Sunday, August 17, 2025

The 2025 Day Across Minnesota | A Domestique's DAMn Tale


The DAMn
The DAMn is The Day Across Minnesota, a 240-mile bike race from the South Dakota border with Minnesota to the Wisconsin border, with the course on nearly all rural gravel roads. The race starts at midnight Saturday morning and you have until midnight to get to Wisconsin, that's 24 hours ... just one day! You're allowed a support crew meeting you at three checkpoints of your choosing, but they are not allowed to follow you on the course, and you're allowed to stop at any stores/businesses along the course, but you only go through three towns, including Red Wing, and Red Wing is just a mile from the finish. This race will challenge your endurance and ability to function while sleep deprived. It's a DAMn good time! 

Hatching a Plan
In the weeks following the 2024 DAMn, I told Lisa (my best friend, support driver, and loving wife) that I had only two reasons I'd ride the DAMn again: ride the Double DAMn (if it was offered again); or support my friend, John Ingham, in finally finishing the DAMn (if he was up to trying it again). 

For John's back story, he is an 84 year young adventurer that has started the DAMn every year I have: 2018, 2019, 2021 & 2024. The first two year, John was all in to finish, but had issues many rider suffer with fueling the body or staying on course or bike fit/comfort issues. I need to add that staying on the course was more challenging in the early years of the DAMn (including 2018 & 2019), riders did not get a GPS route to load on a Garmin or Wahoo, we got printed cue sheets to get us from one checkpoint to the next, reading a cue sheet in the dark while riding gravel roads is challenging. In 2018, John finished his DAMn at the checkpoint 2 at mile 120; in 2019 he just barely missed the time cut for checkpoint 3 at mile 186, also notable that 2019 has been rated the toughest year for the DAMn. In 2021 and 2024, John did not feel his health was good enough to try to finish the whole ride, he started in Gary, SD at midnight with all of us, but with the plan of riding to Morton, MN (mile 85) as his finish. 

Flash forward to December 2024; John invited me to meet to talk over coffee. As we sipped coffee, he shared about a book he'd worked on and published about his experience riding gravel: Riding Gravel in God's Country: The Experience and Science of Well-Being. But he said he had something else on his mind ... I might have been impatient and said it before him .... John wanted to test himself against the full DAMn in 2025!! 

As we talked, John expressed his concern about even making it to the start line and worried about letting folks down. I was very clear, I knew the challenge we were pursuing, and even for a young fit athlete, there are no guarantees. We would take on this challenge one step at a time, and never assume the result, because this would be a massive effort. 

In January, we started planning for a crew to support this wild adventure. John and I meet with good friends Trenton Raygor (The DAMn's creator) and Nick Kapanke (documentary film producer). We brainstormed on the riders and support crew for this effort. We came up with a list of riders to reach out to and see who was up to this DAMn challenge. At the end of the day, we gathered a crew of 4 domestiques (riders), 3 soigneur (support drivers), and a documentary film crew.
Planning meeting at Utepils [photo credit Chris Nelson]
Over the late winter and early spring, John did his training on an indoor bike trainer, weight training, outdoor rides as the weather allowed, and we gathered to do some rides as a whole crew, smaller groups, as well as John and I riding together to talk training and plans. That said, the year didn't offer the best training opportunities, we had a wet spring that quickly turn to hot summer with Canadian wild fire smoke becoming a serious and repeated issue. It was hard to find days that were great for long training rides that wouldn't over stress or cause damage to the riders.

The Crew
We gathered an amazing crew around to support John's goal, including domestiques (riders): John Jarvis (to keep it simple, I'll refer to John Jarvis as "Jarvis" and John Ingham as "John"), Anthony Robinson, Paulie Glatt, and myself; soigneurs (support): Mary Grove (John's wife), Jacqueline Hansen (Anthony's wife); and Lisa Nelson organizing the support efforts; mechanical support: Kyle Davis, Farmstead Bike Shop, and Tonka Cycle & Ski; and documenting this journey: Nick Kapanke (Checkpoint Zero) with director of photography and producer Jon Bothun and producer Josh Ruegg. 

