Tour Divide 2019 Gear List

So, after years of thinking about riding the Tour Divide, our bags are packed and we are ready to ride.

The bikes we are riding are Sonder Bikes Broken Roads on Hope 29er Hoops. Tom's is a small, and mine is a medium.

Both bikes are equipped with Alpkit bikepacking luggage.

Matt Tomlinson from Alpkit came along yesterday and took these great shots of our bikes, and the kit grids below.

I think we've packed cloth wise for some grim weather, which hopefully means that it will be baking hot.

Tom's Broken Road

Rich's Broken Road

Tom is taking a Six Moon designs Lunar Solo with a Bear Bones Carbon Pole. Klymit mat, Alpkit Pipedream 200 sleeping bag. Findra merino baselayer and some undies to sleep in. 2 pairs of Rapha flyweight bib shorts. Rapha SS jersey. Rapha Arm warmers. Rapha Knee warmers. Rapha insulated gilet. Rapha Merino beanie. Alpkit Morphosis Jacket, Alpkit Filoment hoody down jacket. Alpkit Balance waterproof. Alpkit Pola Gloves. Supernova USB port and dynamo lights.  2 Zendure thru charging batteries. Garmin Dakota. USB cables. Hiplok. Spare pads, chainlink. Topeak Ratchet Rocket Lite tool. Park Tyre Boot, Love Mud Pump. Sealant, Tube Sawn off toothbrush, toothpaste, sanitising gel, sun cream, antihistamine, Immodium, Chapstick.  500ml bottle, 2 litre bladder and water filter. Assos Chamois Cream.

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Tom's Kit Grd

Rich is taking a Zpacks Solplex with  Bear Bones Carbon Poles. Klymit mat, Alpkit Pipedream 200 sleeping bag. Findra merino baselayer and some undies to sleep in. 2 pairs of Rapha flyweight bib shorts. Rapha Brevet jersey. Rapha Arm warmers. Rapha Knee warmers. Rapha insulated gilet. Rapha Merino beanie. Rapha Brevet Insulated Jacket, Rapha Classic Mitts. Alpkit Filoment hoody down jacket. Alpkit Balance waterproof. Alpkit Pola Gloves. Supernova USB port and dynamo lights.  2 Zendure thru charging batteries. Garmin Oregon. USB cables. Delorme Inreach SE tracker. Sony RX100 Mk3 camera Hiplok. Spare pads, chainlink, Park Tyre Boot, Topeak Ratchet Rocket Lite tool. Topeak Pump. Sealant, Tube, Sawn off toothbrush, toothpaste, sanitising gel, chapstick, sun cream, antihistamine, Immodium, Assos Chamois Cream. 500ml bottle, 2 litre bladder and water filter. Comb for my beard!

Rich's Kit Grid.

Jenn Ride 100 2019

As usual, we've a list of rides that we are planning on doing this year and the Jenn Ride 100 was one of them. I had to miss out on our previous big ride a couple of weeks ago due to an injury.

Easily done, a slip off a path, and a badly sprained ankle. Bruising that covered most of my foot, and extended a good way up my shin. Very painful for the first few days to walk on.

Still, with some bruising two weeks later I didn't know how my ankle would fare over 100 Lakeland off-road miles. Though I did need to know, as we fly out to ride the 2745 mile Tour Divide in just under three weeks.

Friday evening we arrived at Staveley in time to catch up with lots of friends, and to hear some talks on other backpacking exploits.

A leisurely start on the Saturday morning, and we were away. A warm-up spin took us to the Windemere ferry.

Then followed miles of trails, some that we knew, and some that we didn't.

As you can see, we could not have asked for better weather.

We stopped at most of the resupply points as we only carried an emergency bag of haribo each. That gave us a nice excuse to stop and chat and catch up with friends.

At Seathwaite we decided that we'd continue towards Wastwater on the 100 mile route, rather than opt for the 70. Our aim being to get to Nether Wasdale for supper before riding a few miles further.

This descent down Miterdale was a real belter though I may have fallen off once, Tom nailed it without stopping on his Sonder Broken Road (much steeper than it looks).

After supper, at The Screes, we headed up Wasdale in search of a bed for the night.

The valley was rampant with bitey things so we headed up high to pitch our tents near Burnmoor Tarn.

Up at 7:30, and away for 8:00 the following morning. An  uneventful descent down to Eskdale to find breakfast, except eagle eyed Tom spotting this adder.

Out of Eskdale there was an up and over which took us back to Seathwaite.

Next came the big climb of the route, the Walna Scar road. Lots of pushing with not much riding sums it up.

Then came, a hoot of a descent down to Coniston to grab a toasted sandwich for lunch.

We got a bit lost, but not really lost on the next section, taking a wrong turn, but on to trails we knew hence our mistake. No worries though, we knew our way to Ambleside.

The guys at Alpkit at Ambleside had put on a great feed station outside their shop. Thanks, Sam, Lucy and Viri.

Then it was just a matter of a few lumpy bits to take us back to Staveley where we had started the ride.

A big thanks to Rich Munro for once again putting on a great event.

A French and Belgian Half Term Bike Ride.

As we approached Tom's half term at the end of May our plans were shall we say fluid. Sonder Bikes had recently sorted us out with a couple of Broken Road bikes which we are going to take to ride the Tour Divide later in the year. So we decided to head over the Channel and do some riding in Belgium and France to see if our set ups needed tweeking..

We worked out that it was as easy and near the same cost as driving to get the train to Dover, and then the ferry across with the bikes (£200 for the two of us).

We left New Mills just after 9:00 and arrived 19:00 in Dunkerque. We rode then along the coast to Bray Dunes where the French Divide route starts.

Our vague plan was to follow the FD route South then either reverse our route or head further South and get a train back for the ferry home.

