Peter Gierga
Heres a note from my friend Mike. For you Mountain Bikers. Heres a challenge
for you.
Best, Peter
From: "Mike Curiak" <mik-@bwn.net>
To: <Undisclosed-Recipient:;>
Subject: Record time on Colorado section of Great Divide Mountain Bike
Route
Date: Mon, 10 Sep 2001 02:23:15 -0600
LeavesSunday, September 9, 2001
For immediate release:
At exactly 4:00 p.m. on Monday, September 3rd, I rolled across the Wyoming
border and into Colorado. Pedaling a Willits 29?er and fueled by mass
quantities of Clif Bars and gummy worms, I pedaled south on the Great
Divide Mountain Bike Route.
Created a few years ago by the Adventure Cycling
Association, the GDMBR repeatedly crosses the Continental Divide from the
Canada/Montana border to the New Mexico/Mexico border, covering 2,500 miles
through 5 states. In 1999 John Stamstad completed the entire route in a
record 18 days, 5 hours, setting the benchmark that still stands.
In 2000 Patrick Irwin was among the first to attempt to
establish a single state record on the GDMBR, but his cross-Montana time
trial was cut short by massive forest fires.
Late in 2000 talk surfaced of a race covering the length
of the GDMBR. Equipment was purchased and training plans were implemented,
but the race never came to fruition.
While the race was postponed, my interest in it was not. I decided to
attempt a time trial from Wyoming to New Mexico, 544 miles though Colorado.
The route wound through modern boomtowns like Steamboat Springs,
Silverthorne, and Breckenridge, while also passing through those of
yesteryear?Radium, Como, and Summitville. The trail traversed through the
Elkhead Mountains, Gore Range, Williams Fork Mountains, Mosquito Range,
Sawatch Range, Cochetopa Hills, La Garita Mountains, and the massive San
Juans.
I traveled unsupported, carrying all survival and bivouac
gear as well as food, water, and lighting. I slept a few hours each night,
otherwise stopping only to buy food or filter water from surface streams.
High temperature was 82 degrees, low was 29, and I experienced numerous
thunderstorms as well as heavy rain, pea sized hail, and snow. I had 30
mph headwinds on the entire 23-mile climb to 11,990? Indiana Pass, which
then escalated to 50 mph on the descent. In several places I was forced
off the trail and even off the bike by the tempest.
A few minutes before 10:00 p.m. on Thursday, September
6th, I rolled across a cattle guard and into New Mexico, completing the
time trial in just shy of 78 hours. I snapped a few photos to document the
finish, then sprinted back a few miles to a thick stand of spruce. I
unrolled my bivy gear under the protection of the big trees just as another
storm moved through the valley. The incessant thunder and lightning were
no match for my exhaustion?I passed out immediately and slept for 10 hours.
The next morning, as I packed my gear to start hitchhiking home, I
noticed that the high peaks ringing the valley were blanketed with the
first snow of the season.
Thanks to the following companies and individuals for generously supporting
me:
Willits titanium frame and fork
DT/Hugi hubs, spokes and nipples
WTB rims, tires, tubes, and saddle
SRAM grouppo
Sierra Designs raingear and sleeping bag
Lake Cycling shoes and gloves
Oakley eye protection
NiteRider lighting
Medalist
Outlast base layer
Wigwam Outlast socks
Ultimate Direction Epic pack
Moots
Tailgator rack and packs
Lenore Bryant for transportation and moral
support.
Mike Curiak
383A Explorer Ct
Grand Junction, CO
81503
970.256.1374
_________________________________________________________________
Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp