Glacier Ride raises more than $100k for the Park

Bicyclists traveled 250 miles last week to fundraise over $100,000 for the Glacier National Park Conservancy. They rode for six days through Glacier National Park and into Waterton Lakes National Park in Canada.

This bike tour, called Glacier Ride is Climate Ride's first bike-related tour through the Park. Climate Ride started in 2008 and is a non-profit that organizes biking and hiking tours to spur philanthropic involvement in the sustainability movement.

Most of the 30 glacier riders were from out of state - from California, Idaho, Arizona, Washington, D.C., New York, Vermont and Pennsylvania.

But a few were locals. Conservancy board member Greg Olson was one of them. He rode the farthest he ever has last week. During training, the most he biked 75 miles.

Olson said he was excited to participate and to help support this "national treasure in our backyard."

The longest day was riding from Waterton to East Glacier.

"I've never ridden that far before. For some of these people it will be a breeze, for me it will be a challenge," said Olson before riding out on the first day of the tour. "I feel like I'm ready to go."

Another local was Bill Haring, a 20-year resident of Kalispell. Haring, 72, has traveled 500-mile bike tours in Colorado and Bhutan. But he knew that Going-to-the-Sun Road would be a challenge. To prepare, he biked the road four times in the past month along with 100 miles every week. But it's still not an easy task.

"Going up Logan Pass is a good workout," Haring said.

Fundraising isn't always an easy task, either. Each participant was required to raise at least $2,800.

Olson was pleased with his own fundraising effort. He raised $12,850, the most of all the participants.

He said being local made it easier since his friends understand the importance of the Park. Olson said he is a "big supporter" of the Park.

By the first day Glacier Ride had raised $104,000 and that figure continued to rise. The funds will go straight to the conservancy, which already has plans to help the Park.

The Park submitted a grant to the conservancy for bike racks, bike shuttle trailers and additional signage around the Park to be added in 2016, said Amy Dempster, Marketing and Communications Manager at Glacier National Park Conservancy.

For other climate rides around the county, cyclists have the option to fundraise for an organization from a beneficiary list. The Conservancy is now an option on this list, said Caeli Quinn, of Whitefish and co-founder of Climate Ride, headquartered in Missoula.

For example, a participant can choose to raise money for the Conservancy as they bike along the East Coast.

Glacier Ride is "something I dreamed about for years," Quinn said. "It's an epic trip."