BikeWonder

I came across this video that was posted a couple of days ago based on Lael Wilcox's Tour Divide endeavors. Hope you can enjoy it as much as I did.
Does anyone have any experiences with this route? I'd like to tackle it one day. I doubt my Miyata 1000 could handle it with 35mm tires, so I might save up from a gravel bike that can take 40mm+ tires and opt for lighter bikepacking gear. Cheers!

randallr

Thanks for posting this, really excellent video which goes into bigger issues than just the ride itself. Loved the interview with the elder lady from Ovando, MT

timdow

I did Rawlins, WY to Salida, CO then on down to Pueblo last Summer... basically all of ACA map #4 . Instead of subjecting my touring bike with 35mm tires to the task, I bought a 10 year old hard-tail and tweaked it a bit.

Spoonrobot 

My favorite albuterol fueled endurance racer.

zweitesmal2

Is this a thing?? I'm looking it up but can't see any information on performance gains. That would make it quite beneficial in the mountains for a flatlander I suppose (which she isn't). Now i'm curious as to what else is commonly used/abused just for personal cycling fun. I know a lot of athletes are admitting to marijuana use for training.

2cam16

Watched it last week. Pretty good stuff.

stardognine

Damn rain, err, damn snow. 🙄 😁

jcivic00

She mentions it in the video, however it was in reference to issues she was having in a prior event where she ended up in the hospital and ended up getting checked out for pneumonia, while on the route.

DeadGrandpa

The GDMBR is 80% or more non paved, so I would suggest that a plus bike is more appropriate than 40mm tires. I mean, you could do it if you were determined, but 2.25 inches wide is generally an acceptable minimum tire width. And a bike designed for loaded touring weight, unless you're accustomed to minimalist traveling.

3speed

2.25" an "acceptable" Minimum? Let's not go scaring people. I don't see any reason you'd want more tire. The difficulty of the Divide is more to do with climbing, elevation, weather, and most of all, length of the trip, not because the terrain is Crazy or anything. People(myself included) do real mountain biking on 2.25", with all the fun berms, drops, beds of fist sized rocks, etc, at speed. 2.25" is Plenty of tire for a slower paced ride, where a lot of that unpaved road is fire roads, etc. My best friend did the divide on 2.1" Race Kings. He's doing it again this coming year on another set of 2.1" Race Kings. His bike fits more tire, so I'm sure he would size up if he felt a desire to...

DeadGrandpa

I can't disagree with your assessment of an acceptable tire size. My info came from riders who have ridden the route, their opinions. Based on my experience on Forest Service roads, I would ride my rigid Plus bike, 29x3, just for the cushion and grip. I read one account of a woman who rode a folding bike with 20x2 inch tires. Determined.

3speed

Haha. Wow. That is determination. Personally, I'm planning to use a 26x2.1"(ish) wheeled MTB with a light suspension fork.

PedalingWalrus

I enjoyed the video but I have to say there were several touched upon topics that weren’t adequately covered or explained. In short, if she got money to produce a video and this was the final product then it was IMHO inadequate.

skookum

I think it is a better film because of the challenges encountered along the way. If Lael had just ridden the whole thing and set a new record it would be kind of dull.

Modern technology and social media makes this kind of thing possible, and at the same time it threatens to blow the whole thing apart.


I note that one of the cameramen was Jay Ritchey, Tom Ritchey's son. Jay was also the producer/director/cameraman of the Peru Divide film, El Silencio, released a year ago.


I would recommend a minimum of two inch tires for the route. You could do most of it with 40mm tires, but there are some very rough sections.