Tour Divide 2014, Here I Come!

by Andy Amick on September 12, 2013

in Bikepacking, Dreams, Personal

Yep, you read that right.  I’ll be lining for the Grand Depart alongside my friend Brion who will be riding it as well.  Dreams do come true and I’m both excited and nervous about this one.  It’s a great bikepacking adventure I have dreamed of ever since I read about Kent Peterson’s singlespeed ride in an issue of Dirt Rag years ago.

Photo by Eddie Clark

Photo courtesy of TourDivide.org

Why?

People always say “find your passion” or “do what you love”.  Well, for me that is riding my bike and what better way to experience bike riding than 2700 miles of riding in some stunningly beautiful places.  Sure, there will be moments and probably full days where riding a bike won’t seem like fun.  At those times, I’ll have to remind myself that I’m living out a dream and I’m not sitting in front of a computer writing software all day.

A second reason is my two boys.  I want to be an example to them of  someone that lives out their dreams rather than continually dreaming dreams.  As parents, it’s easy for us to tell our kids to follow what they enjoy and to work hard for what they want.  It’s another thing to actually go and do it.  I’m planning to give it all I have to be a real life example of that advice.

But, What About…?

I listed my two main reasons for riding the Divide, but even if I listed 20, there are a whole lot more reasons or excuses why I shouldn’t do it.  The truth is that there is never a perfect time for a major adventure so you just have to pick a time and go for it.

But it’s going to be expensive with gear, food, traveling to the start, and taking multiple weeks off of work.  Yes it is, but I’d rather spend some money on a grand bikepacking adventure than save it for a day that may never come.

But it’s going to require me to miss my annual ride in Nebraska to raise money for hunger.  This is a bummer, but my fellow Team Stupid riders will understand and support me.

But it’s going to require too much training and take away from family time together.  It will from time to time, but I don’t plan on abandoning my family for the next 10 months.  It’s about finding a balance between the two and me making sleep sacrifices to train during non-family hours.

Thanks To My Family

A huge thank you has to go out to my wife and kids because I know this is going to be hard on them too.  Between all of the training, the time spent testing gear, and then taking weeks off to do the ride, they are going to be sacrificing a lot for me to live out my dream.  Thank you for the support!

It’s now time for more hours of riding, gear analysis, and map studying.

About Andy Amick
A little bit nutty in general, a lotta bit nutty about bikes. Each of his boys received a bike helmet for their first birthday and the three of them have been biking together ever since.

Follow me on Twitter ·

Previous post:

Next post: