Banff to Mexico, again… anyone?!

Many friends have expressed to me their blue dot withdrawals. Well, no need to totally wean yourselves; I’m in for round two… and hope you are also!

Last year’s Tour Divide was the grandest and most enlightening thing I’ve done in my life. I learned a lot about myself and the world around me. I also feel like I inspired a few people along the way. Most importantly, I learned a lot about how to survive that race! I have to say that I did alright with what I knew… but, I now know a lot more.

It’s hard to sit back and watch the lineup grow with my new found knowledge. I won’t pretend to know everything about this race or to be able to have rigid expectations for my own performance. The most important lesson that I picked up last year, was about flexibility. As I read back through my journals from 2008, I probably had 3 days total that went exactly as planned. I can’t see the future and there’s always the possibility that the stars won’t align this year, as well as they did last – but that’s a risk I’m willing to take.

Above is one of my favorite photos from the divide. My goal this year is to use this time for a little introspection and make no mistake, I want to go fast and hard out there, but I want to enjoy it – thoroughly. I don’t want to look back, when I’m older and wish that I had done it better. Right now, I know that there are lots of things that I want to change as I race. Maybe it’s like the tootsie pop and you may never find out how many licks it takes to get to the center – That’s okay too.

I’ve been warned that it’s addictive, and it is. I hope you can all handle another round. I’ve remedied some problems that I had with my nutrition and general health last year and think it should be a little bit less stressful for us all.

I am going to be out pounding the pavement looking for funding, as it costs a bit to live out of gas stations for a month. If anyone wants to contribute to my journey, just shoot me an email. I am also full swing into the book that I will be writing (which will be about the two attempts and life between.) Your contributions will help to make that happen.

Thanks for all of your support, in any way, and I look forward to sending my first update from Banff, June 12th!