When we set out on the GDMBR we envisioned ourselves cruising down remote trails and roads, through beautiful pristine forests and past cool mountain springs. Today’s ride was admittingly the exact opposite. Leaving our newest favorite town of Fernie, our route took us along the familiar Elk River and back 40 years to the town of Elko, where we were powered by Beaver Buzz. We enjoyed lunch at Elko’s only restaurant, a Dairy Queen wannabe creatively named Dairy Bar and conversed with some Canadian riders who were finishing up their ride through Glacier, Waterton and Banff National Parks. From there we descended into hell itself for the next 47.9 miles as we spun our way along busy highways and desolate roadways in temperatures pushing 100°. Our spirits low, we rolled into the one-building town of Grasmere, BC and were able to treat ourselves to slushies, screamers (a slushy mixed with ice cream) and other tasty treats. Not wanting to prolong our stay in this…, we pressed on to the U.S. border at the port of Roosville (named after the Roo family who originally settled here), but only after having our camera searched. If you don’t want people taking pictures of the border station, don’t mount enormous bolders on poles, problem solved! Despite our weary legs we decided to finally put hell behind us and cruised the remaining few miles into Eureka, MT where we had a delicious, Terex Titan-sized dinner at Cafe Jax and camped under the stars in the city park.

Leaving behind the comforts of Elkford we started the day with a steep climb up the Elk Valley Highway. Running on a premium blend of Pomtinis, Kokanees and Elkford’s best bar food (and only restaurant) we powered over the pass and through the kind of natural beauty created only by the merger of coal mining and logging. Our route crossed, and sometimes joined, U.S. Route 93 several times before dumping us in Sparwood, BC. Upon arriving we were mesmerized by the sight (and size) of the Terex Titan, a monster-sized tribute to the city’s mining roots, which also provided us with the best shade of the day.  We took full advantage of the situation with some sandwiches and ice cream from a nearby deli.  In the process, the friendly attendant making our sandwiches set the record for “most water used when filling our bottles.”  After lunch we set off on some heavily trafficked highways on the way to this evening’s destination of Fernie.

The Great Divide Route has already presented us with many suprises. Fernie takes the cake for the best surprise yet however. We had an enormous dinner, swam (some might call it bathe) in the Elk River and even threw back a few drinks in a downtown pub. Unwound, we retired to our camping spot in the Mount Fernie Provincial Park.

Still fueled by the enormous ice cream cones of yesterday and some instant coffee that more closely resembled dirty dishwater with a bitter aftertaste (courtesy of the Tobermory cabin), we continued down the Elk Valley this morning. The generally downhill route along the Elk River meant fast, easy riding. We were making great time until we encountered a group of horses who surrounded us in an apparent attempt to integrate us into their herd. After breaking free, we spotted a steaming hot pile of black bear skat. A few minutes later we encountered the guilty party when a small black bear darted from the woods and down the road in front of us.

As we neared Elkford we became inadvertant participants in the 5th stage of the TransRockies race and were welcomed to town by the sounds of The Boys are Back in Town looping endlessly over loudspeakers. With the race in town we were spoiled with other luxuries as well; showers, a cookout, cold beers, Pomtinis and even a camping spot on a baseball field.

Powered by last night’s dinner of “Hot Damn” Pepperoni Sticks, Chicken Fajita Beef Sticks, Ritz crackers, and PBR, our day began with about 10 miles of singletrack through the beautiful Banff National Park. We eventually met up with the scenic Smith-Dorrien/Spray trail, which delivered us to the Boulten Creek Trading Post. Here we encountered two treats: larger-than-our-head ice cream cones, and a lesson on beavers from a friendly park ranger. Among the things we learned were (no joke, we didn’t make this up):

• The correct way to pet a beaver pelt is with the back of your hand.
• Some people think beavers have many similarities to fish and consider beavers part of the fish family.
• In order to facilitate underwater eating, beavers have two sets of lips.

Our stomachs full of ice cream, we were ready to tackle our first Great Divide crossing at Elk Pass. We cruised down the road to the Elk Pass trailhead, where we were promptly greeted by a shotgun-wielding, antenna-holding forest ranger (obviously, he had a higher pick in the park duty assignments than the previous ranger). After being warned that a grizzly sow and her cub were within 200 meters (we’re in Canada), the three of us all agreed we felt comfortable tempting fate with the trail ahead. Our plan was to make as much noise as possible while in the “danger zone” and get away from the bear. We pedaled quickly, but were quickly foiled by a virtual wall and forced to (uncomfortably) push our bikes up the hill and away from the bear. Even with all the pushing, as we crested the hill we spotted the grizzly and her cub about 1/4 mile down the hill. Call us shameless, but had this particular grizzly mama and her child decided to create a scene, we were completely prepared to mace her and the baby. With the adrenaline pumping from the encounter with the grizzly, we cycled to the top of Elk Pass and over the Great Divide into British Columbia.

Tonight we were lucky enough to score the first-come, first-serve Tobermory Cabin, which might serve as a serial-killer training room on other nights of the week. Despite the creepiness, the cabin was warm and comfortable, and we spent the evening playing 3-person Euchre and a seemingly never-ending game of Bullshit.

After completing last minute errands in Banff, we got an early 2:15pm start on the trail.  The weather was perfect and the scenery provided by Banff National Park was some of the most beautiful the three of us have ever seen.  We spent the first part of the day learning how to ride our heavily-laden bikes, stopping and starting frequently to fine-tune our bikes, with the occasional crash (both riding and walking the bike) mixed in (Brett 2, Jeff 1, Kelly 0)  As a reward for our patience, we received our first gift of trail karma in the form of a Prius.

While rounding a bend in the Smith-Dorrien/Spray Trail road, we were greeted by a large female moose blocking our way.  In an attempt to not be trampled by a moose on our first day, we waited for the moose to move.  After realizing we and the moose shared the same plan (to wait until the other one moved), we used a passing eco-friendly Prius to ward off this natural threat.  Had the moose been a sasquatch, we would have known exactly what to do.

We biked till dusk and setup camp a short ways off the trail.

For the next 65 days (approximately), myself (Brett DeWoody) and two good friends (Jeff Wittich and Kelly McGroddy) will be bicycling the 2,711 miles from Banff, Alberta to Mexico along the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route. Without sounding too metaphorical, you could say we’re each at a bit of a “divide” – Kelly recently completed her PhD in Materials Engineering from UCSB and will be joining a start-up in San Jose, Jeff is leaving his job at Intel….and promptly re-enlisting with them when our trip is over, and I’m recovering from life at an internet starutup.

On the night before departing on our two-month trip we feel like kids on Xmas eve. We ate an enormous dinner of nachos, bison burgers and Canada’s own Kokanee beer while watching the Olympics from a north-of-the-border perspective. Our bags are (mostly) packed and, at least we think, we’re ready to go. Over the course of the trip our goal is to post a blog entry each day, though the site might only be updated every few days. So bookmark //bikingthedivide.com, subscribe to our RSS Feed, or even follow our updates via my Twitter feed.

Alright, we’re out!