We know of two Iowans racing the 2018 Tour Divide, Andrea Cohen and Jason Mattock. Both work at
World of Bikes in Iowa City.
They left Banff Canada on Friday, June 8th.
As of Sat, June 9th at 10 am, Andrea traveled 126.7 miles and was in 51st place and Jason has ridden 105 miles and is in 89th place. 161 dots were listed on the board Saturday morning.
note: Watching the dots are addictive. We are not responsible for lost work, lost wages, lost sleep, weight loss, loss of friends, family or fitness. We trust you'll have discipline to look away from time to time as the race lasts 20+ days.
Andrea took a pair of our
Pogie Lites and we are looking forward to her review afterwards!
WATCH VIDEO OF GRAND DEPART
Thanks for taking Bonnie Gagnon!
What is Tour Divide?
The Tour Divide is an annual mountain biking race traversing the length of the Rocky Mountains, from Banff Canada to the Antelope Wells New Mexico on the Mexican border. Following the 2,745-mile (4,418 km) Great Divide Mountain Bike Route, it is an ultra-distance cycling ride that is an extreme test of endurance, self-reliance and mental toughness.
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. The route's climb is nearly 200,000 feet of vertical (equivalent to summiting Mount Everest from sea-level 7 times).