The World Comes To Ovando, Montana ~ Town of 50: TOUR DIVIDE 2013 Sheri Ritchlin ~ photographs by Kathy Schoendoerfer

Arriving in Ovando

The sign at the entrance to the town says "Ovando, Montana. Population 50. About 100 dogs." In the month of June you can add to that "143 Cyclists from Around the World." The Tour Divide Race brings cyclists down from Banff, Canada on their way to Antelope Springs, New Mexico near the Mexican border2,745 miles or 4,418 kilometers over rugged, beautiful country. Possibly the most challenging bicycle race in the world. They come through our little town from Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Israel, Italy, the Netherlands, New Zealand, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK as well as towns and cities across the US. There are three women riders23 year old Kristen Arnold from Columbus, Ohio, 31 year old Lindsay Shephard of Chandler, Arizona and Sara Dallman, a 44-year old veteran rider from Wilmington, Ohio. The oldest rider is veteran Larry Hipskind of Kingston, Washington, age 72. The local population is filled with excitement and admiration for all of them. The one hundred dogs are delirious. The route follows the Continental Divide across mountain passes and windy valleys to the badlands of the Mexican Plateau. One rider from Florida said he just didn't look down through those steep parts. In the early stage of the 2012 race, there was so much snow in the high country that bicyclists had to walk their bikes and a few got frostbite. As the Tour Divide website advertises--"Divide racing format requires no designated rest periods or set distances a racer must travel daily. The clock runs non-stop. She

and he who can ride the fastest while making fewer, shorter stops usually hold the course records. With an average time-to-completion of three weeks in the saddle, Tour Divide is the longestarguably most challengingmountain bike time trial on the planet" (tourdivide.org). The town of 50 was ready to welcome them. The community provided a solar shower, portable toilets and free tenting around the town. Colleen Stone and her crew were ready to offer them a meal or a quick sandwich at the Stray Bullet Caf, where the riders also had access to wifi. A Welcome sign at the entrance to the town guided them to the services and a Message Board had been hung up for the cyclists to leave messages for one another. Kathy Schoendoerfer, from the Blackfoot Angler next door, was on hand as the official welcomer. I could hear her from my apartment above the caf. "Welcome to Ovando!" She would ask each of their names so that she could check them on her list. She got email addresses of family and promised to let them know that their rider was well and about to head to the next spotLincoln, Montana. Kathy's Blackfoot Angler stocked up on essential bicycle supplies that kept at least two cyclists in the race: one who came through with a wrecked wheel and another who had lost his water bottle. All were pleased by the warm greeting they received. "Well we're a town of 50," Kathy would say. "Not much goes on here. You're our biggest event right now!" Not entirely true since the town sits at the edge of the million acre Bob Marshall Wilderness and is a magnet in summer for hikers, boaters, floaters and fishermen. But the Tour Divide riders are special: a remarkable group on a remarkable adventure.

Alex Harris of South Africa and Marco Nicoletti of Italy check their messages at the Stray Bullet Cafe

Across the street, Peggy and Howie Fly of the Ovando Inn and Blackfoot Commercial Company (also gas station and tire repair) provided affordable lodging and potable water to fill their water bottles.

Their store is a town hub and they kept close track of the riders through the website leader board. Peggy would announce "They're in Seeley Lake!" and everyone would be calculating exactly when they would arrive in town. Howie and Peggy knew the names of each one and where they came from, ready to greet them when they rolled into the town square. This was the first habitation after Whitefish, Montana, over a hundred miles away near the Canadian border. Trixie's Antler Saloon was open until 10 pm, offering a hearty meal to those riders feeling ambitious enough to ride on through the night to Helena, Montana, another seventy-five highways miles. The Great Divide trail is the world's longest off-pavement cycling route. It passes through the Canadian provinces of Alberta and British Columbia, and the US states of Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado, and New Mexico. By route's end a thru-rider will climb nearly 200,000 feet of vertical (equivalent to summiting Mount Everest from sea-level 7 times). Racers endure weeks of consecutive 16+ hour days in the saddle and navigate their own way across unmarked trails, sometimes in grizzly bear and mountain lion country. They must also find shelter each night or bivouac trailside. In minutes the Rocky Mountain weather can wreak havoc on trail surfaces, skewing even the most immediate travel projections. The reward is a privileged view of some of the most magnificent landscapes in North America.

Photo from tourdivide.org

The Tour Divide Racers ride for many reasons. Like so many others, Jeff Mullen is riding for the satisfaction of completing such a grueling event but also to raise money for the Vermont Cancer Center and celebrate his fifth year free of colon cancer. Ed Turkaly is riding to raise money for SchwachmanDiamond Syndrome and Ryan Sigsbey to reach his goal for Trips for Kids WNC.

Michael Gruenert of Belgium prefers the Tour Divide route to bicycling the Alps, which is a steep hard climb, requiring riders to carry everything they need. He says there is more "flow" to this race. Riders get to stop in places like Ovando to have basic needs met and can ride lighter. "Why? The first reason is really very simple: Im a landscape junkie. [Only] with a mountain bike, are you able to experience nature in such an intensive way in such a short amount of time. Thats it. Quite simple. Learning the simplicity of life absent the mainstream. Realizing what we really need in our life."

Friendships formed across the miles

At a time when major league sporting events have been tarnished by scandal and many professional players are counted among the rich and famous, these athletes undergo their grueling threeweek quest for no monetary rewards and little publicity. But for the fifty people and a hundred dogs of Ovando, Montana, they are the real heroes.

For more information visit tourdivide.org and ovandomontana.net