This is MTB Himalaya : Journey to Shimla | Ep. 1 | Jamis Portal #shred #trailriding #newbikeday

Mother... How you doing, man? On to the next one. The first leg from Atlanta to Newark was like the drumlet of the chicken, and now we're on to like the drumstick of the chicken, or maybe more like a turkey drumstick, because this next flight's going to be 14 hours. So, this whole flight I'm going to try and sleep. So, if I can sleep for 14 hours, I figure I can get back to my level keel. The only problem is, when we land in the New Delhi, it's going to be night. So, then you've got to go right back to sleep, and that's what gets to be tricky. You know, I posted up this picture, and it's been getting tons of killer comments, because it absolutely just pops, you know, the tires, the wheels, everything about it. Like, I've been riding the Alloy one for a year or two now, and this thing is insane. So, I can't wait to get it out into India and see what it's capable of, but it's sick. Right now, we're just standing in line to get our visas checked so we can get into India, but I've already had it checked once when I was in Atlanta, so this is like your first entering of India. This experience of just chaos. So, it's fitting. Let's do this. Ready to rock and roll now. Along Shandadar, we're getting a cab. Hopefully, it's a four-hour ride. We'll see over to Shimla, and then we'll stay at the palace there, and then that's the host hotel for the race, and we'll be there for two nights, and then on the 26th, we start racing. That's the plan. Right now, it's just breakfast and some coffee, because we probably won't get coffee for the rest of the trip. I think this is the highlight of how posh this trip's going to be right here. I don't think this is indicative of the rest of it at all. From here out, it's going to be tent life and cold showers. Somebody lost some of their stuff. That sucks. Let's roll. I feel like we'd be doing one of those bloggers, like food bloggers, where we just travel around and eat stuff, do a little blog about it. And they're popular, man. People watch that stuff. Steamed ice? Yeah. Thank you. Okay. Mutter paneer. It's kind of my staple. Like a cottage cheese, kind of, and like a tomato sauce. Man, that was delicious. I wonder if they do like to go back. India's a wild place, incredibly busy. There's things always going on, sights, the sounds, the flavors. I feel like I did an eating stage race across India, as much as I did a mountain bike stage race, because there's just so much good food, and I'm only here for such a short duration that you try and take in as much as you can of the experience. Here we're at the Woodville Palace. Mmm, porridge. And now we're enjoying breakfast. A little family reunion. We got here yesterday afternoon, like around 5. Okay. And so, but my bike just showed up this morning. Okay. So, once we get done with this, we're going to go to Portland and put that bike together now. When I've done this event in the past, I've always brought a hardtail with about a 100-mil fork on there. This year, I brought a James Portal. Definitely built for trail riding. 130-mil travel front and rear. One-by drivetrain, chain guard up front, dropper post, slacker head tube angle, 35-mil stanchion fork. Absolutely fantastic. It's got a real snap, get up and go to it. Got big enough tires to monster truck them. The people here are incredibly friendly and hospitable. You come here and you can't help but, you know, feel welcomed. The number of selfies that everybody wants is just incredible. That's our move from here today. Okay, let's walk. Thank you. Nice to meet you. Thank you. Yeah. What's that? So, turn him? We need to do something with that. 34. Thomas, turn him. Yeah. Thank you. The Portal's an enduro crusher. So, yeah, this will be fun. That'll be sketchy at the start. That should be a real s*** show. They look shorter, but it's always deceiving because there's a lot of climbing here. That should be good. Should be fun. I think we'll be sitting pretty. That bag. Bike. Shoes, chamois, jersey, gloves. Camp bag. Camp bag? Yeah. We're on our way into our Indian adventure here. So, good deal. Swaha. So, for me, it was like half the face, more or less. I'm afraid to put my hat on and smear it. I don't know how long it takes to adhere and dry. The prologue was non-competitive, more of a meet and greet for the town, so that was a lot of fun coming out for that and having all the locals come out. Hello! Absolutely fantastic experience. Poma's Donut!