Silver City!!

Just a quick update as Chris restocks his food supply at the gas station.

Chris actually ended up beating me to Silver City today because he's so darn fast (and apparently I'm Colorado-Springs-retarded). After leaving where he stayed last night at 2 am (eww), he was running from the storms and managed to get here in smokin' time.

As I pulled into Silver City, I was amazed at the hovering dark clouds near town that are showering lightning as we speak. I was a little worried about that, you know, not wanting my husband to get hit by lightning and all...

Anyway, sounds like Chris had the same idea. Instead of pushing on to camp tonight in the storm, he's eating and hitting the sack in the very near future (it's 6:15), then rolling out of here as early as he can muster waking up (midnight-2am is the desired time frame I think). From there, he'll have the 120 mile slog to the end. I will leave the hotel later, but still pretty darn early for me, and be meeting him at the end! Wohoo!!

Can't wait to bring my skinny boy home to fatten him up!

GO PLESKO!!!

-Wifey

Mmmm, pie!

One of my favorites from his camera so far.
He'll be doing a lot of this in a few days!

Chris made it to Pie Town.

"It only took me a year and a half to get here, but here I am!" he proudly announced over the phone.

Like I said, the boy loves pie. The idea of a town solely based around pie is a pretty exciting concept.

He said he took a lot of pictures! Including, for his mom, a slice of pie knit out of yarn.

Sounds pretty fantastic to me.

The next stop up is Silver City. He won't make it there all in one push. He plans to ride as far into the Gila tonight as he can and then stop to sleep. He likes the idea of not having a particular place in mind to stop for the night. He'll stop when he gets tired, start when he wakes up. Simple as that.

As of Pie Town, he is 300 miles from the end.

One map left.

I love that 300 miles sounds like nothing until I actually think about it. Chris and I made a deal that he would ride 2800 miles and I would ride 280 while he was gone. 280. 20 less than what he has to do in the next two days. And I didn't get anywhere close in two and a half weeks. He, however, will knock that out like it is nothing. Yes, I owe him a rockin' dinner for losing the bet.

Wow, a whole new perspective.

As for me, I'm heading out in a few minutes to stop at my sister's house in Colorado Springs for the night, before heading down to Silver City tomorrow. 9.5 hours of driving tomorrow. I've never been more excited to drive 9.5 hours by myself.

Hopefully I'll intercept Chris in the Wal-Mart parking lot tomorrow evening before he either stops for the night or stops for dinner and continues on.

Then hopefully...

Wednesday: Antelope Wells!

I can't believe it.

I can't wait.

And judging by the whines coming out of our dog right now, neither can Turbo... so I better load him into the car and hit the road.

I will most likely update one more time after Chris passes through Silver City and before I head to Antelope Wells.

Wish us luck.

GO PLESKO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

-Wifey

Spun Out

I believe this self-portrait was taken by Chris when he was going over Boreas Pass.

Chris has really been haulin' the last few days.

He suffered through the major passes, happily only encountering a few sections of hike-a-bike mud, flew through El Rito, and called me from Abiquiu last night. When I spoke to him last night while he was waiting for his food to be ready, he sounded like the energizer bunny. He was super excited to have had such a good day and to have caught and rode with Jay P and Tracey on the tandem. The hotel in Abiquiu was all booked up (seriously, who actually GOES to these towns that no one has ever heard of???), which made him happy because then the temptation wasn't there to turn in early and hotel it. They headed out a bit past town and stopped to sleep around 11:00 last night.

