Not all preparation is on the bike.
One of the most asked questions we get about our Tour Divide ride is: “Where does the route go?.
To be honest, that is one of the questions we ask ourselves almost daily. It’s a fairly straightforward question, in that we know the route starts in Canada, goes through Montana, Idaho and into Wyoming. We know we will then proceed to Colorado, and through the entire length of New Mexico to the Mexican border. That said, the questions still stands: “Where does the route go?”.
There is a TON of research that has to be done (or at least in our view HAS to be done. I guess some might think SHOULD be done) in order to maximize the odds of successfully completing a 2700+ mile off-road bikepacking trip. Sure, there are many that might just suggest figuring it out on the fly. Certainly, anybody that knows me (Shane) realizes that simply is not a comfortable way for me to operate, and Ray seems to have the same leanings. As Dave Rutledge says about me, while quoting Matt Damon’s character in the movie Dogma. “Never let it be said that your anal1retentive attention to detail never yielded positive results!” (I take that as a compliment, though I’m not always positive that’s how Dave intends it)
So with that as a stage, this week’s blog include a couple of picture of the maps, books, notes, and a cue sheet we are using as we plan our journey. Were just in the beginning of this process, but it gives you an idea of the kind of preparation we are putting into the ride.
Another thing that we “done gone and did” this week was to fully integrate our lights from Kerry Staite at K-lite. These things are THE BOMB! (klite.com.au). We have fully, or in at least in one case almost fully, integrated our lights, switches, and USB charges internally in our bike forks and are running lights and chargers off of our dynamo hubs. Power problems solved!! (Mostly anyway). You can see from the pictures in this blog, they are bright at about 1300 lumens!
More videos and pics to follow. Thanks for riding along!!
Shane and Ray
