tour divide 2023 finishers

DotWatcher.cc

Tour divide 2023 results.

This year's Tour Divide was heavily affected by the rains and mud, with the three leaders taking shelter in a public toilet for 12 hours at one point. Ulrich Bartholomoes held off Justinas Leveika and Joe Nation to take one of his first off-road wins.

Classification

Nationality.

• Germany ( 1 )
• Lithuania ( 1 )
• New Zealand ( 4 )
• France ( 3 )
• Belgium ( 3 )
• Czech Republic ( 1 )
• United States ( 1 )
• United Kingdom ( 1 )
• Australia ( 2 )
• Philippines ( 1 )
• CANADA ( 1 )
• NEW ZEALAND ( 1 )
• NETHERLANDS ( 1 )
• Canada ( 3 )
• SCRATCHED ( 1 )

160 entrants have no registered nationality

Finished / Scratched

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Lael Wilcox and Ulrich Bartholmoes are the first finishers of 2023 Tour Divide

On day 17 of the world's most iconic ultra bikepacking race, 17 riders have reached the u.s./mexico border..

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At the 17 day mark of the Tour Divide , 17 riders have reached the U.S./Mexico border, including two women.

Tour Divide veteran Lael Wilcox was the first woman to complete the 2,745 mile journey from Banff, Canada to Antelope Wells, doing so in 16 days, 20 hours, and 17 minutes.

Read also : Dot watchin’ the Tour Divide

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Lael Wilcox (@laelwilcox)

Katya Rakhmatulina, a first-time completer from California, was less than a day behind, at 17 days, 8 hours, and 48 minutes.

Although at times Wilcox was on pace to beat her 2015 record of 15 days, 10 hours, 59 minutes, the 36-year-old suffered from gastrointestinal and respiratory symptoms around the two-week mark and took some time to rest and seek medical care.

Ulrich Bartholmoes of Germany was the first person to complete the race, with a remarkable time of 14 days, 3 hours, and 23 minutes. His time is the second-fastest time ever recorded; Mike Hall’s 2016 record of 13 days, 22 hours, and 51 minutes remains untouched.

Justinas Leveika of Lithuania, who like Bartholomoes has an extensive bikepacking race palmares but was a Tour Divide rookie, put in another sub-15 hour record, arriving to the border in 14 days, 16 hours, and 57 minutes.

Joe Nation of New Zealand was the third finisher.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Ulrich Bartholmoes (@ubartholmoes)

The Tour Divide grand départ starts on the second Friday of June every year, and no year is the same in terms of conditions, weather, or competition. This year saw a more international field than ever. Women and non-binary riders made up 20 of the roughly 200 participants.

While there was less fresh snow to contend with in this year’s race, riders still encountered stubborn winter leftovers on high passes. Rain, and then mud proved to be an issue in Montana and Wyoming, so much so that the three leaders spent 12 hours waiting in a porta-potty for the road to dry out in the Great Basin.

Unfortunately, the same wind that riders needed to dry out muddy roads seemed bound to stay, in the form of demoralizing and relentless headwinds, as many pushed through Colorado and New Mexico.

Nevertheless, there are still around 110 riders out there (some 70 have ‘scratched,’ or dropped out) — follow their dots here .

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How the Tour Divide was won

Rookies ruled the top three spots overall, but weather and other challenges stymied attempts at course records.

Ulrich Bartholmoes closes in on the finish in Antelope Wells after 14 days on the route. Photo © Patrick Farnsworth / Bikes or Death

A first-time Tour Divide participant narrowly missed setting the race’s course record last week, while the final spot on the women’s podium came down to an almost-sprint after more than 18 days of racing. Those were just two of the highlights from bikepacking’s signature event.

Measuring 2,685 miles/ 4,321 km long while crisscrossing the Continental Divide 30 times between Banff, Alberta, and Antelope Wells, New Mexico, the Tour Divide is notoriously hard. Preparing for the event can take years; however, chasing Tour Divide records isn’t just about preparation. 

“I stated it clearly beforehand,” said men’s winner Ulrich Bartholmoes, “that I came here to take the win and the record. But I was also realistic. I was well aware that 20% of this was in my control and 80% depended on external conditions or what the trail wanted to allow me to do.”

And when things kicked off in Banff, on June 9, 2023, conditions felt prime for a fast edition. The start list included notable course veterans and recordholders like Lael Wilcox and Alexandera Houchin alongside Tour Divide rookies Bartholmoes, Justinas Leveika, Jens Van Roost, and WorldTour pros turned gravel privateers Ted King and Alex Howes.

As the race crossed Montana, Idaho and Wyoming, it looked like new records were inevitable. Bartholmoes, Van Roost, and Leveika outpaced Mike Hall’s course record, set in 2016, significantly. But the traverse across the Great Divide Basin between Atlantic City and Wamsutter quickly upended any expectations. Wet conditions ground the three leaders to a standstill, peanut butter mud clogging their drivetrains and impeding progress. It took the trio nearly 24 hours to complete that 100-mile section and they fell hours behind Hall’s pace. Just 24 hours later, eventual fourth-place finisher Steven Le Hyaric would cross the same ground in just nine hours as it dried out.

The three race leaders played leapfrog throughout Colorado. While they rarely rode together, they watched each other closely while riding their own paces.

“It was surprising to me that we stuck together for such a long time,” said Bartholmoes. “I’ve never had this and it affected the race. At some points, it felt like a group ride.”

By Salida, Colorado, Van Roost had fallen behind the pace and he scratched before Del Norte with intolerable and soon-to-be unsafe nerve damage to his hands because he could barely grip his handlebars. He wasn’t alone; 69 riders have scratched, including King, who suffered rhabdomyolysis, Sarah Swallow, and John and Mira, the human-canine pair we highlighted in The Tour Divide is Bikepacking at its Best .

Bartholmoes and Leveika continued to battle for the win, but by Cuba, New Mexico, Bartholmoes put in a big push to temporarily catch Hall’s record dot on Trackleaders and held the lead through to the finish. His overall time, 14 days, 3 hours, 23 minutes, is the second-fastest Tour Divide time, trailing just 4.5 hours behind Hall. Leveika finished second, thirteen hours later and Joe Nation completed the men’s podium early the following day.

“I’m just happy with my time and my entire ride,” said Bartholmoes. “I never met Mike, but people that I talked to say he loved competition and I love competition. Just trying to chase his dot throughout this race makes me proud that I could keep up with him. That’s enough for me.”

The women’s podium race played out similarly. Wilcox started strongly, outpacing her 2015 dot before slowly falling off record pace. She cited both route conditions and physical setbacks, and the race clearly took its toll. Illness and dehydration forced her to visit a health clinic in Abiquiu, New Mexico, where she received an IV to replenish lost fluids. She continued and held on for her first official Tour Divide victory. Although she finished first in 2015, she was credited with the record rather than the win because of a course deviation. She set the current course record that same year, during an individual time trial.

