Short answer: yes.
Before riding the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route, I already wondered how I would be thinking about these kind of adventures after my return. Would it be a ‘never again’, or would it somehow attract me to do something similar again? Although I was really looking forward to riding the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route, I had no clue how much I would like it.
Already a couple of minutes after arriving at Antelope Wells at the end of the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route I was regretting that the adventure had come to an end. I immediately envisioned how it would be if we could continue riding. Normal life called, and the both of us had to get back home. After my return people already started to ask about any future plans. I already had a route that I found attractive, but I kept it to myself for a while. Eventually that little seed started growing and I somehow wanted to assess the feasibility of a new adventure. I do realize that we had no real issues during our Great Divide Mountain Bike Route. So, for any new adventure there is a chance for more bad weather, more mechanical issues, more physical issues, etc. We’ve even seen it with others on our previous ride.
Already during my preparations for the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route I found out about the Western Wildlands Route. A route similar to the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route, slightly more remote, more bad roads, less resupply options. But, again spectacular nature, especially in Utah and the Northern half of Arizona. At first I focused on these two states, but eventually I felt the desire to do the whole route because I also really enjoyed riding through the northern states.
Now that I was sure I wanted to do another bikepacking adventure I had to check all involved again, such as family, employer, etc. Fortunately, that turned out not to be a problem (again). A bigger challenge is to find a riding companion for this route, especially since it is not as well known as the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route. My previous companion is not able to join, maybe for a shorter section only. I decided to place requests on Crazy Guy on a Bike (English), and WereldFietser (Dutch). After a couple of weeks I got a response via the message on the Dutch forum. This lead to hooking up together and plan the trip.
After discussing the route, directions, personal preferences, etc., we decided upon a north-bound direction, starting in May 2024. In May 2024 we will fly to Tuscon, Arizona, travel to the Mexican border (either by bike, or by shuttle/bike combination), and from there start the Western Wildlands Route in a northern direction. We have planned for a return flight by the end of June.