An Epic Ride - Banff to Yellowstone

Yellowstone will be the end of my adventure on the Great Divide Route. Unfortunately my left knee was injured (probable meniscal tear) during a fall on some technical single track a few days prior and it has progressively been getting worse. The 1000 miles of trail between here and Banff have been nothing short of amazing. I'm planning to finish the GDR with a south to north trip from the Mexican border up to where I left off in Yellowstone
next summer. Super excited to get down to Sante Fe to see Kari and Skylar and explore the area a bit before I start my new hospitalist gig. I will be posting some post trip thoughts on gear for anyone interested. This was the first time I have ever done a blog and it was really just a lot of fun. I wanted to thank everyone that followed along. It was great reading the blogger posts and TMT comments along the way.

A sea of wheat - 800 miles from Banff

The past several days have taken me through countless seemingly endless seas of wheat with a contrasting backdrop of jagged granite peaks both to the east and west. Yesterday I pitched camp within minutes of a huge thunderstorm that left a small river flowing through the campground and enough thunder and lightning to keep me on edge for the duration. Spending the rest of the day today kicking back, reading, and giving my left knee a bit of attention. Then the plan is to ride to West Yellowstone tomorrow.

Yesterday I passed the 800 mile mark since leaving Banff and I crunched the numbers and realized I only have 600 miles until I cross into Colorado! Plan to ride the Grand Loop through Yellowstone Park and then connect back up with the GDR further to the south. Will be coming up to the infamous stretch through the dry desolate Great Basin in only a few days.

This will certainly be a time when I will appreciate the virtual limitless storage capacity of the BOB trailer (I plan on carrying 5 gallons of water through this section). The BOB has certainly lived up to it's name (Beast Of Burden) thus far with the relentless beatings from the trail and not even a squeak from him. It's amazing how attached I've gotten to all my gear. The many hours of research prior to the trip really has paid off.

The past several days I've been riding solo. I split up with my buddy Liron in Helena as I needed to spend a day in Helena to get a few things done for my upcoming hospitalist gig in Santa Fe. A few thoughts on riding solo... I really enjoy the quiet solitude in the evenings after the ride. I also have noticed that I am more focused during the ride. At times I feel more vulnerable, for instance when I am crossing over an exposed pass with dark threatening thunderheads quickly descending overhead, although at the same time it is empowering and just an entirely different experience. I enjoy the introspective aspect to riding solo. The prolonged unbroken rhythm that riding provides is such an ideal venue for soul searching, letting your mind wander in any direction it wants, a rarity in the fast paced chaotic environment of everyday life. I do however miss the camaraderie and shared excitement as well as suffering of riding with someone else.

A quick video of the BOB negotiating a downed tree (just have to copy and paste this into your browser address bar)...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uF8epu4iwCk&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Huckleberry Pass - 558 miles from Banff

Climbed up huckleberry pass today and before descending I took a few minutes to inhale handfuls of the unbelievably tasty Montana huckleberry, handpicked trail side. Never had a huckleberry before and I'd have to say I'm impressed. Those bears know what's up.

Great day of riding. All the gear is holding up well considering what I put it through yesterday. A lot of time to think and yet again some amazing views. Tomorrow is a full day of climbing with two divide crossings, another 5K+ day.

Quick clip from huckleberry pass...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udjkWpdUunY

Tough couple of days

Yesterday was a long hot haul from big fork with lots of climbing via a very
remote patchwork of densely wooded rough fire roads. Ended up putting in the longest daily mileage yet at 74 miles before stumbling into camp at Holland lake.

Today we climbed from the lake up over a pass on some technical trails. I ended up going off route and spent 2 hours attempting to haul my bike and trailer up the side of a mountain on an insanely rough trail. Actually had to disconnect the trailer and haul it over more than a dozen downed trees. Eventually found the correct trail but then on my descent on an amazing stretch of single track I went for a ride over my handlebars while going at a decent clip of about 20-25 mph. I got lucky and ended up getting by with just some minor scrapes and bruises. Feeling strong but a bit beat up right now. Will be camping out in Seeley to wait out a line of storm cells that are passing through.