It was another early morning for Chris and the Petervary's as they made the trudge toward Cuba. Chris said that section wasn't especially hard, just especially annoying. In his words, it would "climb climb climb, level out, roll, climb, roll, climb... all leading to one screaming decent down into Cuba" where his GPS would clock him at hitting 50 mph. Apparently the tandem hit 56 and just left Chris and his lack-o-pedaling in the dust. They all eventually rolled into Cuba, stocking up on food and drinks for an inevitably long afternoon and evening down into Grants. Supposedly you are riding through some indian reservation land and it's not wise to stop and camp. I'm sure if he needs to, he will, but as of now his plan is to keep rolling until he gets into Grants. He has enjoyed riding with Jay and Tracey for the last day, and having a little company, but he is well-aware that they are going to be leaving him in their dust on this next road detour. With two motors and gears, the tandem can obviously put Chris's 32x17 gearing to shame. He plans on being spun out... a lot. The road detour lasts approximately 120 miles and it is mentally tough for Chris to know that, with gears, that section could pass by a lot quicker.

"But, I chose to do this single speed. I just guess this is where I'm going to pay for it."

The great news is that after Grants the next big goal is Pie Town.

One of Chris's biggest disappointments for not being able to finish last year was that he didn't get to roll through Pie Town.

Chris really like pie.

A lot.

And, once Chris hits Pie Town, I am going to be on the move myself: packing up the dog, fresh clothes and real shoes for the hubby, and heading south.

It could realistically be only three more days until I see Chris again and get to bring him home with me.

Then? We party!!

Damn, I'm proud of him.

GO PLESKO!!

-Wifey

Loads 'o photos

If you are interested in seeing the Tour Divide through Chris's camera -- Banff to Salida so far -- here's a link to the 400ish pictures he has taken so far. Some are simply hilarious and others are breathtakingly beautiful. Very much worth the time to sort through.

Enjoy!



(click on the slide show to be taken to all of the photos)

Rain, rain, go away!

Picture taken by Jess at Orange Peel Bikes in Steamboat.
Tracey, Chris, and Kurt

Just got to chat with Chris from Del Norte over the computer.

The house that he was stopped at did not have a land line, only a cell phone. Which would be okay, except Chris is trying to follow the strictest of rules between the GDR and the Tour Divide, so that if (when!) he sets the single speed record, it is 100% legit and he won't feel there's an asterisk attached. He is not carrying a cell phone and he refuses to use one, even if it is offered to him by someone else.

This is a giant pain in the butt. Chris has said it's one of the toughest aspects of the race.

Many places have ripped out the payphones, since everyone and their grandmother have cell phones these days, and they cost a lot to maintain.

Chris and I both think the cell phone rule is "stupid" (I know, I know, it has its reasons), but regardless, he plays by the rules. As if riding the route on a rigid single speed wasn't hard enough to start with... he must make it a bit harder. There's no googling phone numbers on his iPhone and calling ahead to see what's open, or to coerse businesses into staying open late -- like the bike shop. While it's allowed within the Tour Divide rules, Chris chooses not to do it.

So, when he gets to a spot like Patti's house in Del Norte (an official stop along the route -- how cool are they?!!!), he can't use the cell phone sitting next to him on the desk to call home. Instead, he hopped on gmail and we chatted for a bit.

Silly?

Absolutely.

But he's tough. He can do it.

Anyway...

Chris is not a big curser, but he has more than a few choice words to say about the weather. He was hammered by storms yesterday afternoon and evening, causing him to stop beneath an outhouse shelter around 8:00 last night, much earlier than he'd prefer to stop. He waited for the rain to stop and got started again this morning around 3 am. He had a hard day ahead of him to get to Del Norte, climbing a few passes that are not exaclty easy. Plus, getting up at 3 am always makes you feel a little funky.

Chris said he felt really slow this morning, despite making pretty good time to Del Norte from his stopping place...he got in just before 11:00. He said the trails/road were really tacky and slow from the rain the night before, which made him feel like he was working really hard and not really going anywhere. But, he made it to Del Norte in time for a delicious lunch and some coffee. As he wrote to me on the computer, thunder and lightning crashed overhead and the skies opened up with more rain. Making the smart choice, he stayed right where he was until the skies looked to be clearing and the lightning stopped... but this caused yet another stop that was longer than he wanted.

