Inclement weather brings Tour Divide racers to Seeley Lake

SEELEY LAKE - Since 2008, the Tour Divide bike race has brought hundreds of bikers from around the world into Seeley Lake's backyard.

The Tour Divide is considered the most difficult mountain bike race in the world that covers over 2,700 miles, beginning in Banff, Alberta and ending at the Mexican border. Racers left with the Grand Depart on June 14, and have been trickling through the Seeley, Swan and Blackfoot valleys throughout the week.

Seeley Lake is not directly on the course for the Tour Divide, meaning bikers must make the decision to travel two-miles off course to stop in town. In many cases, stopping in town isn't intentional but a decision made for survival.

On the morning of June 20, several groups of bike packers on the Tour Divide departed from Seeley Lake. Many expressed that they hoped to make it to Ovando the night before but ran into intense rain and snow on Richmond Ridge.

According to Tour Divide cyclist Sue O'Malley, 60, of New Zealand, Richmond Ridge greeted her with rain, which quickly turned to snow as she climbed to higher elevations. "It was very clear I was becoming hypothermic."

Sue is riding alongside her husband John, 60. They explained that they originally planned to stop at Holland Lake Lodge near Condon. However, they decided to press on towards Ovando because of its direct proximity to the course and general support of the Tour Divide.

"Stopping in Seeley [Lake] was the obvious choice," said O'Malley who has been covering 90-100 miles per day.

The Tour Divide is a self supported bike race. In order to comply with those standards, both Sue and John carry their own supplies. They even sleep in separate tents.

"It would be tough to ride completely on your own," said Sue. John added that they hadn't seen another rider on the trail in two days.

Similarly to the O'Malleys, another group of cyclists departed from the Chicken Coop after running into the same storm on the ridge

"The ride so far has been great because the weather has been so good," said Matt Fusco of Ashville, North Carolina. "[Richmond] Pass has been the most difficult so far because of the weather."

Fusco is touring the course with a group of friends and made the decision to take shelter near Seeley Lake after being met with snow on the infamous pass on the evening of June 19. The group Fusco is with is riding in support of a mutual friend who is battling breast cancer.

"We would have stopped here for resupply either way," added a biker in Fusco's group before taking off for another day on the course.

"[Ovando is] where we are going next and we hope to stay in someone's front yard," added another member of Fusco's group.

As of June 25, there are 132 active riders and 32 who have scratched according to trackleaders.com/tourdivide19.

Tour Divide favorite Sofiane Sehili of France dropped out of the race on June 23 due to cold weather and sloppy mud conditions in Colorado.

"The Tour Divide is a tough race and the 2019 edition proved to be [too] tough for me. I know there is more snow coming and I don't want to find myself in a dangerous situation again," wrote Sehili on his Facebook page. "It is just a bike ride and there is no point risking my life for it."

The ladies front-runner Lael Wilcox also scratched leaving Alexandera Houchin leading the women on her single-speed. While the women's record is out of reach, she is still on pace to beat the women's single speed record.