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Day 7

Day 7:

Coming up to the end of week one and the reality of Divide racing is starting to set in:

*Lewis Brocklehurst: Last few days have been rough, being uncomfortable constantly, sleeping rough, being dirty all the time and saddle sores that bleed is only the begining. The Divide is honestly really tough and it's taking everything I've got just to finish. Every day im digging deep to get it done. Finishing right now is the ultimate goal, but it's a tall order. *

https://www.instagram.com/p/By7qjqSFk86/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet

Sofiane Sehili rode through the night to reach Pinedale at 02:30 and a 5.5 hr break before heading out. It was a tough slog through snow up to Fish Lake Mountain by the look of it:

Sofi Fish Lake

.... but things were better south of Pinedale: https://www.instagram.com/p/By9nphVofAo/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet

.... until he got hit by a storm in the Basin: Sofi mud

Josh Kato stopped with the Yellowstone Bears up on Union Pass for a cold night's sleep ... these are is some pics from earlier in the day: https://www.instagram.com/p/By6x93XFOSj/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet

Chris Seistrup in 3rd posted: Tour Divide Day 6, 220 miles from outside Lima to Lava Mtn Lodge. Three states in a day!

https://www.instagram.com/p/By7vouYlRFi/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet

As Sofi got on the road to The Basin, the gap to 9th placed Kai Edel was about 120 miles, with the gap 9th to 11th a further 80 miles. The route today is largely rolling through Boulder, WY, and then into the vast Basin area which is desolute and windblown - they'll be hoping for tail winds to get accross fast. There is one outpost of Atlantic City on the way, which has a some resupply if you get the timing right. Wild Bill's place is a popular stopping in point with Bill and his wife amongst the most gracious hosts you could wish for. From there it is 100 miles of gravel and faded track to Wamsutter, with its 24 hour Love's Truck stop. In between the two there is Diagnus Well (if you can find it) and a couple of solar powered cattle troughs. Things can get bad if you don't resupply water correctly.

By 15:00, the chasing group from Chris Seistrup in 3rd through to Tony Lesueur in 10th were all strung out like a chain at even 10 mile intervals between Lava Mountain Lodge and Cora. The running order of the day was Chris / Nate / Steve / Lael / Josh Ibbett / Evan / Kai / Tony. Josh Kato was still trailing Sofi like a shadow 30 miles back. Their ride over Union Pass had been tough, with temps -5C and a strong wind blowing.

This is the climb up to Fish Lake Mountain/Union Pass: https://www.instagram.com/p/By9QJsPlFGM/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet

Back in 17th, Dylan Morton snapped this shot in Montana:

https://www.instagram.com/p/By8LRENgRzr/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet

Kim Raeymakers had this to say of his previous day: Day 6 #tourdivide2019 started early and it was a cool and clear dat to start with. The only thing not Nice about it was the strong headwind. Pushin the pedals to go downhill without falling down. After a good effort on the old banack Road it was downhill to Lima. Had lunch there and kept going so i could make it Ro island park in time To have dinner. After about 1hour a hail/rain/Thunderstorm caught me and with nowhere to hide i was forced to sick it up and keep on riding. It lasted for 1hour before i Found shelter. Changed into something warm and by the time i was changed and warmed up a bit. It was time To keep going. Road surface had turned into a sticky mudpit. Hard to move fast but slow miles are still miles. After alot of hard work i finaly caught up with Peter sandholt just about 10km before island park. Where we barely made it in time for dinner. Then looked for a hotel but No succes. Bivvy out in front of the hotel then.

Kim's Instagram photos are here: https://www.instagram.com/p/By79mZ-oRqr/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet

The Single Speed battle continues:

https://www.instagram.com/p/By6SrBUgGn8/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet

Nico and Alexandera seemed to ride from Red Rock Pass into Island Park in sight of each other, then she dropped him with a quicker resupply and blasted down the rail trail just a few miles ahead.

Lael Wilcox is still riding in 4th - 7th, depending on time of day. She is the current Women's record holder with her 2015 ITT of 15:10:59. Her ITT time to Flagg Ranch was 06:04:37 ... and her current time is 17 hours 19 mins quicker at 5:11:18. She had some time sucking mud in 2015 before Flagg, so the numbers may be a bit enhanced, but if she holds this pace she will likely reach Mexico over a day ahead of her current record if the weather co-operates.

https://www.instagram.com/p/By8B6_5Adb1/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet

The Women's field this year is very strong, with 2018 winner Alexandera Houchin riding a single speed in second position and Janie Hayes (3rd place TransAm overall in 2017) just 40 miles behind after taking a few days out to find her trail mojo. Zoe Chauderlot from France is about 90 miles back from Janie.

