The Great Divide (NOBO)

I’ve been captivated by the Great Divide Mountain Biking Route since 2018, after I completed the TransAm, the cross-country gateway tour that changed my life for better or worse. I had originally planned to cycle the divide the summer of 2020 but was thwarted by COVID. My friends Andy, Asa, Jeff, and Chris have all cycled the divide, but none have gone the full distance. The Canadian border was closed during the pandemic. This will be my boldest and riskiest cycling adventure to date. The Great Divide is the world’s longest off-road cycling route, spanning over three thousand miles from the Mexican border post at Antelope Wells, NM to Jasper, AB running along the spine of the Rocky Mountains. I will be riding through five American states and two Canadian provinces. I will climb more than a combined 200,000 feet   elevation, mostly on gravel and dirt. I purchased a new bike and equipment for this tour. My training consisted of rigorous January and April tours. My route direction was ins

• Introduction • Table of Contents • Equipment List • Getting to the Start • Great Divide (NOBO) - Day #1 Antelope Wells, MM to Hachita, NM • Great Divide (NOBO) - Day #2 Hachita, NM to Silver City, NM • Great Divide (NOBO) - Day #3 Silver City, NM to Willow Creek Campground, NM • Great Divide (NOBO) - Day #4 Willow Creek Campground, NM to Valle Tio Vinces Campground, NM • Great Divide (NOBO) - Day #5 Valle Tio Vinces Campground, NM to El Malpais National Conservation Area, NM • Great Divide (NOBO) - Day #6 Informal El Malpais National Conservation Area, NM to Grants, NM • Great Divide (NOBO) - Day #7 Grants, NM to San Luis, NM • Great Divide (NOBO) - Day #8 San Luis, NM to Abiquiu, NM • Great Divide (NOBO) - Day #9 Abiquiu, NM to Horca, CO • Great Divide (NOBO) - Day #10 Horca, CO to El Norte, CO • Great Divide (NOBO) - Day #11 Del Norte, CO to Luders Creek Campground, CO • Great Divide (NOBO) - Day #12 Luders Creek Campground, CO to Salida, CO • Great Divide (NOBO) - Day #13 Salida,

BIKE • Salsa Fargo Apex 1 - 29" Steel, Green X-Large, Carbon Front Fork • 32t Crankset • 11–42t SRAM 11-speed Cassette • Brooks B67 Saddle • Maxxis Ikon 29 X 2.35" 3C/Exo/TR Front Tire • Maxxis Ardent 29 X 2.4" Rear Tire  • Shimano PD-M324 dual sided pedals • Salsa Alternator Plus Rear Rack: 135 - 148mm spacing • Salsa Anything Cages mounted to front forks • 3 Water Bottle Cages • Lezyne Air pump mount • NiteRider Lumina Max 2500 Front Bike Light • Garmin Varia RTL515 Rearview Radar Taillight • Bell Helmet (yellow) TOOLS & SPARE PARTS • 1 Park Tool patch kit • Park Tool Emergency Tire Boot • 2 spare inner tubes Maxxis 29 x 1.9/2.35 • 4 Spare brake pads SRAM • 1 Spare rear gear cable • 1 Spare rear brake cable • 6 Spare spokes (2 front/4 rear) • 1 FiberFix kevlar emergency replacement spoke • 2 Muc-Off tire levers • LEZYNE Micro Floor Drive Hand Pump High Pressure with Gauge, Black • Liv Ratchet Bike Multi-Tool • Leatherman (screwdriver, pliers, knife) • Park Tool 6&q

This past Sunday was my birthday and an epic rager went down Friday. This birthday was the Big One, and many friends, neighbors, and cycling buddies joined the festivities. Transgang hommies Klaus and Eileen represented. ADV amigo Heber baked an amazing cake that featured a cyclist cutout. The fire department showed up at midnight. They had received a mistaken call that someone was locked in the bathroom, which added to the frivolity.  The rest of the week was spent winding down the teaching semester and preparing my apartment for my house sitter. I used a service called Trusted Housesitters and made an arrangement with a Hungarian woman named Edina. I needed to provide her with a clean apartment and lists of what to do in case of an emergency. In addition, my evil landlord was taking me to court, which my attorney would be dealing with while I was away. On top of that I’d daily been studying the New Mexico fire maps and triple checking my gear and detour options. The GDMBR Facebook gr

Great Divide (NOBO) - Day #1 May 27, 2022 Antelope Wells, MM to Hachita, NM - 47 Miles Start 4:43 PM Finish 8:03 PM Total Duration 3:17 Moving Time 3:07 Stopped Time 9:59 Ascent 656 Feet  Descent 817 Feet Details at:  https://ridewithgps.com/trips/91436975 After a long day, I finally arrived at the Antelope Wells border post between the Mexican state of Chihuahua and the US state of New Mexico. It was a quarter to five PM and I was at 4,665 feet elevation. Jeffery helped me to document the tour start, and even did some no-handed drive-by’s as I pedaled north. Soon he was gone and I was on my own. I was surrounded by desert and was in the middle of nowhere. Jeffery had mentioned that mountain lions and cougar roamed this area. The wind was strong out of the south west. My first heading towards the northwest had a strong cross wind, but the road eventually curved straight north. I had an amazing tail wind, which gave me a strong boost. I was wearing my Merino wool t-shirt, shorts and lin

Great Divide (NOBO) - Day #2 May 28, 2022 Hachita, NM to Silver City, NM- 84 Miles Start 6:08 AM Finish 3:30 PM Total Duration 9:21 Moving Time 7:27 Stopped Time 1:52 Ascent 4015 Feet Descent 2617 Feet Tour Total 131 Miles Details at: https://ridewithgps.com/trips/91540419 I slept well in an actual bed last night at the Hachita Bike Ranch. I was exhausted last night. I showered and was too tired to edit yesterday‘s report. I got the basics up. I had weird dreams during the night and woke up several times. It was still dark out when my alarm went off at 5:30 AM. I stuffed strawberries and donuts into my face and was on the road by 6AM. I bid farewell to Jeffery and we took a few more photos. The sun was just coming up over the hills to the east. I rode back towards the route on State Highway 9 and then I took a left on State Highway 146 heading north. I passed two pairs of northbound cyclists, whom had all stayed at the Hachita Community Center last night. Patrick and Rachel hailed from