"It feels really strange to be 'racing' and sitting here drinking coffee."

I think I finally convinced him that anyone would do the same in those conditions. Might as well take advantage of the shelter while you've got it. It'll only help in the long run.

He showered, ate, and we chatted for a while and just a bit ago he decided to head out into the "sucker hole" and resupply before heading onto Indiana Pass -- the high point of the course. I'm sure he'll hit more weather on the pass... it is nearly impossible to avoid weather when you're at 11,000 ft in the afternoon in Colorado. I just hope he skirts through it safely and makes it down to Platoro in a swift fassion. He may end up stopping there for the night, but we'll see what he decides when he gets down.

As seems par for the course this year in Tour Divide, the weather will make the ultimate decision for him.

Annoying to say the least.

Also, in Chris's words:

"The single speed seems to be getting harder and harder as this race goes on."

Even if his daily mileage is dropping a bit, his determination is still running strong.

GO PLESKO!!

-Wifey

(EDIT: Chris found a payphone at the gas station where he was resupplying. As I picked up the phone, he was turning down ANOTHER cell phone offer from someone in the parking lot. He wanted to call for a minute and get to actually hear each other's voices. He sounds better than I expected and he's ready to get his climb on!)

Hazardous Shorts

Photo credit to Adventurecycling.org -- stolen with no permission whatsoever

Yesterday was a whirl-wind day for both Chris and I.

We had breakfast together in Kremmling, then I drove to Breckenridge to meet him for lunch. I found where the route meets Main Street, and I no sooner sat down on a bench when he rolled up. I estimated it would take him until about 2:00 to get to Breck and he rolled up at 12:30. He was on fire and riding like it was his first ride in months. You would never guess he'd been riding for 1800ish miles in the last week and a half!

Since Chris can't accept a ride from anyone, to anywhere, I ran alongside his bike as we sought a lunch spot. We came upon an absolutely delicious pizzeria. It was delicious. By 1:30, he was suited up and ready to start riding again. He thought that if he really pushed, he could make it to Salida by midnight. It'd be a long day, but he wanted to make Salida -- in the end, he got there at 9:00.

Wow!

I drove to Salida under the most beautiful sunset I have seen in a long time. As I rolled into town, so did he -- extraordinary timing as always.

This morning we got to have breakfast together again... this time in Salida... with some delicious french toast (well, okay, Chris had french toast, potatoes, AND a full bacon omlete -- wow, shocking even me!). Chris had to wait for the bike shop to open at 9 am. A few days ago I overnighted some spare drive-train parts to the bike shop, since the mud in Montana and Wyoming had really done quite a job at eroding his chain ring and cog. When the bike shop opened, it was awesome to see them usher him in, hand off the boxes (thank goodness they made it there -- expensively, but made it there at least!), and do whatever they could to help him get the bike into shape. An hour later, the bike was looking good and sounding a lot less creaky!

In the drop-box, he also had a fresh pair of bike shorts. I really thought he was going to cry with happiness when he saw the fresh shorts. He bounded off to the dressing room and returned looking like he was walking on air. Ahhhh, it must feel good!

He had to send the old and extra parts (and shorts!) back via the post office (race regulations don't allow for him to just hand the box off to me -- even though we were both headed the same place...home). It was funny to watch him try to maneuver his bike with this box in hand around the town of Salida. The best part of the morning came when the post office worker asked him if his package had anything fragile, perishable, or potentially hazardous in it. He said: "nope, not unless you consider the bike shorts I've worn for the past two weeks and only washed once hazardous!" The lady looked a little shocked and then laughed -- little did she know but he was serious!

He sent off the box, stopped by the gas station to resupply, then was finally off on the trail around 11:00. A late start by Tour Divide standards for sure, but you have to do what you have to do to get your bike reliable for the last 1000 mile push through no-man's land.

