After a whole lot of anticipation came and went, smoldered by the wildfire smoke that blanketed the American West, the women's bikepacking event Ride Beyond was rescheduled for mid-October. With the whirlwind of late summer and early fall, it snuck up on me altogether too fast and I found myself whizzing along the highway on a road trip with my gear haphazardly thrown in the back. Because of the shorter days of fall and the schedule of the official photographer, our route was shortened and turned into an overnighter with some free time to do some day rides.
We all convened at the
Adventure Cycling Association office for a tour and some bike touring history, then headed up to Whitefish. After arriving at the
Whitefish Bike Retreat, where we would base our adventures from, I was happy to have time to enjoy the beautiful space.
I don't have much to report from this trip, other than being blown away by the stunning beauty of fall in Montana. The dirt roads were just about perfect and we had a fun mix of smooth fast rolling dirt, to rocky descents, to some serious hike-a-bike, and everything in between. I definitely want to come back to ride the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route, but on my own or with one or two close friends.
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| Laura relishes her meat stick. |
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| The larches made for fiery yellow highlights on the mountainside. |
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| Snow biking! Okay, it was very little snow, but made us feel pretty gnarly. |
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| Hello Glacier National Park! |
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| Can we please ride to Canada? It's soooo close! |
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| These views... |
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| Some sexy steeds, a sexy creek, and sexy mountains. |
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| We made it to the Polebridge Merc with just enough time to buy the out of pizza rolls, huckleberry bear claws, and all the pastries. |
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| Sweet dispersed campsite along the North Fork of the Flathead River... right at Glacier's doorstep. |
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| Summit lakes make for the best lunch break spots. |
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| Fall in Montana is gorgeous. Couldn't have asked for better weather. (photo credit: Cricket Butler) |
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| The crew had enough energy to gather for one last group photo back at the Whitefish Bike Retreat and happy to be done! |
Dipping my toe into the world of sponsored bike touring was a surreal experience for me and one I'm not sure I would repeat. While I feel privileged to have been part of a project to inspire other women to get into bikepacking, it wasn't my cup of tea. I'd rather focus my energy on engaging women in my little corner of Oregon.
A few tips for cycle tourists:
- The route we ended up riding can be found here. According to local intel, there are a lot of different ways to cross the divide on dirt roads and each are all pretty great. We ended up getting a shuttle ride to allow us the best route for the time we had.
- If you can help it, stay at the Whitefish Bike Retreat. Cricket is a badass and wealth of information. Not only has she ridden the Great Divide Mountain Bike route at least four times, but she has thru-hiked the PCT and AT. There are miles of singletrack that leave straight from her property. She provides shuttles to Banff. Oh yea, and there is a wood fired sauna. Really, what more, could a cyclist want?
- The Polebridge Mercantile has everything a bikepacker could want, from showers, to hot coffee, and a surprisingly robust selection of groceries. During the peak summer months, there is also a hostel there, but I loved dispersed camping by the river.
- This ride was sponsored by: Ortlieb, Adventure Cycling, 7 Mesh, Masi Bikes, Exped, Skratch Labs, Hydroflask, and Whitefish Bike Retreat.
