Kara and I took the ferry from Boston to Provincetown, Massachusetts, on Thursday evening. It was sweltering in Boston, so the boat ride was perfect. We took the Fast Ferry, which blasts across Boston Harbor to Provincetown at the tip of Cape Cod. If you don’t know where it is, it’s worth a Google. It’s a unique place in the world and this time of year is beautiful. There was a summer storm in view—fortunately in the distance—so we caught a sweet lightning storm and rainbow but didn’t get wet. We pulled into a bright marina in P-Town, with its sand dunes, boats, marinas, and lighthouses, all of which make it such a great and unique spot. 

We ate at Sal’s in Provincetown, which I highly recommend. The owner Siobhan is so special and awesome, and they prepare an amazing dinner in the restaurant or served at tables in the sand. We stayed at the AWOL, which I also recommend. This hotel has a great location off the Main Street, overlooking some salt marshes. I didn’t spend much time there, but did get a good night’s sleep before I rolled out at 6 a.m. the next morning. 

After one hour of pedaling, I was fortunate to have my first stop at THE BEST bakery, maybe in Massachusetts? New England? It’s possible! I certainly don’t know a better one than PB Boulangerie in Wellfleet. The place is indescribably perfect. I overate with a friend of mine from work and packed my pockets before I hammered to Boston. The ride through the Cape is a great one. There are historic homes; 20 miles of rail trail; old trees (including huge beech trees); stone walls; Plymouth, where the Pilgrims landed; Quincy, where John Adams was from; and so much more. It’s definitely recommended! 

On Day 1, my overall ride from Provincetown to Boston was 126 miles.  

Day 2: Boston to Brattleboro, Vermont: 102 miles 

Day 3: Brattleboro to Waitsfield, Vermont: 125 miles 

Day 4: Waitsfield, up and over the Green Mountains of Vermont at Mad River Glen and into Montreal, Canada: 137 miles  

Total: 490 miles 

I made it a point to pedal as much of Route 100 in Vermont as possible. Route 100 is known as the spine of Vermont and runs the length of the state from Canada to Massachusetts, passing by many of Vermont’s famous ski resorts, such as Mt. Snow, Okemo, Killington, Mad River Glen (ski it if you can!), and Stowe. The route goes through many historic towns like Warren. The foliage is almost tropical and lush this time of year, and the farms, views, old silos, rivers, flowers, and views are epic Americana! Plus, the hills are real in Vermont. They call them “rolling” hills or rollers but they are more than that! Some are 5-7 mile climbs. Some are long up-hills and/or 7- to almost 15-mile mostly downhills. Some are 7-9-12% grades. Rollers are deceiving. The overall elevation gain may not be as big as a day in the Western U.S., but the overall effort can be harder. You push harder to crest these summits and the MANY efforts all add up from a strain perspective. 

I did the ride in four days but could have done it in three. I had more in the tank each day and wanted to pedal more, but wasn’t able to find hotels. They DO exist; I just didn’t look too hard. There are tons of small, unique properties along these roads that just take a little more effort to find. For example, I stopped in Brattleboro because I didn’t think there were any hotels for 50 miles, but when I branched onto Route 30 north, there WERE places to stay. The same was true after Waitsfield, toward Mad River Glen on Route 17 north—there were places I could have kept going to. 

Some highlights of the ride include:  

• The sand dunes of Cape Cod 

• The historic towns in the Cape and in Vermont 
• Route 30, Route 17, and all of Route 100, really 
• Going up and over the Green Mountains on Route 17 
• Pedaling across the islands of Lake Champlain like Grand Isle 
• Crossing the U.S.-Canada border 

• The fast flats after the Green Mountains all the way to Montreal  
• The Jacques Cartier Bridge over the St. Lawrence River and into Montreal   

One funny story worth noting was when I crossed the border. The Canadian border patrol agent was such a nice guy, and crossing the border on a bike, in a small town like that, was really cool—a first for me and something I hope to do a lot more of, ideally across Europe. The border patrol agent said to me, “Do you always ride your bike in the rain?” To which I replied, “Only when it is raining!” We both thought about it for a second and he said, “Yeah, I guess that makes sense!” 

