My Full Experience Bikepacking The GDMBR

there it is canada maybe they'll let us in another day not now i don't know if it's nervous energy or excited energy or a mix of both this is a dream come true i've wanted to do the divide ride for about 10 years now just in case some of you don't know what the great divide is it's the world's longest off-road bike route at 2700 miles it starts in banff canada and goes to the border of mexico i mean there's so many months that go into preparing and thinking and buying gear and getting everything set and staring at maps and then boom here i am now it's go time i'm not in the comfort of my home it's time to explore and i like that that's when i feel most alive and that's i think why i'm feeling a little bit nervous and scared and excited you know it's not going to be easy i'm not gonna be sitting at home watching netflix i'm gonna be riding my bike all day every day up and down big mountains one of the reasons why i'm so attracted to this route is that it's mostly off-road which means not many cars ah so i can breathe easy and just enjoy the riding all right i finally hit dirt about 20 miles south of eureka this is what i came for dirt roads solitude simplicity remote beauty it all starts now all i gotta do is pedal and that's really all i have to do i have to wake up every day and pedal my bike and i'm incredibly grateful for that it doesn't get much more simple than that i get asked how i know where to go i've downloaded the gps file of the entire route onto my wahoo computer and it tells me exactly where to go it's like using google maps on your phone if i go off route by as little as 15 feet it'll let me know i used to use maps like everybody else used to use but it's nice just uh having this little computer tell me what to do it's also nice just to get off the bike and sit next to a river the sound is very soothing it's not even noon yet and i'm having the time of my life but a lot of this route is going to be through bear country and that is why i have a canister of bear spray right here pepper spray i hope i don't have to use it um but definitely it's nice to have it as peace of mind and at night time i'm gonna have to get my food up high i know bears love refried beans i found some of that uphill that this route is so famous for 200 000 feet of uphill during the entire route you put your head down and you pedal hard you go up and then you get to enjoy downhill [Applause] [Applause] this is a really nice stretch of road right here i feel like the trees are hugging me i think i'm looking at the southern end of the canadian rockies there's still snow way up there uh-oh we've got one of those steep uphill swings and i've already gone up five thousand feet today [Applause] whoa whoa whoa look at that been a beautiful beautiful day my goal today was to make it to a lake and camp and i've done it just so beautiful so this first day is any sign of what's to come i think i'm in good shape here we go day two no crashies no whammies no flatties and no bear ease good morning dear oh nice jump i like going uphill that's my favorite thing to do i mean i like going downtown too for sure but i really i feel like i put my head down and i do my best bike riding when i'm going uphill i also feel like i do my best thinking when i'm riding uphill and then when i get to the top of a mountain ah i earned it [Applause] hey buddy how you doing little garter snake i used to catch guys like these when i was a little kid i loved it oh yes perfect temperature yep this is quite all right whoa no way i found a lucky penny it was glistening in the sun i have a whole jar at home of lucky pennies this might be the most special lucky penny ever wow ah it feels so good oh it feels so good you probably won't believe me but it's 9 p.m and it's still essentially daylight out i'm going to try to fall asleep we'll see if that works but what a great day and i'm excited to see what's down the road buenas noches looking good mr bike bye bye beautiful [Applause] campsite i like stopping and listening to the birds checking out the flowers my bike makes a lot of noise as i pedal you know the crunch of the gravel under my tires and all the bike bags squeaking it's nice to stop and just take it in [Applause] so i'm just riding along and i see out of the corner of my eye something brown dart off the road and my body just froze for a second my heart started beating super fast and it felt like an electric shock through my body and it's amazing what a millisecond of fear will do to the human body it was just a deer but still it scared me i was like oh god please don't be a bear and it wasn't woke me up i'm seeing a lot of poop along the trail [Applause] there's more poop whoever made this route somebody at the adventure cycling association whoever that is thank you this is really well done i know i'm only three days in but what i've seen so far is very impressive i can't imagine the time it would take to put this whole thing together from banff canada to the border of mexico that's a lot of work and i appreciate it i haven't been climbing a ton today at least it doesn't feel like it but way off in the distance are some really big beautiful mountains with snow all over them and it was quite a surprise this is the first clearing i've had i've been stuck in the trees most of the day and that view over there is quite quite stunning and it's been cloudy all day so i hope it doesn't rain but that's always a possibility out here isn't it [Applause] don't fall to the left right there that would be bad [Applause] that single track coming down was incredible and i think i found the perfect campsite nice flat area right there there's a creek over there and we have mira right here wait a second mira am i hallucinating what are you doing here buddy and we have john for those of you who don't know i met john and mira in the middle of nowhere in baja this january and we rode together for seven days and it was incredible and we've been in touch ever since and now we've been talking about planning an adventure now we're doing it look at that glistening in the sun steamy spicy goodness john brings a uh stove like most people ryan doesn't most people drink coffee right yeah that's really the big thing huh yeah that is the big thing and you're still waiting for a stick don't you know it's dinner time silly and what do i have for dinner well you're not gonna be surprised spicy jalapeno frijoles mira i know this looks like dog food but it's not for you [Laughter] what in the world is in your burrito oh it's probably going to make some people ratched so we got mustard flavored sardines we got a ranch dressing that is a canadian burrito if i've ever seen one look at that interesting okay mirror one last stick before bedtime ready go get it what a day awesome day and so great to see john and mira again look who's up and ready good morning mira good morning are you excited to have a great day [Applause] yeah we got the team back together again no crashes no fatties no whammies let's do it mira look at her go look at her go i'm having a hard time keeping up with mira [Applause] it's good to be hanging with you guys again ah here we are riding bikes it's like it's like we've just been doing this continually since january you have been yeah i took like a four-month break yeah but you've been doing other stuff that's true john might be pedaling with the dog and you might think that that would make you slower but it doesn't make jon slower that dude can hammer on a bicycle [Applause] we are now rolling into the tiny town of ovando montana population about 50 dogs over a hundred this is really neat they are all set and ready for cyclists they have charging stations they have a bathroom they have wi-fi they let you camp out here for no cost i like towns like this that embrace bike tourism thank you ovando look at that stack of pancakes is that canadian bacon no no but it'll do so it seems like ovando really embraces cyclists i'm seeing all the teepees and the jail and everything we love yeah we miss them good for business and spend a ton of money and great people yeah and so how many on a normal day come through here oh probably at least 25 30. really and they sleep in these little places and then they come and buy food from here i've had during the race i've had people sleeping on my porch when i get here and what's it been like this year terrible terrible terrible usually there's 20 or so bites in town in the morning and now there's maybe one or two a week yeah it is that hard for you guys do you expect you need that money we need that money we're missing a big time yeah it's a big hit there's probably 1200 cyclists that come through you know what is there 250 with the race wow just independently throughout the year people doing it so that's a big hit that is a big hit thank you so much have a good one we'll see you next year i'm really enjoying this ranch land for sure and all these puffy clouds up in the sky the road we're on is like your quintessential wild west american road fence along the side you know what makes it easier to climb a steep hill having a dog running beside you how many miles a day do you think she runs on any given day i try and keep it below 12 miles a day but if it's heavily single-tracked then it could be as many as 20. so uh at this point she's a super fit dog i just keep track of how our paws are doing and you know what our energy levels are like before and after the ride and then just adjust accordingly so sometimes i'll choose a little bit different route or keep her in the box longer than i normally would just let her rest drink drink oh i love my mirror hugs in the middle of a big steep hill good to see you you're doing great so while we were there enjoying our ice cream these two young dudes came up to us said no way you're riding the great divide cool you want a camp in my yard you can take a shower at my house too all right these are our new friends what's up guys