#124 - Kyle Richardson - The Steep Stuff Podcast

Episode Transcript
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SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
Welcome back to this Deep Stuff Podcast.
I'm your host, James Loriello,and I'm so excited to welcome
Kyle Richardson back on theshow.
Kyle is fresh off his NortheastSummits tour, where Kyle biked
from basically from Manhattanall the way up to Maine and
ended his trip in New Hampshire.
A 1,300-mile trip with 84,000feet of elevation gain over 15

(00:21):
days.
In that trip, he hit six peaksacross New York, Vermont, New
Hampshire, and Maine, startingwith Hunter, hitting Colden,
Abraham, Mount Washington, MountCatain in Maine, which you guys
might be familiar with, and thenending on Mononduck in New
Hampshire.
Super fun getting to talk toKyle, catch up about his trip,
talk about the art and his why.

(00:42):
One thing I really appreciatedabout Kyle and always have is
that he always brings the flavorof art into the sport.
And with the sport getting sosciencey, leaning one way to the
other, it's always been fun tokick Kyle's perspective where he
brings just a fresh perspectiveof art into it.
Another thing we talked aboutwas Kyle's South Platz twirl

(01:03):
route that he created, which wasa bikepacking tour, as well as
his route that he put up thissummer, biking from Boulder to
Steamboat and back for his mootcycles tour, which is pretty
dope.
Guys, I hope you enjoyed thisone.
It's always fun getting to catchup with Kyle to talk about what
he's been up to, especially overthe summer.
I think you guys are gonnaappreciate his perspective.

(01:23):
So without further ado, KyleRichardson, Kyle Richardson.

(02:34):
Welcome back to the Deep StuffPodcast.
How's it going, man?

SPEAKER_01 (02:37):
Hey James, thanks for having me on.
I'm good.
Uh yeah, got back to Boulderlike a few days ago, so settling
into my routine here.
And uh I'm sure we'll get intoit.
But yeah, I had a really goodmonth out on the East Coast.
Um but yeah, so that's that'skind of what I'm up to.

SPEAKER_00 (02:56):
Dude, I love it.
I mean, it was so much funfollowing along.
I don't know if you still callit the same thing.
I know you were calling it theNortheast Summits tour.
Um and yeah, it was such a fun,fun kind of thing to follow
along.
What was it like?
I got it written down here,1,300 miles of 84,000 feet of
vertical, 15 days, six peaks.
Like what a what an epic of a ofa situation there.

(03:19):
Starting off in Manhattan andthen kind of uh ending in New
Hampshire, but still stoppingoff in Maine.
I don't know.
Maybe maybe you tell me likeyour reaction and just like kind
of the the aftermath of of ofthe journey.

SPEAKER_01 (03:33):
Yeah, no, it's uh it's kind of one of those uh
projects that that you're reallypsyched that you were able to
do, you know.
Like it's it's fun to set biggoals and objectives at the
beginning of the year, but likeI feel like you don't yeah, you
don't end up doing most of them.
Just uh if you're setting stuffthat's really like you know,
you're reaching and trying tostrive for excellence, like you

(03:55):
might get one or two of thosethings.
And uh yeah, this is one ofthose projects that I thought
about for a long time and yeah,just went out there and did it
and was like, oh, that wasn't sobad.
Like you yeah, I don't know.
It's like we can get into thedetails, but I feel like it was
just it all went how it wassupposed to go.
Like it was smooth, there was noissues, there was no stress,

(04:18):
there was no um super lowpoints.
It was kind of like excitementand motivation for 15 days,
which to just like have thatevery day and just be psyched is
is awesome, you know.
Uh I've gone on other tripswhere it's uh you're like oh,
this is a bit of a drag, or youryour mind wanders, and um
sometimes you have like lowmotivation moments, and like

(04:40):
this was just like at the top,feeling so good, pushing you
know, for 15 days, which yeah, Idon't know.
I feel like that's sort of rare.
I'm I'm grateful that like I wasjust able to do that and be in
that space.
So I'm like, oh wonder I wonderif that will happen again.
And yeah, obviously it couldhappen again, but yeah, lifetime

(05:03):
moment, lifetime trip for me,and uh yeah, I feel like I'm
still gathering my thoughtsabout it.
Um But yeah, I've always beeninspired by just packing up all
your camping stuff on your bikeand a pair of running shoes and
going off and tagging somepeaks.
It's like you get to experiencethe the landscape with the bike,
and then you get to slow down orspeed up, however you want to

(05:26):
think about it on foot, and getto the top of something and like
take in the view and be like,oh, I started way over there,
and kind of like wrap your headaround like the scale of a
place.
You know, we both understandthat you can go out your your
front door and like learn thethe hills around where you live
intimately, and it's kind ofexpanding upon that and like

(05:47):
living off the bike is like kindof a way to yeah, you're really
learning the place that like youknow, I'm not living there, but
I feel like I can really take itin and appreciate it, um, kind
of like through a trip.
Um you know, I I saw like lotsof different parts of the
northeast and like kind of havelike these core memories about
like what the distinct stylesand like the different

(06:08):
landscapes in those ranges.
Um whereas if you were drivingthrough in a car and just like
doing a summit and moving on, itkind of I don't know, it's just
a different way to experienceit.
And so I've always gravitatedtowards yeah, l living off the
bike uh and little spurts.
This is certainly my longesttrip that I've ever done.
So yeah, curious to see wherethat experience takes me in the

(06:31):
future if I want to do somethinglonger or yeah, different.

SPEAKER_00 (06:35):
So cool, man.
How was the uh we'll get intothe the details, but I'm just
curious how the recovery wasfrom all that time.
Like, did you recover prettydarn fast?

SPEAKER_01 (06:44):
I mean, I just listened to the body and the
psych.
I feel like it didn't likerecovery was pretty quick.
I also wasn't like the the goalof this project wasn't to just
bury myself every day.
It was like this is so new andforeign to me that you kind of
just like do what the day umsort of gives you.
And like I would love to getinto this more because I feel

(07:05):
like this sometimes is like amental block that people have
with doing trips like this.
Is I didn't really plan it outto where I was like, oh, I want
to get here on this day and dothe peak on this day.
I was like, I'm gonna wake uplike a little bit before
sunrise, like I don't know,sometime between five or six.
I'm gonna spend all day movingoutside, and then I get tired at
night, I'm gonna go to sleep.

(07:25):
Like it wasn't like oh thissuffer fest or the hammering and
like really like digging myselfinto a well.
So I my body was like great thewhole time, you know.
Like I I took two days off and Iwas like, oh, I'm kind of I want
to go ride the bike.
So no, I come I wasn't sore, Iwasn't it was more just mental
like brain fog, um which isyeah.

(07:47):
I mean, I was putting in bigdays, but it all felt reasonable
and it was like, I don't know.
Just yeah, you're sort of justsoft pedaling all day, you're
running, you're running prettyeasy.
It's just like just kind of likethat endurance mode.
Um I'm sure like if I was reallystart doing some high intensity
training, I'd probably feel likea little sluggish and and off

(08:09):
and yeah, like just a littletaxed.
But other than that, yeah, Ifeel great and certainly like
psyched to to get outside and gorunning and biking.

SPEAKER_00 (08:17):
I love it.
Let's get into that, what yousaid a little bit with I I
really like that style where youbring your bivvy with you,
you're living off the bike, andyou're not really setting
expectations where, you know,especially for instance, I'll
just use the first leg of yourjourney on the New York or the
Empire uh trail, um, where youcan kind of just jump off and
bivvy as you go, and you don'treally have to set expectations

(08:38):
on, oh, I have to be in thistown by tomorrow, or I have to
be in on this peak by the nextday.
I almost feel like that justopens the journey up and really
with the relief of expectations,it allows you to kind of I don't
know, be more open to theexperience and let it come to
you as opposed to rushing it.

