Weekly Newsletter: June 22nd-28th, 2026

This week, Lindsey's injured leg finally started returning to normal 🙌, Keith signed up for two gravel races 🚵‍♂️, and we are finally getting Lindsey's broken skis replaced! 🎿

Check out our new posts and videos 🆕 🎥 📝

2025 Tour Divide: Racing (Day 6) - Seeley Lake, Montana 🇺🇸 to the Llama Ranch, Montana 🇺🇸

Day 6 was the day I finally felt like I was racing. After a rough, sleepless start, I climbed strong over Huckleberry Pass, got humbled by the brutal Stemple Pass, and capped it all off with one of the most magical evenings of the entire route at The Llama Ranch. 🦙

Keith and LindseyKeith Huster

Lindsey's leg is finally healing 💉 😌

Good news! Lindsey's injured leg is finally returning to normal. 🙌 All of the swelling that she has been dealing with from the PRP injections is finally subsiding. Lindsey has been walking normally for the past few days, which is a wonderful relief for both of us.

Now, she will need to continue focusing on rebuilding strength in the muscles around her knee to aid the LCL tear healing process. This is a difficult balancing act: she needs to put in enough effort to train the muscles, but not so much that she causes additional pain and swelling.

Keith is preparing for two upcoming gravel races 🚵 🚀

Keith has officially signed up for two gravel races this year! 🎉 Keith has been exploring the various options for local and not-so-local gravel races. He finally narrowed the list to two very different races, which will test his skills and endurance in very different ways.

Wasatch All-Road Gravel Race

First, on Saturday, August 29th, Keith will take on the Wasatch All-Road Gravel Race (rider guide). This is a local race, based in nearby Heber City, UT. The Wasatch All-Road course is only 82 miles (132 kilometers) in length, but it has 10,560 feet (3,219 meters) of climbing!

This race is known for the infamous "Wasatch Wall" which is a massive, steep, and rough gravel climb. The climb is so steep that the race organizers give you up to 3 hours to reach the first aid station at 17.6 miles (28.3 kilometers). That is a seriously long amount of time to cover that short a distance! 😅 The rest of the race after the Wasatch Wall should be smooth sailing, pending any major mechanical issues.

WYO-131 Gravel Grinder

Two weeks later, on Saturday, September 12th, Keith will attempt the WYO-131 Gravel Grinder (rider guide). This race is based in Lander, WY. It covers 131 miles (211 kilometers) of remote and rugged Woming backcountry with a total elevation gain of 10,000 feet (3,048 meters). Unlike the Wasatch All-Road, this race has a slow and steady burn of a climb spread across the first 110 miles (177 kilometers)! 🥵

The WYO-131 will be a true test of Keith's single-day endurance. Unlike the 2025 Tour Divide, in which Keith had all day to cover the planned 100-mile (161-kilometer) segments, Keith will need to push himself to complete this course in the fastest time possible. This will take a delicate balance of power output, calorie input, and hydration to ensure that Keith performs without bonking for the entirety of the race.

Bike maintenance and repairs

Keith finally got his bike back from The Bike Peddler. They were able to perform all of the requested maintenance except for servicing the dropper post. The fork and shock feel like new again, and the creaky bottom bracket is no more!

Next, Keith will need to deal with the worn-out dropper post and also replace all of the frame bearings. Closer to the upcoming gravel races, Keith will replace the entire drivetrain with fresh components. Amazingly, the drivetrain has lasted way longer than expected. It survived the entire 2700-mile (4,345-kilometer) Tour Divide and a full year of riding afterward.

Fire and snow in Utah! 🔥❄️

Wildfire season has officially kicked off in Utah with a bang! 🔥 😔 It seems like the entire state is on fire. As you can see from the Utah Fire Info screenshots below, multiple fires have well surpassed 10,000 acres, and some are approaching 100,000 acres in only a matter of a few days.

Extreme drought, high winds, high temperatures, and minuscule relative humidity are all contributors to the unprecedented fire growth this year. Thankfully, Governor Cox has passed an executive order banning all personal fireworks in Utah this year. However, we are already seeing individuals and some towns pushing back on the executive order.

We can only hope that those individuals will come to their senses and abide by the order. People don't seem to realize that even a small fire can balloon into an uncontrollable incident in the blink of an eye. Also, a significant number of Utah's firefighters are already on the frontlines of these devastating wildland fires. So, if a new fire is started due to fireworks, there may not be any fire department resources to put it out.

We personally experienced the results of some of the more local fires during a drive on Friday evening. We left our house, and the sky was mostly clear. By the time we returned home, it looked like the apocalypse! The sky was a burnt-orange color, filled with smoke, with ash raining down. 😢 As if that wasn't crazy enough weather, it also snowed in the mountains this weekend! 🏔️ 🤯

Date night tacos and ice cream popsicles 🌮 🍦

For date night this week, we headed to Keith's favorite local taco joint, Holy Taco, in Orem, UT. This simple, unassuming restaurant serves the most delicious Al Pastor tacos we have ever had.

After enjoying our meals, we were both in the mood for dessert. So, we took a quick trip to Joy Pops in Provo, UT, to sample some of their gourmet paletas (ice cream popsicles). This was the perfect way to satisfy our sugar cravings! 😋

We are finally getting Lindsey's skis replaced 🎿 🆕

After much delay, drama, and frustration, we are finally getting Lindsey's skis replaced! 🥳 I am not sure how much I want to share about our experience right now, but I will say that the Backcountry.com warranty system is questionable/shady at best. I don't know if I will ever be comfortable making another large purchase through them again.

Let us know if you are interested in hearing the whole story of our experience with the Backcountry.com warranty system. We will share some photos of Lindsey's new gear once we pick it up next week.

New paddleboards and a replacement 360 camera 🛶 📷

Lindsey has been thinking about purchasing a stand-up paddleboard (SUP) for a long time. So, with Amazon Prime Day upon us, we took advantage of the sale and purchased two ZLX 11'6" Stand-Up Paddle Boards, a ZLX Electric Paddleboard Pump, and two Onyx MoveVent Dynamic Paddle Vests. Lindsey is super excited to finally have the equipment to enjoy Utah's magnificent lakes.

Keith also took this opportunity to purchase a replacement Insta360 X3 360° camera. Our original X3 was damaged during the 2025 Tour Divide race and has since become completely inoperable. Keith was hoping to replace it with the newest model, but Insta360 has not yet released a replacement for the somewhat aging Insta360 X5. So, the discounted X3 seemed like a good compromise until the new X6 finally arrives.

Neigborhood hawks 🦅 🏡

We have at least two new hawks that have moved into our neighborhood. The pair of hawks has been hanging around our home for the past week or so. They are really fun to watch! We have even spotted them eating a snake that they recently captured. We are assuming that the hawks have a nest nearby, but we haven't found it yet.

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 Summer weather? Do you have any exciting Summer vacation plans? Let us know in the comments section below.👇 💬