Bikepacking North America's Best Routes: Tristan Ridley (Part 2)

This is part 2 of my conversation with guest Tristan Ridley, a long-term bike traveller who has been taking epic adventures since 2015.  You can listen to Part 1 with Tristan here - Episode 110. 

Tristan shares his insights about his most recent journeys across North America, focusing on the breathtaking landscapes, challenging terrains, and cultural experiences. He discusses his inspiration from renowned bike packer Iohan Gueorguiv, cycling on the isolated yet rewarding Dalton Highway in Alaska, as well as his time spent on the Icefields Parkway in Canada - a road he claims to be one of the  best paved roads in the world. 

The Great Divide Mountain Bike Route also features before we get into Tristan's latest project - a brand new bikepacking route he is creating in Utah as well as how his bikepacking setup has changed and evolved over the years of riding.

A link to Iohan Gueorguiev's YouTube Channel which we discuss is here

You can follow Tristan via his instagram account - @tristanrid check out his films on YouTube as well as his personal website.

Join me on the  Seek Travel Ride Lightweight Bikepacking Tour!
6 night - 5 day tour through the Pyrenees Foothills.
Dates - June 28 - July 04
Start and Finish: Toulouse
Cost €1550 per person twin share
Find Out more and Book Your Spot Here

Chapters

• 5:36 Challenges and Ease of Travelling in North America
• 11:02 The Mosquitos of the Dalton Highway
• 20:34 Bear Safety and Camping Tips
• 30:20 Exploring the Icefields Parkway in Canada
• 34:51 Tourist Overload in Nature
• 37:58 Fire Season Challenges
• 42:01 The Great Divide Mountain Bike Route
• 53:26 Creating a New Route in Utah
• 59:39 Camping in Cold Weather
• 1:03:47 Peanut Butter Mud Experience
• 1:12:12 Reflecting on Positivity and Challenges
• 1:15:20 Creating the Ultimate Utah Route
• 1:22:03 Gear Adjustments for Different Terrains
• 1:27:10 Final Thoughts and Reflections

Transcript

Tristan: 0:37

Yeah, in the end, I decided to actually make this route in Utah, just because I found, I guess I just loved it. I think that's sort of what it came down to. It's just, I was just blown away by how good it was. That for me is why I want to make routes. I want to make routes that just make me super happy to ride. You know, if I'm having a blast and I really am like, this is. Truly world class, this is unbelievable, this is some of the best writing I've ever done. I want to be able to give that to other people too, and to give other people the opportunity to have that same feeling. And, yeah, Utah is just so crazy good.

Bella: 1:12

Welcome to the Seek Travel Ride podcast, where we share the stories and experiences of people who have undertaken amazing adventures by bike. Whether it's crossing state borders, mountain ranges, countries, or continents, we want to share that spirit of adventuring on two wheels with our listeners. Hello everyone, welcome to another episode of Seek Travel Ride. Today I am picking up where I left off with guest Tristan Ridley. Last week, we shared one full episode with Tristan, where we really talked about his experience of being a long term bike traveler, having taken huge adventures since 2015. Today's episode is a continuation of that conversation. But we are really solely focused this time on Tristan's latest adventures, which have been all around North America. If you haven't listened to that first episode with Tristan, I've included a link in the show notes, or simply head back through the podcast catalogue and you will find it there as well. Definitely encourage you to give it a listen, and now let's get into it, picking up where I left off with Tristan Ridley. Tristan, we have spent a ridiculous amount of time talking about a lot of your adventures in general, having done this for so many years. But I did want to actually spend a good chunk of time talking to you about the adventures you've been undertaking for the last 18 months, which have primarily been in North America. Is it an area or a region that you've been wanting to go to? Since you first had this sort of idea of long distance travel, because your first idea for long distance travel was New Zealand to the UK, how long have you dreamt about time in North America?

Tristan: 3:10

Yeah, the US has, and Canada as well, I guess North America in general, but particularly Canada and the US have been really high on my, on my wishlist actually pretty much since I started dreaming about bikepacking, which is, as I said, going back nearly a decade now. A lot of that came from the videos made by a guy called Johan, uh, Gheorgheo, I think his surname? Yes! But he was a, uh, Canadian, uh, Bulgarian guy who made some really amazing videos and he was kind of the first YouTuber that I came across that was doing off the beaten track backroad bikepacking. And he was one of my biggest inspirations when I was starting out, and sadly he's not with us anymore now. But, he, uh, He traveled down from the Canadian Arctic in the winter, and then, you know, he rode around Alaska, he rode down through Canada, and he was on the Great Divide in Western America as well in the U. S., so he, he kind of covered a lot of ground and made some really wonderful videos about his journey, and I remember watching those when I was just very much starting out and dreaming of going on big adventures on a bike, and he was the person I think more than anyone that I. Almost wanted to model myself on in terms of his style of travel Because I'd read books from people that had done long bike trips And although I loved those books and the way that people traveled I guess his Johan's idea sort of ideology or his method just spoke to me a lot more He's just very much like looking for the hard routes looking for the interesting back ways to go a lot of it off road looking for challenging sections that People aren't generally taking and just very much a philosophy of just looking to explore and discover for the sake of it. And that resonated a lot with me. And so getting to North America and actually following in his footsteps was a big deal for me. Because it was somewhere that I had really wanted to go for a long time. But just because of the, the way that my journey planned out in terms of the route, that was always going to be towards the end of the journey for me. And in fact, because of COVID, it came a little bit sooner than I expected, because I anticipated spending another two years or something in South America before getting to North America. And then when that trip was interrupted, I decided to restart in North America instead and ride back down to where I'd left off in Patagonia rather than Flying back to Patagonia and then going north from there. So yeah, I mean North America is It's a funny one because it's not culturally, at least as a British guy, it's not culturally that interesting for me because, you know, the English is spoken culturally, Canada and the US, although there are some differences, it's not a million miles away from what I grew up in, so, in a way, from a travelling perspective, it's not that interesting, compared to travelling through, say, South America, or Central America, or Asia, or Africa, where you're having, you're seeing Significant cultural changes. You may be dealing with a second language or a third language and North America is just very easy in that regard and This is a complaint. I think I actually had a little bit with New Zealand as well at the time I think a lot of it depends on what you're looking for and when you are actually doing this and in the case of New Zealand I just spent two years in Australia and I really was looking for I think some, a bit more of a cultural experience. So New Zealand for me, although I had a great time bikepacking around, I found myself a little bit frustrated with how easy it was in a way, in the sense that it was always easy to get parts, it was always easy to communicate, getting around, it's just, it's just very well set up. And I feel like a lot of North America is the same, where it's just, it's kind of straightforward, it's kind of easy. And I think the difference is that when I was in Australia and New Zealand, I'd been doing too much of that. And so I didn't fully appreciate the benefits. I was just frustrated that it was a bit too easy. Whereas, having now spent a lot of time in places like Africa, where it's really hard to get resupply, and organizing is difficult, and visas, and you know, communication can be difficult. So, to go from that to having spent time in North America, I think actually, At least for a while I come to really appreciate the ease that you get from it and the fact that if you need to order new parts you can get it probably pretty quickly within a few days. Barring the far north I mean if you're out in deep in Alaska or somewhere deep in the Yukon up north okay there it is a little bit more difficult it's going to probably take a little bit longer. to get what you need, but generally speaking it, it is pretty straightforward. And I think I've probably come to appreciate that more having spent a lot of time in places where that's not the case. But I guess fundamentally for me the main draw of North America is going to be landscapes because culturally I don't think it's that exciting, to be honest. And I think it's interesting in places and people in general are lovely for the most part. But it's just, it's not that different. But landscapes, I mean, it's, it's really hard to argue with North America. I mean, throughout, I don't know, I'm not really one for sort of like ranking continents. So it's not really how I like to do it. But I think you'd have to say North America is, is pretty much as good as it gets in terms of the scenery on offer. I mean, especially in the western side of the continent, which is the route I more or less took. I think all the way following the Rockies and then into the U. S., the national parks, it's just truly mind blowing how beautiful it is out there. And the other nice thing about North America too, especially these days, is that it is really The home of bikepacking internationally, I think I mean internationally bikepacking is growing in general But there's nowhere where it's bigger. I think than in the u. s. Particularly and also parts of canada It's just very popular and it's growing really really fast and it's kind of fun to be in that, you know because more and more people I'll bike parking and they kind of get it. They're following along and yeah, it's just, it's just a really cool place to be out having adventures. I think.

Bella: 9:11

I think about like what you were saying there with the natural beauty in the landscapes and stuff. And the difference is also to going somewhere where there's the ease of being able to speak to someone and know what you want to order and being able to get yourself out of a situation because if you break something, you know, you could probably get it the next day or that day or by the end of the week, definitely. But those landscapes are just mega. I've spent so much time, Tristan, scrolling through both your website, watching your YouTube channel, looking at your Instagram images, and the landscapes that you have conveyed through your travels, I've I know we've spoken already about the moments of awe and, or glory moments as you've called them, but It really did seem like you had so much of this through that traverse down the west coast there. I'd like to go to Alaska, and I specifically want to focus on the Dalton Highway, mainly because it was one of the first YouTube videos I saw of you. You did this section with Chlo. I think the other reason for me that I was attracted to it, you mentioned Johann at the start, he was also someone that I very first came to the idea of bikepacking from as well. I vividly remember his first video, and listeners, I'm going to attach a link to that channel and that video in the show notes. If you don't know who we're talking about and you're into this type of travel, you definitely want to take the time to watch Johann's videos. I think Johan, it started off with his mantra, I want to see the world, and you know, which he had written out, oh, I get goosebumps thinking about it. But I also remember his travels on the Dalton Highway as well. Your trip there was interesting. It's funny, if I was to ask you to describe in one word, the Dalton Highway, what word would you use?

Tristan: 11:03

Mosquitoes.

Bella: 11:04

That's what I was going to say! Because how could we talk about this and not talk about the mozzies? Oh my gosh, they looked absolutely insane!

Tristan: 11:13

Yeah, it's, it's funny. I mean, I've traveled through a lot of places where bugs are bad, but, and I obviously had heard that the Alaskan mosquitoes were a whole different thing. They joke out there that the mosquito is the state bird of Alaska. And there's some truth to that, because they are huge. And they're just a different breed of mosquito to what I've seen anywhere else. Apart from the fact that they're bigger, they're just so incredibly aggressive.

Bella: 11:38

And relentless.

