June 12 was a big, big day.
3:00 AM – me & the bike to SeaTac airport
5:20 AM – take off for Phoenix -> El Paso
Noonish: meet two strangers at the airport (El Jefe & Jeff Sharp)
4:00 Pm – Walmart for supplies & then Hachita, plus meeting stranger #3 Eric, plus bike assembly & repair.
9:00 Pm – leave for Antelope Wells (the Northbound start point).
10:00 Pm – We’re off!
11:30 Pm – I opt out of the TD course for the first time (disqualifying me from the tour unless I go back – high drama).
1:00 AM June 13 – 50 miles done, back at Hatchita for some sleep.
Two drama points:
My lights got damaged in the bike box – the wiring from my Dynamo busted. Jeffery had a soldering kit so I got it all sorted.
I decided against the southern CDT section – good call as it turned out. The two people I was with (El Jefe & Eric) were riding GDMBR, not the official Tour Divide route. I signed up for the tour, so I had to do the official route ‘forward’ (important later). It was only 15 miles, so I thought I’d just knock it out & get back a bit later, but Holy cow: just getting to the trail head (3O feet) was really, really hard in the dark. Spikey plants ripping my legs and no obvious trail in the dark. Selma the safety first chicken set off the Dumbass alarm pretty hard so I opted out of that section and rode on with Eric & El Jefe. In retrospect – great decision, but it stung pretty hard at the time
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