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THE HARDEST RACE ON EARTH - THE TOUR DIVIDE | ALEX HOWES

with Alex Howes

49:06·20 October 2023

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ALEX HOWES

Alex Howes is an American former WorldTour cyclist who spent nearly a decade with EF Education-EasyPost, won the 2019 USA Pro Road National Championship, and rode three editions of the Tour de France before pivoting into the alternative-calendar ultra and gravel scene. Now a privateer racer and Tour Divide veteran, he has become one of the most articulate voices on what pro-level training looks like once you swap 80 race days a year for self- supported events.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Equipment familiarity and pacing beat fitness on Tour Divide. A bike that feels fine on a 5-hour ride often becomes unmanageable on three consecutive 16-hour days. Howes prioritised dial-in over training block.
Sleep efficiency is the silent variable. Riders who need less sleep gain a time advantage fitter riders can't close. Pure aerobic capacity matters less than ultra-distance sleep tolerance.
Strip kit ruthlessly. Start from a wish list, cut to one item per category — one good rain jacket not two, two pairs of shorts not redundant bib options. Weight compounds across 2,700 miles.
Tour Divide is accessible to non-pros. 30-day finishes on basic equipment are realistic — ultra-distance levels the playing field relative to road racing where aerobic ceiling dominates.
Howes treats Tour Divide as a Grand Tour replacement stimulus — targeting four-digit annual hours as the training-load substitute for the WorldTour race days he no longer has.

CHAPTERS

Alex Howes, former WorldTour pro turned privateer, sits down to discuss his attempt at the Tour Divide—one of the world's hardest ultra-endurance races. We dive deep into how he prepared for three weeks of self-supported bikepacking across 2,700 miles from Canada to Mexico, what gear actually matters when you're riding 16-hour days, and why bike fit becomes exponentially more important the longer you stay in the saddle.

Key Takeaways

Equipment setup matters more than fitness for ultra-distance events—small fit issues on a 5-hour ride become serious problems on 16-hour days, affecting everything from hand function to mental resilience
Sleep efficiency is a critical variable that separates Tour Divide competitors more than raw power; riders who need less sleep gain an insurmountable time advantage that fitness alone cannot close
Minimize gear by starting with a 'wish list' and cutting ruthlessly—bring one item per category (one good rain jacket, not two; two pairs of shorts, not one) rather than redundant options
The Tour Divide is surprisingly accessible to non-pros; completing it in 30 days on basic equipment is realistic, and ultra-distance racing levels the playing field compared to short, hard efforts where aerobic capacity dominates
Mental resilience and mechanical problem-solving beat pre-race training; unknown challenges (broken spokes, cold hands, equipment failures) require adaptability more than taper protocols

Expert Quotes

"When you take that level of talent and then like the experience and that talent it's like yeah he smashed the record you know but when you just have good legs like me and no experience you know you're coming in a week behind."

"It's so long that I feel like things kind of level out... there's very little to do with V2 Max I think. I could put three hours into Leo on a 200 mile race but she beat me at divide handedly with way more problems than I had."

"Humans are meant to just travel long distances. There's something about us like we want to do that. We need to get to the other side of the mountain."

"If you can stay dry, dryish, you'll stay warm... the biggest thing is just like knowing your equipment. It sounds stupid but like just really having your hood position dialed."

CLAIMS FROM THIS EPISODE

Each tagged with the strength of evidence behind it.

ANECDOTE
Alex Howes, former WorldTour cyclist (EF Education-EasyPost), is attempting the 2024 Tour Divide — the roughly 2,700-mile self-supported race from Banff, Canada to the Mexican border along the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route.
Source: Alex Howes, interviewed on the Roadman Cycling podcast
EXPERT
Howes argues equipment familiarity and pacing are higher-leverage variables than additional fitness for Tour Divide success — a bike that feels fine on a 5-hour ride frequently fails over three consecutive 16-hour days due to compounding fit issues.
Source: Alex Howes, Roadman Cycling podcast
EXPERT
Howes treats Tour Divide preparation as a substitute stimulus for the ~80 WorldTour race days he previously logged annually, targeting four-digit annual training hours as a replacement for Grand Tour race load.
Source: Alex Howes, Roadman Cycling podcast
EXPERT
Sleep tolerance / sleep efficiency separates competitive Tour Divide finishers more than raw aerobic power; riders who can function on less sleep gain time advantages that fitness alone cannot bridge.
Source: Alex Howes, Roadman Cycling podcast

RESOURCES MENTIONED

KEY QUOTES

“I think you just have to do a ton of Miles like I didn't train for it necessarily the biggest thing is just like knowing your equipment I feel like um knowing your equipment and like understanding pacing and like how to get around out there those two things seem like they were probably more valuable than Fitness almost”
Alex Howes — Former World Tour professional cyclist

“a lot of things you go do like a five hour ride and you're like yeah the bike's good you know and then you go do three 16 hour rides and you're like this bike is not good like the fit is not what I want uh I have a lot of pain here here and here and my hand doesn't work anymore”
Alex Howes — Former World Tour professional cyclist

“I'll probably get into the four digits for uh hours this year so it's not quite the same as you know 80 race days in the world tour like it's not it's not that but like I don't know thousand hours is thousand hours”
Alex Howes — Former World Tour professional cyclist

