“If a man does not keep pace with his companions,
perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer.
Let him step to the music he hears,
however measured or far away."  ~Henry David Thoreau

I address this topic indirectly in a number of areas, but I paced the ride based on food, the way I felt, some predetermined goals, and the weather.  I studied the way racers rode the route and initially wanted to pace higher to simulate racing but decided early on against the whole GDR racing idea.  Regardless, I had three goals:  To complete the route in two months, to be in Montana by 01 AUG 07 and Colorado by 01 SEP 07.  I met all three without issue, but had I missed these goals, it wouldn’t have been that big of deal.

McCoy Days versus Non-McCoy Days

The guidebook and maps (mostly) for the route were authored by a man named Mike McCoy.  The guide book, Cycling the Great Divide: From Canada to Mexico on America's Premier Long Distance Mountain Bike Route by Mike McCoy, breaks the tour down into suggested mileages and start/stop points.  The book is very well written and researched…without McCoy’s work, the GDMBR would likely not exist.  A lot of riders ride the McCoy suggested mileage and follow the guidebook to the letter…even carrying it with them on the bike.  The maps were authored mostly by the same guy and the route verbiage is written with the McCoy Day pacing in mind.  The system has developed over time and seems to work.

For some riders, the security of the McCoy days setup is worth it, and having your days predetermined seems to make logistics a little easier to plan.  I think Adventure Cycling plans their guided GDMBR tours based on McCoy Days for this reason as well.  Okay for them, but not neccesarily for me.  I studied the guidebook in depth before the trip but left it in my bounce box and interpreted the maps at face value.  My plan was much looser.  Ride big mileage days, cook as little as possible, take days off when I needed to, and purify water only if I had to.  In my case, I was on a vacation from someone else telling me how to do things and wanted complete ownership of my plan. 

I compare these days for a simple reason.  By interpreting the guidebook and maps as the only source of info (which I more or less did in planning,) one could easily get the impression that resupplying water and food on some sections of the route is a significant problem.  I would say that is totally true (but solvable in planning) if one rides on average less than 40 miles per day and uses a lot of water to chef up meals in a campsite on all those extra nights.  I rode bigger mileage days than McCoy days, ate on the economy more, cooked less, and consequently never really worried about running out of water or food.  I ate a lot better than I ever expected to.

It’s anybody’s ride, everyone rides the route a little different.  Some faster, some slower.  Some ride south to north, some north to south, some do portions at a time.  Some race and finish in 15 days, some take a few years to get it all done.   Regardless, this route is way too phenomenal of an experience to sit out due to a fear of running out of water or food.  It can be overcome.

Some are faster than others. Jay Petervay 2007 GDR Winner 15 days

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