Gathering at the Start | Gary, SD 
We all arrived in Gary throughout the afternoon and evening before the DAMn start at midnight August 2. Nick did pre-ride interviews with the riders around the check-in area. 
My brand new Cutthroat at the Buffalo Ridge check in [photo credit Chris Nelson]
After getting checked in, getting my bike set up, and catching up with friends, I laid down on a camping pad next to our car for some rest, no real sleep, but resting. As night started to set in, it was time to change into the cycling kit. Lisa bought a collapsible changing booth that became VERY popular with other riders getting ready to start. 
A little rest before the DAMn big ride [photo credit Lisa Nelson]
Our crew agreed to meet in front of The Alabi at 11:15 pm, The Alabi is a bar on 1st Ave in Gary, a couple blocks from the start line and a place where many DAMn riders get a drink before the start (but no drinks for me, I know I can't handle even a lite beer before this major effort). 

We were a little surprised to see the reduced number of riders starting this year, Minnesota was experiencing some of the worst recorded air quality from Canadian wild fires. The race director allowed deferrals to 2026 for riders concerned with the air quality, I don't know the actual numbers that deferred, but we all thought that 1st Ave in Gary was much thinner than in years past. Happily the air quality was not as bad as it had been the day before, but there were still air quality issues on race day.
Our crew, with green lights, ready to start this DAMn ride [photo credit Mary Grove]
Early on in the planning process, John had an outstanding idea, that each rider should buy some green lights so we could find each other in the night. We each had a front and rear green light to help use get together on the dark night roads. 

The Start 
The DAMn starts with a bang! [photo credit Mary Grove]
After a few nervous minutes waiting for the start, the fireworks went off and we rolled out together. I was next to Anthony as we made the right turn onto the first gravel road just a half mile out of Gary, and we thought we had John, Jarvis, and Paulie right behind us. But Anthony and I kept looking back through the very small field of riders behind us, and not seeing any green lights. Anthony and I stopped looking back to see them roll up after a minute or two. John's electronic shifters weren't working, John and I are using the same SRAM system, so I gave him my derailleur battery, and I had a spare battery with me for my bike, so I sent the rest of the crew down the road while I got my bike sorted out. But that wasn't the right fix, we only got a little way up the road before John couldn't shift again, and we figured out that it was the battery in the shifter. I was a proud domestique because I had a CR2032 battery in my pocket toolbag. We made a quick swap of the shifter battery and John was riding into the dark night.

A secondary story, as we worked on John's shifter, Jarvis' helmet light wasn't working so I waited with him, using my helmet light to help him see as he tried new batteries. There was a lot of corrosion in the battery compartment of his helmet light and it looked like that light was not going to work any more ... even with new batteries. Jarvis has a hub dynamo powered light on his bike, so he was good, but he would've liked the extra help of a helmet light. We just put everything away and rode hard to catch back up with John and crew. 

Adding to the tech challenges, the first 6-8 miles out of Gary were extremely soft gravel roads, I call it beach sand with some gravel mixed in. We normally roll fast on these early miles out of Gary with the roads sloping gently down out of South Dakota, but we were moving slowly as we were fighting to control our bikes on the soft gravel.

Things were going well, but too slow to make our goals. We had many stops and each stop was taking time and were slowed by dealing with extra clothes in the cool of the night. John's gloves were great for keeping his hands warm while riding, but were very tight and took too long to get back on after removing them to get food or a nature break. 

We all knew that the overnight hours can be cold as we drop into the Minnesota River valley, which is colder than the surrounding towns. My Garmin reported temps as low as 52°F (2021 saw temps as low as 41°F!!). John had me carrying some extra layers and we stopped to add his down vest and an O2 rain shell. This helped, but more stops to add layers took more time away from us. 

There's a section of the river valley that I've always found challenging, mile 60 to 80. It is surprisingly punchy with rollers for miles and miles. John commented many times that it didn't make sense that we were riding up climbs when were riding next to a river that's flowing downhill. Along here, John had a calf cramp on one of these rolling climbs. I had some SaltStick electrolyte chews in my frame bag and that worked a great, he was back riding in a moment and didn't have an issue the rest of the day. 
Minnesota River Valley [photo credit Chris Nelson]
As we rolled through the last miles to Morton, Jarvis and I talked about seeing the section of road for the first time, it's always been dark every other year we'd bike this sections, and it is a stunningly beautiful road. 

