Iohan Gueorguiev
Great Divide
Jackson MT - island park, ID 260miles
So I had to think about the CDT. My new shoes are at Lima and riding back here would take two days. Why not just do some of the better CDT sections while moving fast down the GDMBR.
I rejoined the bike route for the Medicine Lodge - Big Sheep Creek portion. Great camping beside the road and being able to pedal definitely felt good.
Next day I rode to Lima at 3pm, picked up my gear but felt that staying would be a good idea. The motel owners in town have in a way created this amazing hiker/biker community. They shuttle hikers to and from the trail, accept packages and are very interested in everybody’s story. And you definitely don’t have to be on a bike or hike to feel the positive energy and great atmosphere.
Two students were cycling north, one of them built his own rear rack, the other had done a lot of hiking. Again, the Wind River Range came up... maybe I should go one of these days.
"Yukon", a girl from India, studying in Chicago was thru hiking the trail with no previous hiking experience. Stories of snowstorms, walking the wrong way for a day and a rather comical missing poster one of her friends had put up when she didn’t hear from her.
"Otter", has been hiking for 45 years. Like me, he gets by working for few months and traveling for the remainder of the year. It’s his fourth run on the CDT but he was not in a rush, he wasn’t counting miles or weighing gear. He did not have a favorite part of the trail, of any trail. It was all about the hike.
Keren, a Dutch cyclist I caught up to the next day. She works as a teacher and has been touring for 15 summers in different parts of the world.
As for me, after dodging a thunderstorm and getting hit by another, I made my way up to the CDT after red rock pass. Next day was spent mostly between sun and rain, topped off with a mad dash down Lionhead Mountain in the hail, then pouring rain. The evening was spent at friend's place, the Mancave. Second year in a row Idaho welcomes me with rain and for a second time I am lucky to be indoors.
- IMAGES OF THE ROAD -
Iohan Gueorguiev
Gear List
- My Ride -
- My Blackburn Gear -
- BIKE SPECS -
- • FRAME-NINER SIR 9 CHROMO, 142MM X 12MM THRU AXLE
- • FORK-NINER SIR 9 RIGID, 853 (9MM QR) OR CARBON RDO (15MM AXLE)
- • FRONT WHEEL-SRAM ROAM 50 29
- • REAR WHEEL- SRAM ROAM 50 29
- • FRONT TIRE-WTB WOLVERINE 29
- • REAR TIRE- WTB WOLVERINE 29
- • INNER TUBES-WTB INNERTUBE PRESTA 29
- • SEALANT-WTB TCS SEALANT 500mL
- • CRANK SET-SRAM XX1 175MM
- • CHAINWHEELS-SRAM XX1 CNC-X-SYNC DRICT MOUNT, SEVERAL SIZES
- • BOTTOM BRACKET-SRAM GPX 73MM
- • CHAIN-SRAM PC-XX1
- • REAR DERAILLEUR -SRAM-XX1 X-HORIZON
- • REAR DER SHIFTER-SRAM XX1 TRIGGER SHIFTER
- • CASSETTE-SRAM XG-1199 10-42T
- • STEM-TRUVATIV STYLO T40 STEM SEVERAL SIZES
- • HANDLEBARS-TRUVATIV STYLO T40 RISER 700MM WIDE, 15MM RISE
- • TAPE / GRIPS- WTB TECH TRAIL CLAMP ON
- • SADDLE-WTB VOLT TEAM, 142MM WIDE
- • SEAT POST-TRUVATIV STYLO T40 SEATPOST 27.2MM DIA, 400MM LENGTH
- • FRONT BRAKE-SRAM GUIDE RSC POST MOUNT, 160MM ROTOR, >1,000MM HOSE
- • REAR BRAKE-SRAM GUIDE RSC POST MOUNT, 160MM ROTOR, >1,800MM HOSE
- • BRAKE LEVERS-SRAM GUIDE RSC
- • BRAKE HOUSING / CBL-SRAM
- •
Iohan Gueorguiev
- FROM: Ontario, Canada
- DOB: 1999-11-30
- OCCUPATION: Adventurer
- What was the genesis moment or inspiration for the upcoming adventure? After starting the GDMBR in mid-October and having to hop out in December at Colorado, I always wondered if I would ever get a second chance. Later I learned of the first bike ride of the Continental Divide Trail and also wondered, how cool that would be. During a rather cold January in Utah I heard about the Blackburn Ranger program, connected the bits and pieces and there was only one logical choice: apply to be on the team and bikepack the CDT.
- Have your traveled by bike in the past? In 2013 I crashed down a hill on my road bike which left me with a broken collar bone, two broken hands and a 3 month recovery period. To make it through I thought of biking from Vancouver to Ontario. So I did it, then Toronto to Halifax in winter. I was hooked, in 2014 I took time off school and set off to bike from the Arctic Ocean to British Columbia. And then, Alaska to Argentina. I've made it as far as Mexico and am looking forward to riding the CDT and continuing down south as part of the Blackburn team.
- What is your goal for the route? I have few ideas, most importantly: have fun, stop and smell the flowers (oh yeah - it won't be winter so there actually will be flowers), find out more about the CDT trail hiking community, do as much as CDT as possible, find time to ride the Colorado trail and spend some time in Moab, Utah. I'll also be filming on the way (nothing fancy) and continuing the "SEE THE WORLD" series on which follow my bike trip south. Video is such a great way to try and share the wild and unpredictable story of the open road!
- What do you hope to get out of this journey? One always has some expectations with trips like these but the moment you set a wheel on the dirt it all changes. I want to see how bikepacking compares to fully loaded touring and see if it's something I can adopt and continue doing for the rest of my around-the-world bike trip. Aside from that - create memories, make new friends and meet old ones, explore and get lost in the Rockies.
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What's in my bag?
Buff, Gopro, Alaska License plate,Turtle (which I had on my first bike trip, and ever since)