devin devin tyson it's his birthday today 33 33 nice to meet you guys look at that girl all right mira are you ready to rock okay up in the back so what i've learned so far on the great divide is that every day is going to have up and down not always up not always down not always flat but a little bit of everything and right now we're going up on probably the first rough road all the other roads have been pretty well groomed this one this one's a little chunky i'm looking at my wahoo computer and it's like this it might be the steepest elevation profile i've ever seen it's kind of insane right here doesn't look that bad but around the corner we might have a surprise that's where i'm going up there that was probably a lot easier for you mirror wasn't it you panting that's what i'm doing too we just sweat in a different way that was a pretty good hill that was solid what would you say the grade was yeah 12 wow yeah and it was pretty steady for a good portion around those switchbacks what i'm most scared of in montana aren't bears they're these guys they're everywhere they just pop out of the woods and create a smoke screen wherever you go this is a good downhill well we live right on the route so it's um an easy thing to host cyclists and we love cyclists so um we enjoy meeting all the people and hearing their stories and uh barbara's been here for 31 years yeah wow the route was officially developed designed developed developed thank you um in 1998 so they just celebrated the 20th anniversary um in 2018. and so since she was here people would come by and stop and escape water they camp here and about 15 years ago i bought a cabin from my neighbors and had it moved down in the pasture specifically for the cyclists so now they have a great place to stop and stay and weather a storm or just take a rest day and i joined four years ago and um barbara then converted a couple of sheds so and then we just got the tv up so every year we've been trying to add more and more accommodations everything here is free and the only thing that we ask when people stay with us is that they pay it forward we'd like to think that we have four acres of love right here and kindness and we just hope that uh any of that love and kindness would just spread out into the world so that's what that's why we do we do this yeah you know and i started doing this ride as the great divide and i think there really is a great divide right now in the united states in in the world you know well we like we like to think when we have our foreign visitors that we can act as ambassadors you know for people that live in the states right you they may get a misimpression about what we are yeah right and when they when they stay with us they can see another side of the way people are in the states yeah that's beautiful you guys are wonderful [Applause] [Applause] yeah yeah you're the best yeah hi cutie okay you know what i've just noticed that i'm riding slowly uphill for hours here is that it's a lot drier here it's a lot browner this is more what i thought all of montana would look like i was actually really surprised at how green and lush it was the first three days it looked almost like the pacific northwest and now it looks like the way i thought it looked this is what colorado looks like this is how amira stays cool you know life is a beautiful tragic exciting heartbreaking thing and the older i get the more i appreciate every single day on this planet because nothing's a guarantee nothing and you never know when it's gonna change and uh that's why i wake up psyched pretty much every day wow [Applause] okay [Applause] who are you [Applause] so there you go my man nice work good work yeah that was fun man that was a serious uphill that was uh that was mountain biking for sure the first bit of real technical stuff i'd say we've seen on this route so far left turn mirror left turn let's go yeah these towns you know that we pop through there there's always something going to happen yep there's always some road magic that's coming our way it seems like yeah so it's good that's good all right say goodnight to everybody say goodnight to everybody say goodnight say goodnight goodnight good morning ah good morning church those birdies good morning cows get it out there he goes yeah go for it hey no mirror you want to hurt those cows don't you not today whenever possible i'd like to pick some sage and keep it for good luck brake pads oh all right we're rolling into butte montana home of evil knievel here we go it looks pretty big and if you're wondering what happens with sweet mirror when we go inside stores she just sits in the basket and hangs out she's such a good dog we're outside of a grocery store here in view we've both done our shopping but the interesting shopping is the dog food you gotta have dog food meera doesn't eat sticks although she has them in her mouth all the time all right john what'd you get from meera got her some uh kibble a 2kg bag that's a lot yeah four pounds