A Tour Divide Ultra Cycling Film – Life in the Mid Pack

How I Self-Filmed the Tour Divide – https://youtu.be/3ZKhstrwT8g

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joshreids
Strava: https://www.strava.com/athletes/reid_josh

Watch the video ad free: https://www.patreon.com/joshreid

🎥 FILM MAKING GEAR:
• Canon EOS R6 Mark II (https://www.canon.co.uk/cameras/eos-r6-mark-ii/)
• Insta360 X5 (https://www.insta360.com/sal/x5?utm_term=INRV1YZ)
• Insta360 Ace Pro 2 (https://www.insta360.com/sal/ace-pro-2?utm_term=INRV1YZ)

🚲 MY BIKE:
• Giant Revolt X (https://www.giant-bicycles.com/gb/revolt-x-advanced-pro-0)

Checkout my favourite anti-chafe products here http://chamoisbuttr.com/

If you enjoy the content and want to help me in the process I’ve set up a buy me a coffee page, a virtual tip jar.

https://www.buymeacoffee.com/JoshReid

The music I use is from Artlist – https://artlist.io/Josh-1285195

Big thanks to the following companies who support me in my endeavours:
Giant Bicycles,
Restrap,
Enduro Bearings,
Clif Bar,
Redshift,
Chamois Butt’r,
Hutchinson Tyres,
Café Du Cycliste,
Insta360,
Exposure Lights

[Music] [Music] The shop here has kept us so busy. I don’t really have time to fish anymore. Bears, mountain lions, skunks. Fun patches. You ever seen a bear open a ziplockc bag? Me neither. Phone in for bears. We’ve got snow. That dyke right there, that’s a continental divide. Houston, we got a problem. We owe a huge debt of gratitude to bicyclists from all over the world. I almost were crying cuz I was like this, I don’t want this. Problems with your body, they they can’t really they can appear and I’m kind of scared of of coming across stuff that I somehow can’t really control. Last reapplication of shami butter. [Music] [Music] What’s the plan? Where are we? What are we doing? We’re in B. Uh we are one day out of tour Divide 25. And uh the plan is to hopefully improve upon what I did in 2023 here. And that was 15 days and 3 hours. So, we’ll see. Like I I really would like to see a grizzly, but also I really don’t want to see a grizzly. So, it’s it’s quite quite um a weird feeling towards these animals. Um yeah. What’s so what’s the goal for for this event? What’s what’s your plan? So, plan is to or let’s start differently. Um actually like the record by now is 13 days and 2 hours by Eustas. I know that that that um this is an ambitious goal and I know that um it’s yeah not easy to to to crack that FKT but of course that’s what I’m here for. I know that we need good weather. Um we probably need also or I need to make sure that there won’t be any any mechanicals and that kind of kind of stuff. and I need to be yeah in a good good um mood and shape. Um but if that is the case, I think I I can do it. Might see the boss. He’s the sort of the biggest most famous grizzly bear in B. So maybe we’ll bump into him. Last year I did see a grizzly on the first day, which is quite cool. Don’t get many of those in Sussex. The bears, you just have to be very wary of of of them all the time. You’ll see elk, you’ll see moose, you’ll see tons of deer. uh coyotes. Uh as you get further down the route, you see analopee, which is they’re really cool. You’ll see uh I think in Wyoming I saw like wild horses, which I didn’t even think was still a thing, but you’ll see horses ripping around. Last year I had a fully rigid setup. This year I’ve got full suspension. So no particular reason, more just to try something different and see how see how it goes with with that sort of setup instead. You got any advice for someone who’s not done it before? Um, rain trousers, but we just sorted that out. You got something, didn’t you? Oh, crazy Larry. Uh, Tour Divide 2025. Welcome to the YWC. I want to wish everybody, uh, remember your ride is personal and, uh, enjoy your ride and everybody have fun and phone in for bears. Phone in for 188866 MTB Cast. Call me up. This is for bears. Nervous, excited. Yeah. But looking forward looking forward to get moving. If you see a bear, grab your camera, take a picture first. Uh we live in a pretty remote part of British Columbia, so we’re quite used to this this terrain for the first half anyway. So nothing that will catch me too off guard, but uh definitely big grids are always, you know, as much as you can get used to them, it’s still not a pleasant encounter no matter no matter what. 3 2 1 Woo! [Applause] [Music] How are we feeling? Really good. Really excited. Woo! You’ve done this a few times. What are you excited for? What’s like the highlights of your I’m just looking forward to just being out there. It’s the start of the tour divide. Mexico are bust. Current bear count. Current bear count is zero. But there’s a good chance that number will increase soon. What is the tour divide? Where where are we going? The tour divide is a off-road race self-supported from B Alberta, Canada to Anselope Wales on the Mexican border. so much fun. Um 4,350k and yeah, this starts uh yeah, second Friday of every June [Music] How’s it going, man? It’s going great. This is uh something I’ve been waiting for for a long time. Taking the trusty single speed out, ready to maybe make some history