Cruz Blue, a 17-year-old high school senior, conquered bikepacking's toughest 4,000-mile challenge

A cyclist stands in front of a U.S. Customs and Border Protection sign at Antelope Wells, New Mexico, holding their bike above their head in celebration. The background features a clear blue sky and rocky terrain. — 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 beginning of July, Cruz wrapped up the 2,700-mile Tour Divide Race, likely setting a speed record for riders under the age of 18. He’s also completed the Arizona and Colorado Trails, which makes him the youngest to finish the Triple Crown of bikepacking, according to bikepacking.net. But as we learned in a conversation with Cruz, he doesn’t care much about records. Rather, he just wants to have adventures on his bike.

A smiling cyclist stands in front of a colorful mural on the entrance of a tunnel, holding up a hand gesture of approval. The cyclist is wearing a helmet and a brightly colored shirt, with a fully loaded bike beside them. The surrounding landscape features dry vegetation and earthy tones.

The Tour Divide Race

“So, it took me 20 days,” 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’t provide assistance.) That’s a touch faster than Edyn Teitge’s time in 2024, who raced it at age 15.

But again, Cruz doesn’t really care about official times, and he told us Edyn was a huge inspiration and a big reason he did the Divide at all. “Edyn is a beast, and he inspired the Tour for me,” Cruz said. “I wasn’t really interested in it at all until he did it.”

While Cruz smashed the Tour Divide in less than 20 days, the race wasn’t necessarily his cup of tea. “I’m a proud trail rider,” he told us. The miles along pavement and gravel were especially challenging for Cruz. To be clear, he doesn’t mind putting his head down and just grinding miles out, but he would much rather do so on singletrack.

A young man wearing a helmet and a cycling vest smiles and points at a map displayed on a wooden sign at a trailhead. The map is labeled "The Continental Divide National Scenic Trail" and shows scenic images of landscapes. The man is standing next to his bike, which is loaded with gear, surrounded by tall trees and grass in a mountainous area.

A dirt road winds through a forested area, leading toward a mountain range. The mountains are steep and rocky, featuring patches of snow on their slopes. Tall trees line the sides of the road, and the sky above is clear with a few clouds. The scene captures a serene and natural landscape, inviting exploration and adventure.

“I knew I was going to be riding on the side of a highway, and it just kept going,” he said. “And three miles later, I’m still on this road. And 20 miles later, I’m still on this road. And 50 miles later, I’m still on this road.”

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’t hesitate to venture on side quests. Sometimes, when a cookie is needed, a quick pedal into a place like Breckenridge is worth it.

A young person wearing a cycling helmet and gear stands next to a trail sign indicating directions to Breckenridge, Copper Mountain, and Keystone. The sign shows the distance to Breckenridge is 6.7 miles. In the background, there are trees and a brown fence, with a clear blue sky above. — Cruz wasn’t joking about needing that cookie.

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 “only” 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.

“I can sleep relatively anywhere I want,” the 17-year-old said. “I’m 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.”

The bike Cruz tackled the Tour Divide on is an Ibis DV9, 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 “bajillions” and that it has certainly had “some rough miles.”

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.

A person wearing a helmet and cycling gear stands next to a directional sign that indicates the Colorado Trail, with a landscape of grassy and rocky terrain in the background. The individual is holding their bike, wearing a backpack, and smiling for the photo.

The Colorado and Arizona Trails and a Triple Crown

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. However, he technically can’t claim to have completed bikepacking’s Triple Crown Challenge.

“I can’t make the Grand Depart for the AZT,” 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” in a single calendar year.

A young man stands on a rocky trail, holding a mountain bike over his shoulder. He is wearing a bright green and black athletic outfit, along with gray shoes and colorful socks. The background features a stunning view of steep canyon walls and a clear blue sky. The terrain appears rugged, suggesting an adventurous outdoor activity. — The Grand Canyon crossing on the AZT doesn’t allow wheels to touch the dirt. The Colorado and Arizona Trails were much different than the Tour Divide and much more to Cruz’s liking.

A hiker in a yellow jacket walks along a rocky trail on a mountainside, with layered hills and dense forest in the background under an overcast sky. — The Grand Canyon crossing on the AZT doesn’t allow wheels to touch the dirt. The Colorado and Arizona Trails were much different than the Tour Divide and much more to Cruz’s liking.

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’t in the same calendar year and he can’t make the AZT start date, there will be no “Triple Crown Challenge” title for Cruz. While Cruz would like the title, and he would likely be the youngest to claim it, the title isn’t as important to him as his adventures.

Editor’s note: Cruz is listed among the 33 all-time “Triple Crown Challenge Finishers” at bikepacking.net. A note beside his name says, “2025/26 – one year period, 17 years old.”

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.

“I started bikepacking to have an adventure,” Cruz said. “I’m a little bummed that I’m not qualified for a legit Triple Crown [Challenge], but also, people made a bunch of rules and I got to follow them. I’m just going to keep riding my bike.”

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.

Could he claim some title or be “the first” or “the youngest”? Yes. But is that as important as the adventure itself? For Cruz, certainly not.

A person riding a mountain bike on a narrow dirt trail through a grassy landscape, with expansive mountains in the background under a clear blue sky.

His next adventure

The next adventure for Cruz is the reason he won’t 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.

“I’ll wake up, do school until one or two in the afternoon, and then go ride crazy downhill trails,” Cruz said. “Then go to bed and do it all again.”

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.