The Great Divide Mountain Bike Route (GDMBR) is a over 3,000-mile mostly off-road bike route that follows the Continental Divide, starting in Banff, Canada, and ending at Antelope Wells in New Mexico at the US-Mexico border. There is an annual, unsupported ultra-endurance bikepacking race called Tour Divide, following this route. I consider GDMTB to be one of the most challenging, exciting, and beautiful bike routes in the US. Riders need to have physical and mental endurance, logistical planning and bike maintenance skills, and handle various weather conditions and altitudes as the route follows the Divide. It is remote and rugged. Hiking the CDT on its own is a feat. I thought that combining it with riding the GDMTB to make a full circle would be one of the greatest and most challenging adventures of my life.
Section 1 of the route covers from Banff to Roosville, Montana, at the US-Canadian border. I decided to ride from Section 2 at Roosville to make my own Great Divide Loop, hiking the CDT from the US-Mexico border to Canada, and riding from the US-Canadian border to the CDT southern terminus.
As I was getting ready at the border, I saw six cyclists riding into the US. I thought the Tour Divide season was over. At this late season, I was relieved to see other riders. Just knowing somebody was on the route gave me comfort since gravel riding is new to me.
Even though I am a rookie when it comes to gravel and mountain bike riding, my body seems to know how to ride my new bike and challenging rocky terrains. My dear NatureBridge colleagues raised enough money as I was leaving the organization, and they allowed me to buy a Salsa’s 2022 Cutthroat C GRX 600 1x for this trip. Cutthroat is an ultra-endurance bike that was designed to ride long distances on mixed surfaces, inspired by the Tour Divide. After riding it for a week, I am completely in love with this bike. It handles all terrains very well, and when it comes to uneven grounds and single-track rocky mountain bike paths, it is superior. I am looking forward to having this bike as my companion for the rest of this trip and beyond. I also recognize that I am fit and lightweight after hiking the CDT, so steep hills are relatively easy for me to climb at a slow and steady pace without taking breaks. I’m used to moving 12-14 hours a day during my CDT journey, and I realized that even though my body is accustomed to long hours of exercise, my butt is not ready to sit on the saddle for that long! It became sore and could not tolerate the amount of sitting after two long days of riding. I learned to take frequent breaks, take a luxurious 90-minute lunch, and end my day early! Compared to hiking the CDT, it feels much easier. I cover so much ground between 55-85 miles in a day! I’m loving the change of pace and speed, having the same wilderness and remote experiences.
My first day after I said goodbye to Isaac was rough due to the wildfire smoke. In fact, the first two cyclists I saw coming from Canada were wearing masks. The visibility was low, and I couldn’t quite see the mountains. Even though the air quality was poor, I immediately discovered a love for gravel riding: very little traffic of motorized vehicles on the back roads! For the rest of the week, I found it so exhilarating and fun. I was surrounded by nature the whole time, and there was plenty of water for this section. I was hooked right away, and gravel riding will be my new favorite outdoor activity. After riding for 3 hours on the first day, I found a very nice camp with a picnic table at Birch Creek Recreation Area in Kootenai National Forest.
The next day, I made it to Columbia Falls, where Becky and Larry, the former park rangers at Glacier National Park and good friends of Kim, one of my best friends from NatureBridge. I began my day watching lightning thunderstorms at 5 AM! Soon after the weather improved, I left my camp. The pavement ended soon and turned into a gravel road. The first ever uphill on the gravel road was steep and slow, but then the fun downhills came. That was when I realized how amazing my bike was. I could not believe how well my Cutthroat handled the gravel like nothing. I had fun testing its ability to ride the gravel without the front shock, how it curves the corners, and how my body feels the impact from hours of shaking handlebars, and I was so impressed! I made another steep ascent over to Red Meadows and enjoyed a long lunch break at the shore of the beautiful lake. When I made it to Becky and Larry’s home, they welcomed me to their sweet home with a view of the Flathead River, warm meals, and a shower. It was fun to listen to their stories and hear about what the park used to be like when there was more ice and less water, compared to there is more water than ice now.
