Cycling Partners

[movistar12]

Hi, I am new to the ACA forums.  Is there an appropriate place to post a thread seeking a partner/s to ride the Divide with.  Planning on riding it for 2016 and would love to hook up with others planning on doing so.  Would like to leave on the grand depart, but racing would be a secondary consideration. 

[Westinghouse]

There is a link to that on the home page. From reading about the divide, it appears you would need a "mountain" bike. How much time do you think you would need? I gave it some thought myself.

[movistar12]

Thanks for pointing out the thread, missed that.  My background in mostly road biking/racing/century rides.  I would initially set-out with a plan to ride 50-100 miles per day depending on the varying conditions.  I have all summer so time is not the main constraint.  Just not sure i'd want to tackle this beast solo.  But I'm certain there will be others I will come across once on the route, so I will be there come the grand depart.

[Westinghouse]

It sounds great. ACA might tell you the approximate number of cyclists on the great divide. They seem to have a general awareness of the likelihood of meeting others on particular routes, such as the southern tier and the transam. Some research revealed a transcontinental motorcycle route most all of which was off-road. It seemed doable by trail bike There might be issues with distances to facilities and access to food and water. Years ago their maps sold for $300.00, or something like that.

[Iowagriz]

This is a good forum, but if you want to find a ton of info on the Great Divide/Tour Divide route, go to www.bikepacking.net and the forums there.  That is the "meeting point" for the annual race, but also good side for general info and finding others headed onto the route.

[indyfabz]

But I'm certain there will be others I will come across once on the route, so I will be there come the grand depart.

I know last year a good number of participants ended being very close to each other in MT. I saw about a dozen riders on the Pioneer Mountains Scenic Byway between Polaris and Wise River (most were in the town of Wise River itself) while touring western MT. They weren't in contention since the first rider had already reached Antelope Wells. Still, I could never do what they were doing. The people in town looked a bit haggard. A large storm had come through earlier in the day. I actually got rained, hailed and even snowed on coming down from the summit. And now they were facing a 25 mile climb, albeit a paved one. Fortunately, there are several campground along that stretch, and its Forest Service land so they could disperse camp if they desired.