Jay Petervary’s Record Setting Tour Divide Trip Report



Warning: it’s alot to read all at once, so I hope I don’t bore you. Grab a cup of coffee or a beer…..

So, two and a half days after a 15 day, 16 hour and 4 minute record setting bike ride along the 2745 mile Great Divide Mountain Bike Route, I sit here and put down these thoughts. Wow, that was a mouthful! Maybe I will read that again. Mind you we just power-drove home in 36 hours after finishing at the border. As I am not much of a play by play race re-cap type of writer, and I don’t want my thoughts to slip away I will go ahead and jot my thoughts down as a mind dump. Note: It has taken me another week to actually finish these thoughts. Enjoy.

Great Divide Mountain Bike Route

Re-entry

Right now I feel confused, somewhat empty, not sure what to do and certainly not ready for reality - so writing seems best. It’s a difficult transition to go from an intense focused way of living on a bike, 24/7, back to real life. It’s not like a light switch that can be so easily turned on and off, especially when you talk about the time one has been out there living this lifestyle. My mind and body are still moving but I am not, I guess this is what is referred to as re-entry. I might be starting to dim, but I am not off… it will take time to feel back to normal again and the constant reminiscing thoughts will slowly disappear.

This was my 4th and favorite time I have done this ride and not simply because I broke the record. I have set the record one way or another each time I have done it. This is what I do, this is what I love, this is me, and this is the deeper passion and lifestyle I live. Doing this ride and aiming for a record is an actual excuse just to do it again! I will not deny that I am a driven competitor as well, but the reality is, I love being a touring cyclist with a light and fast style.

Journeys & Lifestyles

I like to call/look/refer to this ride as a “journey”, a “run” almost like a motorcycle poker rally, a “lifestyle”, a big boys reality chess “game” because it is hardly a bike ride. You live it and embrace it. Do you think I repeatedly do this because I am suffering? NOT (that would be stupid and it actually bothers me when people ask that). Challenging? YES, and a challenge I enjoy.

Getting a full ride to the start as well as a ride home from the finish of this journey was one of the best things I have come to appreciate. In the past it has taken me riding my bike, hitch hiking, cabs, rental cars, shuttles and airlines to make it to the start or finish to home. Having a secured ride to the start had me well rested and a mind that could focus. My friend sitting at the border and finish with a cooler a food, BEERS and fresh clothes was ultimately amazing as well. Seems weird that these things are so important by not having the stress, worries or wonder of these logistics makes a huge difference. Trust me, I never had it before. Jess and JB, I THANK YOU guys big time for your time, generosity, support and recognizing the importance of these logistics without me having to ask or explain. I do believe in karma, things happen for a reason and they just seem to work out.

Wind and Full Moon Riding

The weather I was dealt was good. I had both better and worse in the past. A fair amount of wind had my mind going crazy with the constant sound of wind blowing in my ears day after day. It wasn’t so bad considering there was an equal amount of tail winds to head winds, just annoying. I got poured on pretty intensely one night while crossing over on Grassy Lake Road from Idaho to Wyoming, but followed by a full moon around midnight had me riding for hours afterward. The overcast cloudy weather down south had me on the edge of storms with little bits of sprinkles but kept the sun and heat as ease as well as the dust.

Night riding, yes, I did a lot of it. The one disadvantage of riding this route in September vs. June is the daylight hours. If you are going for a best time, you are forced to put in night time hours. This tends to be a weak point for me in the past and one that I concentrated on this time and did very well with. To achieve this I used two 200 lumen Princeton Tec Apex lights, a Fuel for general night use and back up as well as a red Swerve for safety.

A New Chain & Woodchippers

How did the bike hold up? I put a new chain on in Butte (preventative maintenance) and twisted my rear derailleur adjustment a couple of times. Did I mention I love my bike yet? Everything held up great!

How did my body hold up? Amazingly well. I am no different than anybody else out there doing this. My achilles started to feel some stress, not like they used to, but a little bit. I concentrated on my ankle engagement to help with this. My knees from days 3 to 7 felt like people are driving knives through them, but when I stopped that also goes away. I feel very fortunate and lucky to have a body that can handle the stress I put it through without being too picky. In the past, having a bit of carpal tunnel from all my construction years, I would have huge hand numbness and my last three fingers would take weeks to be able to move again. This time around my hands have never been in better shape, and I credit that to all the useable positions of the Woodchipper handlebars. There was not one position I used more than others, I used every hand position equally and I am stoked on these bars.

