It really is nice to know that I have a permanent record of these trips. It's one of the main reasons for making these videos. Cheers 👍

I'm enjoying this pace. 50 miles per day gives me chance to enjoy the surroundings. Cheers 👍

Thanks. That was an incredible trip. I loved the gdmbr. Thanks for watching 👍

Fantastic. You'll love it out there. It's epic. Keep me posted.

I didn't think of it that way. They just want us all to go home and stop cluttering up their trail. It's a museum of terror. I'm having such a good time out here. I'm currently in someone's back garden, drinking free beer and playing catch with a dog called Rosie. Life is very very good

Cheers. I'm glad you liked it. Another singer!! I loved Sesame Street when I was a kid and that song has stuck with me all these years. Cheers 👍

Yes, it’s impressive. Just wish I had the funds to do a trip like this. Like his you tube style, interesting and nice to watch.

It's amazing. I'll try to keep a record of costs etc. I think it could be done fairly cheaply but it's the time of work that's the real killer.

I'm taking a day off today at Whitefish lake. I'm tempted to push on but you're completely right. There's no rush.

@@matryderadventures rather than suffering, give yourself time to recover, and enjoy your self. 👍

Correct!!!!!! I loved Sesame Street. You may have put that Christopher Cross song in my head now 😳. I've had a recurring Billy Joel song for about 8 years!!! I'll look up the Mexico border song. Thanks for following 👍👍

Thanks. I'm trying my best to not rush through. It's not difficult with all the amazing scenery. I'll take a day off today at Whitefish Lake and maybe go for a swim. Cheers 👍

Don't forget to do stretching pre & post rides .

I won't. I only do a few simple stretches but I'm sure they're helping. Cheers.

Neither can I. It's unreal. Thanks for following along!! Gary told me that you watch all my videos!!!

Thanks. It's good to get feedback. It's amazing out here.

It's amazing here. I'm very lucky. There will be another video soon. I'm on day 8 and am taking a day off in Whitefish, Montana.

Very interesting. There wasn't much single track on the GDMBR so I may have given that a try. Maybe I'll end up over there again some day. Cheers 👍

👍 Thanks. It is absolutely amazing out here. I have filmed quite a bit more stuff so another video should be out soon. Thanks for watching!!!!

🤣 nothing beats ice cream when you've been riding all day. Better even than a beer!!

@@matryderadventures yes, I'm 3rd generation Irish and appreciate a good beer. I've lived in Colorado and now in Southwest Arizona. Have been on my motorcycle to Silver City as well. You are sort of the Ricky Gervais (huge fan) traveling cyclist. When I do century road rides I always end with an ice cream. Stay safe friend. Enjoyed your narration and excellent positively human interactions.

Cheers! I'm starting to eat more and am getting the hang of eating regularly through the day. Thanks for following 👍

No problem. It feels a bit like someone's with me when I'm filming so it's my pleasure. Cheers 👍

I'd definitely recommend it if you ever get chance. It's incredible. Thanks for following 👍

Thanks. Glad you like it. Another video should be out soon. Cheers 👍

Thanks. It's awesome out here. I'm in Montana and some of the views are stunning. Thanks for following along 👍

Thanks Jodie. It is pretty amazing out here. The scenery changes every day. Caroline can sleep easy. Bear spray is always with me...

I haven't seen one yet but think I'd like to see one the way you did. Cheers 👍

Thanks. Nice feedback. It's difficult to get a good balance so it's nice to hear what people think. Cheers 👍

👍 It's nice to hear when people enjoy watching.

You got it. I loved Sesame Street. I was pre Elmo.

@@matryderadventures "brought to you in association with the childrens television workshop" I always remember that part for some reason lol, and yeah Elmo turned up first when I was 6 🙂

Excellent. I would love to do the Tour Aotearoa. I'm thinking 2025. It looks incredible. I'd love to hear how you get on with it. Cheers 👍

I do that every time!!! Very annoying. Thanks for watching 👍👍.

