T minus 12 hours

The inaugural Tour Divide gets under way Friday at 10:00 a.m. Racers will meet in Banff, Alberta to start this 2711 mile ride that follows the Continental Divide as it winds through Alberta, British Columbia, Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado, and finally ending in Antelope Wells, New Mexico. When it's all done, riders will have climbed right at 200,000 vertical feet (equal to climbing Mt. Everest from sea level to summit..........7 times).

Keep an eye on the savy veteran Matt Lee.


Here's some singletrack the rider's will see in Montana:

A frightened fawn in Montana.

This picture was taken from the Tour Divide site. I think it said that it was taken in 1867. After some research, I found out that an army luitenant named James Moss organized a small unit of African-American cavalrymen. The unit was designated the 25th Infantry Bicycle Corps. The soliders rode 40 miles each day from their base in Missoula, Montana to prepare for a much bigger event: the following year, the men traveled nearly 1,900 miles to St. Louis, Missouri. This picture may actually be of the 25th Corps. Most of the men in formation appear to be in uniform and armed. Maybe the lone man on the left is a reporter?