Wicked Winds and Wild Roads

Great Divide Mountain Bike Route

We are not mountain bikers or bike packers.

So why not do a route with "mountain bike" in the name? Can the roads be any worse than some of the roads we've cycled? Maybe, probably.

The worst winds we've had before were in Patagonia. Can going South to North be against the winds any more challenging than other routes we've cycled? Maybe, probably.

"Let's go for it", we say!

We will go on our same bikes since 1992 and what we've ridden on all our other tours. We'll just pare down the gear since this will be one of the shorter tours we've done, June 1 to mid-August.

Patrick's dad, Frans and wife Petra will come from Holland to house sit and cat sit for us for 3 months. They will drive us to Antelope Wells, New Mexico and we'll start cycling North June 1st.

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Terry OBrienHey Rachel and Patrick,
Looks like an awesome ride!!
Looking forward to following your blog and see some awesome pictures from Patrick.

Good luck on your trip and Safe Travels!!
Terry and Janet
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2 years ago

Rachel and Patrick HugensThanks Terry and Janet...will you be heading North soon?
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2 years ago

George HallBest of luck on this tour! I'll be interested in following along to see how well your touring bikes work for this route. I have also thought about doing something similar on my touring bike - the only change is that I'd put larger tires on than I normally use. I'll be interested in your comments regarding how well your touring bikes function on this off-road route.
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2 years ago

Rachel and Patrick HugensHi George, time will tell, but I expect the biggest issue with our touring bikes are the relative narrow 37mm tires. We simply cannot fit anything wider in the frames. These bikes are 30 years old and have carried us through Patagonia, Himalayas and Mongolia so we'll give it our best shot.
Tailwinds!
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2 years ago

Kelly IniguezI love following Great Divide journals. We've run into riders several times over the years in Colorado. I will keep tabs on you, as we are touring in CO/NM this year and we might possibly be in the same area and be able to say hello.

BTW, we rode border to border, sort of a paved version of the Great Divide, in 2020. I felt that the wind was quite dependable to be from the south. Hopefully you will have the same experience!
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1 year ago

Rachel and Patrick HugensTo Kelly IniguezHi Kelly,
Are these still close to the dates of your plans? Kelly Iniguez dates: Abiquiu, NM (6/24), Del Norte, CO (6/26), Salida, CO (6/13).
We are now looking to start cycling from Antelope Wells May 27 or 28.
Placing us in Abiquiu close to 17 days later, when maybe you are in Salida?
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1 year ago

Kelly IniguezHmm. We will have to play it by ear. We are still in Salida on the 13th. Abiquiu didn’t make the final cut. We are in South Fork, near Del Norte, on the 26th. We wander around a lot, without actually going much of anywhere.

When we did the border to border trip, we rode about 2,500 miles. This trip is 2,200 and we stay in three states!

Let’s see what happens.
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1 year ago