Janie Hayes posted: Out of Montana and into Idaho! Snow, lakes, sand, rocks, new friends, beer. Another good day. ☀️

JH Janie

JH riders

JH Yellowstone

Hal Russell is on his last Tour Divide, number 6, at age 70 and is casually chasing Rick Ashton's 2017 record of 30:07:07. At Lincoln Hal was running 21 hours ahead of Rick's time.

Here's a pic of Hal from Kathy Schroedoerfer in Ovando: Hal Ovando

The riders in the mid-pack got hit with some weather today - a mix of rain, hail and snow, so some low mileage days as racers sought out shelter to warm up and dry out.

Lewis Brockelhurst (Mile 779): Cold one today in the Rockies today. A third of the way into this thing. Big job! I binned it on a decent today, nothing serious, but better work on the techy skills when back home! . https://www.instagram.com/p/By9HiIJlgi3/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet

Ross Burrage has perfected his drying system: https://www.instagram.com/p/By9I-6fAp_l/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet

Geof Blance (Mile 916): Bannock Road done and dusted. No rain. But it snowed!! https://www.instagram.com/p/By9HLZtFWC4/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet

Mikki Suvia (Mile 649): https://www.instagram.com/p/By9BWK_ns6u/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet

John Schilling posted: Today could've gone one of two ways, it began ominously under dark clouds, slow legs and the inability to sit & spin for longer than 1 minute. I walked a lot of stuff that should've easily been ridden. It was a slog to arrive in Helena. I did some CVS shopping & applied the goods. I hadn't mentioned that my glasses had cut the top of both ears!! Super painful when removing them. Anyway, bandaged up & back on the bike towards Basin. Nothing improved. The terrain seemed to constantly point skyward, more walking. Hours went by & I was getting nowhere fast. I stayed upbeat since I was still making forward progress albeit slow. Any other day this would have been a soul crusher, then something happened. I was able to sit & spin longer. The route was ridiculously difficult today. I had hoped of grabbing a room in Basin, but that was not looking promising as it was already 8:30p and I still had 15 miles to go and I was still climbing!! I put on some tunes, ran into Hal Russell on a notoriously shitty stretch of trail. We had a good laugh about it. Then I found a second wind and flew down to Basin. Only place open was the bar. Beer & pizza!! Score. It's now 34 and I'm going to grab a nap next door at the community center. In the end, today rocked. Never did get rained on, go figure. 👍*

JS 01

JS 04

JS 02

JS 05

JS 03

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JS 07

At Pinedale the 6 leaders went through pretty quick, with some getting resupplies to cross the Basin with as they can't guarantee whether they'll hit Atlantic City during opening hours. But from despite arriving relatively early, Evan and Josh (20:00), and Kai (22:30) all elected to say in Pinedale. Maybe there's a tail wind forecast for tomorrow?

Josh Ibbett: Savage day on the Divide. Woke up in a visitor center to a donated sandwich (thanks!) Togwotee past was nice, but -5degrees temp. Then met Lael and Evan at the top and had a blast riding the snow descent. Then got brutalised by the biting wind on union pass. had a strop ate a burger then Evan walked in so we cruised to Pinedale in the sunset. Big day tomorrow as we cross the great Basin. https://www.instagram.com/p/By9PytEl0_z/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet

Another big group of 6 riders has congregated at Lava Mountain Lodge. This is probably a smart move as spending a cold night up on Union Pass is not ideal.

As at 01:30, the rider positins are:

Sofiane Sehili: 1,429 - maybe stopped at Wamsutter

Josh Kato: 1,372 - riding in the Basin (south of Atlantic City)

Chris Seistrup: 1,342 - riding in the Basin (south of Atlantic City)

Steve Halligan: 1,316 - stopped in the Basin at the rest station (no services, but clean bathrooms and running water) north of Atlantic City

Nate Gintzon: 1,298 - stopped in Basin north of Atlantic City

Lael Wilcox: 1,264 - stopped in Basin just south of Boulder.

Evan Deutsch / Josh Ibbett / Kai Edel / Tony Lesueur : 1,243 - stopped in Pinedale

Stefano Roumaldi / Kim Raeymakers / Peter Puenner / Bear Stillwagon / Peter Sandholt / Lucas Ratcliff : 1,156 - stopped at Lava Mountain Lodge.

Of the next 10 riders ony Alexandera Houchin is on the trail - the rest are at Flagg Ranch or Squirrel Ranch (at the west end of Ashton-Flagg Road). She is is 10 miles short of Turpin Meadow Campground.

The weather forecast is looking grim for the mid-pack, with NOAA forecasting in temperatures on Friday from 15F to as much as 30F degrees below average across areas from the Great Basin to the northern/central Rockies.

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