Overall, the weather was perfect for the ride. Even the last 60 miles from Vermont into Montreal, when it was raining, were actually great. It was warm enough, so it wasn’t a problem. The last 25 miles were through a total downpour, but again, it wasn’t a problem at all and it didn’t take away from the ride. I hoped to hit 500 miles, but the rain, plus the fact it was getting cold, I didn’t know the city well, and it was congested made me decide against riding the final 10 miles through the city.  

So, I ended up doing 490 miles total over four days, including 12.950’ of climbing. It was a GREAT ride—I highly recommend it. And I am psyched to get my THIRD event of the Big Belt Buckle Challenge completed. I will try for my second attempt of the Grand Teton in a week and a half! 

In addition, Tommy Café and Joe Beef are worth a shout-out in Montreal! Unfortunately, Kouing Amann was closed for the month for a well-deserved vacation. Kouing Amann rivals PB Boulangerie. I suspect it’s the best bakery in Quebec! 

So, I felt like I had to check off another of the events—just dive in and make it happen. The following weekend looked good weather-wise, so I cleared my schedule and planned to go for the 100-mile gravel ride on Friday, July 1. 

July 2, 2022 – Wasatch All-Road 100-Mile Gravel Route 

On July 1, a friend and I successfully completed the 2022 Wasatch All-Road Gravel Ride Route. It was 101.6 miles and 13,563’ of climbing in 10 hours and 57 minutes. I was not shooting for a record time, thankfully, because I think the men’s record is under 7 hours! But I did complete it. It was the most elevation I had ever ridden in a day, and I could have shaved an hour or two if there weren’t some extenuating circumstances. In summary, it was a great day. I was thrilled I did it and thrilled to complete the second event of the Big Belt Buckle Challenge, and I’m looking forward to the next one.  

The weather was basically perfect—not too hot or cold, and no rain. The first 20 miles included the “Wasatch Wall,” which includes 5,000’ of climbing STEEP gravel in many places over about 13 miles. It was slow and a grind, but ideal. The first 20 miles took me three hours! It was a great ride, and I saw tons of sheep, does, bucks and an elk. Then it was fast downhill 17 miles to Strawberry Reservoir and another painfully slow uphill.  

We lost a fair bit of time on that uphill because of the aforementioned “extenuating circumstances,” which I don’t even want to admit, but have to, at least to somewhat excuse the just-under-11-hour completion time. We had stored a cooler and a couple gallons of water at the top of the Wasatch Wall, since we needed that food for the remaining 80 miles! We had Gatorades, cold brew, brownies, etc.—an entire cooler packed with the energy we needed, but it was all gone when we arrived. At least they left the water! I could not believe it was stolen and really didn’t think it possible, in Utah or at the top of a mountain, but it happened. We decided to go for it regardless; we figured we would see how far we could make it.  

On the way up from Strawberry Reservoir, five hours in to the ride, we BONKED. I mean, we were totally smoked. Maxing out at 3 miles per hour and pushing 100 watts of power was the best we could do, when a typical average for this distance would be about 260. We made it up the hill and when we got to the summit, we drank our water and started begging! The begging over the course of the next 40 miles was a success. We had four successful begs (haha) and got a Coke, Gatorade, a few KIND bars, and some KFC chicken strips. I had never had KFC chicken strips, since I have always gravitated to Popeyes and Chick-fil-A, but it is a fantastic product—or at least it is at mile 70! Between the begging and the conversations, it added an hour to our time. 

Overall, it was a success. I felt good—even great—that I could even complete that ride, and I had eyes on the next event. We decided to see how we felt the next morning and see what would be next. 

After that “win” under our belt, and because we weren’t feeling too beat up, we decided to take on another event of the BBBC immediately. We loaded up my truck and headed to Jackson, Wyoming, to attempt a summit of the Grand Teton at 13,770’.  

