Sunday, October 3, 2010

Tour Divide, it's no tour...it's a race!


Ride The Divide Movie Trailer from Ride The Divide on Vimeo.


Great Divide Mountain Bike Route

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Great Divide Mountain Bike Route (GDMBR) is a continuous long 

distance cycling route from Banff, AlbertaCanada to Antelope Wells, 
New MexicoUSA. As of 2010, the route is 2745 miles (4417 KM) long; its 
length is likely to change over time as the GDMBR is continually being 
refined to improve it. 

The GDMBR was developed by the Adventure Cycling Association (ACA)
and was inaugurated in 1998.  A set of highly detailed route maps is 
available from the ACA. A guidebook has also been published.
Route description
Following the Continental Divide as closely as practicable and crossing it 30 
times, about 90% of the GDMBR is on unpaved roads and trails and requires 
basic off-pavement riding skills tocomplete. The unpaved portions of the route 
range from high quality dirt or gravel roads to a fewshort sections of 
unmaintained trails which may not be possible for most people to ride at all. 
The GDMBR has over 200,000 feet (60960 meters) of elevation gain and loss 
for the rider to contend with. While most of the GDMBR is off the pavement, 
the route does not requirehighly technical mountain bike riding skills. The route 
has been designed to provide a riding experience primarily on very low trafficked 
roads through mostly undeveloped areas of the Rocky Mountain west.
The GDMBR is routed through a variety of terrain and geographic features. 
Highlights include the Flathead Valley in Alberta, Grand Teton National Park 
and the Great Divide Basin in WyomingSouth Park, and Boreas Pass in Colorado
and Polvadera Mesa and the Gila Wilderness in New Mexico. Colorado's Indiana 
Pass, at 11,910 feet (3630 meters), is the highest point on the route. On route, 
the rider will encounter isolated river valleys, mountain forests, wide open 
grasslands, high desert, and, the end of the ride, a section of the 
Chihuahuan Desert. The GDMBR passes though some larger towns, including 
Helena and Butte, MontanaPinedale and Rawlins, WyomingSteamboat Springs
BreckenridgeSalida, and Del Norte, Coloradoand Grants and 
Silver City, New Mexico. Otherwise, only extremely small towns will be encountered, 
limiting the variety of goods and services available to riders.

Riding the GDMBR
Logistical issues complicate completing the GDMBR as reliable food and water 
sources on some portions of the route are over 100 miles (160 KM) apart. 
Unpredictable mountain and desert weather can bring snow, rain, high winds, 
and temperature extremes at any time of year. Most people ride the route north 
to south. Southbound riders normally cannot start prior to mid June nor later the
end of September, however, due to the possibility of deep snow in the mountains 
and monsoon rains in New Mexico, careful attention to weather and climate is 
required to ensure the rider can complete the route without having to wait out 
impassible conditions. On portions of the route, rain can turn some sections of dirt 
roads into quagmires of adhesive mud; the only options for the rider to pass
these obstacles are to wait for the roads to dry or to carry their bike. 
As much of the route is not signposted, good navigation skills are also necessary. 
Riders should be self-sufficient and carry camping equipment as commercial lodging 
is not available for long stretches of the route. It is also helpful to be skilled in bike 
maintenance and repair. It is also not uncommon to encounter large mammals 
including Grizzly and Black BearMoose, and occasionally Mountain Lion.

For all the challenges, properly prepared and equipped riders can expect to have 
an enjoyable and adventurous experience. In 2010, National Geographic listed 
riding the GDMBR as number one of its top fifty best American adventures.[1]
A few people through-ride the GDMBR every year and trip reports written by 
some of these riders are available on the ACA website.[2]Typical times to ride 
the entire route range from six to ten weeks.

There are also two entirely self supported races every year on the GDMBR. 
The Tour Divide [3] follows the entire route, while the Great Divide Race [4]
which starts at the border in Roosville, Montanafollows the US portion only. 
In these events, the race clock runs 24 hours a day and the riders are allowed 
no outside support other than access to public facilities such as stores, motels, 
and bike shops. The record time to complete the Tour Divide in its 2010 routing
is 17 days, 23 hours and was set in 2009. The Tour Divide has been raced and 
completed on both single speed bicycles and on a tandem bicycle. There are 
neither entry fees nor prizes in either race.
      

