The Road from Karakol

for hello my name's Kyle it's 7:00 in the morning and I'm naked in Kyan you might ask Kyle why are you up so early well it's cuz I got across this River and it's the lowest time during the morning so I'm naked and here we go this is River Crossing here you [Music] stand how did I get here oh man you won't even believe me I'm not even sure I believe it myself this is fullon adventuring and I am loving it two roads diverged and well I took the one less traveled if something shitty happens um I love you all I chose a bike instead of a partner the road instead of a base camp I chose kyrgistan it's intriguing network of old Soviet roads and endless Peaks I had no expectations other than what the guide book said Kyan the Switzerland of Central [Music] Asia those are the facts the rest well the rest is just wild memory product with no blueprint open air and you put your all right welcome to kistan we have arrived I have got the rib all set up it's super wobbly and heavy and weird but uh about to go get lost in Beach Ki so here we go about to pass my first cyclist he's pretty competitive though he's got matching Jersey pretty sick bike hello hey yeah he was pretty serious I passed him though he's gone oh the key to slowing it down bicycle and climbing gear there are people walking faster than I am riding just looking at the allaha archa mountains off in the distance here first range I'm going to check out so stoked so stoked and I need some sleep I'm stoked what is this place I don't know no Russian a from the bike I have an incredible perch as lofty as any Summit from which to see this strange and wonderful place you guys will maybe end up on the Internet other times it can feel like I'm writing a moving bar stool toast to my friends new friends to love respect and adventure to business and sex I'm a little drunk I won't lie uh Alla Archer what a trip good morning this is uh day three there are gnats feasting at my face and I'm currently working on this monster Hill in granny gear of course loving it the Neil Young is certainly helping but the [Music] gats I should have brought a [Music] flamethrower we use the word suffering way too much I have royally got my ass kicked today every Adventure has both the light the dark the toil and the reward look at this place it's incredible to experience that alone is to become absorbed by an activity by a place and by its people cheers nice bike yeah it's nice bike switch maybe no the wall of daily noise the modern trappings that Define our identities finally give way you no longer know where you end and where the world begins we become raw definitely got to thank the panta that is just pumping through my headphones right now he's a wacko but you're body the out my wind life and you put your the out my window light this is why we take the trip this is what we've come for this descent feels like I'm cycling off the end of the Earth just keeps going down and down and down on this lonely road super cool definitely feeling out there pretty slow going here some locals I don't know if this road gets cycle a whole lot even the horses stopping check out what I'm doing all right just saw my first uh dude in three days very nice uh theone Rider out there he hooked me up with a Sig so I'm hking this thing down yummy I think during the time when they built these roads everybody must have driven tanks cuz the grade is like ridiculous all right it's official I think this is a signal of the unimproved road even the cigarettes and vodka have given away to Decay homes vacant towns forgotten mines abandoned after the collapse of the Soviet Union when Empires collapse they leave five star Mountain hotels in their wake yet the road keeps going a shortcut through an otherwise blank section of map all of these houses are just abandoned nobody living there crazy past the odd military checkpoint or family carving a living from these Hills even those reminders of civilization begin to disappear sort of eerie just this old graveyard out in the middle of [Music] nowhere I guess old workers old Soviet workers pretty wild dude this landscape has begun to reclaim the Decay there it is the end of the good stuff coming down here down the Engle check blow just a poo right there there's the transition making our way to our food cash which I don't know how far is uh down this way this road has like a Eerie feel to it really beautiful really surreal crazy place today's goal is trying to figure out a way to cross the great Chocolate Milk River hopefully we're going to find some bridges hopefully cuz that's the only way it's happening and I was told there was a bridge out here somewhere but no way I don't see anything it's not looking so passible yeah I don't know I think we're going to cruise down a little further just be op optimistic but if we don't find anything we'll have to go back and maybe above the enal che River we can try and find something that goes across I don't know but there's no way that this is being crossed well I'm drunk I'm not all that psyched on just dealt with my first military corruption lameness Guy totally wouldn't accept my papers and wouldn't let me cross into the side of the river that I want to go no no no no no no no no no that okay was like pretty much confined to going back to Caracol which was like 160 km huge ride and I started to do that and then about 5 km away from Enoch Che the town saw this faint Road it's right