Ultra bicyclists show the way to energy independence

Hardly a minute goes by without the media or bureaucrats sermonizing about ways to cut back on our consumption of gasoline. While it has caught the publics attention, most of these fixes are trivial when compared to the athletic feat that just began high in the Rocky Mountains, at the US-Canadian border.

According to the Adventure Bicycling Association:

Great Divide Race starts today

At noon today, high on the remote Montana/Canada border, approximately 20 riders will set off on the world’s most challenging bicycle race — the fourth annual Great Divide Race. Held on Adventure Cycling’s 2,490-mile Great Divide Mountain Bike Route, the riders, or at least those who finish, will pedal the entire distance to the Mexican border without any outside assistance. They carry everything they need — food, water, shelter — on their bikes and backs, with refueling stops in small-town stores along the way. Riders are truly on their own, with no support crews, SAG vehicles, or massage-teams allowed.

With a record number of racers, and with several hoping to break the course record of 16 days (note: that’s not a typo), the 2007 Great Divide Race promises to deliver high-quality human drama and unparalleled long-distance adventure. To follow the race updates, go here. Audio updates can be listened to here.

Though the race follows its Great Divide Mountain Bike Route, Adventure Cycling does not organize or officially sponsor the Great Divide Race. In fact, no one sponsors the race. The GDR is a grassroots event by design, with exactly zero dollars in prize money for the winners.

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Several aspects of this story should be noticed by all the vidiots out there.

1. If these bicylists can travel under there own power along the treacherous ridge of the Rockies, why can't we use our bicycles to go to work . . . or to get milk, the morning paper, a lotto ticket or even a pack of cigarettes? If even a small percentage of local commutes and trips were done with bicycles, it would have a dramatic effect on global gas consumption.

2. Why "no one sponsors"? If Steve Jobs was really on the ball he would have an iPhone powered by a small solar mat with each contestant. From such high vantage points there would be a good chance that some of the peril of riding from Canada across America to Mexico could be communicated and help could be dispatched.

These fine athletes are heroes in the most modern sense. They are riding high tech machines along the world's longest off-road route without aid of fossil fuel. There exploits should be an inspiration to citizens all around the globe.

FAST FORWARD TWO WEEKS

For Immediate Release
July 2, 2007
Contact: Aaron Teasdale
800-755-2453 x237
ateasdale@adventurecycling.org

Great Divide Race Winner Shatters Course Record

New records for speed, participation set in world's most challenging bike race

In an unprecedented display of fitness, strength, and nation-spanning bravado, Jay Petervary, a 35-year-old from Jackson, Wyoming, has won the fourth annual Great Divide Race, decimating the course record with an astoundingly fast time of 15 days, 4 hours, and 18 minutes. Thought unbeatable by many, the previous record of 16 days, 57 minutes, was set in 2004 by current race organizer Mike Curiak. Following Adventure Cycling's 2,490-mile Great Divide Mountain Bike Route, riders in the Great Divide Race navigate jeep roads down the spine of the continent through some of the most remote country in North America, climbing over 200,000 feet and crossing the Continental Divide 28 times.

"I had planned to get photos of every rider pedaling the route," said Adventure Cycling's Aaron Teasdale — whose photo gallery from the first day of the race can be seen here: www.adventurecycling.org/gdrgallery2007 — "but JP shot by me so fast I didn't even have time to get my camera out of the pack. He was red-faced and pumping like he was sprinting for the finish line — and this was two hours into a two-week race."

Cannondale-sponsored rider Matthew Lee, winner of the previous two GDRs, finally achieved his goal of breaking Curiak's record but, in a twist, did not win the race. In the 36 hours before the race, Lee rode the 221-mile Canadian Extension of the Great Divide Route as a "prologue," making his time of 15 days, 22 hours, and 40 minutes, extraordinary in its own right.

This year's race has delivered the kind of backcountry adventure the Great Divide Route is known for, with one rider having a close encounter with a moose, another group caught in a high-mountain June snowstorm, and two riders in remote southern Colorado reporting a close-range UFO sighting. A record 24 GDR riders lined up at the start line, with 11 riders still on the course (and 11 pulling out along the way), including a yet-to-be-determined third-place finisher.

The Great Divide Race is a unique event in the world of sport — there is no entry fee and no outside support — with riders carrying everything they need (food, water, supplies) on their bikes and backs. Petervary wins no prize for his accomplishment, other than the satisfaction of knowing that no other human being has ever ridden the mammoth route faster.

"Mountain biking has a new hero," said Teasdale, "and his name is Jay Petervary."

To learn more about the Great Divide Race go to www.greatdividerace.com. To follow the riders still in this year's race, go here: www.greatdividerace.blogspot.com.
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I take back my earlier comments about sponsorship and the iPhone. This story is a lot more important than iPhones . . . it's about the dominance of the human spirit.

High Praise to all the participants in the Great DiVIDe race!