7 Weeks out and still learning a bunch.

7 weeks…well not really, more like 6!

6 weeks to go and learning more every week.

This week we learned that we still have a lot to learn!!! One of the revelations of this week is that riding fully packed is THE way to train. Now, I’m not talking about lugging all of your expensive race gear all over the country as you train to put in miles and gain experience. What I am saying is that riding with REPRESENTATIVE GEAR AND PACKS everyday will get you as ready as you can be for the miles and climbing you might experience on the TD. (Of course, this is all theory at this point!).

It seems like a farce to gain a false sense of accomplishment riding an unladen race bike, road bike, or mountain bike in preparation for a 2,500–2,800 mile dirt race on a fully laden bike. One thing to remember is that you don’t just jump on a heavily loaded bike a week or before your event and put in a couple of torturous weeks of training to get ready. That would be a fantastic way to get injured.

Ray and I started adding race weight to our rigs many months ago and have finally arrived at a point where we are loaded with 25-30 pounds of packs, lights, gear, electronics, etc. Additionally, we are not simply riding flat roads in Southern New Mexico with this weight. Every morning (ok, 90% of the weekday mornings) we have been departing our homes, meeting up, and climbing up Soledad Canyon at 0600. This gives us about 2000’ of climbing every morning, in about a 25 mile ride. May not seem like much, but it adds up over the days. Including our weekend rides, we are regularly riding between 250-300 miles a week with roughly 15,000’-17,000’ of climbing. Our best estimate is that we will have roughly 4,500-5,000 miles and about 250,000’-300,000’ feet of climbing in our legs between January 1st and race day in June. The vast majority of this is fully loaded.

The other thing(s) we continue to learn is that nothing makes up for the experience of doing things yourself. Ray and I have watched HOURS of Youtube videos, read pages of internet sites and books on the TD and Bikepacking. What we have found is that a lot of gear choices, including bike and kit, is simply personal. While we joke that we will look like two identical team members (albeit one a lot fatter that P90X Santa!), our choices of equipment are pretty different in a lot of ways. I have opted for aerobars, Ray has not. Our lighting systems are the same, but our navigation and satellite systems are completely different. While Ray is utilizing a Salsa front bag, I have opted for a simple heavyweight dry bag and straps on a Salsa cradle. I’m using a down sleeping bag, Ray a down quilt. Different pads, same tents. The list goes on and on.

Another thing we found out this week is that we better get a room in Whitefish, MT in preparation for our departure either from Banff, Canada…or from the US/Canadian border at Rooseville, MT. Rooms that are $80 today go up to almost $300 in July, in Whitefish. (Flyfishing season perhaps?). In addition to the time spent preparing, we also have to prepare for the money spent participating. This is simply not a race, it is an exercise in your ability to arrange and function with all the logistics required. Logistics, as much as fitness (both mental and physical) will play a huge part in our success or failure.

At any rate, we’ve started posting more videos in the “Vids!” portions of this site, more people we meet and or ride with in the “Folks” section, and you’ll be seeing lots more content as we approach June and our start on the 11th.

Thanks for following along!

Ride On!

Shane and Ray

NM Pavement…kinda like gravel only rougher!🤣