Weekly Newsletter: April 14th-20th, 2025

We started the week with a hike together, Keith spent a lot of time training and preparing his Tour Divide gear, and we finished the week with a wonderful Easter brunch!

Check out our new posts and videos 🆕 🎥 📝

Camino Insights: Questions We Didn’t Cover

Keith and Lindsey are asked some of the same questions about the Camino de Santiago. Many are answered in other posts, but here are some questions that haven’t been answered yet in this series.

Keith and LindseyLindsey Huster

Hiking the Bonneville Shoreline Trail 🥾⛰️

The weather started off great this week so we made it a point to get out and hike. We headed to the "Y" Trailhead in Provo, UT to hike the Bonneville Shoreline Trail south towards Springville, UT. We only hiked a few miles of the trail but it still felt great to get out, stretch the legs, and enjoy the valley views! 🤩

Riding into a snow storm 🌨️ ❄️

Keith has been wanting to test out his rain gear for the Tour Divide but... we live in a desert so it doesn't rain very much! 🏜️ An incoming storm promised the potential for rain so Keith packed up his gear and headed out into the storm. Unfortunately, it never did rain but Keith did have to deal with strong, persistent winds and even a brief snowstorm! ❄️

This was a great training ride for Keith. Tough conditions such as this will help prepare Keith for the unexpected mountain weather events that he will face along the Tour Divide route.

Tour Divide gear updates ⛺ 🚲

Keith has been busy updating his Tour Divide gear list and finalizing his bikepacking gear strategy. He had a plan for the 2024 attempt but technology is ever changing and a lot of new equipment has become available in the past year.

Keith upgraded some equipment to save weight/space and improve comfort. Some of the bigger items that he purchased were a new tent (Durston X-Mid 1) and sleeping pad (Nemo Tensor Elite). Keith's old camping equipment was nearly 8 years old and this was one of the biggest opportunities for weight savings. Keith also purchased some necessary replacement items as he has worn out several of his daily use gear, such as his riding gloves.

Keith also spent some time perfecting his bicycle "cockpit" layout. It's a real challenge to find places to mount everything while maintaining balanced weight and device accessibility. A small carbon fiber bar was added across the front of his aero bar extensions to give him additional mounting points and to also providing strap reinforcement for his front bar bag (not shown).

All in all, Keith has significantly improved the ride quality and comfort of his loaded bikepacking setup. Through weight minimization and more efficient packing strategies, Keith has been able to maintain a neutral ride feel that keeps his bike feeling nimble and fun even when it is loaded down with extra weight. All of this work will make the ride much more enjoyable when things get tough out on the trail.

Keith's biggest training ride yet 🚵‍♂️ 🥶

Keith went BIG on his long-distance training ride this weekend! Keith covered 102 miles (164 kilometers) with 7,930 feet (2,417 meters) of elevation gain. His total moving time was 9 hours and 22 minutes! This included several short but steep sections of hike-a-bike that were difficult to push up let alone ride.

The weather was surprisingly cold all day which gave Keith the perfect opportunity to test out using his rain gear for warmth rather than bringing separate cold-weather riding gear. The rain gear worked perfectly for the ~30°F (-1.1°C) morning air temperatures. The large pit zips also allowed Keith to keep riding comfortably as the temperatures rose throughout the day.

Climbing Provo Canyon

The first major climb of Keith's ride was up to and into Provo Canyon. Keith climbed up the steep grade to the Bonneville Shoreline Trail in Orem that snakes its way back into Provo Canyon, across the highway from Bridal Veil Falls. This was a great way to warm up the body and the legs for the much steeper and longer climbs still to come.

Keith then made his way back down the mountain by following the Pipeline Road trail down to Bridal Veil Falls. After a quick pit stop to refuel and enjoy the waterfalls, Keith headed on to his next challenge for the day.

Climbing Kyhv Peak

Keith took the "hard way" to Kyhv Peak Road by riding the steep, chunky, narrow Bonneville Shoreline singletrack trail that connects Bridal Veil Falls to Kyhv Peak Road. This trail is seriously challenging as it is both technically and physically demanding at the same time.

Eventually, Keith made it to the road climb section of Kyhv Peak Road. The approximately 2,000 vertical feet (609 meter) road climb is just steep enough to really challenge Keith. Keith made his way up to the top where the road eventually turns to dirt. Unfortunately, it had snowed recently so Keith was only able to continue about 1 mile (1.6 kilometers) before the road became too muddy to continue riding or pushing.

Keith then descended back down, partially, before climbing back up to the scenic overlook to have lunch. The views of the valley were amazing but the strong, blustery winds cut Keith's lunch break short. Keith then descended back down Kyhv Peak Road and made his way back to the Provo River Parkway Trail.

Traversing the Bonneville Shoreline Trail

The hardest part of the day for Keith was traversing the Bonneville Shoreline Trail between Rock Canyon in Provo, UT and Hobble Creek Canyon in Springville, UT. Some of the sections of this route were fun and flowy. However, others were outright savage! This was due to multiple, back-to-back, brutally steep hike-a-bike sections.

Eventually, Keith had traversed the entirety of the Bonneville Shoreline Trail section and he was faced with his last major climb of the day; Hobble Creek Canyon.

Climbing Hobble Creek Canyon

Keith has never climbed all of the Hobble Creek Canyon road climb but he has descended the majority of it multiple times. So, he had some idea what to expect; a relative gradual gradient for the majority of the climb. 😅

The climb starts with a bicycle path until the road splits into Left Fork and Right Fork. Keith then continued up the Left Fork road until he reached the final section of pavement. Along the way, Keith passed numerous mega-mansions! 🏠 🤯 These beautiful homes gave Keith something to look at as he pedaled up his final major climb for the day.

Pedaling home

Keith descended back down Hobble Creek Canyon road into the city of Springville, UT. From there, Keith took to city streets back through Provo, eventually returning home. Along the way, Keith stopped for some much-needed chicken tacos for dinner! 🌮

Easter brunch at Urban Hill 🐰🥚

Each year, we both look forward to a fancy Easter brunch. This year, we decided to try someplace new so we headed to Urban Hill in Salt Lake City, UT. Urban Hill is an upscale restaurant with a modern, sleek vibe that has been on Lindsey's must-visit list for a while now.

The wait staff were wonderful and the food was amazing! 😋 The shrimp were succulent, the prime rib was tender, and the pancakes were perfect. We really enjoyed ourselves as we relaxed and indulged on vast array of savory and sweet options.

Upcoming posts and videos 👷‍ 👷‍♀️️

Lindsey is continuing her work on the post series from our three-week adventure along the Camino De Santiago, Portuguese Route! Those posts are being published as she has time. We also have several prior trips that we haven't yet shared, so be sure to subscribe to our blog if you haven't done so already.

We hope that you are enjoying our newsletters. Spring is officially here and summer is just around the corner! Do you have any summer vacation plans coming up? Let us know in the comments section below.👇 💬