Nick Legan
Great Divide
Reborn by calories
Day 2 cont’d:Once through the border, Eureka is only 10 miles away and there I would find food and likely, other Tour Divide racers. And as I rolled south, I pondered a hotel room. My knees were in a bad way and I needed to stretch and ice them, not something too easy to do stealth camping in a field.
In Eureka I found my companions from earlier in the day, (Mike Johnson and Jason Gaikowski along with AZT winner Max Morris) looking revived after copious amounts of bar food. Shoes were off, phones were plugged in and empty plates covered the 4-top table. I quickly ordered myself several main courses and an order of chicken strips to go. The waitress also graciously brought me a bag of ice for my knees.
After eating and feeling the regenerative powers of sugar, fat, protein and caffeine, I was quickly talked into carrying on. We all went to the convenience store across the street and stocked up for the coming miles. After finding a great camp spot, I stretched, iced, massaged and then crawled into my bivvy for a great night’s sleep. The next morning I rolled away cautiously, hoping my knee was better. And it was. Relief.
I rode along much of the day, over Whitefish Divide, back down, up to Red Meadow Lake and its short snowbound hike-a-bike, alone, happily listening to music and audiobooks. My knee was better though my Achilles had begun to fire up. I taped it using a method that Max Morris passed along and it quickly felt better.
In the town of Whitefish, I found a Mexican restaurant and ordered a burrito to eat, two Cokes and a burrito to go. I stopped by a grocery and stocked up on food and drinks and headed out for some relatively easy pavement and gravel miles. Eventually I found a spot to stop for the night along with a New Zealander, Nathan Mawkes, that I met along the way. I had ridden for 17.5 hours and covered 152 miles. It was a good day.
We woke early the next day and were rolling by 6 a.m. I was a bit low on food and after 40 warm miles, I rolled into the Holland Lake Lodge with several others feeling empty (this became a theme: shared mealtimes). Our orders were comically big, but our hosts were used to Tour Divide racers stopping by. Included in my order was a double order of apple pie to go.
Once again reborn by calories and cold drinks we set out for the climb up Richmond Peak. I struggled slowly up the hill and at the summit, stopped to eat the pie and drink a cold instant coffee. What a treat! And what views!
The descent was a fun, narrow “pine tree car wash” that scraped our arms but kept us alert with frequent water bars. At the bottom, I rolled along with Mike and Jason towards Seeley Lake. Finding ourselves at the turn towards town, we instead continued southeast to Ovando, chatting and sharing in the suffering.
- IMAGES OF THE ROAD -
- Great Divide Milestones -
Nick Legan
Gear List
- My Ride -
- MY BLACKBURN GEAR -
- MY BIKE SPECS -
- • FRAME-Salsa El Mariachi Ti (w/ an extra bottle mount under down tube)
- • HEADSET-Cane Creek 110
- • PEDALS-Shimano XT XC SPDs
- • BRAKES-Shimano XTR Trail brakes
- • SEATPOST-Moots titanium, zero setback
- • HANDLEBAR-Salsa titanium, PRO Missile clip-ons, PRO ergo grips, Cane Creek Ergo bar-ends
- • FRAME SIZE-Large
- • CRANK-Shimano XTR Trail triple, 175mm, 42, 32, 24
- • CASSETTE-Shimano XT 11-34
- • WHEELS-29er, XTR hubs, Enve AM carbon rims
- • SADDLE-PRO Turnix
- • BAGS-Revelate Designs frame bag, Lemming seat pack, Sweet Roll handlebar bag w/ pocket, Gas Tank and Jerry Can
- • FORK-Whisky No. 7 carbon fork with Calfee Designs bottle cage bosses
- • BOTTOM BRACKET-Shimano XTR
- • SHIFTERS-Shimano Saint (rear) and XTR (front)
- • TIRES-Continental Race King Protection 29x2.2”
- • STEM-PRO XCR 11cm
- PERSONAL ITEMS -
- • PASSPORT
- • WATERPROOF MATCHES AND TINDER
- • SALT TABS
- • TOOTHPASTE/TOOTHBRUSH
- • WATER PURIFICATION TABLETS
- • WHISTLE (FOR BEARS)
- • SUPERGLUE (SINGLE-USE)
- • EYE DROPS
- • JOSHUA TREE CYCLING SALVE
- • BEAR BELL (MOUNTED TO HANDLEBAR)
- • SUNSCREEN
- • BABY WIPES
- • VITAMINS
- •
- TECHNOLOGY -
- • Headlight
- • Spot 2 Tracker
- • iPhone
- • Helmet light
- • Blackburn Mars 4.0 rear light
- • Blackburn Atom 3.0 SL Cycle Computer
- • Sony TX20 digital camera
- • Garmin eTrex 30
- • Ipod shuffle
- • Timex Ironman watch (alarm)
- CAMPING GEAR -
- • Mont Bell UL Spiral Hugger Down #3 sleeping bag
- • Black Diamond Twilight Bivvy
- • Thermarest Neo Air Xlite pad (full-length)
- • Mountain Laurel Designs Monk Cuben Fiber tarp and carbon pole
- CLOTHING -
- • Cycling shoes
- • Ibex wool short sleeve jersey
- • Descent knee warmers
- • SwiftWick Compression Socks
- • Rapha wool sleeveless base layer
- • Castelli lightweight jacket
- • Defeet wool long finger gloves
- • Buff
- • Oakley Radar sunglasses
- • Ibex wool long sleeve jersey
- • Gore Socks
- • Sleep shorts
- • Patagonia Ultralight Down jacket
- • Assos lightweight vest
- • Giro fingerless gloves
- • Ibex wool beanie
- • Rapha Classic bib shorts
- • Descente arm warmers
- • Pearl Izumi toe booties
- • IO BIO merino long sleeve base layer
- • Patagonia Rain Jacket
- • Bell Volt Helmet (World Bicycle Relief custom colors)
- • Mountain Laurel Design rain mitts
- • Mosquito head net
Nick Legan
- FROM: Boulder, CO
- DOB: 1979-05-31
- Single, but taken
- OCCUPATION: Public Relations/ freelance writer
- What was the genesis moment or inspiration for your upcoming adventure? Have you traveled by bike in the past? I grew up racing bicycles and after growing weary of criteriums, intervals, heart rate and power output numbers, I started looking for new cycling adventures. The Dirty Kanza 200 opened my eyes to my own ability to ride distances farther than I had previously attempted. With encouragement from friends at Salsa, QBP, and my wonderfully supportive girlfriend, I decided to take on the Great Divide Route. Now I’ll see how much further I can take my cycling.
- What is your goal for the route? What do you hope to get out of this journey? It’s easy to reply with a number. My goal is to finish in 20 days. But more important to me is how I spend those days. I’d like to find moments for introspection, reflection, projection and hopefully find moments to just be.
MY MUST HAVES
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Warm Gloves
DeFeet Woolie gloves
-
DOWN JACKET
Patagonia Ultralight down jacket with hood
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Warm Gloves
DeFeet Woolie gloves
-
SPOT TRACKER
Spot tracker (great insurance policy)