EPISODE TRANSCRIPT2 SECTIONS

Don't know Europe Europe's like kind of busy in a lot of spots I get…

Yeah um I don't know Europe Europe's like kind of busy in a lot of spots I get I get wound up on cars anymore but I don't know this it's also super pretty over there when you're in the T devide I'm assuming it's just big long days how do you tweak your training for that or do you tweak your training say like after a week you're just kind of [ __ ] and beyond that you're not really pushing you know just kind of getting around the biggest thing is just like knowing your equipment it sounds stupid but like just really having like your hood position dialed and you know having like if you're on a mountain bike like having the right grips for that and having your arrow bars at the appropriate height and cuz I mean like a lot of things you go do like a 5 hour ride and you're like yeah the bike's good you know and then you go do three 16 hour rides and you're like this bike is not good hey everybody and welcome back to the channel if you're new here my name is Anthony I'm a former lawyer turn cyclist turn podcast host who's based in Ireland my goal with this channel it's to introduce you to the people and to the ideas to help you optimize your health your happiness and your longevity today we're diving deep into the world of ultra endurance cycling with ex World hor star Alex H for for those of you who may not know Alex stepped away from the world tour he was at the top level of sport for almost a decade completing multiple grand Tours but instead of retiring like any normal person or normal writer he's chosen to tackle some epic events in his career part two as a privateer today we're talking about that Beast the Epic the tur void this is a bucket list event for so many of us we dream about writing it we're going to chat to Alex about how he prepared for this incredible event balancing the rigors of training with family work and of course what gear he used to help him conquer the course we'll also dive into the mental strategies for tackling such an overwhelming challenge if you're looking to up your ultra distance game or you're just seeking some inspiration for your next adventure this episode really has something of value for you before I jump into the show I do have one small favor to ask if you can take a second to subscribe to the channel I still around 90% of viewers aren't subscribed and the bigger the channel get the bigger the guests I can attract so it's a win-win for all of us with that being said this is the romance cycling podcast and now my dear friends it's Mr Alex H Alex welcome back to the Rob man podcast thanks for having me this is getting to be an annual thing yeah is this number two or number three I don't know but it's It's Quickly becoming the new Christmas around here it's a tradition you know the whole family prepares for it for weeks it's nice to be a part of your family tradition yeah yeah some people are more fond of it than others what motivated you to do to tour Devo uh we're going straight with tour Dev we're going straight um I don't know yeah no kissing uh so I don't know it something I always wanted to do um and like yeah it's always it's it's always been there it's like in my backyard it's like kind of too crazy on a lot of levels to do as World Tour Rider um and I always wanted to do it with like some legs and some Fitness and ideally with some industry support you know and this year sort of checked all those boxes and I was like well screw it I'm going to go do it um it didn't make a lot of sense on a lot of levels um but I don't know this year was kind of a year where I got to do whatever I wanted so I was like I want to do that is that the beauty of being a privateer though it doesn't really have to make any sense if it makes sense in your head that's good enough yeah but even if it doesn't make sense in your head you're just like you know I don't know I have I have a lot of Partners and no bosses so you know it's like screw it I don't have a boss I'm going on vacation for three weeks and you know you're in the sweet spot as well where you've just left the world tour so I call it the residual World Tour legs like there's no amount of training I could do this season that's going to give me the legs that you have this year you're carrying those residual World Tour legs and the form will probably taper off each year as it goes but right now yeah I mean yes and no because I mean you're not wrong in that I have I have the the residual world through legs going but I also uh kind of part of the reason I wanted to throw it in there was a bit of an experiment cuz like 2020 was like a total [ __ ] show you know 2021 was kind of off and on hot and cold 2022 I was like all over the map and basically three years of like not full World Tour level racing right um and I could tell like I was kind of losing my my world tour residuals um and so I was like I wonder if I did to divide if that would just be like a sub for the tour to France in terms of just like mileage and uh you know getting that that Fitness bump and honestly I think it kind of has been uh I mean I'll probably get into the four digits for uh hours this year so it's not quite the same as you know 80 race days in the world tour like it's not it's not that but like I don't know thousand hours is thousand hours you know and was your pacing strategy exactly the same as a tour to front stage where you start each day absolutely full gas as if you're trying to get into the break and then you just settle down and have lunch for the day and then you wind in that imaginary break towards the end of the day well unfortunately that's not how they race anymore they just race like super fast all day but yeah yeah exact same i' I'd wake up early have have uh rice and Eggs three hours before I'd start riding know get a massage every night yeah same same but uh I don't know it's sweet it's like it's insane that it exists that route you know and it I don't know it's it's kind of dangerous because you like I did that and then you start thinking like all of a sudden your your mind opens up and you're like man I should go you know do that Atlas mountain race you're like man there's got to be a sick route through Chile or something and start thinking you're like man what you doing man you got chill out you just can't ride all over that that's a lot of biking there's the have you looked at the Europeans about it I don't want to go to Europe man I I have looked at it a little bit yeah um I don't know Europe Europe's like kind of busy in a lot of spots I get I get wound up on cars anymore but I don't know this it's also super pretty over there it's like when you're in the tour Dev void I'm assuming it's just big long days of Zone one two three depending on the terrain like how do you tweak your training for that or do you tweak your training for an event like that honestly it was like a lot of zone.

