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Jon Kuiperij Sports Editor sports@oakvillebeaver.com Sports 23 | Friday, June 14, 2013 | OAKVILLE BEAVER | www.insideHALTON.com "Connected to your Community" Touring the Divide Oakville men set out today to cycle 4,500 kilometres from Alberta to New Mexico by Jon Kuiperij Beaver Sports Editor Greg Andre-Barrett and Dave Rooney are going for a bike ride today. And they won't be back for nearly a month. In between, they plan to tour through Alberta, British Columbia, Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado and New Mexico, winding through the Great Continental Divide via some of the most remote trails in North America and without any outside assistance. In all, the Oakville residents and approximately 140 other participants intend to cycle nearly 4,500 kilometres from Banff, Alta. to the Mexican border city of Antelope Wells, New Mexico. En route, they'll climb nearly 200,000 feet of vertical terrain (nearly 61,000 metres) -- the equivalent of summiting Mt. Everest seven times from sea level. Oakville residents Dave Rooney (pictured above) and Greg Andre-Barrett are competing in the Tour Divide mountain bike race, which begins in Banff, Alta. and ends in Antelope Wells, New Mexico (route pictured bottom left). The near 45,000-kilometre route features approximately 200,000 feet of vertial terrain (the equivalent of summiting Mt. Everest seven times from sea level) and takes most competitors nearly a month to complete. | photo by Stacey Newman -- Special to the Beaver It's all part of the Tour Divide, an event that advertises itself as the world's longest, toughest self-supported mountain bike race. "Yes, it is crazy," chuckles Andre-Barrett. "As the saying goes, everyone's crazy but you and me, and I'm not sure about me." Unique challenge If Andre-Barrett is having second thoughts about his sanity, it might be because, at age 59, he's likely to be the oldest participant in this year's race. But Andre-Barrett, a Cyclepath Oakville Race Team member who works in information technology for the Ontario Ministry of Health, believes he's up for the challenge. He's a veteran of endurance races, covering 325 kilometres at a 24-hour event last year. He once cycled across the 800-kilometre El Camino de Santiago pilgrimage trail along the top of Spain. He has completed the TransPortugal race, an 1,150-kilometre journey from the northern border of Portugal to the southern boundary. He regularly cycles several days a week from his Oakville home to his office in North York. Still, Andre-Barrett realizes nothing he has done on a bicycle compares to the challenge that awaits. "I don't think I understand how difficult it will be," admits Andre-Barrett, whose goal is to complete the Tour Divide in 27 days, requiring him to average 160 km per day. (Five-time Tour Divide champion Matthew Lee holds the course record, completing the route in 17 days, 21 hours and 10 minutes in 2007.) "You can't until you ride in something like this." Rooney, 38, also has no illusions about the task he's undertaking. "(The Tour Divide) is a whole different magnitude in distance and vertical ascent," says the Zimbabwe-born Google salesman, who has completed the Cape Epic eight-day stage race in South Africa and the 370-km Desert Dash in Namibia. "You're also completely non-supported. Those other races had water points along the way, or backup vehicles following you. The fact that you're completely self-sufficient in this race is what separates it from anything else." When Rooney says self-sufficient, he isn't using the term loosely. The Tour Divide has no required checkpoints or designated rest periods on the course. Riders must resupply food and equipment, launder clothing, rent hotel rooms or sleep in a tent, and service their bikes themselves or at commercial shops along the route. Every challenger is to have an equal playing field, meaning outside assistance with navigation, lodging or resupply is prohibited. Advancing forward on the route by any means other than one's own pedal power is also not allowed. GPS navigators are permitted but not essential. Mobile phones are also permitted, but mobile service on the route is spotty, receiving signal approximately 15 per cent of the time. "Technology is always your friend, but the idea of having no cell phone signal or means for anyone to contact you is actually quite refreshing," says Rooney. The closest thing to aid that competitors get from organizers is a GPS tracker on their bicycle, but even that isn't intended to ensure rider safety. Rather, it is to monitor cyclists' course compliance. "I'll have 25 pounds of gear and water, sleeping bags, sleeping pad, tent, two pairs of shorts, a different layered approach for the top (of mountains), jackets, winter mitts, winter covers for my shoes... repair parts for the bike that are critical," Andre-Barrett says. "I've gone through maps to make notes of where there is a town or gas station or see Sixty on p.25