SPEAKER_01 (08:56):
Does that make make sense?
Yeah, I mean you you're sayingit perfectly, and it's leading
up to the trip, it was like kindof chaos.
Like I joined Killian to go upLong's Peak at the start of his
like States of Elevationproject, and then the next day I
flew to Brooklyn, which is likea full day of travel, and like
landed in the afternoon, got thebike, like took a taxi to my

(09:18):
friend's place in Brooklyn, andwe like I didn't even set up the
bike.
We like went out, we rode citybikes in to the to Manhattan, I
guess.
I don't even know where we were.
Went to like an art show, we gotlike late night Chinese food, we
went to the pool hall, we werehaving beers, like it was not
like this like, oh, I'm restedand recovered.
Like, I was wanting to soak upthe full experience and like

(09:39):
hang with my like really closefriend, see his sort of spots.
Um, we woke up the next day, Iwent for like a four-mile run
around Brooklyn and got likebreakfast sandwiches, and like I
didn't start the technical dayone till like 11 or noon.
So it was like very much aboutthe whole experience, like
you're saying, like let let kindof letting go of like an

(10:01):
itinerary, or like I had thepeaks, you know, and it was like
I guess I'll just say this forpeople that aren't familiar with
the trip that I did.
I did um a peak in theCatskills, the Adirondacks, the
Green Mountains, the WhiteMountains, and then I don't
really know what you want tocall the big range of mountains
that go up through Maine.
I I'm not even sure what they'recalled, but went up to Catawdin

(10:22):
and then back to Mount Menadnockin southern New Hampshire.
So those are like the corepieces that held the trip
together.
But other than that, I was like,let's, you know, just keep it
loose.
And that honestly was such arefreshing, exciting way to like
go go about things because likeI don't really know what's gonna
happen next.
Like I like that rhythm of likesometimes you're biking all day,

(10:43):
sometimes you're like biking andthen doing a peak the next
morning.
So you're kind of anticipatingrunning in the morning, and you
kind of can get in thatheadspace, like starting the day
with a run.
Sometimes you bike all morningand then do a run in the
afternoon, and you're likerunning into the evening light,
and that has a completelydifferent feel than kind of the
other options.
So it's super exciting to kindof have it constantly switching

(11:06):
because you honestly don't knowhow far it's gonna take or how
long it's gonna take to getsomewhere.
It's been kind of like that.
That's what I'm talking aboutwith the stress of trying to
analyze.
Oh, I have to get here at thispoint.
Um, yeah, if you let go of that,then you're just sort of long
for the ride, and it's super um,yeah, you're just like, I don't
know what's gonna happen next.
And that's uh that's a fun kindof feeling.
Like you kind of you kind of getexcited about the next peak, I

(11:29):
guess, the next place thatyou're gonna get to.
Um also when you're somewherethat you've never been, it's
like I don't really know whatthis terrain's gonna be like,
and the riding and roads in thenortheast, you can link a lot of
trails and rail trails, so ityou don't really know where you
are because sometimes you'rejust in this tunnel and you're
just in that for a long time,and then all of a sudden you get

(11:50):
to the next spot, and you'relike, oh now I'm here.
Whereas in Colorado, if sayyou're in like the Arkansas
River Valley, you like you cansee like kind of the terrain
ahead of you.
You can see like, oh okay, likeI see a couple of hills, and
then Buena Vista's down there,and then you keep riding, like,
oh okay, I I don't know, youjust see like the towns, you see
the landscape better in thenortheast.
You're you're sneaking around,you know, like you can't really

(12:12):
tell the scale of things.
You're just like, I guess I'mgonna ride a long time, and then
oh, there's the mountain rightin front of you, or you'll go
over like so many rolling hills,and then you'll get to something
that looks a little moreprominent.
You're like, okay, now I'm inthe next zone.
So it just had yeah, a new feelto that kind of the way that the
terrain hits you.

SPEAKER_00 (12:31):
Um so and the terrain is interesting too.
Well, the thing I think thatwhen I figured out what you were
doing, I I was so jealous.
I was like, I have to dosomething like this at some
point, just because you know, iffor the and if for folks and
listeners of the podcast, likethat have either explored, you
know, whether it's the catskillsor the whites or the
Adirondacks, the terrain more orless gets more aggressive as you

(12:54):
kind of go further north andthen I guess northeast.
Um you know, ending in in inCantatin, which is this like
beautiful knife edge ridgelinethat's like you know, totally
exposed and something you wouldnever expect to see in the
Northeast.
Um did you kind of conceptualizeit from that?
Like, did you have any otherlike renditions of this route

(13:15):
that you wanted to do, or was italways kind of this beautiful
idea of starting in New York andthen biking to uh these
locations?
Like, how did you put that plantogether?

SPEAKER_01 (13:24):
Yeah, no, it's definitely evolved.
Um, I did like a nine-day triplast year that I tagged summits
in um Vermont and New Hampshire.
That was kind of a steppingstone for this project.
I've talked around like addingmore peaks or different ranges
into a similar trip, but I don'tknow.
I I uh halfway through the yearI like wanted to that this idea

(13:45):
of starting in New York City andthen going to Catada, and that
was like the major part of theroute that I was like, oh,
that'd be so sick to go yeah,from this metropolis all the way
to you know, this lone peak outin the woods of Maine, you know,
and uh kind of explore thepossibilities of having
adventure in these like superdense urban areas, because for

(14:08):
the most part, except for Maine,like there's people everywhere,
and you could still have thislike wild experience.
Like I felt very much out theremany times throughout the whole
trip.
Um so yeah, it kind of there wasthat through line of of you know
exploring the sort of thewilderness of of of these

(14:31):
different mountain ranges.
And I certainly made it a pointto like get off the main roads,
like follow trails and railtrails and back roads and gravel
roads as much as possible, um,for a multitude of reasons, like
dealing with cars and also justit's more scenic.
But you know, that does addchallenges with like a lot more
vertical, you're constantlygoing like over kind of the the

(14:52):
more difficult way.
Um yeah, I would say just thecity, city to the different
peaks is kind of the theinspiration when it came down to
the like to get to start.

SPEAKER_00 (15:03):
Let's get into that a little bit.
I want to talk about some of thelike the specific routes.
Like you started your obviouslystarted your trip um on in
Brooklyn or was it Queens, andit kind of goes I because I know
that's where the Empire StateTrail starts, which I've ridden
on a ton, both uh I've ran on aton and then I've biked on it a
ton.
And we'll talk about this alittle more, but like what did
you think of that?

(15:24):
I thought that was kind of neatthat like that is a pretty
solid, for the most part, railtrail system that you can kind
of get at least I've only beenon it through what is it, past
Poughkeepsie to New Palts, andthen a little bit closer to the
cat skills.
Like, does it is it pretty legitthe whole way through?
Like, are you able to not reallyget too connected with cars and
stuff like that?
Are you kind of on your own?

SPEAKER_01 (15:46):
Yeah, no, good question.
So I started the triptechnically started in like high
bridge, which I just started theold Croton Aqueduct, which I've
seen like these YouTubers andInstagram sort of cyclists,
Terry Baronson and um TimFitzwater, they've like posted
videos of doing these routes,and that's kind of where I
learned about them.
But it's basically I don't know,30, 40 miles of gravel that

(16:08):
leaves High Bridge, which youfeel like you're still in like
the big city there.
So kind of an epic way to start,you know, gravel out of the
city.
So I think there is alternateroutes or like the Empire Strait
Trail maybe doesn't include theOCA, but either way, they're
both like bike-friendly options.
I think the OCA is like a littlemore cuddy, interesting, sort of

(16:30):
going through people's backyardon like this single track
following like this historicaqueduct that brings water to
the city.
Um so that yeah, that was like,oh, I want to do this, and that
kind of easily links into um theEmpire State Trail, and then
from there it's like, yeah, allthe way to Kingston or I guess
New Paul's, it's um yeah, it'sall bike path.