Katya Rakhmatulina completed a strong ride to finish second. The closest battle proved to be for third place in the women’s field. Sasha Dowell and Hannah Simon left Silver City together with Gail Brown trailing by just a few miles. Simon and Dowell rode the final miles side by side and decided to finish together, tied for third, rather than sprint it out. Brown finished just 15 minutes later. Houchin finished later the same evening, lowering her own singlespeed record by two hours.

Although the race leaders have finished and traveled home, the Tour Divide isn’t over. More than 100 competitors continue their race and the broom wagons – set at 95 miles per day for men and 85 miles per day for women on Trackleaders – are still in Colorado, nearly 1,000 miles from the finish line. For the next week, official finishers will trickle into Antelope Wells. Their experiences will be unique, but they’ll share similarities. 

“It felt surreal,” said Nation, reflecting on his third-place finish. “Riding south from Hachita is so different from the rest of the route. It was just a slow, slightly uphill grind. It gave me lots of opportunities to think.”

For the past fifteen days, he shared a few moments with fellow competitors, like Chris Burkard and Ezra Ward-Packard, but estimates he rode solo 90% of the time. From surprise grizzly bear encounters to bike-stopping mud, the ride felt like a series of highs and lows. He’d forced himself to avoid getting caught up in the race and stuck to his plan to average 300 km and 4-5 hours sleep per day through the first week. By the second week, he started sacrificing sleep and shortening his resupply points. 

“I would try once a day to get a 1500-calorie meal in,” he said. “I was loving the American-style burgers and chips. The rest of the time, I was thinking about resupply, the bike, and logistics.”

On the final stretch of pavement, there was nothing left to worry about.

“All of that was suddenly gone,” he said, “ and I could just tap myself on the back. There were a few emotions, for sure, and the fence couldn’t come fast enough.”

Course Records (days:hours:minutes):

• Men’s overall: Mike Hall (2016): 13:22:51
• Men’s singlespeed: Chris Plesko (2016) 15:08:01
• Women’s overall: Lael Wilcox (2015) 15:10:59
• Women’s singlespeed: Alexandera Houchin (2023) 18:18:26

2023 Results:

Men’s Overall

• Ulrich Bartholmoes 14:03:23
• Justinas Leveika 14:16:57
• Joe Nation 15:02:50

Women’s Overall

• Lael Wilcox 16:20:00
• Katya Rakhmatulina 17:08:48
• (tie) Hannah Simon and Sacha Dowell 18:11:13

Men’s Singlespeed

• Kyle Peterson 16:22:28
• Jake Colantonio 17:22:58

Women’s Singlespeed

• Alexandera Houchin: 18:18:26

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Tour Divide 2023 All News Items

About the Tracker

Adventure Unpacked

What might the future hold for the Tour Divide?

The more things change, the more they stay the same..

As a newer sport that lacks any central organization, competitive bikepacking has been impressively resistant to change. What started as an underground, self-supported, mostly solo endeavor a few decades ago is still largely the same. Unlike gravel and endurance mountain biking, no large corporations have swooped in to take over the sport’s most popular events (à la Life Time Fitness with the Leadville 100 and Unbound Gravel.) No government agencies have swooped in to shut down unpermitted events. Unpaid volunteers keep trading in massive amounts of labor for a little bit of passion and love. Unpaid racers keep showing up at events whose only rewards are days and weeks of arduous physical and mental challenges — challenges so advanced that one of the sport’s founders, John Stamstad, declared, “No amount of money is enough for this kind of difficulty.”

Although newer events have come and gone, most of the storied bikepacking races are still pedaling forward. I have been writing a series of columns about racing the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route, which has been a thing since Stamstad time-trialed the course in 1999. Although Divide racing has seen its share of controversies and subsequent shifts over the years, it still clings to many of the tenets that Stamstad established. These tenets can be loosely defined as “be true to the route” and “do it yourself.”

The scrappy, independent, and unpredictable nature of competitive bikepacking is why it is such a fun sport to follow, especially for those of us who are drawn to stories and characters rather than sheer athleticism and results. At the same time, the loose organization and absence in mainstream media make bikepacking a difficult sport to follow. The official Web site of the Tour Divide hasn’t been updated since 2010. The nebulous organizers endeavor to stay away from public scrutiny and potential liability by operating in the shadows. Riders only need to pay a nominal fee for GPS tracking and show up in Banff at the established time. There are no other prerequisites and no way to establish whether riders have any idea what they are doing.

This is also a fun but problematic side of the sport. Past controversies have included racers breaking into private property, racers rudely demanding services at closed stores and overworked bike shops, racers being disqualified for rules they didn’t understand, or deviating from the course because they had poor information. The first days of the 2022 Tour Divide descended into chaos when a summer snowstorm raked the Canadian Rockies and stranded riders in life-or-death situations. Canadian search and rescue teams had to rescue at least 10 Tour Divide competitors with severe hypothermia. It can be argued that most independent bike tourists would have made different decisions about waiting out the forecasted storm, or at least approached it with adequate gear. An official race, likewise, would most likely have taken steps to avoid sending a large number of underprepared riders into such dangerous conditions. The “race mentality” pushes folks to travel light and take chances they normally wouldn’t — that’s just competitive human nature. But the lack of race infrastructure also means there are no backup resources if and when disaster strikes.

It’s worth noting that the majority of racers did not require rescue, and nobody wants their hand held by authorities or authoritarian rules. But the real dangers do give me pause about uncritically supporting events that have the potential to draw larger numbers of unprepared and unsuspecting participants.

So what might the future hold for the Tour Divide? I don’t see the race being forcefully shut down, as fans long feared when the event began to grow. Really, if the 2022 storm didn’t bring down the wrath of the Canadian government on the “Banff group ride,” it’s difficult to imagine that anything would. There were also fears that the event would outgrow itself since there are no limits on participants. But the sheer scope and size of the event seem to be self-limiting. The Grand Depart line-up rarely tops 200 people. That seems to be an ideal number for a fun and competitive event without overwhelming local services and roads.

Given it’s already overcome its most difficult barriers, I see the event chugging along as it has indefinitely. After all, Tour Divide continues to thrive after a few difficult years. 2019 brought disagreement about the film crew following the lead woman, perennial favorite Lael Wilcox. Arguments divided the community and were never fully resolved. 2020, of course, brought pandemic shutdowns. In 2021, with the Canadian border still closed, a smaller field participated in a border-to-border race called “The Great Divide Classic” in homage to the original route. 2022 returned the race to Banff and a field of nearly 200 riders, although the large search-and-rescue effort in Canada cast a shadow over the event.

As a fan, 2023 — in many ways — felt like a return to the good ol’ days. The field of 200+ riders included gravel stars and an impressive international contingent. The women’s field was the strongest yet, with 18 ladies that included past winners and record-holders Lael Wilcox and Alexandera Houchin. The stories that emerged from the race seemed like they had been written by movie screenwriters. A dynamic trio of Europeans led the race until they were stopped in their tracks by impassible mud in the desolate Great Divide Basin. A hailstorm forced them to huddle together overnight in the only shelter for dozens of miles — an abandoned porta-potty on a trailer. They seemed to have a good attitude about it. Other stories included Lael finishing strong after seeking medical assistance for serious dehydration and subsequent issues with asthma. The top American finisher in sixth place was Peter Kraft Jr., who first rode the Tour Divide as a 20-year-old with his father in 2013. After 2,800 miles, three women were close enough to sprint for third, fourth, and fifth place. For the first time, the women finishers reached the double digits. It was an exciting year!

