Video

Here's a little video one of the guys took on the trail. You can hear the wind and see it push Tracy's bike at one point. Imagine 70 miles of pushing through wind like that.

Oh no another problem...

I was biking along the bike path outside Butte high above the highway when I noticed a jeep following my progress down below. This was not to many days after the campground incident so my first thought was... Uh oh. He was off the highway and on the berm moving at my pace..... CHIT! As I came down a hill even with the interstate i saw the guy had parked and had gotten out of his jeep and was walking toward the fence separating us. I veered to the far side of the trail. Then the guy yelled at me " hey are you Tracy Burge?" I stopped and cautiously answered. I wondered if there was something wrong at home or ... Then he said " I am Russ Kipp from the biker hostel in Polaris we have been following you and all the other racers and I was driving along and saw you up there and had to stop and say hello!" My voice cracked as I thanked him for stopping... He looked at me funny...I told him it was so good to hear my name and have such a welcome. He took my picture and we talked a bit and he told me to see him in Polaris... And by golly I did!

Terror not from bears.....

When I pulled into Helena I went directly to the bike shop. As we all know the MOOTS has been flawless but I needed to take care of her....a little TLC was in order. As the mechanics worked I planned. I looked at maps, talked to locals, and yes, I googled the route out of Helena to see how long it would take me to get to the camp ground at the top of the pass. Google said three hours, it was 6:30 so I decided to push on. Let me tell you it was a HAUL. Twenty some odd mile climb.... in the granny ....huffing and puffing ...and.... I do not think google ever did it on a loaded bike at the end of the day. At 10 pm I am finally at the turn for the camp ground. As I turn this guy in a pick up comes by (I have not seen a car on the road in four days except in Helena). He stops and we talk for a minute and then he hops out of the truck. I notice he has a firearm on his side. That kind of shakes my nerves a bit. He goes to the back of the truck where he has a cooler and pulls out an ice tea and hands me one...and I think ... Okay he is a nice guy. Right? Then he offers to drive the little bit to the camp ground to show me the way, its only a quarter mile, its off route and he insists so I say okay. I figured when I got among other campers things would be fine. When we arrived there were no other campers....none. Not even an empty trailer. He looked around, I looked around, he looked me up and down and then said ..."you gonna be alright?" I said "yes absolutely" and he left. I went directly to the rickety bathroom and locked the rickety door. I should have moved on but I was cold, tired and hungry. The bathroom won out over more miles. I ate, laid my stuff out, fought the mice for floor space and finally dozed off. The crunch of gravel and head lights through the glazed bathroom glass woke me, my heartbeat crowded out any further sounds. The lights shone in the window for a moment then moved toward the direction of the campground. I stared out the window and watched the lights take a slow path around the sites and back down to the bathroom. I ducked below the window and was swallowed by my heartbeats once again. Then the truck moved away and toward the exit... I was wishing for a bear.

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Bannick Park to Lima

(as dictated by Tracy)

It was a long climb from Bannick Park to Medicine Lodge Pass. With constant wind I averaged 5 miles an hour. I and a group of cyclists pull into a dry irrigation ditch next to the driveway to a ranch and underneath the only tree on the whole horizon. We all fell out and fell asleep after biking 20 miles in 4 hours. There are 5 of us there huddled under the narrow piece of shade this tree provides. Two and a half hours later two of the riders decide to go on, and two of us decide to wait until the evening hours. Twenty minutes later a woman from the ranch pulls up and asks if we want to come up to the house to rest. We accept.

At the house we learn a bit about the ranch. They had 30 sq. miles of land. Their little girl wanted to show us her new pony, Elvis. When we got out to the corral several horses were accidentally let out when we let Elvis into a corral. And the rodeo began. They were kicking and running and the lady was trying to catch them. It was a real ranch experience. We were closing gates, opening other gates, trying to corner the ponies. None of them would let us go near them. Eventually we sorted them out until Elvis-pony stood alone in the middle of the corral. The little girl walked right up to him.

After that mess we decided to excuse ourselves. By the time we got to our bikes it was 6:30 in the evening. We finished the pass which took another 3 hours then we had a long winding beautiful downhill in the middle of a moonlit canyon. We stopped several times to shut off our lights to look at the outline of the rocks.

We camped on the side of the road. I woke up to find I had set my tent up in a rock garden. I had a horrible nights sleep. Every twist and turn I made landed me on yet another rock. I woke up in the bottom of a beautiful canyon near a creek, watching an otter playing in the river.

Now it is back onto the road and fighting the wind, back to 6 miles an hour on flat ground, and it is awesome.

