Great Divide South-to-North Start.

[jaypee]

Planing on doing the GDMBR this summer, South-to-North, as I want to take the train back to the Midwest.  It also seems like I'll have better luck avoiding snowbound passes with a start in June which better fits my schedule.

How do other people handle this?  I'm assuming that flying into El Paso is the best option?  My tentative plans are to fly to El Paso and ride to to the start in Antelope Wells by way of Columbus and Hachita, NM.  Any thoughts on this?  I also noticed that there are a fair number of bike shops in El Paso, has anyone used the option of shipping their bike to their start destination to avoid airline fees?  A friend has used http://www.shipbikes.com and has good luck with them...

[John Nelson]

El Paso is served by Southwest Airlines. If you fly them, it'll be cheaper to take your bike with you than to ship it.

[adventurepdx]

You can also take Amtrak to El Paso. You'll be able to box your bike and take it with you on the train as long as your origin station has checked baggage service.

[bikeman]

I rode the GDMBR in 2007, flew into El Paso with my bike and had to stay in a local motel for 3 days waiting for the 40+mph wind gusts out of the west to quit. Rode to Antelope Wells and north to Jasper Alberta then rode back home to Cahokia Illinois. Spectacular ride. If you ship your bike to a local bike shop it's a courtesy to pay them  to unbox and re-assemble it for a few bucks.   Shipping  UPS bikes can get expensive, they charge by size and weight. The train stops at Lordsburg NM if you take it, riding from Lordsburg to Antelope Wells will put the winds behind you until you turn south when you'll be leaning hard westward when it's blowing.