Weekly Newsletter: April 6th-12th, 2026

This week, Keith went on two huge bike rides 😅, we started planning our summer vacations 🏖️, and Lindsey had a fun day out with her friend, Stephanie. 🍣

Check out our new posts and videos 🆕 🎥 📝

2025 Tour Divide: My Bikepacking Gear and Race Plan

The Tour Divide is an unsupported bikepacking race, which means I had to carry ALL of the gear, food, water, etc. that I would need/obtain along the route. 🧳 🚵‍♂️ This post covers my bikepacking setup as well as the gear that I carried for the 2,745-mile (4,418-kilometer) ride.

Keith and LindseyKeith Huster

2025 Tour Divide: My Journey to the Starting Line

My journey to the 2025 Tour Divide starting line was long, arduous, and wrought with complications. Preparing for a 2,745-mile (4,418-kilometer) bikepacking race takes significant time, during which a million things can go wrong…

Keith and LindseyKeith Huster

Keith's Corner Canyon loop ride 🚵 😎

Keith has started working on his distance riding capabilities again as he prepares for the upcoming 100-mile (161-kilometer) Great Glizzy Gauntlet race. 🌭 This week, he rode from our house to Corner Canyon in Draper, UT.

Keith has ridden this loop a few times now, and he finds it really enjoyable. It provides a great mix of paved distance riding, singletrack climbing, bike-park descending, and a fast road descent. It kind of packs all the types of biking fun into a single ride. 😄

The route includes 65 miles (104.6 kilometers) of riding with nearly 2,700 feet (823 meters) of elevation gain. It's the perfect distance for Keith to ride mid-week, as he can still get home with a few hours to spare before he has to go to sleep to prepare for work the next morning. It's also a great way to get a serious, distance training ride in while still enjoying the fun singletrack available in Corner Canyon.

Planning our summer vacations 🏖️ 🛶

We have started discussing our summer vacation plans... So far, we have a definite trip to Myrtle Beach 🏖️ with Lindsey's Mom, sister, brother-in-law, and niece and nephew.

We are also working to lock down plans for two additional vacations. First, is a trip to Lake Tahoe with our friends Jason and Kristen. 🛶 We are still working out the details around this one and trying to coordinate everyone's availability. Second, there is another visit from Lindsey's cousin, Cara! 🙌 Cara wants to come out to Utah and potentially head to the Moab, UT area to hike and vacation.

Keith is also considering trying to work in a few epic, local bikepacking loops this year (time permitting). 🚵‍♂️ Keith is considering riding the White Rim Trail in Canyonlands National Park. Most people bikepack this over a 3-4 day period. Keith wants to ride the entire 100-mile (161-kilometer) loop in a single day! 😅 Keith would also like to take a shot at the Kokopelli Trail, a 158-mile (254-kilometer) bikepacking route between Fruita, CO, and Moab, UT.

Date-night dinner at Lolo's Hawaiian BBQ 🏖️ 🍖

We kept date night fairly simple this week. Instead of going somewhere fancy, we headed out to Lolo's Hawaiian BBQ in Orem, UT. Lolo's serves delicious, traditional Hawaiian fare such as Hawaiian BBQ chicken/beef, Teriyaki chicken/beef, Kalua pork, and an assortment of other meats.

Each dish comes with a huge portion of rice, macaroni salad, or other accompaniments. Keith tried their new Yakisoba noodles and said they were delicious! 😋 For being a counter-serve restaurant, we were both thoroughly impressed with the flavor, portion size, and value of our meals. Lolo's is definitely high on our list when it comes to a fast-food style restaurant.

After dinner, we came home and had a nice FaceTime chat with Keith's Mom and Dad. It was great to catch up with them! ❤️

Lindsey's day out with Stephanie 🍣 🍫

Lindsey and Stephanie needed a day to "yap," as they call it. You don't get to catch up while skiing together, the same way you can with lunch. They decided to start at Chopfuku Sushi Bar before visiting a couple of shops nearby.

The sushi bar is on their ever-growing list of restaurants and one they've wanted to try for a while. Both were thoroughly impressed by the decor and feel upon entering. Their waitress was super sweet and patient as they combed through the large menu and made their choices. Each bite of sushi was excellent, and they both chose the "ocean roll" as their favorite. The outer tempura covering was the winning factor! This was the perfect place to catch up and enjoy a meal together!

