Impossible Route: Death Valley – Eve of Adventure
February 28 – Prep Day
Nervously we hustled to prepare all the gear, not really sure if we had the right equipment or enough of it.
We put the Apidura bags on our bikes barely knowing how the straps worked, we download a GPS track, and tried to turn on satellite phones we also didn’t know how to use. We mounted up our new IRC tires and installed our lights on our trusty Canyon Grails.
To say we were in over our heads is the understatement. We were like the local rock climbing club setting out for El Capitan.
I assured everybody that things were under control, while inside of my head I was certain we were going to die or get lost in the desert with no water and 6 flat tires.
We did pre-ride interviews by the river. At sunset, the wind was picking up and so was our mood.
Nervous and excited, we knew that the next morning we would roll out of the only city we’d see for 750 miles. Logistics challenged us and our timeline was crunched, but like a rocket taking off, it didn’t matter if we were ready just if we were willing. I stressed at the sheer amount of prep we had only given one day to execute. It was crunched, but it just worked!
This is the second of a nine-part journal of the Impossible Route: Death Valley expedition. Read part three. The journal is being released in conjunction with the feature documentary.