Morton | Mile 85
We got to our first checkpoint with our support crews in Morton at 8:30 ... we just completed what should be the fastest section of the route and we barely made it at a pace we needed to hold all day.
Mary & Jacqueline at our Morton checkpoint [photo credit Lisa Nelson]
Lisa and Mary got rooms at the motel in Morton to allow riders access to a bathroom without a line (the gas station can be a nightmare of riders waiting for the single-stall bathrooms). We agreed on the way into Gary that John and Jarvis would be our first priority to get back on the road ASAP. Jarvis is an experienced self-supported rider and would not need much help from the support team. While John went up to use the plumbing, I checked his tire pressure, they were way low... comically, that may have helped him with control on those soft roads overnight. After 15-20 minutes, John and Jarvis rolled out. I took care of myself quickly, inhaling a couple sliders, dropping off electronics that needed charging, empty trash, and grabbing fresh food & drinks to carry with me on the bike. 

I rolled out quickly while Anthony was getting himself ready to go. Just as I caught up with Paulie in Morton, a few blocks from the checkpoint, Lisa called me to say John left his hydration pack, he only had two bottles on his bike, and that's not enough for 65 miles to Henderson. I let Paulie know as I made a quick U-turn in Morton and sprinted past an understandably confused Anthony working his way to catch up with us. I rode straight up to Mary at the checkpoint, put John's hydration pack on my chest (since I was wearing my hydration pack on my back). I sprinted back through Morton, passing Anthony to let him know what was happening. I caught up with John and Paulie along a lovely section of the route in the Minnesota River Valley. 

As we rolled the last miles of course in the Minnesota River Valley, I let John know that this domestique had one personal goal on this ride, to crush it up the MMR (Minimal Maintenance Road) climb at mile 94, John said that he expected that ... HA! And for being less than young or fast, I'm very happy with what I did on my new Cutthroat - I took 42 seconds off my personal best back in 2018! I moved up to 17th of 909 athletes on the Strava leaderboard, I'm still 25 seconds slower than the KOM, Chase Wark, but I knew I'd never compete with the young beast. 
Our crew, plus Kristine Benjamin at mile 120 [photo credit Lisa Nelson]
I hoped that we could get up on the flat roads after mile 95 on our way to Henderson and get into a strong pace line and hold a good average speed to gain some time. But the roads continued to be very soft and we had cross headwinds out of the southeast adding to the challenges. It was becoming clear that we couldn't hold a pace to get to Hager City by midnight. We talked about finishing the ride even if we couldn't make the time cutoff. But it wasn't too much further up the road that John decided to call it a day when we got to Henderson. We saw Nick and his film crew at mile 128, we all stopped so John could share his decision. 

The rest of us, the four domestique, talked about riding through to Hager City after getting John to Henderson. But over the miles to Henderson, each of us started making the decision to finish our ride in Henderson too. Only one rider continued, John Jarvis ... he's ridden every single DAMn, getting from Gary to Hager City every time, and wanted to keep his record alive. He rode away from us around mile 140 and finished in Hager City with only seconds before the midnight time cut!! (see details below)
John sharing with Nick that he would finish in Henderson [photo credit Chris Nelson]
Our last miles into Henderson were slow, when we stopped at a wonderful farmer's aid station around mile 138. Rich posted on a Facebook group that he'd be there with all kinds of drinks, snacks, supplies ... and a port-a-pot! We pulled in and enjoyed his treats, hospitality, and company. It was a lovely day-brightener to our crew at this late stage in our ride to enjoy this welcoming stop.  
Rich Hahn's neutral aid station [photo credit Rich Hahn]
I was joyfully honored to have our crew of four remaining riders greeted at our Henderson checkpoint/finish by a crowd of support crews, friends, and our film crew ...  they were cheering and had the cowbells ringing and blowhorn sirens going off, it honestly felt like the finish line greeting!  

I could not be more proud of John Ingham for dreaming of finishing the DAMn at 84 and I am honored beyond words that he came to me back in December to share his goal. We both knew from that very first conversation that there were no guarantees, even getting to the start line was going to be a challenge. It is no small feat for anyone to ride 150 miles ... on gravel roads, including rough MMR ... through the dark of night ... in the middle of nowhere. The folks we ride with can skew our view of how impressive that ride is to the vast majority of people. I know we had loftier goals, but we need to keep in mind how challenging that goal really was.

I hope John enjoys more adventure rides and challenge himself with efforts that most folks half his age would shy away from. He is a passionate and motivated adventurer ... an inspiration to all!

