Ride the Divide Movie Review

September 17th, 2010

I’ve been planning to buy the Ride the Divide movie DVD but hadn’t gotten it yet so I was excited when I heard that it was coming to the big screen for one night in Colorado Springs (It’s possible there’ll be another local showing around the end of the year). I know a couple guys that have finished the Tour Divide which the movie is about. It’s also on my list of dream things to do.

The Tour Divide is mountain bike race that starts in Banff, Canada and roughly follows the Continental Divide to the Mexico border. It’s just over 2,700 miles with over 200,000 feet of climbing. The rules prohibit any outside support other than what the racers can find in towns along the course or from boxes they’ve sent to post offices along the way.

The Ride the Divide movie was shoot during the 2008 race. The movie mainly follows 3 of the racers. The 3 are Matthew Lee, Mike Dion and Mary Metcalf-Collier. It was Matthew’s 5th time doing the race and Mike and Mary were rookies. It was Mike’s idea to have the race filmed.

The race goes through amazingly beautiful, remote areas and the movie captures some awesome views. Along with the remoteness comes wildlife and some of it isn’t friendly. There’s a nice scene of a big bear looking for something to eat.

As you can imagine, riding long hours day after day takes it’s toll on the racers both physically and mentally. Sometimes the physical pain causes the mental battles. Mary’s legs and ankles become extremely swollen and she quits a couple times but then gets back on her bike and continues to ride south. I thought the movie showed the struggles well although you can’t totally capture what goes on deep inside of an endurance racer in an event like this.

Although I knew that the Tour Divide and Race Across America (RAAM) are totally different types of races, the differences were striking. I was expecting more sleep deprivation. Although without a crew to help them, the Tour Divide riders wouldn’t be able to function on as little sleep as the RAAM racers. Also RAAM doesn’t allow racers to ride together for more than 15 minutes in a 24 hour period but Tour Divide allows racers to ride together. The Tour Divide riders were shown sitting at restaurants eating meals while RAAM racers mainly eat on the bike and only are off the bike to sleep.

The guys filming the movie are shown at points throughout the movie. At times they help fill in what the racers are doing when they can’t get to them. A few times though it seemed showing them didn’t add anything and I would have just as soon they left the scene out.

All in all I really enjoyed the movie and picked up a copy for some motivation while riding the trainer this winter. Mountain bikers will definitely enjoy the movie and I think anyone that enjoys adventure will too. Order a copy for yourself and get some of your Christmas shopping done early by getting a copy for your friend. The movie is available from the Ride the Divide website and soon from Amazon.

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Hiking and Running in Snow and Ice

February 13th, 2008


Late Sunday afternoon I headed up to Barr Camp. A guy stopped me down by the Cog Railway depot. He said that there was an emergency and they weren’t allowing anyone to park in the Barr Trail parking lot.

The weather was warm over the weekend which makes for slushy, slick snow during the day and turns to ice as it cools off in the afternoon. A guy had slipped and fallen just above No Name Creek, a little over 3 miles up. The skin was peeled back on his hand and he had severe bleeding. Search and Rescue originally thought they might have to chopper him out. They were able to slow the bleeding and when I got there they were helping him hike down.

So how do you reduce the chance that something like this happens to you? You could stay away from icy trails but that’s no fun. Three of the things to help you keep your footing in snow and ice are Yaktrax, screws, and crampons.

Yaktrax

Yaktrax are my choice for hiking. I try not to run unless something big and scary is chasing me but I know runners that also like them. They fit over most shoes so you can use them with hiking boots or running shoes. About the only way I can tell I’m wearing them is that I don’t slip on the ice. I will notice them a bit if I end up walking on a hard surface like pavement. They’re small and light so you can carry them in your pack or even your jacket pocket in case you find a spot you need them.

They come in 2 versions. The Pro version has a strap that goes over the top of the shoe or hiking boot to help prevent them from coming off. I still have the original ones that don’t have the strap. They only come off occasionally but when I replace them I plan to get the Pro version. That might be soon since mine a getting pretty worn.

Screws

Hard core runners put screws in the bottoms of their shoes. It’s the method recommended by Matt Carpenter. He has good instructions on how to put them in and where to place them. I’ve read that you don’t want them in the middle of the ball of your foot because it can increase the pressure and cause pain. Screws can also be used on mountain bike shoes for when you have to get off and walk.

The screws definitely are the cheapest option. I do see a few screws on the trails but a new one can easily be put in. For runners that have a pair of shoes that will only be used for running in the snow and ice during the winter, they seem like a great choice.