Five 70.1 in in zone one like it's I mean when you're like yeah I'd…

Five 70.1 in in zone one like it's I mean when you're like yeah I'd say like after a week you're just kind of [ __ ] and beyond that you're not really pushing you know just kind of getting around um in terms of training I think you just have to do a ton of Miles like I didn't train for it necessarily the biggest thing is just like knowing your equipment I feel like um knowing your equipment and like understanding pacing and like how to get around out there those two things seem like they were probably more valuable than Fitness almost what you mean by knowing your equipment like time on bike like it sounds stupid but like just really having like your hood position dialed and you know having like if you're on a mountain bike like having the right grips for that and having your arrow bars at the appropriate height and because I mean like a lot of things you go do like a five hour ride and you're like yeah the bike's good you know and then you go do three 16h hour rides and you're like this bike is not good like the fit is not what I want uh I have a lot of pain here here and here and my hand doesn't work anymore um so like those things can be like real limits I mean yeah there's the physical element but like I mean yeah like literally when like your hands stop working sure you could like keep pedaling but uh it slows you down mentally when you're like I don't know if this is a good idea you know like maybe I should chill out or I should get a hotel for the night and um or it's cold outside and your hands don't work anymore and you're trying to get zippers up and then you're just colder and so I it's a lot of little things like that that if you can sort out before again it makes it makes a big difference and I'm not going to say like the the physical nature doesn't exist but like I mean like look at loan for example like he's like like a big world tour engine caliber kind of Rider you know like he's got that diesel in Spades um and when you take that level of talent and then like the he has quite a bit of experience bike pack racing as well so you have like the experience and that Talent it's like yeah he smashed the record you know but when you just have good legs like me and no experience you know you're coming in a week behind because I CH I spoke with h Dr Andrew Pruis the bike fist Guru and we're talking about this num hands phenomenon for Ultra cyclists and ultimately it's down to bad fit but you don't really experience it like I might have a bad fit but as you say I don't really notice it on a five six hour ride but when you start stacking those multiple six hours like back to back and you're doing 12 18 hour rides inside a day that exposes a lot of frailties and vulnerabilities in that position did you work specifically on that position like with someone like Dr PR or a bike fit expert or was it just experimentation yeah honestly I wouldn't say you have a bad fit you just have a different fit you know you have a fit like four or five hour ride you know you have a fit like that'll do like a big day you know I mean you can even get with get probably get by with like a 12- hour ride you know but it's just it's a different sort of fit for like that Ultra stuff um in terms of how I worked on that I didn't like I'm not gonna lie I just I've been running around all year and I mean I didn't decide on the bike I was going to ride until like probably three weeks before and then just slapped it all together and was like like man I don't know done the tour to France a couple times in basically the same position so we'll just go with it I didn't change anything um I lost a lot of power in my left hand which was weird uh no numbness or anything like that it was just like a week in I was like whoa like that thing doesn't work so good no more that's not good H um it was like you know when your hands are cold and they don't work well it was like that I I like I I I'm not sure if this is how it happened but I I feel like like in my mind this is how it happened uh like I feel like I got cold and like my right hand warmed up and my left hand just like never did you know it didn't it didn't feel cold it was just like that coordination just like didn't come back and I was like what the heck like is that thing still cold like five days later um and I mean even right now it's still not as good but it's coming around in terms of packing stuff which you to Stave off the cold and Order Essentials for the trip what are you bringing with you a bik uh I mean I found that it was like pretty valuable to have redundancies in like the base layer department just because if you can stay dry like dryish I mean you'll stay warm um um are you sitting down like you know you're going to a stage race and you're kind of sitting down and you're basically planning for every weather eventuality and every other eventuality you might encounter and throwing everything into the bag how do you balance plan for every eventuality with the reality that I have to carry all this luggage myself yeah I mean you pretty I just started with like a pile that I I would call like my wish list you know and then a bag and you're like okay wish list needs to add up to this volume and you just like H okay well I guess I'm getting rid of that I guess I get rid of that uh I mean I yeah there's there's a few things I got lucky with like I only brought one pair of gloves um some Riders take like a lot of different types and you know thicknesses and you know stuff for wet weather and cold weather and I was just like H these are pretty warm and they're not too bad when they're wet and uh but I mean like and I didn't wear gloves like when it was warm out at all and you know my hands were pretty chafed by the end but uh also one of your hands doesn't work anymore so maybe not I don't know if it was a good idea voice uh but yeah this like definitely pair it down I mean I brought two jackets like rain jackets one one's like not a proper rain jacket the other one's like a a real badass rain jacket and I shouldn't have brought the the light one like just bring the badass one and you know you really need like one thing to cover each category you know it's like this is my riding like this is like my Bas layer I brought two of those and then this is my like riding layer so you got one Jersey this is my you know you bring your arm warmers and then um this is my insulation and this is my Rin cover and like beyond that it's like everything else is a little Hit or Miss superflous massively missing um did you get out there and like think oh my God I just can't believe I never brought x no I I do think that's something too that I think a lot of people kind of realize relatively soon is like you're just like man I don't need so much of this stuff you know it's like there's so many things you're like yeah it's good to have this it's nice to have that oh this makes my life a little easier but there's a lot of stuff you're just like I don't I don't need this I don't need that like what do I have this for like stink anyways