(16:52):
So I think that's a hundredmiles or something at least.
Or and yeah, you're crossingintersections where you could
take a left turn and like gointo town, or you can just stay
on the path, and so yeah, that'slike a really nice way to go
about biking, you know.
Um you cross like the AT for thefirst time on that segment, and
I saw other bike packers, yousee runners, hikers, every you

(17:14):
know, everyone's out and abouton those, so it's fun to yeah,
just kind of log the miles inthe the green tunnel there.
Uh the you know, the leaves arestarting to turn, and that was
the only day that I this is daytwo.
The only day where I like therewas a storm.
Um I was in New Palts and thislike giant front was like
crashing over me, and like Ijust got nicked by it, but I was

(17:37):
like waiting under cover justfor 30 minutes or whatnot,
eating some stuff from the gasstation, and uh it passed, and I
was like, all right, now we'regood.
And so I went up and over therethe gunks and then over down
into Kingston.
So yeah, that was a prettycar-free day.
Um trying to think you go overthe that big Hudson Bridge.

(17:58):
Yeah, is it what's it called?
Hudson Bridge.

SPEAKER_00 (18:01):
I should know this.
My wife's family is literallyfrom there.
Uh the the mid-Hudson Bridge.

SPEAKER_01 (18:04):
And New Polts, yeah, yeah.
So that's epic.

SPEAKER_00 (18:08):
That's so cool.
Yeah, it's what is such a smallworld.
I saw like I like obviously Iwas following your Instagram
story.
It's when I messaged you, I waslike, dude, like I I was here
all summer.
It's such a beautiful place.
And I don't know, I feel likethe gonks are neat.
There's lots of exploring there,and then like opens it up to the
cat skills.
And cat skills, I mean, more orless have their own kind of
natural beauty to them.
You know, I I know a lot ofpeople kind of play in the cat

(18:30):
skills.
It's almost like kind of thelittle bro.
I I feel bad because it getslike the reputation of maybe the
little brother to theAdirondacks, if you will, which
are a little bit more burly andgnarly.
Um, I kind of told you it waslike Hunter Mountain, check it
out.
What was your experience there?
What did you think of that peak?
I know it's kind of short butsweet.

SPEAKER_01 (18:46):
Yeah, no, I mean I I was kind of like reaching out to
a couple of people and like whatshould I run here because I
don't know anything about thearea, and like it's easy to just
default to like the high point,which I slide, right?
And I don't know anything aboutit.
I don't this wasn't a highpoints tour.
I kind of like wanted just toget that flavor, like what's a

(19:07):
good taste of this mountainrange?
It can be short or long.
Like, I wasn't trying to doanything crazy long, but yeah,
no um, yeah, no uh preconceivednotions about this is the kind
of peak that I want to run.
So you gave me an excellentrecommendation, and like earlier
a second ago, you were like umit gets more technical as you

(19:28):
get up to Maine, but like goingup Hunter, that's brutal.
It's technical, and that's theexact kind of trail and mountain
that I like to run.
So yeah, I think that lives nextto all the other peaks that I
did, and I thought it had aunique summit and yeah, just
interesting terrain, interestingyeah, just kind of little

(19:49):
ridgeline that you go up.
Uh so yeah, I thought that wassick.
Um it was a good entry to likerunning in in New York and sort
of what the trip had to offer,you know.
Um that whole day was good, likethe rail trail living leaving
Kingston, um the towns that Iwent through, the roads, it was
all like A plus, you know, goodriding, interesting, beautiful

(20:11):
hillsides, and yeah, I feel likeyeah, that was one of the better
days.
And then even after the run, Ithink I described this section
as it it's mostly paved, but theway that I was trying to go
north is you'd kind of cut up upand over these hills, and like
the very top bits of these hillshad little interesting dirt
sections.
So you'd climb for a little biton pavement, then you'd have

(20:34):
like you know, a four by fourroad just to get you up and
over, or you know, you couldride around on a busier road,
but I like kind of like takingthe steeper, quieter option.
So I thought the riding wassuper beautiful and interesting,
had it like a really good mix,you're constantly changing
surfaces, um, going throughsmall towns.
Um yeah, I left with with a goodimpression of the cat skills and

(20:57):
like to go back uh and exploremore.
Uh yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (21:00):
How long was that connection, if you don't mind me
asking, between the Adirondacksand the Catskills?
Was that about a day, two days,something like that, to get from
one range to the next?

SPEAKER_01 (21:08):
Yeah, I think it was like a day and a half.
Um and that was totally just meuh, you know, looking at a map,
trying to figure out the bestway on the computer before I
left.
Um I felt like I did a prettygood job um blinking the roads,
but yeah, that that certainlythat section is a bit arbitrary,
you know.
Like I'm staying out of theHudson Valley.

(21:28):
You could default back downthere and maybe hop on rail
trail, but I was like, oh, Iwant to keep it a little more
direct.
So it ended up working outgreat.
Uh good roads, good towns.
Uh so it feels like Amishcountry, you know, down in the
farmlands, and yeah, it was justkind of this cool little
connector.
Um, mostly paved, but good goodroads.

SPEAKER_00 (21:49):
How was it bivvying out?
Like, did you did anybody giveyou any heart?
Like it's I find it funnybecause like we have a culture
here in the West where it's muchmore common, and obviously in
some parts of the northeast,maybe a little common for bike
packers, but like did anybodycome across here like, what the
hell is this guy doing?

SPEAKER_01 (22:04):
Like uh like yeah, you get you always get comments
here and there, like at gasstations and here and there, but
it's people are yeah, surprisedto see you out there, they want
to know like where you startedor how heavy your bike is.
But for the most part, peoplekind of just are in their own
little world.
I I I tried to busy where youknow people weren't gonna see

(22:26):
me.
I I didn't really want to haveinteractions with people out,
you know, stealth busying.
It's uh it's definitely hard tofind places to sleep.
Like in a trip like this, youcan sometimes call ahead and get
a campground spot.
You sometimes can't anticipatewhen you're gonna need that or
like show up at a campground.
So I never had a ton of successwith that.
So I was often just looking forlittle bits of public land or

(22:49):
state forests and kind ofsneaking away on little yeah,
quiet roads and stuff out in thewoods.
So I didn't have I didn't haveany issues with people.
Uh that's positive.

SPEAKER_00 (23:00):
It's good to hear.

SPEAKER_01 (23:01):
But it's always a little touch and go, you know.

SPEAKER_00 (23:03):
Yeah, yeah, no, of course, of course.
You never know if you're gonnalike run into a homeless guy or
something out there.
It's like you need to be.

SPEAKER_01 (23:08):
No, it's it's happened before, and like yeah.
Yeah.
Here in Colorado, you know, ohyeah, Baltimore go into the
national forest, and there's notlike homes in between you.
Like it's at least where I wastraveling through, it's like
little spots in betweensubdivisions or like people's
houses, basically.
So you kind of like can heardogs barking and yeah, so it's

(23:32):
it's a little touch and gosometimes, you know.
You you might be rolling up insomeone's property, but
interesting.

SPEAKER_00 (23:41):
How um you must be like a uh like Gaia GPS like
savant?
Like how how did you map thiswhole thing going into it?
Like were you just sitting onthere for like days trying to
figure out like okay, like thisword connects to this, to
connect to this, to connect tothat?
Like, how did you put this alltogether?

SPEAKER_01 (23:56):
Yeah, I mean that's yeah, that yeah, using Gaia and
like other mapping apps, butlike definitely defaulting to
Gaia to just make the segmentslike break it down piece by
piece.
I don't think most apps crashwhen you try to make a route
like past so many miles orsomething.
It's like it's better to justbreak it down into maybe pot I

(24:19):
kind of was like potential days,but sort of yeah, transfers from
one mountain range to the next.
And then I also was riding onsome known bikepacking routes
like the Eastern Divide, like umthe cross Vermont Trail, and um
what's it called, the EasternTrail, Eastern Greenway or
whatnot.
Uh so some of it was like stuffthat people have scouted, so I

(24:42):
was kind of mixed-maxing thatall together to yeah, get the
route.
But some of it was just on thefly, like type it in on Google
Maps and just put put it in themost direct way.

SPEAKER_00 (24:52):
Yeah, well, I I feel like it's gotta be one of those
things too where at least myhesitation would be like trying
your hardest not to end up onlike a busy road.
Like trying everything you canto like end up on like it
somehow on like a dirt road orsomething like that.