I have been in awe and fascinated by the Grand since the first time I saw it, 16 years ago. To me, it is the most impressive and majestic mountain in the U.S. It is a real peak that reminds me of the Matterhorn—it looks like there is no way to get up it. Unlike a volcanic mountain (for example, Shasta, Rainier, Hood, or St. Helens) it is not a mound. It is not rounded. It is angular and aggressive and “real.” It is an intimidating peak without an apparent “easy” way up. I was psyched and nervous to give it a try, particularly as I hadn’t attempted an aggressive, technical, exposed ascent like this in many years.  

For me, these are huge, technical, scary, life-risking events, and beforehand, I admittedly get a bit…I don’t know…anxious, on edge, nervous, concerned. I guess I’m also scared that I will fail. When I say “fail,” I mean not summit—I don’t necessarily get concerned about injury or death (although I should!), but I suppose my subconscious takes care of that for me. 

I travelled to Miami, Florida, for the Formula 1 races with some friends, coworkers, and my 78-year-old parents, who were likely the oldest people I saw in the audience! Then it was on to Arizona for work, but I was able to hike an old favorite in Scottsdale: Camelback on two days. I was pleased with my 28 and 27 minute ascents, although I think my old “best” was around 24 minutes. After that, I headed to Tyler, Texas, for a best friend’s wedding, where my exercise simply consisted of lakeside workouts, stretches, and swims. 

Bahamas Beach Workouts 

Without my typical exercise available to me in the Bahamas, I was very much looking forward to a self-imposed boot camp in the Caribbean water! The days I spent in the Eleuthera Islands were great. The weather, water, and exercise were exceptional! I included a lot of open water swimming and other activities to take advantage of the crystal blue water.  

For example, one day was mostly swimming. Another consisted of: 

• 1 mile open water swim 
• 1 mile run in knee-deep water with a car tire around my neck 
• 1 mile forging with a cinderblock in each hand in the same knee-deep water 
• 1 mile run in knee-deep water carrying a cinderblock 
• 1 mile running under 8 feet of water, with breaks to jump to the surface for breath 

• 1 mile open water swim with the aforementioned cinderblock, with intervals dropping the block to the bottom to rest before picking up again 
• Rope work with industrial rope used to tie barges to the docks 

Normal while on a mini-weekend vacation?! Definitely! And ideal, too. 

After waking up early on Saturday morning, I met up with Matt and Doug, drove to the trailhead in Little Cottonwood Canyon and started hiking into the woods. The first piece was in ski boots for about an hour until we could start skinning. I wasn’t “fast,” but the conditions were perfect. It was a beautiful and amazing day. In summary, we got two long laps in and the snow conditions were basically perfect! Being able to score a day of this quality, this late in the season, is a HUGE gift. We all were extremely psyched to be able to make it happen. 

This was only the third mountain bike race I’ve participated in. The farthest I had ever pedaled a mountain bike before this was 50 miles and 5,000’ of elevation earlier this year in St. George, Utah. The Park City Point to Point race is considered the first or second most difficult in the U.S. and is comparable to the Leadville, Colorado 100-miler. The P to P is 78 miles, with 95% single track and 11,000’+ of climbing altitude. The race director does an incredible job curating the route and really is not trying to make it easy. Many of Park City’s toughest trails are included in the event, including Steps, Johns, 9K, Crescent Mine Grade (CMG), Ironman, etc.  

I clocked in at 10 hours and 30 minutes, including 30 minutes of rest at three set rest stops, so 9 hours and 58 minutes pedaling. It was 92 degrees, so hydration was key. I was happy with this completion time. Before the start of the race, I was concerned that I would not make it to the cutoff at 50 miles, 8.5 hours at the base of Park City Mountain resort. I rolled out of there at 7 hours and 17 minutes. Around 350 persons started the race and around 250 finished. I finished around the middle of the pack at about 160. 

I’m thrilled to have completed it—the FIFTH of the six Big Belt Buckle Challenge events. I now have to shift to riding road and gravel for the sixth and hardest of the six events: the Low to High Death Valley to Summit Mt. Whitney in California in a month. 

