Tour Divide rider dealing with pain

YAKIMA, Wash. -- Eric Bruntjen called in this morning at 6:24 a.m. Mountain Daylight Time from the Tour Divide, where things have taken a turn for the worst. Here’s what he had to say:

Hey, Eric Bruntjen calling from Union Pass at the Sawmill Lodge.

Got into quite a bit of trouble yesterday on that Forest Road 515, hike-a-bike. Sprained my ankle really bad and had to stop here last night. I was pretty sure last night that I wasn’t going to be able to go any farther, but this morning I’m in my biking clothes, getting ready to head out. I’m in a lot of pain, don’t really know what the future holds.

It’s really frustrating to injure yourself walking in a bike race, but that road was awful. Just sticky mud. You couldn’t even push your bike through it; I had to carry mine. I know a lot of guys took the road, which is the official route; I know some guys actually went around it, too. That just makes it even worse; they took the highway.

Like I said, not sure what’s going on. Try and make it as far as I can today.

Eric sounded pretty down, and I worry about how he’s doing. His wife, Melanee, had told me how “hardcore” her husband is before Evan undertook this 2,780-mile challenge to raise per-mile pledges that will go toward the purchase of a specialized all-terrain wheelchair for profoundly wounded Iraq war veteran Evan Mettie.

But I can’t even imagine having back-to-back-to-back-etc. 100-mile days on a mountain bike, climbing and descending 10,000 feet on a daily basis in extremely difficult terrain, many of those days in a roaring downpour, dealing with physical pain, emotional hardships, loneliness and frustration.

I talked on the phone this morning with a friend of Eric’s, Frank Hieber, who has done some mountain biking and backcountry skiing with Eric over the years. He gave me some insights into the kind of guy Eric is. Here’s what Frank had to say:

Unless you know him really well, you don’t appreciate how tough he is. There have been a couple times when he’s been backcountry skiing, and at one point he torn the MCL or ripped it or something. This is the kind of injury where football players cry on the field when they do this. But he had to ski out. You don’t have any choice. You’re out in the middle of nowhere by yourself. This is not unfamiliar territory for Eric. You get these serious injuries and you just … well, it sounds so trite, but he just has to grin and bear it.

Obviously, the other people in the race are probably just as tough. But four people dropped out yesterday evening. They’re dropping like flies. He’s still out there.

I checked Eric’s leaderboard page on the Tour Divide site and sure enough, sprained ankle, debilitating pain and all, he was chugging along this morning. If you think the guy deserves a pat on the back for that kind of grit and determination, here’s what he’d want you to do: Pledge a penny or two per mile toward the purchase of Mettie’s wheelchair by sending an e-mail to tourdechair@gmail.com and get him that much closer to his goal.

Even if Eric goes the full distance -- which right now looks pretty up in the air -- a penny-per-mile donation would set you back less than $28. Pretty small change, considering what Eric Bruntjen is giving every day … and what Evan Mettie has already given for this country.

– Scott Sandsberry

You can follow more of Scott's coverage of Eric Bruntjen's ride on his blog 'Out There.'