TOUR DIVIDE 2014

[Mike McElveen]

The C-store in Ferndale is no ordinary C-store.  It has produce, sandwiches, ice-cream, lots.  It's possible to get a good meal there.  It is off-route one mile, but it's flat and paved.

[Tigger]

 

I'm sure some will think I'm being dickish, but it appears that about a third of the comments so far have been about dynamo systems and lights.  There is a thread for dynamos under the "Question and Answer" portion of the forum.  Since the "what tire is best" Q will be beaten like a dead horse and take up another third of this thread and the thread will eventually approach 100+ pages, please take all dynamo and lighting questions to the Q&A portion of the forum. 

Let's try to keep this thread to Q's specific about the Divide Route and more Divide stoke/links to experiences/etc.

Great Feedback, most interested in Route Planning and Study for GPS, Tops, Stops and FUEL!!  Looking for the "Experience" Feedback on this Topic!!  June is GETTING CLOSER DAILY!!!

[Tigger]

Anyone that hasn't ordered the Cordillera Volume 5 is missing out!  A great book to fuel our TD fires and help a good cause.  Big shoutout to Chris Bennett for getting it together and for everyone that contributed stories.

Ordered the Cordillera thru LULU and was lost by the USPS.  Any suggestions???

[sthig]

Great Feedback, most interested in Route Planning and Study for GPS, Tops, Stops and FUEL!!  Looking for the "Experience" Feedback on this Topic!!  June is GETTING CLOSER DAILY!!!

In the Great Basin desert there's a ghost town way, way after Atlantic City.  In the ghost town there is like... uh... nothing BUT if you keep going down through it down an alleyway there is a little blue house with a four wheeler and 80 billion sheep around it.  There's a little dude in there that will give you water.  Super important if you're running low on water out there...

... albeit that was rather creepy to be in that area.

[sthig]

Great Feedback, most interested in Route Planning and Study for GPS, Tops, Stops and FUEL!!  Looking for the "Experience" Feedback on this Topic!!  June is GETTING CLOSER DAILY!!!

oh yeah and Atlantic City (in the Basin) has T H E best hamburger I've ever eaten, hands down.

and Pie Town is a sham... I hate to say it but 7.50 for a slice of pie?

[mulemariachi]

I've been watching some YouTube clips lately and reading as much as I can in regards to becoming uber proficient with my gps.  I don't know why but I can manage to get my self lost easier than I had expected.  Anybody have any links to a fav as far as becoming a Garmin Pro?  I'll be running my Oregon 450 at this point as it's what I've got. 

I also just put the Cordillera on order so I'm looking forward to seeing it any day now.

[fastmtnbiker33w]

If you want to be a pro, you've got to use it a lot.  I still miss turns when using the gps. I've used my gps for well over 5,000 miles of various routes.  I space off a lot, have it zoomed in too close/too far, and confuse colors of your track with colors on your base map.  At worst, I've lost a few hundred vertical feet and no more than half a mile.  In total, probably around 3 or 4 miles.  It just takes lots of practice.  I scoured the internet for info on how to get base maps...I have every part of the continent worthy of mountain biking on my gps.  The main thing is to learn how to put your track/route on your gps, set it to a color that stands out on your map, then go riding.

[sthig]

I've been watching some YouTube clips lately and reading as much as I can in regards to becoming uber proficient with my gps.  I don't know why but I can manage to get my self lost easier than I had expected.  Anybody have any links to a fav as far as becoming a Garmin Pro?  I'll be running my Oregon 450 at this point as it's what I've got.  

I also just put the Cordillera on order so I'm looking forward to seeing it any day now.

Fastmtnbiker33w nailed it on the head.  

I got lost three times on the divide...and I get lost in my own office building.  I got lost once in Montana on a climb where I bumped into Ron.  Mauro and I missed a turn in Wisdom Montana and rode 6 miles off route and in Idaho there was a place where the road split 4-5 ways and I had to guess which way was right (fortunately I guessed correctly).