like whatever like you the two pairs of shorts though I think was pretty I don't know a lot of people like a lot of people racing will only bring one pair and I think that's it's just like foolish it's nice to have dry is there something isn't there something super like satisfying with the Simplicity that you can live with like anytime I've G bike packing I'm going bike packing again next week and I'm kind of going through my list of items I'm bringing with me like I look around the apartment and I just have stuff everywhere of stuff in boxes and like then I go away for like 10 days bike packing I'm like I was just as happy and I only had like four pieces of clothes with me like why do I need all this [ __ ] in the apartment totally totally it's it's funny because I've been experiencing that on like a lot of different levels this year like bike packing for sure like came back from T and I it's like look at all this [ __ ] in my house what am I doing but then like we've been traveling to a lot of these races this year uh like as a family like we bought the I bought a travel trailer uh and it's it's not a little unit I and the thing's like 27 foot long and the truck is like 20 feet long so it's we got we got a bit of a big rig going out there um so yeah I don't want to preach too much on Simplicity but like we'll live out of that thing yeah know happy as clams like totally comfortable for you know month plus and then you come back and you're like why do we even have a house we don't need a house what do we have a house for we cut this all down let's get rid of the house Today's Show is sponsored by the Breakaway a few years ago I saw a huge gap in the market for an app that was like a cycling coach in your pocket I knew AI was ultimately going to be the best coach in the world I spent about two years of my life trying to build this but unfortunately it didn't happen ever since then I've kept a really close eye on the AI space to see if anyone else could succeed where I failed the Breakaway app caught my attention a couple of months back because Christian Vander yep the same Christian vanel who got for into Tour of France is one of the co-founders for the Breakaway and it seems that at the Breakaway they've created the ultimate cycling training companion and they're bringing lowcost coaching to the masses you'll know from listening to my podcast that my pet peeve is when cyclists head out the door with no plan no goal and just roll around with no objective please don't be that guy I implore you the Breakaway app looks at all your historic training data and it builds training plans around your strengths and weaknesses so you always have the perfect training session they also have Integrations which I'm really excited about whoop and orur ring the reason I previously ditched my variables was because the data didn't really inform my training well now it does you can head on over to roadm trial.com and you can get a free 30-day trial for the app the link for this is in the description down below you know there's also something super satisfying about I was trying to deconstruct why I've always been so happy when I'm bike packing yeah you're with the lads and it's it's good for and you're ridning your bike and going for a few beers who's not happy about that but when I was digging a little bit deeper I reckon it's in my days anyway I'm not projecting my day onto you or anyone else but it's difficult to call any day a win you have a to-do list but I never get to the bottom of my to-do list there's I could spend a day could be thousand hours long and I still wouldn't get to the end of the to-do list so at some point I just quit and I abandon my to-do list and decide it's time for bed or dinner and then the next day starts and it's kind of similar but bike packing is different because you start out at the beginning of the day with only one goal to get to a destination so you like open the loop in the morning and then you get to the destination you close the loop and then it's like whoa I only had one thing to do today and I got it done I'm very satisfied with that it's just like I'm very happy doing it yeah it is yeah the to list man I sometimes I feel like a failure if I don't add things to my to-do list at the end of the day you know what I mean like you're like a if I'm not like expanding the to-do list I'm I'm failing on some levels and you're just like man that's that's a heck of a wheel I jumped on uh but yeah it's I don't know the Simplicity of it I also think like humans are meant to just travel long distances you know like there's something about us like we want to do that like I mean there's a reason we're on every continent on the planet like we we need to get to the other side of the mountain you know I'm trying to go to space now yeah exactly we're like this planet's not big enough like we have to move but like we just have this need you know to to go um and I don't know I feel like on a lot of levels bike packing sort of satisfies that it's like where am I going to get on my to with like my little body where am I going to get today um I don't know you feel like some kind of ancient mess or Scout or you know like some kind of Pilgrim you know you're just like here we go let's do this you know was motivation ever an issue on it because it's a lot of time with your own thoughts um I mean it depends on what you mean by motivation like there's times where I didn't want to go faster you know it's like I'll keep going I just don't want to go fast you know I'm tired like uh I was like struggling because I was having some issues with my rear wheel um kept breaking Spokes and like that was like definitely again like I always wanted to keep going but I was like why am I gonna go fast like I'm not gonna get anywhere like every time I'd push like i' pop a spoke and you know like I'd do like a big 60 mile you know real fast push and then like Papa spoke and you're like I don't know why I'm in a hurry because I'm just kind of getting along so um but I don't know I think yeah if you can clear the calendar to do something like that I think I think most people are pretty Keen to just hang out out there why is it so hilarious watching other people's Misfortune I was sitting down on the couch with the fire on fire up Instagram and you're on the back of a truck and the wind is like hell just like I think I sent you messages like life looks rough well so the thing that's funny with that is like I mean I didn't have any pressure for Divi you know it was something I wanted to do it was like totally my thing um and it's so removed from like real life that all that stuff that was going wrong to me was just hilarious as well like it sucks when they like I don't know Screw something up and lose your job and can't pay your mortgage you're like this is not funny but like when you're like playing a game like to a divide and you're like oh man my wheel's broken again like this is ridiculous you know it's just like it's hilarious you know so I thought I don't know the whole thing was was just fun I was like it's just this is just a game