Tristan: 11:40

Yeah. Well, most mosquitoes won't bite you on the face. At least not immediately. They'll give you sort of a, uh, there's a sort of a courtesy that they'll grant you a second or two to just flap your hand. In front of your face and waft them off. But the Alaskan mosquitoes, they'll go straight for any exposed skin, including the face, and they've bitten you the second they've landed. You know, they just, they're so aggressive and so hungry. And my experience was a bit probably worse than usual with Alaska, because they did say that the year that we were there was probably the worst bug year in a few decades. That it was an especially bad year for it. Yeah, it was, it was shocking, I have to say. I mean, looking back, there are things that I could have done or would do differently in terms of equipment to make it better. I mean one thing that I definitely should have done was wear a bug proof shirt of some kind.

Bella: 12:29

Do they have those? Like what would that be? Kevlar? Jokes aside, like what would that be?

Tristan: 12:34

Can, you can buy shirts that they impregnated with a, I guess it's some kind of spray that basically just keeps the mosquitoes from landing or from being able to bite through your clothes. And it, it sort of also discourages them from landing and hanging out on you for too long. But the key is not, if they can't bike through your clothes, you're a lot better off. Because that was the worst thing about the Delta and especially for the first few days, it was just, it's very hilly for that section. Um, lots of big hills and it's quite high resistance with the kind of like wet gravel. Mm-hmm . So you're going to be climbing a lot at walking speed, basically, for a significant part of your day. And the mosquitoes will just stick to you for that whole time, and they'll be biting you through your clothes, they'll be attacking you relentlessly the whole way up. And then you have Five minutes of bliss as you go back down the hill on the other side and then you start on the next hill and they're Straight on you again immediately. And yeah, I mean it was just horrendous. I mean even soaking ourselves in DEET Which is this awful poison Yeah,

Bella: 13:33

you just soak yourself in pesticide

Tristan: 13:37

It's horrible bloody stuff, you know, it just works on humans I always joke because it's just so smelly and disgusting. No, it puts everyone off

Bella: 13:46

No, but you did dedicate your YouTube video for that section in Alaska to the person who invented Deet, didn't you?

Tristan: 13:52

The guy who invented Deet, yeah, he rescued us for sure.

Bella: 13:55

Because I remember watching, it was sort of those maddening scenes where it's one thing to have them, you know, stuck on you when you're grinding up a hill and at a physical effort, but then the thing that really brought it to me was Those moments, which should be just peaceful moments, you know, eating a meal at your campground or waking up and having your breakfast or a cuppa or something like that. There was no sitting still for that. I remember you and Chloe, you had to do sort of like laps. Like you had to, you had to eat while marching, pretty much.

Tristan: 14:25

Yeah, pretty much. You just walk in fast circles and eat with one hand, wash with the other hand. To try and keep them away and that's sort of the only way you can avoid the worst of the bites You still get bitten, but yeah, that was that was basically the reality I mean you just never have any peace until you eventually get in your tent And then you feel like you're under siege as you can see I mean it's clouds of them You can see them through the mesh. You know, it sounds like Rain on your tent because there's so many of them drumming down trying to get in and Yeah, you don't want to leave that tent for anything. So, you know, you're gonna sacrifice a pee bottle To uh, to avoid leaving until we really have to first thing in the morning And then you have to pack up and you hit the road, but I mean the thing that makes it really bad I think in in bear country, especially which of course all of Alaska is You have this problem where the ordinary solution to dealing with bad bugs would be just to throw your tent up in the evening and then do everything in your tent. So you would maybe cook in your tent if you have to or just eat in your tent. You basically carry, you know, everything goes into the tent and you don't leave. But in bear country you can't have any food anywhere near the tent. Which means that you can't even have that dinner respite inside your protective tent. You have to still, even though You're getting attacked. You still have to go 100 meters from your tent. You then have to cook while being attacked, eat while being attacked, you know, wash up, put everything away, make sure it's stashed somewhere far from your camp, and only then can you finally get into your tent. And then you have to repeat that for breakfast, of course, as well. And then, you know, it's just, it's just relentless. You know, it's very demoralizing having to just deal with that because that's traditionally that's your safe space right the tent you can just do all the things in there but suddenly as soon as you add bears and mosquitoes it's really just a match made in hell

Bella: 16:21

oh my goodness were there horseflies there as

Tristan: 16:23

well

Bella: 16:24

oh

Tristan: 16:25

i don't think i remember there being many horseflies in the arctic there were a few around further south but i think the arctic itself was only mosquitoes um i mean my experience with horseflies has generally been that you Typically get one or the other at least when in terms of it being really bad You either have bad mosquitoes or you have bad horse flies I don't think I've had a situation where I've had terrible both.

Bella: 16:50

Maybe the mosquitoes even annoy the horse flies enough to stay away I'm not sure. Is there actually a mosquito season? Like I know that from year to year it can be You know, that they're always there, but some years are worse than others. But what are, what are the months that you were actually there? And when were you actually riding Alaska when it was peak mosquito season?

Tristan: 17:07

So I started in Alaska in June and I guess in Alaska we were there for two months. That's June, mid June to mid August. And the worst of it was definitely, I think, July. So probably, probably July was the worst. Yeah, I think it was, by the time, by the time we left, uh, which would have been, I'd say mid August, we probably crossed into Canada. By that point, the mosquitoes had already definitely tapered off a lot. Actually, Canada didn't have a bad bug season that year, as far as I know. I mean, it, it seems to be quite specific to the conditions in each of the places. And, I mean, I'm sure there's people that study this, you know, what makes it so bad. It's gonna be a combination of maybe like a mild winter combined with a wet spring. And, yeah, just, just something that, that means they can multiply en masse. And it's also gonna be related to where they're getting their food sources to, because, you know, they need enough food to be able to get that big. And some seasons, you know, it's just the ecosystem, I guess. It's just got a natural up and down to it throughout the years and seasons. But yeah, it was it was it was a very bad year for mosquitoes that year I mean on the on the flip side I say, I mean i'm not really looking to complain because although the mosquitoes were really bad In terms of the weather, it was pretty good. Yeah, we had, I mean, we had a few days of rain on the Dalton, but not much, you know, Alaska in general, we actually had very little rain and it was mostly pretty good weather, which is not the case for a lot of people. And so, yeah, I mean, on balance, you just, you have to just find the positives. I mean, you get what you get. And, in our case, we got mostly good weather, but terrible bugs. And, that made some sections a bit tough, but, you know, you take it, you just have to make do. And, I think, with the Dalton, it was only really the first three or four, maybe four or five days maximum before it got better. Um, I mean, there were still a few points further north where it was bad, but the worst of it was definitely, I think, like, days two and three, um, were truly awful. I think it was Probably the second day, I think, was the worst day, like, we just, we got to the end of the day and we were just looking at each other just going like, This is just miserable, like, what are we doing here?

Bella: 19:22

I'm a natural mosquito magnet, I always joke that I'm everybody's else mosquito repellent, and I would cringe to think how I would go, but I imagine with numbers like that, everyone's getting hammered. They didn't, they didn't just go to either of you, did they? Both of you were hammered equally.

Tristan: 19:37

I think, yeah, I mean, ordinarily you're, you're the kind of person that I would ordinarily love to travel with for that particular benefit as the sort of, the magnet. But I think in, yeah, in Alaska there's just, there's so many of them that there's just, it doesn't matter who you've got with you, they're gonna go after everybody. Clobe, actually, I, I brought him along partly as, um, sort of the bear defense. Because I figured, I mean, Chlo's from France, and they grow up eating much better food than we British. So I figured if I were a bear, I would go for the Frenchman over the Englishman. There

Bella: 20:09

you go, Chlo, you might taste a bit bitter.

Tristan: 20:12

I think he would. I also reckon I could outrun Chlo faster than I could outrun the bear. So I reckon that was my, that was my thought process behind bear safety. Always bring a Frenchman along, just to be on the safe side.

Bella: 20:24

So mosquito, a bug net, mosquito proof clothing. Deet and Clo, there you go, that's what you need, a Frenchie, and that's what you need to tackle Alaska. That's it. On bear safety, you did mention there how one of the important aspects is not having food where you're going to be sleeping. It's not just food though, it's also anything with a smell, isn't it? So it could be soap, deodorant. Yeah. Anything that has any form of a smell, I've read and seen and spoken with other guests that the theory is it's sort of like a triangulation point, like where you hang all the food and the smelly aromatic stuff should be in one point, you eat in a total other point and then you camp somewhere totally different as well. Is that, that was the approach you took too?

Tristan: 21:10

Yeah, that's the, I guess, standard bear defense in terms of being prudent in bear country with your camping. Yeah. So yeah, you just want to make sure that there's nothing to associate your tent and you with food. So you want there to be nothing basically in your tent that smells other than you. Because even something like toothpaste, it kind of has a smell and you know, if you leave a thing of toothpaste in your tent, it could potentially get a bear interested enough to come in or come investigate and you don't want to wake up. It's just a hassle. I mean, you get used to it. I mean, we're going through bear country for many, many months, just get used to the fact that that's part of your daily routine every day. You need to make sure that you eat far from camp and then you gather up all of your stuff. You put it into a bear bag or whatever you're using to store your food, whether you're doing a hang or you've got a canister, you then need to look at, you know, tie it up, secure it, and then, You carry on with your day, and you have to do that every day. And, it never ceases to be a hassle. I mean, I, I think, I, I have this really fond memory of the first time, I think it was somewhere in Utah, where I was going through an area where I was very confident there were no bears anywhere near. And I ate my dinner sitting inside my tent, which is the first time I've done this for many, many months of riding. Just a real joy to actually be able to do this. Yeah, it would be! Bears in general, I mean, I've never really been too worried, I guess. I mean, you do your due diligence, you take precautions, you carry bear spray, and you gotta be smart about food and camping. But Yeah, I mean, assuming you take those precautions, I just never lost any sleep over bears. I mean, I saw many, some of them pretty close up. One or two a little bit too close for comfort.

Bella: 22:59

I've seen a lot of snakes. I'm an Aussie. I've seen a lot of snakes before. And, ugh, a hell of a lot of spiders. I am certainly not scared of spiders. And snakes, I'm more aware of. If I'm not expecting to see a snake, I'll go, Oh my gosh, snake. And then I'm quickly pretty calm. Because I know that I'm not going to try and catch it. I'm not going to try and kill it. And it's not going to go for me then. Which is, unfortunately, why most people get bitten. I feel a bear's on a different level because it could want to go for me, whereas a snake I know doesn't want to be anywhere near me.

