…last week safe, swollen and sporting a spectacular jersey tan.
I wouldn’t have recognized my mustached man if he hadn’t waved at me from outside the airport terminal (though Chris Hansen would’ve likely spotted him from I-95). Dressed in a borrowed Pabst Blue Ribbon T-shirt, swim trunks and silver bike shoes, Justin was noticeably not the same as the Philly International characters flanking him.
I put the car in park and stared incredulously as he hobbled in, out of the humidity and hordes of tense travelers. He grinned. I kissed his cheek. And for the first time in a long time everything felt right.
Once home, we celebrated his return with music, merlot and many, many massages. As Justin iced his ankles (wait, where were his ankles?!), we made plans for the next few days: mountain biking at White Clay, bikepacking to a friend’s house, barbeques and parties.
Then Justin spoke and I listened. I learned that:
Banff—or more specifically, Canmore, Alberta—is the priciest place to live in North America. So, Justin ate most meals at McDonalds prior to the race.
The race “officially” started after Matthew Lee yelled to the group of riders, “Congratulations, guys!” and took off.
Some nights Justin rode until midnight, barely able to stay awake on the bike.
Justin had to scare away moose on the race route.
He had to push for 40 miles in 30+ mph winds to keep a seven mph pace.
Racers will eat or drink just about anything to keep their calorie count high.
Justin raced about 1,100 miles, averaged 130 miles per day and stopped just outside of Jackson, WY.
Above all, I learned that time stands still when you swap stories from 2,500 miles away.
When Justin brought up the notion of not finishing, I gave him tough love.
I told him I wouldn't pick him up from the airport if he changed his flight. I reminded him that he called me the “first loser” when I won second place. I said his body was just in shock from riding over a thousand miles—and God knows how much elevation—in nine days. I said his leg swelling would subside, his Achilles would loosen up, his knee pain would dull down and his mouthful of sores would end after his sugar intake did. Above all, I told him he would regret abandoning the race because he was doing so well.
He countered by saying he regretted not stopping to enjoy the mountains he climbed, “the flowers he pissed on,” the friends who came out to cheer him on. He would regret racing away a whole year’s worth of vacation. “What’s the point if I’m not having fun?” he asked.
I had no answer. And, really, who was I to force him to finish? I watched his SPOT move from the comforts of home—detached from this year's extreme weather, sleep-deprived nights, pain and suffering, and physical exhaustion. Some people would be disappointed he didn’t finish, but most of us could never comprehend the magnitude of his journey. Who were we to judge someone’s valiant attempt at living their dream when most of us are still chasing ours?
He’d made up his mind. So, I changed mine and offered my support.
Justin went out not to challenge the masters of the divide, but rather himself, he’d said in his letter of intent. And he did. He went out to experience the grand tour of mountain biking. And he did.
I told him to spend this next week doing the one intention he never made good on in his letter: Take it all in. I hope he does.
Life's too short to not enjoy the ride.
Day 10 Race Briefs: -Josh Ficke (8th place, 2007) drops out
-John Nobile (Current GDR border-to-border record holder) drops out
I feel a little like the victim in Prodigy’s song, “Breathe.” Every time Justin’s dot hesitates, I hear the lyrics, Come play my game I'll test ya’. Psychosomatic addict insane…and every time it moves again, I hear, Exhale, exhale, exhale.
I breathed a huge sigh of relief this morning when I found out via MTBCast that Justin is alive and well (and apparently oblivious to being untraceable for the past 26 hours). He called in from Helena, MT, last night not knowing what day of the week it was—but knew he was Day 5 into the Tour!
In his call, he says he’s trying to wean himself off the 1,800 milligrams of Ibuprofen he takes DAILY for his injury. He tried taking fewer pills, but had a sleepless Sunday night, which did little to prepare him for climbing two big passes the next day. He saw his first cub sighting (thankfully, no momma bear was in sight) on the first pass.
The second pass, Richmond Peak, was “pretty much a nightmare,” he recounted. “There was a big storm that had just rolled in. So, super tacky, muddy…there were so many mosquitoes it looked like it was raining…and then hike-a-bike through a mile of snow at the top.”
