New Season

My spare time has been used riding and tinkering with the bike since the last post. Then, I was trying to assess the best set up for a mountain bike tour such as Great Divide.

Although the trailer worked well I wanted to see how much of my full camping tour gear I could pack on to two wheels.

This is it.

The addition of Tri-bars (I might rarely use them on a good road in a headwind?) they constitute a useful attachment point for a bag across the handlebars. It contains sleeping mat, sleeping bag and dry spare clothes.

I now have a good sturdy and waterproof case for IPhone  mounted on the handlebar stem.

Under the down tube an adapted the bottle mount to carries my pan set with stove, crockery etc inside. Extra water carriers are mounted on the fork blades.  My water filter straps behind the seat pin and I constucted a support for a pannier rack from old tent poles, it seemed more stable and robust than a beam rack on the seat pin.

There's still a small space under the crossbar where I hope to fit a tool kit. So that leaves me with tent, waterproofs, stove fuel, documents and food to fit into the rack pack.

I found one with fold out  side pockets that allow occasional extra capacity. Useful getting from grocery to campsite but a bit flappy for a rugged ride.

I haven't tried it properly yet. This picture was last week when it was still snowing on Crossfell.

However it turned to summer this week and so I'm now thinking about where to do some "Tour Divide" type riding in this country.

In my trials the bike does feel much more like a lumbering beast than a racing machine. However I think without  the trailer the rolling resistance was less. If I can steer and balance I might get along faster. I will have to travel lighter but I'm never going to be 3 days from the nearest shop over here.

So look out for a Mountain Bike Tour around my favourite bits of Northern England sometime this summer I hope.

Equipment

I have thought long & hard about this subject. My starting point is that at times it was a long and rough ride and even with full suspension it was less than comfortable at times. How rigid or hardtail bike riders feel I can't imagine.
Having seen some of the Divide Racer set ups, it is possible to carry minimal camping gear on two wheels and it would no doubt be faster but I wonder if it would be fun. For a few days I was riding similar days to a guy on a Salsa Fargo 29er. He had a rolled pack across handlebars, a long stuff sack under the saddle and little packs fitted across the main frame triangle. He was literally miles faster on good roads but he had some struggles handling it over rough roads, particularly in cross winds.
With all the weight on two wheels the handling and the suspension (if you have it) suffers and wheels take more stress.
My set up with a light single wheel trailer left the bike handling at slow speeds (which the ride mostly is) fairly unchanged. I could change direction quickly, hop the wheels over obstacles and do the kind of riding that makes mountain biking fun. There is always a compromise and I have to admit that I couldn't let the bike go freely on descents, 35mph on roads and 25mph on loose surfaces could get worrying although I never lost it. However there is a bit of the tail wagging the dog especially with a heavier load.
Being able to take a heavier load is quite an advantage for some sections, where water is scarce and groceries days away, and the feeling of self reliance enables greater freedom with the route planning.
I think I got the equipment about right, I used everything I took, there were days early on where at times I was wearing all my riding kit and feeling cold though toward the end I had clothing I didn't wear for weeks.
A stove is an item many question is essential but I found that it enabled lighter dry foods to be carried and more convenient treatment of spring water. Eating foods rehydrated with boiled water was very helpful in consuming enough liquid and less laborious than filtering particularly when the source is a bit green.
That's a kind of overview,
More detail on equipment to follow.

Start/finish point, date and timing

Having now experienced the fantastically scenic Jasper NP I wouldn't feel the need to include that loop at the beginning. That was really a separate trip that I wanted to do whilst over there. It was good simple road touring, practice and conditioning but Calgary is nearer the start and the Banff area has lots of potential for preparation.
If snow levels were similar, last winter was deepest snow for some years, I'd maybe start a week later around the beginning of July. The only places snow made the route difficult were Red Meadow Lake and the Pass just before Seeley Lake, think it was called Richmond Peak or similar. Another week and I think it would have melted the trail just about clear.
Although I didn't get to meet any, grizzlies were reportedly around more in June due to the snow lying on higher ground. The first section out of Banff was closed due to one seen with cubs nearby. There was a good detour.
Not sure about the finish either, Hatchita to the border and back is just steady riding along a very straight tarmac road, hardly mountain biking, I think quite a few Dividers head for the border at El Paso which is not as far south but it does have an international airport handy.
Having said that, I did enjoy the finish west to Tucson and it would have been even better if the route through Chiricahua Wilderness National Monument had been open.
I was lucky with weather at the end and didn't find any impassable New Mexico mud even though I did ride all the off-road sections. I could see where it had been bad though. Earlier could be drier but hotter too. I don't think there is a perfect schedule.

Stats

After a good long rest I thought I would just add some after thoughts and stats which might be useful to anyone else considering riding The Great Divide Mountain Bike Route.
So stats.
My trip started from Edmonton with a 7 day road tour via Jasper NP to Banff.
After 1 day's rest in Banff, I took 67 and a half days to get to the Mexican Border Post at Antelope Wells. Of those, 55.5 days were riding days making progress along the route. There were 7 days riding without progress along the route. 5 days were rest days from the bike.
From the Mexican border I headed back up to Hatchita then West to Tucson Arizona. This added another 5 days.
In total I was away 86 days with about 2 days at the beginning and 4 at the end lost in travel and sorting the bike out.

Detailed stats are,
Total for whole trip 4185 miles ridden in 73 days with 8 days off.
Average speed 9.28mph. So about 6hrs 11 mins riding per day.
Total altitude gain 233435ft about 3197ft/day

Between Banff and Antelope Wells
I had 61.5 days riding ( inc. 7 not progressing)  with 6.5 days off = 68 days. 
384hr23min - about 6hr15min per day, 3366.5miles - 54.75 miles/day @ 8.75mph,
total alt 205,985ft - 3433ft/day,
3 days were trips aside and 2 days retraced and ridden again. Overview to follow.

Back Home

Well here I am home safe and sound. Back in a life that feels like I haven't been away. Was it just a dream? Nope I've got pictures to prove it.

Warm welcome, nice cup of tea and a sit down, what could be better?

Sunset

The rain cloud passed over and made for this sunset. Unfortunately as the Sun met the horizon it went behind one of those, do they call them sky walks? The tubes which link planes to terminals. The bike box is done now for hand luggage. Decided to try get the jet lag in first by snoozing in the evening and waking up at midnight.
So keeping awake by blogging until check in opens.
Coming home today.

Weather changing

Missed quite a rain storm outside this evening and when I picked up the box at a bike shop they said it was the first cool day in months.
It'll be a start in getting used to home weather?