by Jess Evans
June 5, 2018

The Great Divide Bike Race starts the first Friday in June.  It is a 2700+ mile unsupported bike race from Banff, Alberta, Canada to Antelope Wells, New Mexico, USA. The route follows mostly forest service roads with some pavement and some single track.  The winning time on this mountain bike route is less than 14 days set by Mike Hall in 2016.  Sadly, Mike Hall was struck by a car and killed in Australia last year while riding across Australia in another unsupported bike race.

While it took Mike Hall and many other racers less than 20 days to complete the entire distance, I have been on the route twice, and have only completed 2/3rds of it.  In 2015, I rode with two friends from Banff, Alberta to Butte, Montana.  In 12 days, I rode 707 miles and met people from all over the US and the world doing the route.  We briefly met the Israeli and the German who came into the Canadian diner just as we were leaving, in the lead of the pack.  We encountered a few times the Loud Swiss and the Quiet Kiwi traveling together through Canada.  There were the two Italians who only work long enough to support the cost of their next bike ride.  There was the Oklahoma man who dislocated his arm trying to ride down a steep, gravel section I struggled walking down with my bike.  There was the lady from New York who hated biking, but was there to prove a point.  There was the young kid from Washington State who grew up in Colorado mountain biking and loved the idea of traveling nearly alone through the Rocky Mountains.  The personalities and reasons for biking this route seemed endless, although it was only about 150 people in total.  We started one day ahead of the main pack, which gave us a chance to talk to many of the racers as they passed us.

In 2016, I started in Butte, Montana (picking up where I left off the previous year) and rode to Hartsel, Colorado doing some of it by myself and other sections with friends.  This time I was out for 14 days and rode 1093 miles.  I had started this section just a few days before the official race in Banff began and over 700 miles south.  It would take a while for the leaders of the 2016 race to catch me.  This time, it was much more solitary for me.  I spoke to few people and crossed paths with bike riders going north on the route past me.   The TransAm race, an unsupported road bike race across the US from west to east, had started and some of the paved roads on the Great Divide Route overlapped with the TransAm Route.  I met and rode next to Leal Wilcox, the woman who won the TransAm in 2016, for a mile or two in Wyoming.  As I traveled along in Colorado, I met riders doing the TransAm in Kremmiling, Colorado and later Dillion, Colorado.  A man making a music film of his journey on the route passed me in Colorado going north just south of Breckinridge.  I still have the last 900 miles to go.  I am trying to work that last section into my future plans.

I would recommend to everyone to take the time to bike pack this route, or any route, to really experience the joy of being “out there” in our beautiful world.  Not to sound too cliché, but it is an adventure of a life time.

by Jess Evans
June 1, 2018

Adventure Racing Cooperative (ARC) has divided the US into 11 regions to help us (the AR community) set up regional qualifiers, identify races per region, and rank teams in each region.  Go to https://www.arcooperative.org/regions to see these regions.

I did a quick review of the races shown on the ARHub website.  There is a total of 19 races taking place in June around the US and Canada. Two of the 19 are in Canada, and the rest are spread among 8 of the 11 regions identified by ARC.  The Midwest has 5 races in June, by far the largest number of races among the regions.  The Great Plains and Appalachian regions are trailing it by having 3 races each.

I am not surprised that the Midwest boasts the most races in June.  That region seems to be the hotbed for Adventure Racing, as far as I can tell.  I could be bias considering I lived in the Midwest for 22 years and raced nearly monthly in these Midwestern races.  I am very grateful for the numerous races in this region, because they gave me a chance to immerse myself in the AR world rapidly.

The goals of ARC are to increase the awareness and the number of races (and racers) in all the regions.  Kudos to all the race directors who are working to put on races throughout the US and Canada.  This can only be good for our wonderful sport.

by Jess Evans
May 26, 2018

Staying properly fueled throughout the duration of a race is very important.  I have seen many strategies through the years, some racers relying heavily on sugar, some relying heavily on energy bars and gels, some relying heavily on liquid calories, and others needing “real” food to get through.  I am the in the “real” food category.

Although real food may be heavier than some of the other options, feeling energized enough to keep going is necessary.  In the beginning, I did not understand this need, but I quickly learned how much food and what types of foods I needed during a race.   If you feel low on energy, it is nearly impossible to convince yourself to move on.  If you feel cold, you want to curl up on the ground and not move.  If you feel dizzy, it takes all your strength to put one foot in front of the other.  Food intake helps with all of these situations and more.