you know did it bring you a sense of fulfillment um kind of I don't know yes or no it was it's very anti-climatic I the end there likey finish and it's just like this like border wall fence that you know keeps Mexico out of America and vice versa and just like in the dark if you're lucky you got a friend to pick you up down there and you're just like well guess I got to Mexico uh you know it's kind of force Gump esque where you're just like well I guess I'll go home now like but that's also kind of the beauty of it though like I remember graduating from law school and i' like chat the classmates and stuff and they're like oh I'm having this huge party my parents are throwing me this like big event and I remember going home and like we call it the call to the bar and my dad was just like handshake congratulations it was just so beautifully understated it was like then he just got back to watching the cycling on the TV or something it's like H life goes on it's just there's no ceremony there's no pump it's just that's just what you do that's what you're meant to do yeah I mean you're not wrong I mean and I think yeah like I said maybe that's what people are meant to do cover ground felt good but yeah I don't know it was it was interesting it's it's funny because it's still something that like I don't want to say I forget about but like I it pops up in random times throughout my day-to-day now where you're just like oh why like why does this hurt you know you're like oh yeah I did T of that's a long way uh you know I like get back on the bike and like why does this thing ride like [ __ ] you're like oh I did I did I did abuse the hell out of this thing for like a month okay stick it up on Craigs List one careful owner yeah one careful yeah ridden once um what's the route like is you know that's a that's a broad question but I mean even to narrow it like you're going through these cool little towns and villages is there a sense of like community support from these places or are they totally oblivious to your journey true there little World um I mean I would say it's interesting because like up north everybody knows what you're doing like everybody in their friend's Cat knows like where you came from where you're going um asking you like where you stayed the night before and telling you all the places that you can re you know stock up and like oh yeah if you need somewhere to sleep you can you know marry Joe and Bob like they'll let you sleep in the back behind their their store there like you don't even have to say anything they just know you know and you're just like okay um but then like kind of in the middle Ironically in Colorado where I live like nobody knows what the hell you're doing um you know a couple a few people in C some towns know but like for the the most part people just look at you and they're like what why do you have so much stuff you know like like go take a bath uh and then back down towards New Mexico uh people know what's up again people get pretty excited but yeah for whatever reason in the middle it's it's kind of Canada was the best honestly they were like we we came ripping in the first night um what is it Fernie and I don't know there's 15 20 of us kind of like spread out over the course of 45 minutes um and like people had signs out and it was like I don't know they would they were coming up and talking to you like the same way you would if you had the opportunity like go up and like you know talk to like a you know major sports star just like asking you about all your stuff and where you going and how you're doing and what's your pacing strategy and they're like super fired up about it and you're like I I don't I I I don't have a strategy I I just have stuff I I don't know what to tell you I don't know where I'm sleeping I've never done this before you know but it was it was cool the way they were they were super fired out does that make the middle of it really hurt because I would assume it's like a bell shaped curve where you start out and the novelty factor is high and you're super motivated and then you also have the crowd behind you for the start of it so that compounds and makes it extra motivating and then the Finish you know once you get a sniff at a Finish Line it's like okay this is nearly game up and there's extra people out but in the middle you're naturally going to be lacking a little bit of motivation and there's less people there did that compound to make that Center section challenging mentally yeah and it's also usually that middle bits usually where things are like going wrong for a lot of people you know like they're breaking things uh you know physically a lot of people are starting to fail you know you know a week can change in um I was like a little bit for me it was kind of tough because I was I mean riding through Colorado one I like it was cool that I like knew all the roads but it was also a little bit of a bummer where I was like man I'm if I turn left I'm home in like three hours like I really want to go all the way to Mexico and buy a you know figure out how to get myself all the way back home um but yeah I don't know it was it fine I think yeah how how accessible do you think it is we're chatting offer about why people seem to connect with this event so much and one of the reasons I think people view it as quite accessible that it could be for them but you know you're a borderline human you're a physiological freak with GR tourers in the legs not everybody's able to take that normal people's body my body's not designed to take the same rigors as you've put your body through over the course of your career so for me to make an assumption that oh yeah I can do the T ofo because Alex can do it is that totally flawed thinking or is it possible um honestly it's so long that I I feel like things kind of level out you know like I mean there's there's no 10-hour and under bike race out there that I couldn't just like absolutely off the floor with Leo wiox you know like you I don't want to sound like a jerk here but like I mean I could just absolutely killer you know uh you know I could put three hours into L on a 200 mile race you know um and she beat me at divide handedly you know like with and she she went to the hospital she was throwing up she got sick you know she had all she she had probably more problems than I did and I mean she beat me by days you know so there's there's a lot of factors at play it's not just it's not just like V2 Max has very little to do with it I think um and I don't but yeah it is it's wild the way you just have people that you know I mean literally they'll go out and they'll do like they'll train super hard for divide and that translates to like two 20 hour weeks and you know then like a little bit of a taper and then they're just like yeah divide let's do this and like I line up next to him and I look at him and I'm just like you're GNA get you GNA get messed up out here man like what the heck are you doing and then we just end up riding together like the whole time you know like this is insane um yeah I don't know I the the 