The road conditions certainly vary throughout the whole route. The route is basically made up of two-track forest service roads. But I will say they are rougher than most singletrack. The roads can be anything from the buff Colorado highly maintained almost pavement-like to very chopped up and unmaintained New Mexico roughness and, of course, everything in between. At this time of year they tend to be more beat up from the summer traffic. Coinciding with Labor Day, folks gathering firewood, and hunters out in full force, there was more traffic and road impact. What’s the result? Very soft, dusty and washboard type of roads. I went through 2 pairs of contacts very early in my ride and had to wear my prescription glasses a fair bit due to the dust. Funny enough, I don’t have prescription sunnies, so I would wear my regular sunnies on top of my prescription glasses. It actually worked out well. That dust is equally good for my asthma. Sweet!

Sleepy time?

I paid close attention to my sleep pattern so that I could concentrate on a best time. I went into it saying I would sleep 4 hours a night. I actually slept anywhere from 2.5 to 4.5 hours a night, usually on the lower end of that spectrum. And in the last few days I would not even set up to bivy, rather I would ride until I would fall asleep and lay down next to my bike in my rain gear until I got cold, woke up and continued on. Sometimes this would be 3 or 4 times throughout the night and for how long I slept each time I have no idea. Could have been 10 minutes, could have been an hour, but I doubt it was that long. Before you knew it, it was morning with the sun coming up.

I love to learn about myself and one of the biggest things I learned, finally, was a healthy more consistent diet. In 18 years of endurance racing my staple food has been quick calories - candy, and loads of it. This time around I had no carving for such food and was packing lots of sandwiches along the way. Grilled cheese with bacon, burgers, french fries, cold cut meat sandwiches and to wash them down I would usually carry 2 drinks of a variety like soda pop, red bull, chocolate milk, orange juice or just something with flavor. Don’t get me wrong, I still had muffins, cookies and candy bars for the times in between but not nearly as much.

Yum, Pie…or not!

My most challenging evening was when I was on my way to Pie Town. It was about 9 pm and I was leaving Grant having already put in a 160+ mile day. There is about 30+ miles of pavement followed by another 30 miles of dirt to get to Pie Town. This was going to be my second to last day and in my mind I thought I would make it to Pie Town in the early morning and get a good chunk of sleep at the Toaster House (a trail angel’s house, open to all trail users) and put in a final push with no sleep to the finish some 300+ miles away. Well, while riding the pavement I was getting a slow leak in my front tire. I was running a tubeless system and tried re-pumping several times to see if it would seal. That did not work so I finally stopped and put in a tube. It is generally a mess when doing this with all the leftover sealant in the tire, on the rim, and now on the tube. I roll away with the tire going flat again. Stopping and trying to air it up several times but with no luck I stop again to put in my second, and last, spare tube. It too would not hold air as it had a split on the seam. Keep in mind it is now 3 am. I have changed my tube several times, stopped and aired it up a dozen times and am not getting anywhere. Now it is time to patch the tubes but they would not hold due to sealant covering everything. Using my clothing to wipe down and dry the sealant to accept the patches was a challenge in the very misty air. I was also surrounded by thunderstorms which made me very nervous. Well, some of the patches held, some did not. It was a hell of a debacle of flat fixing evening with no sleep other than the minutes when I would pass out with the tube in my hand while trying to fix it. I ultimately made it to Pie Town at 7 am with no sleep. It was a very testing evening but for some reason I took it all in stride. To top it off Pie Town ran out of food that weekend, the restaurant was closed and I did not get any PIE.

The stories go on and on. This is the most I remember from any of my trips and I am more than open to sharing any info of the trail or what helps me achieve my success in riding it. There are no secrets. I will respond to questions in the comments below.

