New Mexico

Montana

New Mexico: Antelope Wells (Startpunt en Grenspost met Mexico), Hachita, Separ, Silver City, Santa Clara, Hanover, Mimbres, Pie Town, Cuba Abiquiu

Distance: 678miles (1,091km) Highest: 10,230ft (3,120m) La Manga Pass Must see: Anasazi Indian sites Tip: Look out for the Desert Turtle!

New Mexico |

Distance: 544miles (875km) Highest: 11,910ft (3,633m) Indiana Pass: Get wet: Salida-Buena Vista rafting Tip: Cumbres & Toltec narrow rail trains (Cumbres Pass)

Colorado |

Distance: 481miles (774km) Highest: 9,658ft (2,946m) Togwotee Pass Must see: Yellowstone National Park Tip: Look for gold around South Pass City

Wyoming |

Distance: 72miles (115km) Tip: Lehmi Pass (close to Bannack), is where Corps of    Discovery 1st where West of the Great Divide.

Idaho |

Distance: 697miles (1,122km) Low: 2,577ft (786m) Must see: Glacier National Park Tip: Visit the hometown of Adventure cycling - Missoula

Montana|

The route is the longest mountain bike route in America, spanning 2470 miles (3952 km) from the Mexican border up to the Canadian border. The route generally follows the Continental Divide, crossing it no fewer than 27 times.

Yes, there's some climbing - over 200,000 ft total (61,000 m). About 90% of the route is on dirt roads or singletrack trails - only 10% of the route is paved.

Click on the buttons on the map and read more about the states

Watercontainers

The normal waterbottles we use are just 1.5l softdrink bottles - gives you more water at hand.

Minimum drink water per person is 4l a day, plus any water for cooking and cleaning. To cover this in New Mexico, two MSR waterbags are employed - 4l respectively 6l. The MSR water-filter fits, and can also be used as a field shower.

Wheel & Tyres

The standard MTB wheels are often built more for light-weight than for the heavy loads of camping gear and water bottles.

Use tyres with knobs on the side only when going on asphalt. With trajects of more than a day on tracks with soft sand, mud or rock, choose a full profile.

Foldable tyres with strong sidewall-long life & easy packing

New Mexico

At the Mexico border near Antelope Wells, the trail crosses the grayish limestone outcrops of the Big Hatchett Mountains, winding north through the arid New Mexico desert before it reaches the rugged, forested mountains of the Gila National Forest, and one of our country's most spectacular Wilderness Areas, the Aldo Leopold. The Trail then crosses the Badlands ("El Malpais"), one of the best examples of recent volcanic landscapes in the U.S. Here the Trail coincides with the 1,000-year-old Zuni-Acoma trade route, crossing rugged lava flows. Before reaching Colorado, the Trail travels through the Cibola National Forest, dramatic canyonlands near the famous Ghost Ranch and the Carson and Santa Fe National Forests.

The guidebook gives a reasonable break-down of the route into 62 riding days.   This is roughly an average of 40 miles per day.  Of course, the terrain is extremely varied, and your day-to-day mileage will vary accordingly.  Days that involve long, arduous climbs may be as short as 25 miles, whereas the longest day in the book is about 70 miles (through relatively flat, but still rolling desert terrain).   If you like to punish yourself, you can do the route in much less than 62 days.  Mountain bike endurance racer John Stamstad did it in 18 days, sleeping very little and using spam as his primary form of nourishment.  Doesn't sound like much fun to me.  Christy and I preferred a more relaxed pace (if you can call riding the great divide 'relaxed').  It took us 82 days in total.  18 of these days were rest days where we did not actually ride, but just hung out.  If you have the time to spare, it is better not to rush yourself, especially if you are feeling bad or the weather is extremely shitty.

Colorado: Platoro, Summitville, Del Norte, Doyleville, Sargents, Mears Junction, Poncha Springs, Hartsel, Como, Breckenridge, Frisco, Silverthorne, Radium, Steamboat Springs, Clark, Slater

Wyoming: Rawlins, Atlantic City, South Pass City, Boulder, Pinedale, Cora, Moran Junction

Idaho: 72miles or less than 3% of the trail

Montana: Lakeview, Lima, Polaris, Elkhorn Hotsprings, Wise River, Butte, Basin, Helena, Lincoln, Ovando, Swan River, Columbia Falls, Whitefish, Eureka, Port of Roosville

Research and mapping for the route began in 1994. The Adventure Cycling Association, commissioned Mac McCoy to set oto link existing roads and trails from Canada to Mexico.

"Montana has the most of USA's total of 1,000 Grizzly Bears vs. Canada's 31,000"