or so this pretty much looks like our shopping tortillas are easy to travel with peanut butter cheese bars john really likes ranch dressing some apples yeah healthy stuff yeah oh real healthy stuff the gold bears we're gonna have to have the bears yeah all of my food goes in this one and it's bulging right now because i just filled it up and if you're wondering this is where i keep the drone and the controller and some other electronics up here in my front bag the tent is tucked in right here under all the brake cables and all my camping equipment and clothes this is the the bear spray extra belt and my flip-flops and then just some knick-knacks cords cables tools [Applause] [Applause] wow come on bedtime good night guys all right ryan good night john boy [Applause] what [Applause] mmm yeah we made it to the top you made it to the top you were running and having a great time yeah you were that's way steeper than what we went up what do you think of that yeah you got to run really fast didn't you so this looks steeper than anything i've ever done before it just drops completely off [Music] there's the cliff yeah that's pretty steep yeah this is crazy steve oh my gosh wow look at that how hot they are yeah they've cooled down already [Applause] [Applause] down anything that steep on your rig so far not quite like that no i mean like single track stuff sure but like a road like a a jeep track no no that's steep what are you doing bouncing around in there [Applause] we've just come upon a little town or village and look at that osprey just sitting in the morning sun loving it just like us and look at this somebody left me a present in my helmet when i went to the post office could it have been john and mira it was mira oh thank you mira excellent so nice ladies and gentlemen it's the it's what we do at the end of the day hey get out of my shot hey you hey you're sitting on my camera there you go say hi come here mirror we're going in mary you want to come in come in come in come on come here come on come on so i thought i was done filming for the day but i went on my nightly walk which i usually do just to loosen my body up and within five minutes of leaving the campsite i come upon this ghost town called bannock and bannock we saw on the side of the road or highway sign that said this is the first provincial capital of montana and this is a full on ghost town it's super cool [Applause] ah smells so fresh all the sage got wet last night in the rainstorm [Applause] okay nice view back there it's a little windy right in the face my friend tries to put a positive spin on headwind and he calls it tailwind that just happens to be in your face so that's how i'm trying to think of this right now it's a tailwind it's just in my face [Applause] [Music] know what we turned the corner so now it's a tailwind wow this is what we were fighting against it's probably like a 25-30 mile an hour wind [Music] it's here at least they don't have tornadoes in montana wow ah this hail is starting to get big and fat and it hurts this hail hurts man we're not getting that wet but we are definitely getting pelted by little babies ow [Applause] we're laughing but it hurts ow okay it was funny for a second now it sucks there is a lot of hail on the ground look at all that hail we are in a nice warm cabin yup mira two is on my bed thank you for coming to say hi we are in a nice warm hotel and i am so excited [Music] you're right right here oh this is one of the best roadside hotels i've ever stayed in and our buddy bjorn who we met yesterday is going to come with us yeah yeah you ready i'm very very very ready we've gotta run it hmm what are you doing in the mud what a state now we're gonna head into idaho for a teeny little bit and then wyoming do you think john that's nice to be back in idaho yeah good little descent nice uh nice welcome yeah that was great it is time you've been waiting all day for the stick boom oh john i have our beans magical buenos noches [Music] there you are oh good way to start the day [Applause] morning [Applause] [Applause] a little bit [Applause] [Music] you're so excited for me i'm excited for wyoming too okay okay but i know we're so happy baby we gotta go before the storm comes let's go come on you ready are you ready let's have some fun got the tent all set up with the rain fly on tonight because uh the skies are still threatening and if you're wondering this bike that i've been riding the priority 600x has been amazing top notch been loving it it's been doing great on some of the technical uphills on the downhills it flies it's really nice to have the 100 millimeter shock up front and of course my favorite part is the gates belt drive in the pinion system it just fires through all the gears and it's been working like a dream are you seeing this it's a double rainbow oh man i love rainbows that is just seriously nature magic at work so cool and the pot of gold is over there somewhere can i have it i'll throw it to you okay it's your