8-14-07 // Online Exclusive: The Jay Petervary Interview

How do you ride 2,490 miles? Pie!

The Great Divide Race is a self-supported, solo competition traveling 2,490 miles and climbing 200,000 feet through Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado and New Mexico. Participants travel alone with all the necessary equipment and may restock at small towns along the way. This year was an epic race as Jay Petervary broke the record with an unbelievable time of 15 days, 4 hours and 18 minutes, beating the previous record of 16 days, 57 minutes set three years ago. Read on for the interview with Jay:

How long have you wanted to do the Great Divide Race?
I made the decision a year and half ago and just started thinking about the race. I tend to ride a lot, I race pretty consistently and actively—it’s a way of life.

What made you want to do this race?
I really thrive for the long distance, multi-day stuff, when it’s days instead of one day. This is the biggest challenge that’s publicly out there. There are a lot of races that go for several days, but not several weeks.

Jay in front of the South Pass City Mercantile in Wyoming

How long did you train and what was your schedule like?
I ride consistently for four or five days a week, sometimes six. I don’t do a lot of specific training for a race because I don’t think that applies. I definitely get in an eight-hour ride once or twice a week and do 15-plus hours a week. I think the rest/sleep leading up to it is more important than the training. It’s such a long event, and you need everything you’ve got.

Deputy Editor of Adventure Cyclist, Aaron Teasdale, noted that he couldn’t snap a picture because you flew by him too fast, (two hours into the race) how were you able to sustain a rapid pace on such a long race?
I actually sleep A LOT—I only went through one set of light batteries. I like to ride fast and efficient during the day but I definitely sleep upwards to eight hours. Other guys were three to four hours I was definitely sleeping six to eight hours, which is unreal.

What was your diet?
I’d eat as much as I could. I pulled to towns and would eat bacon cheeseburgers, grilled cheese, gravy, fries, pancakes, eggs, bacon, PB & J, candy bars, Hostess, Coke, Red Bull… I’d sit down for an hour, eat tons of food and order some to go as well. I ended up losing just about 10 pounds. I felt that I must need to eat more food if I’m not going fast enough. If I had to slow down I’d make myself eat or sleep.

You spent your birthday on the race, what was that like? What did you do?
I woke up in Silverton, rode into Breckenridge. I saw this caravan with folks, and I asked one guy to take my picture—next thing I knew this whole bus of people was singing happy birthday to me. It was awesome.

Are you going to take a break from racing or start training for the next one?
It’s been over three weeks, my mind wants to do certain things and there’s racing I want to do—my legs are way heavy, I know I need to recover. Debating a couple 24-hour races. There are a lot of things I want to do, but I want to see how my body feels.

Will you do the Great Divide Race again in 2008?
At this point I don’t think I have a reason to, I’ll put my energy elsewhere. If my record were broken I’d contemplate doing it again. I’d like to do something else I’m going to prepare for the Alaska Ultrasport, or maybe do the Nome 1100-mile race. Just going to recover right now, and let it all take its place.