BTW, here's my notional route to connect AZT to GDT:  http://ridewithgps.com/routes/4044441

Awesome route! Up to UT-35, my provisional route was almost identical, except detours for services to Escalante, Salina and Spanish Fork. I am now planning to go east from Boulder, along Capitol Reef NP and through San Rafael Swell to Nine Mile Canyon. Should be scenic too!

Mauro, sorry to highjack your topic. Now that a lot of Utahtrail is off in May, what are your plans?

KeneticSam, thanks for the quick reply! I will relocate my route further to the east. Somewhere I have to get to the Salt Lake area, so I trust the paved Wolf Creek pass (9500 ft) will bring me there.

For 2014 I have in mind to cycle on dirt roads from Tucson-AZ to Vancouver-BC, through Arizona, Utah, Idaho and Washington.
I am European and in the past years I did several bike tours in the US. I am familiar the distinction between public and private lands regarding use of roads and camping, and with the existance of Indian reservations languishing in poverty behind the few casinos along the highways.
I  noticed that American companions that I had occasionally on some of these tours, e.g. on the GDMBR, were reluctant to use dirt roads going through these reservations.
My provisional route crosses several Indian reservations, e.g. the San Carlos reservation in AZ, the Uintah reservation in Utah, the Nez-Perce reservation in Idaho and possibly the Colville reservation in Washington
I certainly don't want to intrude on the rights and sensibilities of Natives Americans. I have the impression that they got a very poor deal in the past.

Questions:
(1) Is there a shared feeling that as an outsider you shouldn't take the dirt roads through the reservations?
(2) Is it 'safe' to ride there as a soloist, apart from the nuisance of a few unleashed dogs?
(3) Is there a distinction between private and public land, or is it all private?
(4) How about wild camping inside a reservation?

I'm glad that a local expert tuned in on this issue.
I am not contemplating the Utahtrail, but a south-to-north traverse on dirt roads at end of May/early June, starting roughly at the northern end of the Arizona Trail and entering Idaho from the Curlew Valley.
KeneticSam, could you be more specific on your statement? Does it equally apply to the Markagunt Plateau in the SW, as to the Wasatch Plateau between Salina and Spanish Fork (i.e. the Skyline Drive) and to the SW side of the Uinta Range (between Hanna and Kamas)?

Casey, I am riding through Idaho in mid-June to mid-July, south to north. Is the main route then snow-free? I am less interested in doing the singletrack options, as my bike is heavily loaded.

... The bridge over the Elk river before Elkford could be interesting. I don't know if it is scheduled to be repaired before June. I think I'd consider swimming before a 30 mile detour! ...
Craig.

I think you misread Mike McElveen's journal. It says that from the bridge it's 30 miles to Elkford. I don't think there is one mile difference between the road on the right hand side (over the bridge) or on the left hand side of the Elk river.

This from Steve Wilkinson (2009) is as good as any book and free :
http://www.bikepacking.net/wp/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/TD_write-up.pdf

If you go to the following website and put the markers at the points you are interested in, you'll not only find the distance but also the altitude profile in-between.
http://www.eatsleepridegreatdivide.com/#start=0&end=2691

@mathieu: I always camp, but your other points make sense to me. The exceptions might be places like the Maritime Alps (little water, thinly populated).

Even in the Alpes-Maritimes you hardly find a route that doesn't hit upon at least one mountain cabin each day offering food and drinks. I don't believe any biker in Europe carries 3-6 liters of water.

Typical differences between Alps/Pyrenees and US mountain regions:
- Europe is more densily populated : you find services (e.g. food, liquids) much closer, usually every day.
- European mountains have plenty streams of running water; US mountains are mostly semi-deserts.
- European mountains are profusely sprinkled with mountain cabins offering lodging and services; in the US you have to camp.
The result is that in the US your bags need more volume and you carry more weight.

Look what European bikers do when they go on the Tour Divide Race!

The race is on. Mike Hall is not in it, but he has a worthy stand in : Kristof Allegaert from Belgium. After 5 days he is leading by a wide margin, averaging about 370 km (230 mi) per day.
See http://trackleaders.com/transconrace13
There is no prescribed route, so the riders are scattered over the map.
For rules and riders, see http://reportage.transcontinentalrace.com/?page_id=357

... With the problems they have had and are pulling through it would be ashamed to get cut...they are what the whole tour is about!

How pathetic! This is a comment from the world where misfortune has no place. Fortunately, it is not the world we live in.

Ever cared to dig in the history of the TD race?
In 2009 Erik Lobeck caught giardia south of Pie Town. He had to withdraw. Next year he returned and gave Matthew Lee a strong battle until his rear derailler ripped off in the sticky mud on the Old Bannack road. He finished in joined 2-3 position, but was later disqualified because he had made a move against the rules to get his derailler repaired.
In 2009 Per Eklof hit a pothole 30 miles south of Silver City. He never saw the finish line.
In 2011 Justin Simoni crashed on the CDT alternate, some 15 miles north of Silver City. He had showed true TD spirit by going in the snow-covered Flathead valley, bypassed by all other racers. He didn't get to the finish line.