After it was all said and done my thought process was "Follow the purple line"

In New Mexico after Pie Town my Oregeon 450 went "blink" and all my maps disappeared. Fortunately I had a backup card with all my data/maps on it.  But please, please heed this warning more than anything else:

TETHER YOUR GPS TWICE TO THINGS BECAUSE YOU WILL LOSE IT.  NO REALLY, THAT STUPID CLIP THEY SUPPLY YOU WITH DOES NOT WORK.  TETHER TWICE! DO NOT TAKE WHAT I'M SAYING LIGHTLY OR YOU WILL LOSE YOUR GPS!  YOU HEARIN' ME SON!?

I'm writing a book about my 2013 trek across the Divide.  Here's an excerpt on my GPS wiggling away
http://www.driven2divide.com/2014/01/27/excerpt-from-my-book/

[BobM]

...After it was all said and done my thought process was "Follow the purple line"...

I hate this.  If you want to win or set a record I suppose it is necessary, but I still hate the thought.  Maybe I'm too retro.  I liked the "old days" when navigation was part of the challenge.

[sthig]

BobM,

I have dyslexia.  Every time I whipped out my map I'd get everything mixed up.  I hear you, yes, the good ol days with navigating your own way has some fun involved with it.  But they would have not been "good ol days" for me, in fact it would have been "search and rescue helicopter looking for Scott" days

[fastmtnbiker33w]

If you aren't willing to embrace technology, maybe you should walk the route in moccasins or ride a horse or something.  If you aren't willing to do that, then whittle your bike out of wood.  This is a technology driven sport.  Satellite tracking, titanium frames, waterproof paper maps, XPAC laminated fabrics, dynamo hubs, waterproof breathables, phones with camera and gps, UV water filters....shall I go on? 

Nobody says you have to use any of this stuff.  There's way more to this sport than technology. 

[sthig]

"Satellite tracking, titanium frames, waterproof paper maps, XPAC laminated fabrics, dynamo hubs, waterproof breathables, phones with camera and gps, UV water filters....shall I go on?"

singlespeeds...

[mulemariachi]

I'm running a fantastic set of maps and I can lay down tracks, analyze my slugs etc etc.  I still manage to zoom in to far and head the wrong way on the purple line every once in a while.  I'd also like to take a map course to learn compass and map a little better just to have that skill even if only basic.  Because as sthig mentioned.... that stupid Garmin bar mount clip was designed to disappear at the worst of times.

On another topic, anybody doing anything special "mentally" to prepare?  I'm enjoying riding by myself and pushing the miles but in Victoria we have a new "Sensory Deprivation Tank" lounge that just opened up.  I'm dying to take it for a test run and see what that's all about.  It's not 100% divide related but at the same time I think it will give me a good feeling about how comfortable I can be when left alone in my own attic.

[BobM]

If you aren't willing to embrace technology, maybe you should walk the route in moccasins or ride a horse or something.  If you aren't willing to do that, then whittle your bike out of wood.  This is a technology driven sport.  Satellite tracking, titanium frames, waterproof paper maps, XPAC laminated fabrics, dynamo hubs, waterproof breathables, phones with camera and gps, UV water filters....shall I go on? 

Nobody says you have to use any of this stuff.  There's way more to this sport than technology. 

It's not the technology that turns me off - I'm a retired IT manager.  It's the thought of putting my head down and following a purple line on a screen that I can't stand.  I find that the maps and cues keep my mind focused and allow me to more fully appreciate the ride.  To each his/her own, though and if GPS improves the experience for you, go for it!

I'm not walking the route in moccasins, but I am pedaling in Keen sandals - does that count? 

[sthig]

I'm running a fantastic set of maps and I can lay down tracks, analyze my slugs etc etc.  I still manage to zoom in to far and head the wrong way on the purple line every once in a while.  I'd also like to take a map course to learn compass and map a little better just to have that skill even if only basic.  Because as sthig mentioned.... that stupid Garmin bar mount clip was designed to disappear at the worst of times.

On another topic, anybody doing anything special "mentally" to prepare?  I'm enjoying riding by myself and pushing the miles but in Victoria we have a new "Sensory Deprivation Tank" lounge that just opened up.  I'm dying to take it for a test run and see what that's all about.  It's not 100% divide related but at the same time I think it will give me a good feeling about how comfortable I can be when left alone in my own attic.

interesting on the SDT.  Let me know how that goes.

