Philip Benningfield
Great Divide
Living Vicariously through Others
Being an avid mountain biker in a mountain biking town sounds terrific and it is most of the time. When it is not an enviable position is when the Tour Dividers and bike tours start showing up at my business, Café Dawn: a small town coffee shop where we try to meet the needs of people from all over the world. This year alone I have seen British Colombians, a fellow from New York touring on a fully loaded fat bike, numerous Americans, and a Divide racer from Hamilton Ontario, J.D. Pauls. The difference for me with J.D. was I did not live vicariously through others riding, but packed my bags and joined for a few miles along the Divide route.
Listening to a racer is inspirational to me. For a solitary human to sit in the saddle and crank pedals for three weeks or more, through distant, unknown lands, alone the majority of the time, takes serious mental focus. I hear from all the successful riders the mental side is the key to a happy journey.
For those of us who only get small tours in each year, it would seem to be a physical battle, but the mind is so much more powerful than swollen quads. My mind, as well, is the reason I truly get so much satisfaction from watching from the sidelines (but not for long). And it doesn’t hurt as a business along the Divide route that I get to ply racers with espresso and muffins and burritos and cookies and pie and sandwiches and….
Philip Benningfield
Gear List
- MY BLACKBURN GEAR -
- BIKE SPECS -
- • FRAME-2010Titanium Motobecane Fly Team 29er
- • BOTTOM BRACKET-Shimano Deore XT
- • SHIFTERS-Shimano XTR
- • TIRES-Geax Saguro 29er
- • STEM-TruVatin Stylo
- • SPARE PARTS LISTS-Always, always, always a spare derailluer hanger! Chain links, cleat, misc. bolts, brake pads, Haven spoke, tubes, zip ties, duct tape, etc. etc.
- • HEADSET-FSA Orbit XLII
- • PEDALS-Shimano XTR SPD
- • BRAKES-Avid Elixir
- • SEATPOST-Thomson Aluminum
- • HANDLEBAR-Easton Monkey Lite Riser, Ergon grips with bar ends.
- • ACCESSORIES-Princeton Tec light, Blackburn Fleas, Garmin Dakota 10 GPS
- • CRANK-Shimano Deore XT 175mm, XT rings
- • CASSETTE-Shimano Deore XT, 11-34
- • WHEELS-29 Easton Haven Aluminum
- • SADDLE-Brooks Titanium B17
- • BAGS-Oneja Negra framebag, Carousel Design seat pack, front and rear top-tube packs and handlebar pack.
- PERSONAL ITEMS -
- • Electrolytes
- • Ibuprofen
- • A&D ointment
- • Vitamins-(cordyceps mushrooms, Hyaloronic acid/MSM)
- • Basic first aid kit
- • Water purification tablets
- • Spoon
- TECHNOLOGY -
- • Garmin Dakota GPS
- • Princeton Tec light
- • Ipod
- • Blackburn Flea light
- CAMPING GEAR -
- • Oware tarp
- • SOL emergency bivy
- • Thermarest Neoair sleeping pad
- • Sleeping bag-Feathered Friends Hummingbird 20-degree sleeping bag
- •
- MY CLOTHING -
- • Tattered Bellweather bibs
- • Worn-out Pearlizumi Arm and Leg Warmers
- • Marmot Poly shirt
- • Bell Variant Helmet
- • Bellweather outer shorts
- • Trespass waterproof jacket
- • Trespass waterproof jacket
- • Marmot Down jacket
- • Jagged Mountain skull cap
- • Champion jersey
- • Smart wool socks
- • Giro gloves
Philip Benningfield
- FROM: Salida, CO, USA
- DOB: 1964-07-31
- Married to Dawn Heigele
- OCCUPATION: Coffeeshop owner and author
- What was the genesis moment or inspiration for your upcoming adventure? Have your traveled by bike in the past? My motivation comes from some instinctual need to see what lies over the next mountain pass, to see a pristine meadow flushed with wildflowers or filled with stoic elk, or follow a never-ending ranch fence line in as obscure a place as possible.
- What is your goal for the route? What do you hope to get out of this journey? Any undertaking along the GDR is tempered with as little expectations as possible. I find no need to try and experience the trip beforehand as the actual ride far surpasses any expectation. The goal each and every time is to get away from the busy world and witness, with as minimal a kit as I can survive with, the peace found out in the middle of nowhere!
MY MUST HAVES
-
Tattered warm Pearlizumi gloves
-
Sleeping Bag
Feathered Friends Hummingbird 20-degree sleeping bag
-
Marmot 650-fill down coat
-
Jagged Edge skullcap