Marie-Soleil Blais
photo affichée sur Instagram par Marie-Soleil Blais le 2 juillet 2023

My first bikepacking race, completed! Ooofff that was wild! Riding the Divide is an incredible experience in itself, but this time I wanted to race it. I wanted to experience what it’s like to race days after days, 24/7 with a clock that never stops.

Bboooyy was I served!!

First of all, the first thing that struck with me is the diversity of the riders and the inclusive feel. Each riders that stood on the start line came with their own stories, motivation and ambititons beyond racing. I was touched by Patrick Cistac story, whom I met him at the hotel in Banff. He’s racing the Divide to raise funds to find a cure to the rare disease that his son was diagnosed with.

This year’s edition of the Tour Divide had by far the highest female participants and it made for such an exciting race!! What I thought would be a controlled time trial ( how could I have ever think this was going to be anything close to a time trial!!) turned into a never-ending chase that kept me on the very edge for the whole time! At some point we had a legit women peloton (pink dots!) and it was so cool because it pushed everyone to give their very best, we all played a role in each other races.

If I look at my own ride, I can’t believe I covered so much distance every day!!! (30% more than last year on daily avg!) My longest 1-day ride before this race was 225 km. I did a PB on day 1, then again on day 2, and day 3, and I kept smashing any personal numbers. Unbelievable!

photo affichée sur Instagram par Marie-Soleil Blais

If you could see how well I rode some (trails) sections, some sections that I walked last year (bc I’m a terrible MTBiker) just by the urge to get out of there and catch the girls This is what racing does. It elevates your game!

Interestingly, I noticed that I rode best when half of my brain is sleeping. I remember feeling my legs pedalling through rocks straight up with no fear or hesitation at all! As if my brain couldn’t process or analyse the possibility of falling. I even stayed upright.

I was also deeply inspired by the legendary Alexandera Houchin. She completed her 4th ride on the Divide on a singlespeed!!!! (And beated her own record) Racing the Divide on 1-speed! How the hell is that possible! Well she is the proof that you can do anything you set your mind to. It was an honour to chase you and never catch you Alexandra!

Massive kuddos to all the women that raised the bar and to everyone else, men and women and non-binary who were bold enough to stand on the start line! Was a privilege to be part of that circus with you.

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