I just had a look. It was my first morning on trail and I'll never forget it. The sun warming me up and the mist on the water. Amazing! Cheers 👍

I loved those first few days. Possibly the best scenery on the whole trip. Thanks for watching 👍👍

Thanks. I'm glad you enjoyed it. I've never experienced pulling a trailer. 60lb! Sounds like work, especially on single track. I'm sure the funds you raised were appreciated!! Cheers 👍

It really is. I'm in Colorado at the moment. Heading for Salida. It's a bit like Wyoming here. Glad you're enjoying the videos. Thanks for following along 👍

The scenery is incredible. Luckily I'm at a lake today and I'm definitely planning on spending a while in it. Day off for me. I need to recover. It was an amazing first week. Thanks for watching!!!!

It's beyond belief out here. Another video should be out soon. Thanks for following along 👍☺️

Excellent. Thanks for the support. Hope you enjoy the others. Cheers 👍👍

Fernie was a nice town. Thanks for following along 👍

I'm glad you like them. Thanks for following along 👍

Crazy. I can hardly believe it. Cheers 👍

Thanks. It was an amazing trip. Thanks for watching 👍👍

Good luck on your return. You've already done the hardest part, in my opinion anyway. Montana and Canada are amazing. Cheers 👍

I fell in love with New Mexico it has been my favorite so far.

I loved it too. I liked the feeling of isolation. Such a cool place. The people were awesome too.

🤣 It was Sesame Street. I'll try to keep up the place names. I'm in Whitefish but you probably know that already. Time to go to the lake and do nothing!!!!

Cheers 👍👍

It's crazy. He used to work 10 minutes walk from my house. I love Caerphilly. Great walks and great cheese. Cheers 👍

Cheers 👍

Excellent 👍👍👍 Thanks.

🤣 I can definitely do Ernie. I'll try to remember to film it for an upcoming video. As far as I know, bears don't want to interact with people. If you startle them you can be in trouble. As for them coming into the tent, that terrifies me too but they only want food so if there's none in the tent you should be ok.

Thanks!! I won't spoil it for you 🤣🤣.

Or.......beer? I find it does the same thing. I'm drinking one now as it happens..........

I know. Small world. Crazy isn't it. Maybe a hiking trip here??

You're right. The lighter the equipment the heavier the stack of cash required to pay for it. Anything to keep hiking for longer is worth it though. If I'm already dead then a Lynx is welcome to eat me. Cougars, I'm told, actually stalk you. I'll keep a look out.

Keep your eyes high, in the trees as well as ground level. :)

@@jacqueline7118 I didn't consider threats from above!!!! I'll be vigilant....

Thanks. I had a 20 mile day today and feel rested. Cheers 👍

It's incredible. If you get chance, just go for it. I'm anticipating about 2 months but it may take a bit longer. Cheers 👍

Cheers Luke. I'd miss the beautiful sights of Ipswich... And The Cricketers 🤣

I'm hoping a day off today will help. I can feel my legs getting stronger but a recovery day feels right.

Great advice. You see so many folk attempt the GDMBR and scratch 3 days later. What do they expect, when there longest ride to date was 4 hours and they go and do 12 hours and wonder why they are destroyed.

Thanks. I stole it from my brother!

🤣🤣

@@matryderadventures Tonka meant to say

Excellent. I'm glad you're enjoying these videos. I love the Gower.. I think, after a few nights you get used to being alone. Saying that, I ended up meeting people at most campsites on the trip. Sesame Street was definitely the best show when we were kids. The alternative was Swap Shop....boring!!!!

I'd love to get out and ride in the outer Hebrides. I imagine it's tough but rewarding. I love this shirt. Being able to unbutton it on fast descents and cool off is amazing. I agree with you regarding those horrible freeze dried foods. I'm improving my diet as I go. I'm passing through a lot of towns at the moment so there's no shortage of good food. I have an Ursak bear proof bag. It's designed to be tied to a tree far from camp. I am definitely keeping it far from me at night. Cheers 👍

Nice to hear. I did 20 miles today, just because I wanted to get out of town. I feel better for the short day and am starting to feel good. I messed up on hydration yesterday. I'm lucky I was headed into a town.

@@matryderadventures hydration is key. But if you drink too much you need to add electrolytes and salt. I missed that last year in a heat wave and it took me a day of sleeping and eating to recover. I did better last weekend and could fairly easy pedal 30 hours in three days through a heat wave.

I think that's exactly what I did wrong. I'm picking up lots of electrolytes today in Ovando. It makes a huge difference. Cheers.

In the wrong key 🤣🤣 I genuinely laughed out loud at that. I'll get a bell, or take singing lessons. I'm going to sing a different Sesame street song just for you. I'll be sure to sing it a semitone out!!!

