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It's "Moments in Time"

You're right, that's another factor making this trail hard. We came from about 500 ft above sea level where we live but even if you live in Denver at 5,000 ft, 13,000 feet is tough!

One of the best descents anywhere!

Do you mean 4 days per week? If so I would say yes as long as you get quality work in and include plenty of long endurance riding.

It's pretty demoralizing when hikers are keeping up with you or even passing you. One of the low points. But the descents make it worth it for sure.

Thanks! Sounds like a similar experience to what happened to me on day 7 of this trip.

@@FlyingWithBikes hahaha I saw that episode. It almost makes me want to go with a fixed gear.. ⚙️

@@AndyOnTheMountain almost...

July 23 - August 2 was our 2021 attempt. Denver to Durango route and made it it Silverton before having to bail.

Ok we started about 7 days before you so that must have been another group I saw. Did you see the guys with the donkeys?

@@oatfieldwhitney7552 hmm, I don't recall seeing donkeys...

I love hearing that people stuck with the whole series. Thanks for watching.

Thanks for watching!

Thank you!

Glad you enjoyed them

We would have gladly slept in our tents, but no camping allowed in town!

Thank you!

I carried a two person tent that Nick and I shared. It's the grey bag on top of my handlebar bag. Jake carried his own tent. Very limited clothes but definitely had warm layers like pants and a nice warm puffy jacket. Warm sleeping bag as well. Good gear can stuff down pretty well!

There is a pretty good view of the tent bag in this video at the top of Slumgullion Pass

We did the week before and after Labor Day. July should be fine, but more likely to still see some snow and the time we went tends to be a little drier (although we had some storms on Day 1 and could see some bad ones on day 2 as well). Good luck and keep a flexible plan each day!

I appreciate the kind words! I think most people ride and hike Denver to Durango because the more gradual elevation gain is a little easier to acclimate to. Climbing from 7000 feet in Durango right up to over 12,000 feet seems like it would be brutal. Also, the section between Silverton and Durango is probably the most beautiful part of the trail so I think a lot of people like to save it for last. All that said, many have done Durango to Denver and the CT race alternates directions, so it's certainly doable. One other note - now that Cathedral Cabins is there between Silverton and Buena Vista with a resupply store (which has just about anything you could possibly need), the longest stretch without resupply for us was Denver to Breck. If you can hit the Stagestop Saloon on a day it's open though, you'll at least have pizza to look forward to.

Thanks for watching and I really appreciate the kind words! It's tough to toss so much footage, but that's exactly what I was going for with the length. Very happy to hear it worked for you. I've got a few ideas for what's next, but I'm always looking for more ideas.

We got pretty lucky other than the storms on the first night

Thanks!

Glad you enjoyed it. Got any good routes to share from Brazil? Always looking for the next challenge!

Thank you!

One of my favorite parts!

Thanks so much!

Thank you for the kind words. Putting all the videos together was a lot of work and I'm very happy to hear people are enjoying them.

Thank you! Couldn't have done it without you.

It's also fun to say

Thank you. Very happy to hear you are enjoying the videos! I may try to work on a gear video for the future as there is a lot to cover. There is definitely a lot of trial and error, and going on a smaller trip first to gain experience and try out different ways of carrying gear is a good idea. Overall, I'd say once you get past the idea that you can get by carrying very minimal gear, the hardest part for us was finding places to stash enough food to last between resupply locations.

@@FlyingWithBikes Makes sense. Years ago I used to ultralight backpack. We'd sometimes start out with food in plastic grocery bags, carrying it by hand for the first day! There's some nice MTB tours feasible here in VA and nearby I'm checking out. Would be great to have people to go with. My adventure friends seem to have gotten old and fat, or died.

Thanks for watching. Merry Christmas! 😂

Thanks for watching!

Thank you!!

😂

There are some fun sections on the CT but this is not one of them!

@@FlyingWithBikesentertainment for me lol .but I am glad people do go or I wouldn't see the beauty of it all

We definitely thought about it, but even with the shock locked out it moves enough that it would be a ton of stress on the chain and the entire drivetrain. The Sargents Mesa section is so awful that for the most part you're going to push your bike up the hills and ride down them. So with this strider setup I was able to push up and ride down WITH my suspension which is very much needed for this incredibly steep and rocky section. We had a few miles of road when we hit the end of the trail, but it was almost all downhill to where we were meeting Evan. The silver lining of the whole thing is that we got lucky that it happened near the end of the day, and Evan was able to meet us around noon the next day, which turned about to be about the amount of time we needed to hike and coast to the trailhead.

Great question! We thought about the single speed option, but on a full suspension bike that's a lot of stress on the chain and drivetrain without the derailleur there to hold tension through the rear suspension travel. We thought about locking out the rear suspension too but even then it moves a not insignificant amount and this trail is really rough. In the end we decided on the strider bike, which turns out to not be a huge disadvantage on the remaining section of Sargents Mesa as almost all of this trail is hike-a-bike up and ride down.

​@@FlyingWithBikesyou are giving away the cliffhanger!

@@kenyates7269 don't worry... you'll see!

Thank you, Mark! We always used to go to Mi Casa on ski trips. During our 2021 attempt, I was looking forward to eating there all day, but we took so long that we didn't get into Breckenridge until about 11pm and it was closed. This time things went much more according to plan!

So true! It's easy to get hyperfocused on pushing ahead, but the epic views are truly a rare experience that you should always take the time to appreciate.

He's working on his apprenticeship! We have something special for you on the final day.

Just wait til we get to day 7-8!

Thanks! Releasing one video per day over the next week or so

No way! I remember you. I love seeing different peoples' experiences of the trail. Congratulations on finishing and what a great story.

It won't be the last of the crashes but he's a tough dude!

So true! It's a beautiful trail but it makes you earn it.