Holiday on Tour Divide route 2013

[Blackhound]

Last year I posted this thread:

http://bearbonesbikepacking.co.uk/phpBB ... ?f=7&t=376

A couple of people have shown interest so if there any takers lets do it!

* I will be in Ireland the last weekend in June so beginning of July is earliest I can go but after that I can be free for the summer.
* July will be good for the mountain areas as the snow should have gone and it should be warm as well, unlike early June in the race.
* I would prefer a Banff start but willing to do another section if other people prefer.
* Realistically Calgary, SLC & Denver are the main international airports though AMTRACK offer a rail service in a couple of areas.
* Assume ~2 week trip but I can stay longer and will probably stay about a month.
* Plan to be ridden at holiday pace.
* Route is not particularly technical being mostly on double-track but the terrain and views make up for this.

Depending on who is interested and how long available for I can start looking at a few options, particularly getting off the route to an airport.

A couple of distances:
Banff to Helena 610 miles
Banff to Butte 680 miles
Banff to Lima 870 miles
Banff to Steamboat Springs 1,550 miles
Banff to Breckenridge 1,700 miles.

Denver to Lima 700 miles
Denver to Breckenridge 80 miles

So, any takers? Any views on section to do.

Kevin

[Chew]

Definitely up for this Kevin.

I'll have a word with work and see how long i can get off. 3 Weeks might be doable, and a month if i'm cheeky enough. All of summer works for me, although certain weeks might make it easier to swing past work.

Quite like a Banff start but open to options.

How far a day do you recon we could ride in a day at a steady pace? That might help narrow down the options.

[Blackhound]

Matthew,

I sort of avoided giving daily distances as it will depend on weather, mechanicals, faffage and it being a holiday. I think 60-70 miles per day is easily doable, maybe more with a bear behind us;-). What I didn't want to do is put people off who might think 60 miles is a long way in a day. It is a long way in Mid Wales or Peak district but a lot easier in North America in nice weather on good trails. When all you have to do is eat, ride or sleep you can cover a decent distance.

[Bearbonesnorm]

Raises hand to show much interest ... I imagine it'll be easier for me to fit around others, so let's see who fancies it and I'll work around any plan that formulates :D

[soos]

Hey Kevin
I would love to go! Had other plans but have decided this is an opportunity too good to miss so please keep me in the loop.
Keen for a month!

Susan

[Blackhound]

Wow, 4 of us interested right off. Will let it lie for a few days for more folks to read and then we can see what sort of dates suit interested parties. Looks like Stuart & myself can fit in best with others who may have work considerations to fit round. And if Banff is preferred start.

All we need is an agreed start day for flights and then just ride as far as we want before getting off route at a suitable location. Given as much as a month could potentially make Colorado which I think I did in 2 weeks last year at a faster pace.

Will need to do some research on getting off route in places like Lima or Rawlins but Helena, Butte or Steamboat Springs should be easy enough. I actually think this will be the most difficult part to organise.

One of things we need to decide is to get as far south as we can or do we ride for half the time and double back through Missoula(?) and onto Whitefish to return home. My preference is to keep riding South if feasible but we can cover these details later.

[gairym]

This sounds like a hell of a trip!

Would love to join you, though there's no way I can swing it, and so I just thought that I'd vocalise my envy.

Will look forward to reading all about it.

[Chew]

I was interested in distance to see what a typical day would be over there, as i asumed it would be higher than mid Wales, and that average distance equates to what i did across Scotland. Gives me a rough guide as to the total distace i could look to cover in the period i'll have available.

I'll find out next week whats going to be a goer from works perspective.

Getting to Banff should be reasonably straight forward, but getting offroute and back home is going to take a bit of organising, but thats what long winter nights are for

[D Faff Master]

Possibly some useful info

You can definitely get a shuttlebus from Steamboat Springs to Denver airport as my wife used it when we were touring the Tour Divide route in the summer of 2010. Think it runs every 2 to 3 hours during the day. http://goalpine.com/

There is also a shuttlebus from Calgary to Banff. http://www.banffairporter.com/

To get off route from Colorado to Denver airport is realtively easy. Head to Winter Park (fantastic mountain in and around Winter Park - official singletrack everywhere and lots of local only trails that you can ride too). From Winter Park climb Rollins Pass (off -road) over to Nederland where a quiet road brings you down to Boulder. http://www.bikepacking.net/forum/index.php?topic=23.0

I've cycled from Denver airport to Boulder before back in 1999 can't remember the exact route but it was relatively cycle friendly and around 70 relatively flat miles. Or another bus option http://www.rtd-denver.com/skyride.shtml

Have fun. Mark

[Blackhound]

Thanks Mark, was aware of the Banff shuttle from last year and that of a shuttle from SS but did not have a link.

SS may be a bit of a stretch and it is getting from places like Butte, Lima or Rawlins that are achievable that we need to do some research. It would be nice to revisit Brush Mountain Lodge (55 miles before SS) though.

Had not thought of riding from Winter Park though, I rode in that area in 2001 but I hired a car to ride WPk, Vail, Fruita, Durango and Moab out of Denver.

[D Faff Master]

I had no car so only got to ride Winter Park, Grand Junction, Nederland and the stuff in and around Boulder.

Sourdough Trail was my favourite from what I can remember.

[99percentchimp]

Expression of interest.... been 25 years since I was in the Rockies backpacking! Dates flexible, might manage up to 2 weeks. Cheers, Mark

[Blackhound]

Mark,

email me at kevinDOTcunniffeATgmailDOTcom.

We are currently swapping emails offline. Likely to be longer than 2 weeks but should not be an issue to jump out at Helena / Butte and get to Seattle (possibly) for a flight home.