Tour Divide 2023

Today was a relatively short day in distance, and not terribly long in terms of saddle time, but far from easy! After a fabulous stay at Brush Mountain with super-hostess Kirsten , we set off at about 8:00am for Sand Mountain Pass, a climb from roughly 7700' elevation to the summit at 9870' over about 16 miles. This was the first pass over 9000' either Mike or I had attempted, and I at least was wondering just how well I'd manage at that altitude on a 55lb loaded mountain bike.  We'd also heard that the trail got pretty technical for the last 2-3 miles on the climb, and that the descent was not as steep, but still quite rough and technical for 6-8 miles.   The climb turned out to be quite manageable up to the point where it suddenly tilted up from 8-9% to about 20% grade, and filled with rocks and loose gravel.  So... The last 1.5-2 miles was all hike-a-bike.  ...

After a short but difficult climbing day on the main GDMBR route, we decided to get in a few "easier" miles today on the highway.  Turned out to be a long, tough climbing day, even if we were on tarmac instead of on gravel for the day ;-). We rolled the first 10 miles on really nice gravel from our superb Warm Showers host's home north of Steamboat Springs, and the onto Steamboat proper for coffee & pastries at a great little coffee shop/bookstore.   I also finally found a store that sold insoles to replace the ones in my cycling shoes.  After the Butte drenching, I tried to dry my insoles on the radiator in our cabin in Wise River. Unfortunately, they not only dried, but they shrunk! Really shrunk- like from a size 11 down to a size 6.  So I've been making due with grossly undersized insoles ever since- not super comfortable, but notuch I could do to improve the situation... So- I now have happy feet! ...

I keep saying that I'm going to take an "easy day" and make the milage shorter, etc., and Wyoming and the wind keep saying "not so easy my friend!" Today I rode the slowest, hardest, 33 miles ever, including climbing the Tourmalet. Of course I rode the Tourmalet on a road bike with no gear other than a wind vest & arm warmers;-). Today I rode pretty much the entire 33 miles into a 30mph block headwind. I peddled at 2.4 w/kg down a 15 mile long 4% average grade downhill and averaged less than 12mph. Sick. That's apparently just normal for Wyoming.  I'm now happy to be in Colorado!! The day started well with an uneventful (i.e. bears did not eat or my food hung from a tree) beginning, and I was rolling along a little after 8am following one of the best night's sleep of the ride. Things looked great as I rolled through the celebrated "Aspen Alley" a few miles up the road from my campsite.  Th...

After yesterday's long slog across the Great Basin Desert, I planned today to be a bit more relaxed and while filled with climbing, a much shorter day. So... Shorter it was, only a bit over 52 miles, but with a out 4000" of climbing, and a 20-25mph headwind, it wasn't a lot easier ;-) But the good news is, the Great Basin is firmly in the rear view mirror, and tomorrow should be much easier! There's always hope! Besides,I'm only planning on 35 miles to get the Brush Mountain Ranch where I'm hoping to meet up with Mike Buckley:-) Today took me up and over Bridger Pass at an elevation of about 8300'. It would have been pretty straightforward if it was just the pass, but the road kept wandering from one big alpine valley to another as I headed south towards Colorado. Once again, the views and wildflowers were spectacular, and on the wildlife front, I saw my first Bald Eagle of the trip. ...

After taking a "zero" day in Atlantic City, WY to rest and reset yesterday, today was a big day.  As it played out, it got even bigger than planned! Two Kiwis and I set off from Atlantic City at 6:30 am to begin making the crossing of the Great Basin Desert.  I'd intended to ride roughly 75 miles to a reservoir noted as a water resupply and informal camping location on the way to Rawlins, WY. At about the halfway point, I caught up with Ingrid (who had left even earlier at about 5:45) and she decided to go to Wamsutter on the Tour Divide Race route instead of Rawlins on the GDMBR route, so we parted ways... I was feeling pretty good, and set off happily on my own. Until the reservoir failed to appear at the described location. After a fair bit of cursing, i decided that my best option ( given my current water supply) was to continue on to Rawlins, a further 52 miles.  I knew I could ride that far with roughly 3.5 liters of w...