Go find a stretch of a 100 miles of nothing, ride that a couple of times.  There's your stretch of New Mex border to Cuba, then to Grants.  Or, do what I did and take your trainer, point it to a corner of your room, close all windows - don't listen to music - no tv and pedal for six hours without getting out of the saddle. 

You'll have days like that.

Then you'll have amazingly fun days too... like Ovando, Mt (SP?).  I could live there.

[mtbcast]

"following a purple line"

Follow a purple line to a man named Como. He'll know what to do!

[Marshal]

It's not the technology that turns me off - I'm a retired IT manager.  It's the thought of putting my head down and following a purple line on a screen that I can't stand.  I find that the maps and cues keep my mind focused and allow me to more fully appreciate the ride.  To each his/her own, though and if GPS improves the experience for you, go for it!

I'm not walking the route in moccasins, but I am pedaling in Keen sandals - does that count?  

agreed, to each his own; but for me the less I have to stop, pull out, unfold, read, study, decipher and repack a map or constantly focus on, set/watch/reset the cyclometer trip function the more I can absorb and enjoy the moment.  Once you become proficient with following a GPS track you no longer spend much time looking at it, a quick glance to confirm a turn and your mind can go back to enjoying the surrounding experience..........aside from a GPS being more efficient, less really is more

[Marshal]

interesting on the SDT.  Let me know how that goes.

Go find a stretch of a 100 miles of nothing, ride that a couple of times.  There's your stretch of New Mex border to Cuba, then to Grants.  Or, do what I did and take your trainer, point it to a corner of your room, close all windows - don't listen to music - no tv and pedal for six hours without getting out of the saddle.  

You'll have days like that.

Then you'll have amazingly fun days too... like Ovando, Mt (SP?).  I could live there.

You make parts of the TDR experience sound like mental torture. (funny how we all take away similar yet different experiences form the TDR)
 
My perspective is so different; there was never unending boredom.  Not a constant high but always something to see, smell, hear, taste and experience.  Whether from a micro or macro viewpoint.   This is not to say there was no physical pain; I dreaded the saddle sore agony to the point of tears.  And by NM mental exhaustion began to creep in.

For me each day had a pattern, an ebb and flow if you will in terms of pleasure, discomfort, hunger, strong legs, weak tired legs and yes some monotony and dullness.
 
Ha, but nothing I experienced during the TDR was even close to 6 hours on a trainer in a corner---ahhhhhh I would could never, ever inflict that on myself, you my friend are considerable tougher than I am....ahhh …I hear fingernails on chalkboards just thinking about it………

[james-o]

BobM, agreed on GPS vs cues, it's all personal but the style of the GDR was what really grabbed my attention all those years ago and my hat's off to anyone using those rules as a guide for their own race now. Detach and immerse. Lo-fi has it's drawbacks though. Finding that balance between removing technology and comforts from your experience and being competitive is part of the challenge and that goes for more than just navigation. (no intention of starting a GPS for-against debate, just my 2p on why it's not a go-to tool for some)

agreed, to each his own; but for me the less I have to stop, pull out, unfold, read, study, decipher and repack a map or constantly focus on, set/watch/reset the cyclometer trip function the more I can absorb and enjoy the moment.  Once you become proficient with following a GPS track you no longer spend much time looking at it, a quick glance to confirm a turn and your mind can go back to enjoying the surrounding experience..........aside from a GPS being more efficient, less really is more

Good cue notes formatting only needs a glance too and accurate computer only needs a quick adjustment here and there, but all that aside - your reason for GPS is the same as mine for cues-only was - shows that it really is personal and what we get from the experience and why is what's important, not the detail of how we achieve it.

[sthig]

You make parts of the TDR experience sound like mental torture. (funny how we all take away similar yet different experiences form the TDR)
 

I'm writing a book about my 2013 race across the Divide.  I can, with about 90% accuracy, tell you my way of telling what I experienced will be vastly different than the next person's   even people I rode with!

I was worried that I'd crack under the long lonely rides so I spent a fair amount of time prepping for the mental strain put on you by the divide.  The result was that I finished and felt good about where I finished at

I could not have made the Divide without a GPS.  I was an Eagle Scout and I remember failing orientation 3 times because my dyslexia made it very difficult to operate a compass + map.  So yes, to each his own.