Today we rode from Harvey Campground in the Flathead Valley, British Columbia, Canada to Eureka, Montana, United States. Again sunny weather with little clouds. Road conditions included mainly gravel roads and some paved roads. Highlights of the day include a 12+ mile downhill in one go, and reaching the US border.

Riding statistics: on Friday, August 5, 2022, day 5 on the route, it took 11:10h (07:51h moving time), between 07:09 and 18:20, to cover 132 km (82 miles), including 1093 m (3586 ft) elevation gain, with an average speed of 17 km/h (11 mph), while reaching a maximum speed of 64 km/h (40 mph). During this ride the average temperature was 25 °C (77 °F) with a minimum of 2 °C (36 °F) and a maximum of 48 °C (118 °F).

Totals: So far, it took 1 days, 8 hours, 54 minutes, and 54 seconds of cycling time to cover 468 km (291 miles), including 5019 m (16467 ft) elevation gain, with an average speed of 14.5 km/h (9.0 mph).

For this morning we had set our alarm clocks again at 6am so that we could leave around 7am. It has been a cold night. Around 4am I got my long john, socks, and short on. A few minutes before 6am I was awake. Just in time to disable the alarm. Within an hour we packed all our gear on the bikes, had a quick breakfast, cleaned up, and started our ride for the day. To get out of the campground we had a massive uphill with loose rocks. This certainly warmed up the legs, not so much for the fingers. My bike computer showed 2.8 degrees Celsius

Our alternative way out of the Flathead Valley (to avoid any wildfires) was via the Lodgepole road. A road from the east side (where we were) towards the original Great Divide Mountain Bike Route. The first one to two hours it seemed our legs were tired, or our bikes had a drag. We both did not realize we were going uphill all-the-time. The scenery was beautiful with all the mountains, forests, and rivers. We had the sun from behind, and it already provided some warmth. However, during short downhills it was still cold. Eventually we reached a top and from there we had a massive downhill. High speeds, no pedaling, very enjoyable. Of course, caution is required, the road is still a gravel road with loose gravel, potholes, etc. Meanwhile the temperature had increased to 24+ degrees Celsius. That felt much better! During the downhill we stopped once, for filtering water from a very nice stream. At the end of the Lodgepole road, as expected, (and seen on our bike computers) we simply ended on the original route just before the town of Elko.

We had our hopes set to get a good lunch at Elko. Unfortunately, it turned out to be a very small town. Main St. was just a normal street with some houses and large gardens. Fortunately, we saw a gas station when getting out of town. There we bought some ice cream and cold drinks. I also called the loved ones at home to inform them that we were out of the Flathead Valley and update them on the tour so far. At the gas station we also met Roger, originally from Switzerland but living in the US for several decades. Nice guy, nice bike, too many bags, and way overloaded. He knew that he had to send some gear home but had not decided yet on what to sent back. Home. Despite the extra gear, he still had a fast pace as we found out later.

Our next stop would be

Warmsutter

. Hopefully better food options since there is a convenience store. Along the way we had a spectacular scenery. It was different compared to the days before. The large mountains were replaced by big meadows and grassy fields. We also saw several lakes and more people compared to the Flathead Alternate. Eventually we reached

Warmsutter

and found the convenience store. Roger was there as well together with a couple of more Divide riders. The convenience store turned out to be a dump with a lot of bad food. I ate two ice-creams and almost a full bag of potato chips Drank a bottle of water and bought another bottle + a Gatorade for the rest of today’s trip. We took a slightly longer break since we still had to go to the border (11 km) and then to Eureka (22 km), where we would sleep at the local city park.

When we arrived at the border, we got in the queue, right between the cars. Once it was our turn all went smoothly. Anna had no issues at all (US resident), and I just needed to go into the office for a picture, fingerprints, and paying 6$. Fortunately, it went easier than expected. After a short toilet break, we continued our ride to Eureka.

The 22 km ride to Eureka was not bad. The scenery included nice hills, grasslands, cows, and some homes. Although we were riding a back road, there was already some evening traffic with people wanting to get home. When we arrived at Eureka, we went to the Riverside City Park to spend the night. There were more cyclists already in the park. Besides one, we already met all of them. So even with our Flathead detour we still ended up together in Eureka. The area was just a city park with no services. Fortunately, there was a gas station open 24/7 with a toilet and lots of junk food. After setting up our tents and chatting with the others, we decided to walk into the main street and found an American grill. Once we were in and sat at our table, a sign was placed outside that no more people would be served because of a lack of staff. We were in by 1 minute to spare. Lucky us. We had a nice burger with fries. After our dinner we walked back to campground, hid our food somewhere away from the tents, and went into our tents for a good night of sleep.

Gallery