good night stick right now just go get it oh it's so beautiful [Applause] okay mirror time to go let's go buddy [Applause] [Applause] guys [Applause] [Applause] oh lots of cars go away yes yeah buddy no way bro how are you doing my man good to see you brother you too oh yeah hey dude how you doing what is up ladies and gentlemen this is kevin yeah you got a buddy oh yeah and mira is ready with the sticks yeah you see what i'm doing here i'm warming up this cinnamon roll in the afternoon sun this is called a mountain washing machine you come in with all your clothes and you come out clean you're doing the dip so kevin what made you want to drop your job for two weeks and come bike packing here in the continental divide it was mira honestly the idea that i'd be a mirror i i wanted to do something that i've never done before first off two it's on my like bucket list i have a list kev does 101 101 things i gotta do in a thousand one days the reason i put it on there is because i think that on a trip like this you push yourself so hard you find new places within your own mind you find new places your body can take you and i also wanted to see the scenery honestly i mean i live in minnesota where there's not mountains i've lived in iowa for eight years before that there's not mountains so mountains love it very cool we're gonna have a great time the cinnamon roll is pretty good sun baked a little tent talk to finish off the day a great day another great day every day really is it's been awesome good morning mira [Applause] [Applause] okay [Applause] [Music] here [Applause] not here hahaha so how do you motivate yourself when things get hard a little voice in your head tells you you can't so sometimes when you need to you just audibly say that you can so i tell myself and usually it's in spanish i don't know why it's just like native i'm a beast i can do it this mountain's got nothing on me i could keep pushing i could do this all day i'll go up every mountain around here and down and back up again and keep going and keep going that's all i do keep going do it in spanish let's hear it you're wondering why he speaks spanish he's dominican he's got the dominican sangre good job you made it to the top [Applause] [Applause] all right [Applause] yes here there he is we did it way to go brother high five it up it's tough oh how you feeling tough i feel like i just rode 65 miles eight hours and 8 900 feet of elevation oh no that's the elevation we're at 6200 holy crap that was tough i'm impressed with you man damn that was hard yeah that was a tough day man i commend you that was uh that was an effort for sure i don't know if i've ever seen anything like this the sun just came up over the mountains and on the opposite side of the sky there are two rainbows it's a sunrise rainbow now that is a miracle oh my god this is so cool what a morning wow wake up everybody five the cows don't like the rain either there you are i'm here what's happening over here now in the john bike shop in the john bike shop today we are replacing a spoke this happens i got a 40 pound dog on the back we're riding rough roads and i've been riding this wheel since october on very many rough roads so it's not surprising i have a broken spoke and the shop in town was really nice to uh find me mira get off me i'm doing an interview right now anyway john's fakie john's fixing a spoke so i just went grocery shopping this town actually has a real grocery store with pretty much everything you could ever want a lot of the other towns we've been through have just tiny convenience stores with almost nothing so here we go and the reason why i'm buying a lot of food is because we're heading into an area without much happening so i've got two cans of diced green chilies we've got two cans of beans new can of peanut butter fish food is for tonight obviously that's not going to last on the bike nutella 20 tortillas got about 15 of these bars and some snickers and nuts that's about all i can hold on my bike driving [Music] oh uh huh so oh so here lightning is very close right now this is getting gnarly [Music] [Applause] let's do it all right we are at the miners grub stake here in atlantic city and it is a trip i feel like i've walked back in time and it's a lot of fun to look at all the stuff on the wall there is a lot of old-timey quirky kitschy things here tell me about this this amazing place we're in uh we came through on a harley in 08 and decided to change careers and buy a barn restaurant and so here we are love the trail we kind of take care of the hikers and bicycles and try to be here even if the kitchen's closed we'll get you a hoagie make sure you're loaded up with water maybe a few tap beers you're good to go get that meat it's gonna power us to the basin laurel thank you so much you are welcome this is amazing oh yes we'll see you on the trail next year right let's hope let's do it i gotta lose like 30 pounds you got it man you got it [Applause] [Applause] on our map it says