Tristan: 23:26

I mean, generally, generally bears aren't interested, I mean, but there's a big difference between black bears and grizzly bears.

Bella: 23:31

Grizzlies are the worst, aren't they?

Tristan: 23:33

Yeah, I mean, black bears are kind of, yeah, big dogs, I mean, basically, I mean, it's not quite that simple, but generally black bears are going to avoid humans and run if, you know, if it comes to a confrontation. Grizzlies are just a little bit more unpredictable, um, generally they also will leave you alone and generally they're not interested, but there's just a little bit of a, I don't know, diva flair to grizzlies in that very occasionally they just attack for no good reason whatsoever. I mean the thing, the only thing that really gave me any cause for worry in general was, was cubs.

Bella: 24:03

Yeah, that would add a different dynamic to it.

Tristan: 24:05

Yeah, I mean you just don't wanna, the nightmare scenario as a bikepacker would be riding through the forest or something and coming around a corner and, Before you realize what's happened you realize that you've come between a mama and her cub by mistake You know that the mama has crossed the path already and you are now there and the cub is on one side and you're in The middle between the two. That's the real nightmare scenario because mum will attack for sure and You're not going to come out of that very well. That's the thing that could happen and ultimately no matter how careful you are There's always the tiniest chance that that could happen. It's incredibly unlikely In the same way that you might get hit by a bus. Yeah,

Bella: 24:45

you wouldn't not plan a trip because that might happen, would you?

Tristan: 24:48

No, you just accept that there is a tiny risk associated with that, as there is with anything that you do, basically. A lot of people worry about bears, but I think actually it's like a lot of things, if you just, actually take the time to learn a bit more about them, they're just, they just want to get on with their lives, basically. They don't want trouble, and humans are trouble for them, ultimately. So, yeah, we, we generally just have to Do the things we can to minimize the risk and then go for it and yeah, I never had any super scary encounters in bear country I mean I had I think actually towards the end, uh in Canada I had a grizzly that I actually we surprised each other when I was hiking in the uh, Sort of camel banth area and I had a grizzly a juvenile grizzly. I think it was probably about Two meters away from me.

Bella: 25:37

I'm just visualizing that, that's not that far.

Tristan: 25:39

Super close, yeah. And it, it, I mean, I scared the hell out of it, more than it scared me, really. I mean, we both saw each other at the same time. I just, like, instinctively, I roared at it, and pulled out my bear spray, and it went bolting the other direction, straight through the trees, ran as fast as it could.

Bella: 25:54

Max heart rate reached.

Tristan: 25:56

Right. I mean, it's probably just going and telling its mates, I can't believe I had such a dangerous encounter with a human. It was that close to me. Wow. You know, because, Yeah, we, it's generally the animals are more scared of us than we are of them. Yeah, that was fine. I mean, nothing happened. It was a bit little bit closer than I would normally like to be to a grizzly, but that was the clo That was the closest I got in a year, nearly in bear country.

Bella: 26:20

I imagine there's also an element where potentially, depending on the distance and the circumstances, you might even be a bit excited to see a bear, like in the distance.

Tristan: 26:28

Oh yeah. I mean, they're incredible animals. They're beautiful. He doesn't want to see a bear. They're amazing.

Bella: 26:33

Something else with the Dalton Highway section was you and Chloe took the decision to carry the entirety of your food for that haul from the start as well. If someone's planning on doing the Dalton Highway, is that something you could advise them on? Like, what food haul do you think they realistically need to be thinking about?

Tristan: 26:53

It really depends on how you want to do it. I mean, part of the reason we carried food for the entire section is that actually, we didn't have, Much information on what kind of food would be available at the two resupply points on the route. Or I guess actually three. I mean, you take that route and it's, oh god, what is the distance off the top of my head? It's, I don't know, seven, eight hundred kilometers, something like that, five hundred miles, I think it is. Along that way, there's a, there's two points midway through, so there's The Yukon River Camp, which is a couple, a few hundred kilometers in. And then there's Coldfoot, which is a small town, or like, tiny village, basically, that's about halfway in. And then there's Dead Horse at the far end. And we weren't really sure what would be available at any of these places. We were also both traveling on a budget, and we figured that anything we could buy in any of these places would be really, really expensive. So on balance, we just thought it'd be easiest just to carry all of the food that we needed. And then we just didn't have to worry about it. The downside to that is that we were obviously carrying a lot of weight. And it was heavy, especially going northbound, because the most hilly part of the route is the first few days if you're going north.

Bella: 28:02

Oh, wow, yeah, so you're losing weight as you go when you're eating your food, but you're the heaviest when you want to be the lightest, I getcha.

Tristan: 28:09

Right, so yeah, we're doing the hardest section with the most weight. So, the first few days were definitely challenging from that side of things. If I were telling someone else to do it now, I guess I would say that In terms of information that maybe we didn't have that much is the Yukon River Camp, you can get a good meal there and you can get some basic snacks there, but the snacks are definitely overpriced and you're not going to get anything too exciting. Coldfoot, you can get all the food you can eat there in terms of buffet, but there isn't really anything else there aside from that, so you don't really, it's not a place you can get groceries. And then, when you get to the end, Dead Horse, there are grocery stores there, there are food options there, but again, they're expensive, because you're in the middle of absolute nowhere, and pretty much everyone that lives in Dead Horse is working with the oil companies, and they just get all of their food covered for them, so there's not really much demand for Groceries that people can buy because it's basically everyone's just full bored out there. So yeah, I think Probably 10 days was overkill. I mean we actually didn't need that much We took a day off in cold foot because the weather was bad and we had plenty of food to spare So we figured we might as well just take the extra day But, I mean, we could have comfortably done that route, I think, in probably 7 or 8 days. If we wanted to, I think, in the end, we took 9, and one of which was a full day off in Coldfur, and one of which was a half day. So, yeah, it was It was definitely overkill, but it did give us the luxury of being able to relax around the timing. So, I guess you just kind of have to do it the way that makes sense.

Bella: 29:47

Am I right to assume, Tristan, from a water perspective, that wasn't so much of an issue, that you can find water sources along the way, and you might be purifying water if you need to, but water is not something that is scarce up there?

Tristan: 29:58

That's right. Yeah, water's generally not an issue throughout. I don't think it was an issue anywhere in Alaska really. There's streams everywhere or there's lakes or ponds or standing water. So a water filter is definitely a good idea and we did filter water I think every time just to be on the safe side because it's quick and easy to do that. But yeah, water was no issue. That's, yeah, definitely, definitely no issue with water.

Bella: 30:20

From the isolation and long distances of somewhere like the Dalton Highway in Alaska, I want to talk about your time in Canada as well because You traveled on one of the most dreamy routes, I think, up there in North America, but it was also one where you certainly know that you're in, like, you're in a popular tourist place as well, right?

Tristan: 30:40

Yeah, I think you're probably talking about the Icefields Parkway.

Bella: 30:43

Definitely the Icefield Parkway, yeah, yeah,

Tristan: 30:45

yeah. Yeah, it's funny because some of the, for those that don't know, the Icefields Parkway is a road that connects Jasper and Banff in the Canadian Rockies, and it is truly one of the most beautiful paved roads that I think exists on the planet. It's absolutely ridiculous. You're just riding through the most outrageously beautiful mountain scenery, you know, you can swim in alpine lakes multiple times a day. It's, you know, it's, it's unbelievably beautiful and Yeah, it's busy. I mean, it, it's, it's because it's a paved road that's easily accessible, you know, it's pretty easy to get to Banff. You know, if you're flying in, you'd fly to Canmore, and then you'd get up to Banff, and then you'd rent a car, and then you'd go out and explore. And for most tourists that are going to go to that part of the world, the Icefields Parkway is going to be very high on that list of places they want to go. And, it's funny, I mean, the amount that I've travelled, I've generally got to the point where I kind of almost I'm very sceptical around these big tourist places and these bucket list type items. Because I've definitely had a few where I've looked forward to it for a really long time and then it's just ended up being still kind of cool, still probably worth seeing, but not as good as I'd hoped. A good example of that for me would be, say, like, the pyramids of Giza. I mean, it's something I'd wanted to see those for my whole life, basically. And I got out there and it was like, well, these are amazing, but this is kind of awful as well, because everybody's trying to sell you something. People everywhere there's like animal abuse going on right in front of you that part of Cairo is pretty hideous, too It's just loud and dusty and smelly and it's just I don't know I I didn't feel a lot of magic there, which I felt a lot more in other parts of Egypt you know different pyramids much smaller ones that people weren't visiting as much and With these bucket lists wonders of the world type places. I feel like a lot of the time there's a A risk of it just ended up being a bit of a disappointment. But, I have to say, the Icefields Parkway is definitely one of those that lives up to the hype. It's really, truly, unbelievable. I can't think of a single ro like, I can't think of a stretch of road of a similar length anywhere in the world that I've ever seen that's as scenic as that.

Bella: 33:07

Wow. And you've been to some scenic places. Are we talking about a stretch with like sealed scenic road as well, like accessible, like mass tourism type stuff?

Tristan: 33:16

Yeah, I mean, I guess, you know, if I were going to compare the Icefields Parkway to some other routes, I guess I'd be thinking, you know, the Carretera Austral in Southern Patagonia, perhaps, um, there's some of the routes through the Western Fjords in Norway. Some of the routes that go around sort of the lakes in Switzerland or something like the the road to Milford Sound in New Zealand You know these these kind of unbelievable These are mega roads, for sure. I mean, these are all, these are all paved, well, mostly paved roads, or at least, you know, accessible roads. And, yeah, I just think for pure scenery and pure experience, I think you'd struggle to beat the Icefields Parkway. Just because, I mean, it's, I think, 300 kilometers from Jasper to Banff, and it's pretty much jaw dropping the entire way. And you know, you have a big shoulder to ride on I think all the way through as well So from a from a cycling perspective, it's very cruisy You've got great campsites throughout resupply is pretty easy And although there is quite a lot of traffic on that road. It's not I wouldn't say scary traffic, you know, because you do have a big shoulder all the way through so I think you're quite isolated in terms of being scared for your life because big RVs are rushing past non stop. But yeah, it does, it does definitely have a different ring to the experience when you are sharing it with so many people and I've definitely become quite, I guess, selfish with my nature. I definitely feel like I want to have it to myself in the moment I'm there, or at least to feel like I'm not sharing it with hundreds of other people. That's just me. I definitely find that if I'm in a really beautiful spot and I see, you know, dozens or hundreds of tourists around, it does for me definitely. Lose something. I think maybe that's just because for me I go to nature to get away from people That's I think part of why I value being in nature in general So then if I'm suddenly seeing tons of people that just I don't know it just rubs me the wrong way a little bit

Bella: 35:16

Yeah,

Tristan: 35:17

for example I mean one of the most famous hikes in the world would be say like the the W circuit down in Patagonia

Bella: 35:24

Yep in

Tristan: 35:25

Torres del Paine and You know, when I was down there, as much as I loved Torres del Paine for its scenery, and it's mind blowingly beautiful down there, I kind of hated the fact that you're in a queue on a hiking trail.