This is Tracy at Lima

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Tracy in Elk Park

Tracy at Montana High Country Lodge, Polaris, MT

Back at it and happy about it!

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Reminders

and another from Tracy:

"Sometimes I wake up and I think " why" " what am I doing?" another pass , more wind ... And "where am I going?" Last night and this morning gave me plenty answers. I pulled into Wise River and stepped into mosquito heaven. I was swatting and dancing when a local offered some " bug dope". I took some, and got an offer of margaritas and camping as well. I took that too. I went into the restaurant and there were five other riders ....and they said to me " are you the girl on the MOOTS?" We talked and shared stories and had some food then three of us headed to the campsite offered. When we got there it was a bonanza in many ways. Food, liberal people , good conversation and open arms. They also knew all about the race. One guy in particular went over and over my bike...he loved it ....and of course I told him it was flawless. In the morning he came to tell us good bye and wistfully looked over my bike again. We took off for the day and waved our goodbyes. Later half way up the pass as I was taking a picture I heard a bike roll up; I liked over my shoulder. It was Ed the guy at the campsite. He couldn't stand it....he had to ride the divide even for a little bit. He was so excited, so was his wife. Later someone else from the campsite handed a dark chocolate candy bar out the window to me. People were smiling and hooting and hollering. It was great. It was also a wonderful reminder."

Thank you

From Tracy:

"I am sitting here in Bannock State Park Montana with wifi ..... that is hard enough to believe. What is harder to believe is the support all of you send my way. I read your text and comments on the blog and a big frog gets stuck in my throat. Your comments remind me to be kind to myself, I appreciate that so much. This race has turned out much differently than I thought it would....it's been difficult for me to... assimilate into reality, and accept. It has been your kindness,love and support; your grace....that has reminded me of my own. Thank you."

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Never say never.

I rode my bike to the bike shop this morning to get it packed to go. Rob at the bike shop told me to take ten more minutes to decide. In that ten minutes two people came in said they were riding the divide and invited me to ride with them. BINGO! That was what I needed. I did not think it was wise to ride into the desert with diarrhea and dehydration. However after a doctors visit, some Flagel (for possible giardia) and some rest I will go on with them. Yeah! Sorry for the roller coaster ride. You guys are awesome! Hope this does it! Love, Tracy

Love

I have absolutely loved this process with all of you. I have loved what I have been doing out here. I have loved my MOOTS bike. It was flawless. I have loved the love I have felt from all of you. I have met great people, seen stunning scenery, and done things I did not think I could do. I have been part of the food chain. Let me tell you,that is an interesting perspective. This has been an incredible journey. However it has come to an end. Though I am disappointed I am still proud; of all of us. We did this together. It was fun wasn't it? I pushed the miles that I did because I had all of you pushing me. And it was a push. A beautiful push. Thank you so much. I love you all.

Update from Butte

Report from Tracy, she spent the night in Butte mostly because she was not feeling well again. Nausea and diarrhea have returned. She got dehydrated yesterday and we believe that has contributed to problems with altitude acclimation. She has spent the morning dealing with those issues. She also was experiencing face numbness. So this all led to a late start out of Butte but she is now on her way. Taking it hour by hour.

She did a callin last night, you can follow this link to hear it:

Tracy's callin from Butte.

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Going back...

This is a catch up blog..... so I am going back to when I pulled the hood up over my head on the highway (see post: I got to use the hood). When I returned to the van I slid into a seat and began to give up control..... there was nothing I could do ... the flu was kicking in. We drove to the border town of Shelby where we thought we would get a hotel. That's where the truck stop comes in. No hotels available. None. No where. But the truck stop bathroom floor was wide open and I settled in. Cindy, unfortunately in the same predicament, took the opposite stall. I remember three distinct comments from that night. The first came from a young woman as she entered the bathroom
" Hooooly shit"... I knew what that was about but could do nothing but lay there in a ball waiting....Another woman came in asking for a ride to a funeral. I replied that I could not help as I was sick... she replied "listen I can pay I am not broke ass"  I wanted to reply that I indeed was but just laid there on the floor. I had assumed nearly every curled position  you can take inside a stall when finally my feet slowly slid out underneath the door and into the open floor space. The third comment I heard was..." Maaaaam?" Two and a half hours later Cindy and I were finally able to stumble to our van and Jenny and Jan got us across the border to Lethbridge. Lucky for the truck stop there.... a hotel room was available.