It was certainly hard on both of us to leave each other again -- but we know it'll only be about a week until I get to pick him up at the end. He knows he is behind Kurt and now also behind Jay/Tracey because of his two long stops the last two nights, but he is in a completely different place than he was when I first saw him on Tuesday evening. Tuesday night he was essentially dileriously tired, making random comments that he wouldn't even remember saying the next day. His eyes were blood-shot and his heart was racing even when asleep. When I left him this morning, he looked fresh, excited, and motivated to get to Antelope Wells. He's well-rested which, assuming his bike and body hold together, makes him a serious force to be reckoned with.

GO PLESKO!!

-Wifey

(Oooooh, in the box he sent home, he also included his first memory card from his camera. When the box arrives in the next few days, I'll get to download and see all of his pictures from the route so far. I also have permission to post them... so stay tuned!)

Tough Choices

Photo of Kurt and Chris yesterday near Steamboat -- courtesy of Dave Nice

I write from a hotel in Kremmling where Chris just left to continue his journey and hopefully hit Breckenridge in time for a tasty lunch.

Last night, I expected Chris to keep pushing close to Breckenridge, when I got a call from him in Kremmling asking if I was interested in driving the two hours up to see him. He and Kurt had been trying to decide what to do when they rolled past Kremmling -- Chris wanting to stop and get some sleep, Kurt wanting to keep pushing so he can make a post-office pickup in Salida down the line. Chris was tempted to keep going, he didn't want to leave his riding buddy, but he knew the right decision for him was to stop for the night to get some sleep. So both of them made the tough choice to do what they thought was right for themselves. And I'm sure both of them will be better off for doing that. Who knows, they may even end up meeting back up at some point.

For Chris and I, getting to see each other even for just a short little while, was seriously needed. We are a couple that can spend 24/7 together and never get tired of each other. In the last eight years, the longest we have spent apart is a week. As we faced the possiblity of not seeing each other for almost 20 days for this race, we both made the decision to hook up when he came into Colorado, giving us each a little more energy to make it to the end. We knew it'd be hard, and we've yet to see if it was actually the best choice, but getting to sit and talk for a little while over breakfast was refreshing. The hardest part about the visit was the concept of being "self-supported." I really couldn't do anything for Chris -- couldn't bring him any delicious food, couldn't bring him fresh clothes or even toothpaste, and (hardest of all) couldn't rub his tired legs. Essentially, I showed up, chatted with him, slept next to him, ate with him, and watched him ride away this morning. But even getting to see him in that limited capacity was better than nothing.

So for today... Chris is off riding. I plan to meet him in Breck for a quick lunch before I head home to hang with the puppy. As Chris nears Salida tomorrow morning, I will go down and see him again while he works on his bike with the parts I have already overnighted to the bike shop. The good thing about this route -- it runs many different places that are no more than just a few short hours from our house. That way I can see him whenever we want, with no real amount of effort or driving.

The last stretch of trail, past Salida to the end, is going to be really tough. But Chris has a good plan, he's determined to finish, and I know he can do it. Hopefully this time next week, I'll get to see Chris and take him home with me. Yay!

GO PLESKO!!

-Wifey

Barn dwellin'

Photo taken earlier in the race -- courtesy of fellow racer Jay P

Currently Chris is out in The Black Hole of Wyoming (more formally known as The Great Basin).

Meaning no services, no food, and certainly no pay phones for many many washboarded miles.

Luckily, according to their SPOTs, Chris and Kurt are keeping a great pace and cruising through this section pretty quickly. My original guess was that Chris would make it to Rawlins around 2 or 3 am. Now my guess is moved up to midnight or 1 am. So, we'll see!