Bella: 35:39

Yeah.

Tristan: 35:40

To me, it's insane the idea that you're having to queue up to hike in the middle of nowhere. And that, that I think is, is kind of what puts me off, is this feeling of just like, well it's not for me now, it's just, it's just become a commodity. And I was a little worried that the Canadian Rockies would have a similar feel, I guess, because it is so busy out there in the summer. But actually, I don't think that was, that, that wasn't actually my experience. I think they've done a pretty good job of trying to keep it I mean, it was still busy, but it never got to that extent on any of the trails that I was going through or any of the roads that I was on, even something like the Icefields Parkway in peak summer. There were places where it was busy, but it wasn't that bad and it didn't actually ruin it.

Bella: 36:23

You did fill this journey with what I would call side quests. It wasn't just about biking and then camping and then biking the next day. You also did some hiking. You, in Canada, did some mountaineering as well. I think, um, when you were over in Utah, I think you did some rock climbing. You mixed things up a little bit, but was it in Canada where you, the hikes even that you go on, like you actually have to register to go on a day hike? Was it there or was it in the U. S.? Or was it both?

Tristan: 36:52

Yeah, no, it's kind of both actually for a lot of these big parks. And this is something that I was Not really used to I guess because I've tended to do I mean in Europe you don't typically have to book hikes South America most of the places with the exception of places like Torres del Paine You generally can get away with not but I guess because this these places are just so popular I can see why and a lot in the US and Canada in the busy places they have had to switch to a booking system because otherwise it would get overrun. But this was definitely a bit of a learning curve for me when I started looking at doing hikes in the Canadian Rockies because I just sort of assumed I would be able to wing it and as it turns out you do need to put a lot of planning into these. I mean a lot of the most popular hikes, the booking for the campsites that you need to stay in because you can't wild camp out there, you need a booking. The bookings come open in January, I think, or usually February, for the summer. So you need to be booking, you know, five, six months ahead of time. So you really need to know where you're going to be when.

Bella: 37:50

Which when you're bikepacking This is almost impossible, right?

Tristan: 37:54

It's basically impossible. You don't know

Bella: 37:55

where you're going to be at the end of the week sometimes.

Tristan: 37:57

Right. Or the end of the day. The way it worked out for me, I mean, I was kind of the beneficiary, in a way, of the fact that it was a really bad fire season

Bella: 38:05

in Canada

Tristan: 38:06

over 2024, in the Rockies. I mean, it was really terrible, actually. I mean, Jasper, Burn, I mean, I knew A week and a half after I left Jasper, the town was on fire and it's just devastating what happened out there and, you know, from a traveling and bikepacking perspective that comes with challenges because you obviously need to make sure that you don't get yourself stuck in a forest fire And you don't want to be breathing in this smoke too much, which is horrible for the body But actually, I mean it was quite fortunate for me and that because of the smoke a lot of people I think that were going to be flying in from international destinations actually cancel their trips.

Bella: 38:45

So

Tristan: 38:46

I was able to get a lot of last minute bookings for some of the hikes that I wanted to do. I mean, I was actually able to do basically all of the hikes that I wanted to. Even the ones that people actually, even local people told me that they've been trying to get reservations for literally multiple years to try and get on these and they haven't necessarily succeeded. Um, and that, you know, I had people tell me that they've been trying to get on a hike. Every year they've applied for maybe 20 years and they've got lucky like three times So this is like super in demand these hikes and actually I pretty much was able to just waltz in And get last minute bookings for all of them. So It was very lucky, I mean, I did have to deal with a bit of smoke as a result of that, but it wasn't too bad by any means, it was still beautiful, it didn't ruin it, so I was very blessed with the conditions, and although I had one or two slightly scary fire situations, I had one morning where I woke up and it was raining ash on my tent. Like the sky was red.

Bella: 39:43

I've experienced fires in Australia. Yeah. And that scenario of ash flying in, or you know, raining down from a fire that's away, or the smoke coming in and knowing that, yeah, it's, it's very unsettling.

Tristan: 39:56

Yeah, well you don't know where the fire is. You know, especially if you're out there in the sticks, you've got no phone signal, you've got no way to actually find out where the fire is, and it could be really close, I mean you can smell smoke, um, and it could also be You know, hundreds of miles away, and it's just that the wind is blowing it a long distance. And, yeah, it's a tough call. You know, you have to decide, do I, do I just get out of here? Do I bug out, or do I wait, or do I continue? Like, what do I do here? Are

Bella: 40:21

there any fire safety measures in terms of bikepacking, like in certain areas? Do you register that you're in an area, or anything like that, that you're aware of? Because fires, sadly, are going to be Fire seasons are certainly not going to be going away, and there will be people looking to travel. Are you aware of anything like that?

Tristan: 40:41

There's not. Something as far as I'm aware that's specific to bikepacking, um, I mean, you can, there are websites that track fires as they're happening. So you can look at graphic maps showing all the locations and where the, where the fires are and how they're burning and whether they're categorized as expanding or being contained or out of control. And yeah, there, there definitely are resources for that, which I use quite a bit when I was going through the Yukon, British Columbia, and then Alberta as well, because fires were such a concern. But yeah, I mean, it's getting bad. I mean, you know, as, as we speak right now, it's, it's January and I'm in San Francisco right now, and there's currently a massive fire raging in Los Angeles. Just, uh, you know, not too far away from where I am now, and it's, it's winter and there are still fires going on. So it's, yeah, it's scary. It's definitely getting a lot worse. The thing I learned actually this, uh, last year when I was in Canada is that there are fires too that will burn all winter long under the snow. So I don't know what the technical term for them is, but I sort of had them described to me as zombie fires. Because essentially these will just Keep smouldering all through the winter under a deep snow pack and then in the spring once the snow melts They just immediately fire up and you've got a fire again, so they won't even Stop over the winter. They'll just bide their time. So that's kind of terrifying

Bella: 42:02

the GDNB are Great Divide mountain bike route, this was also a trail or a route that you had in mind for many a year as well. Readying yourself to, to do that, cross that epic trail, what were the feelings like at the start for you?

Tristan: 42:19

Yeah, this was a, kind of a special one for me, the Great Divide, because I mentioned earlier the big inspiration for me starting out was Johan, and, you know, he did ride the Great Divide and, you know, made a great video of going through it. I mean, he actually, I think, rode it multiple times, but it's just one of these incredibly iconic routes. I think probably, it is, I think, the most popular and famous bikepacking route in the world. And, you know, it's, it's ridden by so many people. It's made popular by things like the Tour Divide, which is a race that goes through the Great Divide once every year. And because, as well, because it's so accessible, I mean, it's in North America, and there's so many people that want a bike pack in North America, and it's a long distance, it's logistically pretty straightforward, you can cross the whole country, you know, it's a beautiful route. So I think it's a hugely popular route in general, and it's one that I had wanted to ride for a really long time. Yeah, it was, it was kind of surreal starting that route out, and, you know, it's crazy because it is a really amazing route. And I loved writing it and yeah, I have to say my having, I mean, I wrote about half of that route, in fact, so I finished, I came off that route in Colorado after a few months on it. But it's funny, you know, as a, as a route creator myself now, I actually don't think the Great Divide is actually that good of a route.

Bella: 43:45

Ooh, controversy. Why?

Tristan: 43:50

Okay, so God, so right. So where do I start? Okay, so. I think the main thing for me is that it actually isn't that stunning in terms of the scenery for a decent chunk of that route. So, partly, part of that is down to the fact that it's such a long route. Obviously, it's running, I think it's over 4, 000 kilometers all the way from the Canadian Rockies down to New Mexico, so there's a lot of distance there. But, I just don't think Well, I mean, there's definitely interesting bits in there and there's some bits that are stunning, but there's also, I think, quite a lot of what I would call grind days, basically. Like

Bella: 44:28

connectors type of stuff. Yeah,

Tristan: 44:31

I mean, that's sort of inherent maybe in a route that's as long as it is, but I think that there's a lot of days where you're just kind of covering miles and it's not that incredibly special in itself. And this I think also comes back to what we spoke about last time we spoke, which was that I am kind of spoilt now because I've, I've ridden so many places. And what I'm, what I'm basically looking for and what I think of as a really great route is this idea of every day has a wow moment, a true showstopper where you're just blown away by what you're seeing. And you think this is, this is crazy, like truly, truly crazy what I'm seeing. And I just felt like The Great Divide didn't have that much of that. You know it had it had occasional moments where it was really wow But actually I think the majority of it was was like cool good but just not that exceptional just just kind of good and I can see why so many people like it and why it's so popular and especially amongst people that haven't necessarily done Too much bike packing before I can see why it appeals and you know It's it's very cool in the fact that you have this sense of family on the route because it is so popular, especially if you're riding it in peak season, which most people are, there are going to be a lot of other people on the trail. So, you know, I, I've like Chloe, who I rode with in Alaska, he rode the great divide. He was about a month ahead of me. And I think he was routinely riding with like. Five plus other bike packers. Yeah.

Bella: 45:56

Wow. It's like you've got your own little gang.

Tristan: 45:59

Yeah. You just, you link up with other people and it's got that kind of feel to it where you're just sharing the road with a lot of people and because it's such a well trodden route as well, it's just super easy. Logistically, there are some amazing stops a along the way as well, like people you can stay with and it's just, it, it's, it's got a lot of good things going for it, and yet I just think. If you've done a lot of bikepacking, I don't think it's gonna give you anything that special, I guess. Um, I mean, aside from that community vibe, which is quite unique actually, I think there's not too many routes where you have that many people riding with you. But, aside from that, I just think the day to day on the Great Divide is just kind of Kind of cool, but it's not that special. I'm not here to throw shade on the great device.

