I was watching a documentary on the DOC channel called, “Ride the Divide,” about the Tour Divide race. Being a long time fan of cycling and cycling events, I have to say that this one rocks! Similar in mileage to the Tour de France, it has a few aspects of it that make it much harder.
For one, it is on a mountain bike and runs from Canada to Mexico along, up, over and through the Rocky Mountains! There are no teams to support the riders, no one to hand them food and drinks, no one to offer medical treatment nor massages – it is a completely unsupported bit of insanity.
Only a handful of people have ever finished the Tour although it is getting more and more popular each year. The documentary which came out in 2010 featured only 16 riders and the first ever female to attempt the feat.
My hat is off to these inspiring nutjobs. I think I may have finally found a sporting event that is tougher than the Tour de France.
The film is shot well and does a great job of showing that normal (albeit fit) people can to extraordinary things. It is an inspiration to the weekend peddler and the lifelong cyclist alike. If you doubt for a second that the human body is capable of truly amazing things, watch this film.
RATING 8 out of 10
Chris,
Nice post about the Divide movie.
If you are interested in seeing a first-hand perspective on the 2010 race, I just posted a video about my ride: http://teamkaker.com/tour-divide-2010-movie-gear/
Forest