Divide Ride 2011

Doug has spent hours pouring over the route sheets, and has what we think is a do-able version. He has reserved a trailer and, God willing, the bikes and all the camping gear will all fit! For my contribution, I have purchased a camping coffee maker as my firm policy is to never camp without caffeine. Stay tuned for more...

Just a few photos from the 2004 ride to whet our appetites!

The 24-foot trailer looked really big until we started loading it!

45 tie downs later (8 of which went on one particular bike) all the gear has been secured.
Departure tomorrow at 0600.

The truck and trailer make it safely after 3 ½ long days of driving. No real problems--just some flooding in North Dakota and a wicked head wind in Montana that reduced our gas mileage to 8.2 mpg. The gas mileage Nazi was not happy!

We meet the riders at the Glacier Park International Airport, unload the bikes from trailer, and make quite a stir at the airport. Two security guards wander over, but they are just interested to hear about our trip and check out the bikes.

Bikes being unloaded at airport.

Riders ready to head north.

We gear up and ride 60 miles north to camp near Eureka, a few miles from the Canadian border. The campground is beautiful, nestled amongst the hills, and we are the only occupants.
Camp in Eureka, MT.

The mountain-shaped tent is hoisted.

"Now, where did I put my _____??"

The personalized trip mugs are a big hit.

The temperature dropped to 43 degrees last night, which sent many of us scrambling for extra layers in the middle of the night!
Chilly morning in camp.

After a hearty breakfast, the riders headed 2 miles north to the Canadian border to begin the official Great Divide Ride.

The route had a few challenges—namely, snow and standing water, not surprising seeing as there was over twice the normal snowfall this past winter.

The riders were able to ride and/or push through most of the patches of snow and standing water, but some detours were required.