The Great Divide- Epilogue

Whereas my previous entries described only bits and segments of my trip, this one will be styled a bit different. There will be no long and never ending paragraphs, so for those of you with short attention spans, as well as everyone else, I hope this serves as a treat.

Starting point: Deming NM-its about the closest town to the border you can find. Sure I would have loved to start at the mexican border, but I wasn't about to bike through 100 miles of thorn ridden desert to do so.

End point: Rooseville, Canadian Border. I'm a little disappointed I didn't make it all the way to Banff in the Canadian rockies as I had hoped. Time as well as money was running out. Maybe for another time.

Total distance traveled: ~2500 miles, an average of a little more that 60 a day

Most distance covered: This one is hard to pinpoint since my odometer wasn't working most of the trip. I did have 4 days were I covered over 80 miles. It was probably day 28 when I went from Yellowstone NP all the way to Ennis MT, 85 miles in total.

Longest biking day: Day 12-Grayback mtn to Rio Grande National Forest. Started riding at about 5:45 am and stopped around 8:30 pm. I did take many long breaks during the day including one from 9-11:30 am and many more in the afternoon. Needless to say, I fell asleep as soon as I got in my sleeping bag that night and slept for 12 hours straight.

Hardest day: Day 22-Great Basin to Great Basin. Rode from 8:30 am to 9 pm. The elevation changes weren't too bad, no long climbs, just rolling hills. The wind however was anything but a stiff breeze. It blew all day and night, the fact that it was a headwind 80% of the time helped little. Combine the wind with a hard set of directions to follow, a tire that I have to repair with duct tape and the nearest town being 30 miles away; It all made for one tough day. To my credit I did ride slightly over 80 miles that day.

Rainiest Day: Day 38-Ford Work Center to Eureka. Right at sunset the night before it started to rain. The rain, though with various intensity, fell all night. The tent and sleeping bag stayed somewhat dry, dry enough that when I woke up I really didn't want to go outside. It rained all morning only stopping at 4 in the afternoon; at which point Julien and I called it quits and got a motel room for the night. We were both soaked through to the bone.

Coldest Day: Day 11- Grayback mountain. Caught in a snowstorm. Temperature falls to 10 degrees. Shivering in a sleeping bag with all my clothes on. I woke up with all my water bottles and pop tarts frozen stiff. Need I say more? I did snap some nice photos at sunrise.

Most "I want to quit day": Day 17- Breckenridge to Kremmling CO. The bike was having some problems early on, the weather in the morning was cold and it was raining out. I followed the trail which strayed off the main road to go over Ute Pass as 9500 ft. Cleared the pass only to be greeted by a fierce rainstorm which lasted 3 hours. This wasn't even a rainstorm, it was more akin to a deluge or biblical flood. One car that passed me even stopped to ask if I needed a ride, which I denied. After 4 hours and more than 30 miles, I rejoined the main road which I was on in the morning. The distance from where I left the main road to where I rejoined it (as indicated by the mile markers) was only 20 miles. Had I stayed on the main road I would have covered that distance in less than 2 hours through a slight drizzle. But going on detours is half the fun right?

Worst Bike breakdown: Day 37- Broke my rear gear shifter. Duct tape won't even fix that one. Fortunately I was only 10 miles away from a bike store and got on the road again by the afternoon. I saved the mangled gear shifter.

Muddiest road: Day 9- Near Hopewell lake NM. Mud a good 6-8 inches deep. A couple pickup trucks attempted to pass through the road, all made it with extreme difficulty. I made it through with a lot of time and patience. Managed to cover 1 mile in 2 hours, fun. The trick to moving through is to push the bike through the puddles since there usually is gravel at the bottom. Its messy and sloppy, but on the Divide, what isn't?

Longest Climb: Marshall Pass CO-18 miles of uphill, I started at about 8,500 ft and ended up at 10,800 ft. The climb itself wasn't bad, road wasn't too steep and weather was good. After 2.5 hours of climbing though, you're ready to go downhill.

Biggest elevation change: Coming out of Salida CO-Salida was stuck in a valley at about 7,000 ft, and in 10 miles I was back at 10,000 ft. Hard work on the legs, but a scenic view of the famed "Collegiate Peaks".

Steepest Descent: Outside Helena MT-This was a single track that was nearly impossible to find through the maze of forest roads and 2 tracks. Very steep on a narrow trail with lots of rocks and roots. The descent effectively knocked out what was left of my brakes.