There is still ongoing debate about the direction of Divide racing and whether some elements should change. Recently, longtime veteran Jay Petervary launched a project he calls “ Great Divide Unearthed .” Since the first Tour Divide, Adventure Cycling Association has moved the northern terminus of its route north to Jasper, Alberta. In addition, the Tour Divide has introduced a number of detours and diversions over the years that mean the organized event no longer purely follows the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route. Jay wants to bring competitive racing back to the full GDMBR while taking “ultracycling techniques to a new level” during a solo effort in August.

A handful of competitors take on solo “time trials” outside the organized event every year. Some argue that this is the only pure way to race a bikepacking route — away from the emotional support and potential logistical help of others. An apt comparison to these endeavors is the Fastest Known Time, which has been part of the ultrarunning and long-distance hiking community for decades. In FKT efforts, people take on established routes such as the Pacific Crest Trail or Rim to Rim to Rim in the Grand Canyon. For most of these routes, the actual fastest known time is out of reach for 99.9% of runners. Those who still “compete” in FKT style just want to do their best, as they would in any ultramarathon. Some bikepacking fans hope to see something similar for the GDMBR — a wider dispersal of efforts that can be more inclusive of different types of riders with different agendas.

If I ever manage to ride the Divide again, it will likely be in a solo effort outside the Grand Depart. This isn’t because I object to anything about the Grand Depart — I think it’s amazing to be a part of such a quirky and interesting community of like-minded people endeavoring to accomplish something enormous. I certainly don’t want to see the Grand Depart fade, and I don’t think it will. But my largest barrier is my health — namely, allergic asthma which has become more limiting despite years of treatment (allergy shots and medication.) Mid-June is the height of grass pollen season in the Mountain West. If I spend more than a couple of hours outside, I start to feel like I’m drowning. If I want to have any hope of breaking that 20-day barrier that I still want to break, I need to target a pollen-free few weeks before winter — say, mid-September — during a year that also magically happens to be free from wildfire smoke. I know — Dream On.

The fact that I’m now in my mid-40s and not quite as naive (and thus not as mentally tough) as I used to make this dream an even taller order. The 20-day barrier isn’t even that special anymore — it’s firmly mid-pack even in the women’s field these days.

Still, the Tour Divide is all about individual dreams and personal adventures in a part of the world that I love. I hope to see it thrive, with or without me, for years to come.

Thank you for reading my Tour Divide series. Here are links to the first four posts:

A brief history of the origins of the Tour Divide.

My path to the Great Divide

Be Brave, Be Strong .

Following the light into the darkness .

Adventure Unpacked is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Ready for more?

Halfway Anywhere

The Tour Divide: What, Where, Why, and How?

The Tour Divide is an annual 2,700-mile (4,300 km) self-supported bikepacking race following the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route (GDMBR). Most of the route follows dirt and gravel roads with a few sections of pavement or singletrack sprinkled in for good measure (along with the occasional hike-a-bike section).

Cursory internet sleuthing tells me that the current iteration of the Tour Divide began in 2008. However, the first individual time trial of the route was in 2005, and people have been riding the GDMBR since as early as 1997 when the Adventure Cycling Association first mapped it.

Speaking of websites, the current Tour Divide website hasn’t been updated since 2014 and leaves much to be desired. Or perhaps the state of the website is instead part of the Tour Divide’s charm? Mystique? Neato-ness?

You may already have more questions than answers if you’ve encountered this with zero knowledge of the Tour Divide or the GDMBR. Fear not; they will be addressed. Also, know that I will likely have many of the same questions. I intend to answer said questions by participating in (and hopefully completing) this year’s Tour Divide.

That said, I’ve been doing my research (and investing heavily in bikepacking gear).

What Is the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route?

The northern terminus of the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route (GDMBR) is in Jasper (it was in Banff – the start of the Tour Divide – until 2018), a resort town in Alberta, Canada. It then heads south for over 3,000 mi / 4,800 km to its southern terminus at the US-Mexico Border at Antelope Wells, New Mexico. It can be ridden in either direction, but it’s traditionally ridden southbound.

Along with the Arizona Trail and the Colorado Trail, it comprises the most significant leg of bikepacking’s Triple Crown; similar to the thru-hiking Triple Crown comprised of the Pacific Crest Trail , Continental Divide Trail , and Appalachian Trail .

The route is almost entirely along dirt and gravel roads and is, for the most part, not a technical ride (i.e., you don’t need to be an expert-level mountain biker to navigate the GDMBR). Yes, there are a few short sections of singletrack, but overall, this route is suited for gravel or mountain bikes (but certainly not road bikes).

The GDMBR is approximately 3,000 mi / 4,800 km long and has over 133,000 ft / 40,500 m of climbing and an equal amount of descent. It passes through seven states/provinces: Alberta, British Columbia, Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado, and New Mexico. Despite beginning in Canada (as in riders must pass immigration at a border crossing), the route does not enter Mexico; it ends (or begins) at the US-Mexico Border.

The Difference Between the Tour Divide and the GDMBR

You may be asking yourself, as I have, what’s the difference between the Tour Divide and the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route? The answer? Nothing. Kind of.

The Tour Divide is the name of the annual self-supported race of the GDMBR . Put another way, the Tour Divide follows the GDMBR. However, it begins in Banff instead of Jasper; Banff was the northern terminus of the GDMBR until 2018, when it was moved to Jasper. At least, that’s all you need to know if you’re not racing and/or riding the Tour Divide. What’s self-supported? It means that racers are only afforded resources available to everyone else participating.

For example, staying at a hotel? Perfectly fine. Staying at a friend’s house? Not okay.

When you drill down to the details, there are a few sections where the Tour Divide diverges from the GDMBR. But for all intents and purposes, they’re the same; again, unless you’re concerned about racing the Tour Dviide, then there are a few spots you need to take note of.

Every year, people bikepack all or part of the GDMBR on their own (in both directions). These people can take as much or as little time as they like – many presumably even enjoy their experience. Meanwhile, others decide to race the Tour Divide beginning on the second Friday of June at the northern terminus in Banff, Alberta (in Canada). The latter group’s enjoyment often falls more heavily into the Type II (or even Type III) fun category.

The GDMBR Versus the Continental Divide Trail

When I first hiked the Continental Divide Trail (CDT), I met one person in Island Park, Idaho, who was riding the Divide; I had no idea what they were doing, what the Tour Divide was, or what the GDMBR was. The cyclist was stoked to see me and my CDT hiking buddy, but we thought ourselves cooler than him because what could be cooler than hiking the CDT?

How things have changed. I apologize for not greeting you with the enthusiasm you deserved, anonymous 2017 Tour Divide racer.

Despite the CDT following a lot of dirt and gravel roads – that would be suitable for bikepacking – there’s actually very little overlap between the two routes. Yes, there will be opportunities for northbound CDT thru-hikers to see Tour Divide riders, but many will pass like ships in the night.

