The guy who helped me was not very much help, but another guy did help me get onto a shuttle, so within 10 minutes of getting there I was on my way to Phoenix, and that got me home quick.' Saw a lot of people who knew about the race, but not many people seem to know the difference between the GDR and the Tour Divide, but beyond that it was cool to meet people who knew what I was doing.ДЄt the border they seemed very surprised that I was asking to use a telephone or water. Saw a couple of Tour Divide racers out there. I didn't get to talk toher more because I didn't want to intrude on her, but I'm glad that she's riding again. I did see Jenn in Abiquiu and I felt bad that she felt bad. I didn't see anyone after that first Monday, after June 13. It was especially a lot of climbing in New Mexico, a lot of rain in New Mexico, and a lot of muddy roads in New Mexico, so it was really hard. I didn't expect the climbing to be so hard. He had to skid away from running into an owl, which most people probably wouldn't expect to see.Д«eyond that, the riding was a lot harder than expected. Everything worked great.ДЄnimals: I saw two grizzly bears, lots of elk, lots of pronghorn, lots of coyotes, rabbits, deer, cows, roadrunners, saw a couple of horny toads, two buffaloes, but I didn't see any ostrich and I saw no javelinas. No chain problems - one chain for the ride, one set of tires, one set of brake pads for the ride, my grips worked great. The only flat-type issue I had was the first day, some air escaping and I was able to seal it with a sealant. I had some knee problems then, but I got it back together in Colorado, so that was OK. I ended up having to stay in Rawlins for 18 hours to recover. I had to walk up every single hill, even the paved highway into town. My biglow point was the day into Rawlins I had a horrible day that day. And also that final stretch down below Silver City is really nice leading down to Interstate 10, downhill and you know that the finish is coming up. The other high pointwas riding up Boreas Pass because that's when I started feeling better in Colorado and thought I actually might finish. I actually had a goal of maybe a faster time which I missed, but I was happier to finish. The big high point for me obviously was finishing. It rained every day on me in New Mexico and a lot near Silver City and Pie Town. I don't know if people realize how much it is raining in New Mexico. I hope it's not raining that much on them.

'I want to wish Jenn and Noah good luck on the finish. Thanks, Fred! This is the kind of call that is best transcribed, so, here are final thoughts from Fred: He said his wife told him it was lame not to leave more information, so he logged a three-minute final call, which was probably longer than all of his previous GDR call-ins put together.

Fred Wilkinson called from Moab on Saturday afternoon with some thoughts on his race.

The great divide mtb ride