Dylan Taylor’s American Trail Race Rig

You’ve done the Tour Divide a few times, what made you decide to do the all new American Trail Race?

I’ve been excited about the idea of bikepacking the TAT route since I first learned about it 5 or so years ago. It looked like a great mixed-surface way to see new areas of the country. The route seemed like a huge physical and mental challenge that I was excited to take on once the race was announced.

So how would you describe your training for the race?

I don’t use a coach or a training plan, rather I just go out and ride my bike a lot. This spring I focused on climbing with a mix of intensity and distance. Much of my training was on a loaded bike. I ended up with about 2,800 miles and 180k vertical feet in 2017 but missed out on some miles for most of February because I separated my shoulder trail running.

Are there any parts of the course that you are super-excited about?

I’m excited about lots of parts of the course for different reasons. I’m apprehensive of the high passes in Colorado after a heavy snow year in the San Juans. The dry sections in Utah and Nevada have my respect as well.

You’re only a couple weeks into the race, but are you happy with your kit choices so far? Anything you wish you’d done differently?

Everything is working really well so far. Several times each day I have wondered if bar-end shifters might have been more fun but I’m perfectly happy with my double tap.

When do you expect to reach Port Orford?

I set a rather arbitrary goal of 28 days for myself. That was based on very little research or knowledge of the route and intended primarily as a motivator to make me ride hard.

What’s the most interesting thing you’ve seen so far?

So early Tuesday morning when it was just getting light I rolled up on a big white dog sleeping in the road. It of course woke up, barked, and chased me part way up a hill. After he lost interest I found that I was next to his flock of multi-colored goats, one of which had his head and horns stuck in the fence. I dismounted my bike and stepping across the ditch I grabbed it by the horns and wrestled it free while it thrashed and screamed like it was dying. Oh and there was a hairless (mange) coyote just as I entered Mississippi that looked like the mythical chupacabra.