SPEAKER_01 (25:05):
That happened once, and it was like the that was
probably the sketchiest momentof the whole trip.
I was getting towards uh CrotonPoint um on the first day, and I
like dumped onto the interstateon accident.
Like there was like a bike paththat was protected, but it was
like on the other side of theroad, and I I think Google Maps
had me going on that, but Ididn't like zoom in to see

(25:27):
exactly.
It looked like it was like theinterstate, or yeah, at the time
I was like, Oh, this is justanother busy road.
I didn't actually yeah, processthat the I was hopping onto the
highway, and it was like, yeah,not chill.
But luckily, I like merged ontothe highway and it was the next
exit I could get off, so I wason it for like two minutes, but
still it was I was like, Ohshit, this is not what I'm

(25:48):
trying to do.

SPEAKER_02 (25:49):
That's crazy.

SPEAKER_01 (25:52):
You know, whatever 75 miles an hour, and I'm like
crossing three lanes of trafficin my like 50-pound rig, you
know, it's hard to acceleratesuper fast.

SPEAKER_00 (26:01):
Yeah, big time, big time.
It's gotta be nerve-wracking,dude.

SPEAKER_01 (26:04):
Yeah, that was the only part where I was like, that
was just a dumb mistake, youshould have stopped and zoomed
in on the route.
But other than that, I didn'thave any other issues with cars
or like getting onto their badroads.
Um I would say yeah, most of thetime, even Google Maps, like it
won't send you down the highway.
Like I think it knows better.
I was just stupid to notinspect.

SPEAKER_00 (26:27):
Interesting.
Interesting.
What was uh all right, so I'mI'm trying to the way I'm trying
to bridge this conversation islike so we we kind of got
through the cat skills.
I want to talk about the Adoroxa little bit.
Um in out in the Adirondacks,you did it was it Mount Abraham,
if I remember correctly, um, orwas that in Vermont?

SPEAKER_01 (26:43):
That was Vermont.
I did um Mount Colden, uh likeChop Dike.
Um yeah, in the Adirondacks.
That was a really good one.
That was probably one of myfavorites.

SPEAKER_00 (26:53):
Talk about that one a little bit.
Was that just like a like ashort and sweet one?
Or is it you know because I'vebeen on Marcy before.
I haven't like ex I haven'tspent too much time in the
Adirondacks, only like a coupletrips.
Um, but just it seems like it'sa bit more burly, technical, a
lot of exposure, just adifferent type of range.
It's a lot of fun.

SPEAKER_01 (27:12):
So yeah, not totally.
So um the Adirondacks are kindof hard to get to, at least from
any roads, and certainly where Iwas coming from from the south,
like I was trying to find anentryway into the Adirondacks
coming like from the south.
Um, so I landed on like theupper works trailhead.

(27:32):
Otherwise, you'd have to likebike kind of all the way around
to access from the north.
And so I like where I wanted togo next, it made more sense to
come in from the south.
Uh, so I decided, like, oh, I'mgonna do something from upper
works, and from there I decidedlike, oh, this is this would be
a sweet peak to do.
Um, like I thought about Marcy,but again, this wasn't like a
high points trip, so I wasn'tlike dead set on doing that.

(27:54):
I wanted to just do like atechnical route that has like an
interesting summit, and so thislike checked the box and all
that.
So this route trap dike goes upthis big dike onto a huge slide,
um, which kind of feels like abig flat iron.
Um, so I had some interesting,like easy scrambling, and then
some just slab romping up to thesummit, and it kind of puts you

(28:16):
right at the top.
Um, it's yeah, super interestingtrail, um, with some good
exposure, some cool like laddersand slab running.
And so yeah, it was um, I thinkI want to say 15 miles,
something like that.
Uh so kind of yeah, like apretty good sized run after a
morning or I guess half a day ofbiking.

(28:38):
That was one of those days I waslike, oh, I don't know if I'm
gonna be able to get the run intoday, you know, because I don't
know how what the roads are liketo get there, but I ended up
arriving at like one o'clock inthe afternoon.
Which is perfect, plenty of youknow, daylight to go do the run.
So that was a fun one.
Just starting near theheadwaters of the Hudson River.
I don't totally know thehistorical context for the

(29:01):
trailhead, but I know there issome interesting stuff about
like I think it was TheodoreRoosevelt was staying there at
one point, and yeah, just kindof like some interesting yeah
history there.
Um, I was kind of like too tiredto really dig into that.
You know, you could tell that ithad some meaning, and I
definitely got a kind of sort ofa glimpse of that.

(29:22):
Um so yeah, it was a solid run.
I feel like that had some youknow interesting tactical
elements that made it fullvalue.
Uh yeah, cool summit.
So I was psyched to kind of pullthat one off and then bike
another 30 miles into the nightdown into the Hudson River
Valley.
So yeah, solid, solidimpression, first impression of

(29:43):
the Adirondacks.

SPEAKER_00 (29:44):
Wow.
Uh I mean, and that dude, that'sa range you could spend so much
time in.
Like there's so much going onthere, uh, in the sense of like
lots of cool FKTs, lots of coollike like classics and up down
routes that are like prettydope.
And yeah, the Endronic MountainPark is is legit.
Obviously, Vermont is Vermont.

(30:04):
I've never been on Abraham.
I actually don't know much aboutit, but I do want to get to, for
the sake of time, I want to fastforward to New Hampshire and
talk about running up, you know,just the white, running up um
Mount Wash and just kind of yourexperience with that.
I know obviously it's probablynot your first time up there on
Mount Washington, but it'salways a special time going in
those mountains.
Like that those mountains haveme very interested.

(30:26):
Like I love the white mountainsin New Hampshire.
Like everything is very steep,it's very technical, it's very
vertical, it's just so differentfrom Colorado in so many ways.
Um talk about your experiencejust in New Hampshire in
general.
Um, but you talk about the spthe whites specifically.

SPEAKER_01 (30:41):
Yeah, so I honestly Washington is sort of the only
no, I've done a couple otherpeaks in the whites, but it's
kind of the only peak I'vereally spent more time on than
just once.
And yeah, it's it's big, it'stall, so I feel like that is
appealing.
Um kind of thinking that maybein the future I'd like to
explore different peaks becauseI feel like I've always

(31:01):
dedicated these trips to kind ofyeah, going up Washington.
Um I um yeah, it was a supersolid run.
I feel like it started in theafternoon and there was not many
people on the summit, or therewas no one on like where the
sign is, you know.
So you could go out there andjust kind of soak it in and not
feel like you're on the top oflike a mall or something.

(31:22):
Uh but yeah, no, the light wasgorgeous, but you know, the fall
of tundra technical, like funfun to like run up that thing.
Uh it just makes sense to kindof tag it from the what would
that be, the east side or no,the west side.

unknown (31:39):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (31:39):
I've like done um what did you go?

SPEAKER_00 (31:42):
Did you go up the man?

SPEAKER_01 (31:43):
What is the like the ammo trail?

SPEAKER_00 (31:45):
Yeah, yeah.
And then it was it's across fromWildcat.
What is the name?
Uh Tuckerman Ravine.
Did you go up that way or no?

SPEAKER_01 (31:51):
I I was so I went up the other side, but I've I've
done Tucks and I've doneHuntington Ravine.
Uh, but this trip just some ofit also was wanting to tag these
peaks in a like a logical way,not having to like go completely
out of the way to get to acertain trailhead.
Yeah, it's like what makes themost sense in a like a nice
aesthetic loop.
I feel like sometimes it's worthit to yeah, dig your heels in

(32:13):
and be like, I have to do itfrom this trailhead because
that's just what I want to do.
This time I was like, yeah,doing it from the other side,
which you could argue isn't asinteresting as like the
Tuckerman Rim, uh like thePink'em Notch side.
And yeah, like that side's alittle more raw and kind of
rugged, whereas I think the thewest side it's like more just
talus, like like a gradualslope.

(32:34):
Uh, but still I it's cool.
Um, I I liked it.
Uh, but it doesn't compare toCatahdin in terms of an
interesting sort of alpine peak.
It's yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (32:46):
Yeah, talk about Catain, because that that's a
legit, legit peak.

