Mini Tour Divide 2017
Trip report on riding the Grand Divide Mountain Bike Route (GDMBR) from FR 144 & FR 315 to Vallecitos, NM
Riders: 3 teenage boys and 2 adults.
Experience levels: One adult with extensive bike touring experience, the other adult has medium outdoor experience with extensive Boy Scout experience, and moderate bike riding experience. One youth had only ridden 30 miles on road up to this point. The other two youth had a bit more bike ridding experience and conditioning.
Gear: Two bike were outfitted with Salsa EXP Handle Bar Bags. One bike had a traditional 10 litter saddle bag. One bike used a seat post rack. The other bikes used Dry Sacks, Webbing, and Rope.
Day 1: We started at the intersection of NM 126 and FR 376. We had initially thought to leave on Thursday after work and camp past San Antonio Springs on Thursday night providing time to soak Thursday night. Due to logistics and rain we decided to leave on Friday July 28th 2017. We didn't stop and soak on Friday morning in an attempt to cover ground on Friday. We rode FR 376 to FR 144 and up to the intersection of FR 144 and FR 315 where we started to follow the GDMBR. We camped Friday night on a saddle that over looked the Valle Grande (https://www.strava.com/activities/1109823364). There was a stock tank close, but not visible from FR 144. However, due to recent rains we were able to pull enough water from the puddles in the road. Due to the silt in the water, filtering took a lot of time. Its been recommended to make a pre-filter from coffee paper filters for such situations. Camp site was at 10,000 feet, distance travelled 25 miles with 3,200 feet of climbing. The draw back to the dry sacks, webbing, and rope is that it takes longer to get it mounted and on the road. We also had to stop several times to make adjustments to the setup and or tighten stuff up.
Starting out
San Antonio Creek leaving the Valle Caldera
It rained on Day 1, this was a step muddy section that turned into hike a bike. But it was not a long section
Camp site Day 1 (the next morning)
Camp site Day 1 (the next morning)
Day 2: We rode mostly down hill into Abiquiu (https://www.strava.com/activities/1109823202) with one long climb leaving about 10 AM. Again the home made bags take time to pack and mount. FR 27 is very rough and we had to stop several times to adjust the home made bags. Dry sacks are light, but the ropes slip on them and PVC coated Dry Bags are probably a better choice of bags. During one of the try to control speed down hill sections we came across a cattle guard with a very mild drop on it. One of the youth jumped it and broke one of the plastic webbing buckles. With 4,000 ft of descent we arrived in at Bode's (https://www.bodes.com/) in Abiquiu. We had fajita burritios, green chile cheeseburgers, and shakes at Bode's (we arrived just in time, 3 PM, the grill was closed but they had stuff still available, it was all gone by the time we left). We filled up with water at Bode's and opted to push on to El Rito instead of stopping at the Old Abiquiu B&B (http://oldabiquiu.com/) for the night. Our most unexperienced rider was a real trooper, but was very slow coming into El Rito. We decided to split into two groups, one to find a campsite. Plan B was to use cell phones. When the slow group arrived in El Rito, they continued up FR 44 for a couple of miles and then turned back. The slow group did not have a phone that could place in the El Rito area. They returned to El Rito and borrowed a phone from the nice locals. The other group had left the route and returned to the Northern New Mexico College (http://nnmc.edu/home/community-gateway/el-rito-campus/) to wait for the slow group. Upon making a successful call the two groups joined up around 10 pm that night. We spent the night at the park at Northern New Mexico College. Note that the park closes at 10 pm. Riding 50 miles on Saturday put us in a good position to get to Vallecitos on Sunday. Distance travelled approximately 51 miles with 2,800 feet of elevation climbing.
We stopped at a saddle at the intersection of FR 144 and FR 27
Looking east a Chicoma Mountain
Vantage point along FR 27 (Polvadera Mesa) looking North at Cerro Pedernal
Sunset outside of El Rito
Day 3: The original goal was to ride the 90 miles to Vallecitos along the GDMBR. Took a lot of time to break camp and pack again. Leaving El Rito (10 or 11 AM) we bothered the same people that lent us a phone the night before to fill up with water, from there we took FR 44 heading North (https://www.strava.com/activities/1109823896). Again our most inexperienced rider was quite slow, but was a real trooper in that he rode almost the whole route. He did stop frequently to take breaks during the climbs. Due to this we split up into two groups, but with a better plan B. Plan B was to wait at the intersection of FR 44 and NM 111. The slow group arrived at the intersection around 2 PM, just in time for the fast group to boil water for lunch. We had less issues with having to stop and adjust gear bags, a bit more experienced and we started to use PVC bags that don't slip as much in the harnesses. During the last climb into Vallecitos, our most inexperienced rider was in hike a bike mode (one of the very few of the whole trip) and found a Salsa 2017 Tour Divide Stem Cap. Our pick-up was to find us along NM 111 between Lamadera and Vallecitos. Since our ride was not present yet and storm clouds were moving in, we decided to ride a bit down hill towards Lamadera. Distance travelled 17.3 miles and 1,700 feet of climbing into Vallecitos with another 5.8 miles and 290 ft looking for our ride on NM 111
Trip totals: 99 miles with 8,000 ft of climbing.
More Gear Stuff: I used some kitchen cutting sheets to help hold dry sacks to bikes. Nylon dry sacks are slippery and slip in the harnessing system easily. They also damage easily. PVC dry bags grip a lot better and are more durable. I've thought up a modification to the the geometry of the kitchen cutting sheets that I want to try. I basically used a 4 inch wide strip and I want to move to a 4 inch cross geometer for the seat and maybe something like a 4 inch I geometry for the handle bars. When I feel like I have a good solid design, I'll share. I also built ad used a Fancy Feast Alcohol stove for the first time and I was quite satisfied with performance. I followed the instructions and materials from this youtube video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2fPIvyme9I)
Trip totals: 99 miles with 8,000 ft of climbing.
Stem cap found south of Vallecitos, NM
Lunch in Vallecitos, NM
Mural in Vallecitos, NM
GDMBR Route Instructions
More Gear Stuff: I used some kitchen cutting sheets to help hold dry sacks to bikes. Nylon dry sacks are slippery and slip in the harnessing system easily. They also damage easily. PVC dry bags grip a lot better and are more durable. I've thought up a modification to the the geometry of the kitchen cutting sheets that I want to try. I basically used a 4 inch wide strip and I want to move to a 4 inch cross geometer for the seat and maybe something like a 4 inch I geometry for the handle bars. When I feel like I have a good solid design, I'll share. I also built ad used a Fancy Feast Alcohol stove for the first time and I was quite satisfied with performance. I followed the instructions and materials from this youtube video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2fPIvyme9I)