The Tour Divide starts too early for southbound CDT hikers to catch any riders, but they could still encounter northbound GDMBR riders during their thru-hikes. Remember, play nice if/when you see each other out there. We’re all out there doing awesome things in nature. There’s no need to perpetuate a bikepacker-backpacker divide (on the Divide).

How to Participate in the Tour Divide

The community that has made the Tour Divide what it is today doesn’t exist as an official organization or entity. Instead, it’s willed into being by the yearly riding crop’s cohesion, carrying on traditions from and iterating upon actions of previous years’ cyclists.

There’s no sign-up form, no entry fee, no website (at least not a website updated in the last decade), and no organized event at the starting line in Banff (or at the finish line at Antelope Wells, New Mexico).

Most of the organization appears to come from Facebook groups (typically some of the most toxic online cesspools, but in rare cases, useful information corners). Every year, participants who provide tracking information (using a device such as a Garmin inReach Mini 2 ) to trackleaders can be watched online as they move down the course.

You show up in Banff, start riding south on the second Friday in June, tell anyone who asks that you’re riding the Tour Divide, and BOOM! you’re officially racing the Tour Divide. I’ve heard that in recent years that the community attempts to organize waves of riders (based on estimated finishing time) to ease impacts and congestion on/along the start of the race. Don’t want the local government to come in and try to shut down the unofficial race, after all.

Maybe one day, the magic of this unofficial, unorganized, organized, official bikepacking race will wane as permits, regulations, and rules are imposed with increasing popularity and awareness of the event. Maybe someone will write a best-selling book about the Tour Divide and blow it up like a certain unnamed book did to a certain unnamed trail in the Western United States.

Apparently, you’re supposed to send in a letter of intent to a random email address that I suspect is maintained by the crew at Bikepacking.com , but the letters of intent used to be posted to the Tour Divide website (which seems like it was a fun tradition that’s now sadly gone as of 2010).

For now, you only need to get on your bike and ride.

The Tour Divide is the unofficial orrifical self-supported race of the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route, with a few changes to the route. Simple enough, right?

It’s an incredible test of physical and mental endurance, with many riders forgoing sleep to put in more hours on the bike (how many hours I sleep every night is something I’m interested in seeing).

According to DotWatcher , since the Tour Divide’s conception in 2008, only 716 riders have completed the race (this number is likely not 100% accurate, but it’s about as good as we can do). Hopefully, after this year’s race, I will be able to count myself among the fewer than 1,000 total finishers.

For now, it’s time to go and ride my bike .

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Tour Divide 2023 : The race, the gear, the whys and everything in between

• May 13, 2023

It was just over 2 years ago the first time I ever heard of the Tour Divide. I didn’t even know what bikepacking was or that bikepacking racing was a thing.

By then, I had become a time trialist specialist on the road. I had become obsessed with mastering my mind, mastering the art of executing a perfect time trial. I love it so much. I know very well this feeling, my sight on the road ahead, my head tucked in, my lungs expanding to their max, my legs flowing over the pedals. That feeling when I get in the zone, when I’m able to fully surrender and let no amount of pain bother me. It’s pretty amazing. And quite freeing.

A few years ago when I was reading this passionating book “How Bad Do You Want It”, the author spoke of how references are limiters to the mind and the body. If you can remove the information that you know as your references, you could push your body much further. I decided to test the concept and did a 20-minutes blind test – no numbers, no references. Increasing my best 20-min power by 18% was a shocking, yet insightful experience. “You are stronger than you think.” Simply remove the thinking.

I was on the stationary bike trainer when a youtube video came up about the Tour Divide (the documentary was I Just Want to Ride featuring Lael Wilcox – record-holder of the fastest female time on the Tour Divide). A 4,300 km time trial. WOAH! Now everything I know as references are quite irrelevant. How the hell is this humanely possible? Then… What if I remove what I know as possible. What if this was just another example of the amazing things a body can do when you remove references. I was immediately filled with curiosity.

I couldn’t sleep that night. I had to find out: where is the limit of what I can do. Am I able to apply what I came to master in road cycling time trial to a 4,300km bikepacking time trial?

Covering a distance of 4,300km, the Tour Divide is one of the longest and arguably the hardest ultra-endurance bike race on the planet. From Banff (Alberta) in Canada, to Antelope Wells (NM) at the border of Mexico, the course takes the riders along breathtaking scenic landscapes of the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route (designed by the Adventure Cycling Association back in the 1990s), one of the most well-known off-road touring route that attracts bikepackers and bike tourists from all over the world.

The race has been going on for many years, starting on the 2nd Friday of June of each year, but only started to gain popularity lately with the rise of bikepacking and bikepacking events. The 2023 edition has currently over 250 participants registered to this day (one month before the start). 26 of them are female or non-binary, the highest non-male participation rate ever!

The Tour Divide is more than a cycling race, it is the definition of an endurance and resilience test. The race is self-supported, which means you are not allowed to receive any help. You can use public services such as hotels and restaurants, but you must carry everything you need (clothes, food, camp & sleep, tools). The route goes through many remote areas where a satellite device is the only way of communication. High-altitude mountain passes, changing weather, and wildlife encounters are all part of the race.

Getting ready – my journey to the start line

There is the physical journey, then it’s freacking scary! 2 years ago I had never camped before, never packed gear on a bike, never ridden in the dark or encountered a bear.

Before I could attempt this, I had a few classes to take on. So, 3 weeks after watching the youtube video about the Tour Divide, I departed for my first bikepacking trip. An improvised, but oh so life-changing, one-month bikepacking trip in Utah and Arizona hooked me up. From there, I would use bikepacking for training when I’m not racing.

Last year (2022), I was still racing as a pro road cyclist when a series of events occurred, one of them being the cancellation of BC Superweek, my beloved crit series in July. I was going to fly to western Canada (near Banff) for Road Nationals, but then I had an opening in my calendar. “What a great opportunity to check out the course of the Tour Divide!” I thought.

I flew with all the gear I had and set to ride as much as I can of the route after racing Nationals. I had a wonderful ride in the time trial at Nationals, I rode the absolute best I could. Another 2nd place, but I felt satisfied. I love when I leave it all on the course. I was not going to be National Champion but that’s how it is. I don’t have less joy riding my bike fullgas. It was time to swap bikes.

So, a week later on July 4th, 2022, I departed from Banff and headed south on my pretty beat-up Cannondale FSi mountain bike hardtail, to see if I was capable of riding the terrain, to overcome my fear of bears (oh, I did come face-to-face with a grizzly! But that’s for another storytelling time), to overcome my fear of riding in the dark and confronting the weather of the high-altitude mountain passes.

The course was absolutely mind-blowing!!! Every day, I was overwhelmed by the beauty of the landscapes surrounding me. The “non-technical” terrain was very much challenging for my roadie skillset. I was very unprepared for the hike-a-bike and the rain, but it was so empowering to come out of these challenges stronger.