20-day Mark is also like for whatever reason people have it in their heads that not everybody obviously like a lot of people are like yeah just want to get there but anybody that's trying to go with any kind of pace for whatever reason they just decide that 20 days is like the pace um but like when you think about it like it's insane like you have to do I don't know what you have to average it's like 60 miles a day or something like that like for 20 days and it's like a hard 160 um on a loaded bike super rough like you got to walk a bunch like I don't know I mean like like Lan's alternative tour was marginally longer on all paved roads and he did it in like yeah 20 days you know and somebody coming off the off the couch you know from from their accounting job and they're like yeah yeah do what black did screw it there's a buddy of mine rid in Badlands last year and I was looking at the tracker on day one and end of night one like 10 11:00 or something to send him a WhatsApp I was like oh good job and he's like oh just about to bed down for the night and I was like oh you're five miles ahead of L Willcox that's unreal and then I woke up I went to bed as well I woke up the next morning Leo Wilcox was like 280 mile ahead of him or something I was like what the [ __ ] yeah yeah she she pushes it with the Sleep um yeah the I mean that's a it's hard math to do because you you start thinking about it and you're like man 10 miles an hour is like not that fast you know and like if I can just keep going I'll do 10 miles an hour like all night you know I mean that's 80 miles if you just ride all night you know instead of sleep like that's that's a long ways um but you do need sleep and I think that's part of the deal with divide too is like some people just need less sleep than other people you know like some people there's a lot of people out there that they sleep six hours a night and they probably couldn't sleep more if they wanted to you know like and when they go to divide they're like yeah I'll just cut it down to four and call it good um yeah and then and then me like I'm like a nine hours a night guy L explained it to me like you know if you're on a group right and you stop for a comfort break and maybe you're sto for 60 90 seconds and the group is still rolling ahead of you not a race now just a group you have to ride so hard to catch back up to that group to close that 90c Gap she's like now imagine both of us stop for a sandwich but I have a 90c pit stop and I just grab the sandwich and I run and eat it on the go and you're stopping for 15 20 minutes like how hard do you have to ride to close that 15 20 minute Gap she's like now say that I sleep like four hours a night less than you the Gap becomes unclosable it's imposs there's no speed difference you could ride to catch her like you'd need to be riding around filipo Ghana you know averaging 550 Watts for the yeah I mean yes and no it's it's it is funny though like I mean yeah there's a stretch like through New Mexico where it was all paved and I just got in the a bars and like I mean literally I think I did like 205 Watts for like eight hours or something and I pulled back like six hours on people like it was whoa I looked at like literally looked at the tracker in the morning I was like all right we'll see what we get by tonight and I was like holy [ __ ] I just mowed down like six hours on people like uh huh okay uh you know but it makes sense you know like you have these stretches is that like that stretch in particular um you know a lot of people do I mean do it on like single speed mountain bikes which for a lot of things it's not that much slower but then when you get on a proper Road section and you got you got you know World Tour Alex house and the you know sitting in the 10 to [ __ ] down in the arars like you're just you're just giving up time like goodbye what was the most challenging part of the whole thing I mean honestly like just keeping that rear wheel moving was a big mental jump for me um I mean I like yeah I I started breaking spokes on the second day and like I it was like making spokes out of like everything I could find basically excuse the short Interruption but I wanted to find a way to bring our little Community together to problem solve to share training advice and to support each other in what can sometimes be a lonely road as we all Chase health happiness and Longevity through cycling to facilitate this I've set up a Discord Channel I'm going to leave a link in the description down below it doesn't cost anything to join it's totally free plus I'm also picking out random winners for spot prizes inside in the Discord Channel if you'd like to join it click on the link down below what was the deal with the spokes giving up was it just too much load on the bike too many World Tour Watts it definitely wasn't the Watts um yeah I I'm not totally sure like I think that Rim just flexed too much um I wasn't I would I would yeah I usually break them when I was like running heavy you know so like after a big stop like you get fill up with a bunch of water fill up with a bunch of food you know you got a couple ice cream bars in your belly and a barbecue sandwich and but you're still a pretty light dude like you got that's the thing there probably guys 120 kg that are riding these bikes and they're loading up yeah but I think I mean so I was riding a gravel bike so it was definitely a little bit paired down that wheel but I think also probably what ended up happening was so I got like a gnarly flat on the second day got it zwn back up got back underway but I think that might have compromised something when I got that and then you break one spoke and then you start you know I don't I wrote a fair ways on like a a pretty janky fix um so that starts it's harder with discs too isn't there because remember old scale Rim breaks you just let the cable tension way off and the wheel can just wobble away yeah I didn't have a ton of clearance in the back which you know it was when I broke a Spoke I had to I had to fix it I couldn't just ride it um but yeah so I think riding on kind of a compromised wheel for a bit and then that sort of sets you up to break other ones and I don't know I mean I like ended up buying a bunch of Spokes and having them shipped to some random hotel and relacing the whole thing um in the middle of the route but it was like all that was just like man this is this is kind of a lot like like yeah like literally like breaking a spoke and I don't know I I was like going to bring spokes spare Spokes and I was like again I didn't know which bike I was riding until like three weeks before and then I was like when was the last time you I broke a wheel I never break a wheel it' be fine and yeah famous last words so when I broke one pretty impressed to coming from the world to you know how to lace up your own wheel I mean time time you can learn anything in the right amount of time you know like it it took us I don't know how long 120,000 years to get a moon up to the Rock a rocket up to the moon but like give us enough time we figure it