Claire Porter

Great Divide

Sparwood, BC

Overview 0 mi Overview
Segment 1 215 mi Banff, AB
Segment 2 277 mi Sparwood, BC
Segment 3 443 mi Roosville, MT
Segment 4 624 mi Seeley Lake, MT
Segment 5 828 mi Polaris, MT
Segment 6 1040 mi Flagg Ranch, WY
Segment 7 1178 mi South Pass City, WY
Segment 8 1363 mi Middlewood Hill, NY
Segment 9 1458 mi Silverthorne, CO
Segment 10 1588 mi Salida, CO
Segment 11 1712 mi Platoro, CO
Segment 12 1890 mi Cuba, NM
Segment 13 2051 mi Pie Town, NM
Segment 14 2169 mi Silver City, NM
Getting ready for the ride! 0 mi PRE-RIDE
01 Days before departure 0 mi Home
Banff, Canada 232 mi Eureka, Mt
Eureka, MT 259 mi Helena, MT
Helena, MT 183 mi Island Park, ID
Island Park, ID 98 mi Jackson, Wyoming
Jackson, Wyoming 185 mi Atlantic City, Wyoming
Atlantic City 349 mi Frisco, CO
Frisco, CO 165 mi Del Norte, CO
Del Norte, CO 307 mi Grants, NM
Grants, NM 240 mi Silver City, NM
Silver City, NM 136 mi Mexico/US Border

Sparwood, BC Sparwood. In this old mining town lies the world's largest truck, a Subway, and a grocery store with several barren shelves. It's nestled in the armpit junction of several highways, and the town seems to be wearing the wrong sized shoes. Even the name of it feels awkward "Sparwood". Part of my malaise is probably due to the fact that Ben and I have been here twice once, on the way to Flathead Pass, and twice when we had to turn around at the top of the pass when Ben's bike broke down and backtrack to get to the closest bike shop in Fernie. I am frustrated that we are in this coal town again, and want to leave. Ben insists on stopping for lunch at Subway because he "loves Subway", and some of my frustrations must be due to hunger because I feel better after eating a sandwich, loaded with crunchy veggies. Plus, they have wifi.

Two nights ago we needed a place to camp and nothing along the road was particularly inspiring. That and there were "NO TRESPASSING" signs posted every hundred feet along the dirt road. My knee felt like a coal pit with truckloads of rock crunching around my patella, and I worried about it hurting so early on into the trip. As we pedaled along, with me unclipping every few pedal strokes to ease the pain in my knee, I spotted a gravel road peeling up a hill. I wanted to stop riding for the day, and this road looked like it may offer refuge off the road to camp. We wound up the hill, and realized we were pedaling up someone's driveway. After me introducing myself to the family (I was the designated talker when it came to meeting people on the route), they invited us to camp, "oh anywhere up on the hill under the gasoline!" We cruise up under the gasoline, and trailing behind us is a GMC truck driven by Marcus, the father, who works for mining giant Teck just like every other man in this area. We stop, and so does the truck. Marcus steps out of the truck and hands us the keys, "just in case a grizzly pays a visit to your campspot and you need some refuge". We gulp and thank him. We sleep soundly, and nothing attacks us in the night.