Ultra cyclist Bryce Walsh will ride the Cohutta in the
2012 Tour Divide, an unsupported race that challenges riders to traverse the
backbone of the U.S. and part of Canada, starting in Banff, Alberta, and ending
in Antelope Wells, New Mexico. The Tour Divide is the world’s longest off-pavement
cycling route. At completion, a rider will have climbed nearly 200,000 feet
(the equivalent of summiting Mount Everest from sea-level seven times!).
Racers must not only navigate old forest service roads and
jeep trails but also complete the ride wholly unsupported (barring a few
exceptions). Bryce, who
is also a cycling coach at Vision Quest in Chicago,
will ride through Grizzly country, bivy sack along the route for rest and
endure16-plus-hour days in the saddle. He’ll be riding through desolate
country, but will occasionally pass through towns, where he can resupply and
rest up.
“Just ride until you have to sleep,” Bryce says of his
strategy, which is something he’s used to doing in endurance races around the
world. Bryce’s 2011 race roster included
the Paris-Brest-Paris and the Hill
Country 600 (Race Across Oregon).
“I’ve been joking that I was doing a 7,400-mile training
ride in Africa,” says Bryce with a laugh. “And I’m hitting up
all the Wizard of OZ animals, from lions and tigers to bears.”
Humor aside, Bryce has some apprehension about the race.
“The Divide is the one that is a little bit out of my comfort zone, because I
am
not as experienced of a mountain biker. Riding on trails at night when I am
tired... I wonder how the off-road aspect will translate. I don’t know if
I
can do it,” he says. “That’s what’s exciting about it.” The Tour Divide record
is 17 days, 23 hours, 45 minutes, set by Matthew Lee.
