The End of a GDMBR Adventure

Our adventure on the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route has come to an end! We had a great trip and feel pretty accomplished traversing 1,000 miles on the route to the Grand Teton National Park. 

Made it to the Tetons.

Montana felt never-ending at times (containing the most number of miles - 710!), but provided a lot of different experiences from several continental divide crossings to high plains to hot springs to ghost towns to alpine meadows to sad logged areas and more. 

Taking a spin on an old merry-go-round in a ghost town on the site of major gold discoveries in the 1860s - we did not see any gold, but lots of white sage.

As we learned more about the upcoming sections of the trail, we determined that we weren't interested in biking the desert basin in Wyoming and heard about lingering snow issues in Colorado, so we figured that the beautiful Tetons would be a great ending place. We biked through Alberta, British Columbia, Montana, Idaho and into Wyoming. We visited two national parks plus countless national forests, wilderness areas and state parks. 

Idaho, though only hosting 72 miles on the route, was very welcoming and absolutely beautiful...despite being the site of our only flat.

During our last week of riding, we were so very fortunate to link up with riders from British Columbia, Paddy and Michelle, and support champion, Audra. These three added so much joy to our trip. It was great to have friends to ride with, camp with, and drink beers with! They kindly allowed us to put our beast of burden (trailer) in their sag wagon (support van), allowing us to ride further and faster...though we still couldn't keep up with these two powerhouses. Your company and kindness kept us going!

Our Canadian parents.
We packed up the bike in Jackson, WY and shipped her home. Because we still have vacation (and pet care! and bike muscles!), we are planning one more week-long mountain bike trip in Western NC next week. The adventure is never really over.

The trusty steed.
We can't thank our friends and family enough for your support and encouragement, making our adventures possible. Thanks to Paddy, Michelle, and Audra for traveling so far with us, for toting the beast, and for your wonderful companionship. Becoming friends with you all was a highlight of the trip and we will look forward to visiting you in Canada. Thanks to Aaron and Amanda for our airport transportation and for letting us borrow your GPS, without which, we would have definitely gotten lost (more often than we already did). Also, thanks to the Maslows for use of your cyclometer! Thanks to Marcus for going on several of our training rides and for patiently teaching Emma about bike mechanics. Thanks to Anne for our visit to Glacier and showing us such a special part of the world. Thanks to Chas, Clarie, and Alex for hosting us off-trail in Colorado and continuing to convince us of its greatness. Thanks to Emma's parents for managing our spare bike parts, shipping us treats, and for taking care of Valkyrie. Thanks to Shawna and Josh for tolerating (we mean, taking care of) Boo Radley, and thanks to Adam for watering our plants. Thanks again to all those who took an interest in this trip! If anyone ever has questions about biking these parts of the GDMBR, we would be happy to share more about our experience; eharver@gmail.com.



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