A quick video from yesterday...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phGECSDiCrc

Video Logs - Batch One

A series of videos taken from Banff, Alberta to Whitefish, MT. Not sure why these aren't active links. This is the first time I've tried to post videos online. For the time being you'll probably have to copy and paste this into your browser's address bar. Anyone have any idea how to make these active links?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c31TY8BqPSs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FL0Fn_2bHSY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJecW3mLlGM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ybXjhGTa5U

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qPKDNVQ0YU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dA1t_ZBk88I

Whitefish MT - 322 miles from Banff

Descended into Whitefish this afternoon after a long day of climbing (5k+) yesterday. Camped out at Red Meadows last night and spent the evening hanging with an eclectic varied group, a guy through-hiking the little known pacific northwest trail from Glacier to the Pacific, a very gregarious and generous local Montana fisherman, a writer displaced since hurricane Katrina who was more or less living on the lake, and three other cyclists from Jersey. The company was great but we were eaten alive by literal swarms of the largest most aggressive mosquitos I've ever seen.

Had a beautiful descent into the trendy hopping little town of Whitefish today. The huckleberries are just starting to ripen and I am certainly "bear aware" on the descent but don't have much to worry about as my Israeli comrade (Liron) turns on a electronic ear deafening "rape alarm" that he picked up in Israel, attaching it his bike prior to the steep descents in known bear country flying at speeds of about 35 mph down these winding forrest roads scaring any wildlife and all grizzlies within a mile of the trail. I took a funny video of this and will post it as soon as I figure out how to do that on the blog (anybody have any ideas?).

We are averaging about 65-70 miles per day. A pace that allows us to certainly push ourselves physically yet also enjoy the ride. Actually surprised that we've only come across one guy riding the GDR since leaving Banff.

Crossed the US border today

Finished the Canadian section of the GDR today. The terrain has really changed here in Montana, grassy rolling plains and mountains blanketed with pines in the distance, a stark contrast from the jagged foreboding peaks of Alberta and British Columbia.

Tomorrow I head up and over the continental divide (2nd crossing) via whitefish pass then south along the western border of Glacier to Whitefish MT. It sounds like there's quite a few grizzlies up there and I know my nerves will be a bit on edge. I'm looking forward to getting south out of grizzly territory so I can just ride and enjoy the mountains. Gear is holding up well. Starting to get into a rhythm of packing, riding, and unpacking.

A few hours of sun before sunset helped dry the gear from the heavy downpour most of the day. Actually, really enjoyed riding in the rain today and luckily avoided the lightening and thunder in the distant.

Just wanted to thank everyone for their support. It's been great reading your posts.

Elkford - 110 miles from Banff

The riding has been unreal. Put in a solid 12 hours of riding yesterday, about 60 miles to Elk Pass. That section was more technical than expected and I definitely felt beat up by the end of the day, but the body is feeling strong and the bike and trailer have been running well with no issues.

Unbelievably beautiful and wild country. Only two days in and I've already passed a small cub and and a big grizzly. Encountered the grizzly early this afternoon. He was just strolling down the trail ahead of me, took a quick look back at me and just slowly strutted down the trail for quite a ways. My heart was pounding and a hundred different scenarios were running through my head. He eventually headed off trail and I ended up using my air horn from a distance, then clenching my bear spray tightly I peddled as fast as my legs would carry me.

I felt like I found my rhythm today. Just spinning, listening to some good tunes, and taking everything in. Today was a lot of dirt and gravel roads with some long descents. I can't believe how well the BOB trailer handles on steep rough downhills. Although, the climbs and hike-a-bikes are rough, with all that weight. It seems like every time I stop I'm thinking... what can I get rid off to drop even a few ounces.