I spoke to Chris briefly last night, when they were in Pinedale. Honestly, he sounded pretty worked. He is getting sick and tired of the rain, constantly being wet and cold. He even admitted to certainly not having the proper clothinig for this kind of weather. I know how frustrated he was, as we all would be if we had ridden for the past nine days in crappy weather. It's hard on this end too though, because I know there is absolutely nothing I can do to help. If it were "legal" for me to drive up, meet him, and give him some better clothes -- or heck, even run along side him with an umbrella over his head, I'd do it in a second. Unfortunately I can't. So, I am stuck struggling to find motivational statements to pull out of my butt over the phone. The best I could think of was: "It's going to be freaking hot and dry down in New Mexico and you'll be wishing you had the cold rain to cool you down, so enjoy it while you have it" -- that got a little chuckle out of him at least.

One of Chris's main concerns last night was making it to Atlantic City in enough time to stock up on food for The Black Hole today. Since today is Sunday, he knew there was a strong possibility that they'd roll into town only to find everything closed early. As we hung up, he made a plan to roll into Boulder and find a place to sleep, then get up early and try to make Atlantic City before too late. As I watched his little SPOT stop at a pretty organized looking campground/RV park, I forced myself to go to sleep, hoping he would at least be dry by sleeping in a bathroom.

Early this afternoon I got a call from a much more chipper and happier sounding Chris. They had rolled into a town a few miles outside of Atlantic City, were standing in line to buy some fudge (umm, yumm!) and ready to roll into a cafe for a "meal". (I asked him if he would bring me back some of that fudge, and he said "nope, but I'm bringing you home a much skinnier husband!")

He told me that last night they got to sleep in a barn: "It was really nice!" They also got to do some laundry: "Wow, for $10.00, Kurt and I both got to take showers and do laundry, it was amazing!"

I guess it is the small things in life that seem to amaze and impress him these days!

They had also stocked up on food and were ready to tackle The Black Hole. He relayed his most exciting piece of information... the lady at the fudge store said it hadn't rained there in a few days. Suddenly the bright light of hope popped up in front of his eyes and he felt like everything just might be alright afterall. They even had a great tailwind.

Now, looking at the weather for the day near that area, I'm anxious to see if his optimism got crushed by the rain or not. I'm sure that, no matter what, he will be excited to have at least made it to Rawlins... only one day away from being back in his home-state.

I am turning in early in hopes of getting a call from my sweetie in the weeeeee early hours of the morning.

GO PLESKO!!!

-Wifey

A little bit 'o epic

Photo of Chris on the Divide last year somewhere near Lima, courtesy of Mary Metcalf.

My mind games did not work.

Chris and Kurt hit Togwotee pass (the snowy one that I was trying to send mental signals out to not hit at night) -- just as it got dark last night.

They hiked through several patches of snow.

In the dark.

Chris called me around 1:00 am. I had just managed to dose off, so when I did talk to him, I warned him of the snowy pass ahead... to which you could hear his spirits sink as he mumbled "another one????" As I woke up and we got our communication skills to somewhat normal, I realized they had already gone over it. When I said that, he perked up quite a bit! Poor thing, didn't mean to scare him. Haha.

They had a really long day in the saddle. When Chris called me at lunch, eating a bag of cookies, he sounded reeeeeally tired. Early this morning he admitted to being pretty wiped and in a low spot for quite a while around that time. Luckily he perked up at some point and said he enjoyed attacking the ascent of the pass -- it just got a little miserable when they were hiking through the snow, getting their feet wet, and wanting to go to sleep.

Finally, they made it over the pass to Togwotee lodge, where they got a room for the night and a place to warm up. This morning, around 7:30 am, he called me again as he was shoving in his second sausage and egg breakfast sandwich (that after two muffins). He sounded very perky and excited to be heading on to tackle Union Pass today.

A funny moment in the conversation came when he suddenly stopped talking and said "well, I hit my limit on food, my body just figured out I was eating". He's gotten awfully good at shoving down calories in the morning before his body realizes what he's doing and shuts off the eating system. This kind of life is fascinating to me. The verrrrrrry little I've dabbled in multi-day bikepacking trips, I understand the situation. It's strange. And I can't imagine putting up with it for more than a few days.