@@matryderadventures what about Mah Na Mah Na by The Muppets!

@@matryderadventures ah, there's nothing wrong with your voice per se, I was just worried about the reactions of a grizzly bear coming face to face with a melodic cookie monster...

@@matryderadventures To be fair, I thought the singing was half decent, way better than any strangled cat type noise that I'd emit anyway 😂

Done!!!!

I don't know. Maybe some. The one I had said to seal it up. It was horrible anyway so I'm going to avoid them.

Hi. I had a very small lightweight lock and tried to lock it somewhere busy. The libraries always have bike racks and seemed to be a safe bet. I'll be honest and say I was always nervous about leaving the bike out of sight but there's not much choice. Cheers 👍

Good idea! That makes good sense. Cheers 👍

We'll, I can't argue with that!!! Cheers Scott 👍

Hi. I really liked Sparwood.The place with the giant dump truck. From Neath to BC!! That's a big move. I think waffling is a Welsh thing. I'm guilty myself...I can guarantee you'll love it if you ride this trail. It's incredible. I filmed everything on a GoPro 11..

At the moment I have a Maxxis Minion DHRII on the back and a Maxxis Rekon on the front both are 2.6". I prefer the Rekon and will probably stick with those from now on. Cheers 👍

Hi. That's a fair enough comment..I throw a lot of footage at Ross and he has a knack for making me look like I sort of know what I'm doing. I'm really glad you find it useful. I can't remember exactly what I carried money wise, but think it was about 40 dollars Canadian which I got from a cash machine at the airport. I didn't use it all so ended up using it in Montana. They seemed happy to accept it there. I couldn't get the transfer to drop me off at the lodge so called for a taxi. I just used the first local firm which came up on Google. It all worked great. It was a much shorter journey than I thought so am sure I could have got a ride. They drop you near to a set of shops and there were loads of people around. I'm seriously jealous. I wish I was heading back out there. It's incredible. You'll love it. Good luck.

@@matryderadventures Thanks for writing back while you're traversing Europe! As you said in one of the video's you're excited and a little nervous to do this, mainly just want to get started. Like you I backpack a fair amount but haven't ever really bikepacked so it will be quite the experience! Maybe I need to find a lucky penny as you did ion Canmore. Still planning on doing the Tran-America this summer? Maybe at least our paths will cross, Happy Trails.

I think you'll feel the same way as I did. By the end of day one most of the nerves had gone. I'm still heading off on the TransAm. I arrive in Portland on July 22nd. Maybe our paths will cross. Good luck 🤞

Glad that you enjoyed it. Here is a link to the playlist of the whole trip: kzfaq.info/sun/PL3-zVwEVdJ-UbC1DT4tSGgyfi55qLcGPX&si=9qaj-bAYIPa4p-zw Hope that works! If not just go on my channel and it will be under playlists.

I'll make sure to do that..cheers 👍

5.4 miles to be exact. My bus route went up there. In 2 years I saw one serious rider go up and he was about 70, at the time. Made me look pathetic, bless his soul. Cragg Vale

25:00 Ah, the counting song on Sesame Street circa 1977. Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around every once and a while, you'll miss it.

Definitely!!! There's no time to waste. I love that Sesame Street song. Thanks for watching 👍

Exit strategy 🤣🤣

I followed the official ACA GDMBR route and I just checked as I followed my GPS and didn't pay too much attention to place/road names etc. In hindsight I wish I had. The High Rockies trail is listed as an alternate so the official route looks like it follows the Smith Dorian Road. It was a dusty, gravel road. Here's a link to the ACA site which may be more helpful. Cheers. www.adventurecycling.org/blog/routes-and-maps/adventure-cycling-route-network/great-divide-mountain-bike-route/

Ask as many questions as you like. I'll never get tired of answering them. Canada did get a bit cold but stayed just above freezing. The Z Packs Duplex offers no insulation at all but I had a 20 degree Enlightened Equipment quilt which kept me warm. My sleeping pad wasn't warm enough. I would have ideally brought my Thermarest X Therm for the first part of the journey.

