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Brian Elander

@belander_

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Probably lost in the backcountry, preferably on a mountain bike. Ultra endurance 🫶🏼
🏜️ Van life & full time nomad 🏔️

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0.00012% of my time on the tour divide by @belander_

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4 months ago

2026 Tour Divide by the numbers:
15 days, 11 hours, 16 minutes
2711 miles ridden (4363 kms)
179,322 vertical feet climbed (54,657 meters)
10th place
1st American taken in Great Divide Mountain Bike Route by @belander_

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4 months ago

The best way to experience the world is by bicycle and the best people to experience it with are bicycle people. This ideology brought me to Peru to concur the Andes, race the @machupicchuepic stage race, and have another grand adventure with my @dawntoduskmtb family. Racing bikes in a setting such as the sacred valley and Machu Picchu itself is a an experience nearly unrivaled in both its beauty and its community. As an athlete I am proud of my 3 stages wins and ultimately my 2nd place in the general classification. As an adventurer my time in Peru has reaffirmed one of my core beliefs: The world rewards those who take a chance on it. ¡Viva Peru!🇵🇪 taken in Machu Picchu, Cusco, Perú by @belander_

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a month ago

Moments from our time on the Ausangate traverse in the Peruvian Andes. A route of our own conception that materialized into possibly one of the most stunning and uniquely unspoiled landscapes that we have ever had the pleasure of riding a bike in. The world above 5050 meters (16,565 ft) truly special and rewarding thing. taken in Ausangate Peru by @belander_

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a month ago

Bikepacking Peru, climbing to 16,565 ft / 5050 meters above sea level on the Ausangate Circuit, and everything in between 🇵🇪 taken in Ausangate Peru by @belander_

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a month ago

Tommorow at 4:00 am I will be setting off on the Colorado Trail Race. This fabled 530 mile race focuses on extremely rough and technical high alpine singletrack as it traverses the Rocky Mountains from Denver to Durango. It is also the second race in legendary ‘triple crown’ of ultra distance bike races. The thing about the CTR is that these trails are my alma mater and they consist of some my favorite riding in the world. I’ve been throwing down some truly amazing backcountry days in preparation (highlights pictured above) and I’m quite happy with the form that I have going into this thing. With that being said I’ve been humbled by these mountains many times before and I’m sure that I will be again. I just can’t wait to be out there. taken in Colorado Trail by @belander_

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3 months ago

The stage is set, the rig is loaded, and I’m heading to the start line one of the longest and hardest bike races in the world. On Friday I start riding South from Banff Canada in the 2026 Tour Divide grand depart. I’ll be racing 2800 miles (4500 kms) and climbing upwards of 150,000 vertical feet (46000 meters) as I traverse down the spine of the Rockies. In an event where I must be entirely self sufficient and clock never stops my only real game plan is to make continuous and relentless forward progress while enjoying the absolute hell out of it. This whole this is a dream coming true and I truly appreciate everything and everyone that has came together to make this happen for me. As always the event tracker is linked in my bio. Let’s do this! taken in Great Divide Mountain Bike Route by @belander_

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4 months ago

The big one is fast approaching. That being the Tour Divide, a 2740 mile (4410km) self supported mountain bike race from Banff Canada to the Mexico Border. There are several schools of thought about how one should approach training for something like this and as it turns out nobody can agree on the right way. That’s probably because there is in fact no right way so my approach has been simple: Go do as much big, dumb, and crazy stuff as possible. Using that as my rubric I would say I’ve succeeded.

In the past month I’ve
• Raced the @letourdefrankie 800km bikepacking race across Mexico
• Raced the @thepacificrace stage race on Costa Rica
• Raced (and won) the @ziarides Royal Gorge 12 duo with @brooxpulford in Colorado
• Gone on many more grand adventures all across the across western United States and Central America

With just about 3 weeks til the start of the Tour Divide I’ve still got time to squeeze in another couple adventures before it’s game time. But even just getting to this point has been an unbelievable joy that that I value tremendously. And hopefully it setting me up well for this crazy thing I have fast approaching in my future. by @belander_

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5 months ago

I did the @letourdefrankie bike race from Mexico City to Puerto Escondido across Mexico. That is roughly 800 kms of incredibly punishing terrain composed of extreme heat, rough and raw dirt roads, and the hospitality of a gracious people. Lots of memories were made, many of them just to be immediately forgotten, lost to the heat, dehydration, or the Mexican countryside.

Some people have the gift of documenting these types of events in a way that truly does them justice. I do not have that gift. I have found that these rides end up becoming deeply personal for me and when I am deep in it I don’t give a thought to the social media post when I am finished. With that being said I will share my Tour De Frankie thoughts nonetheless.

I finshed the race in 68 hours 54 minutes, riding the 800+ kms and climbing the 14,300+ meters in a way that I felt was composed and purposeful. I earned myself 9th place and all things considered I’m very pleased with that. I do these things because they are bigger than I am. Going somewhere where I am an outsider to do something that is maybe just barely possible is scary. Mexico has a reputation that cannot be ignored, but it can and should be questioned. I have traveled here many times now and my observations are always the same; humanity thrives here. The little moments are often times all that I had, passing through a villages, buying a soda, laughing with people who have a life so incredibly different to mine, then carrying on my journey never to see them again. Yes the ride is the real deal. Good. When it is all said and done the route will push you down and the people will lift you back up and to that I say Viva México, I can’t wait for next time. by @belander_

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6 months ago

There are many different flavors of big adventures the be had on a bicycle. More often than not I choose the psycho way, pushing my physical boundaries and battling my mental limits to achieve goals that are often times self imposed and completely arbitrary. With that comes immense personal growth, occasional glory, and often times a distinct lack of engagement with the places I find myself in. That’s why on this most recent trip I elected to do things in a slightly more unhurried fashion. I picked an area in the Los Padres Mountains I knew virtually nothing about, packed my bike quite heavily, rode it quite slowly, and took many many photos. Oh yeah and I enjoyed the shit put of it. That’s not to say it was easy miles though. Those mountains are the real deal and they put up a spirited fight. It’s more like this time around I didn’t take years off of my life fighting back. Too bad for me they race this route and that seems like the perfect opportunity to go psycho in the mountains once again… taken in Los Padres National Forest by @belander_

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7 months ago

Moments from places so remote they don’t even have names. Spent a day exploring deep in the back country of Death Valley last weekend, it’s the real deal out there. taken in Death Valley, California by @belander_

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7 months ago

Unfortunately when you live your live at a million miles per hour you occasionally forget to post about things on social media. 24 Hours in the Old Pueblo happened long enough ago that it is utterly irrelevant now, but the ride that @dawntoduskmtb and I had out there is noteworthy enough that I’m going to post about it anyways.

There is a lot to unpack about this race and luckily for us Justin broke it down for us beautifully in his most recent blog post (link in bio). If you want a proper look into the madness that happened out in the desert that is the place to read about it. taken in 24 Hours In Old Pueblo by @belander_

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8 months ago