Sunday, June 7, 2015

The Dork Rides Again!

Your trusty field correspondent, the Wild Dork.
IN less than 48 hours, Pam and I board a bus for a three day bus ride to Banff, Alberta in order to go ride the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route (GDMBR).  When I tell people this they are typically more taken aback that we're riding Greyhound for three days than by the idea of biking 2700 miles through the Rockies.  Either way I guess we sound dumb.

BUT you dear reader have already heard of my long love affair with bus travel and bicycle touring, so this comes as no surprise.  Please follow along on our three month odyssey as we poke along the tracks and trails of the Continental Divide.  Our cameras will be coming along and hopefully we can post updates complete with pictures.  I have been led to believe that the route we're taking gets a little... remote, so that might not happen too readily.   Although at odds with my staunch Luddite values (I am not kidding, ask to see my $10 cell phone and my paper maps), we will be making at least one attempt at reason and carry a SPOT personal locator beacon.  Of course we hope to never utilize its emergency services feature, but it should allow you to follow our progress.  On the right sidebar of this page you should see a map which is a link to another map.  The first map is just something I stole from elsewhere.  The map you link to shows where we are, updated something like every 60 minutes.  Bike touring is a slow means of travel.  The only way to possibly make it look slower is to chart your position every hour...  (Editor's note: We'll actually only be updating about once a day.  It turns out you have to pay another $50-100 to update every 60 minutes.  $50-100 can buys lots of ramen and gummi bears.)

RIGHT now, Pam and I are checking through our bags and making sure everything is packed.  We just finished cramming the bikes into cardboard boxes for the bus trip.  (Did I mention that boxed bikes ride FREE on Greyhound?)  We've got our loonies (Canadian funny money), maps, camping reservations in Banff, and a vague schedule for the months ahead.  Any seasoned traveler knows that the moment that you make a really detailed plan and itinerary there are two outcomes.  You either avoid spontaneity (which is where the best stories come from) or that carefully assembled agenda gets shot to hell.   So we went ahead and avoided that.  At some point we will make it to the Mexican border (hopefully not a Tijuanan jail).  It's gonna be an awesome ride!

AND AWAY WE GO!


6 comments:

  1. You know i will be riding vicariously through your blog. Blessings for safety and the joy of the journey on you both!

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  2. Have a great trip, can't wait to see the pictures! Love, Pam's Mom

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  3. Thanks for calling last evening! It was so great to hear your voices and share news!! Be safe - more adventures to come!!

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  4. Been reading your blog for a few years. Interested to follow this trip. Have fun!

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