SPEAKER_01 (32:50):
Yeah, I mean that's the closest thing that I
encountered to anything inColorado or like in the Longs
area, or yeah, sort of the 14erswe have.
The Catain lived up to that withsome good exposure and like
ridge, ridge running, like anextended ridge that's technical.
Uh so like doing a cathedraltrail, like it you gotta use

(33:13):
your hands.
I mean, it's easy scrambling,but still it's more interesting
than just hiking up stairs orhiking up the slope.
And yeah, it was just kind of aperfect run.
Um interesting, beautifulterrain.
That I was like, oh, it wasworth it for all the the miles.
Because there's a lot of terrainfrom Mount Washington to
Catatin.
That was like three and a halfdays of riding, and the riding

(33:34):
is like very burly, like it'ssome of the burliest riding
we've ever done.
Super remote, like longstretches without resupply.
Um, anyone that's done the AT,you know, knows like those towns
up there.
There's not a lot of them,there's just a few.
So uh got I feel like I got alittle taste of that, and yeah,

(33:56):
definitely got the most beat upon the bike out of the whole
trip.
Like my hands were cooked afterthose three days, just super
rocky and bumpy roads and sandyand every honestly everything
that you could imagine.

SPEAKER_00 (34:09):
Uh a lot of logging roads?
Is it just like logging up therewhere they just kind of destroy
the road more or less?
Or like what is that yeah?

SPEAKER_01 (34:15):
It's a mix of dirt roads, logging roads, kind of um
four by four roads, uhsnowmobile trails that are
overgrown that you're riding.
Like just yeah, there is somereally cool stuff, but also like
ah, it's it's really rough andslow going.
It's yeah, I think why there'sthis like 80 mile stretch of

(34:35):
just double track, or you'rejust like in this tunnel, super
pretty.
This is going on forever.
You just like feel like when isthis gonna end?
I mean, yeah, that's pretty coolto have a section like that.

SPEAKER_00 (34:47):
In a section like that, are are you in your own
head or like just deep inthought and experience, or are
you listening to music?
Like, how how do you choose toexperience something like that?

SPEAKER_01 (34:58):
Yeah, I mean, I just both probably, you know, like it
was like my headphones brokehalfway through the trip, so
like I I got new ones, but theyou know, they were kind of like
on the fritz and like slowlydying.
So yeah, I would probably likelisten to a music or podcast for
an hour or whatever, like tillit ends, and I'll check out of
that and just be like in my ownhead for a couple hours and back

(35:20):
to the music, and then you know,just kind of like oscillating
between the two, just dependingon like how interesting the
terrain is, or like if I'm on aroad with cars, like uh it's
easier to kind of want to blockthat noise out, not like block
it out so I don't hear it, butjust have like something on top
of the noise to kind of likemake it more palatable,

(35:41):
honestly.
Uh so interesting.

SPEAKER_00 (35:45):
What um I gotta ask you this, like because I I feel
like so we nailed the peakbecause we talked about that.
I want to make sure we encompasslike everything from this
journey that was as like to makesure we capture everything.
Like what what what would whatare the final takeaways?
Like, is this something you'regonna are you gonna build on
this and go back and try and dosomething else?
Do you think you're done withthe Northeast?

(36:06):
Or like what what are your whatare your final thoughts on this
particular project?

SPEAKER_01 (36:10):
Yeah, no, I feel like that definitely I would do
something different.
Like it would it wouldn't be ummaybe like someday doing the all
the 4,000 meter or f 4,000 footpeaks um in that area, but I
don't think I'm gonna dosomething kind of like what I
just did.
I feel like I like check the boxon that and would want to move

(36:31):
on and do something different.
Um certainly want to do otherlike bike and peak link ups, but
I feel like for the northeast,yeah, it would have to be
something like much bigger, orlike yeah, doing all those peaks
in one trip, which I've talkedabout with some people before.
And I don't know.
That doesn't really pull me asmuch as like what I just did.

(36:54):
I don't know.
It's something about like it's ait's not contrived, but it it
like it's less interesting withthe biking.
I feel like you're having tobike all around the different
ranges and like this micro leveljust to get to all the peaks.
Whereas this was a nice way tokind of spread it all out.
I mean, maybe I'll change mymind at some point, but for now
I think that was like a goodchapter for this kind of trip.

(37:16):
But I'm definitely not done withthe Northeast in terms of
wanting to go back and just dosingle-day runs and peaks and
bike like bike rides.
I'll always be coming back to dostuff there.

SPEAKER_00 (37:28):
Uh so it's too I mean, it's there's so much there
to do.
I think it's yeah, justimmensely slept on that people
don't understand just like thelevel of tech like technicality
and stuff that's out there.
Uh on the topic of like goingback and doing stuff, is there
any like one peak that kind ofcalls to you like for a record?
Like, did Katahdin like kind ofspeak out?
Because I know Dan's got somerecords on there.

(37:49):
He might even have the overallrecord on Catatin, I can't
remember.
Is there any like one particularpeak that like sticks out maybe
in New Hampshire or or Vermontor even Maine that is worthy of
you coming back and trying togive it like a world-class
effort on?

SPEAKER_01 (38:05):
I mean, Katahdin is I think the Katahdin,
Washington.
Um those are definitely likestriking peaks.
But even the last peak that Idid, Mount Menadnock, um that's
like one of my all-timefavorites, and it's pretty I
think slept on in like therunning community.
I think it's really popular withhikers, and there is a core

(38:28):
group of runners that likerecreate up there, some super
fast guys, and I've had therecord on one of the trails
there at one point.
Um so yeah, I feel like thosethree definitely if I could go
spend more time, and Menadnock'scertainly the easiest one to
kind of dedicate to learningintimately because I go for
Nabbies from um that area, andso I I've done that peak like 30

(38:51):
times, and there's half a dozensort of premier ascent and
descent lines on that peak.
So that's one where you canreally like dial in and it's
shorter than Catatin orWashington, but I don't think
that takes away from it.
I think it is just as cool.

SPEAKER_00 (39:07):
Uh interesting.
All right, dude.
I I wanna if you're if you'regood on this, we can actually I
do have one last question foryou, kind of related, kind of
not.
Is it a pain in the ass to flywith your bike?
Like I I've not tried that yet.
I've been wanting to do that.

SPEAKER_01 (39:21):
This is like people waited the whole podcast for
like the most importantquestion.
Like we like stop rambling,let's get to the stuff that I
actually can help other peopledo this kind of trip, which is
good.
I feel like end on somethingthat's useful.
Uh, it's not hard to fly withyour bike.
You know, you have to make theinvestment to get the bike back,
but once you have the bag, it'slike yeah, it works.

(39:44):
You know, I've flown with himmultiple times and never had an
issue.
Uh get one that has wheels thatyou can roll around and like
kind of research on the airlinewhat their bat bike policy is.
Uh depending on, I guess, whereyou're flying out of or like
what crew, you know, there'slooking at the bike or when you

(40:05):
have to pay.
I think the the pricingdefinitely varies.
Like I've I've flown with itwhere where it's free, I've
flown with it where it's just aregular check bag, I've flown
with it where they like want toweigh it and it's like crazy
heavy and it's like you know, ahundred bucks or something.
So yeah, I've kind of gotten thefull spectrum there, but you're
also flying with your bike andall your stuff.
It's kind of like it's gonnacost a little bit.

(40:27):
So but that it works.
You know, I'd I've nothing butgood things.
I mean, I fly United, I feellike they're pretty good with
their bike policy, and yeah.
I pack it pack it the right way,you know.
Like take I deconstruct the bikefully, uh even like the little
parts that could bend, take thethe rotors off and kind of pad

(40:50):
it and put all your like otherclothing and bike bags in there
and like kind of situate thatnicely, and yeah, you'll be good
when you get to yourdestination.
So yeah, there's no no stressthere.

SPEAKER_00 (41:01):
I appreciate that.
Yeah, I've always been curious.
I almost did it this year anddecided we drove instead and I
just wound up packing it in thecar, which is way better.
But yeah, no, definitelysomething I'll be doing in the
future.
All right, I gotta shift gearsbecause I gotta talk to you
about Long's Peak with Killian.
Um you kind of mentioned that inthe beginning of the episode.
Uh let's talk about theexperience.

