Messages

16

Routes / Re: Great Divide: Tour Divide's 2015 reroute around the Great Basin

« on: July 26, 2015, 08:51:16 am »

Does this reroute bypass the Brush Mountain Lodge?
One more question. Is this reroute going to be permanent? It makes sense.

Going southbound, the reroute joins the old route near Slater, just below the WY/CO state line. From there you have the option to take either the main route through Routt N.F., which passes Brush Mountain Lodge, or the Columbine Alternate.

Permanent? That probably depends on the developments south of Rawlins, i.e. wind energy parks and gas & oil exploitation. The less quiet dirt road remains, the more sensible to make the reroute permanent. Obviously Rawlins has more services than Wamsutter. The Adventure Cycling map makers will decide..

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Routes / Re: Great Divide: Tour Divide's 2015 reroute around the Great Basin

« on: June 04, 2015, 03:14:11 pm »

If you listen to  http://mtbcast.com/site2/category/calls/ ,  Billy Rice's is rapturing about a new section of double track that he calls the Basin Rim trail and describes as super-rocky, super-slow. I guess it refers to the miles 40-47 from Atlantic City and his description implies that it is technical.
If you look carefully to the local map (see http://ridewithgps.com/routes/7983582 ) there is a bypass of this rim trail over the Bison-Basin Rd  (TD racers will be relegated for taking this bypass).

I would prefer the reroute over the old route with a long wait at the construction site south of Rawlins. Aspen Alley is a rather overrated 0.5 mile. It is more a traditional photo opportunity.

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Routes / Re: Great Divide: Tour Divide's 2015 reroute around the Great Basin

« on: June 01, 2015, 05:30:12 pm »

The full TD2015 route is very long. Maybe that overloads the system. Try your trick with the GD Basin Reroute to see if it works.

For the record: zooming in in satellite view on Wamsutter, I saw a Sagebrush Motel on McCormick Rd. So full marks for lodging too! And I saw a Subway. However, be aware that Wamsutter is experiencing a gas boom. Wikipedia says the town is struggling with this rapid growth, particularly due to the lack of available housing . So bring your tent , just in case.

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Routes / Re: Great Divide: Tour Divide's 2015 reroute around the Great Basin

« on: June 01, 2015, 04:46:45 pm »

My guess is that you have to register at Ride-with-GPS. It is free of charge. Then create your personal settings, with English as preferred language, metric or imperial, etc. If you then search for the TD2015 route (or search mathieu) you will probably get the cues in English. If not, mail the site support desk for help. I found them very responsive. You start paying when you want to download the GPS files.

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Routes / Re: Great Divide: Tour Divide's 2015 reroute around the Great Basin

« on: June 01, 2015, 04:17:45 pm »

Obviously I haven't run that reroute, probably only Matthew Lee has and knows the answers....

I guess that water availability is worse. Diagnus Well at 26 miles from Atlantic City is still on the route. On the old route you had Arapahoe Creek at 62 miles that had some water in June and the A&M Reservoir, slightly off-route, at 83 miles. Along the new route in satellite view I spot an off-route reservoir at 69 miles from Atlantic City, but it looks like private property. Wamsutter at 96 miles has several groceries and restaurants, but I didn't spot any lodging (Rawlins has many). After Wamsutter, near the cross with Hwy-789 there is a Muddy River, but no gas station - not very promising either. On the old route south of Rawlins, on entering Aspen Alley you crossed several lively creeks.

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Routes / Re: Great Divide: Tour Divide's 2015 reroute around the Great Basin

« on: June 01, 2015, 04:51:56 am »

The reroute is because of construction south of Rawlins. There is almost no singletrack on the reroute, except a new 7 miles section in the Great Divide Basin (miles 40-47 from Atlantic City). Judging from the elevation profile the singletrack doesn't look technical : all gradients below 6%. See http://ridewithgps.com/routes/7983582
There are also small changes near Union Pass. The total TD'15 route is on  http://ridewithgps.com/routes/7993305

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Gear Talk / Re: Flashlights for bike are needed

« on: May 27, 2015, 04:58:40 am »

Did you visit Peter White's site?  http://www.peterwhitecycles.com/headlights.asp
The guy has an interest in selling headlight products but he certainly knows what he is talking about. The products he discusses and the pictures will sharpen your awareness of what you need.

23

Routes / Re: Idaho Hot Springs Bike type and solo?

« on: April 29, 2015, 05:21:22 pm »

Last year in June I did only one stage, between Ketchum and Stanley. I was dismayed by several very soft double tracks milled up by ATVs, which are very popular in Idaho. I mailed this information to someone who I knew was in doubt whether to do the main route on a cross bike or MTB. Later I read in his blog that he was very glad to follow my advice to use an MTB with fat tires.
For more information I refer to several blogs on CrazyGuy : www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/categories/?o=Sh&category_id=378&doctype=journal .

