Author Topic: great divide  (Read 12394 times)

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Offline lisssa

great divide
« on: September 28, 2004, 02:10:28 am »
I want to ride the great divide trail in a month and a half next year-about averaging 60 miles a day. For those who have completed it N-S what would this speed be like? Would I be able to appreciate the country side at all?
thanks
lisa


Offline Dan

great divide
« Reply #1 on: October 01, 2004, 07:21:17 pm »
Two of us rode the Great Divide Route south to
north in June-July 2004.  Our total mileage (getting
lost, riding in towns to services, sightseeing, etc.)
was 2727 to the Canadian border.  That took us 43
days that includes 1 non-riding day.  That is about
63-64 miles per day on average but we very rarely
rode 63-64 miles in a day.   We were usually 10-30
miles less or 10-30 miles more than that average.  
We had several half days of riding in which we
would not start riding until after 5pm or be finished
riding before 2pm and usually put in around 30
miles on those half days.  Some days with this
mileage were long and tiresome while others were
not.  To answer your question, Yes, you will  
definately see some beautiful scenery and meet
really cool people.  It all depends on your time
frame away from work, how long you want to be
out, if you want to set up camp for a few days in
several of the cool towns you come across to ride
single track and how many rest days you want.  We
appreciated the country, beauty, and lack of people
nearly everyday.  Good Luck!



Offline lisssa

great divide
« Reply #2 on: October 04, 2004, 04:20:02 am »
Thanks for the feedback. It sounds like a great ride-wish I was doing it tomorrow. A month and a half is my time off of work that I know of so far-it sounds very doable.


Offline afmeyer

great divide
« Reply #3 on: December 27, 2004, 11:39:17 pm »
I'm curious to know the trail conditions?  Is the trail mostly well maintained dirt roads or mainly rock and pot holes?  Is there much motorcycle or car traffic on the trail?  Any description would be very helpful.
I'm considering this trail for next summer.


Offline jamawani

great divide
« Reply #4 on: January 27, 2005, 05:17:21 am »
Consider doing it south to north.
If you start around June 15 you shouldn't have any problem with snow in Colorado.
Why?? May/June is the rainiest (snow at higher elevations)period in Montana and the end of the dry season in new Mexico.  July/August is in the middle of the rainy season in New Mexico where the caliche roads turn into superglue - by late summer, the snow has melted at higher elevations in Montana and it's far less muddy.  Temperatures favor this south to north.  Plus winds tend to prevail southerly, but the high mountains create significant variation.
I included two graphs to illustrate the rain peaks.
Have a good ride - J




Offline afmeyer

great divide
« Reply #5 on: January 27, 2005, 01:00:25 pm »
Please describe the roads.


Offline Dan

great divide
« Reply #6 on: January 28, 2005, 06:15:42 pm »
I would also consider riding S to N.  A great
description about the road conditions is posted
under the "General" category by Larry Diskin. It
really varies so much that it isn't mainly anything.  I
wouldn't say that many of the roads are maintained
to greatly but then again, they aren't  that bad to ride
on.  There was very little truck, ATV, morticycle,  etc.,
trafic on the entire dirt portion of the route.  Every
once in a while we might see someone but not
often at all.  



Offline berti

great divide
« Reply #7 on: February 01, 2005, 05:54:43 pm »
lisssa,
drop me a note at blevyibr@yahoo.com when you get the chance.
berti