We summitted at 10 a.m. I had wanted to climb this mountain since the first time I saw it 16+ years ago. Full disclosure, the first time I saw The Grand, there was no way I could get on top of that thing! It was about four months before I got sober, so I was not in the right shape physically or mentally. It was a wild weekend—the exploits were completely out of control and probably not worth repeating! There is a book called I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell. It sold pretty well, I think, back in the day. I read it years ago and wasn’t impressed; let’s just say that my exploits out-exploited his by a significant factor! Not proud. NO regrets. Just saying…crazy times! 

Anyway, after a perfect weather summit, we started on our way down. There is one section that requires a full open air rappel, and the group in front of us slowed us down quite a bit, but it was all good. The traffic jam added 1.5 hours on the descent. The total round trip was 13 hours and a few minutes. We finished at 4 p.m. with only minimal stops—just to change gear, get set up for climbing, etc. 

I think in total it was just under 7,000’ of elevation and approximately 17 miles or so.  

After the summit and round trip, the swim in Jenny Lake was one of the best ever. After that push, my body was on fire, and the water helped to calm the body and mind. I drove back to Park City that evening, and it was a long and tiring 4.5 hours. I got home around 10:30 p.m. so I could fly to Boston for work the next day. Walking through the SLC airport (and just in general) required some effort. My legs were trashed! 

Some places and people in Jackson deserve a shout-out. Sidewinders has GREAT food! I also met a bunch of Exum Guides on the trip. Persephone has great pastries and healthy food, and their pastries kept me going all day up the Grand. Meanwhile, The Bird has perfect burgers, wings, and views. 

We made it out of the woods and above the tree line after six miles a little after 5:30 a.m. We reached “The Meadows” at 6:20 a.m. (We made a wrong turn here that added another hour or so up to the Exum permanent camp site, then back down to the trail.) At 8:40 a.m., we made it to the “fixed lines.” It’s worth noting that there was a significant disruption around the area of the “fixed lines” later that evening. We got back to the car at 6:00 p.m., but at 5:00 p.m. it was reported that the Grand Teton was closed down, as some really big rocks fell off the mountain and landed in the area of the fixed lines which we had traversed earlier that day! 

Back to that morning: We were at the lower saddle at 9:30 a.m. and reached the upper saddle at 11:15 a.m. (We made a wrong turn here that added another 40 minutes or so up and back down to the trail.) We made it around the “Belly Roll” at 11:40 a.m. Here is a link to an excellent site I found that explains and most clearly shows the area.  

After the Belly Roll comes the crawl…but VERY unfortunately, that was the end of the climb for us. We decided to turn around. We did not have ropes, there was no one to “borrow” from, and the biggest problem was that “the Crack” was mostly filled with ice, preventing a safe traverse. The Belly Roll and the Crack involve extreme exposure. The climbing is not too difficult, but the exposure is life-threatening. If you fall, you die—there’s no way around it and that’s not an exaggeration to say. The drop is maybe a couple thousand feet, with no way to self-arrest.  

So, as the Crack was filled and we lacked a solid way of anchoring in, we decided to turn back. There are a few things worth noting here. One, it has been a few years since I have done any technical rock climbing, and a few years more since I have done any without ropes. I admittedly was out of practice and more importantly didn’t have the exposure/altitude conditioning. It was nothing short of terrifying! Really, my hands are sweating just thinking of it. It was the right decision to turn around and try again another day. The next time we’ll come with ropes and hopefully have some more clear, dry rock to hold on to.  

Don’t get me wrong—there are a lot of people who would be comfortable making that climb, but at this point in my life, with my lack of practice, I’m not one of them. I am not GREAT at a lot of things, but am proficient enough in many, and I set reasonable limits to ensure my self-preservation. So, I made it back down the mountain and worked my way home (with my tail between my legs in defeat!). I am generally good with it all. I am not looking forward to the return hike part of it, but am looking forward to the climb part—although you have to take the good with the bad. It was a LONG day: 19+ miles, 6,000’+ of ascent and descent, in just under 14 hours. But I only lost one toenail, so that’s good. After a few days of rest, I think I will be able to turn my “I got to” go back and reach the top of the Grand into a “I GET to”! 

