We reported on the start of the Tour Divide race – over 2,700 miles from Banff in Canada to the US/Mexican border – a little over a week ago. Since then, the leading riders have reached Colorado, with front-runner Matthew Lee having passed through Steamboat Springs and heading for Silverthorne and Breckenridge. Conditions are reportedly quite bad, with a lot of snow on the high passes and mud elsewhere.

And on Friday, the slightly shorter (but longer-standing) Great Divide Race kicked off from Whitefish, Montana. The GDR is held over just the US section of the Great Divide MTB Route, which knocks about 300 miles off the total distance. We’re going to shamelessly concentrate on the GDR, largely because it’s got someone we know in it – 24 hour solo specialist Jenn Hopkins. Jenn actually rode the extra 300 miles from Banff to the start of the GDR as a “warm up” before lining up with the other 17 competitors. She’s the only woman in the GDR (making her one of two women on the route – Mary Collier is taking part in the TD) and at the time of writing is ahead of the current women’s record time.

She’s also ahead of the record singlespeed time, a pertinent point because she’s riding 2,500 miles along (and generally repeatedly across) the Continental Divide on a one-geared Trek 69er. She’s not alone – five singlespeeders set off from Whitefish. The most recent word from Jenn is that she’s in Lima, Wyoming, running sixth overall and leading singlespeeder. A few hours behind is fellow Brit Carl Hutchings, and while we’re mentioning British riders, Alan Goldsmith is past the halfway point in the Tour Divide.

Conditions certainly aren’t at their best, with lots of snow and mud to contend with. The times tell the story – GDR leader John Nobile reached Lima in 97 hours, but record-holder Jay Petervary got that far in under 80 in 2007. There’s a long way to go…

We’ll be posting occasional updates – if you want to keep track of Jenn’s progress then head for minxcompendium.blogspot.com. GDR updates are at greatdividerace.blogspot.com, TD updates at www.tourdivide.org/blog and you can hear the riders’ check-in calls from both races at www.mtbcast.com.