Is This America’s Best Gravel Ride?

America is the home of gravel riding but where are the best gravel routes? Hank and Ollie decided to find out, and they headed to Patagonia, Arizona, for a 50-mile gravel adventure through the desert. They encounter wildlife, ghost towns and more, taking in the spectacular American wilderness by gravel bike!

In association with Visit Tucson 👉 https://gcn.eu/Visittucson 🤝 @VisitTucson
Check out our ride 👉 https://gcn.eu/abW

00:00 Intro
01:20 Bike ride fuel
02:20 Gravel route plan
04:03 Gravel ride start
16:52 Gravel ride end

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Do you fancy heading to America for your next gravel adventure? 🌵

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Watch more on GCN…
📹 Can We Survive The Biggest Bike Race In America? 👉

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📹 Or why not check out our Features Playlist 👉 ​​https://gcn.eu/gcnfeatures

🎵 Music – licensed by Epidemic Sound 🎵
Wind Storm 1 – SFX Producer
A Country Sunset – Constellate
Angel from the Country – Will Harrison
Auto Drive Off Gravel – SFX Producer
Can You Dig It – Banaras Baba & Kolkata Kid
Country Gold – Hunter Quinn
Gaze of the Cobra – Arc De Soleil
Neutron Skies – Roots and Recognition
Possession – Dylan Sitts
Secret Medicine – Sugoi
Slimmy Lemon – Arc De Soleil
Swoosh 06 Short – Jon Bjork
Vivaldi_ The Four Seasons, Violin Concerto in E Major, Op. 8 No. 1, RV 269 _Spring__ II. Largo e pianissimo sempre – Michelle Ross
Wayfinders – Trevor Kowalski
What You Sayin’ (Instrumental Version) – Bambi Haze
When Your Heart Breaks (Instrumental Version) – Mondays
Wind Blizzard 1 – SFX Producer

#gcn #cycling #roadcycling #roadbike #bike #bikes #bikelife #tucson #arizona #america #gravelcycling #gravelbike #gravelcyclist #gravelride #patagonia #patagoniaargentina #desertride

📸 Photos – © Velo Collection (TDW) / Getty Images & © Sprint Cycling Agency

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That’s the small town of Patagonia in the very south of Arizona in the USA lays claim to having the finest gravel riding in the world we’ve come here to sample the best of this Desert Paradise could this be the world’s ultimate gravel ride we’ve come to find out for

Ourselves yeah our mission is very simple survive the desert avoid the snakes and try not to crash into the many many cacti snakes yeah Arizona has the the most venomous snakes in the whole of the US but it’s not the snakes you want to worry about it’s the spiders

I’m not sure I believe you because you said cacti and have you looked behind you there are no cacti here yeah actually I don’t know where the cacti have gone but there are a lot of cacti in Arizona come on man this one is a Banger We cannot start our epic desert gravel ride without hearty American breakfast come this is great this is um little little cafe Gathering Grounds in Patagonia highly recommend it pancakes bacon makeup syrup going to get some cookies for the road as well homemade look great now Patagonia is a tiny

Little town in the middle of nowhere and I’ll explain exactly where we are a little bit later on but we’re going to down our pancakes and drink my bucket of coffee and then hope to meet a local who’s going to show us around we’ve been linked up with a local legend by the

Name of Xander he lives here with his wife Heidi and little one they run a bike shop bar hotel and are also co-founders to the cyclist menu a food and cycling guide to Patagonia and surrounding area there’s no one better to give us our route for the day thanks

For sorting us out with a route today Xander um just transferred it and put it on the Wahoo what what have you got in store for us today it’s the spirit world 50 which it’s for the 2023 course which happened last weekend first weekend in November every year and in hide and IED

Mind it’s kind of it’s the best of the valley you can ride more you can ride less but on the 50 course you get to see everything that the cell Valley in patagonia’s cycling area has to offer so Patagonia sounds amazing but what should we be looking out for yeah what are what

Are things of interest that that we should keep an eye for on the route Patagonia sits at just above 4,000 ft and everywhere that you’re going to be riding today on the 50 m course is getting you anywhere from 5 to 6,000 ft so the Topography is going to change

Dramatically from where you’ve been in Tucson um less Cactus uh more Oak Way more tree cover super dynamic in that sense especially as you ride up through the Patagonia mountains tons of wildlife here uh this is one of the most biodiverse regions on planet Earth uh the Flora and the fauna here are