Bella: 46:47

You don't regret riding it? No,

Tristan: 46:48

no, no. I definitely, I definitely don't regret riding it and I definitely wouldn't tell someone don't ride it. I guess I would just kind of manage expectations a little bit. I mean, I think for me on that route, I don't know what I went in expecting, but I guess I think part of it was that I'd just come from the Canadian Rockies, which is truly one of the most beautiful places in the whole world. And then, so to go from that to like Montana is cool, it's, it's kind of, it's, it's got some cool bits, but it's like, it's not unbelievably beautiful, it's just quite cool. And then, you know, for a lot of it, again, it's, it's cool, but it's not, mostly it's not unbelievably good. You know, the riding is mostly pretty easy. It's not technical. So it's just kind of fairly straightforward to sort of click into gear and you just, you just live in that routine. And if you haven't lived that routine before or done it too much, I can totally see why someone would get on the Great Divide and have an absolute blast. Because it's the novelty of it and it's a very safe, I think, way to do it, especially if you're fairly new to it. But I think for me, I just, I mean, I, I know a few other long term bike packers as well that have ridden that route that have done a lot of riding around the world and that have more or less come to the same sort of conclusion that it's maybe a little bit overrated if you've done a lot of this kind of thing. Yeah, I mean, it kind of made me a little bit sad to feel that because I say I did, I did come in with these really high hopes for it. But at the same time, I mean, that's that's okay. It can't all be World class all the time you do sometimes need those periods where you're just just kind of getting there and it's just okay I mean, it's never bad. But yeah, I think I would probably Also say that I think it could maybe at least if I were gonna do the Great Divide again, I would definitely Look to reroute certain sections. And in fact, I mean I didn't I didn't stick to the Great Divide exactly Because it's one of these routes that, and I think there's a lot of routes out there that do this where it really prioritizes dirt off-road riding above everything else. And I get the reasoning behind that, I guess. I think, and it is a really cool thing that you can cross the majority of your country mostly on dirt. But actually I'm not one of those people. Um, I mean I, I, I ride off road as much as I can and I do ride off road more, more often than I read Ride On Road. But for me. There's nothing inherently better about being off road, it depends on what it gives you. So, usually I prefer to be off road because that tends to be where it's quiet, where it's more beautiful, where it's more interesting, where it's more remote. So those are the things I like about being off road, it's not that I'm actually on gravel specifically. The surface to me makes very little difference. But, I mean for example on the Great Divide I found there would be quite a lot of sections where it would route you. Up in the hills, um, you know, so you're riding through the trees, you don't really have a view, you're riding up and down every bump, every little hill, so it's a lot of elevation up and down. And it's not really great riding, it's just kind of okay, it's just a bit of a grind. And then you look at a map, and there's a paved road running right down the middle of the valley, that's running parallel to your direction of travel. And that's it. There's not much traffic on that road and the scenery is way better because you can actually see out from where you're riding.

Bella: 50:10

You're not getting to the top of a summit and you can't see the view. I remember actually I interviewed another bikepacker, Katrina Haste. Hey Katrina! And she rode the GDNBR and I remember, I can't remember where it was, but I remember her telling me distinctly about this climb that was just constantly in the trees and then you get to the top and It's like, am I at the top? But there's nothing to see. I couldn't appreciate what you're telling me there.

Tristan: 50:35

It's a preference thing. I mean, there are people that would rather be off road all the time, and they don't mind that, and that's totally fair enough. I'd say it's just a preference thing. I mean, for me, because I value the ride and scenery more than I do just being off road for the sake of being off road, I became a bit frustrated on certain sections, and it's not, by no means is it the only route I've ridden where this has been an issue. But, yeah, there definitely were places where I was really just looking, scratching my head and going like, Why have they rooted this? I mean, it just seems like, I don't know, there's better ways to go. I

Bella: 51:07

think that's maybe a good tip for people to take. If you're a person that wants to write a section, well, you know, take something like this on for an experience, maybe go into it with that open minded view of You, you're not doing any less of a thing by taking small diversions to create and curate a route for you that will give you more of those moments of, yeah, you know, enjoyment, I guess, rather than that feel of constantly being on a grind and a connector to get to those moments. And if that's a possibility,

Tristan: 51:37

I think, yeah, definitely being ready to. Go off course is a good bet on any route in general, but I think definitely on the Great Divide. I mean, it also misses a few bits. I mean, like, for example, it goes right past Glacier National Park. In the US, which is a really spectacular place, and it just misses it, completely. And, it, it doesn't, you don't have to detour very far off, to go to Glacier. So, I mean, for, for me, it's crazy not to go through Glacier National Park, if you have that easy option.

Bella: 52:05

Did you take the detour?

Tristan: 52:07

I did, yeah, yeah. Of

Bella: 52:08

course you did.

Tristan: 52:09

But, yeah, I mean, a lot of people miss Glacier, because it's not on the route. And, I mean, the route technically doesn't go through Yellowstone either, which is also just off the route. Grand Teton National Park is also just off the route. So there's quite a few places where I just feel like it, it maybe misses good places that Should be on the route somehow, but I mean I do get it like again The priority for that route is is crossing the US and well mostly the US and a bit of Canada on dirt It sticks to that. It does a good job of that. I mean, it's definitely not a bad route in general I just came away from the experience just feeling like it's a little bit overrated but again, I say that like with a caveat that I would never say to someone, don't do it. Um, I just think, you know, there's, there's more scenic, more interesting routes out there. But, at the same time, those routes aren't as long as the Great Divide. I mean, it is a really long route. It's difficult to, to, it would be very hard to plot something that long with it being all incredible. And that's just the nature of the way the landscape works, you know, sometimes. You have to connect and unfortunately if you're going to cross the whole of the U. S. There's a lot of connecting. Not as thrilling as I'd hoped but still a good experience. So I wouldn't change it.

Bella: 54:27

Well, I want to tap into your route creating mind. I know when we first spoke, we talked about your route creation that you did there in Kenya and after the GDNBR, when you took the deviation and headed back to the West Coast, you spent a lot of time through Utah with a mind on route creation. Well, actually, I want to backtrack on that question. Was route creation and creating a new massive route through Utah on your mind at the time or did you ride through Utah and go, this would be a mega place to create a route?

Tristan: 54:59

Yeah, I mean, I, I guess kind of a little bit of both. I mean, the thing is, there's a lot of existing incredible routes that people have made in Utah. And when I say Utah, I'm talking generally about southern Utah, in the desert. And, I mean, there's already a lot of really phenomenal routes that people have put together in Utah. And they're almost all loop routes. And that's generally anything from one or two to five or six days running, starting and finishing in the same place. And nobody yet has put together a through route that connects these. And I guess that's because most people aren't riding longer periods, uh, doing through biking. Most people are going out for a week, say, and they want a loop to ride, so that makes perfect sense. But I, if I look at an area and I see that there's lots of existing routes up already, I know it's going to be a good area in general. So that's, that's already a sign that I, I'm going to have a, probably a good time going through this place. But I, I don't think I really went exactly to Utah planning a route. I mean, I, I had an idea actually when I was, when I, when I came off the Great Divide in Colorado. I was initially at the time planning on riding through all the way to Baja. Next, kind of, big through route going down, which is the Baja Divide, which is On that peninsula there, yeah. Yeah, another super popular route that is sort of, a lot of people will ride the Great Divide and then connect to Baja. And, I actually thought it would be cool to look into publishing a route that connected the midpoint of the Great Divide with the start of the Baja Divide. That went all the way down through. So I kind of had that in mind, but what I found, I mean, Colorado has some incredible writing as well. I got to write a few other people's routes there, which is fantastic, but I just found that the problem I had with making a connecting route. Is that the style of riding that I was doing in Colorado was completely different from the style of riding that I was doing in Utah, which requires a very different setup and bike. So I mean, Colorado for me, at least the kind of stuff I was having the most fun with in Colorado is all technical single track, amazing mountain biking in Colorado. And I was having a blast, like riding part of the Colorado trail. And there's a lot of great riding around the kind of area as well. And. A lot of a lot of technical single track so to to do that you need a setup. That's very light. You need a setup this Slick enough basically that you can handle and enjoy technical single track on a regular basis. Whereas Utah is generally non technical. It's mostly dirt roads in the desert. But the big point there is you need to have the capacity to carry a lot of water and quite a bit of food as well, because you're going deeper into the desert where resupply. So you'd need regularly to be able to carry at least two days of water, sometimes three. Which could be, you know, over 10 litres of water, depending on what time of year you're doing that. And to have a setup that's capable of doing both of those things without having to change it is quite challenging. I mean, it's definitely possible, but you need a very dialed in setup to do that, to do both of those things. Whereas it'd be much easier just to hone in on one or the other. Because then you can have a lot more flexibility. Yeah, in the end I decided to actually make this route in Utah just because I found I guess I just loved it. I think that's sort of what it came down to. It's just, I was just blown away by how good it was. That for me is why I want to make routes. I want to make routes that just make me super happy to ride. You know, if I'm having a blast and I really am like, this is. Truly world class. This is unbelievable. This is some of the best writing I've ever done. I want to be able to give that to other people too. And to give other people the opportunity to to have that same feeling. And, yeah, Utah is just so crazy good. The routes that other people have put up there as well are so, so frickin good that it wasn't actually that difficult to just find a way to link together a lot of these routes in a way that allows people to either just do my through route and sample it or sample it. Or to combine it and then to do my route and then stop and ride a loop and then continue and then ride another loop and continue. So, I mean, there's potential to spend, you know, several months in Utah and ride all of the routes that are available too. And, yeah, as desert riding goes, I think Utah is about as good as it gets.

Bella: 59:27

How long did you actually spend riding in the state of Utah?

Tristan: 59:31

How long was I in Utah? It was maybe like a month and a half, I think, in total. I think, yeah, I mean, I, I, Utah's somewhere I really want to go back to. I mean, I, I was eventually chased out, essentially, by the winter.

Bella: 59:43

Oh, you, you had some freezing camp nights. I remember this playing out. It was like minus twelve or something. Well, maybe even lower.

Tristan: 59:50

Yeah, it was, yeah, I was running through October, November, and it's definitely starting to get really cold. I mean, Utah is Southern Utah is pretty high elevation actually. So I think my coldest night was minus 15, which is I think five Fahrenheit. Yeah. And I mean, again, cold is only relative to how good your equipment is. You can be perfectly cruisy and cozy at minus 20, or you can be freezing cold at minus one. It really just comes down to what you're good at. Carrying and minus 15 for me was definitely on the outer edge of what I was comfortable. I mean, I had a pretty lightweight set up and it was sort of, it's catered around being flexible so that I can have that same set up basically year round without having to change anything. I was just about okay at minus 15 to sleep through the night without, you know, waking up from being too cold. I was still, still okay, but it's definitely not fun at that kind of thing. You're not, you're not looking forward to camping.

