Weekly Newsletter: July 27th - August 2nd, 2026

This week, Keith dialed in his training for upcoming gravel races 🚵, Lindsey checked out a new coffee shop in Utah City ☕, and we celebrated a major milestone—a full decade of calling Utah home! 🎉

Check out our new posts and videos 🆕 🎥 📝

Family Vacation to Myrtle Beach, SC

Lindsey’s family vacation to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, in 2026

Keith and LindseyLindsey Huster

A fast-paced, hill-climb training session ⛰️ 🚀

Keith has been on a mission to prepare for the upcoming Wasatch All-Road and WYO-131 gravel races. Two key areas he has been working on are his body positioning to improve aerodynamics, and the ability to ride long distances with minimal stops. On Wednesday, Keith set out on a fast-paced paved trail ride, focusing on both of these critical aspects.

Keith attempted to complete a 65-mile (104.6-kilometer) loop that included a roughly 2,000-foot (610-meter) climb over the Point of the Mountain as fast as possible. During the entirety of the ride, Keith focused on keeping his body position low and strong. Keith also managed his nutrition and hydration while riding so that he didn't have to stop so frequently. The result was an incredibly efficient, high average speed, 4 and a half hour ride with only 10 minutes of stop time! 🥳

Aerodynamics play a crucial role in long-distance bike races. Even at slower speeds, poor aerodynamics can significantly impact a race duration. This, combined with stopping too frequently/too long, can add up to wasted time and potentially failure to reach a checkpoint cutoff time. These are both areas that Keith needs to continue to work on since most of his rides, even training rides, are performed in a more comfortable, relaxed position with plenty of time spent stopping for photos and snacks.

Celebrating a full decade in Utah 🎉 🔟

This week, we celebrated a major milestone in our lives, a full decade of living in Utah! 🔟 It was 10 years ago that we officially made the move from Indiana to Utah. Choosing to move was difficult for both of us as it meant leaving our families and our hometowns behind. However, it has been a truly wonderful experience to live in and explore a new area of the country.

To celebrate, we revisited one of the first restaurants that we ever ate dinner at in Utah: Yamato Japanese Restaurant & Bar. We both loved our first experience at this restaurant, and we were excited to dine in again.

Keith ordered the Udon soup along with an Okonomiyaki (Japanese pancake) appetizer to share. Lindsey ordered the Deluxe Seafood Combo, which featured a huge piece of salmon along with an assortment of shrimp, scallops, and tempura-fried vegetables. As we ate our meals, we reminisced about moving to Utah and all of the adventures we have been on together. It was the perfect way to celebrate this milestone.

Riding the American Fork Canyon yo-yo route 🚵 🪀

On Sunday, Keith set out an ambitious goal to ride up and over American Fork Canyon, not just once... but twice! Keith was attempting to yo-yo the incredibly steep and rugged gravel route between American Fork, UT and Midway, UT.

Keith started the route very early, well before sunrise, in an attempt to avoid the heat of the day. Temperatures have been soaring in Utah, and it was expected to be over 100°F (37.8°C), so Keith knew it was important to try to avoid the scorching afternoon heat. Keith was familiar with the climb up the American Fork, UT side of the canyon and the descent down to Midway, UT. The real unknown was what it would be like to climb back up and over from the reverse direction.

The early morning climb up the American Fork side of the canyon went surprisingly well. Keith felt very strong during the entirety of the climb. He managed to pace and fuel well, which kept his strength up during the nearly 4,000-foot (1,219-meter) climb. Keith then descended into Midway, UT for a quick stop at The Bakery At Zermatt Utah to grab a snack, refill water, and prepare for the return route.

Unfortunately, the return route was much more difficult than expected... Keith had noticed some smoke in the air while he was making his way to the canyon in the early morning hours. By the time Keith started the return route, the smoke had inundated the entire area, including pushing up into the high-elevation mountains. This meant that Keith had to breathe smoke for the entirety of the return route! 😷

The return route was also very hot and very steep! 🥵 Even though Keith had made excellent time reaching Midway, UT, the sun was already scorching. The return route started with a couple of miles of road climb that included several steep sections. The road climb then transitioned into the main gravel climb, which was significantly steeper than the morning's climb.

At this point, Keith's legs still felt strong, but Keith was struggling to maintain his breath, which made every pedal stroke a struggle. Keith eventually had to resort to hike-a-bike for several sections of the return climb. He was basically pushing his bike from one shaded section to another in an attempt to avoid the heat of the sun and to regain his breath from the smoke.

After reaching the summit, Keith began the long, rough descent back down the canyon. This was a lot of fun, but Keith was incredibly worn out from the difficulty of the return climb. As Keith exited the canyon, he could feel the valley heat hit him in the face like a blast furnace! 🔥 The rest of the return home was pure survival mode. Keith dialed back his power output and just tried to maintain a slow, consistent pace to get back home.

This was a humbling experience for Keith, but he was very glad to have completed this ambitious route. All in all, Keith rode 91.4 miles (147 kilometers) with 8,422 feet (2,567 meters) of climbing.

Breakfast at Fini Cafe in Vineyard, UT 🥯 ☕

While Keith was out on his American Fork Canyon yo-yo route, Lindsey checked out a new local cafe in Vineyard, UT: Fini Cafe. This cafe is located in the new Utah City development, so Lindsey was excited to see the progress being made in the area.

Lindsey said that the cafe was cute and her salmon bagel was excellent. 😋 This place checked a lot of the boxes for Lindsey: good coffee, good food selection, quiet for working, and beautiful mountain views. If you are ever in the area, this is a good place to check out.

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. It's full sun and summer heat in Utah now. Do you have any exciting summer vacation plans? Let us know in the comments section below.👇 💬