Yes, shit happens and in a race with cutoff time (not this TD'13) it may drop you behind the cutoff. So what? It may earn you the respect that an unbounded finish time doesn't.

Maybe I missed an earlier reference, but Eddy Clark's pics in Mountain Bike again capture the race atmosphere brilliantly.
http://www.mountainbike.com/mountainbikecom/featured-stories/flash-light
 

Hi all,
After having toured the GDMBR in both directions, I am studying on a parallel dirt route for touring next year, roughly from Tucson to Vancouver, through Arizona, Utah, Idaho, Washington and British Columbia. There are only a few ‘officially’ mapped routes in these states from which I can draw. I see that Google Maps for bicycles has several bicycle routes in these areas, but the problem is that I do not see a way to judge their difficulty, except by a superficial impression from a 3D helicopter view.

This brings up my point: would it be possible to implement a grading system for dirt roads?

For example, using a 6-point scale similarly to the old UIAA mountaineering scale: 1=easy, 2=little difficult, 3=difficult, 4=seriously difficult, 5=very difficult, 6=extremely difficult.
Presumably the word ‘difficult’ should be interpreted as ‘technical/strenuous’ for bikers.
Probably roads would be in the lower part of the scale and single-trails in the upper part.
So ‘1’ would stand for ‘hard, smooth, level  road’ and ‘6’ for ‘extremely stony, steep, exposed single-trail, HAB except for the elite’.

Of course, there is always the provision of weather conditions and season -as in mountaineering- but I believe some form ‘normality’ could be defined. Probably in mountain areas there should be a differentiation for going a road in one direction or the other.

When I look to the map of Arizona (I have the Topographic Recreational Map from GTR Mapping), I have the impression that with a clear definition of ‘difficulty’,  a collection of the knowledge from local bikers could fill in 95% of the dirt road grid within 6 months!

With an input and content policy similar to Wikipedia, the insights and wisdom of many could be accumulated and somehow peer-guided to a broad consensus. 

I guess it would not be too difficult to design a mash-up for Google Maps, in which dirt roads are color-coded by their difficulty. With such a map anyone can easily select a day- or multi-day itinerary to his preference.

Comments please!

Here is photographic proof of the finish. You figure out who is who and who was ahead. We had trouble getting them to hit their check in buttons. Jesse Carlsson was there to join in their arrival too. I furnished Cola, not beer. But, they soon had some.

Just read a first-hand account of the sprint finish for 3rd place on http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/tour-divide-2013/page/8
Glad that they fought it out, not a cowardly truce.

Congratulations to the Belgians Gunther Desmedt and Tim van den Daele who finished 19th and 20th in less than 21 days. Shows that besides world-class beers they have good dirt riders too (joke, cyclecross!!).
I hope it's an inspiration for dutch riders, who haven't been on the TD start line yet. A bit of a shame for the country with the highest number of bicycles per capita. It seems that we are world-leaders on e-bikes too.

Hello everybody, im starting on the 11th of august in Banff and looking for people to ride with. Im from Holland and 39 years old.

Jerry

Watch http://forums.adventurecycling.org/index.php?topic=11764.0 whether the route from Banff is open. You'll probably have to bypass some of the Canadian trails.

Latest email from ACA

What is the latest...? The cited ACA mail is from June 28 and the situation is continuously evolving.
Look on http://forums.adventurecycling.org/index.php?topic=11764.15 for the most recent advice of July 5, 10 am.

Breaking news on twitter: Alex Harris "sprinted from a mile out - took 3rd"...

Congratulations to AH! A 'no first attack' treaty would have diminished the performance of all three.
Since they had 4 hrs lead on BP and finishing time is sui generis, they could then as well have taken a room in Silver City, lock it, and hand the key to the hotel owner for 3 hrs.
Probably the ranking corresponds to the breakaway of these nations from the Commonwealth!

The spotty SPOTS keep this race for third place hanging in suspense. From what I see JO was at a point 3h28m ago where LC was 2h44m ago. And AH was 59m ago at a point where LC was also 59m ago. So could JO be in a breakaway?

Jesse Carlsson at Antelope Wells and restaurant in Lordsburg where I first met Matthew Lee. In fact he is sitting where Matthew was sitting. That is my ugly brother, Roger, sitting with him. Getting in the truck to go to church this morning, my wife found all of his credit cards on the floor of the truck. We drove up to Silver City and we got to see him again. He was resting peacefully at the motel.

Thanks for the nice pics! Jesse seems to have a habit of losing his credit cards; I remember he lost one in Como too. Congratulations to him with a fantastic ride.

AW closes at 4 pm. It is amazing that the post with markers seems still accessible at all time, now that many US border stations have become hugh fortresses.