As detailed in the "Waypoints" column of an upcoming edition of Adventure Cyclist magazine, an Adventure Cycling member by the name of Jeff Nussbaumer has researched and mapped a new high-elevation mountain-bike route in Colorado. He's calling it Ride Along the Divide, or RAD.

“It begins in Encampment, Wyoming, and ends in Chama, New Mexico," Jeff said. "It is at its worst technical and strenuous, but can be relatively easy, too. The 36 mountain pass crossings range from 13,500 to no lower than 10,000 feet in elevation. Preliminary measurements show an overall elevation gain of 16.5 vertical miles.

"Compared to the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route," Jeff added, "RAD investigates different parts of the Rockies. It is about getting the mountain trekker over 13,000 feet above sea level and remaining within 3,000 feet of the Continental Divide for most of the trip."

Jeff is planning on publishing a guidebook to the route in late 2010 or early 2011. In the meantime, you can read a description of his own adventures finding and riding RAD at the Crazy Guy on a Bike website.

Also, in case you missed it last Thursday, be sure to have a look at Jenn Milyko's Geopoints Bulletin post about the creation of the Great Divide.

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BIKING WITHOUT BORDERS is posted every Monday by Michael McCoy, Adventure Cycling’s field editor, and highlights a little bit of this or a little bit of that — just about anything, as long as it’s related to traveling by bicycle. Mac also compiles the organization's twice-monthly e-newsletter Bike Bits, which goes free-of-charge to more than 40,000 readers worldwide.