on my buddy’s bike. [Music] [Music] Heat. Hey, Heat. [Music] This is so steep. [Applause] Hi. How’s it going? You got this. My shoulders, my knees, my brain. But we’re having fun. Once this is done, it’s like two little pushes and we’re in front. [Music] It’s it’s really an absolute highlight I think in every every ultra cyclist’s life like first time tour divide. So I’m really excited to to spend a few days out in the wild and yeah find out how how crossing these two countries looks like. [Music] It’s the start of day two. I got to Fernie last night. Had about 2 or 3 hours sleep. Keep the warm clothes until you’re well past the the uh the Great Basin cuz there was some cold nights. And um I don’t know, maybe break it down into segments, you know, just hit each state line, make make that as a boundary and uh reset at the end of one of those and then chip away to break it down into pieces and seems a bit more achievable, I think. [Music] [Music] Did you see many riders today? Quite a few people. Uh yeah, a lot of people have passed me. I don’t think I’ve passed a single person. How’s it going? They’re halfway through. It’s hard work. Someone’s got to do it. I think it’s like Yeah. 30 odd Kate left of Canada. Yeah. Give or take 20. So cold. There you go. You got it. I think this is known as the wall. [Music] staying in a bike hostel. Um, got my sleeping set up. I’ve got a bit of a cold, so um, and coughing up a bit of flem. I think just over overriding quite a bit. So, um, I’ve opted to sleep inside. It says you can’t sleep on the sofas, but I think I’ll be fine on the floor. Today was what like one of the hardest days I’ve had on a bike for for a very long time. Um, the climb, the hiker bike, the wall was brutal. And it wasn’t just the like the pushing the really really steep bit. It was kind of a really long drag after it and that just kind of broke me. And yeah, it was a bit of um stopping and drinking water and just grling to the finish. Um well, I finish is a very vague way of putting it. We’re not even anywhere near the finish. I’ve set my alarm for 4:00 a.m. It’s currently um half 11, so 4 and a half hours sleep. And then we we go again. Uh another push and into some uh grizzly bear territory. There was some some wolves howling out there. So, lots of wildlife. It’s day three now. Heading into pretty heavily grizzly bear populated area. Going towards white fish. [Music] What’s your plan today, Liam? Got somewhere booked. 100k up the road. [Music] [Music] got some signs out for everybody. Go Tour Divide and uh I saw you on uh what was it? Instagram and so I thought I’d put your sign out there for you. I’ve just come two miles off route to a place called Big Fork and I’m now in a motel. I’ve got a bit of a sore throat, so I wanted to make sure I’m looking after myself. It’s a long way to go still. And um yeah, just see if I can fix that. And I didn’t want to push into 100 miles of nothing. Got some coins. [Music] Just taking all my [ __ ] money and not giving me any porridge. Take a nice Have a nice day. Yeah. [ __ ] you. [Music] You had a good day then? Yeah, not bad. We’re well ahead of the 20-day dot, but the thing is that that bastard never sleeps. Just keeps moving at an average speed all throughout the night. So, we’ll wake up tomorrow. It’ll be a lot closer than it is now. That’s why I got this. Keep me going. Sleep well. See you tomorrow. No bears yet. No bears yet. Morning. Morning. What’s a bear count, Liam? One bear, black bear bouncing around the road in front of us. Not now, but immediately [Music] I’m like ice cream slurpee smoothie. [Music] This is a mess, isn’t it? Okay. [Music] Oh. [Music] What day is it? National Cougar Day today. Oh no, sorry. It’s supposed to be 4 days ago. It was National Cougar Day 4 days ago. stickers on the first day and this morning when I was waking up I like touched myself and I was like [Music] this is what it looks like before I get eaten by a bear. Why would you get eaten by a bear? [Music] Hi, I’m Kathy Thurman. A lot of people know me as Kathy Shondorfer, but I got married two years ago. And uh welcome to Aando, Montana. And uh you’re at the Blackfoot Angller. and I am basically the intermediary between the town and the cyclists and social media for bike packing and the tour divide and I take all of your pictures. What’s special about Oando? Well, there’s what is special about Oando? That is a very good question. Uh we’re very small population 75 on a good year and we became cycle friendly oh probably about 10 years ago and so we put up a teepee in a sheep wagon brought the jail in and allowed the cyclist to come in at any time of the night or the day up until October and they can stay here and they’ve can get breakfast and they can get dinner and they can take a shower and uh see a little bit of the countryside because outside of town right behind me. It’s nothing but ranch land. Literally, we have cycling to thank for make putting Oando on the map cuz 20 years ago, nobody even knew we existed in the state of Montana. And then we became cycle friendly and you guys all came and we got nominated because of cycling for the 2018 Montana