Spectacular we’re just the temps are just dropping now for winter so you might see catamundi you might see analou uh you might see a Havalina rattlesnakes are kind of snuck down underground they’re sleeping now don’t worry uh are there any Lions there’s definitely mountain lions around here they’re seen

Very rarely we also have Mexican Jaguars also seen very rarely you never know Z never know they do exist here in these BS you might get eaten you might die it is proper cool here yeah I’m super excited to get into the desert genuinely right back crack on with our ride thanks

Man yeah thanks appreciate it yeah for sure right right let’s start our ride man I’m genuinely super excited we’ve been wanting to do something like this like proper Adventure in the desert so let’s see how we get on I’m going to say what five points if you see a rattlesnake

Yeah 15 points for a lion done what about lier yeah you’re going to need about 1,000 points I reckon about drop bears I I’ll leave you to that one right on the road we go it’s good this yes do [Applause] it [Applause] So the first three miles is Tac we’re heading east and then we’re heading into the real desert and there’s not many cafes not many shops it literally is a desert literally so make sure you you take plenty of stuff with you we got a load of water

And we got of sis the other thing is time of the year so right now it’s November and it’s beautiful but earlier on in the day it can be a bit chilly so that’s why you might be surprised to see you I’m wearing a long sleeve but uh it

Should be quite nice later on obviously in the summer you know July August can get very hot here I’m quite looking forward to hitting the gravel oh yeah see what off-road skills are like on it oh nonexistent so we’re only 3 miles in but Hank’s been watching Bear Grills and he’s telling me

That I need a Wei I should we into my water bottle to preserve fluids no mate what you have to do is you have to we into your sock and then that filters into your water bottle yeah but you have to take it you know seriously we’re in

The desert man yeah you can’t you got to save that liquid you’ve only got one bottle on your bike I don’t want you to dry out do you want me to we into your mouth for You oh it’s good gravel it man you’re your arms are like they going to break on that they are on the washboard little my little T-Rex arms your little toothpick Manab oh mate that’s a king cobra that one I missed it mate they’re lethal those on they’re lethal who get going to get away from that who gets th those points Jason gets those points Jason gets those points I might I’m just going do you reckon I

Can be like Indiana Jones and try and find one no why not where is it g what are you doing I’m looking for the snakes Jesus Christ what do you mean I never see snakes we’re heading up the harw creek and the veget is typical for this kind of area Upper

Creek because you’ve got these amazing and exceptional trees you got a sycamore you got the C cotton wood and The Willow yeah oh I’m I’m really loving this you know the nature I’m looking for want to find more Wildlife we’ve seen one snake come on a green snake we yet to

Find a rattler I want to find a r let’s push on oh my gosh Ollie check this out this is incredible that is unbelievable so we’ve climbed out the creek and we’ve climbed to 5,500 ft so it’s been a pretty like climb all the way up here but now it

Changes dramatically it’s insane just behind the camera there is the most it’s just breathtaking isn’t it insane yeah what a v like just a pan a panoramic view of just in just Prairie as far as the eye can see and then mountains in the background it’s proper like cowboy

World isn’t it yeah I feel like I should have a cowboy hat and some Square toad cowboy boots on this bit here is called Apache Road as well yeah and we have just been told that a lot of cowboy movies have been filmed here yeah John

Wayne ones um I’m a bit like John Wayne you are you walk like him walk like him anyway I’m going to take a picture of that is that is outrageous that View I am loving it around it I’ve never put anywhere like this it’s uh it’s fantastic but it is just incredibly dry isn’t it so I mean we’ve got bottles on the bike but cuz we got the camera bike we’re taking advantage of that we’ve got some extra water on there too

But we would recommend you have probably at least one bottle per hour of riding time out here um it’s not super hot it’s pretty Pleasant in that regard it’s just the air is so dry you feel thirsty a lot yeah and I would say as well spare tubes

And plugs cuz some of these rocks can be pretty sharp the last thing you want to do is get a stranded out here without being able to repair your your [Applause] Tires this is a region I’ve never ridden in before but I’ve heard so much about here in America and I guess all around the world the gravel scene’s going from strength to strength and in the US the network of gravel roads is absolutely enormous but this very location is