out like it YouTube like every Everything I did didn't happen quickly out there I can tell you that in terms of fixing things would you do it again or is it a book a list there's certain rides I've done and as soon as I finished them I'm like well that's done like I'm not going to be going back to do that yeah I don't know I don't know it's I mean it's a big thing you know it takes a big chunk of I mean really even if you go super quick like lock did like you're you're basically committing a month to it um and that doesn't include any of the preparation and screwing around with the bike beforehand and trying to get your equipment all dialed in so it's I mean it's a it's a big Endeavor you know um that said I think I think if I if I got the hall pass again I might I might take crack out it you know like like it's not easy to get that month but like if if it sort of happen in the future uh I don't know I could see myself doing it again I honestly it would be something that would be I think it'd be super fun to do like like if my daughter in 16 years or whatever is like yeah I don't want to go to college I want to take a gaap year be like that's fine but you have to do tour divide with me like we go do it together you know like I think that would be super fun for for me not for her uh I just seen you just flicking the elbow trying to Kajol her into doing a torn she I can't R through with that spe but I mean honestly like that like that something like that you know where you're just you know oh yeah I'm having a midlife crisis I'll go to tour divide like that's a very healthy Outlet you know there's a lot of worse things you could be doing uh you know I want to take a gap here it's like go do tour to bide he be sweet uh it's you have this awesome experience you don't have to do a fast you know 30 days is like relatively quick uh you'll get some um you know you'll have some tough moments in there you'll question some things but it's also like very very doable like 30 days you could do on a a Walmart bike and you know a backpack if Joe or Jane the cat three Cat 4 Rider listening to this was thinking about doing it next year what advice would you give them get a really good saddle figure that out like should have zero discomfort there um and then I don't know really figure out the route like dialing in knowing where your resupplies are where you can like get a hot shower um also figuring out where the cheaper options are in terms of towns because like you can have like one town 100 miles away from another town and one town will cost like your hotel is going to be like $300 a night in the other town is like $60 a night um that makes a big difference yeah every night when you start doing well you're not going to be out there every night in a hotel probably but um you definitely it adds up I mean I spent like probably $60 plus at every gas station I went to um so the whole thing probably how much the whole thing cost you I mean where do you draw the line you know like I bought a new Sleeping Bag does that go in there I guess so probably if we're talking equipment equipment and food and lodging and flights probably 4K 5K and you know that's getting the bike for free spicy enough what's that it's spicy enough it's spicy enough but it's also like you know a month vacation that's one way to look at it what's next for you what's life goals cycling goals what are you up to for the rest of the year and into next year uh so we're gonna finish off with big sugar here at the end of the month uh in Bentonville Arkansas the final stop stop of the lifetime Grand Prix um that's pretty sweet if you should you should get out there and ride the mountain bike at some point um I've heard it's amazing I had Kimo Seymour on the podcast recently and he's singing it praise saying it's phenomenal it's nuts I mean it's funny there's there's a lot of like really good trails for like people and then there's like a lot of like I think of them kind of as like Museum Trails like like they're fun to look at you know but you're like I I couldn't like I want to see somebody else do that but like I couldn't Co I I don't even understand the physics on that one like how long how long are you going to be in the air um yeah but there's some there's some there's a little bit of everything for well there's a lot of everything for everybody in terms of Trails um so yeah we'll do that and then yeah shut it down for a bit um and then I think next year will be similar I'm going to try and go a little faster on the bike a little less uh romping around more Focus pedaling so I'm going to be a privateer 2.0 next year should be fun is it a is the Privateer how how difficult is it to project how many years you can do a privateer for like even with the podcast I struggle with this where amazing sponsors and you know shout out to them around like 12 month contracts and stuff but it's not a 10year contract it's hard to like be like oh yeah I'm going to get a mortgage for the next 30 Years like I have an income in 24 months like my 24 month income now is like zero like no projected income 24 months from now it's kind of like that in the Privateer land yeah for sure um and I mean I will say with like the Privateer thing yeah it's also I mean yeah you're leaning very heavily on your body you know just like okay I mean yeah there's there's the marketing side and um you're trying to be you know you're you're selling selling the brand as much as the more probably more so than the results but like at the end of the day like you don't get to be a privateer bike racer from from the sofa you know yeah um and yeah like I'm getting up there in age I don't know when I basically what I'm getting at is when I decided to do this last year personally I committed to two years I was like if I do this for two years minimum of two ideally three um basically the two-year was how I Justified buying that trailer I was like if I buy the trailer the math on it I need to do this for two years then it works out uh in hindsight now I could have the one year it worked out so you know this is all gravy but I'd like to do it for probably two more years and then after that it's like we'll see I don't know and then if you like roll in to become the vality of the American off-road scene that trailer just looks like a solid investment oh yeah oh yeah I don't know man that there's nothing solid about that trailer already a clam shelled on a fence post at seot um so the whole back end of it now rebuilt by by these These Hands you know I might TR I rent it off you for Leadville next year yeah I mean it's a thing if you come to lville let me know we we've actually yeah we got a we got a thing going up there so could be good yeah Alex thanks for chatting Anthony is that how you say it Anthony that's it cheers man thanks for the easy Alex nice one frh out if you enjoyed that episode please press here for another conversation which you'll love and don't forget to subscribe to the channel so you don't miss out on some amazing upcoming guests that I have locked in and booked which I know you're going to love

