Made Possible By

Specialized

Major Support Provided By

SRAM

Mission Workshop

Clif Bar

Additional Support Provided By

Porcelain Rocket

Outlier

Snow Peak

Oakley

Stumptown Coffee

Mountain Hardwear

Salewa

Poler

Causwell

Mountain House

We chose New Zealand and the Southern Alps for the first Dead Reckoning Expedition for several reasons.

1. We wanted to begin this project immediately and New Zealand is in the Southern Hemisphere where, supposedly, it’s Summer during our Winter.AWOL
2. The Southern Alps, best known for Mt. Cook, Mt. Aspiring, Queenstown, Wanaka, Helicopters, the Franz Josef Glacier, Bungee Jumping and Mordor, are remote and rugged, and perfectly suited to creative Overlanding. You see, it’s our contention that Overlanding is a lot like Skateboarding—as anybody who’s ever tried to heelflip a bench to pop-shovit to wallie a planter box to kickflip 5.0 a 12-stair handrail to 360 ollie off a curb into the street will tell you……you’ve got see it in your head first. And then, if you see you it hard enough, eventually you’ll make it.
3. We knew a guy. And knowing a guy, especially a guy like the guy we knew, makes ALL THE DIFFERENCE to planning and coordinating a successful campaign. Side note: To be 100% accurate, we knew a woman, who knew a guy, about which guy she spoke VERY highly. But to be clear, we didn’t actually know the guy until she introduced us to the guy via email. And but even then, after three months of several dozen email threads featuring detailed plans and reports and contingencies and outlines and options regarding possible routes, in search of, the whole time, the “perfect” coast-to-coast trans-alps route, one that was ambitious-maybe-audacious, we hadn’t “all the way” met our guy. We had Skyped several times but, due to connectivity issues, audio only. Paul was probably was a real person. I mean, he had a website, we saw photos…….we emailed……

Full Report: Brodrick Pass

We went to Bolivia because of the mines. Everywhere else in the world roads go where roads go and trails go where trails go. There is very little confusion about which is which, and it’s clear where one ends and the other begins. Roads are wide, paved or graded, and maintained to some degree. Trails get rad. In Bolivia, because of the mines, the situation is more fluid.

FATBOYIf gold was discovered on the top of Mt Whitney, and California didn’t give a fuck about large scale mining and environmental stewardship because it was the poorest country in South America, somebody with three snow shovels lashed to the front of a minivan would figure out how to build a road to the top. Now imagine thousands of Whitneys, only 40% taller, steeper and more rugged. That’s the Cordillera Apolobamba.

That’s why we went to Bolivia. To ride a network of the world’s most ambitious, ludicrous roads. Roads that defy physics. Roads that weave throughout an ancient and venerable Alpine Wonderland that is currently transitioning into to Tolkien’s Mordor.

Full Report: Sunchuli Pass

The Sierra Nevada mountain range stretches 400 miles north to south along the eastern side of California. They’re tall, jagged, formidable and incredibly picturesque, the result of a whole heap of granite formed underground during the Triassic period and then forced out of the Earth’s mantle by the tectonic process over a few million years.AWOLBut the granite didn’t go softly, and it takes revenge for its acute ascension into the heavens by slashing the descending sun at the end of each day, spilling bright crimson colors across the evening sky. In spite of the region’s renowned beauty, and the common Californian’s voracious outdoor enthusiasm, much of this range remains relatively untouched and seldom visited. One reason for this unspoiled condition is the notoriously difficult access to the High Sierra. Nearly all the roads that lead in are dead ends. During the winter people aiming to go east of the Sierra must drive around them: south to Mojave or north up and over Lake Tahoe. In the summer, the trip is made only marginally shorter with the ability to go over Sonora Pass, Tioga Pass, Walker Pass or the primitive wheel-eating pavement and dirt of Sherman Pass, all of which remain closed in the winter. But once upon a time there was a dream of another route, a path across the mountains that would link Fresno and the coast to Bishop, then on to Nevada, the midwest and beyond. That dream was called the 168.

Full Report: Piute Pass

BC is MTB hallowed ground. FATBOYBig travel bikes have been de rigueur for shredding and blasting the well known trails of B.C.’s coastal range and beyond. Considering all the riding that has been done in the area there is still much to explore. The B.C. outback is a wild place, with minimal access, and hordes of wild animals enjoying seemingly endless wilderness. Getting around in this area is a bit like darts, you get thrown into a place and you’re stuck there. Still, there are ways to get around. When devising our route we considered float planes, a few established trails, and all-terrain compatible bikes to devise a route that criss-crosses a series of passes from Taseko lake back to floatplane HQ, Tyax Lodge.

Full Report: Iron Pass (In Progress)