{"id":2101154,"date":"2026-08-19T17:17:52","date_gmt":"2026-08-19T14:17:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2101154"},"modified":"2026-08-19T17:17:52","modified_gmt":"2026-08-19T14:17:52","slug":"cruz-blue-a-17-year-old-high-school-senior-conquered-bikepackings-toughest-4000-mile-challenge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2101154","title":{"rendered":"Cruz Blue, a 17-year-old high school senior, conquered bikepacking\u2019s toughest 4,000-mile challenge"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"A<\/a>
Cruz upon completing the Tour Divide. Photos: Cruz Blue<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Cruz Blue is a 17-year-old from Flagstaff, Arizona, looking forward to starting his senior year of high school in a few weeks. Like many Flagstaff teenagers, he loves mountain biking. Unlike many teenagers his age, Cruz mountain bikes thousands of miles at a time.<\/p>\n

At the beginning of July, Cruz wrapped up the 2,700-mile Tour Divide Race<\/a>, likely setting a speed record for riders under the age of 18. He\u2019s also completed the Arizona and Colorado Trails, which makes him the youngest to finish the Triple Crown of bikepacking, according to bikepacking.net<\/a>. But as we learned in a conversation with Cruz, he doesn\u2019t care much about records. Rather, he just wants to have adventures on his bike.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a><\/figure>\n

The Tour Divide Race<\/h2>\n

\u201cSo, it took me 20 days,\u201d Cruz told us, referring to his recent time on the Tour Divide. Cruz was rounding up. His official time is 19 days, 11 hours, and 6 minutes, and he completed the ride solo and unsupported. (His dad followed the route by car, but didn\u2019t provide assistance.) That\u2019s a touch faster than Edyn Teitge\u2019s time in 2024, who raced it at age 15.<\/p>\n

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But again, Cruz doesn\u2019t really care about official times, and he told us Edyn was a huge inspiration and a big reason he did the Divide at all. \u201cEdyn is a beast, and he inspired the Tour for me,\u201d Cruz said. \u201cI wasn\u2019t really interested in it at all until he did it.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Cruz smashed the Tour Divide in less than 20 days, the race wasn\u2019t necessarily his cup of tea. \u201cI\u2019m a proud trail rider,\u201d he told us. The miles along pavement and gravel were especially challenging for Cruz. To be clear, he doesn\u2019t mind putting his head down and just grinding miles out, but he would much rather do so on singletrack.<\/p>\n

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\"A<\/a><\/figure>\n
\"A<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n

\u201cI knew I was going to be riding on the side of a highway, and it just kept going,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd three miles later, I\u2019m still on this road. And 20 miles later, I\u2019m still on this road. And 50 miles later, I\u2019m still on this road.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Cruz created spreadsheets with every potential stop on the Tour Divide route. While he tried to plan his stops and the distance between them as much as possible, he also didn\u2019t hesitate to venture on side quests. Sometimes, when a cookie is needed, a quick pedal into a place like Breckenridge is worth it. <\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
Cruz wasn\u2019t joking about needing that cookie.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

His goal was to finish the Tour Divide in 20 days. Across the 2,700 miles or so that he would ride, that works out to roughly 135 miles each day. Averaging for shorter and longer days, he felt that was an attainable goal. Cruz mentioned that his shortest day was \u201conly<\/em>\u201d 94 miles, while his longest pull was 182 miles. He wanted that long day to be 200 miles, and nearly packed up his camp and pedaled into the night when he realized he was only 18 miles from that goal. In the end, sleep won.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can sleep relatively anywhere I want,\u201d the 17-year-old said. \u201cI\u2019m okay sleeping on rocks. If I go to bed late enough, I can sleep in a questionable spot, and then wake up early and keep on moving.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The bike Cruz tackled the Tour Divide on is an Ibis DV9<\/a>, which he absolutely loves. He has no idea of the total miles he has put on the bike, only that it likely reaches into the \u201cbajillions\u201d and that it has certainly had \u201csome rough miles.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cruz equipped the DV9 with a rear rack, frame bags, and a handlebar bag for the Tour Divide and his time on the Arizona and Colorado Trails. Other than that, the Ibis is a standard hardtail trail bike and is his daily driver for trail rides back home in Flagstaff.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a><\/figure>\n

