This all started back in the spring when my friend Russell Finsterwald jokingly hinted at the idea that we should conquer the Colorado Trail (CT).

He had tried before and failed due to some inclimate weather and mechanicals. We had talked about doing it before but with him racing UCI MTB during the summer then me taking up CX in the fall our seasons/training plans never aligned or permitted such an arduous endeavor. C’est la vie…

However, with a pandemic sweeping the nation and both of us not racing we figured this would be the perfect time to hit the “go” button on this adventure. Not to mention the fact that you can’t follow social distancing precautions better than spending 8 days in the woods away from civilization. Though we did pack masks for gas station snack stops.

So Emily and I loaded up a car and drove out to CO in 2 days. We arrived on the Thursday, I got my stuff together, and our crew of 4 left on Sunday morning and started the trail.

To say I was a little apprehensive would be an understatement. Emily and I lived in Colorado Springs for 8 months in 2015 and I am very familiar with the effects of training at altitude. This was going to take that to a whole new level as the Colorado Trail stretches from Denver to Durango, undulating between 6k-13.3k feet in elevation (an avg of 11k), traversing 500ish miles of Rocky Mountain peaks and valleys, and racking up a total of 70k feet of climbing.

Regardless I was excited. I hadn’t embarked on an adventure this long or arduous yet and I was open to the idea of suffering but also coming to terms with nature, unplugging from the world, and taking in 500 miles of trail virgin to me.

Over the next week I’ll be unleashing a series of videos depicting our journey from packing to finishing. The highs and lows, literal and figurative. It took us 8 days, we punched in for 78 hrs of saddle time, and ate enough candy to give the avg person diabetes and make any dentist cringe for fear of tooth rot.

We are still unpacking the experiences personally and getting these videos out are a cathartic release for me. They are helping me relive the experiences and remember things that I may have blocked out due to pain, stress, or fatigue but in hindsight they are the events/feelings/emotions that make trips memorable.

Enjoy.