Hey everybody, I am Ted King. Welcome back to King of the Ride.

So here it is. It's tour divide week. Depending on how you look at a calendar, it is also unbound week

with a filthy, muddy, unbound in the rearview mirror by just a couple of days. Both events separated by

just one week. I've done five, let's call them traditional, 200 mile unbounds. And I was looking

for a new challenge. So here in 2023, why not try the XL as an opener for the big show for

tour divide? You know, it's funny. We, the King family, we were going to the XL as an opener for the big show for Tour Divide.

You know, it's funny. We, the King family, we were in Emporia for simplicity to reduce some travel after gravel locus, and for the better part of two weeks, we were there in Emporia,

where it was hot and the weather was perfect. So go figure, come race day, unbound XL, and for all events, 100, 250, 25.

The sky opened up something fierce and turned the ground into that quintessential Kansan Flint Hills chunky peanut butter.

I was actually in the lead group of five when we collectively had the decision

to pull the plug, which might sound odd, it might sound lame, it might sound tough to absorb.

But when you're hiking for literally two hours, not once getting on your bike for two hours,

that seemed like we'd lost the plot.

I also recognize that this is amazing tour divide prep to be walking for hours on end,

and I consider unbound having done its job, and so onward we go.

But first, this episode.

So here I am. I'm in the van.

I just drove into Colorado yesterday from

Kansas where I will pack, repack, unpack, unpack, repack again, obsess about my packing for

Tour Divide. Tomorrow I'm going to board a plane, fly to Calgary, build my bike, get bused over to Banff

and start Tour Divide Friday morning. Some 2,700 miles from Banff, Alberta, Canada to the U.S.-Mexico border.

Why?

...