The most challenging aspect of the transition from hiking to biking was figuring out how to pack gear in multiple bags and mount them to my new beloved gravel bicycle. I’ve done a bike packing trip from Vancouver, Canada, to the PCT Southern terminus in 2023, and my packing system on the Tour Divide is very similar to what I did in 2023. However, I have more gear, such as bear spray and more food to carry, since the route is remote and resupply opportunities are less available compared to the Pacific Coast Bike Route. Plus, since I’m small, my bike frame is small, which creates another challenge to mount my frame pack and saddle bag. It took me a long time to figure it all out, and it still takes me a while to pack everything up every morning since I began my bike trip.
After struggling to pack well, I left Becky and Larry’s home and crossed Flathead River, and rode on the pavement with almost no traffic. I noticed that Montana drivers are very kind. They slow down quite a bit and usually give me at least 3 feet when they’re passing me. I wish California drivers would do that consistently.
On the way, I saw a couple of road angels who put out the sign for cyclists. The first one was free camping in somebody’s backyard. Another one was at a church where they had a peace post, a shaded picnic table, water, and a bathroom. They know exactly what cyclists need, and I appreciated it.
After passing Ferndale, the road turned into a dirt road, and I made a steep climb on the west side of Swan Lake National Wildlife Refuge. I found a quiet camp in the woods for the night.
The next day, I rode in the rain in the morning. I could see the blue sky in the south, so I tried to get further south as fast as I could. The gravel road turned into my first single-track mountain bike trail through Mission Mountain Wilderness. My bike and I did well on the trail and made it to the highway. I saw Bob Marshall Wilderness from the road. It wasn’t a long time ago when I was hiking there! I took my lunch break at Holland Lake. I pulled into a picnic table, and it turned out that it was a group camp. There were 16 retired people from Helena camping, who generously let me eat my lunch there. They even gave me a peach, a nectarine, and a homemade lemon bar!
After lunch, I inched my way to the steepest climb of this section from 3,000 feet to 6,500 feet in Flathead National Forest. It was hard, and once I made it to Sunday Mountain, the view was incredible! The Huckleberry leaves were red, painting the mountains with vivid colors. I ate the last berry that was on the branch. From there, a single-track steep descent began. I was flying down so fast that I loved how intense and focused I was.
The next day, I rode to Ovando on Highway 200, and I made a spontaneous decision to hitch a ride with my full-loaded bike to Missoula. Brian, aka Hootie, one of my best friends, is getting married in Madison, WI, and I didn’t think I was able to go. Since I was ahead of my schedule and I happened to hit the highway, I gave it a try. Within 3 minutes, Regn, with a pickup truck, stopped for me, and I was in Missoula in an hour. I was back in Ava and Josh’s home, and the next day, I biked to the Missoula Airport and flew to Madison for the weekend. I was glad to be there, seeing some of my best friends who were invited to the wedding and witnessing an important milestone for Brian and Antonia. They didn’t think I was able to make it, so they were happy to see me.
After coming back to Missoula, I hitched a ride back to the trailhead with Chad, a veteran from Arizona, and resumed my bike trip. I made it to Lincoln, then the next day to Helena. On my way to Helena, I met Jeff, a 61-year-old cyclist who was riding this section to West Yellowstone. We rode together for the morning, and I enjoyed his company.
It is so strange to be in Helena already. I was here with Ava when she came to help me with resupply in mid-August. It took me two weeks to reach Canada from here on the CDT. I remember the 75-mile brutal stretch with no water from Helena to Roger Pass on the CDT, yet on Tour Divide, I had consistent access to water, and I appreciated it. It is interesting to see some similarities and differences between the two routes, and I am looking forward to what comes next!