I completed the route in 28 days (about twice as long as the race-winning time), averaging over 10 hours of riding to cover 150km each day -it was the hardest thing I had ever done !!

This course recon was the first step to getting prepared to race. It also made obvious that I needed to improve my MTB skills, to strengthen my upper body for the hike”push”-a-bike, to fasten my camp-to-bike transition, a warmer and more reliable sleep system, and better overall gear and bike.

My 2023 Tour Divide Gear List

By now I have gathered enough bikepacking experience to know better what I want and need for my ideal setup. So I have reached out to my favorite companies and I’m very fortunate that they embarked on my dream race project with me! Here is the best bikepacking setup I could build for racing the Tour Divide :

• Cannondale Scalpel HT, 100mm suspension fork
• Sram X01 mechanical 34T x 10-52 Eagle cassette
• SL4 Lucky Jack – Duke Racing Wheels (XC carbon wheels, 1200g a pair)
• Son 28 dynamo hub
• Ergo grips and aero bars
• Maxxis Ardent Race and Ikon 2,2 tires

Packs: Backcountry Series by Apidura

• Apidura 11L handlebar pack (clothes)
• Apidura 2x 1.2L feed pouches, 1L top-tube feed bag, 1L rear top-tube pack for accessories
• Apidura 4L frame pack with a hydration bladder (food & water)
• Apidura 1.8L down-tube pack (tools and pharmacy)
• Apidura 10L saddle pack (sleep system)
• possibly a hip pack or hydration vest… TBD
• 7mesh cargo bib (pad removed) paired with 7mesh Foundation Shorts
• 7mesh Hollyburn light thermal pants
• 7mesh Chico Anorak pull-over
• 7mesh merino buff
• 7mesh Skypilot Gore-tex rain jacket
• MEC 800-down jacket
• Mountain Hardwear 800-down pants
• MEC rain pants cover
• Showerpass waterproof gloves and socks (available at MEC)
• Defeet merino gloves

Sleep System :

• MEC Talon 0 degree C 800-down quilt
• MEC Vectair Ultralight insulated air mat
• Mountain Laurel Designs FKT bivy
• Warmlite Gear Vapor barrier long-sleeve jersey
• Warmlite Gear Vapor Barrier socks

Electronics :

• Garmin 540 Solar for navigation (MEC)
• Garmin inReach satellite tracking (MEC)
• GoPro Mini 11 for self-documenting the race
• iPhone and AirPods
• Sinewave Cycle Beacon2 headlight (dynamo powered)
• 1x 5,000 mpa power bank, 1x 10,000 mpa power bank, fast-charging wall charger, and cables
• Black Diamond headlight (MEC)
• Set of rear lights (MEC)

Tools, toiletry, and other items :

• Sunscreen (lots of sunscreens)
• Toothbrush, toothpaste
• Laundry handwash soap
• Eye mask, ear plugs
• ibuprofen, allergy med
• Caffeine, melatonin
• BeFree water filter and water purifying tablets
• Muc-Off Hydro chain lube with a rag
• Hand pump, tire plugs and sealant
• Multi-tools with chain breaker
• Spare derailer hanger, spare brake pads, chain links
• Patch repair kit
• Protein powder, BCAAs, Greens powder

Thank you to my sponsors for gearing me up with the best. Find this gear online: MEC outdoor gear , 7mesh cycling apparel , Apidura bikepacking bags , Duke Racing Wheels , Warmlite Gear vapor barrier gear .

Live-Tracking – From June 9th, 2023

We will depart from Banff (AB) on June 9th, 2023. You can follow the race live via satellite tracking here .

Even though I will try to film as much as possible, I will not be posting a lot on social media during the race (because it’s a race!) and there isn’t much service between towns. If you do follow my progress, I will love to read your messages of encouragement!

You can find me on instagram at @msoleilblais74 and you can subscribe to my Youtube Channel to be notified when my Tour Divide film is up!

But why in the hell would someone want to race this?

I have long asked myself this question. What is my motivation, why do I want to race the Tour Divide and put all of the efforts behind such a big commitment? Multiple answers come to my mind.

First, it’s the curiosity, the need to push the limits and see how far I can go. I see this as a continuation of my fascination for the power of the mind and playing with the concept of removing references. To see what I could do if I go into something where I have no references at all. Can I carry my time trial state of mind over 4,300km ? How resilient am I?

Second, it’s the transformation. Endurance has never been something I particularly excel at naturally. I had a strong anaerobic profile as a pro cyclist but that is quite useless over a long distance. I think you never become ready for the biggest race of your life, just like you don’t do a marathon before your first marathon. You “become” someone who is capable of doing it, by doing it. I want to become the person at the finish line who was able to race that distance and push her limits to a new level. No matter what happens, I will come out of this test stronger and more resilient.

Lastly, I want to live the experience. The experience of racing my bike all day, all night. Riding as far as I can, every day, with nothing else on my mind than going further. I quite enjoy the solitude of riding long distances in remote areas, and I look forward to re-discovering the magnificent, yet challenging course that is the Tour Divide.

Stay tuned, peace out

Full heart, fullgas

Marie-Soleil Blais

Bike Racer & Adventurer

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Bikepacking 101 – Tips for your first bikepacking or bike touring trip

Tour Divide challenges a fixed course annually called the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route . Not only is the Great Divide Route a true classic, its 'primary track' is pursued with consistency by TD athletes so that year to year, finish times may always be compared directly to the record books .

The Great Divide Route is the world's longest off-pavement cycling route. It was tirelessly mapped over a 4 year span, and published in 1998 by Adventure Cycling Association, North America's premiere bicycle travel organization. The route is highlighted by long dirt roads and jeep trails that wend their way through forgotten passes of the Continental Divide . It travels through Canadian provinces of Alberta and British Columbia, and the United States of Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado, and New Mexico ( map ). By route's end a thru-rider will climb nearly 200,000 feet of vertical (equivalent to summiting Mount Everest from sea-level 7 times). 

It is by riding a bicycle that you learn the contours of a country best, since you have to sweat up the hills and coast down them.   –Ernest Hemingway

‘Tour Divide’ Champ’s Secrets To Conquer A Mountain Range

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[leadin] Unassuming cyclist Josh Kato crushed last year’s Great Tour Divide, a self-supported race that crosses the United States north to south over the Rocky Mountains.[/leadin]

Imagine your longest day in the saddle. Let’s go with 100 miles….that’s a typical long distance endurance ride. Now double it. Then, repeat…for 14 days, 11 hours, and 37 minutes straight. And for good measure, do it over the most rugged mountain range in America and entirely off-pavement.

That’s precisely what the 40-year-old Washington nurse and endurance cyclist did at last year’s Great Tour Divide (GTD). His time not only won the 2,745-mile event, but it set the course record.

We caught up with Kato to discuss the highs and lows of endurance cycling, and his secret training weapons, including patience, a fat bike, and donuts!

GearJunkie: Two years ago, your GTD didn’t go as planned. Can you tell us more about that?