I got out with a couple friends and we were able to string together three runs and almost 5,000 ft. of vertical elevation, which was more than I think I had ever done in one day. It wasn’t the 7,000 ft. that would be needed for Shasta or Whitney at 14,000 ft., but it was on the right path!

www.discovermoab.com

Florida Road Training

The next event to keep getting fit, keep the training going, get some endurance base built, and work toward completion of the BBBC events was some road cycling toward the end of February. I headed to Florida to see my parents and meet my family in Key West. They all flew and drove there, while I decided to take advantage of the weather and ride my bike from Miami to Key West over two days. 

I LOVED this ride—much more than I expected. It was pretty uneventful, and certainly so as compared to Mud Peak! I did around 80 – 85 miles a day. After the first day, I slept in Islamorada, ate a ton, woke up the next morning, and rolled into Key West the next afternoon. The Seven Mile Bridge was so cool, and I had a tailwind. The sunrises were epic, the weather perfect, and the roads generally very good. I barely had to stop as there were few lights and few turns. Each day was about a 4 – 4.5 hour effort and I did it as fast as I could sustain. This ride is definitely recommended!

https://fla-keys.com/

St. George True Grit Epic

On March 11, a friend invited me to do the True Grit Epic race in St. George, Utah—a 44-mile, mostly single-track mountain bike race with just under 5,000 ft. of climbing. It was the most miles and most elevation I had done on a mountain bike in around five years, since a famous mountain bike race I did in Colorado: the three-day Leadville Stage Race. Even at Leadville, I don’t think there was a day with 44 miles and 5,000 ft., although it was pretty close. 

The St. George True Grit Epic went great! I finished with my friend Ben and I think we were under 4.5 hours—I was shooting for 5, so that was good!

At this point, a little background might be helpful. When cyclists talk about rides, they talk about miles and elevation. Miles is obviously the number of miles you roll, while the elevation gain is referred to as “climbing,” i.e., the amount of elevation gain in feet that is encountered on a ride. A flat Florida ride is MUCH easier than pedaling in the Wasatch mountain range in Utah, for example!

The three types of bikes I mostly ride are:

• Road Bike: These have thin tires and are fast and light; they look like your traditional 10-speed you were familiar with when you were a kid. Road bikes can go a lot farther and faster than other types of bikes, with less effort. For most cyclists, if they do a “century” (100 miles), it’s kind of a big deal. Think of it as the equivalent of a runner doing a marathon, for example. I average around 16-20 miles per hour on a road bike depending on the wind, elevation, and climbing required. I have a few road bikes:

Pinarello: https://pinarello.com/usa/en

TIME Bicycles: https://www.timebicycles.com/

Storck: https://www.storck-bikes.com/

• Gravel Bike: This looks like a road bike, but you can ride on roads or on dirt, as it has a slightly wider tire. A gravel bike is generally slower than a road bike because it is a little heavier, the wider tires produce more resistance, and riding dirt surfaces that are sometimes rocky slows you down. My personal guesstimate is that 1 mile on a road bike is like 1.5 miles on a gravel bike. I average about 12 – 15 miles per hour or so on a gravel bike, and I’m usually doing a mix of road and dirt riding. The best gravel bike in the world for me is the Open Cycle: https://opencycle.com/.

• Mountain Bike: With front and rear suspension and a heavier frame, you can roll over most anything on a mountain bike. Usually, you’re riding in the dirt, on trails, and you’ll be going slower than on a gravel or road bike. My personal guesstimate is that 1 mile on a road bike is around 2 – 2.5 miles on a mountain bike. I average about 5 – 8 miles per hour or so on a mountain bike, depending on how technical the terrain is. For example, in New England, where the trails are technical, rocky, rooty, and difficult, I average 4.5 mph, but on a more flowy trail I can average closer to 7 or 8 mph. I ride a Specialized EPIC EVO, but definitely miss my EPIC (non EVO): https://www.specialized.com/us/en.

• In the winter, I also ride a Fat Tire Bike, which has big, fat tires that can roll on top of snow without sinking in. It’s slow going and a consistent effort is required—you have to fight for most every inch on a fat tire bike in the snow, but it is a great training tool for endurance and technical riding, since there is very little room for error or you end up getting tossed. See Canyon Bicycles: www.canyon.com.