Save the Date: World Premier of “Ride the Divide” Sequel in Boulder
“In the world of adventure films, being coined as a cult classic is rare. Reimagining one with never-before-seen footage? Unprecedented.” Yet, this is exactly what producer Mike Dion is doing 14 years after the release of the award-winning documentary, Ride the Divide. This Saturday marks the world premiere of its sequel dubbed Ride the Divide Returns, which includes untold stories of the original 2008 Tour Divide Canada-to-Mexico Mountain bike race.
The World Premiere Double Feature Film Festival on June 15 will be held at eTown Hall in Boulder, Colorado. Both of the aforementioned movies will be shown. Known as the Granddaddy of all modern-day, cross-country bikepacking races, the Tour Divide holds a special place in my heart as I was one of the original 8 finishers out of 16 starters. Before completing it, the race was widely considered “impossible” due to the physical, logistical, and terrain challenges. It was the #1 adventure of my lifetime.
I was shown in Ride the Divide (2010) for only a brief moment. However, in regards to Ride the Divide Returns (2024), the producer assures me that my yellow Cannondale mountain bike is in the movie “quite a bit.”
The event includes a 30-minute session between the films to reflect on the race and the evolution of bikepacking over the last 16 years, followed by a Q&A session after the second film. I’m hoping to get the chance to participate in one or both of these sessions.
Interested in attending? In-person tickets are expected to sell out, so be sure to buy them soon.
If you can’t make it in person, there’s an option to watch the event virtually from June 15-17. Buy a virtual pass here.
Festival Schedule (Saturday, June 15, 2024)
From https://rtdreturns.eventive.org/welcome:
- 3:00pm: Pre-event at the eTown Bar & Cafe in Boulder, Colorado
- 4:00pm: Ride the Divide film
- 6:00pm: Cast and crew reflect on 15+ years since the inaugural Tour Divide
- 6:30pm: Ride the Divide Returns film
- 8:00pm: Q&A
Come for the entire event or just for the world premiere of Ride the Divide Returns, starting promptly at 6:30pm. I will be at the festival at 3:00 p.m. and am looking forward to seeing you there and sharing this special experience with you.
I intend to ride my yellow Cannondale F700 that I rode in the 2008 Tour Divide. I am restoring it to its 2008 race setup:
I will ride it from Fort Collins to Boulder so that attendees can view in person how a race bike for the Tour Divide was set up “back in the day,” and also so I can re-experience what it was like riding this vintage mountain bike long distances.
The journey will be on roads, however, in contrast to on the dirt, gravel, or single-track roads (some covered with deep snow or mud) that 90% of the Tour Divide traversed. So the bike should arrive at the festival much cleaner than as shown below.
Movie Trailer for Ride the Divide Returns
