Mrs Hillsplease has signed me off to do the GDR. Result. Is it gravel/adventure bike or mtb territory? Doing it guessing at 30-35 days, not racing it on account of being fat and old. Any ideas please? Was thinking Alpkit.

The Tour Divide Race? Banff to Anteope Wells? That’s MTB 29er territory I believe. A few from STW have done it and should be able to add something more informative.

Edit: I belive the tyre answer is WTB Nano 😉

I’d suggest not taking a gravel (CX) bike. Though some do, it won’t make it faster, just more painful.

Take a MTB. Do your research. Get less fat and more fit. Ride your bike. A lot. Ride it uphill more. 60,000m of climbing on the route. Don’t worry about kit yet. Ride your bike.

Enjoy it. It’s an experience.

Feel free to ask questions:

Words: http://www.gregorymay.ie/?p=3522
Pre leave kit list: http://www.gregorymay.ie/?p=2998
Post Ride kit breakdown http://www.gregorymay.ie/?p=3034

EDIT: Also, TLS – take less shit. Batteries are heavy.

After my tour of BC and Alberta this year I’m loosely thinking about this for next year pending looming redundancy…ie if I get made redundant I’ll be riding it….it’s been a long term goal for about 10 years even got as far as building the bike 7years ago. Still a favourite bike.

Other than that I have nothing to add other than bike time.

I toured the route last summer with my partner, took 46 days. Was a fairly comfortable pace, we could have done it faster, but actually I wish we had taken more time to see things along the way.

Used a rigid 29er, 90% is not challenging terrain so I don’t belive suspension is worth while.

Blog here if you’re interested :

https://backofbeyondcycling.com/

Divide stuff is further down the page. Feel free to email any questions!

Forumites – very many thanks. Greg- I’ll read your published stuff and then mither you if that’s OK? Doesn’t 60,000 anything get you close to the moon in terms of elevation gain? Thanks again.

A retired mate of mine is currently going the route on his touring bike. He’s allowing 7 weeks for the whole thing including travel and a couple of rest days.

hillsplease – no problem

Drop barred rigid 29er?

Diving the Great

OP – each year prior to the Tour Divide one of the American bikepacking sites shows some of the bike setups of that year’s riders. Here’s this year’s Obviously there’s not much info about how long the rider has used that bike etc. but it’s a start.

My approach would be to work out the proportions of different trail/road surfaces and figure out what was best for the predominant type.

Apologies to Greg for the PG forks in the header image on that page 😆

Greg – many thanks – awesome and oddly moving write up of the GDR. Sounded brilliant and awful at times.

hillsplease – Member
Greg – many thanks – awesome and oddly moving write up of the GDR. Sounded brilliant and awful at times.

As I rolled into Antelope Wells last year I was delighted to have finished and vowed never to do it again. Right now I’d do it at the drop of a hat! 😆

Similar dude, similar.

Reading the write up of the bikes/set ups that people are going to use on the route is always one the things I like to read. Whilst Salsa features a lot it’s always nice to see the variety

When thinking about the bike (on all rides, not just this one), don’t factor in mileage on road/off road only, off road miles are slower! Time is another factor.

As an asside Greg. Just read your forays into mrt on bearbones.

Really enjoying your perspective just can’t seem to log in to bearbones

*nods* No worries, hope it’s of interest. Something I’ve wanted to do for a very long time, happy I’m doing it now.