Bikers are braving wind, rain, snow, mountain passes and desert plateau's as part of the Tour Divide mountain bike race.
The race follows the Great Divide Mountain Bike Routemapped by Missoula-based Adventure Cycling Association. It attracts people from across the country, and the world.
Adventure Cycling calls it the longest off-pavement route in the world on their website:
"The Great Divide Mountain Bike Route (GDMBR) is Adventure Cycling's premier off-pavement cycling route, crisscrossing the Continental Divide north to south. This route is defined by the word "remote." Its remoteness equates with spectacular terrain and scenery. The entire route is basically dirt-road and mountain-pass riding every day. In total, it has over 200,000 feet of elevation gain."
Javier Serrano of Dallas, Texas, Alex Mangini of Austin, Texas via New Jersey, Chris Schuler of Switzerland and Allison Seger are among a group of six mountain bikers who passed through Whitefish recently, riding through the rain. Seger is a teacher in South Dakota and is trying to raise a dollar-a-mile for her students back home.
The 2,700 mile race starts each year in June in Banff, Alberta Canada and follows the Continental Divide south to Antelope Wells, New Mexico.