Issue link: https://bluemagazine.uberflip.com/i/25126
" Car unkempt tails reaching the ground, do roam and mark their territory with heaps of dung. The high, jagged Tetons roost in the northwest, while the l30-mile stretch in southern Wyoming's Great Divide Basin is devoid of services and scarce of water. The eyes of the aspen peek out in the High Country of Colorado, where afternoon thunderstorms became the norm. Pockets of snow, hidden in north-facing ravines, showed that winter stayed late at elevations around 9,000 feet. But all that glitters wasn't limited to perfect alpine reflections in mountain ponds. Ski towns like Steamboat, Frisco and Breckenridge were welcomed stops to touch down in civilization again. The small towns hum with activity when you are used to seeing more wi ldflowers than SUVs. After riding upwards of 35 miles per day, we would rest and fill our stomachs before hitting the trail again. The highest pass of the route was Indiana Pass, in Colorado, outside of Del Norte. Here riders gained about 4,000 feet of elevation in some 25 miles before cresting the high point at 11,910 feet, and nocturnal sprinklers awakened bikers sleeping in the town park. It was not al l downhill after that. The lushness of the forest gave way to high desert and the rough-and-tumble dirt roads of New Mexico. In late summer, creeks run dry and stock tanks become water sources for humans. Gearheads must get by on parts in hardware stores since bike shops along the route in the "Land of Enchantment" are limited. Flats? All of them seemed to come in New Mexico. Carrying one bike pump between the two of us was a fine idea-until it broke. Even the hunting guides scouting for elk who stopped to help couldn't get it to work. No problem though. They came by in the morning with their portable air compressor. We spent the night wondering if they would show. They did, with water too. Coffee and bagels would have hit the spot, but complaining would have been rude (and the bagels wouldn't have been New-York-style anyway). WHAT THE HECK IS THE CONTINENTAL DIVIDE ANYWAY? THE CONTINENTAL DIVIDE IS A RIDGE OF HIGH GROUND THAT RUNS IRREGULARLY NORTH TO SOUTH THROUGH THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. IT SEPARATES EASTWARD- FLOWING FROM WESTWARD-FLOWING STREAMS. THE WATERS THAT FLOW EASTWARD EMPTY INTO THE ATLANTIC OCEAN. CHIEFLY BY WAY OF THE GULF OF MEXICO; THOSE THAT FLOW WESTWARD EMPTY INTO THE PACIFIC. The final 40 miles or so south past the last outpost ca lled Hachita was a rolling-yellow-stripe experience through the scrub of the desert. Aside from border patrol cops, cacti and restless grasshoppers, there isn't much else, except for the memories of mountain biking down America's spine. • 36