Along with the myriad of logistics and details associated with Divide racing, another element to add to the equation is the tacit understanding that you will be riding for many, many hundreds of miles in dense bear territory.  The Divide route goes through the thick of bear country in Alberta, British Columbia and Montana.  In Montana, the route skirts just east of Glacier only a few miles from Polebridge.  I’ve backpacked in Glacier and they do lots of educating in the park before they issue your backcountry permit. No animal commands as much respect, interest, wonder and fear as the bear.

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I recently purchased a book titled “BEAR ATTACKS, Their Cause and Avoidance”.  This is a must read for all Tour Dividians and was suggested by a few of the veterans and those that live and work in bear country. 

The fundamental premise of the book is that knowledge of bear behavior and ecology can help mitigate the chance of an unwanted bear encounter.

  Some of the highlights: 

• There are two types of attacks: defensive and predatory with different ways to respond to each and you need to understand the difference.
• Playing dead is the best bet for minimizing injury during a defensive attack
• Fighting back using any available weapon (a Fargo, for instance) is essential for a predatory attack  Most serious and fatal attacks have been predatory
• Most serious or fatal bear attacks have happened to single individuals or two people.  There is safety in numbers.
• Activities characterized by speed, not cautious attention to the possibility of encountering a bear, increase your chance of sudden encounters and related bear inflicted injuries.

The bottom line is you need to be alert and cautious; make noise with your whistle, do some yodeling; and be extremely cautious around blind corners.  And understand general behavioral patterns.

A map was created by a Tour Divide guru of BEAR ACTIVITY zones and where to avoid bivying at the end of the day, or night……which is most of the route in Canada and Montana.  There are a few zones that are relatively ‘calmer’.  Banff is at the top where the red line begins and it goes south to just northwest of Yellowstone.  That red, orange and yellow line is the Tour Divide route.

RED = Highest probability of encounters;  ORANGE = Medium;  YELLOW = Lowest

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My personal strategy is to get to Elkford (109 miles) on Day 1 and bivy in the town park.  With a 9:00am Grand Depart that morning it means a late start.  Day 2 will be tough with the mileage from Elkford to Roosville at the Canadian/US border being 144 miles.  I probably won’t have the legs to get the distance, so, decision making will happen en route. 

Gotta be smart about things, especially with food at night.  All food off the bike, out of the jersey, into a bear bag 100 yards downwind, with nothing in the tent that would attract a bear.  Try to grab some shut-eye…………with one eye open and a vigilant ear to the ground.