Bike Tart
alwaysriding
Always Riding's good friend Kevin 'Blackhound' Cunniffe is taking part in the epic 'Tour Divide' race through America this year, and here, the intrepid adventurer talks fuel…
One of the many problems on the Tour Divide is eating sufficient food to fuel for the race. I had calculated I would need 8-10,000 calories a day to get through and have recently seen 10,000 calories quoted by another racer as the daily intake required.I have regularly read about riders losing 5-6 kilo’s riding The Divide and this will equate to something in the region of a 40,000 calorie deficit over 3-4 weeks.An average energy bar is about 300 calories so a box of 24 is 7,200 calories and even if you could carry a box of bars and could stand eating them all day every day it is still barely sufficient for a day on The Divide.There are two basic strategies riders employ. One is to stop and get hot meals at cafe’s and restaurants along the way topping up with snacks carried on the trail. The other is to stop at convenience stores and gas stations and buy as many calories as you can eat and carry.Riders talk of stopping for a meal and taking a second meal ‘to go’ for later in the evening.The first option does allow you to rest and the latter allows you to spend more time on the trail riding. If you are not riding you are getting no nearer the finish. I suspect I will employ a mix of both as much for moral strength as anything. If I am on a good day and moving well I may stop for a minimum time. If I have had a bad time or weather is poor I may stop and regroup and eat as much as I am able.There are regularly 80 to 100 miles between towns and it is 220 miles between Pinedale and Rawlins in Wyoming with just a couple of possible sparse groceries that may have supplies. This needs to be planned for and at times plenty of food and water carried. I can easily carry 5.5 litres on my bike and should be able to probably squeeze perhaps 1.5 to 2 further litres on my back. In total the weight of this water is about the same as my road bike! I will carry a mix of bladders that will contain water and bottles that I will put energy type drinks such as Gatorade and Coca Cola in - whatever I can find.In other news the conditions look like making the 2011 edition of the race the toughest ever. If riding 2,750 miles self supported at altitude is not tough enough it was snowing at the start line on 29th May and on the 25th May the Togwotee Pass has 100” of snow on the summit according to reports. The race is looking at one or two diversions in Canada and North West Montana and an additional singletrack loop in Colorado is still covered in snow with 2 weeks to go to the Grand Depart with the gpx track not yet produced for this section. Two weeks out the decision is yet to be made of the final route or what alternate’s are allowed.Boreas Pass on 31st May had 3-6 feet of snow on the trail and it took one rider 10 hours to cover about 12 miles up and down the pass.The organisers have the safety of the riders in mind and the route and conditions is something I cannot control. As long as I know on June 9th where I am supposed to be going the following day I will be fine. I have maps, cue’s and occasionally functioning GPS to get me down the routeA couple of riders have switched to a start from the South end of the route and heading North to give trails a chance to clear. Some more are delaying the start a few weeks and doing an Individual Time Trial over the route. For me my flights are booked and I have no real choice. I could start an individual time trial perhaps 2-3 weeks later and still catch my flight home on 2nd August but how much will the trails improve?Above all I want to come out of this experience alive, the TD will be there in other years but I am looking for an adventure. I will start on 10th June from Banff with my compass set to South. I am planning on getting to Mexico in one piece and if this means venturing off route for safety purposes I will do it. Perhaps I will only ride 80% of the route but if I get the opportunity to go back for another attempt this will be all be experience for 2013 or 2014.The race can be followed at www tourdivide.org by looking on the ‘blog’ tab for the 2011 race once it starts. The ‘Leaderboard’ tab also will give the positions of all the racers by tracking their Spot transponders.I will update as I can on twitter and the ‘www’alwaysriding.co.uk’ blog when I reach towns with public internet access.Twitter: @Blackhound59
