Any of the Tour Divide Cordillera volumes are great as they are actual accounts of the riders in each of the years they rode. "Trail Magic and the art of soft pedaling" was very good.

What brnd of cozy is that? It looks very effective.

I purchased a Yakima Two Timer for my son, very affordable. I purchased the fat tire straps as an addition and it works very well.

I started not to long ago myself and purchased a Giant Sedona DX $450 to do short casual rides on groomed trails or pavement. I decided that I  really enjoyed riding but wanted something more so I  did endless research  like so many do and almost went crazy with the  choices. I want to ride both pavement and forest gravel/fire roads so for me it was a toss up between the Surly troll or Salsa Fargo. As soon as I  was able to ride the 2018 Salsa Fargo GX, cream colored, I  fell in love.  So far it has served me very well and now that the snow has fallen I  also purchased a used 2016 Salsa Mukluk and enjoy this one as well. It allows me to easily travel the snowy forest roads until the snow melts and I once again can ride the Fargo.

There are so many good choices, I  don't think you have to ride them all just a few to understand what feels good. The one thing I  do know for sure and that was very surprising is that the Woodchipper drop bars are awesome. I weigh 235lbs, am 52 years young and 5' 10" tall. I find the Woodchippers much more comfortable than the flat bars that I  have used. As a matter  of fact I  just replaced my Mukluk flat bars with Surly Moloko bars because after 8 miles the flat bars would cause my hands to go numb but with the moloko bars riding 36 miles never bothers my hands because of the many different hand positions avaible just like on the woodchippers.

Hope something I  said helps. Good luck.