Great divide SoBo late June 2015

[bakerjw]

I've seen others post on here about mid Summer departures, so I wanted to start a thread about my own plans. Anyone is more than welcome along or to provide feedback. My dates are a bit flexible too, I'm just not wanting to be out on the route without the benefit of a full moon.

I am doing this ride (not a race) just to get an idea of what I would be up against if I decide to do the 2016 TD race. Since this is a ride to reconnoiter the route, I want to enjoy the ride without the added pressure of trying to make daily distance goals. I'm not going to pull off the trail to go play mini golf (a silly example) but I will stop to smell the roses and bask in the beauty of the journey. Other than smelling the roses and taking occasional pictures, at then end of the day, the goal is miles miles miles.

My planned route will be the Great Divide route from Banff to Helena Mt. IIRC, the distance is about 560 miles. From Helena, I will have a LBS lined up for a box to ship my bike back home. Since it is a state capital, I can get a flight into a hub and then get a flight home. This is Plan A.

I don't know what I'm up against with the route so I'm trying to scale my expectations.
56 miles a day - absolute minimum acceptable. <- bury me if I am this slow.
80 to 90 miles a day - doable at my current fitness level.
100-120 - achievable with my ongoing training.
120+ would necessitate calling my boss and taking a leave of absence while I continue South to complete the route.

My itinerary takes the full moon on July 2nd 2015 into account.
Arrive June 25th (Thursday) or 26th(Friday) 2015 in Calgary.
Ensure that bike arrives with me on the airline. If it does not, grab a hotel in Calgary and wait for bike to arrive.
If it is there, try to get to Banff on a shuttle.
Leave Banff on the 27th (Saturday) or the 28th (Sunday). Saturday is preferred.
Head down the route and enjoy life.

I have no plan to return directly home from Calgary unless my bike cannot be found by the airline.

Now for Plan "B"
In the event that I am meeting or possibly exceeding my "achievable" miles per day (100 to 120), then I might forgo bailing from the trail at Helena and just continue South. I will be looking at alternative in the months to come. I just made Plan A something that I know I can do.

So there it is in a nutshell. I am not a world class athlete with visions of doing the complete TD route in under 20 days, but I'm a strong rider and I love to climb. I'm sick enough that I prefer climbing to descending. The way I see it, everyone can descend, but not everyone can climb.

Ideas, thoughts, feedback?

[boglenn]

I did the Divide mid July-mid September solo this year.  One of the lesson I learned was that planning a daily distance can sometimes be self-defeating. My longest day was 125 miles and my shortest was 25. More than any other riding I have done, daily distance depends a great deal on the terrain, weather, mechanicals and road conditions, including accumulated feet of climbing.  I saw riders who bailed because they felt tied to a set distance until they could not do it. I saw riders who neglected their gear trying to make the miles and suffered breakdowns. What I found was that many days I felt I could continue on, but stopped and was grateful, especially when I saw the terrain the next day that I would have had to ride, tired and hungry.  I came over Boreas Pass out of Breckenridge soaking wet at 11,500 feet in 40 degree weather with a strong wind and rain. I could have done the 10 mile descent easily, but I was on the verge of hypothermia.  I stopped short on the miles got in my sleeping bag and warmed up. Sacrificing the miles that day might have saved me considering the treacherous descent.  Just saying  . . . be kind to your body and your equipment and they will get you through.

[bakerjw]

Good advice and appreciated. I have little idea of what I'm up against so others experiences carry a lot of weight. As you describe, sometimes discretion is the greater part of valor. i.e. hitting the sleeping bag to warm up. The good thing with that is that the next morning starts going downhill.

If I have a good mileage day, then it's great. If things go against me and I don't, then that's no problem. I'm not going to beat myself up as I want to come go out, enjoy the ride for what it is and come back with a "I'm glad I did this" attitude. That's not to say that daily mileage isn't important. If I am going past comfortable lodging but could still get another 40 miles, the mileage would win out.

[boglenn]

A piece of advice that worked for me:  You can download the cue sheets which appear on the Adventure Cycling maps for free into a word processing program.  Also, I bought the maps and got the changes which have accumulated since the last map printing.  I started 6 months early and combined the cues and the changes.  I also reviewed the route on google earth and added some information.  Also, I added some information that I got from on-line sources to my cue sheets.  The week before I left I printed out the final cue sheets in nice sized pieces that would fit nicely in my waterproof handlebar holder.  This allowed me to leave the maps in my pack.  Also, it was amazing that having seen the route from the google earth I often felt that I understood the route.  Make sure you download the cues to your phone, stick and send yourself an email with them attached. 

An example of a cue to add is "watch out for dogs" in Vallecitos, NM.

[offroute]

Some great nuggets, boglenn. Valecitos NM, haha...

Depending, you could still have snow and mud travel in July up there. For enjoyment sake, why not head south from Steamboat Springs, or start later? It's all about how leisurely versus racy you want to make it. Go do a testy section as fast and early in the season as you can if you really want to size up the race. Riding a user friendly chunk at whatever pace will be fun and give some sense of the race, but if I were serious about racing it, I would race a chunk of it first rather than tour it. Either way, you'll have fun and learn a lot.

Why the full moon? With days as long as they are up there at that time, I'm thankful for a night with no annoying light on.

[boglenn]

No seriously  . . . . The road through Vallecitos is 1/4 mile and in that distance you will meet at least 7 dogs off the leash and in the road. Two almost nailed me.  A friend from two years ago was bitten.  I talked to Matthew Lee last week (6 time winner of the race) and he said he was going to walk through town next time because the dogs run when you get off your bike. Speaking of dogs whenever I passed a herd of sheep in NM one of the dogs guarding the sheep would peel off and give chase. Again, if you stop they will too.  The dogs of NM was why I carried my bear spray in NM.

[steelsteed]

Hi there,

How is your divide trip planning coming? Are you still planning on the late June depart to take advantage of the July 2nd full moon?

I will be departing from Whitefish on the 3rd and if you are hitting your (even lowest) milage predictions you will probably catch up to me in no time!

Hope to see you out on the trail. This is also a trial for me and my first solo bike packing trip.

[tglass]

Hey bakerjw,

I'm planning to head solo out of Banff around the 27/28th though driving over from Vancouver so might not get there until the 29/30th. Don't think I'd be booking it at your speed but might see you along the way depending upon how first days go and when I actually get started.
 

[bakerjw]

Well, we all know how the life's priorities can redirect our efforts. 
This year ended up being the final stages of our house renovation. Completely gutting the lower level of the front of our house. Down to bare dirt to install a drainage system, moisture abatement, block walls in our 1/2 basement and new concrete floors. All before rebuilding the main floor, reframing, insulating and finishing. Up to 3 months straight as of now with another couple of months to go. It sure cut into my Summer plans of riding and outdoors.

But... I've still got some good bike legs and the rest of the year to build up my endurance once again. It is my hope to do the top 1/4 of the TDR next Summer before I get too much older.