Bella: 1:00:51

I've spent some time talking with guests about strategies to stay warm when you're camping in low temperatures. Typically, actually, when I've spoken about it with guests, it's been people who've been at very high elevations in South America. Somewhere like, you know, Peru, Bolivia, you know, we're talking three or 4, 000 meters high. And I've had people give me tips of, you know, actually having a water bottle and like a hot water bottle. And then, you know, boiling your water with your stove, putting hot water in it, putting in the sleeping bag, the idea of. If you've got electronic devices with you, having them in your sleeping bag so that your batteries don't die and stuff like that. And this is going to sound really weird, but I guess I came across it and I don't know whether it's true or not and maybe you've come across it or you've used it or maybe it's total BS and I'll look like an idiot. Maybe listeners, you've heard it before. I came across someone's account that said something that people don't consider is actually using your pee in a bottle as something that's warm. And putting that in your sleeping bag, which I guess if you don't have a hot water bottle to keep you warm as well. Have you heard of that before? This sounds horrible. I may cut this out. If I haven't, it's for shits and giggles.

Tristan: 1:02:00

It's hilarious, because you started talking and some part of me was like, This is going to involve piss, isn't it? There you go! So, to answer your question, I think someone probably was taking the piss with you a little bit. Maybe I'm being cynical, but I'm not convinced. So the trick with But it could work though, couldn't it?

Bella: 1:02:18

Like, there's that part of you that goes, Well, actually

Tristan: 1:02:21

Well, I think, so let's, so the hot water bottle trick, so that's something like taking a Nalgene bottle or something, boiling some water, putting it in, that works really well. So that is definitely a good way to do it. Definitely

Bella: 1:02:32

do that.

Tristan: 1:02:33

The problem I have with peeing in that same Nalgene

Bella: 1:02:38

bottle or whatever you use Oh no,

Tristan: 1:02:39

I have many problems. Ben's that human pee is gonna provide enough warmth to really make any serious difference Like if you if you're at the point of literally what you might freeze to death Then maybe it's not gonna hurt to try that it might make the difference to keep you alive But I don't I just don't think it's hot enough Um, I mean, I don't know, maybe I'm outing myself for someone that No, I mean, I'm

Bella: 1:03:01

also thinking, like, practically, like, maybe if it's that cold out at night and you needed to pee in the middle of the night and you've got a pee bottle in the tent, you could, you know, make use of it after, I'm not sure. Yeah,

Tristan: 1:03:11

I mean, I guess it's Grylls would probably be

Bella: 1:03:13

the person to ask, right?

Tristan: 1:03:17

I think he stays in hotels, doesn't he?

Bella: 1:03:19

Oh, gosh. I, the weather, though, was something that did come up. And actually, there were a few weather events that played out. Cold, cold nights aside, you had, oh, there were, there were two days that stood out for me. And one of them, actually, you had a photo in front of a sign. It said, Vehicle travel on designated roads only. Road impossible when wet. This played out to be the most epic. Peanut butter mud hiker bike that you have ever done, right? And that was due to, I guess, weather previously.

Tristan: 1:03:54

Right.

Bella: 1:03:54

I always ask guests, Tristan, to tell me and describe one day of their trip. And I normally let you pick the day, but I'm going to be selfish and ask you to tell me about this day because I feel every hour of this day is probably burnt in your mind.

Tristan: 1:04:10

Yeah, it was a very memorable day, that's for sure. Okay, so that one. It was a day, I was, Southern Utah, I was quite near the Natural Bridges National Monument, which is a park in the middle of nowhere in Utah, and I'd camped part way up a dirt road to get up into the edge of an area called the Bears Ears National Monument, and it was going to be a back road way to get across down to the uh, Colorado River, heading up towards Hanksville. I guess I started the day, it was another night below freezing, woke up, had breakfast, and spent the morning riding up a pass. And once I got towards the top of this pass, I started hitting, I guess mild peanut butter mud. And peanut butter mud is this kind of mud that just clumps to your wheels or to your shoes and it's just incredibly sticky. It's peanut, peanut butter mud. It's, it's probably the only thing that's worse than headwind as a cyclist. Because it totally gunks up your bike. You can't even Push it basically at a certain point because it gets in between your wheels and the frame And so peanut butter mud is awful And you know i've had lots of peanut butter mud over the many years i've been doing this sometimes really bad Sometimes not too bad And so it's not a new thing for me and it's always bad But you always just kind of hope that it's only going to be a little bit Because you never know how much of it's going to be and In, in this case, I, you know, it was going up into the mountains, there was, parts of the road were frozen, there was quite a bit of snow here and there, and then there was this one little patch of peanut butter mud, which I got through and thought, well, hopefully it doesn't get too much worse. And, unfortunately, it did get a lot worse. I think it was by far the worst peanut butter mud I've ever had. Essentially, I spent, I think it would have been about three hours. Covering only about two or three kilometers, so about two miles.

Bella: 1:06:10

I wrote that down three hours to go two kilometers. And there's a great visual of this too, of you like hauling with every bit of strength, your bike, which with all that peanut butter mud on it weighs a hell of a lot more than it normally does, right?

Tristan: 1:06:25

This was, I mean, I've learned since then that actually Utah and that sort of part of the Colorado plateau is, is known for this. And like I got. Sent lots of messages from people that had had similar experiences and then I've said my pain on this because yeah, it's just so incredibly heavy. I mean, my, my bike is relatively light and I mean, I, one threshold for me of, of weight is I always want to be able to lift my bike over my head. Fully loaded so that if I need to get it over a gate or something I can do that And I could barely get my bike off the ground even an inch. It was so heavy I mean, I was having to just slide the thing on this slick mud Just never had such a heavy bike in my life. And yeah, it was just super hard going You know, you're having to get a stick and just kind of try and Get the mud off every few steps, I mean, it's just the most excruciating experience, just so miserable. And you're just screaming at the sky in frustration. You know, it was, yeah, it's, it's not fun, um, I mean, but at the same time, I mean, there, there's a lot, even nothing in the moment, actually, that I was quite grateful for. Cause, I mean, it wasn't raining, you know, it was blue skies, so that was good. There were bear tracks, like fresh bear tracks on the road.

Bella: 1:07:38

Oh my gosh,

Tristan: 1:07:39

this is Utah, so there are only black bears.

Bella: 1:07:44

I didn't actually know there were bears in Utah. There are,

Tristan: 1:07:46

yeah, in the forested higher up bits, there are bears. But yeah, it was kind of cool to know that I wasn't alone out there, that some other creature had been having this problem. Struggle with me. Miserable day as well.

Bella: 1:07:56

You could have been swapping stories. Yeah. Yeah. I was hiking, biking. I was hiking. Pouring . Like . Because the other thing though, Tristan, with this day was you mentioned it took you three hours to go about two kilometers, but you didn't continue going in that direction then didn't you, like you reached a breaking point and had to go pretty much turn back on yourself. I

Tristan: 1:08:17

did, and I really hate backtracking. It's one of my least favorite things to do. I mean, I, I got. Essentially this, the reason I was carrying on because I get trying to get up to a junction Where the road was going to turn off onto what I thought was going to be a bigger road Or it's still a dirt road, but a slightly bigger one so I was just really hoping that I would reach this junction and then the new road would be of a better quality, and it maybe wouldn't be as bad, and that once I got there, that would be it, and I'd be through. And, you know, after three hours of struggle, I got to this crossroads, and the new road was actually worse. Um, and I was still going uphill, all of this had been uphill as well, and I mean, my main issue as well, I mean, this is That's like southern utah remote section. I was carrying I think I had about nine or ten liters of water with me for this section Which was going to which needed to get me through another two days and I also had limited food with me that needed to get me through another two days and That was another two days of riding at a reasonable speed, based on the expectation of how long it would take me to cover certain distances. And at a rate of less than a kilometre an hour, which is what I was doing on this mud, I got to the point where I realised that, you know, I was in real danger of running out of water if I carried on and didn't. Some more speed, basically. Like, I, I didn't think that I would. Actually have enough water to get me through this section. Yeah. I mean, it's just just really bad mods I think I would have been pushing probably for another potentially two days It could have been to get over this like you never know how long that's gonna last And so yeah in the end I made the decision to turn back Which I think was definitely the right decision, but still stings a bit. And then it was, yeah, it was another two hours to get the two kilometers back. Even downhill it was pretty horrible. And, yeah, my, my drive train got stuck. My, my bike runs a belt drive instead of a chain. That came off and then wouldn't go back on because it was too gunked up. And, yeah, it was just pretty, you know, pretty tough day.

Bella: 1:10:20

Because I was actually thinking with your drive train I'm trying to think, are you on a pinion drive train?

Tristan: 1:10:25

Yeah.

Bella: 1:10:26

So you wouldn't have a derailleur then?

Tristan: 1:10:28

No, thank god. Yeah, no, it was a Oh, because you would be

Bella: 1:10:30

stuffed.

Tristan: 1:10:31

Yeah, I mean, I've It's not the first time I've been really grateful to be running a gearbox instead of a derailleur. Because, yeah, I mean, that at least was something I didn't have to worry about. But yeah, I mean, I really thought I might be stuffed though, because this belt would not go back on. Um, you know, it's just, with the belts, I guess, the downside to them is that they can be finicky if there's anything gunky in there. And trying to get them back on, it's just, you, I basically end up having to sacrifice some of my water to clean things off.

