Stagecoach 400 photos: Start and Finish

The Hub Cyclery was basecamp for the weekend. The shop is in a perfect location just outside of downtown Idyllwild. The shop was stocked full of goodies for racers last minute need. The Hub ships bikepacking gear out on a daily basis. Mary’s 2008 Tour Divid Rig. The Soft Tail Siren Song. A signed Ride the Divide poster. Bike art by Paul Klaine The Stagecoach route sharpied in on a large map of SoCal is hanging up in their shop. Shop Owner Brendan Collier’s credentials. A rad bike shop to say the least. Ride Fast…Live Slow. The board that shares it all. The temperatures were a bit warm for this time of the year. This would create total chaos on day one in the desert. 70 degrees in the mountains mean 90s in the desert.   Some bikes from Thursday’s pre-ride meeting. Meeting with the fellow riders and getting some direction from Mary and Brendan.   Fast forward to Sunday… Tristin DNFed, but was a huge part of the Cabooze Crew congratulating riders as they came in. Ben DeWitt stuffing face after finishing at 1:15pm on Sunday giving him 4th place. The Cabooze Crew in between finishes, only a laugh or two were had. The finish line… Erick Lord cruising in at 5:55pm, good for 5th place. Erick was a bit beat up, as everyone was. Jeff Fischer coming in at 7:05pm for 6th. Riders were greeted with plenty of beer. Jeff had to shift between his big and little chainring with his had after his front derailleur fell apart. Rest stop. The Hub was a fantastic place to host a finish, whether it was open or closed. Blake Bockius crossing the finish line. Blake chatting with Erick. Blake finished with a time of 62 hours and 30 minutes. Blake celebrated his birthday Friday riding in 100 degree temperatures. As of now, Blake plans on riding all 5 of the bikepacking events in the state of California. Daniel Jessee coming in at 8:54am on Monday. 12th place Michael Grosso lost his sunglasses, had GPS issues and bruised his seat bones pretty bad,  but he came out a finisher. He took a lot of time off last years ride, finishing at 8:05 am on Monday for 13th place. Tim Sheeper and Matt Ford finished together, this was their first bikepacking adventure. Tim Sheeper found some foam in a curb and decided to tape it to his saddle. He would purchase a more forgiving saddle in San Diago. Many riders had saddle sore issues. Troy Hopwood cruised in to Idyllwild just before sun set on Monday. Troy who will be competing in this years tour divide was greeted by his family. Until next year….