By Shane Hutton

So I am on a bus. It's 9:33pm and we have just pulled out of Deming. Now it's sinking in. The Great Divide Mountain Bike Route has been completed with a few alternates in between. 

It didn't finish the way I had planned with a slight deviation off the planned route from Grants to Deming. It was something I had no control over and in the end I learnt to just roll with it. 

As with all plans, the adventure starts when it all turns to shit :) However I have really enjoyed riding a different part of NM. It was also possibly a blessing in disguise as I was hit with some huge storms in the last few days which turned the trail into a quagmire forcing some others off route. 

The storm I had at Elephant Butte was absolutely spectacular verging on scary when the ground was shaking with each thunder clap and blinding lightning strike,they were so close. 

The flat tyres URGHHHHHHH holy shit I think I had 6 in 1 day. Then Another 2-3 the next that was frustrating. They have a thorn here called the goat head and man oh man does it suck. 

The elevation was relentless until the final day down and back to Colombus the border where I only racked up 300mtr over 117km. My average since leaving R has been 117km and 1,300mtr a day. 

I don't really know where to start with this ride. It has been everything and more than what I had imagined. The billions of stars at night the coyotes howling the huge Bald and Golden Eagles soaring through the sky. 1 bear and a huge Bull Moose and a huge rattlesnake. 

The glaciers the rolling plains the meadows the desert and the Aspen stands wow the ASPENS. We got to see them in their full colours and as I got further south I got to relive them as summer has stretched out here. 

The quiet. 

Every single person we met along the way contributed to this trip. Here goes : Mark, the Alaskans Tom,Chris & Dave, the English Sam, Claire & Andy, Larry , Brian ( legend So Cal) , karen & Ray, Dan & Bev, the Kiwis Josh & Sammi, Joe, Dave & James ( Aussie ) , Ray & Desi ( Canadian) , Chris who we got to share the trail with for an extended period and what an absolute legend, Ray & Karen, JD, Peiter & Carolyn , Brad & Michelle from Eureka, Wolt, Stephan, SunJ, the Canadian family with the 2 12 year old girls pulling their own BOB trailer and doing the full trail. The 3 guys heading north, North bound John, the 2 hikers. Matt who donated me $100USD man I nearly fell over the random stranger who left me $20 to help fix my pannier. Randy and Sharon for taking me out to a nice restaurant and paying, Harry for the beer & who cooked me eggs and toast randomly before I set out 1 day. 

Every other person we didn't meet but did hear about you all made this trip special. 

Last but not least Richelle. You are amazing and if anyone should have the word inspirational thrown at them it's you. 

You went so much further than any of us thought possible ( including yourself ) you amazed me over the course of 9 weeks and almost 4,000km. To keep on pushing along was astounding and I am so proud of you. 

In summary the last 12 weeks or so have been absolutely jaw droppingly??? Beautiful. The quiet nights and days, the quirky towns and the beautiful crazy mountains 

This trail Is a must do for anyone whether you are a road rider mountain biker or just a weekend warrior. 

You MUST find a way to do this. Ray & Karen ( touching 70 years young) would car shuffle and ride the distance between. They went from New Mexico to the Wyoming border this summer and will do the rest next year. AMAZING 

You can even hike the route, known more commonly as the Continental Divide. 

I am looking forward to leg 3 of the trip but am really quite sad this part is done. I guess I hadn't thought too much past This stretch  and now it's finished.

Like all big plans it takes sometime to let it settle in. 

If you have any questions about this trip or would like to plan you're own ride the divide and have son questions drop us a line. We can also help in planning and or guiding trips along this route. 

by Richelle Olsen, She Science Ambassador

Huh?  Whats that?  You thought we were riding together?  Well we were, until....

So last we checked in, I was having a couple of days break on the trail at Steamboat Springs, to rest the very tired legberts, and the even more exhausted mind....well after my lift in the car to Breckenridge there was a lot of soul searching done, more tears, but much more relief when I finally decided that Colorado was the end of the Great Dividing MTB Route for me.

