Invermere cyclist races from Banff to Mexico by bike

When you learn about a plan to pedal from Banff to Mexico, ‘crazy’ and ‘epic’ could be appropriate reactions to the notion.

For avid Invermere cyclist Blaine Nester, however, the reaction was more along the lines of “I’ll do it!” and the epic adventure has been his reality for the last month.

Participating in the Tour Divide bike race, Nestor and 41 others set out from behind the Banff Springs Hotel on June 12 and began peddling their way south. After exactly 21 days, 5 hours and 15 minutes Nestor finished the race when he reached the US/Mexico border at Antelope Wells, New Mexico on July 3.

Decidedly not for sprinters, the so-called “battle royal” sends riders over mountain passes and windswept valleys of the Continental Divide from the hinterlands of the Canadian Rockies to the badlands of the Mexican Plateau. As explained on the race website, the Tour Divide is a solo, self-supported mountain bike race traveling 2,745 miles along the geographical divide. With an average time to completion of three weeks in the saddle, the grand tour is considered the longest, most challenging mountain bike race on the planet.

The rules of the race are simple: pedal the entire length of the Adventure Cycling Association’s pre-planned route under one’s own pedal power and do so in a 100 per cent self-supported fashion. No pre-arranged food, lodging or supplies can be utilized.

Designed to provide value to both voyager and voyeur, there is a large web-based component to the adventure. Using GPS tracking, fans can follow the progress of every rider in real time by logging onto the website and checking the leader board. Although there are no check-points along the route, riders are encouraged to call in regular updates to a phone number equipped with an answering machine that records messages in MP3 format. The messages are then posted on the web site where friends, family and fans can listen to riders’ report on where they are, what they are feeling and how the ride is going.

Check out all of Blaine’s ride reports here: http://tourdivide.org/racer-2009-updates/blaine_nester

Despite tackling in excess of 100 miles on many days, often through terrain not even considered rideable, Nestor’s 12 reports were usually short, but always upbeat, positive and informative. In his last report he credits the strength and integrity of many of his fellow riders and thanked his wife for the support she offered throughout.

“I’m glad to be done. It was fun. It was a real challenge for sure. Lots of mud, lots of rain and lots of good scenery,” he recapped, adding that the number of people who followed his journey via the website surprised him. “It was much appreciated and we’ll see you all when we get home.”

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