ELKFORD (second night of the race)....After a second day of cold rain many racers gathered in Elkford in a hotel. My room did not have hot water. CHIT! I was already on a down turn and did not have enough energy to inquire so I went to bed dirty. I mean dirty. It rained all night. In the morning I was able to eat a bit of breakfast and was feeling a bit optimistic about the day. We set out one by one and in small groups  and as we twisted and turned deeper and deeper into the woods I noticed a set of prints to my right. The prints were so fresh the mud stood in perfect pyramids between its pads. No claws. Looked a lot like .....cattie prints... but desert plate sized!!  Oh chit!  They went on for a mile. My nerves went on for much longer than that.

Little Speedy Friends Go Zoom All Through The Night..

Report from Tracy, she did indeed have a cold and windy night at Park Lake because of the altitude, "I was f..rr..eeeee..zzING." She stayed in one of those concrete bathroom structures (another night on a bathroom floor, at least she wasn't throwing up this time) but she had some friends in the night. Mice kept running right over her at high speed ("zoom.. zoom") and they helped themselves to her rice crispie treats. This morning she is happy though, very upbeat. She has already gotten through the single track, she said, "it is very beautiful here". She is hightailing it to Baisn hoping to get to the pizza parlor before it closes. Again, she wants to stress that the Moots is flawless. "It doesn't flinch at the grizzlies..."

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Pushing on

Tracy made it to Helena in good time and has decided to push on towards Basin and Butte. She will most likely be spending the night at Park Lake where they have a campground (small) with restrooms. She said she could sleep in the restrooms if she was really worried about bears.

I posted some pictures on this post: tough-day-ahead-today-and-more-picks

And I still plan on posting some more either tonight or tomorrow so stay tuned.

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Tough day ahead today and more pics from Trace

Tracy is still pressing on. She faces a long, tough climb today on her way into Helena. We estimate it will take her roughly 12 hrs to get through this pass or passes today. Not only is it a crawling climb but she is being rained on in 40 degree weather and we anticipate snow again on the ridge at the top. She is feeling better though and last night she had "the biggest hamburger" she's ever eaten. Her IT band injury hurts with every stroke but is getting better with every day.

She encountered more trail angels at Ovando, see the pics below, they tell the story better than I could in words. Tracy will blog the story as soon as she gets a chance. I will post even more pics a little bit later.

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Future Tour Divide racers.. how to warm up...

Thought you all might be interested to see this broadcast from the Weather Channel interview with Matthew Lee the "race director" [sic] and 5 time winner of the Tour Divide race. He calls this race the Tour de France of mountain biking and also says it makes the Tour de France look like a warm up.

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Tracy is on the move again.. more pics

As you can see Tracy is indeed on the move again. She is tough!

Here are some pics from Tracy of life on the course.

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I Am Mary

(Tracy dictated the following blog for you all).

Blame it on the flu, blame it on my arrogance, but I am Mary. Now I know why her legs got big, protein deficiency. For five days I was unable to eat properly. While other riders sat at tables eating sirloins, pancakes, hash-browns and omelets, I ate 2 eggs and a piece of toast or a plain dish of noodles. I could not tolerate protein. I was nauseated. Because I was nauseated I didn't drink well either. Four snowy passes and 400 miles later I was out of gas. And my legs were as big as Mary's. I stayed the night in a Super 8 hotel in Whitefish. I shivered half the night and was half delirious. In the morning Cindy convinced me to go to urgent care. I was going to get a cortisone shot for my knee but by the time I got there I was also an emotional and mental mess. The doctor looked at my legs and swollen face and said, "you need two to three days off, you are spent." I cried. He did an e.k.g, a chest x-ray and blood work to make sure I had not done any damage and then sent me up stairs to the physical therapist for a tape job. When I walked in John was going to take care of me when Jay jumped up and said "I'll take her, I'll take her." He told me to sit on the table, asked me what my problem was and then started moving my leg around. I yelped. He said, "you're going to need a couple days off". I cried. The thought of staying in a hotel room by myself in this state depressed me to no end. I was afraid of what it might do to me.

I asked him, "where can I stay for two days?" He suggested a few places and I cried again. Then he said "let me make a phone call." When he returned he said, "you're going home with us, my wife will be here to pick you up in 15 minutes." When his wife arrived she walked directly to me (she was petite) and wrapped her big arms around me and said, "I'm sorry, i know just what it is like to train so hard and then have an injury." And.. I.. sobbed. All this energy, all the training, all the good wishes laid there on the table in her arms.