Josh Kato:  2014 was supposed to be the year I was going to accomplish a dream of competing in the Tour Divide. I was riding much stronger than I had anticipated and on day three of the race, in Montana (around mile 300), I ended up crashing in the mud and snow. It was a bit of a worst-case scenario type of wreck. I landed wrong, fractured my fibula, tore my hamstring, and gashed the back of my leg which subsequently got infected. I rode until around mile 1,100 before I called it quits.

That hurt. Dropping out of something I had poured so much time, money, and energy into. It was as if I had let myself down. I was rather depressed. I figured I wouldn’t ever be able to get time off of work again to give it another go.

So that’s 800 miles with a broken leg! How did you push through that sort of pain? Did you underestimate the injury?

Ha! I said I was a nurse. Never said I was a good one.

Yeah, after my wreck, I realized fairly quickly that something was very wrong with my leg, but denial is a powerful tool. I truly never thought I’d be able to get the time off from work to do the race again so I was committed to pushing on as long as I could turn the pedals. When it got to the point that it was no longer physically possible, I called it on the race.

I’m 40 and my body has been around the block a few times. It’s pretty commonplace to have aches and pains that don’t go away very quickly. In my head, I was pretty sure what I’d done, but also realized I probably wouldn’t incur any permanent disability from it. Of course, had I completely torn my hamstring rather than just a partial tear that would have taken a huge amount of recovery time. It got to the point that I had to lift my leg to the pedal by pulling with my hand a length of strap wrapped around my foot, like a lasso.

On the GTD, everyone hurts. Some things can be overcome and some things can’t. Perhaps being in healthcare, it’s easy to minimize suffering. Acute pain isn’t a permanent ailment. It’s just something that needs to be worked through.

So last year–you decided to give it another go! You must have felt you had unfinished business.

When I found out I was going to get the vacation time from work, I trained like a madman. I wanted to finish what I had started and made every effort to make sure I could.

I never trained with the goal of winning. I trained to finish. I’m not a very competitive guy. Except with myself. I guess I was able to achieve a level of conditioning that allowed me to compete with the amazing field of competitors we had last year.

“I think one of the most important things I did was train with a heavier bike than I used in the Divide.”

What kind of mileage are you churning through to train for the GTD? 

In my lead up to the Divide in 2015, I rode about 3,000 miles with an unusual amount of climbing — round 450,000 feet. We have a lot of hills in Washington. Almost all of my riding was on very poor gravel roads, trails, and abandoned logging roads. Very Divide-like terrain.

I think one of the most important things I did was train with a heavier bike than I used in the divide. I purposely go out and try to find the most challenging rides I can do. For a race like the Divide, a rider has to get used to going slow uphill with a heavy bike. It’s a mental thing.

Of course, we had a very mild winter last year in Washington so I was able to churn out some good rides early in the season. This year is making me get a bit more creative with training. Fat bikes are a great invention for training. This amount of training and having a job means I have to sacrifice a fair bit of other items in life. When I’m not at work, I’m riding, running, or prepping in some way for the Divide. It’s a huge time commitment.

You work as a nurse – does shift work lend itself to training and pulling in long days in the saddle?

I work the night shift. So yes, I guess it helps to know what keeps your mind going at 3am .

I think one thing that nursing lends itself to more than anything is seeing the struggles of other people. The body can overcome some pretty astonishing things. Some people have an amazing amount of will to keep going when the odds are stacked against them. It’s a good reminder to hear people tell me that they just wished they could be well enough to be outside roaming through the hills. People remind me every day to not take health for granted.

Obviously, you love to ride – do you cross-train to keep it fresh? 

The best rides are the ones that are not about the ride at all. I only wish that fly-fishing was a better workout. That’s my main passion. Nothing like standing in a river with a bit of graphite. Sadly, it doesn’t work the cardio system too well.

You rode in the Smoke’n Fire 400 last year. Do you use these ‘middle distance’ bikepacking rides as training rides? How many do you take on each year?

The Smoke’n Fire is a super fun event! Excellent scenery and awesome trail sections. My first bikepacking race was the 2014 Tour Divide. My second was the 2015 Divide. My third was the Smoke’n Fire 400. I finished the Divide in June. The SNF 400 was in September. I barely rode after the Divide. I had to go fishing! I used the SNF 400 as a test for myself to see how I’d do “off the couch”. I was very happy with my result.

It was also interesting doing the full sleep deprivation thing. In the Tour Divide, I slept every night. It’s a long race. These shorter races seem to be much more about sleep deprivation. On some of the last climbs in the SNF 400 I was hallucinating pretty well. I remember seeing Jay Petervary (who wasn’t in the race) sitting alongside the road petting a capybara. Also, when I rode into Boise at the end of that race I heard someone shout my name. I thought that might be a hallucination as well.

You weren’t hallucinating. I was following the leader board and cheering finishers at the end of the race–I gave a shout out to you.

Funny! Good to know now I wasn’t that bad off. I guess I’m not cut out for the full sleep deprivation thing. I’d enjoy doing more races but the work schedule interferes quite a bit.

“You gotta find a way to keep going. Donuts help a lot.”

Pulling in mile after mile … I’m sure it can be incredibly emotional, but on both sides. You must hit both extreme highs and lows. How do you monitor your emotional state?

The Tour Divide is so long that yes, you go through every single emotion possible, as well as some that you didn’t realize were in you. Riding mostly alone, pushing yourself to unfamiliar physical limits, that’s the easy part. The emotional aspect is the hard part. You gotta find a way to keep going. Donuts help a lot. In reality, I always try to remind myself that no matter how bad I feel, how down in the dumps my mind is, that things will get better at some point. All bleeding stops, eventually. Ultra-racing is very much like that.

So you’re 40. That’s venturing into middle age. But you’re at the top of the game. Jay P. is even older. Does endurance riding get better with age?

JK: Yup, 40. I’ll hit 41 before this years Divide. Guys like Jay P. and Jefe Branham are very inspirational to me. They keep going and going. I’d like to say I’ve solved the mystery of the 40ish racer and ultra-endurance but I haven’t got “the” answer. One of the only things that I can determine is that we keep realizing our gig might be up at any time. So we gotta get done with a few things as fast as we can. I know that I can ride much longer than I could when I was younger. Perhaps it’s an impatience thing with youth. Perhaps we’ve just learned through life experience to endure more. Or maybe we are just more determined to show up the youngsters. I do know I focus on the journey far more than the speed. Oh, I wanna go fast, but the journey means a lot more to me now than it did when I was younger.

You’re quite a photographer. (All photos in this post are taken by Josh Kato). How do you balance pushing so hard, so long, yet taking time to smell the proverbial roses?

The main difference between my touring speed and racing speed are the number of photos I take during a ride. Landscape photography is a hobby of mine and I do love getting a shot of a fleeting moment in a beautiful place. My wife can attest that my camera is rarely out of hand during a tour. Nonetheless, even when racing the best of the best ultra-guys I’m not going to pass up a landscape that creates an emotional response in me.

What kind of camera do you take with you on the bike?

During races, I carry a small point and shoot that takes decent images. During the Divide, I carried a Canon S110. It does great while shooting on the go. While touring I use either a Sony RX100 or Fuji XE-1.

Any advice on how to keep the camera readily available while riding?

