March 6, 2007

Big Year For Adventure Cycling's Great Divide Mountain Bike Route
Epic race, updated guidebook, and two-month guided rides slated for next six months

2007 is a big year for the world's longest mountain bike route. The fourth-annual Great Divide Race, kicking off on June 15th, is shaping up to be the best race yet. With several veterans planning to ride, Cannondale-sponsored rider Matthew Lee, winner of the last two Great Divide races, is looking forward to stiff competition from border to border. Covering the entire 2,500 miles of the American portion of the route (with winners routinely finishing in an astounding 20 days or less), the race follows the spine of the Rockies from the Canadian to the Mexican borders on backcountry roads and trails.

In classic touring tradition, riders are allowed no support, carrying everything they need — food, water, shelter, tools — on their bikes and backs, making the Great Divide Race not only the world's longest mountain bike race, but the most challenging cycling race in existence. The Tour de France is a leisurely trundle by comparison.

 Riders looking to experience the Great Divide Route at a more relaxed pace can join several Adventure Cycling guided rides this year. The grandaddy epic — and a chance to experience what Outside magazine calls one of, “The best backcountry adventure trips in America" — is a 70-day, self-supported ride along the entire American portion of the route beginning on June 16th.

 — The first-ever guided ride on the spectacular 221-mile Canadian extension of the route, stretching from Banff, Alberta, to the American border at Roosville, Montana, leaves on July 7th and will be led by a fresh-off-the-race Matthew Lee.

 — Southern Colorado and northern New Mexico's portion of the Great Divide, considered by many riders its most scenic, will host Great Divide, Colorado, a self-contained, 12-day Adventure Cycling ride beginning in Salida on July 8th.

 — Big Sky country hosts a week-long supported event, Cycle the Divide Montana, on July 21st. Starting in the ski town of Whitefish, the ride differs from the others in its festival-like size of 55 riders (the others are capped at 14) and its support — all gear is carried and meals are provided.

Adventurous cyclists looking to tackle the route on their own have a new and fully-updated version of Cycling the Great Divide by longtime Adventure Cycling Field Editor Michael McCoy. The book features a turn-by-turn description of the route, plus in-depth historical and environmental insight. As for all of their routes, Adventure Cycling's crack cartographic team offers a map-set for the Great Divide that lays out the route in easy-to-follow segments, as well as highlighting the best places to camp, stock up on food, and even enjoy a night of luxury in a small-town hotel. 

Since 1976, Adventure Cycling has been the leading voice of bicycle travel and has led tens of thousands of people on guided velo-adventures. As a nonprofit, Adventure Cycling’s rides are some of the most affordable in the industry and all net proceeds go back into the organization’s efforts to make the world a better place to ride via advocacy, outreach, and the creation of new cycling routes.

To learn more about Adventure Cycling’s 2007 guided rides, visit: www.adventurecycling.org/tours. The Adventure Cycling Association does not organize the Great Divide Race, but is enthusiastic about all kinds of bicycle riding on the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route. As in 2006, Adventure Cycling will be posting a photo gallery of the first day of the race with portraits and detailed captions for each competitor on www.adventurecycling.org. To learn more about the Great Divide Race go to www.greatdividerace.com.

Adventure Cycling Association is the premier bicycle travel organization in North America with more than 43,000 members. A nonprofit organization, our mission is to inspire people of all ages to travel by bicycle. We produce routes and maps for cycling in North America, organize more than 30 tours annually, and publish the best bicycle travel information anywhere, including Adventure Cyclist magazine and The Cyclists' Yellow Pages. For more information, please visit www.adventurecycling.org. To request an Adventure Cycling press kit or learn more about the Great Divide Route, contact Aaron Teasdale, media liaison, at 800-755-2453 x237 or ateasdale@adventurecycling.org.

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