2023 Tour Divide Tracker - BIKEPACKING.com

I was all proud of myself for recently doing a 67mile ride. Then I heard about the Tour Divide and I am immediately humbled. The tour is a ride from Banff, Alberta, Canada 2700miles down the Continental divide to Antelope Wells, New Mexico. This years winner did in in 14 days! Absolutely insane the endurance you have to complete this ride. Reminds of something like the Barkley marathons but on a mountain bike.

That is awesome

Look up The Impossible Route on YouTube. Tyler Pear "The Vegan Cyclist" and Jeremiah Bishop do some pretty epic bike tours.

In reply to FIDO95

FIDO95 said:

---

2023 Tour Divide Tracker - BIKEPACKING.com

I was all proud of myself for recently doing a 67mile ride. Then I heard about the Tour Divide and I am immediately humbled. The tour is a ride from Banff, Alberta, Canada 2700miles down the Continental divide to Antelope Wells, New Mexico. This years winner did in in 14 days! Absolutely insane the endurance you have to complete this ride. Reminds of something like the Barkley marathons but on a mountain bike.

---

Lachlan did it in 12 days (unofficial record since he had a camera crew)!

https://www.bikeradar.com/features/pro-bike/lachlan-morton-tour-divide-bike/
https://efprocycling.com/culture/the-great-divide-mountain-bike-route/

I'm getting dangerously close to buying a tri-bike (get some money in q1 from work that will cover the bike purchase).

As I start looking at bikes, the common thing is see is "get a bike fit to make sure the geometry fits your body type."

I guess my question is this...the pros all ride based off who sponsors them. Most seemingly on Canyon these days. Is that saying that Canyons geometry just fits that many people or is the thought overblown?

I have no problem getting a fit if it helps find the "right" bike, but I'm just curious if the claim is real or overblown a bit?

In reply to AgLiving06 I think it's a little overblown. I had a 54 road bike (canondale) bought a tri bike also in 54 (felt) and it fit fine. I think won a cervelo tri bike, also 54, and it was also good. I got a professional fit done after getting that bike.

I do know several people who have different sizes from going from road to tri, though. So I don't think it's necessarily that canyon fits the most people, I think they'll all fit anyone, more or less, but the sizes may be a little different.

In reply to AgLiving06 I think 10-15 years ago it was more critical to get a pre-purchase fitting. There were certain frames that just wouldn't work for some people and for others it was the best frame ever. Nowadays I feel like most bikes have a very wide fit range and almost any bike can be fit to just about anyone. The biggest benefit to a pre-purchase fit is going to be that you know you have the correct size and likely will also know what crank length you need and can likely get the shop to change the crank for you as part of your purchase.

In reply to Crazy Ag 97 That's kind of where I am in my thought process.

It almost seemed like some people are suggesting you go to a bike fitter and then he gives you specific brands that best fit where you are. It seems nowadays, most bikes fit most everyone.

I'm not intending to just buy a bike and hope it fits. I'd probably pick the brand I want and then go to the LBS to be "fitted" for the right size.

So the Trek Speed Concept is one that I'm looking at. I'd go to the Trek store and work with them on figuring out the right size. I can see a more thorough setup once the bike arrives, but it seems like I should be able to narrow it down to what I want and then work on the fit to it. I'm not expecting that the bike just won't work if that makes sense?

In reply to hbc07

hbc07 said:

---

In rehab now. Painkillers on the reg. Wanted to discuss something on the financial side though. This year when I signed up for my USAC racing license, I for no specific reason decided to "splurge" for the Race+ package which includes a supplemental accidental insurance despite never thinking I would actually use any of the insurance.

This accident is 100% going to max out my deductible and out of pocket given the surgery, 3 week hospital stay, and various medical equipment I'll need to obtain But the supplemental insurance covers up to $25k out of pocket per incident whether racing, communing, group ride, etc.

I have not found very many reviews of how people's claim processes went (other than one guy who's reimbursement took a while and got slightly less than he thought he should). My initial gut feeling is that the extra $40 or whatever it is now on top of the racing license is totally worth it. Even if I run into some problems and they reimburse only $24k instead of $25k, still worth it.

Still a little bit of time until the bills start rolling in and I have to go through the claims process for the supplemental insurance, but once that happens, I intend on posting updates here on the process just so people know.

---

Update on the USAC supplemental insurance coverage:
It's been a little tedious, but nothing too insane. To get them to cover the out of pocket costs you have to send in bills, EOBs, superbills and other kinds of supporting documentation. Eventually they gave me the policy information for the plan. Once I had that and could just have the providers bill directly, it's been running much more smoothly. The weird part is that for some claims I'm getting checks made out to me, and other claims are being paid directly to the provider.