The plan is to head to Fernie tomorrow, taking the Fernie alternative to bypass the "grizzly highway". Then I cross the border and head down to Eureka.

The big day!!!

Super excited and a bit nervous. Just left the campground and am heading to the GDR trailhead.

Cruising around Banff

A few pics near the Banff Springs Hotel near the GDR trailhead. Headed down the trail a bit just to let my tread get a feel of the GDR and couldn't believe how wild and remote it felt. The only thing holding me back is my little ibex trailer to haul all my gear (thanks United Airlines).

Here's the weight breakdown at this point (seems a little on the heavy side, thinking I may have to donate a couple of books before I hit the trail)...

Salsa El Mariachi bike: 32 lbs
BOB Trailer: 22 lbs
BOB dry bag loaded with gear: 42lbs
Additional dry bag: (food, water, books, electronics) 23 lbs

Total weight: 119 lbs Ouch! The legs are gonna feel that on those long climbs over the passes.

Just landed in Banff!

After delayed flights and delayed/lost baggage I finally made it to Banff. It looks like I'll be hanging out in Banff for the next day or two before I hit the trail waiting for my BOB trailer that missed the flight to Calgary and is somehow sitting in Chicago right now. The plan is to build up my bike up, tweak things a bit, sort through my gear, and go explore the area. Banff is just unreal. The mountains out here look so massive and untamed. Can't wait to get on my bike and head into the wild.

Also wanted to give a shout out to Matt at Art Doyle's Spokes and Pedals in Hudson Wisconsin for the last minute work on my bike. The bike made it here without a scratch and is working great!

Just thought I would post a list of useful iPhone apps that I will be taking with me for the Great Divide Route...

GPS Kit - packed with features, intuitive simple to use interface, cache any high resolution topo map at no cost to use when off the grid, easily download waypoints and routes (loaded the entire GDR in a few seconds - via a GPX file attached to an email).  Basically this has everything you would want in a GPS unit.
Map My Tour - I'll be using this to outline my route in real time, a great place to drop messages and pics to friends and family.  Check out the link in the upper right corner of the blog.
High Def Radar - unbelievably accurate way to track storm cells before they hit, this has saved me many time while out riding

Real Wind - an app that I usually use when sailing, displays wind speed and direction anywhere on the globe

Lightning Finder - tracks all lightning ground strikes in the US, lightning is one of those things that I don't mess around with, scary stuff.  Unbelievably accurate.  A few days ago a huge lightning bolt hit out in the middle of the lake next to our house and within a few seconds it was on the map and recorded the distance from me...0.1 miles!
Allstay Tent and Camp - maps out all nearby camping spots

Bike Shops of America - maps out all nearby bike shops
Hostels International - maps out all nearby hostels
Traumapedia - an ortho app that I have used in the ED to review techniques to manage dislocations etc
Uptodate - always useful, the go to source for anything medical, never leave home without it
Pocket universe 4 - an ingenious app to recognize and track just about anything in the night's sky
Photo gene 2 - photo editing app
Highlight cam - video editing app
Blogger - have to be able to post somehow while I'm out there riding

Just inventoried my gear for the Great Divide Route.  Have just about everything I need.  Still need to pick up a Garmin GPS with topo 24k maps to cover at least Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, and Colorado.  With my track record for getting lost I think this will be indispensable.  Less than 4 weeks until I hit the trail!

Only 14 days of residency and 3 call shifts left and I sever the umbilical of this insanely long road of medical training!!!  My revelate design cockpit bags arrived yesterday and the mighty El Mariachi has already tried them on and simply put, they look tight.  Super quality hand made bags.  My counter assault bear spray and marine horn fit nicely into the mountain feed bags with plenty of room for other gear (see pic).