State Community of the Year in Recreation and Tourism. And we won. And nobody size of this town has ever won that prestigious award. And it wasn’t because of fly fishing. It wasn’t because we’re nice people. It was because of cycling and everybody that voted for us in the cycling community and told the tourist board about it. So we owe a huge debt of gratitude to bicyclists from all over the world. I’ve just left Aando so heading towards Lincoln. A good good stay in a teepee last night. What we got today on the menu? Oh, we are going to do a couple nice peaks into Helena. I think we have three climbs before we get there. They’re only a light red on the Garmin. So, not too bad. And then we’ll be ending the evening in Helena. There’s a Hardies in my future, which I’ve never tried before. So, what’s that? I don’t know. I think it’s an American burger brand. So, we’re going to find out this evening. But otherwise, we’re feeling good. What’s after Helena? What What Mario Kart themed thing we got after? Oh, the lava mountain. I don’t think I’d be choosing that if I were a [ __ ] Mario Kart, that’s for sure. [Music] So, we just came out of Lincoln climbing up uh Stemple Pass, and I’m not sure the exact location, but the Uni Bomber, and I think this was back in the ‘9s, early ’90s, uh a famous infamous uh American serial killer. I don’t I think he killed people. I have no facts straight, but uh his cabin was up here and he didn’t have running water or electricity and we just like put together these bombs and mail them out. Uh and then his brother ended up uh turning them in. We just rode by his cabin. Uh Ted Kazinski, the uniomber. Everyone like you know. Yeah. My name is Barbara and I and uh our place is known as the alpaca farm. And uh we host cyclists that ride in. We have five cabins and a sheep herders wagon. You okay? Yeah. Oh, watch out for those. Mera and I are riding the tour divide dog packing style just like everyone else except that I have a a furry bundle of love with me. Yeah. Yeah. So, you’ve got a friend the whole way whole way around. I do. Yeah. She’s pretty good actually. She uh on the steep climbs like Stumple Pass here, she jumps out and walks beside me and uh helps out cuz she weighs 20 plus kilos, 40 some odd pounds and then with her food and all that kind of stuff. So, it’s nice to be able to unload that and then um yeah, I have her at night and then get to see people, you know, meet her and they all brighten up and and that’s really nice, too. That’s that’s one of the best parts. How’s your ride going so far? I think pretty good. Yeah. Um the main thing for me is is trying to find that balance between distance and long days cuz we all want to you know do our best time but I can’t uh you know sort of abuse me right like like on the climb she’s out and she’s walking in that in and out and the gravel. So the first days it’s a lot of rolling terrain and that’s really hard on her paws the jumping in and out and I give her a bit of a tug with the leash. So, I um help her into the basket and and I lessen the impact, but uh it’s still a lot. So, yeah, I think we found a good middle ground. So, it’s it’s good. She wakes up in the morning, she’s keen to go. That’s the that’s my key signal. They’re doing okay. I just want to make sure that we don’t prevent the before tree. Barbara’s been here since 1989 and the ACA defined the route in ’98. So, Barbara has been here since the beginning. Wow. And so, you know, essentially the way that this became what it is now is people would stop in and ask if they could get water, you know, if they could pitch a tent. And Barbara finally figured out that she was on the GDMVR. And uh she bought that cabin down there. I don’t know if you’ve seen it yet. And uh that started the whole thing. I joined 9 years ago and we’ve been adding accommodations ever since. We currently have 15 beds. So the one thing that’s really neat about our place is that we don’t charge anything and uh all we ask in return for the people that stay with us is that they pay that forward. So that we ask that they spread love and kindness through the world after experiencing the love and kindness in our 4 acres here. Um so we don’t take any donations. We just hope that the world will become a better place for those people that stay with us. [Music] Oh. [Music] Oh. Oh, [Music] It’s day seven of the tour divide. I’ve gotten up early to get some riding in before the heat. It’s a beautiful morning. [Music] What we got coming up? One of the most flat sections of the entire route from Alorn Springs all the way through the rest of Montana into Idaho. [Music] We’re on the Banic Road in a headwind. [Music] I’ve arrived at the world’s creepiest motel room. Um, we opened the door and the curtain was just blowing into the room and um, yeah, as if there was a ghost or something. But huge day today. cycle from but to um wherever we are now. I’m too tired to lemur. Um we’re in Lemur. Um and this was the last motel room. So um we had to I’ve got a share with Justin. Um he’s now having a shower. Um yeah, big day over well just over 300k. So just shy of 200 miles. So able to catch up a little