The hardest part is you submit information into a black box and get no feedback or response until you get a letter 3 weeks later generically saying "We need more information about this claim"

Provider 1 claim 1: $436.82. Full amount paid directly to provider.
Provider 1 claim 2: $67.56. Full amount paid to me via check.
Provider 2 claim 1: $3,046.22. Full amount paid to me via check.
Provider 2 claim 2: $390.95. No information rec'd.
Provider 2 claim 3: $5.68. No information rec'd.
Provider 3 claim 1: $207.12. No information rec'd.
Provider 4 claim 1: $97.44. Haven't submitted yet.
Provider 5 claim 1: $2.581.31. After not being covered by my primary insurance, the hospital appears to have waived this balance.
Provider 5 claim 2: $3,447.36. After not being covered by my primary insurance, the hospital appears to have waived this balance.
Prescriptions: ~$75.00. So far I have received 0 information about the prescriptions I had filled. Nothing about being covered or not being covered (which according to the terms should be 100% covered.


So currently ~$3,550.00 covered, and ~$800.00 still pending. I'd say that the supplemental insurance was obviously worth it.

Overall numbers:
Total claims submitted to insurance: $348,178.18 and counting
Paid out by insurance: $87,016.11
Handwaived away by insurance: $241,729.28
In dispute due to bad communication between PT and insurance: $4,946.60 and counting



Have been up and walking since end of August. Lots of ups and downs still. Have been on the trainer 2 or 3x a week since then; PT has been kicking my butt now that I'm weight bearing so I'm focusing on that more than anything else. I'm currently doing rides on SYSTM that would have been recovery rides before but are now very challenging. The guys that I ride with (probably over 200 rides with them over the last 2 years) got me out for a controlled environment road ride last sunday: 20mi/16mph/120w. I'm happy with where I'm at, but long for where I was.

In reply to FIDO95

Quote:

---

I was all proud of myself for recently doing a 67mile ride. Then I heard about the Tour Divide and I am immediately humbled. The tour is a ride from Banff, Alberta, Canada 2700miles down the Continental divide to Antelope Wells, New Mexico. This years winner did in in 14 days! Absolutely insane the endurance you have to complete this ride. Reminds of something like the Barkley marathons but on a mountain bike.

---

Now imagine doing it on a singlespeed.

Alexandera Houchin beat her singlespeed course record by 2 hours this year in a time of 18 days, 18 hours.
https://bikepacking.com/news/alexandera-houchin-2023-tour-divide-singlespeed-record/
Her gearing was 34x17.

Here's a short video of her ride. NSFW language included.

Perf bonus hit the bank Friyay, NBD by Sunday. Scott Addict Gravel.



I'll convert tubeless this weekend and have some new Challenge Gateway 40s to throw on it. Hacked the Assiomas to run Xpedo. Honestly, you can swap the spindle between the Assioma body and Xpedo in under a minute.

Next up will be the cockpit, but I need to diligence more. I had 40 miles and 6k of climbing fire roads yesterday and it was so fun and no cars.

I have a big gravel ride in Bend planned this week to really shake the bike out. Outside of that, PNW finally got some rain and the dirt has been primo hero for MTB. High terrain (Bachelor / Timberline) are officially done for the season because of snow.

In reply to Ragoo That's looks great! Did the mail insurance you purchased cover everything or did you have any out of pocket expenses? I've always felt a little dubious about purchasing that type of insurance due to the fact that my day to day experience with insurance is they often find "fine print" to get out of paying for things.

In reply to FIDO95

FIDO95 said:

---

That's looks great! Did the mail insurance you purchased cover everything or did you have any out of pocket expenses? I've always felt a little dubious about purchasing that type of insurance due to the fact that my day to day experience with insurance is they often find "fine print" to get out of paying for things.

---

so far the insurance has direct paid me via PayPal for the carbon repair itself and transport to Ruckus in Portland. I have the invoice in with them for the tear down and rebuild of the bike - only the frame shipped to Ruckus. I prepaid the invoices for the repairs and once the final is reimbursed it will make me 100% whole on the ordeal.

The challenge was getting all of the quotes lined up and the insurance giving a pre approval to proceed.

In reply to FIDO95 First race today with the new bike and it's all I can think about. It was so smooth compared to the older road bike I had been racing on. Over the 12.5 mile ride I passed probably 50 cyclists. Ended us 21st overall - only 277 racers. So not a huge field.

In reply to Ragoo Congrats! Wurst Tri? I was thinking of doing it for fun. At my age, I'm not really about being super competitive. I'm more about getting the shirt/medal and going for a beer and BBQ after. Problem is that I have been riding so much getting ready for the Conquer the Coast that I haven't been swimming or running much this Summer. I'm thinking about doing more of those sprint Tris next year as opposed to the long rides I've been signing up for. However, the issue I'm having at my age is that my knees just don't tolerate all of running anymore.

In reply to FIDO95 Yep!

In reply to FIDO95 Follow up. All invoices have been reimbursed in full.

So if you are ever shipping a bike via bike flights purchase some insurance. I got 50% the value of the bike and the total for repair was just over $1500.

