Bike the Great continental Divide
Daniel Berry And Staff Live And Breath Bikes At This Specialty Shop That Sits Along The Famous Great Divide MTB Route
Hammering down rocky trails and pumping gears up inclines under Montana’s big sky is how Daniel Berry spends his off time. “I race pretty much a few times a month on average,” says Dan. Racing as in mountain bike racing, specifically a style called Enduro. “It’s a type of mountain bike racing where the downhills are timed, and the up hills are not,” he explains. Dan does this while running a busy bike shop in Helena, Montana called Great Divide Cyclery. When not selling bikes or racing, Dan is pretty much talking or thinking about biking—talk about living a passion!
Dan first got into bike business in 1996. “In my freshman year of high school, I applied at a bike shop in Billings called the Spoke Shop,” says Dan, “it's one of those jobs I've had my whole life and it's now my career.” In 2014, Dan took over Helena’s first specialty bike shop, Great Divide Cyclery.
Unlike many bike shops, Great Divide is unique. It doesn’t just sell bikes, it’s a rider shop. The employees and owner live and breathe bikes. Biking is not just their job it’s their passion. Moreover, Great Divide Cyclery is two shops in one. “Our shop is set up in two different stores even though we're under one roof,” says Dan, “we have a retail side and we also have a service side called the Garage.” In the Garage, it’s 100 percent repairs and service on bikes, and on the retail, it’s strictly sales. The shop sells bikes for every niche, and customers are carefully fitted for their bikes based on many individualized factors. “When you have stores that are divided like that you can really cater to your customers and have the correct people working on your bikes at the right time,” explains Dan. He further explains, “the service guys are really good at what they do and the sales guys are really good catering to retail.”
The bike shop called the Great Divide because the shop (and Helena) are on the Great Divide. Also known as the Continental Divide, the Great Divide separates waters that flow into the Atlantic Ocean from those that flow into the Pacific Ocean. It effectively runs through the whole of the Americas. In fact, the famous Great Divide Mountain Bike Route runs right through Helena. In addition to the bike route, Helena has been designated as a Ride Center by the International Mountain Bicycling Association. What does that mean for biking fanatics? “We have a unique set up,” says Dan, “if you are from downtown you can be on a trailhead in about four minutes.” Dan further explains that there's basically a trail head at every dead-end street downtown. “We have almost eighty miles of trails,” says Dan, “with access to restaurants, breweries, and shops.”
Another thing that makes Helena a biker’s mecca is that it is very biker friendly.” There are shuttling services,” says Dan, “they will bring you to the trailhead and pick you up.” Bike trails are within minutes from downtown Helena. However, the best things about living and running a business in Helena for a mountain biker is the Prickly Pear Land Trust. Dan says, “it is a boundary line so people don't build their houses above a certain point.” This land alliance has been around for over twenty years and has helped to create Helena’s amazing biking trails.
Dan says that Helena has much more than biking to offer. “There are some huge lakes right next to town to try wakeboarding and fishing. There's so many opportunities right around Helena,” he says,” I think Helena in general is a true destination.”
When not running a busy bike shop, Dan spends his time off biking, obviously. “I'm kind of a one hit wonder,” he jokes. Besides biking, Dan loves hiking and backpacking. The man really loves his trails. He also loves Montana. Dan says the top reasons to visit Montana is for the scenery and the community. “There's a reason we're called Big Sky Country,” says Dan, “the skyline goes on forever—you can see for miles and miles.” Montana is known for its small communities. “There's only about a million people in the whole state,” he says, “but everywhere you go in Montana is very welcoming.”
The next step for Great Divide Cyclery is “building up the business,” says Dan. He is considering possibly opening another location. Dan is also thinking about adding more bike related services such as a touring service. Instead of just telling people where to bike, “I’d like to show people some cool spots to go and make their biking experience more unique,” says Dan. Until then, Dan is going to keep selling bikes, enjoy Helena’s amazing trails and take it one day at a time.
Debbie Wolfe
A graduate of Northland College with degrees in Creative Writing and Earth Sciences, Debbie has written for HGTV, DIYNetwork, Sheknows and more. She enjoys gardening, reading and fostering dogs.
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Great Divide Cyclery is Helena's premier bicycle shop specializing in mountain, road and tri; top level suspension service and tuning, custom bike and wheel builds as well as full repair and maintenance.