bit on um the 20 20day dot. I think it just left town as we were entering. Oh yeah. Go again tomorrow. Good morning. Hey, good morning. Just trying to survive today. So, either Island Park or um uh the Squirrel Creek Ranch today and then just do a 100 miles to that cuz I want to get from there through Pinedale. I’ve heard that’s where they put the problem bears. What? The like bears that uh like break into people’s [ __ ] but they don’t want to kill. They relocate them to the stretch between like Tagitty or Tigodi or however you say it pass and Pinedale. Is that true? I the I was explicitly told by somebody who when I asked him what he does for bears, he said he no he said I do nothing. He’s like I sleep with food in my tent. I just am smart about where to sleep. He explicitly told me do not sleep outside between those two places. It’s the start of day eight and what was meant to be bit of a tailwind has flipped and is now a headwind. My knees are pretty sore from the big push yesterday. I just feel a bit fatigued. can feel pretty pretty fortunate that it’s not raining. This wind is not nice. We’re no longer in Montana. We’ve just crossed into Idaho. So, done with the big state. I was eating a beef stick and these cows were looking at me and I was like, “Sorry guys, it might flurry here tonight, but uh yeah, that’s that’s the weather report.” So, we’ve kind of missed most of it. You’re you’re lucking out. You guys hit it about perfect. So, it’s perhaps more central than I wanted it to be. I want chocolate milk. I want chocolate milk. Where’s chocolate milk? We’re just going to get out of here. Decisions, huh? We’re going to get at the gas station, so I don’t care. That’s big brain thinking. What popcorn option are we getting? Okay. The size was like the size of my torso. Are you small? For tonight, I’m just going to eat this. I was I was thinking for the lake. For the cabin with the fireplace, we should get a box of wine. [Music] Come on. [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] Uh, not bad. I was kind of hoping. Yeah. Yeah. Turn around. Yeah. Well, so on rider GPS, this whole thing is [Applause] Woo! [Music] Are we racing? [Laughter] [Applause] I love this style of racing. I love racing. American delicacy. Only the finest things in America. Have they added vitamins to this as well? I’m sure. It’s like a PB&J. It is what it is. That’s a PB&. You’re right. It’s technically a PB&H. Oh, this hits so good. It’s like the peanut butter is a little cold, so it freezes your a little bit when you bite it, but then the honey kicks in. Delicious. Cheers. How far have we got to go? only 50 kilometers, which I’ve been informed is 30 miles and 700 meters of climbing. God knows what that is in feet. We’ll get there to our fireplace and our slumber party. Dude, we had a day. Uh, did we have a day? We I It wasn’t bad necessarily. Is it weird that I’m naked? Pretty crazy that it’s end of June. Happy solstice, baby. Pretty crazy that we’ve had hot weather the whole time and pretty crazy that there’s this much snow. That’s my thoughts. And so this way we won’t be wet. We’ll just have snow hitting our face. That’s actually very true. And either way it’s going to be a muddy soupy mat. So at least we’re not wet and muddy. We’re just muddy. It looks very scenic. We’ve got all my layers on. How are we feeling? You know, it’s cold. It’s snowed a lot overnight. Well, only an inch, but still not ideal when we have to go over reunion up higher. And now we’re trying to eat breakfast and prep our spirits. But it’s looking a little bleak. Uh avoid hypothermia. And that’s by doing this. I don’t know if that helps. It’s not raining, you know, so I’m not wet. I am not thrilled. How much we got to do today? like 180 km. Yeah. Okay. And where are we stopping? What is it? Pinedale. Yeah, I think so. Okay. [ __ ] This is going to be a hard 180. Day 10 and we’ve got snow. [Music] [Music] I guess the fun starts now, huh? [Music] But yeah, this is pretty [ __ ] A nice Sunday stroll. And it’s Sunday. Perfect. Good. [Music] Emergency satellite phone. Dude, you got everything. Wow. [Music] Okay, I hear this is your third. Go with this. [ __ ] yeah, dude. I want you to finish so bad. Like I might want you to finish what I want for me. What may I ask? What happened? Like where where you had to scratch last two times? If you don’t want to talk, you don’t have to. The first time I don’t think I ever really thought I was going to finish. I just kind of wanted to see what it was. Yep. And then I scratched my pond. Oh my. I didn’t have my pants on and my knee was like [ __ ] and I was in so much pain and I like almost crying cuz I was like this I don’t want this. Like you don’t want these things to happen. It’s just like so painful. Um but then of course you put your pants on and you’re like oh I’m working everything’s good. We’re fine. So, it’s just like I don’t know. It’s just I always I always say poco poco. It’s like bit by bit, you know, one thing at a time. Um, and it all passes. It always does. It’s just kind of like knowing where the line is and not pushing it too hard. So, but I want it too badly, but we’ll see. We’ll