We woke up to the solitude that is the Great Basin, packed our things and set off from the remote Diagnus Well. A tailwind offered us some hope for the days ambitious goal of making it to Rawlins. As we continued deeper into the emptiness of the basin, we encountered wilded horses and pronghorn. It was incredible to see the horses, wild and free, unlike any horses we had seen before. The pronghorn always seemed to be in a hurry, running at FULL SPEED, constantly, with no signs of slowing down, ever. The wind and mellow grade helped us crush through more miles than we had hoped in the early part of the day. We passed through an oil field and after a short climb, the road switched directions and we started into the wind. It was incredible to think how quickly you take a tailwind for granted. The silence and peace of the tailwind was soon replaced with white noise and suffering. At times we were blown sideways, making little progress. After an effort, the road turned and the wind was in our favor. We pressed on, taking advantage of the helpful wind, but knew that soon we would face another long section of headwind. We made it to a junction and after debating if it was worth a two mile ride to fill up on water, we decided to press on and take our chance on what we had left. We continued and began a 10-15 mile section of death wind. Our progress was slow, and full of swear words. The suffering finally abated as we reached a paved highway that turned us in favor of the wind. After a quick lunch of the usual PB, Nutella and Jam bagel – maybe some string cheese in there for good measure – we set off into the final stretch of highway that would lead us to our destination of Rawlins, Wy. We rode  into civilization, feeling completely haggard, but a cheap motel, delicious burgers and mediocre beers did the trick. We fell asleep feeling content with our effort for the day. 
Tag: velocity
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Per usual, we had a slow start in Pinedale. We packed our things and found a good breakfast down the way. After satiating our appetites, we set off for the days tasks. We had ordered replacement front racks a few days before as Matt’s broke and had been held together by a string for the previous week and they were due to arrive today. Like most times you are waiting desperately for a package,  Fedex arrived much later than expected, but that was fine as we had errands to run. We dropped off postcards at the post office, attempted to pickup some general delivery packages, got a new water filter,  stocked up on food and supplies for the next couple days and used the public library to back up our photos to hard drives. Once our racks arrived, we set about installing them with haste. When all was said and done it was half past four. Definitely not ideal. We shrugged it off and set out, leaving the small town of Pinedale behind. The ride was nice and windy, with intermittent rain. We trudged on into the night. Eventually we got tired and after a bit of searching, we found a decent spot to camp off the road next to a stream. The rain picked up as we set camp. We got dry and sheltered under the tarp and cooked a nice meal of rice, zucchini and sausage. We ate the delicious meal under the makeshift awning as the rain let up and the clouds scattered, exposing the full moon’s light on the eerie landscape. A couple pulls of whiskey and we were off to sleep.
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After a great night sleep on real beds, we cooked breakfast and set off. The day was pretty tame for GDMBR standards, until the ride dropped us on an old rail line that was washboarded with loose volcanic sand. We were forced to ride it for 2 miles, but eventually we made it to a section where a nice dirt road paralleled it. The up and down of the washboarding combined with the loose volcanic sand, made it the worst section imaginable. To us, it made absolutely zero sense to be forced to ride it another 15 or so miles, especially when there was a perfectly good dirt road that was 30 feet off the side. We both highly recommend you get off the lava sand as soon as you can, your insanity will thank you later on. We continued on and found a very nice camp a short while later at Warm River.
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On the GDMBR, there is nothing quite as satisfying as starting your day off with a huge serving of bacon, eggs, hash browns and pancakes. After we ate, we took off on a roller coaster of a day. We set out from Lima and traveled a small dirt road with lots of little grinds. It was getting quite warm and dry, but we happened upon a small creek and splashed water on our faces and soaked our helmets. We had favorable winds for most of the day, until we took a turn and faced an 11 mile section of absolute agony. The 20-30 mph direct headwind had us traveling at a crawl. By this point, we had come to the conclusion that climbs are fine, because they are finite, but headwinds are ruthless, unpredictable and relentless. We eventually made it across the section of death and were greeted with ominous clouds across the valley. We took our chances and took a quick break for food, and then picked up the pace. A little while later and after a short climb, we made it to the border of Montana and Idaho! As we stopped to grab our arm warmers, Matt realized that his bag had been open and one of his had flown away. He was in terrible spirits because there was no way we would backtrack 30 plus miles to find it. So we pushed on and made it to our warm showers stay for the night.