Thank you! 
Lisa did SO MUCH for the entire team before, during, and after this effort. Here is just a partial list, 'cause her loving work deserves an entire blog by itself:
  • Food & hydration prep for the riders
  • Tracking our progress
  • Communications with me the entire ride
  • Directing the support crew
  • Planning, planning, more planning, and did I mention planning! 
  • Driving long miles on dark rural highways
  • Resting in a nasty motel to help our team have priority access to toilets ... and nursing bedbug bites from that nasty motel
  • Bright and supportive, even as things are clearly not going to plan
Lisa's hug after a DAMn long day [photo credit: Natalie Aldrich]
Mary Thank you so much for being John Ingham’s great life partner, cheerleader, soigneur, and the person that is the keeper of secrets to his day-to-day habits, wellbeing, and general life. No one could ever fill those shoes beside you Mary. You are his number one life advocate on the trail. Much love and thanks to you for being tireless on this journey called The Day Across Minnesota. Cheers! [writing credit to Lisa]
Jaqueline Thank you for your support and care for Anthony, it was critical to have an additional support driver; your experience and expertise was greatly appreciated by everyone! 
Kyle Thank you for offering to be our mechanical support at Henderson that turned into greeting us for our finish. Thanks for taking the time to drive down and waiting for us to arrive. 
Tonka Cycle & Ski Thank you for supporting many of our crew, including getting my Cutthroat built up in time for me to have some training miles before the DAMn; getting John's bike ready, and setting Nick up an e-bike to get some film clips with us on bike. 
Farmsted Bike Shop Thank you for offering to supporting us in Northfield, despite our crew not making it to Northfield. 

The Domestiques 
Each rider contribution to our effort in unique and important ways! 
Paulie Glatt brought the ability to pace John. I struggled to find the right pace when I got to the front, but Paulie was steady and an outstandingly great domestique leading John. Also, I want to recognize Paulie for digging in the spurs when the crew got too comfortable chatting and not focused on turning the pedals.
Anthony Robinson brings a straight up good vibes. His LFG no-matter-what attitude is a treat. He make it easy to keep pedaling with entertaining stories and positive attitude. 
John Jarvis is a joy to ride with. He is a talented self-supported rider with an eye on the pace and great conversations that made the miles fly by.
Chris Nelson [thanks to John Jarvis for sharing this with me after the ride] Leadership is tough and exhausting. You did a great job keeping everyone motivated and moving forward with a positive attitude. That is a tough job.
We worked together in ALL THE BEST WAYS! I could not be more proud to have been a part of this team!
Left to right: Anthony, Paulie, John, and Chris (not included, Jarvis on his way to Hager City) [photo credit Nick Kapanke]
John Jarvis' Legendary DAMn Finish! 
I have to copy and paste the Facebook post from John Jarvis' DAMn finish:
At 3:30 p.m., at mile-140, the reality of the mathematical impossibility of finishing was impossible to ignore. The project fell apart and the team released me from my commitment.

With 100 miles to go and 8.5 hours to ride it, I wasn’t sure that I could make it before the time cutoff, but I figured that there was some valor in trying. At least I could ride the distance even if not in the required time. I have completed the previous six DAMns and I didn’t want this one to ruin my perfect record.

I dropped onto the aerobars, gritted my teeth, and steeled myself for the next hours of pain as I rode off.

Along the way, The Bone Saw Cycling Collective filled my water bottles somewhere along the course, and the Farmstead Bike Shop tent gave me some Oreos for fuel and Gatorade and pickle juice to stave off the leg cramps.

The beer party crowd on Whiterock Trail gave me a big mental boost as I came charging past wild-eyed, like I was being chased by Bigfoot. As the last rider on the course, they had been following along on TrackLeaders and shouted my name with encouragement. A few (solber?) folks hopped in a pickup truck and escorted me up the big climb and shouted encouragement as I struggled up on dead legs.

My mind played tricks on me as the deep fatigue set in. My tired mind somehow remembered the course distance was 247 miles (instead of the actual 242.7). My quick mental math had me arriving 3, or so, minutes after midnight. …but my bike computer told me that I was at 10.1 avg mph, which was just at the required speed. I was still sharp enough to know that something was not matching.

It was just as I started over the Mississippi bridge at 11:57 that I realized that I had a shot at a legal finish. I started shouting to myself “Come on legs” to urge myself onward. I must have sounded like a crazy person to anyone listening.

My computer was reading 11:59 for the longest time as I raced toward the left-hand turn into the finish chute. I glanced down just as I crossed the line and it was still 11:59, and by the time that I pushed the stop button, it had clicked over to 12:00. Whew! That might be the closest “Lantern Rouge” finish in history 
John Jarvis at the finish line [photo credit John Jarvis' Facebook]
Documentary in the works
I know Nick will share the best film telling the story of this epic effort, I'm so excited to see what he does with our ride and conversations. It was unique to be the focus of his filming attention, I'm not used to being in front of a camera. I'll post a link additional information here as the film information comes available, and you can watch Checkpoint Zero Film too. 