We rode for a couple of hours and just before dark we put up our tents in the corner of a field and had a good night's sleep.

This was the first time we'd ridden the bikes any distance and my first job of the following day at 6:30 was to lift my saddle a few mm. I raised the saddle. I must have overtightened the seat clamp's bolt as the head sheared off.

This was a major problem especially as I had a seat pack that was to be attached to the saddle.
We'd brought some cable ties and with a few wrapped around the seatpost it temporarily stopped the saddle sliding down. Though it didn't stop the seat swaying from side to side.

The nearest reasonable size town was Ypres, and we headed there hoping for a solution to my problem.

It was Sunday, and in Belgium, bike shops are not open, but just maybe we'd have some luck.

We rode around the town with no success. Tom spotted a place called the Biking Bar which seemed like a good place to ask for advice.

The customers and the lady who worked there were all very helpful, and whilst there was definitely no bike shop open in the vicinity, they told us of a nearby hardware shop that sold "everything".

Some 3km out of Ypres and we found the hardware shop. It was massive, and it took the two of us a while to search out some possible solution.

A bit of lateral thinking and we seemed to have a fix. Two clips to try and crimp the seat tube, and a 3rd smaller one to grip onto the seat post. It seemed to work, but we bought another set just in case.

We'd sort of resigned ourselves to having to wait for a bike shop to open on Monday, so this was a win, though we were mindful we'd lost several hours of riding time. It seemed right that we should just enjoy the riding for the rest of the day without any particular urgency.

Below we stopped to buy some apples from the fresh produce vending machine.

We rejoined the French Divide route for a while, and the sun came out.

We ended the day on the Arenberg and camped nearby. We'd managed 130 km over the course of the day, which was more than we hoped for given my earlier misfortune.

Next morning we decided we'd head East rather than continue South for no other reason than we could.

Some busyish roads then a canal for several km. Most of which was into a headwind.

Come mid-afternoon my patience with the wind had lapsed and we headed back onto quiet roads which took us to a campsite for that night.

The weather the next day was grim, and we didn't have much wet weather gear, so we spent the day dodging rain showers and hanging out in cafes.

The weather improved in the evening, and we took advantage to eat our supper out in the open.

Next day we continued towards the sea.

A quick look at the beach turned into an exploration of the coastline. The wide and windy sandy beach went on for miles.

So much fun.

That is until we headed back towards the shore to find our way barred by a deep river.

We didn't exactly retrace our steps which was in hindsight a mistake, as instead, we encountered a load of gloopy estuary sediment.

A super fun day, which was only slightly tempered by us both getting a bit of sunburn.

The next couple of days we did as much sightseeing as we did riding.

Staying close to the coast.

On our last full days riding we headed back towards Dunkerque.

It was an absolute scorcher.

We covered around 700 Km over the week. Originally the plan was to do nearer twice that, but we settled for having a holiday where we rode our bikes a bit.

A Hill in Holland.

Tom and I had done a couple of Everesting rides before. Each one either of us has done in the past has been in a different country. So whilst planning another such ride, a new country was needed.
Holland has a few hills in the South of the country, and we decided that we would attempt an Everesting ride on one of these hills, the Eyserbosweg.

The ride had to be fitted in around school and work, so we were limited for time. We left the Peak District at midday on Friday, and we drove to Dover to take the ferry to Dunkerque. Our friend Gunther who lives an hour away from the ferry port in Belgium had offered us a settee to sleep on. After a beer and a quick chat, we settled down for a few hours sleep.

The Eyserbosweg was still a good two hours drive, so we were up just before 6am and away by 6:30.

The drive down the previous day and not enough sleep led to me stopping after an hour to have another nap. We hadn't started riding, and already I was tired.

We parked the car up on the hill, got changed and after a couple of last minute bike adjustments, we were ready to start riding.

The hill starts on the edge of a village which it soon leaves, heading for open country.

The mast is atop the hill marks the end of the climb. 86 metres at an average of 9%. We needed to ride 103 ascents.

We aimed to be a lot more disciplined on this ride to minimise the faffing time unlike when we everested the Kemmelberg, stopping every 5 reps.

The riding was easy though this was a busy road. There was more motorised traffic than we'd expected, but it was the quantity of cyclists that amazed us. This hill is obviously a must do for the local rider.

The first few reps passed quickly.

The weather was fantastic, and we'd soon done 40 reps.

I was feeling far more tired than I should have been at this stage, but I just kept on plodding up the hill as Tom was feeling great.

As the day went on the cyclists and cars became less frequent. As the sun began to set we rode a little further on to watch the spectacle.

As we descended the hill I started shivering. So much so that Tom thought I was going to fall of my bike. I felt sick, cold and very very tired. As we rode up the next rep Tom asked me if I was OK, to which I replied not really.

We kept on riding for another 4 reps whilst we discussed our options. I knew I could battle on, but I also knew that we had several hours riding ahead of us. I wasn't well, and knew that I could end up making myself really ill if I continued. Also of consideration was that I had 500 miles to drive to get back home. The only thing to decide then was if Tom was going to finish on his own. Tom decided that if I wasn't going to finish then neither was he.

So after 54 reps we decided to call it a day. Not a rushed decision, and one made for the right reasons.

A solid 10 hours sleep in the back of the car. Then we started the journey back to the UK.

We stopped at Gunthers girlfriend's on the way back for homemade Belgian waffles and a beer.

Then we lucked out and got an earlier ferry than we'd booked on. An uneventful drive, and we were back home just before midnight.

Not the outcome we'd hoped for with the Everesting ride, but I'm happy that we made the right decision on the day. As I type this I'm coughing and spluttering, but no doubt I'll be better soon.

Thanks Gunther for looking after us!