The Great Divide - Introduction

The Fairmont Springs Hotel marks the trail-head for the Great Divide mountain-bike route that spans the Rockies from touristy Banff in Canada to the dusty Juarez on the Mexican border. The whole route is  2700 miles and while it follows the Continental Divide it does not follow the actual ridge that some people hike, rather it criss-crosses the eastern and western sides multiple times making for lots of climbing. 80% of the route is on dirt or gravel (fire-access) roads, 10% is off the off-road on more technical mountain-bike sections and 10% is on paved roads where a gravel road can not be linked with another gravel road. The appeal of the route is really that one should encounter very little traffic in a part of the world where both the volume of traffic and the size of the actual vehicles can make biking quite stressful.

The idea to bike the Divide was conceived in the late eighties but not actively researched until the mid-nineties. Since 1997 the route has been ridden and fine-tuned and now has its own race in late June where the victor somehow manages to complete the whole route self-supported in an astounding 17 and a half days. The route is not a hard-core mountain-bike route, rather a route than can be toured. Adventure Cycling, a Montana based organisation, is responsible for piecing this route together. This organisation has done a wonderful job of creating bike-friendly routes all across America. The result is that a lot of people in the US are now embracing bike-touring through purchasing their maps. They have made bike-travel a lot more accessible as their maps take all the guess work out of a trip. You are in effect riding the most bike-friendly route possible for whatever part of the country you wish to tour in. Such is the array of routes that one can do anything from a weekend tour carrying nothing but your water bottles to three month expedition tours such as Trans-Ams. The Great Divide route I am riding is likely their premier route due to the challenging mountain terrain, remoteness and the fact that it is by and large off-road and traffic-free.

For certain, the challenging nature of the route would be too much for some but true to form I have done zero homework and so I haven't a rashers what I am letting myself in for. I actually have no idea when I first discovered this route - possibly a few years ago when I looked into biking in Colorado and saw some photos of weirdos riding single-track with bags on their bikes. Further investigation at another stage led me to discover that the route was not just in Colorado but through the whole of the Rockies and so the Great Divide seemed to be the most fun way for me to bike to Denver.

The only preparation I managed to do was to order the maps online and to bike across Canada to the trail-head in Banff. The route is divided into seven maps of which I bought the fist five (omitting the last two for New Mexico). From first glance the route is far from direct preferring to meander its way through the Canadian Rockies, Montana, Wyoming and Colorado. The maps also include a full service directory so that one is aware of where lodging, both informal and formal camp-sites, restaurants, grocery stores, bike shops, ranger stations and even bars are located along or near the route. Such detail is a luxury for me as I usually make my routes and organise things as I go based on conversations with locals. Thus, it is with mixed feelings that I head into the wild as while it will be very exciting and challenging it seems like I simply just need to follow the instructions. My legs and form are good, I'm pretty confident I have enough kit to handle whatever tricky mountain weather the Rockies throw at me and I have a new rear wheel on my bike. All in all, having ridden through the Andes I'm not sure if I could be better prepared. Indeed, I am feeling pretty relaxed about things before I set off. In defiance to some of the bike-touring nerds I am riding a cheap $19 tyre which I bought after my expedition Schwalbe tyre suffered a gash in the tyre wall. Tyre selection is something that bike-touring geeks deliberate for days over. For certain, my tyre is way too slick for the muddy and gravelly sections of the trail I am about to ride, however, I'm looking forward to seeing how it holds up and hopefully getting her as far along the trail as my bike goes. A pointless act of defiance in an age where people are more focused on their equipment than the actual riding. Naturally, I have a spare knobbly, which I can swap on at any point if I need to.

In terms of concerns, I am reading on my maps that it is not recommended to ride the route solo due to potential injury in the remote backcountry .... hmmm. I never really thought of that. I guess such worries never crossed my mind although I do carry a decent first-aid kit in the assumption that I will be able to use it should anything happen. The only real worry I have is if snow sticks early in Colorado and forces me to abandon the route. Even then, there will be some other way.

The last thought concerns my blog. The trip through North America has been totally different to South America due to the amount of camping I am doing. Instead of unwinding in the comfort of a hostel over some wi-fi I am losing two hours a day setting up and taking down my camp. Plus, my laptop is impaired with no ability to connect to wi-fi making updating on the fly problematic. Internet cafes don't really exist outside of cities as it is rightly assumed that everyone can avail of wi-fi. Thus, I am relying on library computers whose browser preferences are disturbing. I guess it would be nice to publish a daily blow-by-blow account of the ride but that is just not going to happen. Of course, I will do my best to convey the spirit of the Rockies and the Great Divide both visually and literally.

Right so, time now for the dude to head into the wild.

Marco