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Our Message We, Heather Charbonneau and Ken Cook, are recently retired mid 50-year old Calgarians who plan to cycle (self-supported) the 4,339 km long Great Divide Mountain Bike Route (GDMBR) in August 2021. Although new to bikepacking, we are outdoor enthusiasts who have completed numerous marathons in Canada and the US, road cycling in Western Canada and backpacking adventures including summitting Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, completing the John Muir Trail in the California Sierra Nevada Mountains and the Teton Crest Trail in Wyoming.
The GDMBR, the longest off-pavement route in the world, was mapped and developed in 1997 by the Adventure Cycling Association. The route follows the Continental Divide and comprises 90% dirt & gravel roads, trails and single-track paths over approximately 60,960 meters of elevation gain and loss. Throughout the route, we will experience remote wilderness consisting of valleys, mountains, grasslands and high deserts. The route is best known for the Tour Divide, an annual self-supported race, that typically occurs in mid-June with neither entry fees nor prizes. The record time to complete the Tour Divide race is 13 days, 22 hours and 51 minutes set in 2016. Our Cause Our ride called “No Limits, No Boundaries - Conquer the Divide 2021”, will support Wellspring Calgary through donations. Wellspring Calgary is a registered charity that offers programs and services (free of charge without referral) that meet the emotional, social and practical needs of people living with cancer - those diagnosed, caregivers, and kids. This cause is close to our hearts as we have a parent who is living with cancer as well as parents who lost their lives due to cancer.Given that 1 in 2 people will hear the words “you have cancer”, we feel it important to raise awareness that people who have cancer need much more than medical care. People with cancer and their families can have difficulty finding the emotional, psychological and practical support they so urgently require. Therefore, the support provided by Wellspring Calgary becomes a vital complement to medical treatment. In Calgary and southern Alberta, only Wellspring Calgary devotes itself exclusively to the unique non-medical needs that cancer presents. At Wellspring, people with cancer, their families and caregivers can exchange information, develop a support system and create a sense of hope, in the warm, caring atmospheres of the centres, and in their welcoming online community. Although our ride will be challenging, it pales in comparison to the life altering diagnosis of cancer for people including their family and friends. However, with your donations, we hope to support and help people with cancer on finding their "new normal". Our Goal Our goal is to cycle the GDMBR, an off-pavement cycling route that criss-crosses the Continental Divide, from Jasper, Alberta, Canada to the US/Mexico border at Antelope Wells, New Mexico in approximately 43 days. *Due to uncertainties with the US border closure, we will ride from Jasper to the US border and back again before riding back to Calgary. The entire ride is approximately 2,500 km or half of the complete originally planned Great Divide Mountain Bike Route. We hope to complete the rest of the GDMBR next year. We plan to finance the ride ourselves so that 100% of donations raised will flow directly to Wellspring Calgary. Our goal is to raise $50,000 by supporting us in this endeavour. |
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