There is also an extensive topic on Bikepacking involving the route's main architect, Casey Greene, that you may find helpfull : http://www.bikepacking.net/forum/routes/idaho-hot-springs-mountain-bike-route-2014-info-thread/

Solo or not? Last year I rode solo from Arizona to British Columbia on dirt roads and I don't see why you shouldn't do the main IHS route solo. From what I read in the blogs, the route is already quite popular.  You'll probably meet other riders about every day.  The singletracks are much more remote and wild, so that is a more serious commitment going solo.

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Routes / Re: MAPS/ GUIDES WANTED: Netherlands, Belgium, France

« on: March 11, 2015, 03:11:11 pm »

There are at least half a dozen different cycle routes Amsterdam - Paris documented in guides. Refering to the map in www.fietsrouteplanner.eu/index.php/fietsroutes/105-fietsen-in-het-spoor-van-vincent-van-gogh
I can point to  :
1. The North Sea coast route following bike paths along the coast until Boulogne sur Mer (route 6 on the map) and then dropping to Paris.
2. A variant on this that leaves the coast by going over Gent (Ghent) or Brugge (Brueghes)  to Ieper (Ypres) and dropping to Paris
3. The so-called Van Gogh route passing over Antwerpen, Brussel(s) - route 1 on the map
4. A variant over Eindhoven (where I live), joining the Van Gogh route in Brussels
5. A route passing over Eindhoven and Maastricht and joining a route coming from Aachen (Aken in dutch) - route 7 on the map
Depending on what you want to see  and taste (cities, art, history, beers, quiet roads?), you should select one of these. I could probably assist you in finding guides including maps and stages and lodging information, probably in dutch but probably not difficult to decipher.

I don't believe there is urgency in booking rooms, possibly excepting Paris and Amsterdam. If your ride is in July, booking in May seems quite timely.

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Routes / Re: Great Divide Route, north of Ashton ID

« on: February 23, 2015, 06:31:58 pm »

The loose soil on this Idaho rail trail is cursed even by MTB riders with 50 mm wide tires. Fortunately most of it can be bypassed on a parallel dirt road in a distance of less than 1 mile from the rail trail,  that has a reasonably good surface. See the map at the bottom of my journal page for this stage : www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/page/?o=Sh&page_id=299412&v=Nu (zoom in for details; blue is rail trail).

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Gear Talk / Re: New Rider who needs advice on tires

« on: February 22, 2015, 12:14:02 pm »

Instead of the Schwalbe Marathon Plus, I would go for the the Schwalbe Marathon Racer. Take 700x30c if your bike can handle it. It is 395 gram per tire  instead of 750 gram. You feel this difference when you are speeding up. Don't be afraid of an occasional flat. It usually happens only every 1000 miles or so, unless you enjoy riding on interstate shoulders full of glass and steel debris.

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Gear Talk / Re: Tubus Lowrider Racks for GDMBR?

« on: February 22, 2015, 09:56:32 am »

You will have no real problem. In 2010 I did the GD route south-to-north using a Bob trailer. Two companions used low front panniers. Look at the attached slide show to see the clearance of the bottom of the Bob and the panniers of my companion. The show will probably raise your appetite further to embark on this beautiful route. Several pictures have been published in an issue of the Adventure Cyclist one year ago.
www.flickr.com/photos/33663461@N05/sets/72157625204115114/show/

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General Discussion / Re: Great Divide Northbound Questions

« on: January 18, 2015, 11:17:50 am »

I wouldn't start before half of May. In the north of New Mexico the route goes over 10,000 ft (Polvedera Mesa), over 11,000 ft (Brazos Ridge) and almost to 12,000 ft in southern Colorado (Indiana Pass). You can bypass each on pavement, but it would rob a lot of the route's main beauties. Also many passes in Montana and British Columbia don't clear before mid-June.

From reading many blogs and my own experience, I sketched a chart showing the time windows for going S-to-N and N-to-S in http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/page/?o=Sh&page_id=310078&v=4z . Of course this is not rocket science.

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Routes / Re: Great Divide Rooseville, MT to Helena, MT

« on: August 30, 2014, 09:01:10 am »

Carla, it's an indulgence to go back to the maps and refresh fond memories of those towns and trails of the Great Divide route.
I went through all maps and added all paved sections on the main route longer than 5 miles. I came to a surprising total of 673 miles, i.e close to 25% of the total route!
That old estimate of 5-10% on pavement (also in Wikipedia) is wide off the mark.

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Routes / Re: Great Divide Rooseville, MT to Helena, MT

« on: August 29, 2014, 06:44:51 pm »

Adventure Cycling clearly has an unrealistic view of the percentage paved, both for the whole GD route and for this particular section from Roosville to Helena.
In this section roughly 25%, about 90 miles in a total of 370 miles, is paved. The detailing by Iowagriz is also what I remember.
For the total route it is more likely between 10-20%.