Gravel WorldSS 300

Why race 300 miles of gravel on a singlespeed? I dunno. I don't ride bikes because I want to beat everyone. Sometimes you get the bear, and sometimes the bear gets you. Doing these kind of ultra-races is what allows me to feel satisfied at the end no matter the result.  In fact, I think you could argue that the last place person in these ultra-events is more of a badass than the winner, because riding for 30 hours straight is a hell of a lot harder than riding for 20 hours. The way I see it, we all go out and go as deep as we can for however long it takes, and in the end, who wins the event is sort of just a footnote.

Great Divide Chapter 2: Banff to Red Meadows

This stretch was probably the most dissimilar to other sections, except perhaps parts of New Mexico. It's really impossible to overstate the mountains in Canada, and the feeling of being in the "north" is very real. Plus, there was an exceptional amount of singletrack and doubletrack in this section, which only added to the excitement.

Great Divide Chapter 1: Calgary to Jasper to Banff

Sometimes I feel like Steve Winwood of Traffic, just "staring at empty pages"; so much happened on the Great Divide trip that I don't know where to start. Even knowing knowing how to tell the story is difficult. Alas, the way I decided to do it is on a day-by-day basis, with each day having a little section in the post. It isn't the most creative way, but to be honest, a lot of the reason why I write this blog is for myself, so I can look back later and remember little details. By doing it this way, I think it'll be easiest for me to remember this trip of a lifetime.

Before the actual post begins, I'll post my favorite picture from the section, or at least one of my favorites. Somewhat to highlight the photo, but also because the blog chooses the first picture for the highlight picture in links. So there, I outsmarted you, blogger. This picture was from the section right out of Banff before Spray Lakes.