I got a package from Chris today...sent from a post office in Lima. The first two sets of maps, his passport and a surprise that made silly me cry. In Canada, we talked about getting some Canadian money. Just for fun. But we never got around to it. Well, tucked inside a sweet note with a giant smiley face proclaiming "Bye bye Lima!" was a Canadian five dollar bill.

So often I get questions and remarks about how I can possibly be so supportive of Chris through all of these grand and crazy adventures. People marvel at the fact that I was more than willing to drive him up to Canada, back 18 hours alone, then again 11 hours down to the Mexican border a few weeks later. The simple fact is... Chris is the greatest husband in the entire world. He's thoughtful and wonderful even in the middle of his hardest adventures.

Any girl would be lucky to get to follow him around.

GO PLESKO!!

-Wifey

C is for Cookie...

One of my all-time favorite Chris photos -- courtesy of EpicAdam

Heard from Chris from Flag Ranch this afternoon.

He sounded tired, but the connection was bad and he admitted to be shoving in an entire bag of cookies.

From his call-in to MTBCast, it seems the morning was pretty hard, but I assume once they got some food, coffee, and cookies into their system, the rest of the day can only get better.

I am currently trying to tap into the married-couple-telepathic-signals that have developed over the past eight years and I'm thinking reeeeeeeeeally hard about the message that Matt Lee left, saying to try to go over the next pass in the early morning because of a bunch of snow. It seems they will either hit that late tonight, or if my message bounces off a mind satellite and down to him, they'll stop before it tonight and end up hitting it in the early morning anyway.

I fear I may give myself a headache.

Either way, he's projected to hit Colorado sometime early next week -- Monday perhaps -- and we are both looking forward to seeing each other for even for a few brief moments. Originally my plan was just to meet him in Silverthorn, but I'm starting to think a car-camping trip with the dog might be in order to spot him a few different times. We'll have to see how it works out. If you're in the area, certainly go out and cheer him on or ride with him for a few miles. I'm sure he and Kurt would both get a kick out of it.

'Tis all for now.

G'night.

GO PLESKO!!

-Wifey

Out of Montana

Into Wydaho!

Talked to Chris briefly last night and they're doing great!

Chris, especially, is very happy to get out of Montana!!

They did want me to let you know that they found the end of a rainbow.

For real.

Apparently it ends at some old guy's house in Idaho and there was seemingly no pot of gold.

Today? Into Wyoming!!! Wohoooo!

GO PLESKO!!

-Wifey

Yum! Lima beans!

Chris called today from Lima ("like the bean, not LEEEMAAA") apparently you get severely chastised for calling it leeeeeeema while you are there.

Last year Chris called me from Lima, practically in tears, unable to push himself on in his individual time trial. Several long hours later, I picked him up from the shadow of a crappy restaurant. He looked quite pathetic sitting there with a New York Times and a box of Cheerios. That visual in my memory is in complete contrast to my visual of him there this year.

Chris called around 12:30, tired and worn out from an already difficult day, but still happy and positive. They had pushed through miles of horrific mud, many of which were spent carrying their bikes on their backs. I conjure up memories from day 1 of our Kokopelli tour, and I really feel for them...

Chris and Bill pushing through the mud-monster -- Kokopelli Trail 2008

He mentioned that there was news in town that it had rained for the past 18 days straight -- turning any dirt road into a big muddy pile of crapiness. He had a list of parts for me to start tracking down, in case he needs them down the road at some point. He also, quite audibly upset, broke the news that he and Kurt would have to leave Joe behind in Lima. Joe apparently broke something on his bike and needs to wait out the night for a part to arrive. Hopefully he can get it fixed up quick and keep his amazing race going. Who knows, maybe he'll catch back up to the boys... it is a lonnnnnnnnnng race afterall! The three of them have had quite the entertaining journey and it has to be hard for all of them to break up the dynamic-threesome!