see. I have some flaws. Uh, so how’s your dish now? Feeling my the machine, the performance machine that is my body. Usually without having done any exercise [Music] now. Heading downhill towards Pinedale. The skies have opened up a bit. There’s less mountains around. We’re heading down into the basin tomorrow. Some big riding hopefully if we get a tailwind. Not so much. If we get a headwind, he was very excited. Couple weeks. Oh my god. Trying at 27 years. You had a good day. I had an okay day. I woke up very comfortable in all the beds and I looked out the window and thought, “Oh, look. It’s morning.” I noticed that there was snow everywhere. So that was unwelcome. We experienced pain for the first time. Also unwelcome. Um it was really cold. I think we wore all of our layers. And then the descent wasn’t really a descent. And we didn’t really get the gratifying like flying down the mountain that we usually do. But it’s okay. We made it. And now we’re eating a 2-hour old burger in a lobby and drinking a giant gallon of almond milk. So could be worse. Another cold morning on the tour divide. I’m currently cycling in the basin, which is the flattest part of the route, I suppose, before you get to to New Mexico. How’s it going? Good. Happy that we won’t have any climbs today. My legs hurt and happy to have some company. [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] Heat. [Applause] [Music] Heat. [Music] I missed an opportunity back there to tell that man and he asked me why I was still carrying my bear spray. Because we’re out of bear to bear territory that uh bears don’t respect the lines we’ve drawn on maps. They don’t recognize them. Bears very independent thinkers. And here you are with our bear spray. What’s special about your Ziploc bag? Oh, this one. Well, one, for one, it’s patented, so you know it’s legit. Up to uh 200 feet or 60 m for you uh anyone who’s not American. Um, but it is bearproof. Why is it bearproof? You ever seen a bear open a Ziploc bag? Me neither. You can’t prove that it isn’t. And now we’re out of bear torto. We have no bears. There’s definitely black bears further up. Black bear is not very smart. Everybody knows that. That’s why you don’t need bear spray. You just say, “I don’t taste good.” And they go away. What do you think of this? It’s um a very American mindset. We don’t think that way. I will be popping my bear spray at the finish like champagne away from the direction of my eyeballs. In that case, I hope we don’t feel [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Oh no. I feel like I should down this because I have no salt in my body. Yeah. Oh no, my little hand. Okay. Mm-m. You happy to be here? So happy to be here. I’m going to probably walk out with my pockets more full than I need to be because I’m just joyous. Look at all this stuff. How’s your bike ride going? It’s hot today. Is it? Yeah. Real like what? Hot and windy. Which direction are you going? South. South. Yeah. No. Weather eye check said it was going to be 95. No. And then was it yesterday morning or the morning before that woke up to snow? Yesterday morning. Where at? Yesterday morning at my house it was 30 towy. I don’t know how you say to toy Cody outside of Jackson. Oh, and it up there in the mountain. Mhm. Yeah. No bueno. No bueno. Uh-uh. But yeah, vitamins. Yeah, look at that. No sugar added. We’re somewhere in like the 21 to 24 day window. Oh my god. I’ve actually been doing math of how many more like how many miles a day is that? Quite a few. It’s like in the 120ish. Oh wow. range. Well, do you have any meat on your bones? I know you’ve lost a lot. I don’t know about you guys, but I’ve lost a lot of weight for sure. Yeah. Not enough. I should probably go for I don’t know, five or six days. Go for 22. Well, the problem is you just get insanely hungry and then you eat everything and you don’t actually lose any weight at the end of it. Most people say in like the two weeks after they’re heavier than when they started you got to be careful to stay hydrated in this kind of weather. Boy. Yeah. It catches up to you real quick. Do you want a spoon? There’s spoons in the kitchen. Nope. You don’t? Nope. Cool. It’s too late. Okay. Good to see you. Your hair smells so good, dude. It’s real shampoo in there. I can’t wait till my hair Yours is going to be just as luscious shortly. [Music] What’s special about this area? Where are we? We are in Stage Coach, um, Oak Creek, Colorado. It’s just a really nice community, an environment to, um, I raised all three of my boys here with no regrets. What do you do for work? I work for Morrison Creek Water and Sanitation. I’ve been there for 22 years. Um I also own a um property um management company. So we do snow removal and all types of um property maintenance. Again have I drive this road probably more than anybody. And I see you guys biking and I was a Norba mountain bike racer. I love outdoor sports and I see what you guys are doing. if like if there’s anything I could do to support your endeavor going from Canada to Mexico is insane and awesome that if I can support that and help that that’s why I’m here. That’s why I stopped