(41:22):
Was that because Long's Peak isso iconic with you?
It's very integral to your storyin a lot of ways.
And that was the first peak hechose to do on his uh kind of
his journey, his project thathe's working on.
Like, talk about that experienceand how special that was for
you.

SPEAKER_01 (41:37):
Yeah, that was uh that was one of the better runs
that I've ever done, you know?
Linking up with Killian for likea 4 30 a.m.
start to go up your favoritemountain, you know.
It's like not every day you getthe text message to like come
out and and join someone likethat up a up a mountain.
And yeah, super grateful that Igot the opportunity to do that.

(41:59):
And part of me was like, oh, itwould be kind of nice to follow
someone in the dark up longsthat knows it really well, you
know.
Like there is some advantage tobe had there, especially at n
uh, you know, at night.
And um yeah, to to be superefficient, it's like the the
line is pretty nuanced.
And I was like, oh shit, but Ibetter not mess this up.

(42:20):
Because a lot of time in thedaylight, you're using like
features on the landscape thatare really far away to kind of
decide where you want to go onceyou're above tree line.
So with the headlamp, it's likekind of hard to do that.
But we ended up, you know, wenailed the route perfectly, and
yeah, it was just good vibes andgood conversation the whole way.
Uh you got to the summit andlike the alpin glow is starting,

(42:41):
and went on to pagoda, the nextpeak in the LA freeway.
Yeah, it's just good goodconversation and and fun times,
just chatting and sharing thethe love for the place and kind
of like hearing about theproject and his inspiration and
talking about shoes andnutrition and this, you know, we
kind of just yeah, hit thetopics, you know, we were just

(43:02):
talking and having a good time.

SPEAKER_00 (43:04):
So cool.
If you if you don't mind measking, like, how did that
opportunity come about?
Did they reach out?
Did he reach out to you?
Uh did he really?
Holy shit.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (43:12):
I mean, we I don't want to say we're like we're not
really we're friends andacquaintances, but like we've
chatted a bit on Instagram orlike sent messages back and
forth a few times, and um, yeah,it was just like, oh, if you're
interested, like would love to,you know, have you start on
longs, you know, to go up thereor whatnot.
Uh but yeah, I was like, howcould I turn that down?

(43:34):
Also, I was like, who knows howmy summer is gonna go.
Hopefully I'm healthy, I can doit.
You know, it was like kind offar, it was yeah, um after
Western, I think he reached out,or maybe it was before that.
Either way, it's like you putthat on the calendar and you're
like, oh okay, I hope let's justlike keep that in in mind for
your or gone through summer,it's something to look forward
to.

(43:55):
Um so and it's cool to see thathe's included so much of the
community over his wholeproject, like so many people
have gone.
Um, like that after um he didthe LA Fria, he like linked up
with Leo Wilcox, like ultracycling legend.
Like then they ride to Echo Lakeor wherever they is that where

(44:15):
they went to like below uh MountBlue Sky.

SPEAKER_02 (44:17):
Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (44:18):
And it's like, bro, what are you doing?
Like 21 hour, 22 hour pull, likeyour first day.
It's like no one could even dothat ever.
Like, no his first day is likean iconic day, and then he just
continues to back that up dayafter day, doing these insane
days, and it's I can't wrap myhead around it, and I kind of

(44:42):
into that sort of sphere ofdoing big days and linking
stuff, but this is on a wholenother level, you know, no one's
even coming close to doing thiskind of stuff, um, which is
yeah, crazy.
His 14ers, it was like I I don'tremember the average vert that
he's doing per day, but it'slike 16k or something per day.
You know, something silly.

(45:02):
It's like that's bigger thananyone's one day, you know.

SPEAKER_00 (45:06):
Really?
Dude, it's bananas, man.
I don't know how these guys aresuperhuman.
It's it's absolutely crazy.
Did you get a chance to readDakota's experience with him in
the Wilson group?
I thought that was interesting.
That was that was a goodwrite-up.

SPEAKER_01 (45:18):
Yeah, no, I I actually like I remember I
messaged Dakota because like,oh, it's super like he's one a
really good writer, but just hisperspective and like honesty and
vulnerability about the wholething was like super
interesting.
And yeah, I I thought that wasreally well done.
And uh it just gives you like alook into one Dakota, but also

(45:39):
Killian, like he's he's a goodguy, you know, he's not like
someone that's gonna force it orlike if if if you're not feeling
it, like he's down to like gothe longer way.
And like that says a lot about Idon't know, who he is and like
the people he wants to befriends with, and like their
Dakota and Killian'srelationship.
It's like they obviously have agood friendship and like close

(46:00):
connection.
Um so yeah, and it's also a goodreminder that yeah, if you're
not feeling it, just becauseyou're with the goat doesn't
mean you need to like forcesomething that you're not
comfortable with because youlike yeah, you're with someone
that could give you a falsesense of confidence.
And so that's also something tolike be reminded of, you know,
like to to not go get get out ofyour comfort zone just because

(46:23):
you're like you just could bewith a new friend or someone
that's showing you a technicalroute.
Like I've had these uminteractions and experiences
with people.
It's like it's a good reminderto like be vocal and communicate
if you're not like vibing withsomething, you know, like you
don't need to I don't know, bein your own head about that.
I feel like that's when mistakesare happened, so it's better to

(46:45):
kind of collaborate and you knowit's interesting because they
made that decision to kind ofturn around or bail and that
like shed light on the the a newway uh across the ridge that
they hadn't originally seen.
And so it's like thatcommunication opened up a new
door.
Um so I think there's a lot tobe said about that, and so that
was like the big thing thatyeah, rang through the piece for

(47:05):
me.
So I thought that was supercool.
Um, and of course, like Killian,he he would just go on like he
could just go on solo and justdance across the the ridge, you
know, like it's no problem forhim.
You see him doing like crazystuff.
Um but yeah, no, that that thatwas a cool piece.

SPEAKER_00 (47:20):
It speaks to his character.
I I I think that above above alot, it it definitely says like
you know, him willing beingwilling to to change change up
the plan or change up the routein general, just you know, given
with Dakota's comfort level, Ithink that just says a lot about
who he is.
So that's you know, it was cool.
It was a good write-up.
I definitely gotta say.
Um but yeah, man, I I I'm reallyexcited to see you do longs.

(47:43):
On that thread of normal, I sawthat you were wearing the Jirag
Brut.
Um that was that the the soloshoe of choice on your on your
link up that you did.

SPEAKER_01 (47:52):
Yeah, definitely.
I mean, I just love that shoe.
Like I like shoes with big lugs.
Um I feel like it's perfect forthe northeast for like the
muddy, wet, roody, rocky trails.
And also they're just like superlight, you know.
It's like the lightest shoe thatI have.
So if you're gonna be carryingit 1300 miles, like it's nice to
have a light shoe.
Yeah, but you know, and they'realso um what do you want to call

(48:15):
like hydrophobic, or they likethe water kind of like repels
quite easily through them.
I mean, they were designed to berunning in the fells, so like
they can get completely drenchedand they like don't hold any
water.
So that happened multiple times.
Like in the Adirondacks, likeboth my feet just like plunge
into a bog.
You know, your shoes are justabsolutely caked with mud, you
just like dip them in the river.

(48:35):
By the end of the run, they'rejust like fine.
Uh, whereas like a shoe with alot of padding on the upper, and
all these shoes would get likesuper like soggy and gross.
Uh so these are the perfect sortof water waterproof option, and
has the the tread and the lugpattern to go up like technical
rooty um trails.

(48:56):
Cool, cool.

SPEAKER_00 (48:56):
So it's a cool shoe, it's aesthetically beautiful
too.
I've seen a few of them in thewild.
Like I have a buddy that wearsthem all the time.
I'm like, that is a really coollooking shoe.