Next, they tried to visit the Kinlands Farm Market, but it was closed due to a private event. Oh well, hopefully next time they are in the area, it will be open to the public. Their last stop was Gardner Village. This is a collection of small shops, restaurants, and event venues.

They continued to chat as they made their way in and out of various shops. One favorite is always the candy shop. You can see taffy being pulled, a variety of fudge and chocolates, among other sweet treats. Lindsey's go-to treat is a pecan turtle. Not pictures because she enjoyed it right away.

Lindsey's been to Gardener Village before, but felt more shops were open than on previous visits. It was fun to wander through several art and craft stores. Stephanie's mom is a quilter, so she's planning to take her when she's in town next.

Another store focused on featuring various countries and things related to those locations. For example, you can see in the last two pictures, famous landmarks, cookbooks, art, crafts, trinkets, etc. Lindsey really enjoyed this store since several countries she's visited were featured.

Keith's huge "Berry Bun" ride 🍮 🍪

For several weeks now, Keith has been craving one of the huge cinnamon rolls from the Midway Bakery in Midway, UT. Keith first had one of these rolls last year when he went on a huge bikepacking training ride for the 2025 Tour Divide. So, this weekend, he decided to brave the incoming storms and ride back out to Midway, UT, once again.

You might be thinking, "can't he just drive to Midway to get one of those cinnamon rolls?", and... you would be correct! 🤣 However, Keith being Keith, he can't ever do anything the easy way. So, he challenges himself to earn that cinnamon roll by making the 40-mile (64-kilometer) bike journey to Midway, UT. Oh, and did I mention that it is 40-miles (64-kilometers) each way! 🤪

This time, Keith had to brave not just the distance, but the elements as well. Keith knew there was a chance for high winds and possible mountain storms along his route. He packed up a few extra layers and plenty of water before heading out on this adventure. The ride over to Midway was relatively uneventful. Keith did have to battle some headwinds as he climbed through Provo Canyon but that was followed by a nice tailwind along the Deer Creek Parkway, which parallels the Deer Creek Reservoir, which dropped him off a few miles outside of Midway, UT.

Keith eventually arrived at the Midway Bakery, the furthest point of the route. Keith had planned to order one of the huge cinnamon rolls, but was intrigued by the massive berry buns in front of him. These berry buns are basically a cinnamon roll in which the cinnamon-sugar inner layers are replaced with blackberry jam. Keith decided to go with his gut, so he ordered one of the berry buns (to eat now) and a giant chocolate chip cookie (for later). The berry bun was delectable, and may have out-ranked the cinnamon rolls! Keith will have to perform a side-by-side comparison someday to find the true winner. 🤣

After scarfing down the berry bun and packing up the cookie, Keith started his journey back home. The ride back home was another story altogether. Moments after Keith left the bakery, the skies let loose, and it started pouring down rain. Keith found a small overhang to hide under so that he could don his rain jacket. He then had to debate which route to take home. He had initially planned to climb up Cascade Springs Road and then descend American Fork Canyon. However, the storms had him concerned... that was until Keith saw another mountain biker pedaling through the rain, on her way to climb Cascade Springs Road.

Keith caught up with her and asked if the route over the canyon was clear of snow yet. She wasn't sure, and she was only going to climb a portion of the route. Keith rode with her for the first part of the climb, but she eventually pulled away when Keith stopped to remove his rain jacket.

Thankfully, the route was fully open to American Fork Canyon, so Keith was able to ride the entire route and did not have to push through snow! 🙏 Keith was subjected to some light rain, freezing rain, sleet, graupel, snow, and thunder as he reached higher elevations. However, the significant storms all stayed south of his location. 😅

All in all, this turned out to be an amazing day on the bike, even if the weather was challenging at times. The berry bun was delicious, the Cascade Springs Road climb was beautiful as ever, and the American Fork Canyon descent was a blast. The total ride was a big one, at nearly 85 miles (137 kilometers) with 5,856 feet (1,785 meters) of elevation gain. Keith definitely earned that berry bun!!! 🤣

Upcoming posts and videos 👷‍ 👷‍♀️️

Keith is continuing to work on posts and videos covering his 2025 Tour Divide experience. Lindsey has finished writing the post series covering her "Epic Summer Road Trip from Canada through the American West" with her mom. Subscribe to our blog so that you don't miss out.

We hope that you are enjoying our newsletters. Are you excited for the upcoming Summer weather? Do you have any exciting Summer vacation plans? Let us know in the comments section below.👇 💬