$$ and the TD

[bmike-vt]

How much does it cost? How much did you spend?
Did you bank the $$, raise it from sponsors? Eat ramen for 2 years?
Spend the trust fund or the kids college tuition?
Did you quit the job and just go for it?



I'm planning for a run at it in 2013 or so.
I'm barely self employed and a part time daddy day care provider for our little one, have a supportive family, and I'm just starting to get my head into the scope.

The wife and I are approaching it as a small business venture - planning, stacking up the costs, writing the budget on how to get me there.
And this is all happening as I try and figure out how to train my ass off.
And get some mileage in out west, which is far far away from me in VT.


Very curious how folks get it done.
I'm not even close to being a sponsored rider, and definitely do not come at this from a racing background.
Just a love of the impossible, and of riding a bike, any bike, for any distance.

[Jilleo]

I had a similar situation - no sponsorships, no hope for them. I bet most of the people who would participate in this event are that way. I spent about $2,000 out of pocket for the race itself, including transport from Salt Lake City to Banff (combination of a plane ticket and a three-way-split drive from Denver to Banff), about $400 in bike repairs in Steamboat Springs, food (mostly groceries, not many restaurant meals) and a whole lot of hotel rooms (comfort touring is the way to go if you ask me), and gas money for my parents driving from Antelope Wells to SLC. In my view, $2,000 seems like a bargain for a three-plus-week vacation. I think it's a misconception that riding the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route is prohibitively expensive.

Budgeting the time, on the other hand, is a whole different story.

[bmike-vt]

thanks jill. been peaking at your blog looking at the equipment post you did. $2400 for a 3 week trip is a steal.
my issue will be budgeting time to do it in 1 shot. this will include time for the fam to be out west with me for part of it - our little one will be a 5 year old... certainly more mobile than now.

i was budgeting $4k for PBP in 2011 (which includes the costs for family to fly and hang out in paris while i ride).

[Pivvay]

All I can say is that eating out of gas stations and restaurants isn't cheap and don't budget bare bones. Getting a hotel room or a few meals (at once) and accompanying monster bill is well worth it if you want to finish. Having a fresh drivetrain installed or parts fixed immediately is worth the expense. I looked at it as a credit card tour with no limit. I suppose there was one in the back of my mind but I never questioned food costs or anything, just bought what my body needed to keep going. Those who are worried about money usually have a much harder time out there. I saved a ton, quit my job and have no sponsorship to speak of. I suppose I get little perks here and there but I rode no free gear on the tour divide. I started with a pretty fresh bike and parts in 2009 to minimize chances of breakage. Wheels and drivetrain are the biggest keys IMO.

Sponsorship is available to more people than you realize. It's more about promoting a brand and being visible than being fast or having crazy awesome results. Write to all the companies you want gear from with a well written and purposeful letter. Usually budget decisions for the following year's sponsorship happen around now.

It's not cheap but if you have time to save and do it right, you might as well plan for at least 30% of the nights in hotel rooms, a hot meal a day plus $20 or more at the gas station for food and batteries. The faster you are the cheaper it is in some ways.

[Jilleo]

Back in 2003, I managed to pull off a two-month, cross-country road bike tour on a budget of $10 a day. Spending closer to $80 or $90 a day for Tour Divide felt hugely luxurious. I also did it with equipment I had already been riding for more than a year, with a few minimal upgrades such as a new drivetrain.

But I fully agree with Chris. Get a good credit card and go at it no-holds-barred. The last thing you need out there is a crappy night of sleep because you couldn't swing for a $100/night hotel room at a crucial point.

[bmike-vt]

Thanks Jill and Chris. Hopefully more folks will chime in... maybe if the rules thread dies down a bit...
Bueller? Bueller?

[Slowerthensnot]

all of my attempts have been with a $40 a day budget. and i didn't seem to spend even that much unless hitting a motel ect...  this year i got to my folks about 50 miles short of steamboat on $350

[Carney]

this year i got to my folks about 50 miles short of steamboat on $350

This is a quote from Dave N. in the Breckenridge grocery store the weekend of the Firecracker....

"Sweet, 1,000 calories for 99 cents!!!"  (Animal crackers)

On a related note, I toured for 2 months one summer and budgeted $8 per person per day (my bro and I). Keep in mind we paid for camping/hotels only once and it was $5, so the $8 was really only for food and we certainly were not racing, so ramen, oatmeal, and peanut butter were our standards. If I was to do it again with an emphasis on speed rather than my wallet I would guess $40-$50/day would be a good place to start.

Afterall, I still can't eat ramen...

[Pivvay]

Yea racing makes it different for sure. You trade time making PB&J's and hanging out in camp for riding and gorging in restaurants and getting sandwiches made at the same time to go. You can order a pizza and go to the store to resupply while it's being made.

When you're not sleeping a lot every night, sometimes a night of quality sleep out of the rain in a hotel is sorely needed.

Some hotels out there are really expensive (Sparwood, Boulder, Abiqiu) other places are cheap (Lincoln, the little heated rooms after Togwotee on the highway) and some places like Holland lake lodge are expensive but probably worth it since they were so nice to me in 2008.