GDMBR Section 2 New Bike

Last year my daughter and I biked section one of the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route (Banff to Helena). This year I solo biked section two (well, Butte to the Tetons) and then north to Bozeman and up into the Gallatin Range

Last year we biked on 26” old school mountain bikes with a BOB trailer. Well, the trailer is a PITA to haul, as it bounces. I love my old school Waterford, but it’s just not the right geometry for long distance gravel

This year I biked on a Salsa Cutthroat. Wow, a much nicer ride. I biked for 16 days, and no part of my body hurt. No flats on the tubeless tires.

I did upgrade the drivetrain from 11-34 to a 11-44 cog set. And I rode that 44 for the first two freaking days, all uphill, while sucking air getting acclimated to the altitude.

The frame bag is an awesome invention. I really like the more distributed system of “newer” bike storage options. Water bottles on the forks worked out well. Next trip I will get panniers. Strapping stuff sacks to the rack worked ok, and is flexible, but panniers would have been more convenient.

I also moved from clip in pedals to flats. I had to hike a bike many times on this trip, and flats with hiking shoes was way more practical

Montana is stunningly beautiful. And so big. Also dry and hot during the day, and cold at night.

I didn’t bike with my daughter this year, since she moved to Bozeman, and now works there. We did meet up and we went backpacking in the Crazy Mountains