Glacier Cyclery | Whitefish, Montana

Trails / Rides - Great Divide

An adventure is exactly what you can expect on Adventure Cycling's Great Divide Route. Riding the portion of the Great Divide mountain bike route from the US border to Whitefish and beyond will truly be a highlight of your life. In Glacier Cyclery's part of the country you can expect incredible views, quiet wilderness, a variety of wildlife and beautiful lakeside resort towns.

Access

Glacier Cyclery is located in one of those lakeside resort towns, Whitefish, MT. Although Whitefish is about 70 miles from Roosville, it is the closest town accessible by public transportation for those of you beginning your trip at this point on the route. That and the fact that the route comes back through Whitefish makes Glacier Cyclery the logical staging headquarters for Great Divide riders. If you leave some necessity for your trip at home, don't worry, you will be able to replace it easily here. There are several outdoor sports stores for camping supplies and clothing, and Glacier Cyclery is well stocked with cycling parts, gear, clothes and accessories.

Services Glacier Cyclery provides to Great Divide Riders

• • Rentals
• • Mechanical Expertise
• • Products and Maps
• • Shipping and Receiving Bikes
• • Small quantities of white gas
• • Glacier Cyclery's pearls of wisdom: "Been there, done that"
• • For current route information, give us a call (406-862-6446)

 

Rentals

Some reasons renting a bike for the Great Divide makes sense:

• Airline fees for shipping a bike are steep.
• Wrestling bike boxes through airports and on shuttles and taxis can be a hassle, and you will have a considerable amount of camping gear to deal with as well.
•  UPS is easier, but figure in the cost and time of disassembly on your end, and assembly here, as well as freight.
• Your bike may be perfect for where you live, but not appropriate for the rigorous terrain of this route.
•  To avoid major disappointments, your equipment should be in top mechanical condition; there are no bike shops for days, nor many vehicles to flag down for a lift along the route. We assure you of top quality, mechanically sound rental equipment.
•  We can help work out the details of returning rental equipment if you are not returning to Whitefish. However, shipping a bike back from Canada is not financially reasonable, so a one-way rental to Canada is no longer an option.

Mechanical Expertise

Glacier Cyclery has been serving bicycle tourists and researching and mapping off-road rides in this area for many, many years. We personally have ridden this route and know what it does to equipment. Our service department and mechanics are accustomed to trouble shooting mechanical problems of every conceivable sort, and we stock the most obscure parts and have a great relationship with vendors in our industry. This can benefit you tremendously!

Products

Riding the Great Divide is a unique adventure of backcountry bikepacking and requires cycling equipment, backpacking equipment, and survival gear. A product that is carried in this part of the country that not every cycle tourist or backpacker may have on hand is Bear Deterrent Pepper Spray. Between Roosville and Whitefish you pass through prime grizzly bear habitat. The route follows and crosses cold, tasty, refreshing mountain streams, but beware; throughout the intermountain west, open-range grazing and beaver and human disturbances make purifying the water you drink prudent. Glacier Cyclery stocks pepper spray and can direct you to a local outdoor store for water purifiers. For other backcountry bikepacking equipment, accessories, clothing and maps, visit our on-line store.

Shipping and Receiving Bikes

For information on our policies and procedures for shipping and receiving bikes, Click Here.

White Gas

You can buy less than gallon amounts of Coleman fuel from us. Over the years, this has always been appreciated by cycle tourists who don't need large amounts of fuel and can't buy small amounts. It is also illegal to fly with stove fuel, but we can fill your bottles here at the shop.

 

Been There, Done That

We didn't know what to call this section, but we hope you've read this far. These are tips and tidbits that we've learned from Great Divide riders going before you as well as our own experience.

Who:

• This route is creating a whole new category of athlete that Glacier Cyclery has termed backcountry bikepackers. Just because you are a road racer and can "do" 130 mile days does not mean that you are in shape for this route. If you are a long-distance bicycle tourist, but have never mountain biked, or are a mountain biker but have never packed gear, you, too, will not know quite what to expect! If you are a backpacker, mountain bike rider and self-contained cycle tourist, you will have the best idea of what to expect and be the most "qualified".
• Anyone in the mood for adventure can do it! During the summer of 1999, the Barnett family of five, set out from Roosville, Mom and Dad, their 14 year old daughter, 12 year old son, and a 3 year old in a Burley trailer. Their goal was to spend 40 days biking the Montana portion of the Great Divide.
• You can do this, and you'll have an unforgettable life experience. If you are out for more than a week, this will be a life-changing experience.
• Leave your dog at home!
   

