By Michael Howell
Stevensville was prepped and ready for the Montana Bicycle Celebration last Saturday, complete with a brand new Bike Camp at the Stevensville Hotel, and a “Bike and Brew” celebration planned for the late afternoon on Second Street.
Most of the hundreds of riders stayed on the main Bitterroot Trail, which now runs for 50 miles between Missoula and Hamilton, but some turned in to communities along the way for special activities. Ceremonies were arranged in towns throughout the valley by members of the Bitterroot Trail Preservation Alliance who delivered about a hundred certificates of appreciation to community members who were instrumental in promoting and establishing the trail, as well as anyone who had ridden across the country 40 years ago during the national Bikecentennial.
In Stevensville, Gretchen Spiess, a “‘76er,” was honored for her unflagging support for a bike path from the first Highway 93 focus group meeting several years before the highway widening project to the installation of the essential bike path connection from Lolo to Missoula that was completed just the night before the recent celebration.
Spiess first arrived in the Bitterroot Valley on a bicycle ride across the country on the Trans-America Bike Trail and knows firsthand how bicycle tourists can boost the local economy and even lead to permanent relocation of some very community-minded people. Spiess eventually settled in Stevensville and became the driving force behind the community theater that is now the Stevensville Playhouse.
“We honored Gretchen not because she rode a bicycle across the country, but because of the kind of person she is,” said Roger DeBrito of the Bitterroot Trail Preservation Alliance. He said bicyclists move at a slower pace and take time to appreciate the communities they travel through.
“Bicyclists are generally very community minded people,” said DeBrito.
Spiess said that she started as a kid and has been bicycling all her life. She said her father and brother designed and built bicycles. Her brother designed one specifically for paraplegics.
In 1976, she and her brother rode across the country on the TransAmerica Bike Trail. That was when she got her first view of the Bitterroot Valley. She and her brother were welcomed in Stevensville by the Longbottom family, among others, who showed them tremendous hospitality, offering their lawn for camping, and serving them pieces of homemade cherry pie fresh from the oven. Gretchen came back to settle in Stevensville in 1988.
Spiess said that Saturday’s celebration was amazing and she enjoyed connecting with other people who had been on the original Highway 93 Focus Group and who had helped make the Bitterroot Bike Trail a reality.
Also honored at the Stevensville Hotel were Joel and Patti Meier, the couple who mortgaged their home to fund the Bikecentennial Celebration, Greg and June Siple (not present) and Dan and Lys Burden, who were instrumental in development of the TransAmerica Trail, Tim Nielsen of Valley Physical Therapy for his generous donations, and Margaret Gorski, a member of the National Lewis and Clark Trail Foundation, where she worked on trail development. Local state legislator Ed Greef was honored for sponsoring a bill aimed at providing permanent funds for maintenance of trails and parks by the Montana Department of Transportation. It would present a voluntary option when purchasing car registration to include a payment into the maintenance fund. The bill found good support in the House but was tabled in the Senate.
At the ribbon cutting ceremony for the completion of the final Lolo to Missoula segment of the 50-mile Bitterroot Trail, Tony Incashola from the Salish/Kootenai Tribes spoke of the history of the people’s way, the story of the arrival of the Salish people in the valley, after which thousands of cyclists hit the bike trail headed for Missoula.
One exciting recent development, according to DeBrito, is that the Salish Tribe has applied for a TIGER grant to construct a bike trail from Missoula to Polson
Over 200 volunteers helped stage Saturday’s event. Over 500 people attended the dinner in Missoula celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Bikecentennial and 800 showed up at a reception in the UC Ballroom.
DeBrito said that his organization was ready to help fund any bike trail related project in any community in the Bitterroot. With donations from Connor Zins of TrailWest Bank, the group has already funded projects for Bike Walk Bitterroot and the Corvallis FFA.
“We would like to get a trail sweeper for the Florence community and some snow plows,” said DeBrito. He said plowing off the snow was not just to make it easier to use the path but also helps prevent cracking from constant freeze and thaw.