Tour Divide Wyoming and Idaho

The mandatory Aspen Alley shot. This picture, however, is from my first ride there in 2006 and going the other direction. This year, Aspen Alley didn't look quite as nice, rather raggedy, maybe suffered from a storm

Crossing the Basin. Usually this looks like the desert it normally is, but this year was so wet, it looks like prairie. Very different from the last time I biked through here.

 This and the next three pictures are for comparison from my previous ride in 2006 - a LOT more desert like. No surface water then, several creeks still flowing this year

 Also check out the difference in equipment compared to my Niner this year- this is my fully loaded touring bike in 2006 on the left, might have been 20 pounds heavier than this year's setup.

 Back to 2011: A lonely post office in Wyoming.

 I like the gentle scenery in Idaho a lot, just can't stop because of the mosquito swarms. If it hadn't been for the mosquitoes, this might have ranked among my favorite parts. Yes, even with the rail trail. Lots of people complain about it, but I thought it was just fine. 

 The Teton range from the Idaho side (so it looks opposite to most pictures, which are from the Wyoming side)

 The rail trail.

 From a distance, it looked like snow, but it was all flowers.

Tour Divide Colorado

I was glad to be out of New Mexico and really had to recover from the first week. Sitting on the saddle really hurt, probably from wearing the backpack with too much weight (water) on washboarded roads the first week. Because of the scarceness of water, that was unavoidable in New Mexico, but from now on, I rarely used the backpack. But my bottom still had to heal and that took a few days. I even used my helmet as a seat at times!

Colorado, going up Indiana Pass, 10 more miles to the top. The climbs are long, very high altitude, but it is easier than NM. Lots of snow, but a plow went through recently. Oddly enough, nobody in this area knows what Indiana pass is, I think the locals call it Greyback Mountain. Seems like Indiana pass is a name that the mapmakers at ACA invented. In any event, it is the highest elevation of the route.

Southern Colorado at times didn't look that different from New Mexico, but it was much easier to find water. This is heading out of Del Norte (a day when I was sitting on my helmet at times). 

Marshall Pass is just south of Salida and by then I felt much better and the New Mexico bruises have diminished. A lot of car traffic in Colorado on those dirt roads and constantly being in the dust diminishes the experience a lot. 

My campsite just north of Salida. There was a big festival going on that day, so I had a beer and quickly headed out of town after getting my bike tuned up again.

Boreas Pass is another of the major passes in Colorado and (my direction) goes down to Breckenridge. There was a major snow storm rolling in, so I hurried up and made it to Silverthorne in light snow flurries.

I met Kurt Refsnider, who was going the opposite direction. We both made it to the other side before the storm, but the riders just behind us had a hard time.

I woke up down in Silverthorne with a fair amount of snow on the road and plenty of slush. Decided to stay in town for another day right then. In retrospect, not the best decision as the afternoon was ok, but then so what, my exact time didn't matter.

Denis Chazelle (on the right) was maybe 2 hours behind me on Boreas and was hypothermic by the time he reached town. He bought $150 or so of additional clothing after that experience, but headed out in the afternoon. I didn't see him again and he finished second.

The view the next day after the storm had passed was spectacular.

The very gentle Colorado river near Kremmling.

Colorado River, you need to go down all the way to Radium and then up on the other side. Now that I've done the climb both directions, I'm done with it. This year, the mosquitoes were vicious.

I camped at the reservoir before Steamboat Spring and rode into town in the morning. A very bike friendly town and there must have been a bike event that I just caught the end of. But a lot of food leftover, so I just arrived at the right time for coffee, bagels, and juice. Then on to the bikeshop for another tune up and lunch.

After Steamboat Springs, I hit a lot of snow. Because I left Steamboat somewhat late, afternoon sun meant very soft condition and a slow, long hike.

I lost my Spot tracker on the snow hike and called it an early day at Brush Mountain Lodge, hoping that somebody behind me would find it and bring it to the Lodge. Nice mosaic table.

Tour Divide: Start in New Mexico

Tour Divide was my big adventure for 2011. I started June 10, 2011 in Antelope Wells and went all the way to Banff, Canada over 25 days. I had previously ridden some sections with Kathy's brother Bob, but this was the first (and probably only) time I was going to go the full distance in one go.

Here is my bike fully loaded at home. The full set of pics is here: https://picasaweb.google.com/103806633563601589251/TourDivideJune102011July52011#

I got a ride with Niki Yoblonski and her friend Jason. We left from Santa Monica on June 8, stopped for night somewhere along the rode.  

The next morning in Lordsburg, NM. We picked up more people. From left: Franck Gimard (France) and Craig Dolwin (UK), Niki on the roof. We drove to Silver City, had a fancy dinner, and stayed there for the night. We got an early start the next morning and drove to the border.

 My bike at the border on June 10.

Squinting into the morning sun, a bit before 8 am

Ready to start. Unfortunately fewer than half made it to the finish. New Mexico is a tough place to start, some of the hardest days come right at the beginning. Another group started simultaneously in Banff, Canada, going the other way. Together, it was more than 80 riders starting.

It was a long and incredible hard first day. I drank more than 2 gallons and yet was extremely dehydrated. The distance to Silver City isn't that far, 125 miles, and much of it is paved. Yet it is brutal desert heat (over 100 degrees), climbing, and headwind. I tried to get out of the sun a bit, but there isn't any way to hide.

Quite a few people dropped out after the first day. I had the worst cramps I ever had in my life and was glad to make it to Silver City before night and have a long night. This was tough.

The next morning got us on some single track on the Continental Divide Trail and I enjoyed this stretch very much - after a full night, two breakfasts, and before it got hot. In contrast, Kurt Refsnider, who is a much stronger cyclist than me had an absolutely miserable time around here with little food and water. So much depends on food, water, time of day, and weather!

This was already much later, filtering water up on Brazos Ridge, just the last day before crossing into Colorado. Over 8000 feet, New Mexico isn't that bad.

Overall, however, I didn't like New Mexico. Far too much desert for me, too hot, so I'm glad I got it out of the way early and had the more enjoyable parts of the trip ahead of me instead having it looming at the end. I did like a few small sections, such as the single track CDT north of Silver City, the forest north of grants, and camping up on Brazos Ridge.