behind me if you can call that a road and uh it leads to this suck on that military [ __ ] oh yeah glad to be done with military checkpoints for a little while and here's a shot of the road ahead [Music] the road became worse pavement to gravel and then it just ended not the right way I'd come looking for a line on a map instead I just found this giant Blank Spot K got say not in I decided to keep pedaling where the hell am I God damn I ain't saying it's easy but man it sure is rewarding look at this place so beautiful 360 degrees of [Music] red alas we have come to a fork in the mountains uh got the inel che River going into the SAR Jazz and the uch cool coming down this Valley here I have been going down Engle check there's no way across the uch Cool River and it doesn't look like the road is very good on the other side so we're going to take a gamble we're going to go up the uch cool for right now there is at least partially Road there are two choices in life the known and the unknown maybe it was the fact I'd come this far or maybe it was the vodka and fermented Mar's milk or maybe it was something else but I chose the unknown path oh not psyched um actually pretty [ __ ] scared as I was rigging up the Rope on the other side of the river to come back across and get my stuff just I noticed that my stuff was kind of seemed like it was getting pretty close to the water and I looked over and it was in the water and Bic basically the river just started Rising so fast that it was starting to take away my stuff and I didn't even think I just like jumped in and in like a gnarly place and just swam for my life to get across to it scared and I'm like way out here not sweet dude I hate Rivers hate water should not have come this way that's for sure for 7 days I didn't see anyone the road behind me closed there was only four [Music] [Applause] [Music] forward radad a little concerning but we'll make it happen it'll be okay I'm confident I [Music] hope all our promises [Applause] [Music] [Music] oh getting ready to watch the sky turn colors and do cool stuff it's been stressful last couple days but I think we're in the clear I hate to do this to everyone but today I have to cross this River and I'm not all that excited about it I'm pretty scared um but I've gotten myself into a situation where I have to and um yeah I'm pretty scared so I just just want to let everyone know that something shitty happens um I love you all an incredible amount I want you to know that if I die is definitely doing something that I am totally totally psyched on and I'm loving life for sure right now um fear is an okay emotion and I have a lot of it I'm just acknowledging it that's why I'm doing this but Mom I love you thank you so much for a wonderful life Dad thank you you've been an inspiration Molly I love you so much it's been so much fun being your brother thank you for being my sister you're the best and juwel I love you I love you so much um I'm sorry that it ended this way um and all things water I hate this stuff but just want to let you all know that I love you and thank you very much take your clothes and lay them M waited so long for but never hold now for another from W woo I've never been so happy to see power lines in my whole life oh here's the heinousness we're traveling down but the good news look way off in the distance down there I see a road oh yeah sh you hear that you don't do you that's right I found it for the first time in two weeks look pavement from o on the from the age wo well reality is sunk in and I am running out of time decided to head south to the cocka 2 big first descent still on some climbed peaks let's see what we can do for the last 10 days or 11 or 12 days or so oh my God I found some snow woo intimidating ain't it all right shortly before 5 yeah so we're going to give it a go here we are [Music] s all right getting up here pretty quickly got a little bit of a crook section here little steep section and uh soaks very happy hold enough for another way on the way from the B AG [Music] [Music] from from [Music] the all right here we are on the summon a jig digging it woo it's so sweet I got one thing I got to say is that I totally love living life I love jeand I love my family my friends yeah and this just feels damn good yeah stoked here are the facts I chose a bike instead of a partner I chose the road over a base camp and that's what made all the difference I'm having a good time uh definitely feel like I'm exploring um the world and that's a great thing now here's what I believe real Adventure is not polished it's not the result of some marketing budget there's no hashtag for it it burns brightest on the map's edges but it exists in all of us it exists at the intersection of imagin and the ridiculous you have to have faith it will find you there and when it does remember there's just one question in this life when the road comes to an end will you keep pedaling [Music] [Music] need open air all this open air we had open air so much open air and you put your body out my window [Music] like and you put your body [Music]

Channel: Outdoor Research

Views: 300,052

Keywords: Karakol, Outdoor Research, Kyle Dempster, Journey, Kyrgyzstan, Bike Trip, Road Trip, Cycling, Climbing, Adventure, Dirt Road, 5Point, Best in Fest, Awarded, Award, Fitz Cahall, Duck tape then beer, Krygyz, Soloing

Id: DhFx17s4a2E

Length: 24min 59sec (1499 seconds)

Published: Mon Jun 24 2013