I purchased the cues text from ACA and formatted them myself, including miles to next resupply/water/shelter.  It's also best to call some of the ones in small towns in the weeks before the race to make sure they still exist and what their hours are.  Some have strange hours like "closed Monday" etc. 

Head over to CrazyGuyOnABike and search for Timothy Tower.  He toured the route last year and, being a retired engineer, took detailed notes on the location of water sources including how difficult they were to reach.  He also logged the location and days/hours of operation of  stores, supermarkets, restaurants, laundromats, etc.  Note that he followed ACA maps which do not align exactly with the TD route.   
 

I know this is off your topic a bit and I hope you don't mind a question about the IHS route.  I'm planning to do the route this year or next but I know I won't have time for the entire 500+ miles. This leaves me with doing either the northern or southern loop using the Lowman cutoff.   If you had to choose which would it be?  I have a fair amount of experience with this type of riding, I've done about 1800 miles of the GDMBR.

Thanks,
Glen

Oh, but if only my family would agree to live atop Sheep Creek / Med Lodge Divide for the entire ITT season. We'd do grass-fed lamb gyros and artisinal sheep cheese out of a horse-drawn Basque shepherd wagon. I'd call it GoodForEwe

Oh ML that's baaaad.  I think you're pulling the wool over our eyes.

I was just reading a journal on the CrazyGuyOnABike website.  The author was Mike McElveen and the title was something like 'Taking a Shot at the Great Divide".  He  was caught in the punishing storms in Colorado and NM and has some pictures of the washed out roads in NM.  Looks like road closures at both ends now.     In an amazing show of fortitude he pressed on and finished in AW a couple of days ago.

I'm thinking Jesse gets the TD13 Badass award.

So I was reading a touring journal over on the CrazyGuyOnABike site and a north bound tourer reported massive road construction near the Middlewood Hill area south of Rawlins.  I think this is in the Medicine Bow NF.  Apparently they are putting in a wind farm and are paving the gravel/dirt road.  Future TD's will have 30 miles of pavement through this section.  He reported flag men due to one lane of traffic but no pilot car.  

If you get in a jam there's a shop 20 miles off the route in West Yellowstone, MT.    It's called Freewheel and Heel.  Also, I believe Great Divide Cyclery in Helena is still open.  The shop in the back of the hardware store in Pinedale can handle  basic things like tubes ,cables but probably not major rebuilds.   Breckenridge  CO has a couple of shops, one right on the route in downtown. 

Hi Jerry,

I've been doing the route in  1-2 week sections since 1997.  I may have the record for the longest time needed to complete the entire route (I'm not done yet!).    Last summer I rode from Banff to Whitefish with a side trip to Glacier NP.  I thought the first 100 miles,  Banff to Elkford, was stunning and should be on your short list.  The Flathead section from Sparwood to Rooseville is also beautiful.  Rooseville (US border) to Whitefish is also a photo op section especially with the mountains of Glacier off to your left.  Banff to Whitefish is a bit less than 400 miles and I did it in about 8-9 days.  I have to travel from the east coast for these trips so the sections I do are driven  by the logistics of getting to and from airports to the route, sometimes a challenge. 

As to other 1-2 week sections Whitefish to Helena should not be missed and, as Justin said, northern Wyoming is awesome as is Rawlins to Salida.

Good luck with your trip,
Glen

A bit off topic, but her is a link to a couple that did the GDMBR on UNICYCLES.  OK 2012 participants, think of the weight savings if your kit only has one wheel! 


http://divideby1.blogspot.com/

 Is Paul A off course?