Characterized by the high desert environment the Rolling Hills and the Arid Landscapes and you can just see behind me the vistas just going forever and you feel like a needle in a hay stack and you feel like you could just go on forever it’s a world away from the

Kind of gravel riding we used to riding home and it’s really kind of taking my breath away it’s absolutely stunning right where’s Ollie we’re just uh riding into the San rafhael Valley now and this this area is vast it’s 990,000 acres and there look like nothing here down to put that into perspective Ollie that’s 68,800 football fields that’s that’s quick math for you though that is yeah resarch American or English football

Fields well American obviously we’re in the US mate I’m could I forget and as Zander said you know this place is home to a variety a species of plants and animals oh yeah a lot of which could kill you yeah you’re full of the facts today you

Aren’t you I know got anym yeah talking of snakes yeah there’s a whole heat of uh variety of snakes and species and 21 of them are venomous right so today I’m going to become Indiana Jones and I’m going to find you a Raptor so we’ve been riding for quite some time now and we haven’t seen a soul and then we’ve reached our southernmost point the town of Lil which has actually become a ghost town and uh I mean it’s pretty desolate and just a stone throw away is the Mexican border which is mad

It’s Rob cool as well like the history of why this has a kind of Scottish sounding name is because there was this guy called Colin Cameron who was like this Rich Scottish dude known as like the Cattle Baron came here and did a load of like ranching and then named it

After his uh well Hometown Back in Scotland but half of it when the Mexican border came across half of it is now in Mexico so apparently the silver buildings like you can see in the background over there that’s the that’s Mexico that’s the border and we’re in

America I thought there was going to be a really massive W yes so did I and um bit disappointed to be honest right we better crack on though cuz I think we’re going to run out of daylight the time is going we’ve been so wrapped up in just

The scenery and the riding that we’ve kind of lost track of times but we we need to get shivy on because uh we don’t want to be stuck in the desert because it does get pretty cold and Ollie doesn’t have his leg Warmness do you ollie no and watch out for rattlesnakes

Look there’s holes there L I think that’s a rattlesnake hole really Yeah in terms of tires riding around here I’d say the bigger the better an absolute minimum 40 mm um I’ve got 42s on quite happily have 50s and in terms of pressure down as well below 38 PSI I’d say run flat I mean there’s a lot of

Washboard gravel around here and uh it’s pretty bumpy and Rocky look at the views though that’s Mexico behind me so Cool so it’s pretty desolate out here you don’t spot many gravel Riders but a few people that are taking it out of Peter and Molly who have just shot around the corner and I just had to catch up with the G so they’ve done 50 Mi and heading

Back into Patagonia so we might be able to get through an off going O’s been sandbagging all day suddenly gets the sniff of a tailwind and some other Riders and he freaking lights it up I think it’s because he felt a bit inferior coming up next to Peter who’s

Literally gravel personified he was the most gravel man I’ve ever seen so we’re just doing the coming to the end of our lollipop on our route and then we’re uh going to be going descending back down the creek yeah we’re heading north back to pagonia and I’m looking forward to a beer

Hopefully Xander’s going to be there to meet us cuz a chilled beer will go down pre-roll right now oh yeah oh tarmac oh we made it I’m knackered mate to beer o00 that’s it survive the [Applause] Desert What you guys think of the 50 mile today I’m battered I’m absolutely battered it’s pretty damn good huh oh I mean like yeah I am like absolutely battered but in a good way and the scenery has blown me away like it’s I’ve never ridden anywhere like that and I

Was just loving the vistas and and the nature as well just seeing just deer and we saw a snake other like see like insects and just other Wildlife that would never normally see anywhere where I ride back home and I just Ling it my three words this morning were quiet vast and

Impactful it hit every single one I think impactful the most yeah I was shaking around a lot cheers cheers to yeah thank you so much for showing us around giving us the loop and kind of like letting us immerse ourselves into kind of the culture of Patagonia and the

Gravel here I hope you guys enjoyed it as much as we did hit that Thumbs Up Button if you did and let us know in the comment section below if you want to see more American V what was your favorite bit American gravel my favorite bit uh was dropping you

Yeah we’ll leave it with we’ll leave you with that we’ll leave you with that not going to get it’s not going to last long it’s not going to last long enjoy it while it last okay I will I Will I don’t know maybe it won be maybe it’ll be more pey than her she doesn’t care she just Wants