I got in the car and she apologized for having to run some errands before taking me home. One of which was going to the grocery. I was gimping around so I got in one of those motorized carts with the basket on the front and followed her bumping into displays, backing into trash cans but being of some use at least. We brought the groceries home and they made me a big dinner of which I could eat only a bit because I was still nauseated. After dinner I laid on the couch with their dogs and cat. Then I went to bed and laid there with their dogs and cat. In the morning Jay made me a big breakfast which I choked down because I was still nauseated. Then I went back to bed... with their dogs and cat. Midday I finally got up. Jay did some more treatment on my leg, I went to the pharmacy and got some anti-nausea pills, went to the bike shop and got some work done on the bike and began to get my hutzpa back. I gotta do this. But I'm BACK ON THE ROAD AGAIN, CHAAARGE! Thanks for your well wishes, your prayers, your hopes. Like I said, we do this together.

Please send Cathy and Jay at c.shaver@bresnan.net a thank you for getting me back on the road.

(And once again the Moots was flawless and I was not.)

Tendonitis cont...

There was more of an issue than the IT band. She had edema which caused some alarm. And she was nauseated. Not feeling well at all. Blood tests showed her protein levels were low. She is resting for a day maybe two and will continue on her own. She, in true Tracy form, has been adopted by a medical worker from the clinic and his family (he is an athlete himself) and so she is enjoying a great home cooked meal and a warm comfortable home.

"The last one to Mexico is a rotten egg..."

Here is a video of the mass start June 8th 8am MDT.

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Tendonitis

Tracy has tendonitis in her IT band. The booties she was wearing threw her stroke off. She is pressing on. Arranged for an urgent care clinic visit in Whitefish, MT.

Tracy's first race callin from Roosville

This is the audio from Tracy's first callin from Roosville. Listen all the way through, it sounds like it stops or gets cut off but that is just Tracy pausing for emotion. MTBCast TD12 – Tracy Burge called in from Roosville by ceeblet

Race start pictures

Some pictures were posted from the start of the race: http://conquerthedivide.blogspot.com/2012/06/race-has-begun.html. I will post a small video and more pictures soon.

On The Border

So Tracy has reached the border and has called in. She dictated the blog typed in below.

Make sure you read the comments on some of the tracker checkin posts as people have posted her messages to them as well.

You can listen to the racer's callin's on this page. http://mtbcast.com/site2/

You can get some good reports as to the conditions they've been going through. Tracy's hasn't been posted yet I don't think but keep an eye out for it, I think it will be a gem.

From Tracy:

"The race start was exciting, all of us jockeying for a position, in a 30 day race it seemed ridiculous but there we were racing. I of course was talking to people, they were busy racing. We had an absolutely gorgeous race course for the first 3 hours (you'll see pictures) and sure enough 2 hrs into the race my worst fears came true, there in front of me was a bear. He ran up into the woods by about 30 yards and stared at us and as we moved by all we could do was yell cause we were rollin'. Right after that it started raining and at times it was pouring. It was an icy rain, it was a cold rain. I had my shower cap on my helmet and that was working well against the rain but not against the cold. Pretty soon we were finding our way through a magnificent.... cloud, the mountains had disappeared. We were shrouded in absolute cloud cover. The day continued, the rain continued, the mud continued until I was wracked with shivers. About then through shaky hands I read "William Watson Lodge" on the map and I knew I had to get there. I had 4 more hours to go in the pouring, freezing rain in which that lodge was the only dry refuge. Will he please let us in? Will he put us on the floor? Put us in the garden shed? Under a table? Anything, anything to get us out of this cold rain. And then we pulled up to this beautiful facility and when we walked in it was a haven for other racers. Katherine Hogan of William Watson lodge had become a trail angel, I seriously think she saved our lives, many racers were soaked to the bone and were getting hypothermic, but Katherine took us all in giving us hot showers, her own meal and offering warm places to sleep. I went to bed that night hoping for the rain to stop. In the morning the rain had stopped... it had turned into snow, and all of you... every last one of you put me on my bike that morning."

She also said they have been going through several feet of snow, the snow has been up to their hubs on their bikes. They were going through one pass and they said they knew it would take them 7-8 hrs to go 30 miles.

She also said the Moots has been flawless. You can see in the race reports many riders are having mechanical problems especially with brakes. Thank you Moots!!

Here are a few more quotes from Trace:

"I am humbled out here. Around these people [meaning the other racers] I am nothing."

"I am not running my own race, the race is running me."

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http://fms.ws/8AQra/50.99797N/115.37424W

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http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=50.99797,-115.37424&ll=50.99797,-115.37424&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1

tracytracker

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Every day is an Adventure. Share Yours.
http://www.findmespot.com

Check-in/OK message from tracytracker SPOT Messenger

tracytracker
Latitude:50.9996
Longitude:-115.37662
GPS location Date/Time:06/08/2012 12:37:40 EDT

Message:Checking in with my SPOT tracker. I am A-OK.

