GREAT DIVIDE

The Great Divide Mountain Bike Route (GDMBR) is a cycling route located between Canada and the United States, the longest off-pavement route in the world with its 4.418 km of track.

The starting point is Banff, a beautiful Canadian town in the Alberta region, while the arrival is set in remote Antelope Wells, in New Mexico, USA. The GDMBR was designed and built in 1997 by the Adventure Cycling Association, the leading US organization for the promotion of cycle tourism.

We crisscrossed the Continental Divide and went into the most isolated areas of the Rocky Mountains, almost always riding on dirt. In all we have covered about 4.000 km, and done many, many climbs: we do not know the exact meters of altitude because we did not have a GPS with us, only a kilometer counter and the maps from the American Adventure Cycling Association. However, if you google GDMBR, you’ll discover that the elevation gain is over 60.000 m (sixty thousand !!!). GPX maps and tracks can be purchased here.

The highest point we reached was Indiana Pass, Colorado, at 3.630 meters above sea level. During the journey we crossed some very different geographical areas: from river valleys to mountain forests, from open grasslands to deserts, such as the Chihuahua. We also cycled through several amazing National Parks such as Glacier, Yellowstone and Grand Teton. And of course we met many animals: deer, foxes, gazelles and marmots, a moose and a baby grizzly! We tackled the expedition in total autonomy, without a support car or any kind of help, camping most of the nights. For the first time, however, we did not travel alone. Two good friends of us, Ramona Linzola and Simona Pezzano, came along to help us to film the expedition… Of course they were riding as well!

During the journey, through our blog, we told the stories of the great female explorers and adventurers of the past. We grew up believing that the great explorers were just men, believing that women should stay at home to take care of the children and deal with the domestic works. But it’s not like this: in 1.700 Jeanne Barré circumnavigated the globe disguised as a man, in 1.800 Annie Londonderry was traveling the world by bike and Amelia Earhart by plane. Adventure is a matter of women!