I am so proud of how far he has made it. Chris is an amazing person and he deserves to have a lot of fun and success on this trip. He certainly has worked hard to get to this point!

GO PLESKO!!!!!

-Wifey

Rollin' Rollin' Rollin'

Photo from Spring Break 2009!

Wow the boy is flying!!

I got a call yesterday, when I was finishing up my own ride around 1:00, from Chris in Helena. They were doing good... eating, stocking up on food, going to the post-office, etc.

Late last night I got a call from him in Butte, where he sounded pretty tired after a long day, but still happy to have made it to Butte (last year, even with a shorter course, he stopped in Basin and was really bummed to not be able to push on to Butte). They decided to keep going, instead of stopping in Butte, and camped out a bit out of town. Today he told me that they had another hillarious sleeping situation, but he didn't have time to tell me about it. I just picture some three-way spooning action! Haha.

Chris just called (around noon) from Wise River. He is sounded much perkier and nearly giddy about their "Fleecer Ridge fun!" I remember last year he loved the descent off Fleecer Ridge and it seems this year was even better. He said they all took the cheater line down the techy sections and that they had to stop 2/3 of the way down to cool off their smoking brakes! It seems the rigid bike held up just as well as those with some squish, although he said he had to shake out his hands a few times when they stopped. He is really really pleased with their progress so far, their fast pace, and strateg-ery.

Sometime soon the boys will pass through Lima where Chris threw in the towel last year. I think he's anxious to lay that place to rest and get to ride into "Wy-daho" before hitting Wyoming.

Other than that, he said he has some great stories to share when, one day, we get to talk for more than two minutes.

I'm very proud of him and he's doing great!

GO PLESKO!!

-Wifey

**If you read the blog and have some words of encouragement or "rooting" -- please leave the comments. He mentioned that at some point he'll want and need to hear them. For now, he's cruising right along, motivated and excited, but we all have our bad days, and I'm sure some kind/funny/entertaining words from friends and family will come in handy!

Ho-vando!

Photo courtesy of Mike C -- Spring Break 2009 in Utah

Talked to Chris this evening from Ovando, Montana. He sounded good and said he was doing "awesome". He has been riding with Kurt and Joe and the three of them sound like they are having way too much fun.

A little background:

Kurt is from Boulder and Chris rode with him for a good portion of the Arizona Trail, before he took advantage of his cold weather gear and zoomed ahead to eventually claim the win. Joe is from Minnesota (I think) and Chris rode with him for a while at TransIowa a few years back. Joe went on to win TransIowa this year in perfect style. Both are extraordinarily nice guys!

So... needless to say... the three of them fit together pretty well.

Chris's updates on his race so far? It's been wet. Everyday. He said nothing TOO terrible, but definitely a wet race so far. There was significant snow hike-a-biking through a few of the passes, but much better compared to last year in Chris's opinion. They slept in some interesting sounding wooden structure last night (I believe the quote was... "Joe wanted a KOA campsite, but we got a weird wooden structure instead"). They ended up sleeping on some boards 4 feet off the ground -- oooh, sounds comfy to me! They were mostly happy to get off the wet ground I guess!

As of now, they are in Lincoln. What they do from here is anyone's guess!

For an entertaining audio of Chris calling in from "Ho-vando", pop over to MTBCast, episode 4, about 17 minutes in. It's labeled as a call-in from Kurt, but no one can laugh at his own jokes like that except for Chris!

G'night.
GO PLESKO!!

-Wifey

Off on the Divide!

After spending a relaxing week in Banff, Chris's single speed bid at the 2009 Tour Divide started at 10am, Friday morning. He was looking good, strong, and ready for a wild ride. I will be updating this blog for him throughout his adventure with any new information that I have.

Here are some pictures from the start:


-Wifey