and turned actually I drove by you guys turned around and just let you know that if there’s anything I can do to help cuz this is the type of world I want to live in. [Music] I’m currently about 2k off the route of the tour divide next to the Colorado River in some hot springs with incredible stars. After a 200k bike ride, I’m tired. But this this is magical. Ready to continue cycling to Mexico tomorrow. [Music] [Music] I am the happiest person with money. This is maybe the best supply I’ve come across. Like just more in terms of surprise. And they had a legitimate sign like this and I was like there’s not going to be anything there. And then look, we found gold at the end of the rainbow. [Music] We came across a surprise little trail angel in where are we right now? Williams for Chris War. Yeah. There was a sign a couple miles back that said to divide support and we kind of thought probably nothing. [Music] I’ve just found Josh in the middle of Colorado and surprised him on on his tour divide exploits. Um, don’t think he was expecting to see uh to see me rock up halfway up his halfway up his climb today. I wasn’t. It was a lovely surprise. Smashing it 2/3 of the way through roughly. It’s pretty good. Pretty epic. Only a week left. [Music] This is insane. Sliced pears. We’ve been very fortunate that the uh post office is open in Komo, Colorado, and we’re able to sleep inside tonight. I’m assuming this is a bear pelt. I don’t know. I don’t want to know what animal this is. Tip. Tip. Tip for what? Do you not have that in Canada? No. like tip is like um rubbish. Oh, it’s like a bit of a mess. I would call this a yard sale in Canada. We’ve exploded everywhere. [Music] [Music] Free frazzle on a Friday. I have a brain freeze. It’s a horrible feeling. [Music] We made it. And I didn’t fall asleep on the bike. [Music] I’m having a great time. I am going to be a stronger person when I get done with this. Life will be so easy. Disappointments. No. Like struggle, no. If you guys want different hair, you can’t do it. I got my cold hair. I could put hot hair on. I could have no hair. This is like a convertible. Hope there’s no leeches in that cuz there’s a laundry mat across the way. But I got to, you know, figure out figure out like all this logistics by just going to go there and order pizza. Yeah, pizza sounds good. [Music] I came rip down after coming out of the sandy section and saw this really cool sign and I was like, “Oh, cool. I’m going to put my bike against it.” And then I looked down. I’m like, “Ah, there’s an aid station. I’m going to grab a Gatorade.” And then I looked down again and there’s a snake coil next to the Gatorade. So, I don’t think this girl’s getting any Gatorade today. [Music] killing it. Wow, you’re still smiling, too. You guys left Bamp, right? Yeah. I’m running it together. Oh, yeah. They say ultras are about multitasking. So, I am eating my dinner. I have freshly taken a shower and I’m going to go do my laundry. I’m also sporting a wonderful hotel robe and these Shimano shoes. Laundry time. It’s nice to be out at cycling kit. It’s very breezy down here. After you. $20. The laundromat was eating all of our coins. So now we’re going further into the public in our get up to buy some laundry detergent. Just this could be fun. That could be Gatorade. That’s what I’ll fill it with. No, the frazzle. Okay. Detergent. The uh Tide Simply All-in-One laundry detergent. Do you think Robin got his robes and was looking around the supermarket for Tide? Hopefully, our cycling kit hasn’t been nicked because otherwise we’re cycling the rest of the way to Mexico in these robes. Oh, it’s so warm in here. Ah, our cycling kit is still there. scratched because we like left our laundry our clothes in the laundromat and it got nicked. No one’s going to seal this. It’s toxic. Cycle temperature. Add supplies. Supplies. Where do you add the supplies? Oh, up here. Okay. Okay. Oh, there’s a big fly in there. Ew. Half. Yeah. Push start. 23 minutes. Even better. It’s day 17 of the tour divide. And today we’re heading up Indiana Pass, which is the highest pass on the tour divide. [Music] Baby, baby. [Music] Colorado is not letting us out without a fight. He’s throwing some more washboard our way, which is delightful. [Music] We’re in Orca, Colorado. Uh it’s one of the most beautiful areas in the in the state of Colorado. And uh people that come here from all over the United States uh have nicknamed it Little Alaska because it’s terrain is so much like the Alaska terrain. So the Amish pie is behind you. the the Amishuh community makes those and uh people that come in from all over the world come to eat these pies because they say they’ve eaten pie fried pies all over the world and none can compare to these in New Mexico. Woo! [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] Heat up here. [Music] [Music] We all kind of camped in the same area last night at about just before 1:00 in the morning and we’re on the Continental Divide Trail, which is basically a walking path. It’s all right. I just take like a handful of instant coffee, just throw it in there, rinse it down. What do you do? Houston, we