The Colorado and Arizona Trails and a Triple Crown<\/h2>\n

Cruz completed the Tour Divide, Colorado Trail, and Arizona Trail, all within the past 12 months, making him the youngest known Bikepacking Triple Crown finisher, according to Bikepacking.net<\/a>. However, he technically can\u2019t claim to have completed bikepacking\u2019s Triple Crown Challenge<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t make the Grand Depart for the AZT,\u201d this year Cruz told us. To officially finish the Triple Crown Challenge, participants must ride all three trails in the same year and start the Arizona Trail (AZT) on the Grand Depart\u201d in a single calendar year.<\/p>\n

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\"A<\/a><\/figure>\n
\"A<\/a><\/figure>
The Grand Canyon crossing on the AZT doesn\u2019t allow wheels to touch the dirt. The Colorado and Arizona Trails were much different than the Tour Divide and much more to Cruz\u2019s liking. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This year, the AZT race is October 1st, and, unfortunately, Cruz will be out of the country. Because his Arizona Trail race grand depart wasn\u2019t in the same calendar year and he can\u2019t make the AZT start date, there will be no \u201cTriple Crown Challenge\u201d title for Cruz. While Cruz would like the title, and he would likely be the youngest to claim it, the title isn\u2019t as important to him as his adventures.<\/p>\n

Editor\u2019s note: Cruz is listed among the 33 all-time \u201cTriple Crown Challenge Finishers\u201d at bikepacking.net. A note beside his name says, \u201c2025\/26 \u2013 one year period, 17 years old.\u201d<\/p>\n

He loves both the Arizona and Colorado Trails, as the singletrack and challenge serve him much better. Despite encountering rugged high-elevation hike-a-bike sections and relentless peanut-butter mud, he would do them again in a heartbeat.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI started bikepacking to have an adventure,\u201d Cruz said. \u201cI\u2019m a little bummed that I\u2019m not qualified for a legit Triple Crown [Challenge], but also, people made a bunch of rules and\u2029I got to follow them. \u00a0I\u2019m just going to keep riding my bike.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cruz said his parents inspired his sense of adventure. He remembers seeing photos and hearing stories when he was younger about trips abroad and mountain adventures. As he got older, he desperately wanted similar experiences, but on two wheels.<\/p>\n

Could he claim some title or be \u201cthe first\u201d or \u201cthe youngest\u201d? Yes. But is that as important as the adventure itself? For Cruz, certainly not.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a><\/figure>\n

His next adventure<\/h2>\n

The next adventure for Cruz is the reason he won\u2019t make that AZT Grand Departure. For his senior year of high school, Cruz has opted to study abroad, enrolling in a program called World Class Academy. The program mixes mountain biking with studies in spectacular locations around the world. In just a few weeks, Cruz is off to Italy to start his last year of high school.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll wake up, do school until one or two in the afternoon, and then go ride crazy downhill trails,\u201d Cruz said. \u201cThen go to bed and do it all again.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Cruz has a new Transition Sentinel that he will take abroad, leaving the beloved Ibis DV9 at home. But it will certainly be there for when he is back in the States, looking for more long-distance adventures.<\/p>\n

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The news stinks. Why not follow Singletracks on Google News<\/a> to bring some joy to your day?<\/em><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<!–<\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\t\t\t\t–><\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\"A<\/a><\/p>\n
Community<\/a><\/div>\n
This 13-year-old Bikepacked the Entire Great Divide Route and She’s Not Done Exploring<\/a><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\"A<\/a><\/p>\n
Community<\/a><\/div>\n
Meaghan Hackinen is the fastest woman to bike Tour Divide<\/a><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Exterior<\/a><\/p>\n
Community<\/a><\/div>\n
Victor Bosoni sets new Tour Divide record: 2,700 miles in under 11.5 days<\/a><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\"A<\/a><\/p>\n
Arizona<\/a><\/div>\n
The Arizona Trail Race is Still Self-Supported and as Hard as Ever<\/a><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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Cruz upon completing the Tour Divide. Photos: Cruz Blue Cruz Blue is a 17-year-old from Flagstaff, Arizona, looking forward to starting his senior year of high school in a few weeks. Like many Flagstaff teenagers, he loves mountain biking. Unlike many teenagers his age, Cruz mountain bikes thousands of miles at a time. At the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,274],"class_list":["post-2101154","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-singletracks-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2101154","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2101154"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2101154\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2101154"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2101154"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2101154"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}