Tuesday morning we were before 10am at MEC to hopefully get the trailers. We were crossing our fingers, and finally they were here! We unpack everything right in front of the main door and assembled them in half an hour. Then we had to get back home to send 43kg of gears down to Phoenix before being able to leave. But yeah, there it started… Putting the trailer on the back of the bike was quite…. how to say… surprising! It’s heavy!!! It’s really heavy… How are we gonna do it. But let’s give it a try for the first day to Canmore on a paved road.

We left Crystal & Shannon who hosted us during almost one week (thank you so much for your hospitality and all the good time & parties we had!) and started cycling toward Canmore on the 1A. About an hour later we got a huge rain with thunders…

It was raining so much that someone stopped and asked if we needed a ride somewhere ;-) Thanks but we have to go through this rain and to Canmore on ...

Well, the trailers arrived at 10am today and Marco and I spent a little time in the store assembling them and fixing them on to our bikes. After shipping a huge box filled with all our other stuff to Phoenix, we set off on the road to Canmore.

The road out of Calgary was busy and largely uphill and just as we reached the steepest of the hills, a lightning storm passed over our heads. Marco was up ahead as the lightning fork hit the ground - it looked to be very close and the telephone wires crossing the road were sparking. Then came a heavy rainfall, accompanied by a strong cold headwind which soaked us through to the skin. This was definitely a good test of the waterproof trailer bags, and thankfully they passed.

We had one huge downhill along the way and a series of long slow drags up hills. The scenery was amazing though, and every mile brought the mountains closer. We had another rain shower hut then the skies cleared and we had a very sunny ride into Canmore, where we ...

It has been an interesting few days, trying to get used to being back on a bike. Marco has been a very patient teacher, helping me out with my biking skills. I’ve fallen off every day, but yesterday’s was the worst so far. I approached a small steep hill in the forest, but didn’t have enough speed to get up it, hit a root with the front wheel and fell backwards and to the right back down off the hill. I landed on a solid wooden wall, with my ribs taking most of the impact. I even managed to dent the new bike - what an idiot! I managed to continue riding, but with some discomfort, and this morning, I’m not doing too well.

Other than that, preparations are going pretty well. We had our first team teleconference yesterday morning, and all sounds well in Scotland, where Ollie is getting ready to fly out on Thursday.

Here in Calgary, we are hoping that the trailers have arrived in the shop so that we can pack them up and get all our ...

Last night, Marco and I attended the Tour Divide pre-race barbeque in Banff. It was a great opportunity to meet some of the riders, especially the race organiser, Matthew. He invited us to join after reading about our adventure on this site, and even gave us a SPOT tracking device. This device will allow you to track our progress throughout our ride. More details will follow - we’re still getting it all set up correctly.

This morning, we went along to see the riders set off on the trail, and it was inspirational to say the least. Possibly the most striking thing was how little equipment the racers were all taking with them. There were a few panniers in sight, but definitely no trailers as all the riders try to take as little as possible with them. This means that they rely on making it to towns to spend the night in hotels or motels, removing the need for a tent, sleeping bag, stove and fuel. You can follow the race via the Tour Divide web site.

This afternoon, Marco and I put in ...

[caption id=”attachment_135” align=”aligncenter” width=”571” caption=”Simon & Marco with their bikes”]& Marco with their bikes” src=”/images/2009/06/2009-06-10-18h44m52.JPG” title=”Simon & Marco with their bikes” />[/caption]

Simon bought his bike today! So we are almost set, just missing the trailers which are supposed to come on Monday. We also bought a lot of different things to have some spare parts for the bikes, clothes, accessories for the bikes. It was a full day for Simon VISA card who paid everything ;-)

Simon also discovered the pros & cons of using cleats as everyone does on the first ride… But the bike doesn’t have any scratch, neither Simon!

Simon will be riding a Specialized Stumpjumper Aloy Hardtail M5.
I will be riding an Orbea Alma Team Carbon.

J-9 … not many days left!

Simon arrived on the 8th from New-Zealand and picked me up at the airport on the 9th. It was great to see him again and to finally arrived in Canada to start this adventure. It wasn’t as cold as I was thinking and today is again a sunny day.

The initial status is like this: 2 men, 1 bike, 0 trailer - so it could be better but at least it’s starting somewhere. We will look today for Simon’s bike again and the trailers will come beginning of next week since MEC messed up with our order.

Yesterday evening I mounted my bike :-) A pleasure to see it! Pictures will come later after today’s ride.

We now have less than three weeks before the adventure of a lifetime begins. Three weeks - where has the time gone? Marco and I should arrive in Calgary in a week’s time and then the shopping for bikes and other equipment can begin. We will then have about ten days in Calgary / Banff before Ollie flies in from Scotland and we set off.

I’m still in New Zealand, hanging around in Auckland and trying to sell the van, but things are starting to happen with logistics and we are finalising more and more details almost every day.

The maps and guide book have arrived in here and I have now started to study the route in more detail. I’d thought that this would make the ride seem longer, but seeing the route on paper (over six maps)seems to have made it more achievable in my mind. Don’t get me wrong, it’s going to be the hardest thing I’ve ever attempted, but now it seems slightly more possible. For those of you interested in the route, I’ve ...

We are still thinking what will be the right way to carry our load of gears needed. We can see 3 possibilities.
The first one would be to have a trailer like the Bob gear one, Ibex trailer, but it weights almost 8kg on its one. What are the parts which are most likely to brake? How much can you load the bag? Does it stay stable at high speed, is there a speed limit? What about riding in the rain, mud? And last but not least, you need to think about carrying it in the plane on the way back, if it’s worth to keep it for another adventure…

The second alternative would racks on the side of the bike with bags attached to them. Is it easy to ride on a mountain bike with bags in the front and in the back of the bike? Is there any part of the rack what might brake? How would you balance the weight between the front and back bags? How does it feel on a bumpy downhill? Easy to ride at high speed ...

Every year, a race takes place along the Great Divide route. This year, the race will be starting just one week before we begin our attempt. This means that as well as getting to watch some of the racers, we might also be able to get some expert advice on the route, gear and all kinds of other Divide-related stuff.

The organisers have put together a great website with loads of pictures and useful links - have a look here http://tourdivide.org/ and check back during the event for real time updates.

Just to let you all know, Ollie has confirmed his flights now and we have definite dates. He arrives in Calgary in the evening of June 18, so will start to ride on June 19. As he has to get back to something called work, we’ll plan to finish the ride in time for him to catch his flight back, on July 21. Marco and I don’t have this same time pressure, but we’ll do our best to get to Antelope Wells inside the month.

Frighteningly, that gives us just six weeks to finish (or start) our preparation - gulp! Keep watching for more updates…..