I almost always ride with a hydration pack. The packs with a small pocket on the shoulder strap are very nice to be able to tuck a small camera into. I then use a carabiner to clip the lanyard to my sternum strap so I can drop the camera should I need to brake quickly. Of course this only works well if it’s dry outside. I have yet to try a waterproof camera that has the image quality I want. When it rains, Ziploc bags are my friend.

So what’s your ride schedule look like this year?

I don’t have a huge agenda other than having another go at the Tour Divide. The race just kind of sticks in your head. Amazingly, I got the time off of work to go again, so I’m not going to pass it up. Not sure I’ll be able to train as much as last year but I’m certain I’m still going to have a blast. Other than the Divide, we’ll just have to see. I do know I need to get some more fly fishing trips in this year.

Thanks Josh and good luck this year!

This year’s GTD will roll out of Banff, Alberta on June 10th. The website hosts some good background information, but for the latest check out the  Tour Divide on Facebook . To follow Josh and all the cyclists in real time, head on over to the Tour Divide’s leaderboard at  Trackleaders.com .

Steve Graepel is a Contributing Editor and Gear Tester at GearJunkie. He has been writing about trail running, camping, skiing, and general dirtbagging for 10+ years. When not testing gear with GearJunkie, he is a Senior Medical Illustrator on the Neurosurgery Team at Mayo Clinic. Based in Boise, Idaho, Graepel is an avid trail runner, camper, angler, cyclist, skier, and loves to introduce his children to the Idaho outdoors.

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‘One Shot Away’: Follow Korn Ferry Tour stars on journey to PGA TOUR card

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The Korn Ferry Tour winds its way through several countries and U.S. states, with roughly 150 players seeking 30 PGA TOUR cards.

The 2024 Korn Ferry Tour schedule includes 26 events, hundreds of travel hours, and thousands of decisions to strategize. In the end, a single stroke could be the difference between fulfilling a lifelong dream and waiting until next year.

That’s the Korn Ferry Tour’s dramatic reality, which is depicted on “One Shot Away.”

The series, produced by PGA TOUR Entertainment, goes behind the scenes in capturing the essence of players’ lives inside and outside the ropes, seeking any marginal advantage that could potentially save a stroke throughout the season, which could prove the difference in earning a PGA TOUR card or returning to the Korn Ferry Tour in 2025.

The top 30 finishers on the 2024 Korn Ferry Tour Points List, finalized after the season-ending Korn Ferry Tour Championship presented by United Leasing & Finance in October, will earn 2025 PGA TOUR membership. That’s the goal, with various ways to get there – it could be a couple of big weeks, or a series of steady showings. If past is prescient, the graduating class will include a mix of promising up-and-comers and wily veterans, looking to follow the lead of Scottie Scheffler (Korn Ferry Tour Class of 2019) and ascend to world No. 1.

Who will hear their name called at the season finale and receive a coveted PGA TOUR card? That’s anyone’s guess, and that’s the Korn Ferry Tour’s beauty.

Here's a capsule look at the 2024 cast of “One Shot Away” and the six Korn Ferry Tour members who are each seeking their first PGA TOUR card for 2025:

• Tim Widing : The Swede attended high school with Ludvig Åberg and looks to join his countryman on TOUR in 2025. Widing is a trick-shot enthusiast who played collegiately at the University of San Francisco and earned his first Korn Ferry Tour title at the LECOM Suncoast Classic in April.
• Fred Biondi : The University of Florida product authored a nifty double in 2023, winning the NCAA Division I men’s golf individual title while also helping the Gators win a team championship. The Brazil native finished No. 2 on the 2023 PGA TOUR University Ranking, behind only Åberg, to earn Korn Ferry Tour membership.
• Ross Steelman : The Missouri native began his college career at the University of Missouri before transferring to Georgia Tech, where he finished No. 4 on the 2023 PGA TOUR University Ranking to earn Korn Ferry Tour membership. Steelman, 23, learned the game at Perche Creek, a hybrid go-kart track/mini golf course and driving range in his hometown of Columbia, Missouri, and his family drove to various junior events across the Midwest in his formative years – a la Scheffler.
• Cooper Dossey : The Texas native played collegiately at Baylor University, where he became the school’s first First Team All-American in 2020, and he spent two years on mini-tours before earning Korn Ferry Tour status via PGA TOUR Q-School presented by Korn Ferry last fall. Dossey, 26, embraces his stutter, stamping his wedges with words that he struggles to say. He also hosts a podcast called “The Stutter Putter.”
• Sam Choi : The gregarious Californian graduated from the University of New Mexico before spending a fifth collegiate season at Pepperdine in 2022-23, finishing No. 11 on the PGA TOUR University Ranking before turning pro. Choi, 23, finished No. 2 on the 2023 PGA TOUR Canada’s season-long Fortinet Cup to earn Korn Ferry Tour membership for this season. Outside of golf, he enjoys pickleball and spikeball.

Below are 2024 “One Shot Away” airtimes on CBS Sports (all times ET):

• Episode 1: Sunday, April 28, 2:30-3 p.m.
• Episode 2: Sunday, May 26, 2:30-3 p.m.
• Episode 3: Sunday, June 9, 1:30-2 p.m.
• Episode 4: Saturday, July 13, 3-3:30 p.m.
• Episode 5: Saturday, Aug. 10, 2:30-3 p.m.
• Episode 6: Saturday, Oct. 26, 2-2:30 p.m.

Is Tiger Woods qualified for the 2024 US Open? Golfer's eligibility explored as son Charlie attempts qualification

T wo weeks back, Tiger Woods made his 26th appearance in the Masters at the historic Augusta National Golf Club. He made the cut for a record 24th consecutive time at the venue.

However, Woods faltered in the third round and carded a dismal 82. He finished at T60 with a score of 16 over par. The golf legend's fans are now left wondering about Woods' potential participation in the upcoming 2024 US Open .

Tiger Woods has an unmatched dominance in the USGA championships. He has three U.S. Junior victories, three U.S. Amateur triumphs, and three U.S. Open wins. However, for the first time since the 1996 PGA Championship, Woods won't be exempted for a Major.

Tiger Woods won the Masters in 2019 and that exempted him from participating in the US Open from 2019-2023, five times. And, about 2024? Woods is not qualified.

