynda Wallenfels! ) experience, suggested a super thorough bike fit for this route.  I was familiar with bike fits, and had done some semi-thorough bike fits before at bike shops but usually ended up adjusting the bike myself to what felt better.  I resisted the super-fit initially because of the cost, my expenses for the trip were way over budget and I was concerned about it being worth it.  The more I thought about it, the more it made sense.  I had invested two years of my life preparing for this epic vacation, why not try everything in my power to make it physically as painless as possible?