Click the link below to see where I am located.
http://fms.ws/8AOPf/50.9996N/115.37662W

If the above link does not work, try this link:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=50.9996,-115.37662&ll=50.9996,-115.37662&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1

tracytracker

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Every day is an Adventure. Share Yours.
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The race has begun

The 2012 Tour Divide race has begun and Tracy and Sara are already moving quite along on the trail. As you can see in the previous two posts Tracy has hit her check in button a couple of times. You can follow her tracker using the two links on the right side bar under the heading "Tracker Links to Follow Tracy". Here are a few pictures from the start of the race. I have a small video I will post soon as well. More pictures to follow.

Check-in/OK message from tracytracker SPOT Messenger

tracytracker
Latitude:51.06282
Longitude:-115.42993
GPS location Date/Time:06/08/2012 11:48:23 EDT

Message:Checking in with my SPOT tracker. I am A-OK.

Click the link below to see where I am located.
http://fms.ws/8AM1o/51.06282N/115.42993W

If the above link does not work, try this link:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=51.06282,-115.42993&ll=51.06282,-115.42993&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1

tracytracker

You have received this message because tracytracker has added you to their SPOT contact list.

Every day is an Adventure. Share Yours.
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Check-in/OK message from tracytracker SPOT Messenger

tracytracker
Latitude:51.1816
Longitude:-115.56787
GPS location Date/Time:06/08/2012 09:43:24 EDT

Message:Checking in with my SPOT tracker. I am A-OK.

Click the link below to see where I am located.
http://fms.ws/8AGN-/51.1816N/115.56787W

If the above link does not work, try this link:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=51.1816,-115.56787&ll=51.1816,-115.56787&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1

tracytracker

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Every day is an Adventure. Share Yours.
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I got to use the hood!

Three days ago Jenny Pacey got food poisoning and man was she a trooper. After evacuating her entire body of any fluid in any direction it would come out she rode in the car with us for a day and half until she felt better. We were delayed a bit but we still had fun feeding Prairie Dogs (they have really cute butts), seeing Mount Rushmore and driving through the Badlands. Tuesday we were making the final push towards Canada and we stopped at an Arby's to eat. I did not have my usual appetite but attributed it to excitement. While we were at Arby's I had a great idea! I taped my solar charger to the hood of the car and wrapped the end around the windshield wipers. It would charge and not blow away. Five miles outside of Arby's it began to rain. Jenny, who was driving, turned on the windshield wipers, like any one of us would. There was a groan as the windshield wiper bent against the strain of the tape and then a horrid sound as the windshield wiper began to drag my solar charger back and forth across the windshield. The car erupted, "JENNY!! Chit!!" and then a big long "oooooohhhhhhhhh" as the solar charger let go and flew into the median. Then more yelling, "Jenny we got to get off!", "I can't stop NOW!!", "Somebody mark where it was somebody mark where it was!!". Believe it or not we were able to retrieve it without MUCH drama. But the drama was soon to come. About an hour later that chicken sandwich I ate at Arby's was not sitting well. It was then that I realized Jenny had not had food poisoning. I began to squirm... maybe moan a little bit. And then I announced, "PULL OVER PULL OVER!!". It was raining hard so I grabbed Glady's rain jacket and headed out behind the van. It was not long before I was doubled over. THEN... oh yeah.... then something was knocking on my back door. There I was on the flat, open plains of Montanta with no where to hide and I had to..... and so I did. And as I did, as the trucks rolled by, I pulled Glady's hood up over my head.

We were entering the rocky mountain area this morning ; sound track of "Ride the Divide" playing,
cameras clicking, Jenny sleeping; no one talking, all just absorbing the scenes and the moment. As we crested a hill and rounded a turn there they were..the snow crested Rocky Mountains. I burst into tears. Jan turned to talk to me, looked at me and burst into tears. Cindy of course, was already there. It's a great thing to share this journey.

Check-in/OK message from tracytracker SPOT Messenger

tracytracker
Latitude:41.45543
Longitude:-90.50247
GPS location Date/Time:06/03/2012 10:23:15 EDT

Message:Checking in with my SPOT tracker. I am A-OK.

Click the link below to see where I am located.
http://fms.ws/86doK/41.45543N/90.50247W

If the above link does not work, try this link:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=41.45543,-90.50247&ll=41.45543,-90.50247&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1

tracytracker

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We are in Iowa....been rockin a mini van off its wheels all the way....I got the moves like jagger.