SPEAKER_01 (49:04):
Yeah, no, it's like it's literally the only shoe
that I brought, even like afterthe trip was done.
I was like, like going to dinnerin them, you know.
Yeah, yeah.
It's the only shoe I had thatwasn't the cycling shoes.
And it's like, I think mypartner, Abby, she was like, Oh,
those are like really likepretty shoes, like they kind of
like work as a lifestyle shoe.
Yeah, and that was like kind ofa thing with my whole kit is
like have stuff that like looksgood, that's stylish, that's

(49:27):
multi-purpose, that's like Idon't look homeless out there
and about like I I don't know.
I something about looking like abit more put together, like the
the button-up shirt, and I don'tknow.
Like maybe that's just all likemental, but kind of just have
the the kit they lookpresentable, you know, the shoes
and the the colorway, like itkind of helps with that.
So super cool.

(49:48):
Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (49:49):
All right, let's shift gears a little bit with
the time we got left.
I I really want to talk aboutyour bouldered a steamboat trip
that you did.
Um what a cool route, dude.
I I was like, this is awesome.
I gotta do this.
So uh maybe talk about it alittle bit, you can keep it
open-ended.
Uh say whatever you want to say,but like I definitely want to
hear more on this adventure, anduh and people can read your

(50:09):
write-up as well on the Gaia.
Uh it's in your Instagram bio.

SPEAKER_01 (50:13):
So yeah, so this trip came up with uh my
partnership with Moots, they'rebased out of Steamboat Springs.
So they were having their 40thanniversary, sort of they were
coining the ranch rally, whichis was like a 40-mile ride, kind
of touring the dirt roads northof Steamboat.
And yeah, I thought it'd be coolto kind of ride out there and

(50:35):
like do the XL version of theirof their ride.
So it was like a four and a halfday trip, five-day trip.
Um, I brought the running shoesand like went up Long's Peak on
my way out there, and thencrossed the Continental Divide a
bunch of times and did a bunchof passes, sort of classic
Colorado roads.
Uh and then and that was alsokind of like good prep for my

(50:58):
trip in the northeast.
It's kind of like a shorter hardloop that would kind of
condition the body and buildsummer fitness, and yeah, it's
kind of just like a steppingstone for what I was doing later
in the year.
Um yeah, the it was a beautifulroute.
I've done a bunch of those roadsmany times and separate trips,

(51:20):
but this was kind of like theperfect tour, like where you do
it in a direction that flowsreally well, like good resupply,
and yeah, kind of finish withthe crux of the route coming
down Rollins Pass, and then youdrop down in a boulder and the
route's done.
So um Gaia had reached out to meabout doing a little partnership
about routes, and I was like,Oh, this would be the perfect

(51:42):
opportunity to kind of yeah,nail down the route on paper and
like show give all the waypointsand do a little trip report for
that, and kind of yeah, so thatwas just something that sparked
after the fact, but certainly itwas cool to like showcase it a
bit.
And I feel like Boulder's kindof missing some more like
premier bikepacking routes oryou know, steamboat or wherever

(52:04):
you want to drop into the route,kind of like missing that
premier short to middle distancelike bikepacking route.
Like there's long stuff, there'sshorter stuff, but kind of that
sweet spot where it's yeah, youcould do it in three or four or
five days, uh, and kind of feellike it's not too long, but it's
also not an overnighter.
So I feel like the routesoftentimes live in those two

(52:25):
categories where it's like youcould do overnighters, and uh
obviously that varies with thekind of mileage that you're
looking to do, but at least forme, it's like you got those mega
rides and then like theovernighters, and this is kind
of lives in that like middleground, or it's could take a
long weekend, or you know, it'smanageable, it's not it's
nothing crazy.
Um, so cool.

SPEAKER_00 (52:45):
Yeah, what a better way to celebrate like a
partnership with a bike companythan to like bike to their their
event.
It's so dope.

SPEAKER_01 (52:52):
Yeah, no, it's I want to do more stuff like that
moving forward.
It's just the best way for me tolike represent brands is to like
yeah, fully embody what they doand like integrate that with
what I like to do, and so it'snot like it's nothing new to me,
you know.
Like I've been bikepacking onbikes before, but it's like it
just integrates seamlessly towhat I like to do, and it's

(53:14):
documenting it and sharing thatwith people, it's cool to get
people psyched on the bikes andthe Colorado history of like
Moots being such a core brand,and yeah, like trying to take
that those feelings that I workwith Moots and other brands, and
like further into like myprofessional career is like how
can I build relationships likethat and um just like authentic

(53:36):
partnerships and stuff.
Uh, and then like at the end ofthe day, if like you have to
post about it, like that's okay.
I feel like I would shy awayfrom that or like not wanting to
do paid content, but it's alsocool when it's something that
you're excited, excited about,and um feels natural.
Like it's easy for me to talkabout routes or bikes or running
shoes, you know, it's like stuffthat I use every day.

(53:56):
So and I feel like people likeare psyched about it and they
want to ask me questions, andit's cool to motivate and get
people and like inspired to godo these routes because I think
that they're premiere a classic,and I wouldn't be sharing it if
I didn't think that it was likea something fun and cool to do.
Like I want it, I don't want tosend people on like bad routes.
That's like a fear, you know.

(54:18):
I want it to be like thepremiere curation of like this
is the ultimate loop, you know.
I've thought about it in thisthis way or that way, and like I
settled it on this because itmakes more sense or whatever,
it's more beautiful.
So, yeah, really like digginginto that and excited to like
share.
Um, I'm gonna share one more,like this month, October, um,

(54:39):
one more route.
So something to look forward to,and this is another one that's
like super special to me.
And yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (54:46):
I like them all.
I mean yeah, and I'll I'll linkthem in the show notes so people
can read them.
And I I really want to directfolks because I I think you're
very intentional in your writingas well with what you say.
I mean, like you said, you don'twant to share a bad route, but
you're also very intentional ineven talking about like traffic
level, like, oh, you know, thisis a wide shoulder, you know,
this is a one-way road.
We're especially when you'retalking about the the initial

(55:07):
path um going over to Steamboat,uh no, no, I'm sorry, too, into
Granby uh in like the Grand Lakearea, how it's a one-way dirt
road and uh there's a wideshoulder and it's only one-way
traffic.
Watch out for elk.
Stuff like that, I think youwould like really appreciate.
Um and it's very intentional.

SPEAKER_01 (55:25):
So that's interesting because I feel like
other websites, I'm not tryingto throw anyone under the bus,
but like if you talk to mostlike riders, let's say like
they're beginner intermediate,like a lot of the stuff is um
like it's it's like sandbagging,you know, like it's they're
quite hard.
They're like if you rate a routelike a five out of ten, and it's

(55:46):
like there's a ton of hike abike, it's like, is that a five
out of ten?
You know, like I'll be honestwith the difficulty, and like
I'm not saying my routes areeasy, but it's also like I feel
like I'm just being realisticand setting expectations, and
that's kind of the idea with thethe ride up that pairs with the
routes is like I'll give youlike a follow-through, like kind
of a play-by-play of what toexpect.

(56:08):
And if you need to alter thatroute because of like your bike
or your fitness or whatever,then it's like you have that
option.
It's not like I'm trying toforce you to do it this way.
It's like this is this is whatit is, this is my take on it.
Uh, so yeah, trying to be liketransparent because it's nice to
know some of that stuff,especially if you're you travel
here and you're like followingthe route and you see the

(56:30):
waypoint, it's like kind ofinteresting to click on that
stuff and like read what readwhat's about to happen, you
know.
It's not totally in the dark.

SPEAKER_00 (56:37):
Dude, it it's amazing.
And like I on that thread, uh,maybe we talk a little bit about
the South uh the South PlotSquirrel.
Like I've done part of thatroute already.
Like I've got the GPX andeverything saved.
I've did the chunk from kind ofaround um Willdom Park up to
what the heck is the name ofthat town?
Not Lake George or No.
Um Deckers.

(56:58):
Deckers, that's it.
Yeah, through Decker's.
It's I mean, it's so beautifulout there, and I think it's such
a slept-on area that like a lotof folks don't really know
about, which is interesting.