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After a good nights rest, we powered up in the morning with a hot breakfast of oats, nutella, and pb. We probably threw pop-tarts in the mix for good measure since we knew today was going to be a long one. We set off, continuing down the second half of the descent we had started the night before. It was fast and fun. After bottoming out, and sending off a package at the post office in Polaris, MT, we continued on paved roads. About 40 miles in, we turned onto a gravel road, The Big Sheep Creek Back Country Byway, where we almost immediately encountered a headwind. The road was decent, but it was a slog, slowly leading us through remote wilderness where we gained elevation for the next 25 miles. It didn’t help that this was the first hot day of the trip and there was no shade to be found. We pushed on, cursing the headwind and finally, after a short steep climb, we crested the Medicine Lodge – Big Sheep Creek Divide. We stopped for lunch and after talking to a hunter, began the descent. Having said some pretty awful things about the wind all day, we were forced to eat crow (in the best way possible) as the wind shifted and became a tailwind. We were now cruising, averaging well over 20mph for the next hour or so. The road followed down a narrow canyon with epic rock outcroppings. As the sun began to set, we could see the lights of Lima in the distance. We took a right turn onto a dirt frontage road and right into a slight headwind. The next hour was a slow grind and we eventually entered into town, found a cafe just before close, and chowed on delicious Bacon Cheeseburgers. We then rolled across the street and set up camp behind a motel. Sleep came pretty easy that night.
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Preparing for the GDMBR we decided that the Surly Ogre would be our bike of choice. The Ogre is a no-nonsense steel 29’er off-road do-anything bike. It has eyelets for days, its tough, and is built to take a beating. After choosing the frame we went ahead a got it built up with a smattering of Shimano XT/SLX components. XT hydraulic disc brakes, Alfine dynamo to power our light and electronics, and Velocity Blunt 35 rims to tie it all together. Our saddle choice was easy, we decided on the new and comfy Brooks Cambium. As our ride at times, will be punishing, we needed all the spring we could get, and the Cambium was the obvious choice. Below is the complete build specs for each bike.
Matt’s Ride
Frame: Surly Ogre Medium
Fork: Surly Ogre
Headset: Cane Creek 40
Stem: Thomson Elite X4
Handlebar: Salsa Bend
Shifter: Shimano SLX
Grips: Ergon GC1
Seatpost: Thomson Elite
Saddle: Brooks Cambium
Seat Clamp: Blue Salsa
Front Hub: Shimano Alfine DH-S501 32h
Rear hub: Shimano XT 32h
Rims: Blue Velocity Blunt 35
Tires: Maxxis Ardent 2.25
Cranks: Shimano SLX 36/28
Pedals: Shimano spd
Bottom Bracket: Shimano
Cassette: Shimano 11-36
Chain: Shimano HG54
Brakes & Levers: Shimano XT hydraulic
Light: Supernova E3 TripleStorage
Frame Bag: Surly branded Revelate
Seat Bag: Revelate Pika
Handlebar Bag: Swift Industries Paloma
Salsa Anything RackBrett’s Bike
Frame: Surly Ogre Large
Fork: Surly Ogre
Headset: Cane Creek 40
Stem: Generic
Handlebar: Salsa Bend
Shifter: Shimano SLX
Grips: Giant Grips
Seatpost: Civia
Saddle: Brooks Cambium
Seat Clamp: Green Salsa
Front Hub: Shimano Alfine DH-S501 32h
Rear hub: Shimano XT 32h
Rims: Blue Velocity Blunt 35
Tires: Maxxis Ardent 2.25
Cranks: Shimano SLX 36/28
Pedals: Shimano spd
Bottom Bracket: Shimano
Cassette: Shimano 11-36
Chain: Shimano HG54
Brakes & Levers: Shimano XT hydraulic
Light: busch and mullerStorage
Frame Bag: Surly branded Revelate
Seat Bag: Revelate Pika
Handlebar Bag: Swift Industries Paloma
Trunk Bag: Axiom Robson LX 14
Salsa Anything Rack
A View From Two Wheels 