“Ready are you? What know you of ready?... A Jedi must have the deepest commitment, the most serious mind. This one a long time have I watched. All his life has he looked away... to the future, to the horizon. Never his mind on where he was. Hmm? What he was doing. Hmph. Adventure. Heh. Excitement. Heh. A Jedi craves not these things. You are reckless.” -Yoda
Chronology
Late Summer 2005- My friend Allison and I were on an adventure racing training expedition south of Steamboat Springs, near the Colorado River. After arriving at camp for the evening, we noticed a group of four touring cyclists setting up shop in the campsite next to us. With a five gallon water bluey as barter, I went on over to see what they were up to. Turned out the group was riding from Canada to Mexico on what was known as the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route, which generally follows the spine of the Continental Divide from North to South. They had no vehicle and no external logistical support. Everything they needed, they carried, resupplying along the way as they passed through small mountain towns. I saw maps, gear, logistical challenges, elevation profiles and a daunting amount of distance. Thats all it took. I immediately began redesigning my life to prepare for the trip.
Summer 2006 – BoundaryZero teammate Sandy, a hammer from the Aspen area named Ralph and I toured the Colorado Trail from Waterton Canyon westbound for three days. We carried way too much stuff (a loaded BOB Sandy and I shared…Ralph ran his own BOB,) I snapped a rear d hanger the first day with no replacement, lightning storms, burn areas, etc etc. We made it past the Lost Creek Wilderness bike bypass with good weather and up to Kenosha Pass in an extended downpour. Learned quite a bit about touring with gear and had a great time. I believe Ralph is riding from Alaska to the tip of South America right now, its supposed to take him two years. Sandy is training for endurance mountain bike racing with his sights set on the Durango MTB 100. See photos in an upcoming slide video.
Fall 2006 – In early September, I decided to test run a few sections of the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route. Initial plans were to ride the route Colorado top to bottom but it didn’t work out when I lost my transpo to Steamboat. I shifted gears and started from Salida with what I believed at the time was THE Divide gear package. Within 45 minutes of launch from Salida, I caught up to Ron Faul, who was riding the full route Banff to Mexico. Ron is a good guy and fun to ride with so I stuck with him till just outside of Chama, NM. I learned a ton of good beta from Ron, had a phenomenal time, gained some more long distance touring experience and decided the BOB trailer might not be necessary.
Spring 2007 – My goal was to have all the gear pieces in place by early April and bike configured by May of 07. Things have worked out well, I have all the pieces in place more or less. A few loose ends are still out there, but no show stoppers. Plane ticket is purchased, passport is ready, and a very nice Boulder local has let me borrow his hard shell bike case for the flight. See more as I post going forward, see training rides, and the bell will be tolling come the end of July.
