Great Divide Route and Race

Home Schedule Climbs Prep Pre-race Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 The End

The Route

The Great Divide Route seems to be the ultimate long-distance cyclocross ride. It has been developed, mapped and described by Adventure Cycling. The section of their web site on the Great Divide Route provide details and an on-line store to purchase the maps.

There is also a book describing the route: Cycling the Great Divide: From Canada to Mexico on America's Premier Long Distance Mountain Bike Route by Michael McCoy.

The route starts in Rooseville, MT at the Canadian border. and finishes in Antelope Wells, NM at the border to Mexico. 4000 km (2500 miles) following the Continental Divide passing through Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado, and New Mexico.

The Race

The Great Divide Race - GDR is a self-supported, solo competition following the Adventure Cycling Route. The rules are straight forward: Do it yourself.

John Stamstad set the initial record with 18 days 5 hours and 37 minutes in 1999. The race has been held since 2003. Mike Curiak set the current record of 16 days and 57 minutes in 2004. Jay Petervary set a new race record in 2007 with 15 days, 4 hours, 18 minutes, beating Curiak's old record by almost one day.

The are various race reports:

There is also a discussion forum.

Besides doing a lot of pedal pushing, there are other challenges to overcome: grizzly bears. But now worries, the spray was old. Just use a fresh can of counter attack spray and everything will be just fine.