Trail Magic, Trail Curse

Last summer I responded to an Internet request for help from one of the Tour Divide racers, Domink Scherer. Unfortunately, I did not review the Tour Divide Race rules prior to lending my rear wheel to Domink to finish the race. His request for help that was posted on the Tour Divide Race Blog completely threw me off guard. I assumed that the request would not have been posted if it was not legitimate. I was wrong. The consequence was that the Trail Magic that I performed became a Trail Curse. Domink was disqualified.

I received an email to that effect from Matthew Lee last October. I respect Matthew and would never intentionally do anything to interfere during the race. In the future I will avoid following the race(s) so that I am not tempted to lend assistance again. Perhaps an "UnWanted" Poster would be appropriate to warn future racers against the danger of fans like myself? In my case it will not be necessary, because I will not be supporting the races in the future.

I had never had any contact with Domink prior to lending him my wheel. At the time I had interpreted the rules, which I vaguely remembered, to mean that there could not be any "prearranged" help or resupply. However, according to Matthew the key point that the disqualification rested on was the fact that I drove the wheel to Dominik rather than shipping it to him.

Apparently Matthew was pressured to enforce this particular rule. However, while we are remembering rules let's also remember a rule that a race event through any National Forest must have a permit. Neither the GDR or the Tour Divide have ever bothered to obtain a permit to pass through any National Forest. This fact has been plainly discussed in various online forums. I believe that it is only a matter of time until someone dies during one of these races.

It was very close for two racers in northern New Mexico a couple of years ago. Last year it was challenging to discern real danger from whining in the Gila National Forest for one particular Tour Divide Racer. He said that he was in a "life or death" struggle. However, he rode right past the only help in many miles during a monsoon rain. Perhaps he was just lucky, or perhaps he exaggerated his situation. In either case it is only a matter of time until something tragic happens. The most likely place is in New Mexico when the racers are most fatigued and the food and water logistics are the most challenging.

About a month ago I receive a German mountain biking magazine from Domink containing an article about about his Tour Divide experience. He included a translation for me, and I was very touched. The article mentions how his participation in the rescue of the lady who drove off the side of a mountain in Colorado changed the whole race experience for him. We discussed it after the race and I shared with him a situation in my life that fundamentally changed my life forever. I have never been the same person since then, and a similar thing happened to him during that rescue.

So, in some ways it does not matter at all that he was disqualified. What does matter is that the races are conducted in a manner that fair and honest. Since I apparently inadvertently upset that balance I will also disqualify myself from following the races in the future. That is not to say that I don't think the races should continue. However, I am skeptical about the quality of decisions that some racers make when it really is "life or death." New Mexico can be harsh to the unprepared and the misinformed. Be safe. Ride hard. Enjoy.

The main impetus for this blog came from reading harrowing accounts of GDMBR riders and racers as they traveled through New Mexico. I hoped to provide enough information about the realities here to make your GDMBR journey through New Mexico more interesting and safer. I did not include the usual statistics about how many miles we rode each day and how much elevation we gained and lost. I have included a lot of logistic information and captioned photos.

My wife is in desperate need a a hip replacement, so I probably will not be able to continue my GDMBR trip this summer. However, as I do continue on the GDMBR I will update this blog. For those who are planning to either ride or race the GDMBR feel free to contact me about the conditions in New Mexico.