there is one place with water out here it's called the diagnosis well and we're gonna go check out and see if there really is water it was kind of tricky to find there was no marking on the road but we knew it was at about 20 miles after atlantic city oh and there it is look at that glorious water yes look at the water go get some of that water it does say that we need to treat the water so that's what we're doing john's got his lightsaber in there i'm gonna chug this whole bottle and then refill hydrate because i don't think we have anything for the next 80 miles chug chug chug chug thank you mother nature for this well i really appreciate it hi buddy yeah so good to see you [Music] [Applause] huh [Applause] hmm [Applause] [Applause] oh here's that [Music] myself huh [Music] it is almost nine o'clock the sun is down we went 93 points something and we're calling it good that was a big push and it was a beautiful day and we got through the basin pretty much we're just going to wake up tomorrow and ride 15 miles to wamsutter and get some more water and resupply and another day in wyoming thank you wyoming way to go bud high five thank you brother thank you no crashes no flatties no whammies mira's rocking her friday sunglasses looking cool there you go yeah shifted my zip a little bit oh yeah kevin what'd you just say i can't believe how much it hurts you got it bud yes sir you got this dude you got this my man i swear it's the final hill hello colorado kevin is dead or he's in heaven i don't know yes oh my goodness was that one of the hardest physical days of your life that was it was just it was 100 degrees all day so we just rolled into savory a little later than we thought the museum on our map says that they have some drinks and i was like oh it's probably closed there's nobody in the parking lot but the door's open and it is self-serve i have a cold seltzer my friends and there's nothing more i've wanted than this thing right here they even have a freezer full of 25 cents otter pops and ice cream sandwiches and klondike bars and it's all a dollar and over here look at this please play pay in a little floured box look at that a whole cooler full of everything you could ever want thank you so much savory museum i've never seen anything like this this is pretty incredible they just leave this wide open for the public what are you gonna get there bud i got a couple uh twin pops they're calling them little freezies oh man what a day every day is what a day i keep saying that but wow this really was a day [Applause] porn okay so we've decided to make a last minute audible a change instead of firing off to steamboat another 65 miles uphill we're gonna take a chill day we heard good things about a place up here called ladder ranch i guess they're very friendly to cyclists and that's where we're headed it's only 13 miles away so today's essentially going to be a rest day and i think that's going to be good for everybody hi buddy [Applause] bouncy bouncy bouncy mirrors ready to go yeah yeah you ready you ready are you psyched i can't tell i can't quite tell oh you dropped your stick you drop the stick i love your energy [Applause] [Applause] [Applause] nature big ass mountains here we go kevin come on buddy come on let's do it trying to conserve for tomorrow hey kevin how you liking these colorado hills he's loving it since there was no welcome to colorado sign we're going to do it right here in front of this old general store with our new friends vince and gretchen let's do it guys yeah we're happy we're in colorado mira this is for you can you believe it so we're racing down this mountain road and we passed by and john's like popsicles and i was like popsicles okay and then we get closer we actually it says dog ice cream oh look at that homemade look look how happy mira is she needed a little treat oh yeah all at once oh my god she doesn't fool around about it we were rolling into steamboat and i was like oh yeah roddy lives here so i texted my brother ethan he called roddy rod he's like yeah you can camp but we did not know we were going to have enchilada fiesta wow you're the best man thank you so much fiesta i like your ascent mirror do you want enchiladas do you want enchiladas dog enchiladas you already had your dog's treat today it is always nice to end the day with friends and familiar faces and that's what we're doing today here in steamboat and we're filling our bellies full of enchiladas buena no she really goes for that water get it get it lots more trip left see you bud you take care i'll see you down the road mira okay [Applause] [Music] [Applause] oh [Applause] [Applause] [Applause] [Music] whoa oh that's so cool oh oh i see crumbling hello cow how are you [Applause] [Applause] we're driving [Applause] you're so blessed to be here man that's right are you feeling bud i feel fantastic i feel like a million bucks good i need another butt but i need i got a million bucks look at that view isn't that cool wow here they are waiting