After committing my intent to do the Tour Divide in June this year the most frequent question beyond 'Are you crazy!!' has been 'Why?' Why would I want to use my vacation time to put myself through the suffering of multiple days in the saddle and attempt to do something that has such a high probability of failure?

At the end of the day for me, this is ultimately a personal journey without ego or reward, but simply to push my body and mind to achieve something beyond even my realm of possibility. Most people will go through life without even challenging their comfort zone and who will never feel the satisfaction of achieving a goal, that initially, seemed impossible.

How often in ones lifetime will you get the opportunity to ride through some of the most spectacular scenery, alone in your own thoughts, for this period of time? Possibly never for most. I am fortunate to have a company that promotes and supports this kind of endeavor, which will take a lot of stress off my shoulders whilst doing this event.

But, at the end of the day I am doing this event because it defines who I am and the lifestyle I have chosen. It is a privilege to be at a level of health and fitness, at this stage of my life, to be able to even show up at the start of this race. I look forward to hopefully joining the very small group of individuals from around the world who can say 'I completed the Tour Divide.'