A pair from Breckenridge came to Cortez on Sept. 22, traveling in style.
The 1986 Volkswagen Westfalia, an iconic jalopy, was decorated with a vinyl wrap featuring pine trees, mountains, the setting sun, a howling wolf and “Conation Collective” in big bright letters.
A friend, Almont-based artist Andrew Hoffman, designed the art to show off the mountain bike apparel brand that Matt Hayes, the owner of the van, owns.
Hayes said he’s worked in the outdoor industry for a long time, with jobs at a climbing gym, ski slope and even e-commerce and freelance writing in that arena.
In that time, Hayes did a lot of mountain bike racing. And he still does a lot of mountain biking, which is why he came to Cortez – for Phil’s World.
“There just wasn’t really the product I wanted available, so I decided to make it,” he said.
Like most mountain bikers, when he raced, he wore a spandex race kit, that was “super-high performance, lightweight, breathable, everything like that.”
“I wanted something that was baggy that felt performance-oriented but that I could like wear into a bar,” Hayes said.
Baggy mountain biking clothing was in vogue, but its performance was lacking.
“So I decided to make some that was aesthetically relaxed and looked like you just walk into a business, but performance-wise was like, oh yeah, I can go ride across the Continental Divide and it can rain on me and it would still perform well,” Hayes said.
When he first started the business, Hayes said it was his primary focus. Now, he has a day job to pay the bills, so it’s no longer his “full focus.”
“Starting a business by yourself is such a huge endeavor,” said Hayes. “I had someone tell me that it’s helpful to have a cofounder because that means you could convince at least one other person that it was a good idea.”
At the time of its founding, he did have a few friends willing to go in with him, but “life events” barred them from joining.
At any rate, the van is striking and helps with marketing.
Hayes remembered his grandparents driving it when he was six years old. Eventually, it ended up at his aunt and uncle’s house in Albuquerque.
When he asked about it, the van was broken down in the yard and hadn’t run for eight to 12 years. It was essentially his aunt’s filing cabinet, he said.
But now, it’s an extension of his brand, and he’s testing the waters with making it his and his girlfriend’s home on wheels.
“As humans, we just don’t get opportunities to be scared or to just be out of our comfort zone,” said his girlfriend, who asked not to be named.
“I think traveling, especially in a time machine, you have this unique opportunity to remove yourself from a lot of comforts and you have to learn to roll with the punches, and I’m not doing that with a lot of ease or grace right now.”
Hayes said he’s lived in Vanny for a handful of monthslong stints, but never with another person who’s also a “digital nomad,” pulling Starlink.
“This trip is kind of like a shakeout drive,” Hayes said.
The morning of Sept. 23, they woke to a dead battery.
“I like things to be orderly and not haphazard and last minute, making a plan on the fly. But I think that’s part of the joy of traveling,” Hayes’ girlfriend said. “Anything that’s worth doing generally isn’t easy and so I don’t know, I think I’ll get there.”
They said they were headed to Durango next to visit friends, then up to Vail and finally, back to Breckenridge.
“We witnessed the most magical sunset last night. The colors were silly. These are the kinds of things you don’t see, you know, we see some beautiful things in Breckenridge, but to have that kind of solitude … you don’t get that a lot of places,” Hayes’ girlfriend said.