Justin rode 130 miles yesterday and plans to make it to Wise River, MT, today—noted for its peaks, lakes and spectacular scenery.
He continues to ride strong despite his injury and the unprecedented number of storms this year. In a recent race report, Kevin Montgomery wrote:
In addition to the terrain that the racers are facing, there are a number of bad storms that continue to rain down on the racers and slow down progress. Unlike recent years with generally favorable weather through Montana, this year the racers have been forced to endure many cold and stormy days.
Hopefully Justin will get the chance to chat up Rob Leipheimer (the older brother of Astana pro cyclist Levi) when he rolls through Butte like Matthew Lee did.
Also, if you haven’t noticed the split chart (I hadn’t until it was mentioned in the TD blog), check it out. There’s also been some banter in the comment sections that are worth a read.
For those of you who’d like to revisit 1996, here’s Prodigy's (family-unfriendly) video:
Click the slideshow to hear Justin's first "official” call-in from Columbia Falls, MT, Sunday night! Justin rode a couple hundred miles of the Great Divide on a vacation last year, so I had photos of what he's likely seen during this year's race.
Today—all day—I checked, rechecked and triple-checked Justin’s place in the race via the Leaderboard. And all day his dot hovered just above Creston, MT. I pondered. I panicked. I placed an unnecessary call that went straight to voicemail—and left a message (hindsight is 20/20). After a ten hour gap, his dot jumped significantly. What a suspenseful start to the week!
According to his recently updated map, Justin made it to Seeley Lake, MT, where it’s currently 57 degrees and cloudy—a brief respite from the storms that pummeled the racers on the first few days and will continue to do so for a while. The Tour Divide blog says Seeley Lake offers hotels, eateries—even a laundromat! But will he use it? ;)
Just ahead, Justin faces a 26-mile rolling dirt road, flat sections through pasture-land, and a long climb over Huckleberry Pass. He’ll descend into Lincoln (mile 521).
Check out this Day 2 race animation from Topofusion. Makes it look like everyone's riding together:
Race briefs: -Matthew Lee, has a 5-hour lead over the chase group. He skipped stopping at Seeley Lake to resupply because it was slightly off-route. Instead, he stocked up 26 miles later in Ovando.
-Swan River (mile 354), a resupply point, was found burned down.
-John Nobile has been slowed down by intense knee pain.
-Kevin Hall crashed, trashed his bike and will not continue on.
-Bruce Giroux got sidetracked, went off route and will need to backtrack to complete the race.
That’s all for now. Hopefully, Justin’s SPOT will go back to tracking him every half hour instead of every half a day. Oh, and for those who haven’t already, check out the TD blog for all things Divide. Kevin Montgomery took this year off from the Tour Divide and is doing a stand-up job coverig the 2009 race.
First, props to Princeton Tec for finding and posting the start of the race. Can you spot Justin’s Euro ensemble?
I’ll admit it. I’m addicted to the leaderboard. I didn’t even get out of bed this morning before I checked it. And when I clicked on Justin’s link, my heart sank. According to his SPOT, Justin hadn’t started riding yet and his individual page said he’d only ridden 184 miles in two days—not good. The little green tent on his map told me Justin had spent his second night in Roosville, MT. It was 8:00 a.m. there. Why wasn’t he pedaling yet? I thought incredulously. Wake up! I willed the sleeping dot on my laptop screen.
Five minutes later the cell phone rang and I heard Justin’s voice for the first time since he started the race. This is what I found out from the call:
He was awake(!) and currently in Eureka, MT, not Roosville. He started riding at 6:00 a.m., but hadn’t turned on his “tracker” yet. He rode 110 miles the first day, spent the night in Elkford, and rode 150 miles the second day. (The leaderboard isn’t calculating his total mileage correctly. A relief since it was reporting pretty slow progress!) A bad storm hit the first night, so Justin, Alan Goldsmith and others split a hotel room and separated from Jay and Tracey Petervary, the couple racing tandem, who pushed through the stormy night. The second day, yesterday, was “really hard,” he said. 150 miles of big climbs and hiking the bike over avalanche debris.
Justin is in good company at the moment, able to keep a similar pace with a few other riders. When he called, he was eating French toast with Steve Wilkinson, a Tour Divide racer who starred in this exuberant throwback from the 2007 race.