Thanks Matt! I think I’m even more afraid of cold then bears, so I’ll take my Hilleberg and Exped 7R mat. Heavier but worth it, I hope. 😊 My compliments for your video’s. I have been watching a lot lately and yours are standing out. Both in quality as for all the information. Really well done and very helpful! 🙏🏼

@astridvanbreenen3757 you can't go wrong with a Hilleberg. I don't think weight is such an issue on the bike anyway, unless you're pushing. Thanks for great feedback. Cheers.

Hi there Mat, hope you’re doing fine. Just wanted to let you know I booked my ticket to Calgary and my EE quilt. GDMBR here I come! 😁 And off course I’ve got another question… What e-sim did you use for your phone? Data more important than phone calls. And is there one sim for Canada and US, or did you have two?

Fantastic!!! That's great news. I have a UK simm which allows me to use data etc. overseas so I didn't buy a US simm. The signal is very patchy on the route so I relied mainly on WiFi in towns and found it very easy to find most of the time. I did consider getting an e-simm and looked at a company called holafly.com but have no idea how good/bad they are.

I use a GoPro Hero 11. As for post processing, that's all done by Ross, I just upload all the 4K footage. He uses Power Director. Cheers 👍

Cheers Coops. I'm not on Strava. I have Komoot but am not really tracking it on there. I'll maybe look into it.

@@matryderadventures yeah there’s groups on Stava too … I,m in an over 50s one and if I post a local ride I get about 300 likes so you should get miles more ..cheeky link to you YT bio more subs more views happy days 👍🏻🚴🍻

Is my singing that bad. I may get a speaker although I'll be out of Grizzly country soon. cheers 👍

@@matryderadventures grizzly country all the way to pinedale!

Ah. A while to go then....

It took me around 2 months pedalling approximately 50 miles per day....

I started on July 2nd. It worked out well for me. I hope you make it out there next year. You'll love it. Thanks for following along 👍

Thanks for the reply. Have a great day.

Thanks. Ive been looking for huckleberries but haven't found any. I'll keep looking. Thanks for the tip about the discs. I know nothing!!!

@@matryderadventures Did you use the phone app when setting the tension on your gates drive belt ? the Ryan van duzer belt fail video is a good resource.

I did use the app. It's pretty ingenious. I'll watch his video anyway. Thanks for letting me know about it 👍

I don't do any editing. Ross does it all. I just upload loads of nonsense footage and he makes it look good. I think he might use Power Director.

I remember the marble thing too. I'm 49 (50 in September). Now you mention it there were some weird segments on Sesame Street. I still loved it though. The only other option was Noel Edmunds on Swapshop which was b#&£ocks!!!

I mix and match between Imperial and metric, I prefer metric, but in the UK we tend to use metric for most things, the exception being long distances which are always in miles. I would also sometimes find myself giving heights in feet just as the signs in the US would give them that way. Thanks for watching 👍

I hear you Mat. Thanks. @@matryderadventures

I'm guessing around 60 days but that's at a reasonably leisurely pace. Honestly, I dawdle a lot. It's just too beautiful to rush through.

I used an Ursak for most of the trip and switched to a bear bag later on. There's no way I can think of to take a bear cannister bikepacking. If there were no bear lockers I hung my food in trees or from bridges somewhere away from the campsite. I didn't eat away from camp but made sure nothing with an odour remained in the camp. I think it is suggested that you eat away from your campsite but felt I was cautious enough. You could argue that you can't be too cautious and I'd agree, but that was where I drew my line. Cheers 👍

@@matryderadventures Yeah makes sense.. the more I read about bears.. the more they scare me loll.. how intelligent they are... and also their sense of smell is much stronger than a blood hounds!! Then again.. they know humans can be trouble for them too and they are mostly eating plants etc.... but that sense of smell fact is quite scary heh. Thanks.

They are incredibly scary. I was relieved when I left Grizzly country about half way through. I think a fear of bears is pretty healthy.

@@matryderadventures I honestly think I will only ride with a group in grizzly country... who are armed and also bear spray.. then you are relatively safe I think.. if something does happen.. buddies can cover you or vice versa..

Definitely a wise move. Make noise when you're by yourself. I did a bit of singing.

Yep. Like me!!

I'm not doing the Tour Divide. I'm doing the GDMBR. 'The Wall' and Koko claims are not part of the ACA GDMBR route. Maybe they're on the Tour Divide. These routes are different. Easy mistake to make.

Most are. The municipal ones are cheap. So far, most in Canada are free.

@@matryderadventures good to know shame about rules for drones dumb rule