SPEAKER_01 (57:08):
Yeah, this is probably my one of my favorites.
I was about to say favorite, butit's so hard to pick like your
number one.
But this one is like I've doneit five years in a row, four or
five years in a row, and it'slike always a tradition to go do
that route like in the beginningof spring.
It's like the the it's just warmenough, the snow has melted off
those higher elevations, likeabove Lake George, because it

(57:30):
does get up to like above 9,000feet there, so it holds snow
through March.
And um yeah, that one I justfeel like it's the perfect mix
of trails, dirt roads, like sortof like OHV roads, some
pavement.
Like it's a perfect curated mixof surfaces, and that's kind of

(57:52):
the riding that I like to dowhere it's always changing, it's
not just like the same thing forthe whole ride.
And um, yeah, that's when I canfeel like I can put my name
behind like a lot of the otherroutes, like it's a collection,
like it's hard to be like, oh,this is my route, and I'm not
claiming the routes, like it'smore of just the interpretation
of how to ride it.
But certainly this one is like Iput uh put a lot of time to try

(58:14):
to like make it the best that itcan be.
And uh, if you were to godownload it, I can almost
guarantee you you're gonna havea good time.
Like the route is solid.
Um, so yeah, I'm I'm kind ofproud of that one and I've
ridden it with friends over theyears, and it's like I said,
it's a tradition to go do that.
And I'll yeah, looking forwardto next year.
It's like it's so much fun.
Like you start the route withgoing down North Fork Trail,

(58:37):
which is like 10 miles of thebest flowy single track in
Colorado.
It's it's like how often you getto start a ride like that, like
fully loaded bike.
Just I don't know.
There's just so many little funparts like that.
You're riding the ColoradoTrail, riding Buff Creek, um uh
Matucat Road.
There's like so many of theseclassic, like amazing bike

(58:58):
segments.
You link it all together and youhit all the best stuff.
It's yeah, it's a good one.
That one I can't say enough goodthings about.

SPEAKER_00 (59:05):
Yeah, absolutely primo.
Yeah, I can't wait to do thewhole loop.
It's uh it's legit.

SPEAKER_01 (59:10):
Um I was thinking it'd be cool to like partner
with Moots and like try to dolike invite like more people out
to come do it.
So do like it it's prettymanageable to do like it's like
one and a half days or two days,or or maybe it's only two
nights, yeah, two nights packedfor two nights of of sleeping
outside and yeah, get a bunch ofpeople and kind of like do

(59:31):
another rally with with folks.
I think that would be cool.
It's a good route for that.

SPEAKER_00 (59:35):
So yeah, no, that'd be sweet, man.
There's a lot of good campingspots, like yeah, throughout
Pike National Forest, and justjust in general.
I don't think people realize theenormity of like that.
And a lot of it like I guessburned, which the the tree line
aspect of it, which I think iskind of neat that you can just
see so far out to Pike's Peakand to the north.
It's just yeah, there's it'svery iconic, very different.

SPEAKER_01 (59:56):
Yeah, totally.
Like it's a narrow loop.
Those different rock formationskind of anchor you with like
where you are on the route, andyou can see like you saw one
side of it and then you wentaround the loop and you're like,
Oh, there's that same rock, butnow we're on the other side of
it, and it kind of like givesyou that scale, which is uh very
different than the northeastsummits, so it's just like hard
to find scale.

SPEAKER_00 (01:00:16):
Yeah, that's true.
You ever stop off and like tryand like mess around with any of
those like formations and liketry and like climb any of them?

SPEAKER_01 (01:00:23):
I mean, I've thought about it.
A lot of them are quitetechnical.
I think it would be likesomething you'd want like a rope
and a partner.
I mean you could like do someinteresting sort of yeah,
rambling around in the hills,but to do anything I think
significant or any of those likemajor summits, I think yeah, I
certainly would want like apartner and a rope.
And at that point it's like it'smore of a climbing trip.

(01:00:45):
Yeah, I was just like, uh thatkind of want to like make that
the focus, whereas like this isdefinitely the biking and like
getting around the loop.
I mean, certainly someone couldgo do it and it would make it
yeah, pretty rad to l do like abike climb link up.
Uh but I think they're allthey're all like pretty hard
routes and sand like I don'tknow, slabby and sandbagged.
So maybe at some point.

SPEAKER_00 (01:01:08):
So dude, what's uh now that you're home and you
know, I saw you've gotten up agreen the last few days, you're
kinda back into the swing ofthings.
What's uh what's next on thecalendar?
Like what are you thinking forfor the late fall, uh early
winter?

SPEAKER_01 (01:01:20):
I don't have anything on the calendar.
Just enjoying the the mountainsand getting outside.
Yeah, no no plans.
It's nice, dude.
It's nice.
Yeah.
Yeah, I mean I I feel like Isince January it's been kind of
a a build of of doing stuff andthose couple of projects that

(01:01:40):
we've been talking about andrunning up longs all summer.
Like I definitely was focusedand like had these objectives in
mind and now it's yeah, it'sjust take a couple months with
no agenda and then that kind ofhelps build the stoke for like
what do I want to do next year.
And uh I have some ideas, butcertainly right now it's yeah,
just yeah, get outside.

(01:02:01):
See where see where themotivation is, see where the
what the body wants to do andnot force anything.
Uh honestly just like stayhealthy, um and yeah, enjoy it,
get outside.
Nice, man.

SPEAKER_00 (01:02:13):
Well dude, I think we can end it on that.
Thank you so much for coming onagain.
I love these recap episodeswhere you talk about your
projects, they're so much fun.
Uh yeah, we'll have to do uhwe'll make this a semi-annual or
annual thing.

SPEAKER_01 (01:02:24):
So yeah, no, thanks uh thanks for having me on.
I appreciate like the therecommendation to go up hunter
and like the little support,encouragement along the way on
the gram.
I feel like that's nice to likehave other people contribute to
the trip.
And so yeah, if no, it was coolto chat about it and thanks for
having me on.

SPEAKER_00 (01:02:42):
Absolutely, dude.
I appreciate you.
Thank you so much.
What you guys think?
Oh man, Kyle always brings somegreat perspective to the sport
and uh his stories are alwaysamazing.
I want to thank him so much forcoming on the podcast and
telling his story about whathe's been up to this summer.
The Northeast Summit tour wasabsolutely inspiring route.
Um hope more folks go out thereand try to do stuff in the
Northeast and go after bigobjectives out there because I

(01:03:04):
genuinely think those mountainsare just slept on, and there's
just some really inspiring andreally cool stuff um just
outside of the mountain west.
That's it's pretty cool.
Guys, you know how to find Kyle?
You can best support him bygiving him a follow on either on
Strava or Instagram.
You can find his Instagram highuh handle at Kyle Richardson.
That's one word Kyle Richardson.
Same with Strava.
You could just type in KyleRichardson and give him a

(01:03:26):
follow.
Kyle uh frequently posts and heputs up really good stuff.
So definitely appreciative ofKyle.
Um, yeah.
Guys, if you enjoyed the podcastand enjoyed this episode and
others, the best way you couldsupport us is giving us a
five-star review on Apple,Spotify, YouTube, or wherever
you consume the show.
Um, would really appreciatethat.
That's how we can continuetelling so many amazing stories

(01:03:47):
for all these athletes uh acrossthe world, which is pretty cool.
Uh, very last but not least, youcan also support us by
supporting our brand partner,Ultimate Direction.
Hop on over toultimatedirection.com and on
their site, if you use codeSteep Stuff Pod, that's one
word, Steep Stuff Pod, that'sgonna get you 25% off your cart
at checkout.
Um, they dropped all kinds ofnew stuff this summer, not just

(01:04:07):
belts, but two really inspiringlooking vests, uh, the new race
vest six liter and the ultravest 12 liter and some aesthetic
colorways.
Great belts as well, the sportbelt um as well.
I'm sorry, the race belt as wellas the comfort belt are amazing.
Um, and yeah, like I said, usecode Steep Stuff Pod for 25%
off.
Also, check out the quiver thatjust dropped.

(01:04:28):
The quiver's dope.
Uh, I've been using the quiverfor a minute now before it came
out, and uh I was just reallystoked on uh that particular
product.
So, guys, thanks so much.
Uh keep a lookout for Wednesdayepisode with David Hedges.
Whole reflection on Nolan's 14is going to be dropping.
So hope you guys enjoy that oneas well.
Thank you.

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#124 - Kyle Richardson

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