got a problem. Wiggle, wiggle, cuz you know you’re not going to be eating too good. So, I was taking like Let’s see if I can find it. I was taking like little packages of instant um coffee and then topping it off with daily greens and then slamming it, but I almost choked to death. Um uh yeah, it wasn’t good. And I was kind of out in the middle of nowhere and this guy pulled up and he’s like, “What are you doing?” because I was coughing these daily greens out of my mouth. Um, how do you search for videos? Oh, that’s special. I guess I’m going to be I’m going to I’m going to get like some of those kids sunglasses, you know, like with the little bunny rabbits or something on them. Gas station. Yeah, the gas station sunglasses instead of these prescription Oakleys. Oh, yeah. They’re broken. Prescription Oakleys. They’re expensive. They are expensive. They were expensive. I I’ll actually I’ll give them to you discounted half price. This is so stupid. Like look, it’s shitty there. Then it gets shitty over there. Then there’s roots. And then right when at the top is just more [ __ ] [Music] Just gone through the first town on the route in New Mexico. And it reminds me very much of Serbia. Some of the brick work, very rundown in places. Then oddly, some of the houses have Teslas and Mustangs just outside like almost derelict looking house. Who would have thunk it? Grab waterproof trousers and capless cyclists winter gloves in New Mexico. Wild. [Music] So, I’m now climbing up probably the the last longest climb of the the tour divide. Made it to the top of the last 3,000 meter pass. So now it’s a bit of a roll, but then downhill towards Cuba. Just passed through Cuba. You can see behind me, it’s some pretty dark clouds. We’re kind of on the edge. Blue skies ahead. We’re out running the storm. I’ve been caught by the rain shower. I don’t know whether to stop, put the camera away, and get a jacket on or just try and push get out of it. I can see blue skies ahead of me. [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] I’m currently riding along Route 66 in New Mexico. [Music] My favorite part is how um crunchy the sugar is on top. It’s got a nice little when you bite into it. It’s very good. Look at that. ASMR. Do you hear that? We got some onion rings, some fries, and some beans coming. done about 110k today uh so far. There’s a bit of washboard at the end which was amazing. Thank you very much. Perfect. I think this is the 80. I think I’ve ordered too much food cuz I’ve got fries and onion rings and all. Back in the early 1900s before you had the highway, this was all uh cattle range. So that’s why you have towns like every 20 22 miles because that’s how far you could push a herd of cattle. And there’s a gentleman out here who had a gold claim and he would sell dried fruit pies to the cowboys as they went through. So when it became a municipality, when they got a post office and a fire uh fire station, that’s when they all decided to name it Pitown. So that’s how you got the name Pitown New Mexico. Well, we have an award-winning pie, a county award-winning pie. It’s a green chilies, um, apples, green chilies, and pinon nuts. And that one county’s best pie, but we do all kinds of fruit pies and stuff like that as well. And that’s the continental divide. That that dyke right there, that’s the continental divide, you know. And you get a lot of hikers and bikers that come through here. Tons tons of hikers and bikers. I’ve set up a movie and I’m now having dinner. So, dinner is leftover chips and berry pie. Looking forward to to getting some sleep and yeah, push push to Silver City tomorrow, which is the the pretty much the last major major city. the last major place before you push to to Antelope Wells in the finish. So that’s exciting. Um definitely getting there. I’m currently bivvied outside a um pit toilet. So I think that’s another thing ticked off the tour divide checklist. I’ve got a roof over here. So I think I’ll leave the toilet available for anyone who might need it during the night. [Music] 5hour energy bear beach boys totally changed your perspective. You’re off. You’re flying to mark the time. Oh, [Laughter] [Music] way way down we go. [Music] Got to rip that soul. I have sad news. Golden Girls closed 3 years ago. Burritos and hot dogs for dinner. It is no Golden Girls for us. It’s like joy. It’s a bit of sadness. Oh my god. I just can’t believe that this is like the last sunset. This is like the last the last punish. Oh my god. What a freaking journey. Oh my god. I just feel so grateful that like everything feels good. My my mind feels good, my body feels good, the weather is good, I have a wonderful friend. Yeah. Damn. What a journey. Very thankful that I don’t have to share the the outdoors with the snakes and the scorpions and the toads. Just before midnight, get maybe an hour, an hour and a half of sleep. Last reapplication of Shami better and I’m good to go. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] You’re in Hatcha, New Mexico. Um about 50 mi from the finish. Couple miles of pavement and then you’ll hang a left. You got about 5 miles of dirt roads. It’s got about 3 mi of sand, so you got to go fast on the sand or it’ll bog you depths. Um and it’s kind of uphill. And then you’ll turn and get on the hiking trail. And you got to real super bumpy and rocky. Uh canyons. There’s a couple of canyons you got to get off a bush because it’s a little too much. Um super bumpy all the way up till you’ll hit the granite pass road. It’s maybe 12, 13 mi. And then you got 3 mi left of a single track that’s got big mosques all overs like that. Um, so you got to watch those or they’ll give you a flat in a second or a ditch, you know. And so, and then you’ll hit the three miles. You got you’ll lose track of the trail, too. So, you got to watch for the sign. They’re about every I don’t know half a mile, a quarter mile or something. And then you’ll hit the road. You got 31 miles of pace. It’s you get a break for the last 30 minutes. And then that’s it’s pretty flat that last stretch. Is this the last resupply at the end? Oh, yeah. There’s nothing like the courts. That continental divide trail was fun and it I’ve never ridden through a forest of cacti before. But that that last bit through the thorns was absolutely brutal. We’re just like picking our way through randomly just trying to find some blue signs with um CTD on it. Um CTD I don’t know even know what it is. CDT. It looks like CTD from here. Blue triangle. Uh it’s now 8:00 so not a chance of getting to the antelope wells for um light. We got about two hours, I think 31 miles on the beautiful tarmac that I’m now sitting on, but the border is closed, so no issues with traffic. Yeah, sky is pretty amazing. There’s parts of it like I really enjoyed, but there was bits that was just a bit of a slog at the end of a 2,700 mile event. We’re a bit tired. I feel like it was a mountain biker’s little dream. Lots of little like swoopy bits. Um, yeah. I really enjoyed it. I had a good time. Every single last minute of it. You enjoyed every single last minute of it. Even the I did. I did. Wow. And now we’re done. That’s it for the We’re not done. We got 31 miles. Yeah. But we’re done the hard part. Oh man. And we get to enjoy this beautiful sunset and this fresh tarmac as you say. I watched this man hit every single prickle bush that he could have. And his rear tire has honestly been through hell and back. I’m surprised that it’s still holding on after this entire however many miles kilome. But this man hit every single prickle bush on the way down. And I was like, he’s going to pop a tire. He’s going to pop a tire. Lo and behold, they held. I am amazed and impressed. What can I say? Good tires. I’m ready for a shower. I feel disgusting. I’ve been homeless for the last 3 months, 3 weeks, 3 years. Only sometimes. Last night I was in a post office. And then the night before that I was in a field. No, I was in a toilet block. That’s not a hotel. New Mexican Hilton. What do they call it? The Montana Hilton. Montana Hilton. Montana. I thought they call Boys. Yeah, I’m pretty sure. Yeah. I just don’t believe that we’re not going to be burning our brakes tomorrow. Like, that doesn’t feel real. I think I’ve misjudged the the timing of every single section of this whole route. Everything’s been about 3 hours longer than I thought it was going to be. I feel like there were moments in which we kind of just like took our time. example, sleeping on the side of the road in Colorado and that meant we missed a giant storm. We didn’t push on. We missed like we missed so many storms along the entire way. I just feel like we’ve been very lucky. We’ve been very very lucky. This like the guy at um the Hoa um grocery store today was talking about how we do it again and it’s like, you know, sure you could do it again, but I feel like this experience has been so perfect. Like everything has just been perfect. Um the conditions have been amazing. Um you know, we did get a taste of peanut butter. We did get a taste of snow. We did get a taste of rain, but and and heat. Um but none of it was ever too much. It was like just the perfect amount to get a taste for what um for what could be. And it just made you kind of savor every moment and appreciate every moment you were in. And yeah, I I just feel like I couldn’t have asked for a better divide at all. At all. It was It was a dream. Every minute was a dream for sure. You’re just saying that cuz you don’t want to come back. Whoa. It feels pretty surreal to be 50k away from the end. Just rolling in. It’s super warm. So, it’s going to be shorts and a jersey the whole way. Maybe we’ll get some stars again. How’s the body feeling? The body is feeling a little tired. We’ve been pushing. We’ve been jamming and now I think our gas is running out a little bit and we have 15 km left. Oh my god, we almost [ __ ] sorry. I should have Okay, we almost just hit a huge snake. Like Josh was on Were you on his head side? Yeah. And I was on his tail side and we just narrowly missed it. Screamed. I think Josh maybe pooped himself. Oh my god. [Applause] [Music] We almost died. We almost died. No, it worked. We both went either side of a rattlesnake. Oh Jesus. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music]