Colorado Trail FKT pushes Payson McElveen to his limits, then beyond
Durango cross country racer attempts to ride 530 mile route in under four days
Photo by:
Orange Seal
Payson McElveen had never bikepacked before but wanted to try. So what does a U.S. national champion and World Cup racer choose for his first bikepacking adventure? Why not one of the hardest ones out there, the Corado Trail. And why not try do it faster than anyone has before? As McElveen shares in Discovery and Despair on the Colorado Trail, there are a couple of reasons, it turns out.
It’s hard to truly describe the difficulty of an epic attempt in statistics, but Colorado Trail has some big numbers. The 530-mile (853km) route is mostly singletrack. It’s also mostly above 3,000 metres of elevation, with a high point of 4,500 metres above sea level (13,271 feet). Between Durango and Denver, there are about 22,860 meters of vertical elevation gain.
McElveen, to set a new FKT, would have to ride all of that in under 3 days and 21 hours.
The World Cup cross country racer has some big efforts to his name already. This summer alone, he Everested on singletrack (accumulating 8,848 metres of vertical elevation in a single ride) and rode a single day, 100-mile loop in Crested Butte, Colo.
But Colorado Trail would be McElveen’s first proper bikepacking route. A massive effort first time out, but with the advantage of being on familiar terrain outside his Durango, Colo. home.
As you might expect, not everything goes to plan.
Sometimes our failures are as rewarding as any successes. McElveen’s story, Discovery and Dispair on the Colorado Trail, is inspiring for its honesty as much as the incredible alpine scenery.
Discovery and Dispair on the Colorado Trail
What does Orange Seal have to say about the effort?
“When the pandemic put Durango, CO resident @Payson McElveen’s typical race schedule of mountain bike and gravel events on hold, he shifted his focus to discovering the bike in new ways. From Everesting 100% singletrack in May, to linking 100 miles of Crested Butte trail in a day for an upcoming Matchstick Productions Film, he found himself intrigued by riding farther and farther. In late September, sandwiched between an early-season winter storm and the rapidly dropping temperatures of changing seasons, Payson found a window to strike out on a first bikepacking adventure–the Colorado Trail from Durango to Denver.
Despite a lack of experience, Payson was inspired to cover the 530-mile route as fast as he could, and spent two weeks taking a crash course in the equipment, strategy, and preparation required to do a record-attempt TT on the route. Despite generous guidance from many of bikepacking’s veterans, Payson would learn that there is no substitute for experience. In a ride that took him through a rollercoaster of discovery and despair, the rewards of his first bikepacking adventure ultimately left Payson wanting more of this newfound passion.”
