ICDR-USA

Great Continental Divide Route

August 15th-30th 2020

About the Continental Divide Adventure Route

This all new route was designed for adventure minded explorers seeking to discover the best and most remote areas of North America. The route is custom designed for both adventure motorcycles and overland style 4x4s. The route objective is to follow the Continental Divide as closely as possible and to cross the Divide as many times as reasonable. You will find that each section has a very rich and different adventure and personality, sometimes very scenic, sometimes very remote, sometimes challenging and always spectacular. The route length is 3,082 miles and crosses the Divide 67 times. That means we go over as many passes as possible!

This adventure qualifies for the "ride of your life" bucket list.

About this Ride

Join us for this great American motorcycle adventure as we take 15 days to ride from Mexico to Canada. The ride includes motels and we will be eating at restaurants so riders will not need to bring camping or cooking gear. Each day our route will take us to the next motel and many days we will have an option of lunch on the trail. Each morning riders will grab breakfast and team up with their riding buddies, grab their daily snacks and begin their adventure. The day's adventures are long with many rich options along the way. After the day's ride, riders perform bike maintenance and join up for happy hour and dinner. Then it is often to bed early as the next day comes quickly.

This ride includes a luggage van. Riders can place one small overnight bag in the truck but should carry much of their gear on their bikes as the conditions and weather can change greatly during the day.

Riders should also carry any supplies for bike repairs and maintenance on the trail (like flat tires).

Motel arrangements are double occupancy and riders will be assigned a different roommate every night. This allows everyone to get to know each other during the ride and prevents tension from building during a long ride. And if your roommate snores, you only have to put up with it for one night!

Surprises

The western USA is an amazing place, some say the best riding on earth. The geography can go from flat and arid in the vastness of the deserts to stunning mountain passes and deep thick forests. The wide open spaces, the remoteness and lack of people will restore your sense of earth.

Signup info:

The cost to join this 15 day ride is $2,195. This covers your lodging for the 16 nights during the ride and the cost of a luggage van and driver. This also covers your ride packets which include a custom Garmin GPS Map on a micro SD card and printed ride maps and descriptions.

Sadly this ride is canceled due to Covid-19

I hope you do it again next year

After your signup riders will receive an email from me with further ride information and instructions.

Note: Riders must make full payment by June 20th, 2020

Riders will receive ride packets in the mail one week before the ride.

Refund Policy

Do not sign up for this ride unless you are serious about coming. I take your signup very seriously and start planning for you the minute you sign up. If you need to cancel up to one month prior to the ride start date I will give you a full refund but I will keep $100 to cover the planning work. Sorry but I make non refundable commitments myself so it gets hard for me. "I hate this world of non refundable deals myself." If you need to cancel within one month of the ride I cannot give a refund unless I can find a replacement rider. In the case of finding a replacement rider, I will gladly give you the full refund minus the $100 to cover the planning work. In the event of ride cancellation, you will be given a full refund.

Ride Plan ICDR 2020

Ride Details

I know many of you also enjoy dreaming about the ride and making your plans, so here is the detail, enjoy!

Ride Yoda's

Yoda gpsKevin Yoda Marco

Questions about this ride contact:

Yoda gpsKevin: kevin@gpskevinadventurerides.com

About the Continental Divide* (You should understand this, it's fun)

The Continental Divide of the Americas, also called the Great Divide, separates the watersheds of the Pacific Ocean from those of the Atlantic and Arctic Oceans. It runs from the Seward Peninsula in Alaska, through western Canada along the crest of the Rocky Mountains, including through Glacier National Park, Yellowstone National Park, and Rocky Mountain National Park, to New Mexico. From there, it follows the crest of Mexico's Sierra Madre Occidental range and extends to the tip of South America. It is crossed by the Panama Canal
The Arctic Divide, in conjunction with other continental divides of North America, demarcates two watersheds of the Arctic Ocean: the Arctic Ocean watershed and the Hudson Bay watershed. This divide was a barrier to transportation until the Methye Portage was discovered in 1778, which opened up the Arctic rivers to the fur traders and became part of a transcontinental trade route from Atlantic to Pacific. It was of significance in Canadian history because it marked the northern boundary of Rupert's Land, the trading monopoly area of the Hudson's Bay Company.

*Thanks to Wikipedia for this great information, please donate to them using this link: Ways to Give

Motorcycle Shipping Options

Notes: Rider's bike shipping options:

Ship bikes to: Albuquerque NM

Fly into Albuquerque International Airport

Drive time on a bike to the starting hotel is 5 hours.

Ship bike home from: Missoula MT.

Fly home from Missoula Airport

Drive time on a bike from the ride finish to Missoula is 4 hours

Try Federal Companies Transports: 888-483-7117

How does the ride navigation work?

This is a self-led GPS ride; all riding is on your own. You are responsible for your own riding. You will be given a GPS map file and instructions on how to use your Garmin GPS unit. People will hook up in small groups of less than 6 riders and tend to ride together. You are not encouraged to ride alone. You are responsible for your own riding and yourself.

(see my ride Navigation Video)

Are you right for this ride?

When something goes wrong on a ride, would your riding friends say that you are more likely to need help or more likely to give help? You should be in the more likely to offer help camp. This ride is filled with riders that are more likely to give help, so most of the time the riders never need help. Additionally there is all the normal stuff, come prepared to maintain your bike, fix your bike on the trail, repair flat tires, deal with bad weather and rain and make a joke or two.

How do I make the GPS stuff so easy?

I develop very high quality ride maps custom for our ride. They come from much of what I and others have ridden. I take the best from all my rides and make new ones.

(See my Custom Ride Maps Video)

Note from me, gpsKevin

My goal for this ride is simple, great riding, so you can count on great routes and places to ride.

But in addition: the ride is about discovering new places, meeting new friends, seeing new parts of the world.

Thanks

gpsKevin

FAQ's

Q:What will the weather be like this time of year?

A: In August, the weather is most often nice, could be a little hot in the lower areas and it can be cold in the morning and in the high mountains. But there will be rain. Wet and muddy roads can force us to change our routes. Come prepared with extra gear for cold and wet.

Q: Would this be a good ride for new riders?

A: No, this ride is for intermediate and experienced riders only. The riding has easy route choices and tough route options. Each evening we will study the following day's choices. You will find lots of supportive people at the ride.

Q: What are Motel room arrangements?

A: Rooms are double occupancy, meaning each rider shares a two bed room with another rider.

Q: What bikes are right for this ride?

A: Adventure Bikes and Dual Sport bikes can work well; all can do well by choosing the easy or hard route options.

Q; What do I do if I don't have a Garmin gps?

A: Buy one, you need it, we will show you how to use it. You can get a great one for under $200 bucks. ( See gpsKevin's gps recommendations)

Q: Is the riding really on my own?

A: Yes, but almost everyone hooks up and rides with a friend, or a new friend or me.

Q: What gas mileage range should I have for this ride?

A: I recommend a range of 200 miles that is enough even when normal obstacles are encountered.

FYI: Original Continental Divide Route or International Continental Divide Adventure Route

The Original Continental Divide is also a great adventure route. It is based loosely on the mountain bike route for the Divide. The route sections for bicycles only were modified to accommodate motorized vehicles. The route has become quite popular with adventure motorcyclists. This route however minimized the number of times it crossed the mountain peaks and sought to be efficient so that bicycle riders could ride it in one season. If you are interested in this Original or Classic route you can find self guided information here: Original Continental Divide Route

Who is going on the ride?