Wonderful dive into the history of the race, Jill!! I learned so much. Especially loved the descriptions of everyone lining up at the start line (Kent Peterson!!!). Thanks for putting this together and looking forward to more.
I still treasure my invites to the '03 and '04 races - though I went down the parenting path in life instead of the racing the divide path. I really hoped at the time that it was going to be the next big thing, I had similar feelings as Mike about riding in circles for 24 hours. I didn't think it would become what it has, I predicted that a dozen or so highly-competitive racers would push each other and that times would get closer and closer together over the years.
Thanks Jill, nice to see the early days written up.. my wife , before she was my wife, and I rode, the first bit Roosville to Yellowstone in the summer of 1996. I had been waiting for the maps since the route was first announced. Sadly they weren't available till that fall but Mike McCoy kindly sent us his detailed notes and we mapped it out on topo maps. It was definitely at tour speed not a race especially since we had frequent stops to consult the notes and maps. It was a great adventure so much so that we ended up riding the Colorado and part of NM route on our honeymoon in 1999
Hi Jill! I can't figure out how to write you directly through this site so I'm leaving this comment. Nice work writing up this history; it does seem to have been forgotten by many. It was fun to document those early races. I wish my photo galleries and extended captions still lived online somewhere. Would you be so kind as to add my photo credit to the Adventure Cycling shots? I would appreciate that. Thanks! Aaron Teasdale
Hi Aaron. Thanks! Yes, I'll add your name to the credit. The newsletter nature of Substack sometimes lets me forget that these posts continue to live online. But I also hope these early histories aren't lost to time.
Thanks Jill! Yes, that's why I thought it was worth tacking on a photo credit. This is the only place I've ever seen this history documented. I'm glad you did it. It was a fascinating time that few seem to remember.
Wonderful dive into the history of the race, Jill!! I learned so much. Especially loved the descriptions of everyone lining up at the start line (Kent Peterson!!!). Thanks for putting this together and looking forward to more.
Great stuff, Jill. I'm looking forward to part two.
Wonderful to see this important history finally documented. Well done.
I still treasure my invites to the '03 and '04 races - though I went down the parenting path in life instead of the racing the divide path. I really hoped at the time that it was going to be the next big thing, I had similar feelings as Mike about riding in circles for 24 hours. I didn't think it would become what it has, I predicted that a dozen or so highly-competitive racers would push each other and that times would get closer and closer together over the years.
Absolutely fascinating! Love that you're doing this. Great information.
Thanks Jill, nice to see the early days written up.. my wife , before she was my wife, and I rode, the first bit Roosville to Yellowstone in the summer of 1996. I had been waiting for the maps since the route was first announced. Sadly they weren't available till that fall but Mike McCoy kindly sent us his detailed notes and we mapped it out on topo maps. It was definitely at tour speed not a race especially since we had frequent stops to consult the notes and maps. It was a great adventure so much so that we ended up riding the Colorado and part of NM route on our honeymoon in 1999
Great history of the early races. Thanks for writing this up, Jill! So fascinating.
Hi Jill! I can't figure out how to write you directly through this site so I'm leaving this comment. Nice work writing up this history; it does seem to have been forgotten by many. It was fun to document those early races. I wish my photo galleries and extended captions still lived online somewhere. Would you be so kind as to add my photo credit to the Adventure Cycling shots? I would appreciate that. Thanks! Aaron Teasdale
Hi Aaron. Thanks! Yes, I'll add your name to the credit. The newsletter nature of Substack sometimes lets me forget that these posts continue to live online. But I also hope these early histories aren't lost to time.
Thanks Jill! Yes, that's why I thought it was worth tacking on a photo credit. This is the only place I've ever seen this history documented. I'm glad you did it. It was a fascinating time that few seem to remember.