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About the Korean-World Author

Brian Perich was an English as a Foreign Language (EFL) lecturer for a decade, father, and adventure cyclist based in South Korea.

Previously, Brian has led Canoe adventures in Quetico Provincial Park, Atikokan, Ontario, Canada (1993/1999); led Grand American camping adventures (2000); lived at Paramahansa Yogananda's SRF Ashram for 5 months (see the film "AWAKE"), formerly worked in titanium welding at Agilent Technologies, formerly worked in Winery industry in Marin County with Kendall Jackson in California; Surfing and Meditation continued for several years in California, British Columbia, South Korea, Yoga training in California 1999-2000.

Between 1994-1998 - Brian completed his own adventures with motorcycles. His motorcycling marathons took him across the United States and central/western Canada, while traveling solo over an astounding 24,000km in 60 days! Brian endured 900 mile/1300km average days in the motorcycle saddle and apparently loved every minute of those adventures.

Today, he has given up motorcycle adventures altogether, but finds an outlet for his enthusiasm in outdoor recreation while bicycle touring and micro-blogging about those experiences on his mountain bikes.

While employed as an English teacher in South Korea, Brian has became an advocate for bicycle touring on his mountain bikes. The Korean-World blog originated from those small adventures in Korea, now expanded to cover his recent trek down the TransMongolian highway to the Gobi Desert, cycling 900km east through the Khentii grasslands and in 2012 crossing Mongolia in 45 days, 2500 kilometers 1553 miles. HimalayasX expedition Brian previously cycled across western China, the Taklamakan Desert, the northern Himalayas of East Turkestan Xinjiang/Uyghur Autonomous Region, the corrugated back roads and mountains of Kham Tibet. Brian successfully completed his 2011 mountain bike expedition with 3200 kilometers / 1988 miles unsupported, on/off road MTB adventure cycling.
Brian has completed his second mountain bike journey, MongoliaX expedition - Crossing Mongolia 2012, an unsupported mountain bike MTB expedition across 2500km of Outer Mongolia from Ulanbaatar to Altai Taven-Bogd National Park bordering China, Russia and Mongolia.


In 2013, as a sequel to a trilogy of cycle tours, Brian enjoyed a more leisure bicycle tour onboard his Koga-Miyata World Traveller seeing the northern tier of the United States and western Canada covering 3400 kilometers / 2000 miles in 30 days. This North American cycle tour was called Totherocktour. Enjoying the adventure of bicycle travel and every great conversation started while traveling on the road - has refueled his inspirations to cycle around the Earth. In 2013, while he cycled solo from the Great Lake State of Michigan, United States to Banff National Park in the Canadian Rocky Mountains. He weaved through local communities and reconnected with friends, family and community after spending almost a decade in Asia.


Brian is now supporting several non-profit foundations through expeditions: IDEAS Foundation of Canada IDEAS is the acronym for Intestinal Disease Education and Awareness Society which supports the IBD community, those suffering from IBD-inflammatory bowel disease, also known as Crohn's and Ulcerative Colitis.


The second non-profit foundation is ETE.ORG - Education Through Expeditions, UK which supports educational outreach programs inside schools around the world. ETE connects explorers with students in the classroom, through an interactive online program in development (Beta).


Brian is researching support for a 18000 kilometer bicycle expedition across the Americas: North, Central and South America - ONE -Arctic to Argentina
Please contact him if you are interested in helping out.

Twitter: Cycleagain
Location: Gangneung, Gangwon-do, South Korea or southern Ontario, Canada.

Thanks for visiting my Journal from Asia

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Brian's friends have also been...Cycling in Korea!

Brian's friends have also been...Cycling in Korea!

Cycling in Korea, Warning: always wear a helmet! (I gave mine to my friend)

Cycling in Korea, Warning: always wear a helmet! (I gave mine to my friend)

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