The 2016 edition is scheduled to start from the Amtrak Depot in Whitefish, Montana on July 20. The route goes through Glacier National Park over the Going-to-the-Sun Highway and then turns south through Great Falls, MT and Gardiner, MT before entering Yellowstone National Park. After riding by YNP's most famous attractions including the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, Lake Yellowstone, and Old Faithful, the ride will finish in Big Sky, Montana.
Logistics: Riders are responsible for their own motel and travel arrangements. Whitefish is served by Amtrak and the Glacier International Airport is nearby. Whitefish has lots of motels, but the summer season is busy there so book as early as you can. Bike boxes and luggage can be transported from Whitefish to Bozeman. Just let us know ahead of time what you want us to carry so we can make sure we have room. Drop bags will be carried to Great Falls, Gardiner, and the finish-again let us know ahead of time. The finish is at Big Sky, Montana-but no need to make motel reservations there. My family will be available to shuttle riders from Big Sky to any Bozeman-Belgrade area motel and help riders in getting to the Bozeman-Yellowstone International Airport and/or their rental car if necessary. There is no Amtrak service anywhere close to Bozeman.
The first overnight is in Great Falls, MT. The Econo Lodge Ponderosa is on the route and that's where the drop bags will be. The second overnight is in Gardiner, Montana. Drop bags are planned to be at the Super 8 Motel. Riders will need to make their own overnight arrangements.
Let us know if you have any questions. We will do everything we can to help riders make this work.
The following is the information for last year's ride. We'll be updating the information as we get closer to the ride date:
The preliminary cue sheet is HERE-note that it is subject to change prior to the ride.
The entry form and waiver are HERE
Profile info is HERE The updated route map is HERE
There will no-doubt be minor tweaks to the cue sheet and route map before we get to the start, but this will give riders a good idea of what they're in for. For more information, or if you have any questions, feel free to join and post on our Montana Randonneurs google group.
