Great Divide Reflections

We had lots of talks on the trip about life and one topic that came up often was how it’s pretty self-indulgent for four guys like us to take off for over two months, leaving family and friends just to do a bike ride. But we always ended up laughing and agreeing it is worth it as we thought about the great experiences we had just had. For me it does seem a little hard to justify the time away from home, the cost and the effort involved. On the other hand, now having done it I am SO glad we did. I guess it’s like other things in life: the reward you get from something is often proportional to the amount of effort you put in.

Here are some collected thoughts on the Great Divide trip from the four of us. I asked everyone the same questions and also answered them myself. Let’s see what everyone thought although not everyone answered every question…

High/low/crush/bane/goal – what are your single high and low points of the whole tour? Did you meet anyone or see anything you loved so much that you have a “crush” on them or it? Did anything annoy you the whole time or most of it? Did you have a goal for the trip and was it met or not?

Andrew

High: Reaching Luder’s Creek [Stage 16] and there was water. What a hell day with low water and later head wind. Absolutely crushed but great. Also, the vast landscape through Wyoming and Colorado. So picturesque.
Of course, the generous, friendly and always polite people along the trail really capped off the ride. People who are genuinely curious and supportive that you came to the US to see the country they live in. Meeting and interacting with local people is a highlight.

Low: Climbing up from the Colorado River [Stage 21] and realising after two hours I’d gone only 15 km or so on a very hot day.
I think we could have spent a few days mid trail with a two day break. I’m becoming less attracted to “pushing on”.

Goal: To finish so that was met. From a box ticking point of view I also saw “open carry” in Pietown and stayed in some typical sixties motels and real western style lodges with the “whole nine yards”.

Daniel

High: Dinner, a real American home & stories from Mel at the Red Hawk Lodge [Stage 33].

Low: All „dead“ in Grants on a rest day.

Bane: My squeaking Gates belt (the suntan lotion may have finally fixed it). [Daniel’s bike has a belt instead of a chain. The constant dust we rode through made it squeak…a lot.]

Nathan

High: The last bit riding to Banff [Stage 49]. It was glorious singletrack, mostly downhill, and it kept hitting me that we were just about to succeed at this whole crazy endeavor. It was like a time warp though where time passed very quickly. I also loved staying in Salida at Liz’s house. Such a nice place!

Low: Climbing to Luder’s Creek campground [Stage 16]. It was quite a long day and we battled heat, headwinds and rain. The final climb was long, steep, windy and hot. I was tired, hungry and thirsty, nearly out of water and didn’t know if the campground would have water or not. So it was hard mentally and physically.

Crush: We met a lot of friendly people that’s for sure. I loved seeing many powerful looking women doing the Great Divide or the Tour Divide race. We had some great but mostly short interactions. But when I think about the whole trip, my biggest crush was on the moving rectangular picture of Katie on my phone when we did video calls!

Bane: The problem I dealt with for most of the tour was shifting on my bike. It started on a pass above Silver City, NM [Stage 3]. A gust of wind…the bike fell over and shifting was problematic until the next bike shop which was in 1000 km [Stage 18]. The fix seemed good the next day but then it settled in with two of my important lower gears not being usable. Finally I got it fixed for real 2500 km later in Whitefish, MT [Stage 43].

Goal: My goal for this trip was the same as our last trip together: all four of us ride, or walk a little, for every bit of the route without any crashes or sickness. I was so happy this goal was met.

Wytze

High: For me the finest hours were the morning hours on the bike. You feel no pains, stomach full with porridge and the temperature is still cool. I enjoyed the diners at Salida, Butte, Helena and Banff with the wines, Guinness, food and good laughs.

Low: The freezing hands on the first day of rain with temperatures just above zero. It’s not only annoying but also difficult to shift or brake. But arriving at Red Hawk Lodge was great [Stage 33]

Did you learn things about the USA that were surprising?

Andrew

• The stark difference between states, towns and country along with quite large wealth differences between New Mexico and Northern Montana. You can see how some towns have contracted such as Grants and Butte. Harsh economic reality in action.
• The remoteness of many areas and amount of desert along the trail. These are bigger landscapes than I ever expected but still beautiful with it changing every day.
• Clear and big impacts of climate change reflected by locals speaking of drought over time.
• Little evidence of renewable energy along the trail.

Daniel

• The size/dimension of “no man land”. [The Great Divide Basin in Wyoming, Stage 25]
• You can pay with a 100$ bill (this was nearly impossible 30 years ago).