 

Planning:

• Before embarking on your trip, ride, ride, ride, with B.O.B. or fully loaded panniers. This will make the first few days more enjoyable.
• Learn how to fix a flat, remove your chain, replace spokes, adjust front and rear derailleurs and brakes. Knowing how to do these fairly simple tasks will both save you time and increase your level of self confidence.
• Plan days of about 30 to 35 miles in length. The department of highways is not out smoothing the trail way, cutting moderate grades through hilly terrain or signing every junction. This amount of mileage will give you needed rest breaks, time to enjoy the country you are riding through, extra time to backtrack if necessary, and daylight to set up camp and break it down in the morning.
• Look ahead on your map and calculate the number of meals you need to carry and consider the number of calories you will be burning. Several ill-prepared groups have been helped along by other riders who shared their food with them. Convenience stores are not accessible to just grab something.
• You must be prepared to camp, the only bed and breakfast at the end of many days are those that you are carrying with you!
• Ignore everything I just said if you are a Great Divide Racer and rode like Jay Petervary.
• Plan on three days from Roosville to Whitefish; if you have additional time, The Ten Lakes Scenic Area, about 8 miles off the route is worth a visit.
• Plan on about five days from Whitefish to Swan Lake; Bigfork, just north of Swan Lake, is another one of those attractive Montana lakeside resort towns and has good restaurants.
• Figure about seven days to Holland Lake Lodge from Whitefish.
• You can arrange a shuttle back to Whitefish from any of the above points with Kalispell Taxi, phone 406-752-4022. Glacier Cyclery does not provide a shuttle service!
   

 

Equipment and Gear:

• The Great Divide terrain is really hard on a tandem captain and stoker and, although there have been a few others to ride a tandem, it is NOT the cycle of choice!
• We feel the best combination of equipment for the route is a hardtail bike with front suspension with front rack and panniers pulling a B.O.B. This combination gives you adequate carrying capacity and optimum weight distribution.
• Dual suspension bikes designed with nylon bushings do not stand up under the rigors of the full length of the route, however we've found bushing equipped bikes do fine for trips of shorter duration.
• The new category of 29er mountain bikes is an excellent option for the GDR.
• A suspension seat post is a nice addition to any hardtail and doesn't add a great deal of weight.
• We recommend carrying the Flathead National Forest visitor's map as well as the Adventure Cycling map through Glacier Country so that you have a greater perpective of where you are, have been, and want to be!
• The best gears? As low as the drive train of your bike can handle! 24T or smaller up front, 30T or more in the rear.
• A mildly aggressive knobby tire of around 2" - width is probably the best all around tire for the variety of trail conditions that you will encounter. Pulling and carrying loads on climbs or descents in snow, mud and bad ruts make narrow or slick tires a poor choice.
• It can snow any month of the year. At least bring rain gear.
• The best off-the-bike foot wear to pack is a is a Teva™ style sandle which is great for fording streams in the early spring and when worn with wool socks is a Montana fashion statement.
• Carry spare rear derailluer hangers for each bike. The hangers are very specific to make, model and year of bicycle and are not readily available, except at Glacier Cyclery!
   

 
Wildlife:

• Yes, you REALLY might see a grizzly. See the guest register entry of Sukie Clark.
• Yes, Bear Spray does work, and many of us carry it on our bikes when mountain bike riding.
• Red Meadow Pass is where you might see a grizzly, or wolves if you are lucky, and black bear are ubiquitous. Don't let the fear of the bears deter you from this trip.
• Deer are the worst pests! They have chewed to ruins saddles, helmets, gloves and shorts, proving that you do sweat on the Divide.
• No! Mosquitoes are the worst pests.
   

 

When:

• Red Meadow Pass is not clear of snow until the later part of June, occasionally into the first week of July. It isn't the elevation, but the latitude and elevation combined that keeps snow in this area late into the spring.
• Red Meadow Pass usually remains passable through the end of September.
   

 

Other:

These tips thanks to Christine Hurst, Erik Haluzak and Patrick Grover, who met up in Park Lake and ended up cycling together until finishing their trip in Kremmling, Colorado. They were all following the book by Michael McCoy and found it to be a useful guide. Upon finishing out their ride, they met again in Nebraska ( ! ) and faxed these points back to Glacier Cyclery.
 

• The first 8 days are tough and demanding, both physically and mentally. Don't decide to quit until you have completed them.
• Pay little attention to the profiles! They give only a very general impression of what the terrain will be like (the "downhill" into Tuchuk campground is a good example of this).
• You will learn that a "good gravel road" is an oxymoron.
• A rough or primitive dirt road is often a good road.
• When the route is described as "impassable when wet" they mean it.
• Wake up early! The heat by midday can be unbearable. This is very important too in Wyoming where the afternoon winds can be a big problem.
• The 50 to 60 mile days are long and tough, no matter how flat the the profile is.
• It does not get easier after Helena.
• Write in your journal.
• Always hang your food, often the rodents are worse than the bears.
• That large dog walking into camp might not be a dog.
• Even when the book describes the day as "have plenty of water", carry more than you think you will need.
• Secure your quick releases using either hose clamps or zip ties!
• Cellular phone coverage is poor at best. The exception is near major highways and for some reason out in the Great Divide Basin in Wyoming.
• The B.O.B. trailer is not indestructible! Carry spare parts, tires, skewers...
• Don't feel guilty for occasionally taking a paved alternative, well at least we never did.
• The most important rule.... Maintain a good sense of humor and just go out there and enjoy the ride!

 

Here is a list of things that broke or wore out on the trip.
 

• 1 Rear Spoke
• Rear Tires after 800 miles
• B.O.B. Tire after 1000 miles
•  B.O.B. Trailer (Top Tube Broke - welded back together by friendly rancher)
• 5 B.O.B. Inner Tube flats
• 1 Water Bottle Holder
• Chain - Broken Link
• 1 B.O.B. Skewer - Quick Release caught onto something on Richmond Peak Trail and opened without my noticing. Revisit point above!
   

Hope this helps, enjoy your ride!