10 weeks and nearly 4,000kms was pretty much my limit for now.  There was another 1,600kms to go to get to the Mexico border (with something like 22,000m of climbing), and probable stupid headwinds, and well I knew I just didnt have it in me.  We were both disappointed, but very relieved.  I was happy with my decision for a break, and Shane was happy that I was happy.  He was also pretty excited that he would be able to spend the next 1,600kms smashing himself, doing in 2 weeks what would have taken 4 weeks if I was still riding with him.

And so began 2 parallel adventures.....

First things first, I had to get myself to Salida, 160km away, as there were a couple of parcels I was expecting there (new tires for me, and a replacement OR jacket for Shane).  For me to get there, it involved a lift to the bus, a 1hr bus ride to Denver where I had to drop my bike off at a bike shop to be boxed up, and for safe keeping for a few days, then jusp on a Greyhound bus for the 3hr bus ride to Salida.  Rolling into town on the bus, who's bike is sitting outside Maccas?  Shane's of course, the little bugger had beaten me under his own steam, even after climbing Boreas Pass in the snow!​

It was nice to have one more night together in Salida, and as it turned out the next day was our anniversary which was even better!  But then it was proper goodbyes, and well, Ill be honest, I was left feeling a bit lost and directionless.  No Shane, no bike, no purpose.  I was used to this constant forward motion, and well suddenly I was stalled "resting".  It also didnt help that I discovered that there was a stabbing the night before at the hostel I planned to stay at.  Gulp!  No matter i stayed there anyway and felt very safe, i even borrowed a bike to cruise around on, that was better.

The next day I was back on the bus to Denver, where I stayed with a wonderful Warm Showers host, Allison and Jim, and after 2 days there, I picked up my newly boxed bike, and jumped on the Amtrak train bound for Napa, California.  After 31 hours on the train (with some amazing scenery passing through Colorado, Utah, Nevada and California), I finally arrived in Napa, and was picked up by my wonderful friend Ali.  I used to work with Ali at ANZ in Australia years ago, and she and her hubby Carter moved with their kids to Napa 3 years ago.  And I tell you staying with them has seriously felt like coming home.  I've done a lot of sleeping, a lot of reading, a lot of drinking, a lot of eating and a lot of not much, and it has been just what I needed.

But I'm nearly ready for the next chapter in the adventure....Shane's only 2 days from the Mexico border, after having some crazy adventures of his own (dog attacks, replacement panniers, rattlesnakes, crazy headwinds, sleeping out back of Walmart.....thats just the tip of the iceberg, I'll let him write about what he's been doing).  Once he gets there, he will make his way back up to Napa via lifts/buses/trains etc, where I might make him take a shower, before we head out on the bikes again to ride the Number 1 from San Francisco to Los Angeles, then down to the border and cross at Tijuana, and ride through Mexico till the money runs out!  The adventure continues!

In the meantime, I think it might be time for my nap!

Shane encounters his first skunk just outside Wise River on the Great Dividing MTB Route

A brief glimpse at life on the trail, through Montana, on the Great Dividing MTB Route.

Our wonderful Warm Showers hosts, Michelle and Greg, who put us up in their house in Eureka, Montana, gave us a warm bed, a warm shower, took us to the brewery, and fed us beer and steak - awesome

The old bloke at the library in Bigfork who gave us the inside scoop on the local Friday night Art walk where you visit local galleries, and they supply free food and booze!

Bev and Dan in Seely Lake, who we called our Foster parents - in fact we wrote a whole blog about them they were awesome!  

The bike tourer in Butte who was quitting the trail due to injury, so he donated his bear spray to us - finally we had one each!

The outdoor shop owner in Helena who greeted us at the door of his shop with a slice of cake each!  hilarious!

The receptionist at the Condos in Island Park,  Idaho, who, despite the fact that they were booked out, took pity on the sopping wet miserable cyclists, and made an apartment available when it shouldnt have been!  I offerred her a hug, but she threatened to cancel our room if I came near her in my wet muddy state!  

The fireman we met at Steamboat Lake who gave us some liquid gold (Sam's cola) after we found out that it was miles to the next store.  He also called ahead to make certain the visitors centre would stay open for us.

Karen and Ray, in Steamboat Springs, we wrote about them in this blog.  They looked after us like parents would, and even gave Richelle a lift to Frisco, such amazing people!