for us what's up it's dana it's mommy it's santa how's it going everybody we did it we did it it is so good to see all of you wonderful people kevin you were a champ today buddy tell me about how you feeling i can't sit right but besides that i feel great legs still feel strong with eight and a half hours on the bike 7 000 feet of climbing 79 miles it's a tough day yeah it was a beautiful one we have a new adventure partner tomorrow dana that's right yes oh you're gonna go climb it makes doing hard things it's it's easier when you know at the end of the day you get to see people you love so thank you all i'm joining them too well well no i'm not well she's a liar actually the eating portion i was about to say something really sentimental though i love you guys and i appreciate you guys coming here and saying hi to us and it really means a lot so not only is today exciting because dana is here but we are riding into silverthorne where my middle brother logan lives with his wife haley and their two super cute kids brinley and carter how about this day ryan it's a beautiful day we've never seen this one this is the day we haven't seen that's right good 46. whew [Applause] all right we did it so you think maybe someday you want to come with me on a bike adventure yes yeah sunday that's not 70 miles it is time for another goodbye kevin is heading off to the airport yeah why why are you leaving just kidding we know why he's leaving he's got things to do um thank you so much for coming man absolutely it was really fun riding with you and getting to know you better and i loved your spirit and your attitude and you overcame a lot of pain man oh yeah we did yeah yeah man you're a good one bro absolutely you're a good one orange clashes with my purple go dana go dana it's your birthday it was your birthday two weeks ago can i tell them your age oh yeah dana turned 59 years old all right and she is a total badass in every sense of the word she's one of my best friends she's a mentor she inspires so many people she owns one of the most successful businesses in boulder what else is there about dana she's funny as hell she's goofy she's quirky she has cool haircuts good job dana good job good job we did it we did it oh my god it was so great you know i was i was feeling like i don't know yesterday that ride took it out of me a little you know that first ride and then you bought that stupid stuff from lunch it's like a lettuce i was trying to be healthy dated i ate so much junk food the last three days like i need vegetables look [Music] jail great my this is trail magic this is trail magic right here how are you doing bro what's going on where are we what is this called so we're in uh we're in hartsville colorado right now yeah my wife chelsea and i we just got some land out here and um just wanted to open it up to people and um yeah that was so amazing because i told you like we just kept rolling and rolling i'm like i feel like something amazing is gonna happen and then this happened wow we're at camp indigo it's like the happiest place on earth i am continually in awe of how the universe just provides sometimes you know it just makes me happy and it really helps reinforce my faith in humanity that people are good and people want to help and it makes my heart grow makes my heart swell which is this is always a good thing and now we have a beautiful sunset so much love for you oh dana can you believe what just happened like we just like pulled into like unicorn ranch or something it was crazy [Applause] oh [Music] ah i think we underestimated this day i didn't know there's going to be something giant right before salida this is definitely one of the steeper hills i've ridden on the entire route and dana's lucky enough to be here with me you did it high five oh that was a tough one whoa two three look at all that ice cream we did it there good job oh it was so good it was what a day huh yeah it was a hard day yeah up and down and wind lots of wind and but we made it happen and here we are it was so beautiful such a beautiful day that's the whole route has been beautiful every single day there's never been a day that's like it's like the whole route so gorgeous we live in an amazing country thanks ryan yeah you're welcome thanks for coming along i can't do an adventure without you there you go no way jose good but speaking of without you uh-huh you're leaving i am where are you going dana is uh her sister's picking her up and dana's got to get back and work her cafes need dana and i'm going to have a sister adventurer for a couple of days i love it i love it well i really appreciate you coming hanging out and again we we experienced magic we always do yeah the world is better with you around and i appreciate that it is it is and it's sweeter yeah the world is sweeter good morning i woke up and my friend brandy's backyard [Applause] [Applause] [Applause] whoa what look at this sign user mira john kevin are you kidding me oh my god look at this campground