Weekly Newsletter: April 1st-8th, 2024

This week, went spent a little time enjoying the warmer, spring-like conditions. Lindsey upgraded her reading game by purchasing an Amazon Kindle and Keith finally has some clarity about what is causing the pain in his left knee.

Check out our new posts and videos 🆕 🎥 📝

Utah Adventures With A Friend: Part 3

Yi visits us in Utah for a road trip. This is part 3 of the multi-part series.

Keith and LindseyLindsey Huster

Springtime walk by Utah Lake 🌼 ⛵️

The weather is quickly transitioning from Winter to Spring and we are both excited to enjoy the warmer weather. We decided to take a walk together on the Utah Lake Shoreline Trail. This is the path that Keith typical rides his bike on so it was interesting to experience it from a much slower, walking perspective.

While walking along the trail, we saw several unexpected sights. First, we spotted a few pelicans (at least we think they were pelicans) floating around lake. This is an unusual sight! We have seen plenty of other ducks, geese, sea gulls, and even some bald eagles but we have never seen a pelican on the lake. On the way back to our car, we saw a runner suddenly jump and make a scared sound. As we approached the area where this occurred, we found that there were two small snakes that had crossed the walking path and were now making their way along the rock-lined drainage.

Lindsey bought an Amazon Kindle 📚 👩‍🏫

Lindsey has been on a reading kick lately. She often visits our local library to check out books. Since she's been reading more, the availability of books on her list has been harder to find. She started placing holds on books and listening to the audio versions, then ultimately decided a Kindle would be another way to gain access to books she wanted to read.

Lindsey recently purchased an Amazon Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition and she loves it! Not realizing the extent of the viral agave green color, she had to wait 11 days for it to arrive, an eternity in Amazon delivery time. Within days she finished her first book and then another a couple of days later. She loves the size, portability, and ability to use in low light. She's also looking forward to having it with her when traveling later this year.

Amazon Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition (32 GB)

• Get more with Signature Edition – Everything in the Kindle Paperwhite, plus wireless charging, auto-adjusting front light, and 32 GB storage.
• Purpose-built for reading – With a flush-front design and 300 ppi glare-free display that reads like real paper, even in bright sunlight.
• More reading time – A single charge via USB-C or compatible Qi wireless charger (sold separately) now lasts up to 10 weeks.
• Adjustable screen – Now with adjustable warm light and auto-adjusting front light for a personalized reading experience, day or night.
• More books in more places – Store thousands of titles, then take them all with you.
• Find new stories – With Kindle Unlimited, get unlimited access to over 2 million titles, thousands of audiobooks, and more.
• Go hands-free – Pair with an Audible subscription and Bluetooth headphones or speakers to listen to your story.

Buy on Amazon

Breakfast at Pueblo Coffee ☕ 🌯

We decided to skip date night dinner this week in favor of checking out a new Sunday breakfast spot. Keith found Pueblo Coffee on Main, a quaint coffee shop in Springville, UT, for us to visit. This is a unique coffee shop as it serves high-quality locally roasted coffee as well as delicious Mexican inspired dishes.

Keith ordered the breakfast burrito (of course 🤣) and Lindsey ordered the sausage and egg sandwich. The sandwich was good but the burrito was much better. The burrito was filled with delicious egg, cheese, and chorizo. The accompanying tomatillo and jalapeno sauce had just the right amount of spice to top off the burrito. The coffee was also quite good although I wouldn't call it spectacular. All in all, it was a pleasant experience and a good way to spend a Sunday morning.

Tour Divide training update 🏋️‍♂️ 😅

Well, we finally have some news share regarding Keith's knee pain.... and it's good news! 😅 Keith visited his sports medicine doctor, Dr. Craig Chappell at In2It Medical, to get an ultrasound of his knee. The doctor immediately discovered a sprained ligament that runs along the medial side (inside) of his kneecap. This is the exact location that Keith has been experiencing the knee pain so it was good to finally understand what exactly was causing the pain.

For treatment, his doctor recommended that Keith have a series of three shockwave treatments on his knee over the course of the next three weeks. Shockwave treatments are a non-invasive means of triggering the body's natural healing response. The treatments themselves create a minimal amount of pain during the procedure with little to no long lasting painful side effects. This is a much less painful form of therapy than Prolotherapy or Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) which involve injections into the injured ligament. Ouch!

Keith was also given the green light to continue his Tour Divide training rides although with some caveats of course. Specifically, Keith is allowed to continue riding, even with some limited pain, as long as the pain subsides within a couple of hours after the training session. This means that Keith will have to continue training at a significantly lower volume and effort level for now. However, if everything heals as planned, he will be back to his regular training load in just a few short weeks. 🤞 🙏

Keith has also continued to refine his Stages SB20 indoor bike fit using the Bike Fast Fit (Elite) app. The required adjustments are getting fewer and fewer as he dials in his final bike fit. As he is making these final adjustments, Keith is also noticing that slight adjustments result in varying load on his quadriceps vs hamstrings. This is a good sign that he is on the right path with his bike fit adjustments!

Keith's body should operate quadricep dominant while he is in a more upright position (e.g. on the hoods or tops) and transition to hamstring dominant when he is in a more aggressive position (e.g. in the drops or on the aerobars). Prior to making these bike fit adjustment, Keith was almost always riding in a quadricep dominant manner regardless of his body position. It wasn't obvious though until he started to feel the difference after making the bike fit adjustments.

All in all, this has been a week of nervousness and excitement. We both had a suspicion that Keith would be fine and able to heal in time for the upcoming 2024 Tour Divide race in June. However, there was that little bit of concern in the back of our minds that maybe that wouldn't be the case and we would have to change all of our plans for this year; and possibly next year as well. Thankfully those fears didn't come true. Now, all Keith needs to do is finish up his shockwave therapy treatments and continue to slowly return to his training regimen.

Upcoming posts and videos 👷‍ 👷‍♀️️

Lindsey is working her way through the series of posts covering our friend Yi's visit to Utah last summer. Be sure to subscribe to our blog so that you don't miss out. Keith has been extra-focused on recovery efforts so he is unsure when he will be able to work on the posts from our Las Vegas trip. 🥺

We hope that you are enjoying our newsletters. Do have a Kindle or a other type of eReader? Do you have any tips for Lindsey on using the Kindle? Are you as excited as we are that Keith received good news from his doctor? Let us know in the comments section below.👇 💬