Off pavement riding - a lot of my training has been on pavement in town. I have been getting 30+ mile days in, with 1000 to 2000 feet of elevation gain. I need to do more riding off pavement, so the route is tailored to county and forest service roads, where I can. Key pieces of information is mph when riding off pavement and riding to non riding ratio. This will help me plan my tour days better.
Elevation - Average elevation gain on the divide tour will be around 3000 feet, so I need to get some some bigger days in, coupled with dirt roads.
Higher elevation - My training between 6000' and 7000'+ maps well to much of the divide route, however the Colorado portion will be more terrain above 9000'. This trip spends 3 of days riding at that general elevation.
Camping gear and systems - Use the gear (some of it new) in situ, prior to being solo and unable to flex. Actually going on a trip will help me understand time investments for various activities - cooking, setup, tear down, filtering water, hanging food, etc.
Electronics - I plan on using my cell phone for GPS, maps storage, music, podcasts. I have rechargable light, and emergency communicator. I have a usb power pack to recharge those units, and a solar cell to charge that. Learning how those systems work.
Food/Drink - Test energy and hydration needs on real riding days, and packing for a couple few days of camping.
The whole enchilada - A real trip forces me to actually pack everything I **THINK** I need for a trip. Packing order, weight distribution, where to pack things I commonly need for the day, what goes in the handle bar bag, what goes in day pack, rest in giant yellow BOB dry bag. How does the bike/trailer combo behave off pavement.
Below is a shot from the trip showing me and the whole setup ( @ Painted Rock CG, near Woodland Park).
How much does it weigh?
I've been training with the trailer, and 30+ lbs in the BOB trailer and gear in the Ortlieb handle bar bag. Not surprisingly, (in hindsight), the whole enchilada weight was quite a bit more; Here is the break down
BOB Ibex Trailer - 17 lbs.
Yellow dry Bag - 37 lbs
Camel backpack ( no water) - 10 lbs
Handle bar bag - 4.5 lbs
Water 5 x 24oz bottles - ~7.5 lbs.
Gads!! - 76 lbs!!! for the shakedown trip.
Gulp, this is 15 to 20 lbs more than what I have been training with; the 1st day of trip is the killer climb to boot ;-o
The route
Day 1 - Ride from home in NW Colorado Springs up Gold Camp Road and camp at primitive Wye campground. Gold camp road is the old railroad grade form C/S to Cripple creek, appears to average 3% to 4% grade. Some is paved, most is gravel, with a substantial section closed and unmaintained. Good proxy for back country route.
Day 2 - Wye Campground to Mueller state park - Follow Gold Camp Road until reaching Cripple creek mining district, taking country roads north CR 81 and then CR 61 to avoid busy Hwy 67.
Hop on hwy 67 for about 1.5 miles to Mueller entrance, then up, up, up to campsite.
Day 3 - Mueller State Park to Painted Rocks Campground. - Head north on Hwy 67 for few miles, and then N and NW out of Divide, using county and forest service roads. There are several options here.
Day 4 - Painted Rocks Campground to Palmer Lake or Monument and then back home to C/S via the (newly re-opened!!) Santa Fe regional trail.
My lovely bride will be meeting us at Mueller and Painted Rocks with our camping trailer, so I won't be exactly testing all of the gear and methods. My friend Don joined me on those two days as well, with his gear being transported with the trailer.
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
