Reflections from the Great Divide Mountain Bike Trail (1 of 10) – Introduction

This is the first of a series of ten posts about my recent trip to Mountain Bike the Continental Divide between Banff, Canada to Antelope Wells, New Mexico. Further information about the expedition can be found at www.bikingthegreatdivide.com

It’s been a week since I stopped cycling at the end of my Canada to Mexico Mountain Bike Trip down the Continental Divide. The week has gone very quickly mainly because I had to get to Phoenix, Arizona and then back to the UK ready to start work.

During my commutes around Scotland over the last couple of days I’ve been pulling together my thoughts on the expedition, writing up my diary and trying my best to catalogue photographs. In the meantime Simon and Marco have still been battling on with the fierce New Mexico climate and terrain in a bid to make it to Antelope Wells and the end of their journey. All being well they should get to the end tomorrow (Saturday 25^th) and I wish them the best of luck and some strong tail winds!

In the next series of posts I will catalogue my experience of the trail, the route, details of equipment carried and my personal reflections on my month in the saddle. These entries will be cross posted on the expedition website www.bikingthegreatdivide.com

Before I start I should say that I’m not a cyclist or really a mountain biker. I bought my bike 18 months ago in an effort to try and stay fit during the winter. I do, however, have nearly 15 years of wilderness expedition experience operating from extreme environments and in often remote locations. This experience was invaluable on the trail, particularly for the two weeks that I spent by myself.

I first came up with the idea of mountain biking the Great Divide after my good friend Mark Salmon suggested it to me during a expedition to the Cascade Mountains12 months ago. I became quite fixated with the idea and was grateful when Simon and then Marco agreed to join me for the journey.

I would recommend the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route to anyone with a sense of adventure. It’s well documented, well mapped and there is lots of advice available on the internet. The big question that anyone should consider before attempting the Great Divide is how much time have you got. To complete the route in thirty days with a BOB Trailer was a real challenge and gave hardly any time for rest, relaxation, reflection and sightseeing. Even for a fit team, I would suggest that 6 – 7 weeks is a more realistic time scale if you plan to tour, rather than race, the route.

In the next post I will start to document the route.

Comments

[Shona Allan]

Hi! Welcome home and congrats for surviving your amazing adventure. Just been looking at the photos of your trip and they are fantastic! The landscapes and geology are spectacular. Hope you have recovered and being back at work isn't too much of a culture shock.

[Alan Parkinson]

Never mind that... let's have a proper beard picture ! ;)
Looking forward to reading about the rest of the journey.

[Shona Allan]

If you look closely in amongst the glorious landscape pics you may find a rather close-up 'proper beard picture'!

[OllieBray]

@Alan - don't worry the beard pictures are on the way!

@Shona - how you doing? I hear you have a new tent! See you soon. OB