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

How long does it take to complete the Tour Divide?+

Competitive finishers typically complete the roughly 2,700-mile route in anywhere from 14 to 30 days depending on pace and conditions. Alex Howes approached it as a multi-week effort requiring consistent sixteen-plus-hour days in the saddle, making it one of the most demanding self-supported races in the world.

What bike setup is best for the Tour Divide?+

Most serious riders choose a robust drop-bar gravel or mountain bike capable of handling mixed terrain across the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route. Alex Howes emphasises that equipment familiarity matters more than any single component choice, warning that a bike which feels comfortable on a five-hour ride can cause serious problems over three consecutive sixteen-hour days.

How do you train for the Tour Divide?+

Building very high annual mileage is the central training demand, with competitors targeting four-digit weekly hours across the year rather than following a short, specialised training block. Howes, drawing on his WorldTour background, treats the Tour Divide as a direct replacement stimulus for Grand Tour race load, prioritising sustained aerobic volume over structured intensity.

Is the Tour Divide a supported race?+

The Tour Divide is entirely self-supported, meaning riders must carry their own gear and source food, water, and shelter independently along the route from Banff, Canada to the Mexican border. No outside assistance, crew, or pre-arranged resupply is permitted, which is a large part of what makes it considerably harder than conventional stage races.

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Key Takeaways

Equipment setup matters more than fitness for ultra-distance events—small fit issues on a 5-hour ride become serious problems on 16-hour days, affecting everything from hand function to mental resilience

Sleep efficiency is a critical variable that separates Tour Divide competitors more than raw power; riders who need less sleep gain an insurmountable time advantage that fitness alone cannot close

Minimize gear by starting with a 'wish list' and cutting ruthlessly—bring one item per category (one good rain jacket, not two; two pairs of shorts, not one) rather than redundant options

The Tour Divide is surprisingly accessible to non-pros; completing it in 30 days on basic equipment is realistic, and ultra-distance racing levels the playing field compared to short, hard efforts where aerobic capacity dominates

Mental resilience and mechanical problem-solving beat pre-race training; unknown challenges (broken spokes, cold hands, equipment failures) require adaptability more than taper protocols

Expert Quotes

"When you take that level of talent and then like the experience and that talent it's like yeah he smashed the record you know but when you just have good legs like me and no experience you know you're coming in a week behind."

"It's so long that I feel like things kind of level out... there's very little to do with V2 Max I think. I could put three hours into Leo on a 200 mile race but she beat me at divide handedly with way more problems than I had."

"Humans are meant to just travel long distances. There's something about us like we want to do that. We need to get to the other side of the mountain."

"If you can stay dry, dryish, you'll stay warm... the biggest thing is just like knowing your equipment. It sounds stupid but like just really having your hood position dialed."

KEY QUOTES

“I think you just have to do a ton of Miles like I didn't train for it necessarily the biggest thing is just like knowing your equipment I feel like um knowing your equipment and like understanding pacing and like how to get around out there those two things seem like they were probably more valuable than Fitness almost”
Alex Howes — Former World Tour professional cyclist

“a lot of things you go do like a five hour ride and you're like yeah the bike's good you know and then you go do three 16 hour rides and you're like this bike is not good like the fit is not what I want uh I have a lot of pain here here and here and my hand doesn't work anymore”
Alex Howes — Former World Tour professional cyclist

“I'll probably get into the four digits for uh hours this year so it's not quite the same as you know 80 race days in the world tour like it's not it's not that but like I don't know thousand hours is thousand hours”
Alex Howes — Former World Tour professional cyclist

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

How long does it take to complete the Tour Divide?+

What bike setup is best for the Tour Divide?+

How do you train for the Tour Divide?+

Is the Tour Divide a supported race?+

THE HARDEST RACE ON EARTH - THE TOUR DIVIDE | ALEX HOWES

CHAPTERS

Key Takeaways

Expert Quotes

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1.Don't know Europe Europe's like kind of busy in a lot of spots I get…

2.Five 70.1 in in zone one like it's I mean when you're like yeah I'd…

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THE HARDEST RACE ON EARTH - THE TOUR DIVIDE | ALEX HOWES

CHAPTERS

Key Takeaways

Expert Quotes

CLAIMS FROM THIS EPISODE

RESOURCES MENTIONED

KEY QUOTES

1.Don't know Europe Europe's like kind of busy in a lot of spots I get…

2.Five 70.1 in in zone one like it's I mean when you're like yeah I'd…

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

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READ THE GUIDE

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ALEX HOWES ON THE TOUR DIVIDE: EQUIPMENT BEATS FITNESS

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LIKED THIS EPISODE?

Don't know Europe Europe's like kind of busy in a lot of spots I get…

Five 70.1 in in zone one like it's I mean when you're like yeah I'd…

Don't know Europe Europe's like kind of busy in a lot of spots I get…

Five 70.1 in in zone one like it's I mean when you're like yeah I'd…