Such a nice bike!

Random question.

How much do yall take into account the availability of bike shops to work on the bike in your purchase?

For example, in Houston,

Trek has a big presence. So buying a Speed Concept means having many Trek stores to bring it to.

However, a bike like Argon 18 seems to only be at Shama cycles. So that may limit where I can bring it should it need work.

How big a factor do you put on things like that?

In reply to AgLiving06

AgLiving06 said:

---

Random question.

How much do yall take into account the availability of bike shops to work on the bike in your purchase?

For example, in Houston,

Trek has a big presence. So buying a Speed Concept means having many Trek stores to bring it to.

However, a bike like Argon 18 seems to only be at Shama cycles. So that may limit where I can bring it should it need work.

How big a factor do you put on things like that?

---

bikeminded will come to you and service any bike

In reply to AgLiving06

AgLiving06 said:

---

Random question.

How much do yall take into account the availability of bike shops to work on the bike in your purchase?

For example, in Houston,

Trek has a big presence. So buying a Speed Concept means having many Trek stores to bring it to.

However, a bike like Argon 18 seems to only be at Shama cycles. So that may limit where I can bring it should it need work.

How big a factor do you put on things like that?

---

It could change….so plan accordingly.

For example, bike barn was a major specialized dealer. I feel like specialized was the most popular brand in houston for that reason. Then trek bought them.

And, as said above, there are mobile guys for repairs. You can also take any brand bike to most the local shops. I've taken a cannondale and a cervelo to bike barn.

Bicycle speed shop was great with my canyon

Thanks guys!

I'm trying to decide if I want to pay the Trek premium or opt for a brand that might be a little cheaper.

Argon 18 seems to fit that.

In reply to AgLiving06

AgLiving06 said:

---

Thanks guys!

I'm trying to decide if I want to pay the Trek premium or opt for a brand that might be a little cheaper.

Argon 18 seems to fit that.

---

could also look at a direct to consumer brand like Quintana Roo.

In reply to Ragoo

Ragoo said:

---

AgLiving06 said:

---

Thanks guys!

I'm trying to decide if I want to pay the Trek premium or opt for a brand that might be a little cheaper.

Argon 18 seems to fit that.

---

could also look at a direct to consumer brand like Quintana Roo.

---

I've looked at Quintana Roo and my boss has one and seems to like it.

The reviews on it seem to have been a bit more mixed in terms of the build and comfort, so I've had it in my "tier 2" list with something like Felt.

Anyone been to the Velodrome in Houston?

In reply to Ragoo I was thinking about getting into this in the spring season. Curious about the responses myself. Seems more my cup of tea so to speak. I have done numerous endurance rides, but where I'm much better is power / sprinting.

In reply to AgLiving06

AgLiving06 said:

---

Thanks guys!

I'm trying to decide if I want to pay the Trek premium or opt for a brand that might be a little cheaper.

Argon 18 seems to fit that.

---

I found that Canyon is really good on pricing for upper mid range bikes (think Ultegra) to professional (Dura-Ace) compared to the same range for Trek. I had difficulty getting my bike but it was definitely worth it.

In reply to Nitro Power I was think for aero practice on my TT bike

In reply to Nitro Power

Nitro Power said:

---

AgLiving06 said:

---

Thanks guys!

I'm trying to decide if I want to pay the Trek premium or opt for a brand that might be a little cheaper.

Argon 18 seems to fit that.

---

I found that Canyon is really good on pricing for upper mid range bikes (think Ultegra) to professional (Dura-Ace) compared to the same range for Trek. I had difficulty getting my bike but it was definitely worth it.

---

I really wanted a Canyon for a while. You highlight a major reason why I've cooled on them. Been completely unavailable for months and months. No idea if/when they will ever be back in stock. The other thing I've heard is that some LBS are less willing to work on Canyon because the are direct to consumer. Not sure if that's true or not.

Trek is a premium price, but there's also a bunch of Trek stores in Houston, which makes it easier to get worked on if needed. That's what made it interesting.

But the Argon 18 seems pretty interesting and looks a couple thousand cheaper. SRAM Force + disc wheels for 9k or less. That's the list price on their site, but haven't checked on what it might be in reality.

One real ride on my Speedmax was instant love. It is so smooth. If it was the only thing I had or could do all day I would ride that bike. Sadly, work and family and such.

I wouldn't worry about the inventory or direct to consumer nature of the canyon. It is a superior bike.

In reply to Ragoo I have to worry about the inventory because I haven't been able to find one!

In reply to AgLiving06

AgLiving06 said:

---

I have to worry about the inventory because I haven't been able to find one!

---

FB Marketplace

What are you looking for, model wise?

If your bike is the CF 7 with upgrades, probably somewhere between that and the CF SLX in a medium.

In reply to AgLiving06 CF with SRAM upgrades and disc wheels. FYI I paid 6 for mine on FB marketplace. I jumped on it as soon as I saw it.