Hi,
My name is Florian. I grew up in Germany, but I'm going to grad school at Michigan State University at the moment. I've been fascinated by the Tour Divide for a couple years now. I can't remember how I found out about the TD, but it probably all started with me having found a random article about the TD on one of the numerous cycling websites. I knew right away that this would be something I would like to do. Of course it didn't take long until I stumbled over "Ride the Divide" and the Mike's Trans AM movie. I bought the TD movie and downloaded it on my laptop. A couple days later I was stuck at a highway rest stop in the depth of winter because the car broke down. I watched the movie until the tow truck arrived. I doubt I will ever forget that night!
I really loved the movies and they helped me to get a better understanding of what's in store for anyone participating in those events. Since then I've been dreaming up a bike that would take me from Banff to Anthelope Wells and I finally finished up building it a couple months ago. Hopefully all stars align and I can participate next year. For me, the most complicated (I'm avoiding the word "hard") part of the TD is probably getting to Banff. Fingers crossed!