After the car crash in February 2021, Tiger Woods hasn't been able to perform anywhere near his best. He is currently ranked 788th and looks like he won't be breaking into the top 60, one of the criteria to be exempted from the US Open. He also doesn't qualify for the following exemptions in order to qualify for the 2024 US Open:

• Winners of the U.S. Open Championship in the last 10 years (2014-2023)
• Top 10 scorers from the 2023 U.S. Open Championship, including ties for 10th place
• Winner of the 2023 U.S. Senior Open Championship
• Amateur Champions including Champions of the 2023 U.S. Amateur, U.S. Junior Amateur, and U.S. Mid-Amateur Championships, along with the runner-up of the 2023 U.S. Amateur (must be an amateur)
• Winners of the Masters Tournament (2020-2024)
• Winners of the PGA Championship (2019-2024)
• Winners of the Open Championship (2019-2023)
• Winners of the Players Championship (2022-2024)
• Winner of the 2023 European Tour BMW PGA Championship
• Players eligible for the season-ending 2023 Tour Championship
• FedExCup Standings: Top five players in the 2023-24 FedExCup standings
• Points leader from the 2023 Korn Ferry Tour season
• Top two players from the 2023 DP World Tour Rankings and Race to Dubai Rankings
• U.S. Open Qualifiers: Top finishers from the 2024 DP World Tour U.S. Open Qualifying Series
• Winners of various amateur championships, including the 2023 Amateur Championship, Mark H. McCormack Medal, NCAA Division I Men's Golf Championship, and Latin America Amateur Championship (must remain amateur)
• Top 60 point leaders from the current Official World Golf Ranking
• Special Exemptions: Entries selected by the USGA based on specific criteria

Tiger Woods' son Charlie attempts qualification in the US Open

The US Open is open to everyone if the golfer has a handicap of 0.4. Tiger Woods' son Charlie aims to participate in the event at Pinehurst Resort at the Donald Ross course from June 13 to 16, 2024.

Charlie Woods will be participating in the 18-hole qualifying event on Thursday, April 25, at Legacy Golf & Tennis Club in Port St. Lucie, Florida. From this, he can qualify for the 36-hole final qualifying round and eventually qualify for the US Open.

It is highly probable that if Tiger Woods wishes to participate in the US Open, he will receive a special exemption from the USGA. Several golfers like Ben Hogan and Phil Mickelson have received special exemptions for the US Open several times. Jack Nicklaus has been exempted a record eight times while Arnold Palmer has been exempted five times.

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The special edition 10th issue of The Bikepacking Journal is one you won’t want to miss! It features 25% more pages with extra stories, bonus art and maps, and much more...

Issue 09 takes readers on trips through time—one to the early days of bicycles—and offers several reminders to be grateful for supportive friends and family, and strangers we meet along the way...

For Issue 08, we invited several contributors to return and pick up where earlier trips and ideas left off and also feature a handful of first-timers whose perspectives we’ve long been eager to share...

• Bikepacking Races

2023 Tour Divide

June 9, 2023 @ 8:00 am,  alberta, canada    2745mi (4,418km).

Next Event Sat Dec 23, 2017

Next Event:

BAM! Bicycle Adventure Meeting 2023

The 2023 Tour Divide takes place on Friday, June 9th at 8AM. Race the length of Great Divide Mountain Bike Route, from Banff to New Mexico, 2,745 miles of ultra-endurance bikepacking.

Date: June 9, 2023

Time: 8:00 am

Event Website

Tour Divide Grand Depart

Banff , Alberta Canada

The Tour Divide roughly follows the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route (GDMBR) is the most recognized and important off-pavement cycling route in the United States, if not the world. The route crisscrosses the Continental Divide from north to south starting in Banff, Alberta, Canada and finishing at the US/Mexico border in Antelope Wells, New Mexico.

Time-trial season on the GDMBR begins annually with Grand Départ, occurring on the second Friday in June from both termini of the Route; the main Depart takes place in Bannf, Alberta. The Tour Divide see hundreds of riders each year, with the goal of these Solstice common starts is for athletes to challenge the Route in situ, under similar weather conditions and maximum daylight. If one cannot make a grand départ, there is a season-long ITT-Divide format to contend. Tour Divide requires no entry fee or formal registration. There are no prizes for finishing. Riders who carry SPOT GPS Messengers are tracked via the Live tracker.

For more on the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route, check out our guide, here . Also, find previous Tour Divide rig roundups here , and check out #tour-divide for many more articles and resources.

Live Tracking

Registration: Send a letter of intent after winter solstice to [email protected] .

Event image by Matt & Brett, A View From Two Wheels. 

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With Saudi negotiations stalled, Rory McIlroy potentially returning to PGA Tour board as peacemaker

A plan is in place for Rory McIlroy to rejoin the PGA Tour board, a move that would require the board’s approval and could be viewed as a chance to help improve stalled negotiations with the Saudi financial backers of LIV Golf.

McIlroy resigned from the board in November, saying he felt he could no longer commit the time and energy required with the PGA Tour trying to finalize an agreement with the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia.

The deal with PIF was not finalized, and the PGA Tour instead took on Strategic Sports Group, a consortium led by Fenway Sports Group , as a minority investor in a deal that could be worth as much as $3 billion. McIlroy has an affiliation with Fenway through the new TGL team league due to start play in January.

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Webb Simpson, one of the six player directors on the PGA Tour board and PGA Tour Enterprises board, has submitted a letter saying that he wants to resign as a player director but only if McIlroy replaces him, according to a person who has seen the letter.

The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Tuesday because the letter was not made public. The board is expected to discuss Simpson’s request as early as Wednesday.

PGA Tour Enterprises is the new commercial entity, though six players serve on both boards.

McIlroy’s resignation in November required the other five player directors — Simpson, Tiger Woods, Patrick Cantlay, Adam Scott, and Peter Malnati — to elect a player to serve out the term through 2024. They chose Jordan Spieth.

Some of those players have been at odds with McIlroy over the last few months because the four-time major champion has changed his tune about LIV Golf, and has suggested LIV players be allowed to return to the PGA Tour without penalty.

Spieth and McIlroy disagreed in February over Spieth’s comments that a deal with PIF was not needed because of the SSG investment, although it would help with unification.

The Simpson case, however, is different. He has not resigned from the board. The person said Simpson’s letter said he would resign if McIlroy could replace him; otherwise, he would stay on the boards.

The person said Simpson indicated the board does not have a European player — five are Americans and Scott is Australian.

The Guardian, which first reported McIlroy’s potential move back to the board, also noted McIlroy has a good relationship with Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the PIF governor.

Al-Rumayyan met with the player directors — he even played nine holes with Woods — in the Bahamas a week after The Players Championship last month. Spieth described that meeting as a chance to talk while figuring out the next step.

There have been no reports of progress since then.

A London financial newspaper, City A.M., reported last week that LIV had offered McIlroy $850 million to join, based on sources it did not identify. McIlroy quickly shot down those rumors and said he would play the PGA Tour “for the rest of my career,” but he also reiterated his hopes that golf could be unified again outside the four majors.

“The game is better when we’re all together,” he said last week at the RBC Heritage.

The hurdle for any kind of a deal has been how to unify the game. Jon Rahm, Brooks Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau, and Dustin Johnson are among players who signed bonuses said to be worth upward of $100 million that led to the divide.

McIlroy said last month at The Players Championship that Al-Rumayyan “wants to do the right thing” for all of golf, and that LIV Commissioner Greg Norman and others have done the PIF leader a disservice.

“So the closer that we can get to Yasir, PIF, and hopefully finalize that investment, I think that will be a really good thing,” McIlroy said.

SSG’s initial investment of $1.5 billion is for a first-of-its-kind equity ownership program. PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan said in a February memo that $750 million in aggregate equity would be granted to 36 players based on career performance, last five-year performance and Player Impact Program results.

Those players are to learn details of how much they receive this week.