and it says support for gdmvr specifically us they're in space one trail magic wow let's go check this out no way are you kidding me ellen rose ryan van duzer nice to meet you brother i know you this is amazing you've been waiting yes we have been waiting how'd you how did you know i was because we watched what do you mean had we know we watch all your videos this really is amazing i can't believe it i've had a long hard day and here you are trail magic oh my dear lord look at that this is incredible thank you so much sunday sauce that is heavy too family style dinner in a campground alan what have you done yeah we're talking brownies you gotta have brownies look at that chocolate cherry with chili powder i'm finally going to bed it was too fun to leave the company of alan and marsha they're such good people that's funny oh yeah [Applause] aren't you coming with me all the way i'm not going i am going back uphill thank you again for everything that was such a good surprise super and i'll see you in boulder that's right you better come to boulder go get one of those dudes doritos yeah yeah you got to do it man have a good one brother see you later [Applause] [Applause] [Applause] [Applause] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] oh i am at about 7 800 feet above sea level right now going up to almost 12 000 so 4 000 feet of up i think it's gonna take a long time i've heard the climb is like 20 miles or something that's all right because you know why i have nothing else to do today but ride my bike this is a really beautiful desert area but in a couple hours few hours when i get on top of this pass it is not going to be desert it's going to be high alpine that's one of the things i've really loved about this route is that the landscape changes all the time from day to day and sometimes from hour to hour good morning cows you know i've always enjoyed going uphill and it doesn't matter if i'm riding a bike or running going uphill has always been my strong point i've often said that i'd rather ride up and down steep mountains all day than ride flat roads and you go nice and slow and you can hear your heart beating [Applause] you can hear the birds chirping this really is the perfect speed i'm going 3.7 miles per hour and it's a nice way to spend this chill sunday morning [Applause] [Applause] [Applause] whoo [Applause] i think this calls for a little happy dance oh yeah baby there's not much oxygen up here hello there now it is time for some real talk and i thought this would be a great spot since it is the high point of the entire great divide trip high point in altitude but uh today will be my last day riding the great divide and the reason is is because i'm pretty much at the southern end of colorado and new mexico has instituted a very strict policy for all travelers entering the state they're saying that everybody needs to quarantine for 14 days and that's not something that i want to do so this is it i'm going to end it here i'm going to ride south to a town called platoro and my good friend larkin is going to pick me up and take me back to boulder my heart is very full right now my heart and soul are very happy and i'd like to give a huge thanks to priority bicycles for helping to make this dream happen they were instrumental we've been developing this bike right here for the past few months specifically for this adventure and it worked flawlessly this thing is top notch the gates carbon drive the pinion gearbox everything worked so well and i always had to smile and laugh when john and kevin had to lube their chains and mess with their derailleurs i was like i don't have to do that oh so here i am smiling in a field on top of a divide on top of a pass here in colorado it's a beautiful sunday and i'm going to be going home happy and fulfilled thank you so much for joining this for joining this adventure for joining all my other adventures for being part of this channel i love this community you guys are all awesome and i hope you're out there challenging yourselves in your own ways please like and subscribe share these videos with as many people as possible that really helps me if you have the ability please join my patreon and wow i'll see you down the road you know what i'm saying that's the only way to go down the road keep going forward always we'll see you later my friends you

Channel: Ryan Van Duzer

Views: 615,549

Rating: 4.9573336 out of 5

Keywords: gdmbr, gdmbr bikepacking, gdmbr full documentary, ryan van duzer great divide, bike touring the great divide route, gdmbr documentary, great divide mountain bike ride, great divide mountain bike route, beautiful video from the great divide route, great divide trail, Beautiful footage from the great divide route, Tour divide documentary, Ride the divide, ryan van duzer bike, great divide mountain bike route video, tour divide, priority 600x bike, the best bike tour in the world

Id: V3O3ooTtrV4

Length: 115min 26sec (6926 seconds)

Published: Tue Feb 16 2021