Intro to Great Divide Route (aka GDR)

Great Divide Route (GDR). This is a fully mapped 90% dirt road bicycle route from Banff, Alberta to the New Mexico / Mexico border at Antelope Wells. It passes through Alberta, MT, ID, WY, CO, and NM. The route was mapped for cyclists by Adventure Cycling about 8 years ago. 2700 miles, ~200,000 feet of elevation gain.

GDR vs Continental Divide Trail. The GDR is not the same as the CDT. The GDR is designed as a cycling route, it is 90% dirt road and 10% paved road. The CDT is a hiking path. Both paths are designed to stay as close to the continental divide as possible.

Life on the road. Most of the trip has access to groceries and/or cafes every day or two. There are a few stretches >100 miles with no access to food. There is also a 100+ mile stretch with no access to water. We will stay in USFS campgrounds, "rough" camping (i.e. just pitch a tent in a nice spot), and motels.

A few good links:
1) Adventure Cycling created the maps: http://www.adventurecycling.org/routes/greatdivide.cfm
2) A data-rich trip report from a couple who rode the GDR a couple years ago, including good photos and detailed map data. They rode south to north, so look at their gallery backwards to see what Jim and I will see: http://www.topofusion.com/divide/photos.php
3) Here's another blog with a lot of good data and links. In particular, there's a link to a google-map version of the route. http://thegreatdivideproject.blogspot.com/
4) For those of you with a competitive/racing instinct, the GDR race is the non-hyped alternative to the Tour de France. The 2007 GDR race is already over, so we won't see them. http://www.greatdividerace.com/
5) A terrific video Jim and I just watched about life on the road. If you have a hankering to go out and walk or bike, take a look at this video. This is what our trip would be like if either of us had the extrovert gene: http://www.kintarowalksjapan.com/