Has anybody done this? I've never been on the Continental Divide Trail, on anything, but I'm hoping someone here has. Maybe I should be asking in regional, but all the hack guys are here reguardless of where they live. I know parts of the trail have been defined as "Single Track", so I'm wondering if anybody has squeeezed a Ural Patrol or Gear Up thru the entire trail. I don't actually own a Ural, but I'm planning a trip for '13 and I'm sure the dogs would like to go too. So if it's doable, that will be "Plan A"
A 2wd Ural with its excelent ground clearance is great for deep mud, sand, and snow, but is geared too high and is awfully heavy for tight technical riding.
Yep. That's why I was hoping to hear from somebody who's actually been there. I KNOW there are a few sections with deep sand, but the words "Single Track" don't sound good for anything heavy or wide. OTOH, I know it's been done many times on 1150 and 1200 GS's, so it don't seem likely that it's that tight and technical.
I went to a slideshow by three guys who did the route on 12GS solo bikes and they didn't make it sound like it was only for heroes. I think the CDT has workaround routes for the guys who don't have the chops or gear to do the really technical sections (like me). Abenteuerfahrer was thinking about giving it a whack in his 12GS rig but as we all know now that's not happening. If he was gonna do it, I was thinking about throwing my rig into the mix just to see if I could keep up with him. But, yeah, there are some CDT ride reports if you look for them that might throw some light on the topic.
Hola there...it's A'teuer here. Yep it can be done. It's a lot more tame than the TAT. Had it mapped from Antelope Wells,NM to Banff, BC on my GPS'es.....easy peasy...had Cannonshots tracks as well as BigDog's tracks too. Only one small section which prevents you from going through due to a 40" cow wide barricade and ATV blocker. Since my ex-rig was 60" wide this one had to be circumvented. A creek crossing..but had been bone dry this year..otherwise another small diversion. If it rains...expect some squirelly riding...and as long as you don't use super aggressive tires like the Karoo or TKC80; just the Vredestein M/S you get through really well compared with those who use knobbies, they pick up mud like a fork picks up sphagetti...been there done that, the TAT I mean. Do it for me...... .... Cheers...
We had it planned for last June: with most (I think) of the single track stuff excluded. It takes a bit of time to get your tracks figured out; and make hard copies of key areas so you are not SOL when your GPS goes TU... Mechanical gremlins at the last moment changed our plans, so we did a HACK National Park tour instead on the road hack. Now we are shooting for next year. Good news is that I now have some time to get the gearing down a bit more. Based upon clutch failure rates of riding similar trails around here, I've considered buying clutches by the six pack...:eek1 The only benefit of THAT has been that I can now change a clutch (in the dirt at the edge of a jeep trail) in about 15 minutes...