Right now it’s the end of the third day, and it looks like Justin is nearing Columbia Falls. Current leader Matthew Lee reported from Columbia Falls that there is a mile of snow-pack over Red Meadow Pass. Here’s hoping these guys don’t waver too much in the white stuff!
Note: I’ve decided to devote most (if not all) of my pink helmet posts over the next few weeks to Justin’s race. I hope this serves as an outlet for my anxiety and excitement—and, most importantly, a community of support for Justin. Stop by often and leave some love; Justin will be thrilled to read your comments once he's back home!
From the time Justin found out about Tour Divide, he was hooked. Who wouldn’t be? Hailed as mountain biking’s greatest race and one of the toughest competitions in all of sport, Tour Divide claims to be the longest, most challenging MTB race on the planet—2,745 miles from Banff, AB, Canada to Antelope Wells, NM, USA. By route's end each rider will have climbed just about 200,000 vertical feet—the same as summiting Mount Everest from sea level seven times.
In recent years, Justin obsessed over former Divide racers' blogs and flipped through race photos, marveling at the majestic beauty of the Rocky Mountains. Though he was in awe, he was determined to live his dream instead of chase it. He sent his letter of intent (reprinted below) to Tour Divide organizers and joined 41 other names on the 2009 start list—the largest field of Divide racers to date.
And now here we are. It’s midnight in Pennsylvania. Exactly 12 hours since Justin took his first Tour Divide pedal stroke in Banff this morning. (That is, if he started at 10 a.m. with everyone else. Over the weekend, my boy bruised his boys in a bike mishap involving a car. Four days of ice, Ibuprofen and time out of the saddle was hopefully enough to heal his damage down below…)
The leaderboard tells me Justin made it to Elkford, having covered 70.56 miles today (although I think it’s actually further). With fellow racers nearby, including Alan Goldsmith, Steve Wilkinson and Matthew Lee—two-time Tour Divide champion—I can rest (semi) easy on this first night knowing Justin is in good company.
Good night, and good luck!
{Justin's Letter of Intent}:
I would like to state my intentions to compete in this years Tour Divide. Through working at Princeton Tec I have had the opportunity to sponsor & work with endurance cycling greats like Matthew Lee, Jay Petervary, and Pete Basinger. Following their accomplishments along the Tour Divide/Great Divide race over the past few years has drawn me into the race, the route, and all things Great Divide. I can no longer resist my urge to participate so I will be on the starting line in Banff come June. I do not intend to challenge the masters of the divide, but rather follow in their dust. I will be out there to challenge myself, take in the majestic scenery, and experience all that the grand tour of mountain biking has to offer.
So I will see you all in Banff for a pre-race Kokanee, and hopefully in Antelope Wells for a celebratory Negra Modelo. Only time will tell what may happen in between…
We’ve been stressed (to put it lightly) these past couple weeks. So, Justin and I were all too delighted to pack up the Taco and head into no man’s land Friday evening. Justin Steiner invited us (or had we invited ourselves?) to his cabin in Cross Fork, PA. Population: 129. We made a break for the weekend as soon as Justin walked in from work.
Four hours later, the warm glow of the campfire greeted us from Camp Russell’s Roost—the only place you’ll see Woman’s Day and Guns & Ammo sharing the same end table. As we sploshed through the property’s personal creek-crossing (Justin’s dream), Steiner came out to greet us under the stars—and a bit under the influence.
From then on, the beer flowed, the black flies bit and the bikes…oh yeah, the bikes! We saddled up on Saturday for a 70-mile dirt road loop Steiner mapped out. Semi-accurate map below:
View Larger Map Our excursion was one of the most enjoyable, but demanding routes I’ve ridden. Steep ascents were unrelenting and recurrent, and, at times, loose gravel disrupted our descents. Though a bit more mountainous than we expected, the views from the top were worth every climb.
After the ride, Justin commented that he felt great. Good thing since that’ll be half of his riding each day during the Tour Divide!
Sunday we slept in, went for a stroll through the woods and took photos of our natural surroundings. A perfect way to wind down the weekend. Really, the only regret I have is not getting Steiner’s autograph…
