European Divide Trail

[Boab]

Have we done the European Divide Trail yet...? ADVNTR are reporting a new 7,600km route from the Artic (sic) Ocean at Grense Jakobselv in Norway to Cabo St Vincent in Portugal.

https://advntr.cc/european-divide/

It appears to be on Komoot and a quick search reveals a report of it from 2019 on a thing called polarsteps. There some YouTube from last year too.

[jameso]

It looks good doesn't it? Andy's been riding around Europe for a few years now and his instagram account is full of dirt roads and places I'd love to see. The Scandinavian sections in particular with all those shelters and cabins along the way. He's done a great job of mapping his tour and after covering some of the areas a couple of times (maybe more) I expect he found some good stuff.

https://www.instagram.com/doubletrackfanatic/?hl=en]
https://www.instagram.com/europeandividetrail/?hl=en

[Mariner]

Is this the same as TET or part of it?
https://transeurotrail.org/

[Boab]

Is this the same as TET or part of it?
https://transeurotrail.org/

No idea, and I had wondered about that when I was googling. I'm assuming not, as I'm assuming there are some places bikes can legally go that moto's, etc, can't. :shrug:

[Alpinum]

It looks good doesn't it? Andy's been riding around Europe for a few years now and his instagram account is full of dirt roads and places I'd love to see. The Scandinavian sections in particular with all those shelters and cabins along the way. He's done a great job of mapping his tour and after covering some of the areas a couple of times (maybe more) I expect he found some good stuff.

https://www.instagram.com/doubletrackfanatic/?hl=en]
https://www.instagram.com/europeandividetrail/?hl=en

Yep, Andy's work. And unlike many other routes, he didn't just ride a route once and call it done. There are a couple of 'laps of Europe' in this route by himself. Great fella, always (unless COVID) nice to have him over for a couple of days in spring when he migrates North and autumn when he migrates South again.

Drop him a message if you have any questions, I'm sure he's happy to help and surely pleased to find that some are interested in his work.

[pistonbroke]

This concept of routes using the "Divide" tag is interesting. Clearly there's some sort of homage being paid to the Great Divide route in the US, which for those who don't know (there can't be many) follows the Continental Divide in Western America. So I would conclude that the Divide aspect is basically a watershed that in the case of the US means that rivers sourced along the route either drain west to the Pacific or east to the Atlantic. However a number of routes are springing up with the Divide tag which don't seem to follow this requirement. The Italy Divide stays firmly to the west of the Appenines, the French Divide seems an arbitrary line north to south, not sure about the Hungary Divide but seeing as it's a landlocked country the connection would seem tenuous! GB Divide has some sections that could claim watershed status, along the Pennines and Southern Uplands but is largely down the west side of the country. The closest that Europe has to a Divide actually runs West to East (or the other way)and was walked by Nicholas Crane from Finisterre in Spain to Istanbul in his book Clear Waters Rising. I wouldn't fancy it on a bike, particularly the Alpine and Carpathian sections which sounded terrifying.
(Now the plug )
I've been working on a route that I'm happy to call the Spanish Divide that runs for 1,200km from the mouth of the river Ebro, the longest river entirely in Spain, via the sources of the Tajo(Tagus)and Duero which flow west into the Atlantic in Portugal to the source of the Ebro which flows into the Mediterranean and rounding off at the Atlantic coast near Bilbao. I've ridden over 80% of it and am doing an end to end trip in September once travel restrictions have, hopefully, been lifted once and for all. I've put together a website and video if anyone's interested. Sept 2nd is the start date.
https://montanasvacias.com/spanishdivide/

[Verena]

If anyone is interested, this guy is currently making his way down south from the Nordkap along the European Divide Trail. Some great pictures.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CR-2snDMdjP ... =copy_link

[NewRetroTom]

However a number of routes are springing up with the Divide tag which don't seem to follow this requirement.

They should really call them "Diagonals" instead of Divides. It's an established concept here in France (joining the corners of the hexagone) where they already have their own organisation: l'Amicale des Diagonalistes de France http://diagonales.homelinux.net/adf/ind ... e=1&menu=1

[lune ranger]

However a number of routes are springing up with the Divide tag which don't seem to follow this requirement.

They should really call them "Diagonals" instead of Divides. It's an established concept here in France (joining the corners of the hexagone) where they already have their own organisation: l'Amicale des Diagonalistes de France http://diagonales.homelinux.net/adf/ind ... e=1&menu=1

It’s maybe a bit of lazy naming or jumping onto a certain bandwagon. On the other hand a cross country/continental route could be described as a divide in terms of the ‘line’ causing the country/continent to be ‘separated’ into parts.
It doesn’t need to describe a watershed.

[TheBrownDog]

I'm with Luke on this. If it goes from top to bottom, or bottom to top, and follows a logical route according to the topography, call it a divide. Or call it Shirley. It don't matter, do it?

I am attracted to the suggestion of calling them diagonals, but that sounds romantic and challenging when you say it in French. In English, it means you're going sideways. Nah but yeah but nah.

By the baby Jeebuz I have itchy feet. I would love to ride something like this. Take a few months. Maybe in 4-5 years where the kids are moved out and I can afford the time. I did a few very long cycle trips in my 20's and have pined for that life ever since.