Singletrack/MTB
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Tracking the 2023 Tour Divide (Part 1): Elemental Moves
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In part one of our from-the-field reportage of the 2023 Tour Divide, seasoned photographer and documentarian Eddie Clark shares his experiences from the first week, tracking down riders in Montana and Wyoming along the faint singletrack and mud-caked roads of this iconic route. Find his recap, thoughts from several riders, and an excellent photo gallery here…
My 2023 Tour Divide started on the Green River just north of Cora, Wyoming. It’s an area I’ve grown to love over the years, and it serves me well as a first destination for photographing the Tour Divide. The route actually goes over the bridge where I took this first photo. As a record number of racers were rolling out of Banff, I was getting up and brewing my first pot of Tour Divide coffee, and it tasted quite good.
By day two, I was north of Whitefish, Montana, and waking up to some wet conditions, just like the racers. The stories of rain and mud were true as best as I could tell.
I first photographed the race starting in Banff back in 2015 and thoroughly enjoyed it. Banff is a great town, and the route in its early stages is about as pretty and majestic as it gets. However, it’s a lot of logistical expense in terms of time and travel budget for the few photos I’d use from that section. Not to mention, there’s plenty of folks taking those same pictures, which isn’t something I’m compelled to repeat, and so my coverage of this edition begins just north of Whitefish at Red Meadow Lake.
Justinas Leveika and Ulrich “Uba” Bartholmoes were the first two racers rolling up to Red Meadow Lake.
Steven Le Hyaric rolls through the sleepy town of Eureka, Montana. Evidently, the first day of racing was quite wet and muddy and a real shock to the system for many racers.
After many hours of photographing the second day of racing, I pointed it south to sneak up on racers. The unglamorous part of this job is the constant driving that often goes into the late-night hours, and on this day, I’d be behind the wheel until 1:30 a.m. I’d previously studied the section from Swan Lake to Seely Lake and knew that the bridge over Glacier Creek was one of photographic interest. Also, much of the route from Whitefish to Swan Lake is not very remote before it enters dense northwest forest that is less than ideal for photography and moving around among racers in my big Ford F150.
I hedged my bets and lucked out with decent weather and some photos I’d hoped to take, particularly this one of Bear Stillwater riding over Glacier Creek.
From Kraft creek Rd, it was on to Morel Clearwater Creek Rd, where the rains would start again in earnest.
After a lot of climbing, maybe 2000 feet, the route turns left onto the Swan Divide Trail, where signs warn of grizzly bears.
As night drew close, I made a run to the other side of the Swan Divide Trail to sleep for the night and set myself up for the next day’s photos. It was a new section for me, which meant driving until I got to the other end of the Swan Divide Trail to see what there was to see. A ways up, I came across Katya Rakhmatulina and two other racers looking for the faint singletrack that drops off the road. I rode it the next day, and it makes no sense why this would be a part of the course. Maybe it’s an alternative not many folks know about? The next morning, I found there was a 50/50 split of tire tracks taking the road instead of the singletrack.
The real intention of my mountain biking ride was to photograph this section of the Swan Divide Trail. There’s very little singletrack on the Tour Divide route, but it’s one of my favorite things to ride, and sure looks more appealing than a wide dirt road. After I’d waited for what seemed like an hour, Vaclav Waldmann rode by, making my half-day endeavor worth the while.
Unfortunately for Vaclav, his rear wheel took a beating. As others might attest, the route is certainly hard on bikes and wheels.
After some Trackleaders studying and deliberation, it was on to Priest Pass to get what I could before heading further south to rejoin the leaders.
Kyle Peterson enjoying the long downhill from Priest Pass on the way to Helena, Montana.
It’s amazing how fast the race progresses without you, and in one day, the pointy end of the race will usually cover over 200 miles. Already, the pace differentials were creating significant time gaps, which meant more driving late into the night.
The timing was right to pull out for the scenic overlook on I-15 above Butte, Montana, to stop and grab a few place-setting photos of what racers used to see on the old route as they would roll into Butte. The Tour Divide used to follow I-15 from Boulder to Butte, but now it comes into Boulder from the other side of town (top right in the photo). Unlike the Adventure Cycling Association (ACA) route, the Tour Divide seems to constantly change—so much so that it makes one wonder about the validity of there being a true FKT or record time for the race. One thing is for certain: the racers, their bikes, and their kits are evolving thanks in part to those who made this race what it is today.
Another aspect of a fastest known time or race record is the randomness of weather patterns and their bearing on this race. This edition has seen plenty of bad weather, and it’s as if the leaders have been at the front of this weather front, constantly enduring cold wind, rain, and mud. The weather certainly factored into what I could do versus what I wanted to do. With my hand forced again, I rolled on from Butte to Clark Reservoir—which is off route but a splendid place to camp—and set myself up for another day of hopefully photographing the leaders.
Normally, I’d go to the top of Medicine Lodge Pass, but these remote southern Montana roads are not to be taken lightly when the weather goes sideways. With a high probability for more bad weather and very muddy roads, I played it safe and hung out on Cabin Creek Road hoping for the leaders to arrive before conditions got worse than they already were.
Justinas was first through, and he commented about how big the views were in “Big Sky Country.”
Uba was close to him, and the mud flinging off his wheels was ample proof of the poor conditions they’d endured.
More proof above, Jens Van Roost dodging puddles on Cabin Creek Rd. Contrary to what might be said on the internet, Jens is quite prepared for this race and would have been right with Justinas and Uba from the first day had he not suffered a bad crash that left him with a good bit of scrapes and some bruised ribs.
