Weekly Newsletter: March 24th-30th, 2025

This week, we skied at Deer Valley, Keith went on two huge training rides, and Lindsey indulged in "High Chocolate". 🍫

Check out our new posts and videos 🆕 🎥 📝

A Day in the Life on the Camino: What to Anticipate

Keith and Lindsey fell into a natural routine along the Camino de Santiago. While most days looked somewhat the same, there was room for flexibility.

Keith and LindseyLindsey Huster

Spring skiing at Deer Valley 🦌 🎿

Keith was able to use the quarterly mental health day provided by his employer so that we could take advantage of the Wasatch Benefit program offered with our Snowbird season pass. This program provides us with one free day of skiing at Deer Valley, Brighton, and Alta. Unfortunately, these free days must be used mid-week which makes it difficult for Keith, especially this year due to Keith's limited PTO.

We were able to use the Deer Valley ski day since Keith had a quarterly mental health day available that he had to use before the end of March. We picked the perfect, warm, sunny spring skiing day! The afternoon temperatures were warm enough that Keith actually removed his jacket and skied in his t-shirt!

We maximized this "vacation day" by indulging in a delicious lunch at the Empire Lodge before heading back out to ski the rest of the afternoon. We skied the majority of the day before heading back home. Of course, Keith's sweet tooth got to him so we had to stop at the Dairy Keen restaurant for milkshakes and fries!

Spring weather training ride 😎 🚲

The weather on Wednesday was spectacular! Warm and sunny with minimal wind. What a perfect day for a long training ride. Keith headed out to climb Provo Canyon towards the Deer Creek Parkway trail. This was the first time that Keith was able to ride in a t-shirt and shorts all year! Keith only ran across one small section of snow/ice that remained on the trail.

On the way back, Keith decided to make the route more interesting by diverting onto the Pipeline Road singletrack and gravel road trail. This included a short but steep hike-a-bike section to get up to the trail. Keith then decided that he still hadn't had enough so he also tackled the extremely steep, rugged Alta Ditch climb up to the Bonneville Shoreline Trail.

High Chocolate Experience 🏨 🍫

Lindsey has seen social media videos of "High Chocolate" at the Grand Hyatt Deer Valley for months now. This is a take on high tea and offers a similar experience but with hot chocolate. She was thrilled when Stephanie suggested they put it on the calendar and make it a priority for a girls' afternoon.

The Grand Hyatt is located in Deer Valley's East Village and is the only building complete in the expansion. It opened in November 2024 and offers High Chocolate each afternoon. This is great for apres ski or just a fun afternoon activity. The experience takes place in The Living Room, which is a sitting area in the main lobby of the hotel.

Lindsey and Stephanie sat right next to the person playing the piano and enjoyed the music, which surprisingly often was popular rock songs. The server brought out cups filled with cotton candy and slowly poured the hot chocolate into the mug. It was so satisfying to see the cotton candy melt and the chocolate bubble. Also included with each mug of hot chocolate is whipped cream, steamed milk, and a delicious red velvet cookie.

To maximize their girls' afternoon experience, Lindsey and Stephanie preordered the sweet and savory two-tiered tray, giving them lunch and dessert. Everything about the experience was fantastic. It was the perfect girls' afternoon to sit and chat while enjoying the High Chocolate experience!

Longest gravel ride this year! 😅 🚵

Keith has been steadily ramping up his training ride durations in preparation for the upcoming 2025 Tour Divide. Keith will need to be able to comfortably pedal for 10-12 hours per day! 🥵 This takes not only strong leg muscles but also strong core, back, and arm muscles to be able to maintain the cycling position for that long.

This week, Keith tackled a 73 mile (117 kilometer) ride with 4,360 feet (1,329 meters) of climbing. The majority of this ride was off pavement to better simulate what the real Tour Divide route will be like. Keith followed a similar route to what he had ridden earlier this week. However, this time he worked in additional climbing, singletrack, and the entirety of the Deer Creek Parkway trail.

The ride required over six and half hours of "ride time" and just over eight hours total time (including stops). Keith brought plenty of energy bars and snacks to keep him fueled throughout the entire route. Keith also was able to test out his water filtering skills as he had to collect water from the Provo river twice. Keith's biggest mistake on this ride was not taking any "real" food.

By the end of the ride, Keith's stomach was growling and he was severely craving some sort of salty, real meal like a basket of fries, a juicy hamburger, or tacos. As Keith continues to ramp up his training rides, he will need to start packing sandwiches and other "real" food options to help keep hunger at bay.

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! Do you have any spring break plans coming up? Let us know in the comments section below.👇 💬