West Amana native completes Tour Divide Bike Race from Canada to Mexico border

While bikers from across the globe pedaled through Amana last week on RAGBRAI, West Amana native Erich Gnewikow chose a different cycling challenge earlier this summer.

Erich completed the 2,694-mile Tour Divide Bike Race on July 4. The Tour Divide is an annual mountain bike “bikepacking” race that traverses the length of the Rocky Mountains, from Banff, Alberta, Canada, to the Mexican border.

“I’d never heard of it until Erich said he planned to ride it this year,” says Erich’s father, Larry Gnewikow. Erich’s parents, Larry and Charm, reside in West Amana.

The event follows the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route. In comparison, the distance from New York to Los Angeles is 2,789 miles by car. The tour is arguably, the world's longest and most difficult ultra distance cycling ride. Riders face an extreme test of endurance, self-reliance and mental toughness, as the entire ride is self-supported with no teams and no outside support. Riders resupply at towns along the route. They used GPS for navigation and tracking purposes and could be followed by family and friends via a tracking website.

This was Erich’s first endurance bicycle ride but he is an avid mountain biker who enjoys being outdoors and embracing a physical challenge.

“He likes to challenge himself and test his endurance,” Larry says.

Erich, 44, a self-employed carpenter, left his home in Missoula, Mont., May 29, and rode his bike over 580 miles to Banff to start the race on June 9. After 25 days on the Tour, he finished at Antelope Wells, N.M., on the U.S.-Mexico border, the morning of July 4. He finished 65th out of 204 registered riders. Eighty-seven riders withdrew during the course of the event.

During the race, Erich rode over the Rocky Mountains and spent numerous days at an elevation of over 12,000 feet. He experienced 117,048 feet of elevation change over the course of the ride. He lost two days for equipment repairs and often rode days without seeing another rider.

“He told us there were a couple of days and nights on the ride that he saw only one person on the route,” said Larry. “He just trusted his GPS map.”

The event was grueling for a lone rider traveling without a support team but Erich is accustomed to flying solo in some of America’s wildest terrain. He has taken multiple day solo ski trips in the back country, Larry notes, often camping in adverse weather.

In addition to mountain biking, Erich enjoys fly fishing, duck hunting, rock climbing and backpacking. According to his father, he has harvested elk and moose using a custom-made long bow with his own homemade arrows. He has also harvested pronghorn sheep and elk, using a rifle.

During the race, Erich replaced not only a back tire but also his derailer and chain and front brakes. At one point, he found stress cracks in his rear wheel. To get a new wheel, he had to ride his bike 20 miles off the route to a place where he could rent a truck to drive 80 miles to a repair shop. Once the new wheel and tire were in place, he drove the 80 miles back to the truck rental location, then rode his bike 20 miles to return to the original route.

During his last 160 miles of the tour, Erich rode over 25 hours straight through the New Mexico desert to finish the race the morning of July 4.

On the tour he met Matt Miller from the Fry Town area. Miller finished 57th amidst a field of riders from all over the world.

At the conclusion of the Tour, Erich rented a car to drive home.

Comments: Melinda.Wichmann@southeastiowaunion.com