Nathan

• Even though I had visited every state we passed through, every single place except for the Walmart in Grants, NM was new to me on this trip.
• As we went north, it seemed that the average prosperity of towns and people increased.
• The lack of water in NM and CO was surprising to me. Everyone we met almost without exception in these states commented on the change from previous years. I wasn’t expecting it to be so dramatic.

Wytze

• The differences between the various States were greater than I expected.
• Most places we came through were very isolated with seemingly few connections with the outside world. But the people were most friendly and helpful.
• Canada is far more international oriented it seems, but the route through America was nicer and more varied.
• Every day was quite different.

Did your opinion of the USA or Americans change as a result of this trip?

Andrew

• I have been able to better inform my view on the USA. Instead of a homogenous external view I see the US now as a collection of states with quite different attitudes and standpoints. Within each state there is also a town and country differential. Perhaps obvious once there but not from an external viewpoint outside the US.
• The overall generosity and courteousness wherever we were is a credit to the people of the USA. I’ve not experienced this elsewhere. Riding on the roads along the trail was very safe due to the courteousness of all drivers.
• I see the pride the people have in their country as they look after what they can. Clean towns and national parks. Really impressive.
• Individual responsibility is taken seriously in the areas we went through. The “pack it in and pack it out” philosophy in action everywhere; A credit.
• The service in all establishments is outstanding even though I’m no fan of tipping. I’ve not seen this before.

Nathan

• Given our route, I was surprised at the lack of right-wing political signs and discussions. Politics seemed to matter less than I thought it would to the people we met.
• Even though I was sort of expecting it, the level of people’s generosity was still surprising. That was everywhere.

Are you happy with your bike and packing choices? If you were going to do it again, what would you change?

Andrew

• I’d go for slightly lower gearing and perhaps move back to a derailleur setup as opposed to the Rohloff. Albeit reliable, the Rohloff is heavy!
• I’d also go for a rear rack set up as the seat bag is limited and sometimes unstable.
• Pack a water filter. Essential!

Daniel

• I would bring a chromecast dongle, some bike belt spray and a down jacket.

Nathan

• For self-supported trips with camping gear, I think that a rear rack would’ve been better than my rack-less bags. The extra stability and storage space for carrying food looks great. I really liked the Tailfin racks I saw, especially with the Tour Divide racers. I had to be careful packing my seat bag every day that it was perfectly tight and even so, it rubbed sometimes on fast bumpy downhills. If you find yourself braking because of your gear carrying system you know you’re doing something wrong.
• I thought my King Cage front shock mini-racks were great but carrying just 1.5 liters of water on each side ended up breaking some of the titanium mounts. I would get something different so that I could carry water there.
• I tried an experiment for this trip – using a -1°C sleeping quilt instead of a heavier sleeping bag. It worked great and there was only one night when I had to add some socks and clothes [Stage 13]
• I used a 2 person bike-packing tent for this trip. Even though it weighed a couple hundred grams more than the 1 person version it was the right choice for me. Last years model Nemo Dragonfly Osmo.

Wytze

• The mountain bike with front suspension and wide tires (2.25“) were very good on the rough and sandy roads.
• The straight handle bar is easy in the downhills for braking.
• The front bag on the handle bar could hit the front tire in the downhill which I would like to avoid next time.
• The saddle bag could swing a little so a Tailfin could be a better option. (Although I doubt if I would buy one).
• My sleeping bag has a comfort rating of -1 Celsius but next time I would opt for a warmer one.

Anything else to add?

Andrew

I’ve noted that the four of us were often asked how we came to be riding together as we all come from different parts of the world; Switzerland, Netherlands, Australia and California. This made me think about what is the common thread that keeps the four of us together which can be testing at times?
I believe it’s a shared sense of adventure and knowing that what’s ahead can be changing and unknown every day. We seem to all do better when it gets harder as evidenced through the wet and mud to Lima [Stage 34]. Shared adversity sprinkled with a love of varied dining and culinary experiences.😊

Daniel

Our timing and going S to N was good.

Nathan

Vittoria Mezcal Trail XC 29×2.25 tires were the best possible tire for this trip. I knew they were very popular for the Tour Divide and I can see why. I pumped them up in Santa Cruz for a practice ride with Andrew. Then we flew to El Paso, did the tour and flew home. When I got home, the tires still had only Santa Cruz air in them. I never did ANYTHING to them! Daniel and Wytze also had them as rear tires. The grip you get on sand and slippery gravel is amazing. The abuse they took flying hard over millions of rocks with my loaded bike and me…amazing.

Wytze

Going to America for holidays with the Trump government is something I would not have done if this trip wasn’t planned. But it doesn’t affect the local people you meet. We only met friendly people, but they live somehow in their own American World.