race sports cars around a track and test the latest four-wheel drives on tough roads in the mountains of Colorado. Displaying everything from how much storage space an SUV offers, to how quickly and easily rear seats go down in modern crossovers, they provide thorough, detailed reviews. The Fast Lane Truck channel has 116 videos and over 288,000 views. The team gets the latest heavy duty trucks and compares them on a famous stretch of Interstate 70 highway, known as the Ike Gauntlet. This 8-mile section with a 7% grade starts in Dillon and goes east, up and through the Eisenhower-Johnson tunnels. At over 11,000 feet, these trucks are tested for their towing capacity by pulling a 16,000-pound horse trailer. A recent video pits the 2020 Chevy Silverado HD against the 2020 Ram Cummins on the “World’s Toughest Towing Test.” Since it was posted on June 29, 2019, this video alone has 1,193,648 views, with many comments from their viewers saying they wish they could afford one of these trucks. Mica calculates that viewership with all five channels combined: TFLcar, TFLclassic, TFLtruck, TFLoffroad and TFL — they accumulate over 30 million views a month. People love educational and well-produced segments on subjects that interest them. Roman Mica and two of his team members work on a new video for TFLcar at the shop in Boulder.
Roman Mica takes a ride and films a review of a Corvette, one of many vehicles he and his team features on their YouTube channel.
Colorado Mountain Man Survival provides you with all the survival training you could want or need on their YouTube channel.
Exploring Virtually Coloradans from all over the state contribute to YouTube on numerous topics and have created many channels, such as Colorado Mountain Man Survival, AVA Rafting and Zipline, Colorado RedBeard Fishing, MoreJStu and the extremely popular LifewithMak, about teenager Makenna Kelly from Fort Collins. And let’s not forget the Coloradans who also watch the millions of YouTube channels. A Durango resident, 28-year-old Jesse Shavel, watches inspirational content to educate himself on business and finance. He and his girlfriend watch live music and cooking shows together, but he is also an avid fan of UFC – the Ultimate Fighting Championships. Another frequent viewer, Kathy Briggs, watches YouTube instead of television. After 9/11, the 61-year-old started watching conspiracy theory videos, which ended up on YouTube. Then, in anticipation of a trip to Mexico, she began watching travel videos. Kathy now enjoys watching travel accounts from places all over the world and can experience them from the comfort of her own home in Paonia. The owner of a health spa, she also watches educational videos on natural healing modalities. YouTube has launched local versions in more than 100 countries and is available in 80 different languages. With billions of segments to choose from, no matter your interests, you’re sure to find something to watch while you are safe at home. Malia Durbano started her freelance writing career in Durango, and now spends winters walking the beaches of Todos Santos, Baja California Sur, while also learning to speak Spanish.
COLOR ADO COUNTRY LIFE JUNE 2020
19