Tid Bits of Info:

• no hotels - a self challenge I am proud of
• 2 showers - I did not go out of my way to shower. It worked out when it worked out. First one at Brush Mountain Lodge just outside of Steamboat, CO and the second in Pie Town, NM at the Toaster House.
• 3 water bottles got me through all sections without taking water from the ground or running out or becoming dehydrated. That is an advantage of a spring run on the Divide, the temps being cooler
• Never washed or rinsed any of my clothing
• Never used chamois butter or had problems down low
• Took maybe 4 or 5 Ibuprofen total. I usually would take up to 1600 mg a day
• This is the least amount of money I ever spent on the trail

My Rig:

• 2013 Salsa Ti Fargo - amazing ride quality and stability. Perfect gravel road adventure bike (I have tried/used many and the Fargo is easily my favorite to date)
• Whiskey Parts Co. Carbon Fork - amazingly lightweight with spot on steering and just enough give
• Woodchipper drop bars (with clip-on aero bars) - I was unsure at first BUT again this is the first time I do not have numb hands and a grip that I can open. The multiple hand positions kept me very comfortable and able to switch it up, which I did constantly and like it. I spent equal time in every position. Again, I would not go any other way.
• Easton Carbon 90 29er Wheels - I mounted these up days before I left, tubeless, and they are straight up BAD ASS! Stiff and the lightest wheels out there. I smacked the rim several times at high speed - the impacts made me cringe, but not a sign of any wheel failure.
• WTB Rocket V Saddle - not a single saddle sore and not a single time use of chamois cream
• WTB Nano Tires - one set start to finish
• Shimano Drive Train: XT 26-36-48 on the crank, used them all and glad to have the big as well as the small
• Dura Ace Bar end shifters
• CrankBrothers 4 Ti Pedals

Gear:

• Zeal Optics sunglasses
• Princeton Tec Lights: Apex, Fuel, Swerve
• Montbell sleeping system: 40 degree bag with gore bivy
• Thermorest Neo Air Pad: Never again. Frigging thing has 20 patches on it. Should have brought my tried and true Big Agnes
• Montbell rain pants & jacket
• Montbell UL Down Jacket
• Giro Code Shoes
• Giro Helmet and gloves
• Montbell wind jacket
• Fitzgerald’s Bicycles DNA cycling shorts - the only pair start to finish
• DeFeet undershirt
• Lezyne multitool and pump

Wow, my brain is fried….

Of course a HUGE THANK YOU to ALL involved: my sponsors, my friends, my place of work (Fitzgerald’s Bicycles) and most of all my wife, Tracey. I truly appreciate being able to be the person I am and for everyone who can sort of understand me and my drive to do and seek such adventures.

Would I do it again? Of course. Will I? Who knows….



6 Responses to “Jay Petervary’s Record Setting Tour Divide Trip Report”

1. T-Race says:

   September 20, 2012 at 1:13 pm

   Congrats JayP! So proud & happy for you!
2. Kevin Hinton says:

   September 20, 2012 at 10:43 pm

   Could you have gone faster and how? Other then the flat tires outside of pie town I can’t see any. It was fun checking in on you a few times a day and comparing your location and time against Ollie’s . Great job man.
3. John Borstelmann says:

   September 21, 2012 at 9:25 am

   Thanks for sharing, JP! Great story and interesting details from an awesome accomplishment.
4. Gary Chrisman says:

   September 23, 2012 at 3:40 pm

   Nice work Jay! Amazing endurance ,way to represent, quite inspiring.Thanks for the info about your journey and equipment. I have been thinking of buying a Fargo and I think it looks like I will after hearing about how much you like it. I am not looking to set any records just spend more time out in nature living off the bike in more comfort.
5. JayP says:

   September 24, 2012 at 1:51 pm

   Kevin - Yes, I could have gone faster in some areas, could have had better weather in some areas, and I think I could have been slightly more strict with myself. But all and all that would be asking for a lot and I went as fast as i could givin the cards dealt.
   Gary - no kiddin, the Fargo is made for that type of riding. it was awesome! on a Fargo you will spend more time, in comfort, in nature.

   -JayP
6. Peter Kraft says:

   September 26, 2012 at 9:59 pm

   Congrats on your ride & record. Amazing.
   Did you use the apex or apex extreme from Princeton Tec?