I have tried gels and bars, but I found early on that I relished real food while burning lots of calories.  Unfortunately, a few years ago, I started getting acid reflux with nearly every bite I took while racing at night.  I discovered that I have food allergies. I had to start modifying the real food I ate during a race.  I could no longer buy frozen burritos from the frozen food section and munch on those during a race. I could not buy McDonald cheese burgers to indulge in at the TA, although I have heard that they are great and last several days (not sure if that is a good thing).

Now I bring homemade foods to sustain myself.  One of the primary foods I must stay away from is soy beans – and soy is in nearly everything.  Luckily there is soy free chocolate – YEEHAW!  I can pack nuts with cranberries, as long as the nuts are not processed in a plant with soy, which is hard to find.  I eat homemade beef jerky, biscuits, and cookies.  I would like to try the lintel burritos, but have not ventured in that direction yet.  I can also eat some fruit and nut bars, which I will pack for a quick snack.  My protein is “chicken in a pouch” which can be eaten with well soaked rice noodles.  The downside is I have been told my food selection is a bit “hippy-ish”.

I often say that eating and sleeping are two of my favorite things to do.  They are definitely a highlight of an adventure race. If you have great food that excites and energizes you, you will get through your race in much better spirits.

by Jess Evans
May 22, 2018

While Thunder Snow sounds like something out of Mad Max, it is far less terrorizing.  It is a phenomenon that occurs fairly regularly in Colorado.  There is all that electricity in the air, but it is still too cold to rain, thus thunder snow reveals itself.

Recently, Shawn and I decided we needed to test the Continental Divide in Colorado to see if we had what it took to cross those intimidating mountains with winter snow still clinging to their peaks.  We chose the Buchanan Pass Trail in Indian Peaks Wilderness.  The day started out easy enough with a clear trail that was often a small stream of water running downhill from the snow melt high above our heads. As we climbed above 9500 feet, the snow drifts became more prevalent, forcing us to strap on our snow shoes.  Our feet were already wet, but the snow shoes saved us from needing to post hole up the mountain and kept our knees somewhat drier.  Post holing really works those hip-flexers, by the way.

As the terrain became more steep and the snow deepened, we lost sight of the trail.  We would peer at the maps periodically to ensure we were not way off course.  Luckily, we knew the trail followed the creek.  Bolstered with that knowledge, we removed our snow shoes and began to climb up a very rocky, steep mountain side listening to the roaring creek to our right.  Eventually the creek valley opened up, flattened, and the rocky ground was covered in deep snow again. We put our snow shoes back on, and found a snow bridge over the creek to follow the invisible trail.  We attempted to angle up the slope as best we could, knowing the trail rose quickly in elevation at this point.

As we climbed and slid down, and climbed and slid down again, loosing elevation each time, the thunder started.  It rumbled in the near distance to the south. After several long groans from the sky, the snow began to fall.  It was a heavy, wet snow with huge snowflakes.  I noticed our packs were quickly covered in the white stuff, and we were becoming very wet.  I could squeeze my hands into tight fists and see the water drip out of my gloves.  We concluded it was time to turn around.  The mountain had rejected us by throwing deep drifts, slippery slopes, thunder (probably lightning), and heavy snow fall at us.   We had made it to nearly 11,000 feet when we were turned away.  It was a spectacular adventure, and the thunder snow made it way cooler.

by Jess Evans
May 18, 2018

First you need to think of Kermit The Frog singing the “Rainbow Connect” on a random log in a swamp.   But instead the words will go like this… “Why are there so many Facebook posts to “like”? And what’s going on in your life?”  Then you will start to understand the Facebook Connection. 

I have heard all the warnings about not being on social media too often during your day (or night). I try hard not to be addicted to Facebook, but when I see people’s posts about training or racing, I have to look at every picture and read every word.  I really enjoy seeing all the race reports and training runs/rides/paddles my “friends” are doing.  I say “friends” in quotes, because many of my friends on Facebook I hardly know in real life, but we share our adventures on Facebook.

Each weekend there are at least 10 new adventures that pop up in my feed. Adventures in Kentucky, Florida, Indiana, Ohio, Louisiana, Pennsylvania, and so many other places I get to view through Facebook.   The pictures shared, the videos recorded, the natural areas visited, the races completed… are all captured on this little thing known as Social Media.  I have not started using Twitter or Instagram yet, but I am sure all the adventure racing updates are spilling onto those too.

If you post a picture of trees, flowers, trails, and biking, I will “like” it.  If you post a video of someone riding fast down a single track hill or slowly climbing up a steep trail, I will “like” it.  It does not take much for me to send out my “likes” in every direction as long as the post is from the outdoors, getting exercise, and in some small way related to adventure racing.  “Someday we’ll find it, the Facebook Connection… the racers, the riders, and me.” Thanks Kermie… Keep those pictures and videos coming.  You know you’ll get a “like” from me!