About Me

I’m Tony Huston, a 36 year old (37 by race time) computer jockey and lifetime flatlander who is not your typical Tour Divide competitor.  In fact, I think if you told an expert mountain bike endurance racer to describe a person who definitely should NOT attempt to race in the TD, he would save a lot of time by holding up a picture of me. 

Yours truly on a backpacking trip through the Rockies.

I live in Deer Park, TX, and I’ve lived in and around the Houston metro area my entire life. I rarely get a whiff of significant elevation, and as such, I think I may likely suffer more than many previous Divide riders during the race!   From what I’ve read, other racers live and train in rugged, high elevation areas and are at least somewhat accustomed to the mess they’re getting into.  The highest pinnacle here is a whopping 125 feet, out on the northwest side.  Yeah, eat your heart out Mt. Everest!

I have approximately zero racing experience.  In regards to mountain biking, I have always been a “weekend warrior” at best, mainly riding local trails at Memorial Park.  I have pretty good technical skills, but long distance?  Eight miles was my max before I found out about this race, and I did that when I was much younger.  Fear me, Armstrong!

Over my lifetime, I seem to have accumulated the precise collection of nagging injuries that should help to maximize the time I spend wincing in pain during the race.  How about a torn ACL that never healed properly after surgery?  Check!  How about some squirrely ligament damage in my left wrist, which numbs my entire hand at the darndest times?  You betcha!  How about a good dose of upper back pain thanks to a certain wayward nerve that sneaks in between my vertebrae when hunched over?  Slam dunk!  I could go on….

And as for the other, non-riding skills one needs to simply survive in this race like, say, bike field repair and wilderness navigation…well, I know just enough about them to get myself into trouble. 

Training up for all these things will be a massive challenge for me in itself, due to the juggling act that is “real life.”  I work anywhere from 40 to 60 hours a week, I have a wife and daughter to spend time with, and a house with all the time-consuming responsibilities that come with it.  Carving out the time and the money required for training and for the month long trip itself is a herculean feat, and I am sure to feel inadequately prepared when I am sitting at the starting line in Banff, Alberta next year.

But these are all just pesky details.  I am training hard, and Iam taking this race very seriously.  It will be the greatest adventure I have ever known, physically, mentally, and spiritually.  It is my quest, and I hope to make my friends, my family, and myself proud to have completed such a magnificent feat!

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