Crampons

I keep seeing crampon tracks when I go hiking. Generally it’s only a single set of tracks. Although I’ve used crampons a lot for mountaineering, I don’t recommend them for normal hiking. Maybe it’s just the way I walk but I really have to pay attention not to trip with them. It’s worse when I’m not sinking the points all the way in. I also don’t like dulling the tips when there’s sections that have melted and it’s just dirt. Crampons are also the most expensive of the 3 options.

Do you have a favorite way to stay off your butt when hiking in snow and ice?

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Sinus Infection Prevention

October 7th, 2007

Sinus Rinse

It’s fall and we’re heading into the cold part of the year. At least here in Colorado, sinus infection are common with cyclists during this time of year. I’m not sure exactly why but I think it was to do with the really dry, cold air and breathing hard while training. It’s also when we get more colds and try training too much before we get over them. My non-active co-workers also are more likely to have sinus infections during the winter too but not as bad as cyclists.

For the last several years, I haven’t made it through a winter without being on antibiotics at least once for a sinus infection. Not only do I have bad summer time allergies but I’m also allergic to molds and dust. I have some congestion most of the time which contributes to my sinus problems.

With my extra job stress this year, I’ve been on antibiotics 4 times for sinus infections. The last time was about 2 months ago. The biggest thing that makes it hard for me to train while on antibiotics is that it messes my stomach up. That makes it hard to eat enough on long rides and can cause a bonk. Eating yogurt and taking iFlora or Digest Caps really helps my stomach.

This last time I was on pretty strong antibiotics for 18 days. Within a week of finishing the antibiotics, I was feeling like I had a sinus infection again. I was doing everything that I know to do. I was taking antihistamines, using nasal spray and Mucinex.

When I was in to my asthma and allergy doctor’s office to get my allergy shot, I told them I was having trouble again. They said I really should be using the Sinus Rinse. A couple years ago they had tried getting me to use it too and had given me a free one.

I had never used it. You use it to spray a saline solution up one nostril and let it run out the other side. That just didn’t seem pleasant to me. My dad had been using it for a while and had told me it doesn’t feel that bad and had really helped him.

They gave me another one even though I told them I still had the other one. I figured I’d give it a try to try to avoid taking more antibiotics. It ended up not feeling bad at all and I got a lot of crud out of my nose. The key is to bend over enough so the solution doesn’t run down your throat. I’ve also found when I’m really stuffed up it helps to take a really deep breath and hold it while squirting the solution up my nose.

Even after using it once, my sinuses felt better. After a couple more days of using it, my sinuses felt fine. I used it for a couple weeks and then felt well enough and quit using it. After several days, my sinuses started bothering me again. I guess I need to use it every few days to keep things cleared out.

According to the list on the website of places to buy the Sinus Rinse, it should be easy to find at a drug or grocery store. My free one only came with 5 packets for making the solution but I think the ones in the store come with 50 packets. I bought a box of 100 packets at Walgreens once the ones that came with mine ran out.

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New Headband

March 20th, 2006

After raving about the Halo headbands that E-Caps/Hammer Nutrition carries in a post a couple weeks ago, you may have noticed I was wearing something different at Hell Week. There was a guy at the check-in for Hell Week selling the Sweat Gutr headbands. Over the eyes they have a lip just like a rain gutter to cause the sweat to flow to the side of the head. They looked like they might really work but I needed to test one out to be convinced. With the temperatures in 80s and more humidity than I’m used to, Hell Week seemed the perfect place to test it.

The first day I put it on and started riding. It was noticeable that it was cooler since only a very small strip of skin is covered instead the much wider strip of a normal sweatband. My helmet sits pretty low on my forehead so I did have a little problem getting my sunglasses, headband, and helmet spaced correctly. Once I got everything positioned, it worked very well. On Thursday it was around 80 and very humid at least compared to what I’m used to. My aero bars were wet and slimy as were my bottles. My gloves were soaked from sweating and I still never needed to take off my sunglasses. Even in better conditions, I end up taking my sunglasses off with the Halo headbands.

Ok, so I have a couple minor issues with the Sweat Gutr headbands. The band is attached to the cardboard packaging with large zip ties that are hard to cut off. It would be much easier if it was attached with twist ties or at least smaller zip ties. The second thing is that it had a freshly minted chemical smell that I kept getting pretty good whiffs of the first couple days. The smell pretty much went away after a couple days and wasn’t noticeable anymore.

Not only did it work great, but it was more comfortable because you can easily adjust how tight it is. It’s a great product and I expect you’ll see me wearing one during RAAM.

5/17/06 Update: Sweat Gutr sent me a new Sweat Gutr. They changed the packaging and made a slight change over the ears to make it fit better.

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