Stefan in Breckenridge, who stopped us on the bike path and asked us our story.  Then he handed over $20 and said buy yourselves a beer!  It actually bought us lunch, but so generous!

Carolyn and Pieter, our wonderful Warm Showers hosts in Breckenridge.  A beautiful house where we felt right at home for 2 nights.  They cooked for us, and had some amazing stories to tell.  I was happy that we were able to give them something back in return, I cooked curried chicked with medeterranean cous cous, and then we helped them out with some painting of their unit they are renovating.  It feels so good to finally do something in return for such generousity!

The lovely lady at the hostel in Salida who dropped everything to give me a lift to the post office then the bus station, so nice! 

The motorcycle tourer who met Shane on his way to Salida, and asked him if he was accepting donations.  And then handed over $100!  Shane nearly fell off his bike!!!

And down in New Mexico, after Shane had diverted to Alberquerque to replace his pannier ripped by a dog, he woke up one morning to find an envelope on his bike ; "To help with repairs" and it held $20!!

Then there was our fantastic Warm Showers hosts in Denver, Allison and Jim, who let me stay 2 nights in their beautiful home, its so nice to have the comforts of home!

​There are certainly some amazing people out there!!!

After some 9hr plus days in the saddle, and 2 weeks since our last rest day, this week we rolled into Steamboat Springs, Colorado, for 2 days of R&R.  Eating, reading, replacing tyres, bottom brackets, brake pads, and eating some more!  Steamboat is a great little town for that!

But alas, yesterday morning it was time to hit the road again, a 70km day of gradual climbing up over Lynx Pass, and beyond.  Rolling out of town it was quickly apparent that not only were we climbing, but We were climbing into a bitch of a headwind.  By 20km in I was falling further and further behind Shane, so slow that I was wobbling all over attempting to stay upright, with my legs pretty much saying no way, we are NOT doing this today...and I was getting more and more pissed about being out there.  And knowing that I'd be out there for another 3 days of climbing until we reached Breckenridge!

Shane, bless his cotton socks was asking what was wrong, and through my tears all I could explain was that I just didn't want to be on the bike.  Not today.  Not for the next 3 days.  We managed another 10kms of trying to convince myself that I could do it, before we sat under a tree for some lunch, and I decided once and for all that i couldn't muster the mental strength to push myself through the next few days...I would go back to Steamboat and meet Shane further down the trail.

One of the toughest decisions I've had to make..

Skipping part of the trail that I have been following for over 2 months and over 3,000kms. But holy crap I've done over 3,000km that's massive for me, in reality I'm surprised I've lasted till now to crack!  And we are riding for the fun of it, what's the point in riding when you are miserable?

Leaving Shane to ride it alone, without me his chief map reader, and without me there if something happens.  This is the hardest.  But there's other tourers we know just ahead and just behind him on the trail, so there's people around.  His biggest hurdle will be to stop himself from covering the 250kms in one day!  And as a bonus, he gets to ride at his own pace without waiting for slowpoke here.  He says he doesn't mind waiting, but it makes me feel better knowing I'm not holding him up!

What will people think of me, bailing out when it gets too hard?  Ah who the hell cares I'm sure people will understand!

So I find myself today back in Steamboat. Shane rode back with me yesterday (returning with an amazing tailwind!) as we needed to repack all our stuff, so we both had a tent each (we have been carrying 2 for this eventuality!) and Shane could offload some of his stuff onto me so he could go a bit lighter.  He headed out early this morning, but not before stopping for a breakfast burrito at Taco Cabo!

I slept until 9am, packed up the tent and have been hanging out in Karen and Ray's RV with Bodie the Golden Retriever all morning reading and laying on their couch.  Karen and Ray are doing the Divide Trail as day rides, and car shuffling back to their trailer each night, at age 70 they are absolutely inspirational!  They have spoilt us with beers, dinner, spare tyres and great company.  They are out riding today while I veg out!  It's worked perfectly as they are headed to Denver tomorrow, so will drop me off at Silverthorne on the way, so I can meet up with Shane Sunday night or Minday morning.  This break was meant to be!

I'm hoping these couple of days will be the reset that I need, but I'll decide on Monday whether I take a few more or not...

Yes, I do feel I'm missing out, but I'm so super excited to be doing nothing right now!!!!