Für jeden, der sich mit dem Gedanken trägt, die Tour Divide mal zu fahren, oder den die Träume beflügeln oder quälen, die TD zu fahren, der findet auf Chris Bennett´s Blog eine gute Zusammenfassung, was ihm bevor stünde oder steht:

I was checking out the TD forum on www.bikepacking.net and found the following description of some of the challenges:

– The climbs can be really, really long (Indiana Pass for example is a 25-mile climb)
– Some of the climbs are steep. Most aren’t, but some are.
– There’s a lot of washboard
– There are sections that can be under snow. In 2011, we had two 5-mile+ sections of deep snow. No way you ride a bike in that, you have to push. And it ain’t flat.
– You probably will see snow on the ground, but you may also see snow falling from the sky. It happened to me in late June just north of Breckenridge, CO.
– There are sections with peanut-butter like mud. You may have to push your bike. Or carry it. For miles!
– 2 deserts and 1 wilderness section with no or little services. (Wyoming high desert: 140 miles without anything
– Gila Wilderness: 175 miles with one Coke machine (may or may not work)
– Chihuahuan Desert between Silver City and AW: few services, very, very hot weather)
– Days with lots of wind- Thunder, lightning, hail! In Wyoming, that can be for several days.
– Cold weather, extremely hot weather.- Rain. Sometimes lots of it. For days!
– Grizzlies, black bears, wolves, mountain lions, rattlesnakes, scorpions….
– Mosquitoes. You stop a couple of minutes in some parts of Montana and they eat you alive. Forget being eaten by grizzlies, you have a much better chance of being eaten by mosquitoes!  
– Dogs. They can be anywhere on the route, but particularly in the south. They can run with you for half a mile. I try to kick them while still pedaling…
– Altitude (once you reach the middle of Colorado, you’re gonna be above 7,000 ft most of the rest of the way, with summits at 12,000 ft.- Did I mention lots of washboard? Or climbing?

Mehr gibt es hier zu lesen … und sage keiner, er hätte nicht gewusst, das da kommt!