Bella: 1:10:59

Which when you're running low of water would be a hard decision to take as well. It was

Tristan: 1:11:03

sort of okay on the way back because with the plan to backtrack I was able to get water more quickly. But yeah, I had to use up most of my water to clean up and then eventually my bike was up and running again. I backtracked, got to where I'd camped. Got back to this National Monument where I'd resupplied with water in the first place at a visitor's centre there. And decided I had to just basically take the road to, uh, make up the time and distance. Um, but it actually ended up being an amazing evening. I mean, I, while I was filling up with water at this visitor's centre, I just, I met some random people, the sun had already set at this point. Someone gave me a sandwich, and food's always a great, great motivator, so thank you to Trail angel. Thank you to whoever gave me that sandwich. And yeah, I ended up riding for about two hours on this road in complete darkness, um, just under the stars and the moon. And there was literally not one car in two hours on this road. It was just a paved road, um, but like beautiful riding, mostly downhill, easy. And yeah, it was just actually an amazing night in the end. And I ended up having another great camp spot and everything's fine. You know, it was, it was a, it was a really great end to the day. I think, yeah, it was, it was quite cool to have that positive finish, actually, because I think something I, I've definitely appreciated about the time that I've spent travelling is, is positivity in general, and that I think the most important thing that you can bring with you on any trip is, is a positive attitude, and, and sticking to that when things get tough and dicey, and trying to just stay positive and just see the funny side of it, and not get too upset, and. Don't feel too sorry for yourself and just get through it and yeah, it was nice actually. I think it was cool to reflect that if I'd have had that day that, that same day of, of challenge and, and misery 10 years ago before I started doing this trip, I think I'd have suffered a lot more through it and I think it would've taken me a lot longer to bounce back. But actually, yeah, it was cool. Like, you know, I was, I had a great finish to the day , and I don't really view it as a bad day. It was definitely a challenging day, but. I'll, I'll remember it, that's for sure.

Bella: 1:13:13

It makes me think, could you imagine the worst luck if it was like a total beginner bikepacker and that's what they were faced with on the first day of a big journey? My gosh, it would break you. It'd give you, and I must, I must admit when you were telling me about this, Tristan, I was wondering the next time you hit a section of peanut butter mud, will you, will you sort of have like bikepackers PTSD, make you twitch a bit and just.

Tristan: 1:13:34

You know, I think there might be some truth to that. I think the next time I hit. What looks like it might be bad peanut butter. I think I'm going to be making some decisions of a lot, a lot earlier about, you know, am I committing to this or am I just bailing straight away? But the trouble is you just never know how long it's going to be.

Bella: 1:14:43

Yeah, you don't know. I wonder whether, well, I mean, you just don't know and you don't know how your bike will react because I was going to say, I wonder whether in hindsight. Well, actually, no, because I think what I read from your experience was you even struggled to walk through it. Because I was going to say, I wonder if hindsight, if you just put the bike to the side and actually just walked a section, would you have got an idea of how bad it would have been for that long? Would that be a strategy you could use?

Tristan: 1:15:07

I think, yeah, I mean, for sure. This, this section was, was by far the worst I've ever seen. And so I don't know that I'd necessarily base future experiences on this, because this was, I think, an especially bad. Thing I mean, I've gone through a lot of peanut butter and usually it's not that bad Usually you just it's it's a bit and you get through it and it's frustrating but then you're through this was really long section But I think actually the main takeaway for me is like be very on the lookout for this Especially in that area on the Colorado Plateau Because as I got so many messages from people that had had experiences in that same not that exact spot but it's a pretty broad area the Colorado Plateau that's known for this type of mud, which is an especially bad type. So I think what I would take away from that is if ever I'm bikepacking in that region again, which I'm sure I will, cause it's so special out there. If I hit what looks like it might be a substantial amount of peanut butter mud, I think I'd be bailing a lot sooner than I did.

Bella: 1:16:09

What a story. What a moment to have as well. Because I was thinking, you know how we've spoken about your root creation, and you're very much looking at creating roots where it's almost like a Continual daily highlight reel, you know, every, you know, there's a purpose to each and every day. There's a highlight each and every day. You'd have so many highlights to choose from in Utah. I feel it would be, if I was to say, pick me your biggest highlight from Utah, it feels like that would be a stupidly impossible question to answer.

Tristan: 1:16:37

Right? Yeah. Well, this is, this is, I think a big part of why I really decided to make a route for Utah and why I'm really excited for it. because it really does basically have a world class highlight or two or three every day and Really is difficult to choose which one is your favorite, you know And I could rattle off ten without trying at all it would just be very easy to say well all of those places were mind blowingly good and That to me is what I like in a route. I you know, I want to be Just stoked all of the time. The really cool thing with Utah is that because so many people have made, well, not that many people, but there's some amazing routes that people have. I've taken a lot of time and care to publish in Southern Utah that are just phenomenally good routes. And, you know, I have so much appreciation for all the people that took the time to put those together, because, you know, I just, I got to ride a bunch of them and just absolutely loved them. So, yeah, I mean, if you can, if you know that there are these existing loops that are world class and you can combine them into one experience, then, yeah, I mean, it's, it's really special.

Bella: 1:17:42

Oh, it looked really special, and seeing the images that you've shared from that, oh, wow. And I think something else that you said, and I say this with my amateur photographer's, you know, mind, you had a lot of camps where sunrise and sunset views were going to be absolutely mega, and they were. In fact, I think I don't know that you necessarily camped here, but I think was it you had, I can't remember the order. Was it sunrise at sunset point or sunset at sunrise point? One of those. Wow. It looked mega, but that was just one of probably nearly every night there.

Tristan: 1:18:14

Yeah. The, the wild camping out there is also really much is really magic because. It's just so much empty space, really, so you can pretty much just pitch a tent. I'm assuming you're in the backcountry, which most of, well, most of that route is. You can basically pitch a tent anywhere. It's all good because it's just beautiful and it's so peaceful out there and, you know, it, it really is. Amazing for the camping experience and yeah, what you're talking about, there's a, there's a few spots that are just Photographer's dreams where you can pitch a tent on the edge of a cliff with a panorama view out over a huge landscape spread beneath you and you can just, you know, you can go out there and you can watch the sun set and then you can put up your tent and sleep and then get up for the sunrise and you're already there and yeah, it's I, I think, I think Utah really spoiled me.

Bella: 1:19:04

Mm, yeah, and you don't have to book yourself on a hike months in advance to say, I'm gonna be there on this day to appreciate this either. I think that was that element of it as well.

Tristan: 1:19:13

Yeah, for sure. It's, it's kind of, it's kind of funny actually, because I saw so few people in Utah. Partly because it's already remote, and partly because I was there in November, which is a lot later than most people want to be out there. Yeah, it was, it was just so quiet.

Bella: 1:19:28

What do you think the ideal, uh, the ideal time would be to go to Utah then, to go for some bikepacking there?

Tristan: 1:19:35

I think I was probably a little, like, maybe a month. Off perfect timing. It varies a little bit, but I think probably October, maybe September, although it can still be a bit hot.

Bella: 1:19:47

I was going to say because Utah, you couldn't get there too early because it would just be excruciatingly hot too, wouldn't it?

Tristan: 1:19:52

This is the balance, because you know, if you're there too soon, it's just way too hot to be fun. If you're there too late, It's freezing cold in the winters and it's a harsh place.

Bella: 1:20:01

And I'm also thinking Utah comparatively, you know, at the very start we were talking about Alaska and you know, you didn't need to think about water halls because you had water in a lot of places along the route. I imagine Utah water isn't prolific in a lot of places or did you find that you were like, were you having to think of water for days at a time continuously?

Tristan: 1:20:20

Yeah, so water is a major issue for sure in Utah. I mean, it's a desert, of course, so water is always the big issue. And that was a big part of the challenge in making a through route in Utah that would be doable and reasonably doable on a bicycle was making sure that it didn't require too much water carry, um, or that it was a feasible amount of water that you needed to carry. And then finding where resupply points would be, you know, springs. And then the challenge out there is that a lot of the springs that you can find in the desert are not reliable because they depend on rainfall, which you can't predict. And if I'm planning a route, I need to make sure that these springs. Are going to be there consistently all year round because I don't want to publish a route that says you can get water here And then some thirsty people get there Expecting a stream and then find nothing and then potentially run into serious trouble. So yeah, it's it's definitely Something you need to take seriously in a place like that especially if you're on the back roads because I mean if you're riding on paved roads if you're on the highways in somewhere like that You still need water, but you know, worst case scenario, there's, there's cars around, there's vehicles, but you could pull someone over and just say, look, I'm out of water. Can you please help me out? And they're going to help you out for sure. Whereas if you're riding through places where there's hardly anybody or maybe nobody, you've not got a backup. There's no one that's going to rescue you. You really need to make sure that you've. Um, and then you've got to make sure that you've covered yourself and that you have got enough water. And yeah, it's a lot of weight to carry.

Bella: 1:21:53

Cause that was something you mentioned when we were talking about equipment earlier, how the type of setup you'd have to ride single track in Colorado is very different to the type of equipment you would have for Utah. You made equipment changes then during your time traveling through North America, didn't you?

Tristan: 1:22:09

I did, yeah, so I've, I've run actually quite a few different setups, I mean, I, I really, I'm, I'm a huge gear nerd for all this stuff, so I do really enjoy getting into it, and just playing around with different setups, experimenting, and seeing what works, and trying to find the most optimal setup, and that is an endless quest, there is definitely no perfect setup that will never, will never reach the end point, but I think I've definitely got to a point where it's, it's pretty dialed in, And, yeah, I mean, I've Actually ended up with a very lightweight setup now. Um, I mean, over the course of the last year and a half, I guess, since I left Alaska, I've played around with a few different types of setup. I mean, I was running a suspension fork part of it, and then I was running rigid with, with bigger tires and. I mean actually just, just over the last couple of weeks while I've been taking a break before I get back on the road to head down to Mexico, I'm having more changes made to my bike, so my suspension fork is going back on the bike, and I am actually going to be trying out some carbon wheels for the next year, which is going to be interesting, and yeah, I mean essentially I've just, you know, I've, I've dialed in my Pack set up based around what I need and what I want to do. So, I mean, in, in Alaska, I had a bit more capacity cause I was expecting that I needed to have longer food carries like this, you know, carrying 10 days of food for the Dalton highway. You need quite a bit more space for something like that. So I had a bit of extra capacity. And then when I was in the Canadian Rockies, I was carrying at one point mountaineering gear with me. And that also takes up a lot of space. And yeah, I mean, right now I'm at a point where it's very, very lightweight. And I've still got the same setup that I was riding when I was crossing Colorado on singletrack. So it's light enough and sleek enough that I can ride technical singletrack and trails without having to feel like I'm having to slow down so much that I can't actually enjoy it. But yeah, I mean, I think, I think what I've got to is a pretty good balance. I mean, if anyone's interested, they can, I have a full gear list on my website. They can by all means have a look through. And there's a few videos on my channel where I run through what I carry. But. Yeah, I'm pretty happy with how it came together. I mean, the fact that I could write technical single track crossing, uh, Colorado and then go straight into hauling 10 to 11 liters of water and five days of food on the same setup without having to change anything over. While also having the gear for, as I say, minus 15 at night, I think it's pretty good going, um, especially with having to, as a content creator, I'm having to carry a lot of extra gear that most people probably aren't, so I've got a laptop with me, I've got a drone, multiple cameras, tripod, all of the Things that I really kind of would love not to have to haul, but are part of what I do and, you know, it's worth it, but it all takes up a lot of space.