Jens was happily and warmly greeted by Justinas and Uba when he finally caught back up to them in Lima. All three of them shared a room in Banff before the start of the race. For the most part, these three seem to be riding as gentlemen and friends with good intentions to ride the best pace they can.
New tech and its shortcomings: Uba has been riding with that zip tie in place of the BOA strap since the first day. Old tech: Jens has to tie his shoes every time he takes them off and on, which has been often with this year’s wet conditions.
After photographing the leaders in Lima, I went back around to the north side of Medicine Lodge Pass to catch up with Chris Burkard, who was happy to stop and chat. The mud has been relentless. Hats off to Chris for representing us photographers!
Joe Nation on Medicine Lodge Rd and its mud.
Next was a jaunt up Bannock Bench Rd to grab some photos of Ezra Ward-Packard while the weather was still nice for the time being. Big shout out to Ezra for showing the world that Type 1 Diabetes is not a life limiter. Ezra is living big and has a laser focus on riding his way into the pointy end of this race.
It’s only a few miles off route, but Clark Reservoir sure is worth the stay, and the good cell reception makes it even better. I spent two nights here this year and enjoyed every minute of my time near its blue waters.
On the sixth day of the Tour Divide, I made a run up to Wise River and hiked a couple of miles up to Fleecer Ridge to see what I could see and hopefully get a few nice photos. I’ve always wanted to see the Wise River side of Fleecer Ridge, and this year was the year for that to happen. I was without cell reception for most of the drive up there and really had no idea who I might see. Since it was so nice and I hadn’t seen anyone for a while, I lay down and had a nice nap in the flowers.
Before long my spidey senses went off, and I sat up from my slumber to see a rider approaching. I instinctively grabbed my camera, and started taking photos. It was Alexandera Houchin! She said her two-to-one gears were killing her on the climbs this year and that she was walking climbs she’d ridden in the past. Even still, she seemed fresh and happy and eager to start crushing the miles. No doubt, I think we’ll see her start to gain ground as the race progresses.
After hiking back to my truck and having lunch, I decided to head down to Red Rock National Wildlife Refuge and take advantage of the temporary nice weather. I also decided to have another crack at the bridge across the Red Rock River using a 400mm lens and a different vantage point to improve on photos I’d taken in prior years but was unhappy with. I still wasn’t entirely happy with the bridge photos, but I liked this photo of Dirty Dan riding past a bald eagle just after the bridge.
Even with the best planning, there’s a lot of luck involved in getting the photos I want, and a lot of the time it doesn’t work out, so I keep trying year after year. You don’t always get what you want, but if you try enough sometimes, you get what you need.
Katya Rakhmatulina rolled through next, leading the charge for the women chasing Lael. You’ll just have to wait to see the other photos of her in this section. I’m pretty stoked about them!
And then the sunset really started to kick in. It was the first sunset free of rain and storms I’d seen during this edition, so I took advantage of it to photograph another one of my favorite places on the route. Red Rock National Wildlife Refuge is a rare, remote, and special place, and the value of times like this are not lost on me.
I spent the night in the empty campground just down the road from here and thoroughly enjoyed my surroundings before making the long drive down to Springdale, Wyoming, to reassess the race situation. In other years, I’ve photographed sections through Idaho and northern Wyoming, but the leaders have been on a rapid pace despite the poor conditions, so my hand was forced in the matter. At around 11 p.m., I rolled up to where I camped on the Green River a week prior and slept to the sound of rain on my truck topper.
Maarten Vanheverbeke was the first rider I came across the following morning in Springdale. It was a cold start to the day there, and the Wind River Mountains were socked in with dark clouds, but if you looked closely, you could see there was a layer of fresh snow. No doubt, the riders on Union Pass had a chilly night up there.
While waiting for racers on Big Sandy Rd between Boulder and South Pass City, this pair of tourers rode up from the east. The Canadian couple had ridden the route from Colorado to Mexico last year and were riding it from Wyoming to Canada this year. It’s always nice to talk to folks touring the route, as they always seem to be more relaxed and have more to share in regards to observations about the route and wildlife along it. Evidently, this couple had heard wolves just the night before!
Steve Halligan rolled through next and gave a shout. I guess he remembered me from his 2019 ride of the Tour Divide. He seemed happy and looked good on the bike.
Bear Stillwater came through next and noted how his water bottle cage broke off while coming down Union Pass. Shortly after the storms let loose, I got the heck out of Dodge. Like everyone else, I saw that the trio of leaders had their speeds reduced to walking while in the middle of the Great Divide Basin, which was a larger reason for me staying on the Green River instead of attempting to drive into the Basin at night in potentially very muddy conditions. I’ve learned when to stay on the gas and when to hit the brakes with the Tour Divide, and when people are walking their bikes it means the mud is bad and it’s time for me to hit the brakes. That said, this wouldn’t be a year for me to drive through the Basin—big sad face.
I went straight to Wamsutter to intercept the leaders and caught them just after they rolled into the travel center. Their bikes were a wreck and told of how bad their ride through the Basin was. Evidently, Jens, Justinas, and Uba were reduced to walking their bikes for a couple miles before it made no sense to even try to push them through the mud. Notably, they are all riding with ultralight kits, which isn’t favorable in cold and wet conditions. Luckily, they just so happened to walk up on the only porta potty in the whole basin, and they all crammed into it to gain shelter from the wind, rain, and cold. They slept for almost 10 hours until conditions were good enough to resume forward progress.
It’s safe to say they spent a good deal of money on maintenance when they made it to the bike shop in Steamboat Springs.
Thumbs up from Justinas on dry roads.
And that’s a wrap for my first installment! You can also find a few more photos trickled into the Tour Divide Debriefs at the Tracker here.
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