Best "in the zone" moment: Outside Ennis MT. The sun was setting. Sky was clear for the first time in 2 weeks. Bike was working well (for the moment). Road was flat. Kicked it into high gear and averaged 20 mph for 45 minutes.

Prettiest state: All where pretty in their own respect but as far as scenery go, Montana takes the cake.

Least prettiest state: Wyoming, empty, windy, dry, been there done that.

Best restaurant experience: Daylight Donuts in Breckenridge CO. Their biscuits in Gravy and prices are hard to be beat...and their doughnuts are something else.

Worst restaurant experience: Bulldog's in Whitefish MT. The establishement isn't a bad one, I just ordered wrong. Had a pork sandwich, which served as an eerie reminderof my high school's cafeteria mystery meat on toast.

Most Charming Town: Ennis MT. Charming with a historic feeling yet it didn't seem like a touristy town.

Most touristy, high end town: Breckenridge CO, this town just smells of trust funds and high end condominiums.

Best Hotel experience: Fireside Inn, Breckenridge CO. A hostel for $28 is a gift in this town (see above) it had a cozy family room too for all the guests' enjoyment with a TV, newspapers and a nice reading selection. Continental breakfast included.

Worst Hotel: Kremmling CO. I shouldn't rant about this place too much, don't expect the moon when you pay $20 for a room.

Number of nights Spent in:
hotel/motel/hostel: 6
RV parks: 3
Established Campgrounds: 3
Roughin' it on a patch of grass: 28

Number of showers taken in 41 days:
7

Bike Breakdowns:
Flats-a couple, don't really remember
Tires-Tore both the front and the back
Brakes-Had to get them replaced, and definitly should have replaced them sooner
Gears-Broke the gear shifter, had to get a new cable, going to need a new set of gears on the back wheel
Chain-chain is damaged, need a new chain too.
Back Rack-It broke in Helena, had to get a entirely new one

10 things to Remember for future bike trips:

1. Don't try to ride this trail on a bike from Wal-Mart or Sports Authority. It will break down very fast. Within 3 days of riding on his $300 bikes Julien was already breaking spokes on his back wheel. If you're going to do any sort of bike packing expect to spend at least $1000 on a bike

2.Pack at least 3 inner tubes. If you're unlucky as I was you'll run out quickly and thats never a good position to be in.

3.Don't pack too many clothes. In fact pack as little as you need. Pack 2 shirts (one t-shirt and one long sleeve), bike shorts, regular shorts, raingear and a fleece. Clothes get dirty really fast, so its no use trying to pack too many, they take up too much space. You get used to being dirty really fast.

*I went through a 6 day period without ever taking off my shirt. Gross, I know.

4.Make sure your back rack is well attached and doesn't come anywhere near your backwheel. In addition, get a durable one made for hauling lots of gear. When you carry 30-40 pounds of gear, you need a strong and durable one.

5.Oil your chain. A lot of gear problems I had in the end stemmed from the fact that I didn't oil my chain nearly enough. Don't use WD-40 either, use actual bike oil.

6.Make sure you have a good properly calibrated odometer, preferably one that's water resistant; It makes following the map directions A LOT easier.

7.Don't try and save money by getting cheap raingear. The jacket I bought for $40 clearly showed why it only costs $40 by the end of the trip. The seams were weakly stitched and allowed water to seep in. I won't even talk about the pants...The last thing you want is to be riding through a rainstorm soaked from head to toe.

8.PB&J and pop tarts make a great food combination for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Powerbars, Clif bars and such things are great, but they will sure drain your wallet very fast.

9.Plan for some rest days. Riding day in and day out for 40 days is demanding, 1 rest day for every 2 weeks would be good.

10.Ride with a buddy. The entire experience was great both the part alone and the part with Julien. But its always nice to have someone to talk to during dinner and someone to argue with when you're lost at the top of a mountain.

That being said, to all my readers out there this will be my last blog post about this 2,500 mile Odyssey. It is an experience I will not forget anytime soon, and one with which I have no regrets about. I am sure this isn't the last of my bikepacking trips, but it will surely be the most memorable as it was my first.

To everyone out there tinkering with the thought of doing something of this nature, definitly do it. Training isn't really necessary, you can train on the beginning days of the ride and the experience is unforgettable.

Happy Trails

Clem