Bella: 1:25:08

Oh, it would do, it would do. But listeners, I definitely welcome you to check out what you were talking about there with your gear guide, because I think it is one of those benefits of so many years of experience, is You, you are making a lot of those tweaks and choosing what you carry. There's a lot of thought that goes into it through experience. I will provide links in the show notes listeners to all the ways that you can find Tristan's content. Your Instagram account, Tristan, if you want to give that a quick shout out and listeners can look for that as well.

Tristan: 1:25:40

Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, my Instagram is at Tristan Redd. So it's T R I S T A N R I D. And you can just search for my name, Tristan Reddly, on YouTube and you'll find me. And my website is TristanRidley. com, so it's all pretty straightforward.

Bella: 1:25:56

Easy. Word of warning, listeners, just make sure that you go there with plenty of time, because if you're like me, you'll watch something or scroll for ages and then just hit with Wunderlust and probably promptly plan a bikepacking route yourself. And definitely let's keep our eyes on Tristan on this route that you're building for Utah. I can't wait for it to launch. Just sounds so exciting.

Tristan: 1:26:16

Yeah, I am really excited to get that one out there. I mean, for me, the thing that Tells me I'm on the right track is I would really love to write it again now And I only wrote it a couple of months ago, and I would I mean maybe not right now because it's even colder in Utah Yeah Yeah, like I can't wait to I'm sure I'll write it again before too long because it's just yeah, it's it's amazing So I can't wait to get that out there and start getting some feedback

Bella: 1:26:45

Oh, I'm certain people will be listening to this and, you know, finding themselves on that trail, which I think is the best part of it when people who love and have a passion for this way of travel are creating routes with this mind, with this in mind, it's going to leave us just motivated to go and explore these areas as well. So that's, that's awesome. And I think that's probably the best side of that type of creation mindset that you've got with the way that you travel as well. Tristan, I have spoken to you literally for hours, over two sessions now. People, you're listening to this, this is our second episode featuring Tristan and first and foremost, a mega mega major thank you to, you know, allowing me to have so much of your time chatting bike travel, making me live vicariously through what you're doing. I do need to wrap the show up. And I do that, Tristan, asking the same few questions. The first one is music related. You are a guest now at Seek Travel Ride, and you get to choose a song that goes on the Seek Travel Ride guest music playlist. Uh, listeners, it's available there on Spotify and also Apple Music. Tristan, what song are you going to pick that's going to be the soundtrack to your adventures?

Tristan: 1:27:51

Yeah, that's a really tough question, and I guess probably like most people, I feel like Songs get associated with certain times for me, you know, I think back to certain periods and that's, that's the soundtrack of that particular time. But, I don't know, let's say I'm gonna go with Against the Wind by Bob Seger.

Bella: 1:28:11

I feel I should know this.

Tristan: 1:28:13

Old school song, you will definitely have heard it. I actually, this, this one for me was the soundtrack to the very start of my trip in New Zealand. Because I just got cursed with the worst luck with the wind in New Zealand, I think. Did actually write down, and I think it was something like 87 percent of the days I had strong headwind.

Bella: 1:28:36

Oh!

Tristan: 1:28:37

It was, it was so, you know, just, just relentless. So that song, Against the Wind, very much summed up New Zealand for me. And actually, you know, in a lot of ways, I feel like going against the current and doing it differently, doing it hard, is That's probably a good metaphor for how I've chosen to live my life.

Bella: 1:28:58

At times of your journey as well, Tristan, you've, you know, there's been things, events that have happened that have made you feel like you're against the wind even more. And, you know, I would think of being stuck in Patagonia during a COVID lockdown as, you know, global pandemic comes down on these plans. That's a part and parcel of it too. Well, I love it. You are down against the wind by Bob Sager. Okay. Next question. And as we're talking about wind, this is quite apt. You're given a choice one day, and you can choose to go in one direction, and you're going to be traveling over the most corrugated, washboard, pumpiest road in the world. And I don't mean that it's like a pothole here or there, I mean it's constant. Like, you know, if you've got fillings they're going to fall out of your teeth type. Or you can go the other way and you'll be against the wind. You're going to be riding into a monumental headwind all day. Which one are you going to choose?

Tristan: 1:29:46

I'm gonna take the potholes, for sure. I thought

Bella: 1:29:48

you would. See, you have given me an idea though. I only just recently changed this question up because every single person, I used to have it as an option of you could travel uphill forever or you go into a headwind. And of course everyone is choosing to climb all day. I've only just changed it, I nearly think, maybe I need to give people the option of you can travel into peanut butter mud or travel into a headwind.

Tristan: 1:30:12

Yeah, you see, I think this is honestly the only thing worse than headwind as a cyclist is that peanut butter mud. Truly. I think it's just the worst, isn't it? It's just so demoralizing and I think the only good thing you can say about headwind compared to peanut butter mud is it doesn't also wreck your bike. There's no cleaning to be done afterwards.

Bella: 1:30:31

Yeah, well that's true, it just wrecks your mind.

Tristan: 1:30:35

Oh, it's just, oh, it's so destroying.

Bella: 1:30:37

Oh, okay, you're on team Corrugations. Well, final question for you, Tristan, and I'm really looking forward to the answer to this. Especially asking it to someone who's travelled for so many years in this mode. And that is, I want you to finish this sentence for me, and the sentence is, the best thing about taking a bike

Tristan: 1:30:57

adventure is. Hmm. That's such a difficult thing to narrow down to one sentence. The best thing about a bike adventure is God, I am struggling here. You're gonna have to give me a minute to come up with something good here. That's really a good question. How do we narrow that down? I guess I would say the best thing about going on a bike adventure is that The bicycle is the most freedom you can get without an engine and not having an engine is huge in that it is so much more sustainable in so many ways and you can throw a bike over a hedge, you can throw a bike onto the back of a truck, you can lift it, you can Throw it around. You have so many more options and it's the perfect vehicle for adventure. You're going fast enough to cover ground, but slow enough that you can still smell the roses. You're accessible and the bike is such an incredible passport as well. It's such a good way to meet people, because you turn up on a bicycle and people want to talk to you. It's intriguing, you know, what is this person doing here on a bike in the middle of nowhere? It's freedom, I guess. There's nothing that gives you more of that than a bicycle, I think. And, yeah, it's funny, actually. I mean, I don't know if you want to include this or not, but I remember having a conversation with somebody that was telling me that in the U. S. here where I'm now they've had issues with rednecks, for example, that don't like bicycles. And they will maybe cut them off in their big trucks and say, hey, why do you want a bicycle? And, you know, this guy was speaking to me and he says, all you've got to do is turn around to them. And you say, well, the bicycle for me is the ultimate freedom. Like, why do you hate freedom? And immediately they're like, hey, hey, I don't hate freedom. Actually, I love it. Great. Good for you. You know, keep going. You know, you're amazing. And then you just instantly twist it on them. And it is freedom, I think, you know, and that's a word that gets bandied around a lot, but actually it's such an important concept. And I do think the bike is the most free a person can be more so even than being on foot. I mean, you know, you have a thing, a vehicle, which you don't if you're on foot, but you just. You're fast enough, you know, but not too fast. It's just the perfect balance.

Bella: 1:33:34

I think it is. It strikes that perfect balance to facilitate travel without feeling too labored and too slow. I like, I love my hiking and you know, day hikes or multi day hikes. But there are moments, especially where you knew that, if I was on a bike here, I could just zoom ahead on this section, or, you know, and, but, but, you know, every labored footstep and there'll be people who are massive thru hikers and power to you people, I don't hate your sport, I love it myself, but I just feel the bike gives us that perfect balance and that word that you use there, freedom, oh my gosh, yeah, I feel it a million percent. I always ask guests at the very start of a show to tell me about the first bike they ever remember riding, and. The feelings they always tell me about is that feeling of freedom, and I don't think that's a feeling that ever leaves us. So, yeah, great answer. That was awesome. Tristan Ridley, it has been an absolute pleasure. It's been a monumental pleasure. We have spoken for so long, and as I said, I appreciate being able to share your story in such depth. I'm super excited to continue to watch your adventures play out. You will be heading off very soon into Mexico. And I am just thinking, with what you've told me, I have no doubt that you will be seeking out those moments of awe, those moments of glory, looking at hooking up roots in a new country, and I'm excited for what awaits you. A quote I came across when I was researching you, which I think is quite apt, was There's something very fun about overcoming challenge and dragging my bike into places in which a bike has no reasonable business being. The views are usually better. All this to say, I'm wishing you the dreamiest views possible day after day. May you have many amazing wild camp spots and not many days of headwinds or peanut butter mud. Thank you so, so much for sharing your stories and experiences here on the podcast for Seek Travel Ride.

Tristan: 1:35:28

Thanks so much, Bella. It's been so good speaking.

Bella: 1:35:30

Listeners, I certainly hope that you have enjoyed that final episode there with Tristan, learning about more of his bikepacking journey, especially his time there recently in the last 18 months through North America. He's had some monumental experiences, hasn't he? And I think what I love the most is something we spoke about in the first episode with Tristan and certainly now as well, is that he's done this type of travel So long now that he knows of himself the type of routes that he gets energized by and he purposefully seeks them out. I'm genuinely super excited to see this route that he's putting together there for Utah and that concept of seeking out those moments of awe, those glory moments, those highlights to think that you can plan a route that is going to give you day in day out these mega moments. Surely that's what it's all about for us as well. I certainly encourage you to check out all of his socials and his content. He has done an incredible job of really showcasing his experience there online. And as I said, word of warning, it will give you that massive hit of Wunderlust. That will make you want to travel in this way too. Thank you so much, Tristan. Listeners, are you enjoying Seek Travel Ride? Do you want to keep up to date with what's happening on the show? What's going on with our community? And who is coming up on the guest list? Well, make sure to hit the link in the show notes for our Seek Travel Ride newsletter. I send a newsletter out periodically to your inboxes and keeping you updated with everything that is going on in the show. Don't delay, hit the link in the show notes and sign up now. Until the next episode, I'm Bella Molloy, thanks for listening.