Tour Divide Day 32

Day 32:

The hardy duo of Simon Maindonald and Michael De Jong rode most of the route together, and had been playing a daily game of catchup with Rob Peters since Wamsutter. They were riding slightly slower speeds than Rob but covering about the same daily mileage. It was no different on their final day, with Simon and Michael leaving Silver City first, and Rob departing about 45 mins later but passing them before Separ. They all rode into the mid-day heat to complete their journeys on Day 32 to take the last three podium spots as Tour Divide Racers.

Their times were:

Rob Peters: 31:06:41 for 66th place

Simon Maindonald: 31:08:23 for 67th equal

Michael De Jong: 31:08:23 for 67th equal

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bz9Tuu1FWZ3/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet

Michael De Jong "So epic all around. From spending the first 9 days with Devin, to getting a leg full of stitches, biking through rain, snow and boulder fields, 2700 miles, 31 days"

https://www.instagram.com/p/By0hgUwl9gH/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet

. . .

Some numbers for 2019 Tour Divide:

.

145 SOBO Starters intending to race at the Grand Depart (Highest was 162 in 2017)

.

68 Finishers (highest was 79 in great weather year of 2015)

.

47% success rate.

(lowest was 38% in '09 and '16) (highest was 67% in '11 when there were substantial detours due to snow)

. .

20 Finishers under 20 Days: (highest is 27 in 2015)

. .

10 Finishers under 17 Days: (highest previously was 6 in '16)

. . .

Eddie Clark posted a great race recap with beautiful photos:

https://www.pinkbike.com/news/Pedal-Through-the-Pain---2019-Tour-Divide-recap.html

Eddie also published some closeups of 7 top bikes:

https://www.pinkbike.com/news/7-bikes-of-the-tour-divide.html

Josh Taylor who rode with a fractured hip wrote up his blog:

https://vabikepacker.blogspot.com/2019/06/the-unfinished-feelings-of-tour-divide.html?m=1&fbclid=IwAR1F7Xc19HP8bIq6ijaRGsWHYdA5iFtPwUIyRmATEAn6Bziu6BIqnYw5xAY

Still out riding the TD route are the following committed adventurers. It some ways it is much harder to be out there for more than 32 days than those who finish in 16, but all have experienced something wonderful and will have stories to share:

Bryson and Sam, who are at north of Beaverhead Work Camp.

Kevin Klobernadz who is at Pie Town.

Sue and John O'Malley who are at Pie Town

Sam Garre who is close to Abiquiu

Phil Rice who is close to Abiquiu

Nat Rainbow who is south of CO/NM border heading to Brazos Ridge.

(pic Brandi Blade)

That's the final race report, but still to come is a Gallery of Tour Divide Finishers with images of all the finishers that we could put together.