Reflections from the Great Divide Mountain Bike Trail (3 of 10) – Eureka, Montana – Elkhorn Springs Campground, Montana

[Great Divide title slide][]

This is the third of a series of ten posts about my recent trip to Mountain Bike the Continental Divide between Banff, Canada to Antelope Wells, New Mexico. 

Day 5: Eureka – Upper Whitefish Lake (68 miles)

Day five was a significant turning point for me. I felt healthy, fit and my stomach was felling a lot better.

The first part of today’s route was on pavement and we made fairly quick progress over the first 20 miles before the real climbing began. As we progressed upwards towards the Whitefish Divide I took it slowly but chose to keep going rather than stop for short breaks. As a result I was the first to arrive at the top of the divide and sat watching a bear high up on the hill as I waited for the others.

[caption id=”” align=”aligncenter” width=”500” caption=”Decent from the Whitefish Divide”]Decent from the Whitefish Divide[/caption]

The decent from the Whitefish Divide was fantastic and we made swift progress down towards the Ford Work Center before starting the next big climb up towards Red Meadow Lake. By the time we ...

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Simon and Marco make it to Mexico!

[caption id=”attachment_297” align=”aligncenter” width=”550” caption=”Screenshot of the SPOT tracker page”][Screenshot of the SPOT
tracker page][][/caption]

I’ve been following the SPOT on and off for most of the day following Simon and Marco’s progress as they have made their way from Silver City across the desert to Separ, along the dirt track parallel to Highway 10 down to Hachita and then south down the 47 longest miles in the world in the heat to the Mexican border.

At 12.28h (New Mexico Time) 19.28 (GMT) they made it to the Antelope Wells and the Mexican Border. In doing so completing nearly 3000 miles of cycling from Banff, Canada in just over five weeks.

Well done guys! Hoe you enjoyed the beers!

[Screenshot of the SPOT tracker page]: /images/2009/07/Antelope-Wells.jpg

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Reflections from the Great Divide Mountain Bike Trail (2 of 10) – Canada

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This is the second of a series of ten posts about my recent trip to Mountain Bike the Continental Divide between Banff, Canada to Antelope Wells, New Mexico. 

I arrived late in Banff and in hindsight I should have had a days rest and preparation before heading out on the trail. Instead, after I arrived I stayed up late and with the help of the Simon and Marco put my bike and trailer together and sorted out our equipment.

Day 1: Banff - Chester Lake Trailhead (43 miles)

Before starting the route I posted my bike bag and a few things that I didn’t need on to Phoenix, Arizona. As with previous trip I posted my stuff to the Greyhound Bus Terminal in Phoenix. Quite often people don’t know that you can do this but actually as long as you are not in hurry for your package to arrive, Greyhound is a pretty reliable service for parcels and they specialise in taking oversized and overweight packages (like bike bags).

We eventually got started at 10am – the first day did not go well for ...

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Reflections from the Great Divide Mountain Bike Trail (1 of 10) – Introduction

[Great Divide title slide][]

Thisis the first of a series of ten posts about my recent trip to Mountain Bike theContinental Divide between Banff, Canada to Antelope Wells, New Mexico.

It’s been a week since I stopped cycling atthe end of my Canada to Mexico Mountain Bike Trip down the Continental Divide. The week has gone very quickly mainly because I had to get to Phoenix, Arizona and then back to the UK ready to start work.

During my commutes around Scotland over the last couple of days I’ve been pulling together my thoughts on the expedition, writing up my diary and trying my best to catalogue photographs. In the meantime Simon and Marco have still been battling on with the fierce New Mexico climate and terrain in a bid to make it to Antelope Wells and the end of their journey. All being well they should get to the end tomorrow (Saturday 25^th^) and I wish them the best of luck and some strong tail winds!

In the next series of posts I will catalogue my experience of the trail, the
route, details ...

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The end of my journey

[caption id=”” align=”aligncenter” width=”500” caption=”Ollie at Antelope Wells”]![Ollie at Antelope Wells][][/caption]
After exactly thirty days in the saddle I finally made it to the Mexico border at Antelope Wells. The journey started in Banff, Canada on the 18th June.
 
Over the last month I have cycled nearly 3000 miles mostly following the Continental Divide mountain bike route. There is no doubt about it - its been a hard month. I’ve cycled through snow, desert, drought, high mountain passes, hail and huge lightening storms. I’ve crashed twice, had to have my bike fixed three times and spent the last 16 days traveling alone after splitting up with my traveling companions on the dreaded day 13.
 
**In summary - I’ve had a blast!** I’m about two stone lighter and sporting a rather fetching beard (with a hint of ginger!).
 
I’ll reflect more on the route when I get back to the UK but this is just a quick post to thank everyone who has offered support, humour and mechanical advice via twitter, facebook and email over what ...
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