In the summer of 2017, I was trudging through the wilderness of Wyoming in the United States with a backpack on my shoulders. The temperature was near 50 degrees Celsius, and there was absolutely no wind. As I looked into the distance, feeling like I was going insane from the heat, I saw a herd of feral horses, remnants of the pioneer era, kicking up clouds of sand as they galloped by.
"Hey! Hey! How's it going!?"
I heard someone's voice from afar. I thought it might be a hallucination caused by the heat, but when I heard it again and looked in that direction, two metallic horses were racing toward me from across the distance. As they got closer, I realized it was an Asian man in his 40s, riding a mountain bike.
"Hey!"
I signaled by raising my trekking poles high, and he happily pushed hard on his pedals to come closer.
"You're a Continental Divide hiker, aren't you?"
"That's right! Are you on a bike trip?"
The mountain bike had a few waterproof bags strapped to it. However, they seemed somewhat sparse compared to the bike-packing setups I was familiar with.
"Yeah! I'm riding the Great Divide Trail by bike. I'm heading all the way to Canada!"
"Whoa, I didn't even know such a route existed. You're crazy for riding a bike through this hellish place! Haha!"
"I could say the exact same thing to you! Haha!"
We looked at each other and laughed heartily. However, the extreme heat quickly made us thirsty, so we each took one precious sip of water from our supplies.
Following the "Saikou no Tomodachi" T-shirt by Niwa-kun from Kakuozan Larder, the long-awaited 5th installment of the Circles original T-shirt collection has been brought to life by Ryosuke Kawato, also known as Iwashi-kun!
He is a hiker who has conquered America's Triple Crown trails. Because he sketched while he hiked, he was given the trail name "Sketch." He is the very person who met that cyclist while hiking the Continental Divide Trail four years ago.
Nowadays, Iwashi-kun himself straddles his beloved KONA / Unit-X, embodying the spirit of play by leveraging not only the mobility unique to cycling but also his natural agility. Incidentally, he is currently on a bike-packing trip in Hokkaido, where he has even brought along fly-fishing gear to hunt for rainbow trout in the northern land. He is truly a genius at playing.
【CIRCLES ORIGINAL】
Great Divide Trail T-Shirt
Designed by RYOSUKE KAWATO
Size : S〜XL
Price : 5,940 JPY (incl. tax)
The design, which we let him create freely, has turned out wonderfully, especially when combined with the tie-dye body. This item can also be exchanged using Circles Points, so please check it out!