It's official!  Just booked my flight to Banff Canada.  Less than 6 weeks until I hit the trail and head south on 2745 miles of trail that criss cross the spine of the continental divide from Banff, Canada to the Mexican border. Crossing the divide 30 times with over 200,000 feet of vertical climbing in some of the most beautiful and remote areas in the country.

1. If the bear resumes its approach, stand your ground, keep talking calmly, and prepare to use your deterrent.
2. If the bear cannot be deterred and is intent on attack, fall to the ground as close to contact as possible and play dead.
3. If an attack is prolonged or the bear starts eating you, it is no longer being defensive.

http://www.canadianrockies.net/grizzly/staying_safe.html

Came across this on a Canadian Rockies government site. Seriously good to know when I'm being eaten alive that that the grizzly is no longer being defensive. Really!!!

Still undecided on which PLB to pickup for the GDR.  After probably way too many hours of perusing the net and reading the fine print on the various units out there it's down to either the ResQLink 406 GPS or the Spot 2 Messenger.  I found this really helpful article and thought I'd post it here.  After reading this I'm thinking that the ResQLink is the better option for not only this trip but for upcoming offshore sailing trips.

"Power and Frequency are two key areas to consider when researching a life saving device. Satellites are thousands of miles away from earth, so your beacon’s signal needs to have enough power to travel that far and be able to go through anything between you and the satellite (trees, weather, out of slot canyons, etc.).

POWER: SPOT is powered by 400 milliWatts while ACR 406 MHz PLBs and EPIRBs use 5 Watts. You would need 12.5 SPOT units to equal the POWER of one ACR PLB or EPIRB! When your signal has to travel 22,000 miles to reach a satellite, you want to make sure you have more than enough power to get it there!

FREQUENCY: The basic principles of frequency are that the lower the frequency, the easier it can penetrate buildings, trees and meteorological activity that appear between the transmitting device (PLB, EPIRB or SPOT) and the receiving device (the satellites). FM radios and TV channels work on a lower frequency which is why they can penetrate buildings and the environment pretty easily. Now think about radar which uses a really high frequency. Radar works by hitting an object and bouncing off, that’s how radar knows where to place an airplane on the radar screen. So the higher the frequency, the less likely it can penetrate things in between, the lower the frequency, the easier it can penetrate. 406 MHz PLBs and EPIRBs use a dedicated frequency set up by the search and rescue community that is in the same range as UHF TV stations. SPOT uses the 1.6GHz frequency which is four times higher in the frequency spectrum. This means SPOT’s frequency is four times less likely to go through an object or weather than the lower 406 MHz frequency.

Considering power, combined with frequency, ACR’s 406 MHz beacon stands head and shoulders above satellite messenger systems like SPOT. ACR has 12.5 times more power and is four times more likely to penetrate objects in between the beacon and the satellite than SPOT.

Redundancies: PLBs and EPIRBs have multiple ways to contact SAR in order to get you rescued. SPOT has one single transmission method. PLBs and EPIRBs can contact SAR via 406 MHz, which locates your beacon using Doppler Shift, it can contact SAR using GPS data and it also has a 121.5 MHz homing frequency so when SAR forces get a few miles away from you, they can home in directly on your beacon and find you faster. SPOT uses GPS only to send its location. If you cannot download GPS, SAR will have no idea where you are!

Coverage: EPIRBs and PLBs use the Cospas-Sarsat satellite system which contains 2 different satellite systems (LEOSAR – Low earth orbiting and GEOSAR – Geostationary). These two systems cover every inch of the planet. SPOT tracker is part of Globalstar and uses the Globalstar (Nasdaq: GSAT) satellite system which only covers a certain percentage of the earth, but has quite a few locations that are undetectable."

-  http://desertexplorer.wordpress.com/2009/11/10/the-spot-messenger-and-personal-locator-beacons/

My great divide route setup

The mighty El Mariachi is finally built up and ready to take on the GDR. Gotta send a shout out to guys at Drummond Custom Cycles. 7 weeks and counting!