To celebrate the 20th year of the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route from Banff, Alberta to the U.S.- Mexico border, Ben Weaver is riding it with his musical instruments and playing shows along the way.
The route is almost 2,700 miles with over 150,000 feet of elevation change. It passes through the Canadian Kootenay mountain range, the Tetons, several national parks in Montana and Idaho, the Wyoming Wind River Range, the Colorado Rockies, and finally down to the New Mexican desert.
Weaver is collaborating with the Adventure Cycling Association, Salsa Cycles, and Osprey for support. He’ll also be making a documentary of the trip with filmmaker Keenan DesPlanques, who will ride with Weaver the entire time.
“It’s been roughly five years now that I’ve been touring with my instruments, and in that time I’ve seen the magic of my tools in action. How the bicycle and songs can draw other people’s stories out,” says Weaver in a Youtube video.
Weaver says there are plenty of videos out there of athletes that bikepack and learn something new about themselves. This is meant to be different kind of journey where the story is centered around the locals the two riders meet passing through on the trip.
The trip started on June 7 and has 15 stops planned along the route. Yet, there’s still plenty of time to catch a show along the route. After all, a tour takes a little longer on bike than it does by tour bus or airplane.
June 7 | Banff, AB | YWCA
June 11 | Whitefish, MT | Whitefish Bike Retreat
June 14 | Missoula, MT | Art Park at Adventure Cycling HQ
June 14 | Missoula, MT | Top Hat Restaurant & Bar
June 15 | Ovando, MT | The Stray Bullet
June 17 | Helena, MT | Great Divide Cyclery
June 22 | Pinedale, WY | Sublette County Library
June 25 | Slater, CO | Brush Mountain Lodge
June 27 | Steamboat Springs, CO | Orange Peel Cycles
June 28 | Silverthorne, CO | Silverthorne Performing Arts Center Lawn
June 29 | Salida, CO | Subculture Cyclery
July 1 | Del Norte, CO | The Mystic Biscuit
July 6 | Pie Town, NM | The Toaster House
July 8 | Silver City, NM | Gila Hike and Bike
July 9 | Antelope Wells, NM | Antelope Wells Border
Weaver will be updating his journal as he covers the route. Learn more or download a free song on AdventureCycling.org.
