The Impossible Route Death Valley Film

The Impossible Route: Death Valley is a 7-day EPIC gravel cycling adventure over one of the hardest courses in the world. Two riders, Jeremiah Bishop and The Vegan Cyclist, attempt to ride bicycles along a well-established motorcycle course called “The California Backcountry Discovery Route (CABDR).

Using the Strava Route Builder the riders charted a 760-mile gravel course inspired by the CABDR. Their route starts in Yuma, Arizona, traverses the Mojave Desert and the heart of Death Valley, and finishes in the shadow of the Sierras. This course had never before been attempted on bicycles, let alone while self-supported through each day’s ride. Both JB and VC had to carry all their tools, food, and water from start to finish of each stage. Each day has its own unique hurdles to overcome, from cycling through sand to finding water. This film follows that story. This may be one of the most grueling weeks of gravel bicycle riding that has ever been captured on film. This is episode 1, season 2, of a cycling documentary series about finding the hardest multi-surface roads in the world.

Everyone has their own personal "impossible route." It might be climbing a volcano or just finishing a single mile. The Impossible Route documentary series is all about capturing the story and the adventure of cyclists trying to accomplish what might be considered IMPOSSIBLE. This endeavor is not about racing; it’s about finding adventure, pushing the limit, and then going beyond what is thought to be possible.

The first Impossible Route expedition took place on Mauna Kea in 2020. There are four episodes planned for 2021. The ultimate goal is to grow this vision into a community for cyclists of all ages, backgrounds, and experience levels who want to overcome THEIR Impossible Route.

THE IMPOSSIBLE ROUTE FAQs

Q: Did you have full SAG?

A: The rules we set for ourselves stated we could NOT take ANYTHING from the crew DURING the ride. But we can get anything from strangers along the road if they offered or we could buy supplies from a store. Problem is, no stores…ANYWHERE.

Q: Why gravel bikes?

A: To see if it could be done! We each ran our own Canyon Grail for this expedition. I truly believe they were the FASTEST option, but boy was that sand deep! I recommend a motorcycle if you plan to do this route. Kidding, but you could try the Canyon Exceed.

Q: What tires did you run?

A: We ran IRC double cross, 42s in the rear and IRC MTB 2.0 tires in the front.

Q: How did you fuel on the bike?

A: It was EXTREMELY difficult to eat and drink while riding the gravel sections. But we had Flow Formulas in all of our bottles, gels, blocks, and burritos from chef Biju Thomas. We consumed around 4-5k calories each day while on the bike.

Q: What was in the bags?

A: Apidura supplied the bags and we loaded them down with as much water and food as possible. We also carried a spare tire, C02s, tools, and a satellite phone that never actually worked

Q: Where did you sleep?

A: JB and VC slept in a tent every night except two. Two of the nights the whole crew got hotels.

Q: What was the gearing was used?

A: VC ran a 1x 42 -10/50 Sram eagle and JB ran a 1x 34 - 10/34 Q: How hard was this REALLY? Don’t lie dude! A: Whatever this looks like on film, it was 1,000,000 times harder in real life.

Q: Can we donate?

A: I cant stress enough how much that helps (https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/vegan...)

Q: Covid safety

A: The whole crew was tested before coming together, and most got tested after if they were traveling. Interacting with strangers was met with caution and the people were asked from a distance if we could approach. No guidelines were broken, rules were followed, and safety was had.