Results
I tried to get into the numbers, but as big of a bike-stats-nerd as I am ... chapeau to Chris Matthews for doing it much better than I could ever do it! 2025 was middle of the pack for difficulty based on the number of riders finishing, and sadly, for our goal we needed one of the "easier" years, like 2024 or 2020. John and I both said early on that we might have missed our perfect year with mild temps and strong westerly winds in 2024. 
Chris Matthews graph of median finish times over the years, with attrition listed below the year
My Bike - The Cutthroat
This was the first true gravel test for my new Cutthroat, and it was a rockstar! As the miles rolled past, I gained more confidence, finding that the Berd wheels on 29x2.1 GravelKing SK tires are as confident on the loose stuff as the 4" tires on my Pugsley! Link to Cutthroat build 

My Tech:
Garmin 1040 Solar: I set it to battery-save mode at before driving out to Gary, and it had battery life for all day and them some. But I was fighting with my Garmin all ride, I'm a big fan of turn-by-turn directions when riding a route, and this year I had something completely unique happen, instead of hearing "turn right on 260th Ave", I was hearing periodic and random "DOT!" After dawn, tried to figure it out only to see there was a note about not having a map for this region ... WTAF?!? The next day, as I cleaned and charged my devices, I looked to find that a Garmin update in the days before the race had removed my US maps ... another WTAF?!? It was annoying hearing "DOT!" randomly over 16+ hours, but I could see the route on my Garmin and never missed a turn. Note to self (I know this but somehow forget it too): do not accept any Garmin updates in the days before a race! 
NiteRider Headlights (x2): my new Lumina Micro 900 didn't last as along as I'd hoped, it died around 4:00AM, and I switched to the older 750 that held up through the rest of the ride on low setting. 
Varia Radar (x2): I have a first generation RTL500 and I got a newer RTL515. I started with the new RTL515 without the light on, using the green light to be see and save the Varia battery to keep an eye out for vehicles coming up behind me. At Morton, I swapped out the RTL515 for the old RTL500.  
GoPro: I used my Hero 11 with one-minute time limit to record clips for Nick's film and maybe a YouTube edit 
Shokz: These are a great headset for hearing music and/or turn-by-turn directions without covering your ears, plus I used them a ton to communicate with Lisa throughout our ride. They are bone conductive, meaning you can hear things around you while still hearing your route information. 
knog Binder: this was my helmet light, I didn't use it a ton, but it was good to have one more 
headlight option with me.

See you further on up the road
[photo credit Lisa Nelson]




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Saturday, August 16, 2025

My Custom-Built Salsa Cutthroat

The Cutthroat is Salsa's ultra-endurance mixed surface bike inspired by the Tour Divide. It's designed and built to cover long distances with speed and comfort. Making it perfect for the rides I'd like to take on in the coming year. Fun little detail, Cutthroat doesn't refer to a violent criminal, but the cutthroat trout that is common along the Tour Divide route. 
Cutthroat Checking in for the 2025 DAMn
I got this Cutthroat frame late in 2023, with plans to build it out over that winter. Then my 2024 adventure calendar got overly full and I didn't have time or budget to focus on the new build - link to my 2024 Year-In-Review. Fast forward to early spring 2025, I refocused my energy on getting this Cutthroat built up for my 2025 events. I worked with the crew at Tonka Cycle & Ski, where I got the frame. I let Brett at Tonka know that my goal was to make this a "Minnesota" bike, building it with as many components from Minnesota companies as we could. 

We went around and around on some details, like the drivetrain. I really wanted a SRAM 2x road bike drivetrain (meaning it has two chainrings), but it was causing headaches to find a crank set for the road bike groupset that would fit the mountain bike bottom bracket on the Cutthroat. At the end of the day, I decided to opt for the more standard Cutthroat drivetrain, a mountain bike set up with one chainring (or 1x). I'm loving this mullet set up more than I expected ... for those non-bike-nerds, mullet means it's a mountain bike gearing & derailleur with road bike shifters and brakes, business in the front and party in the back! 
The 10-to-52 PARTY in the back!
As I worked with Brett at Tonka on the components, we agreed on the latest SRAM Red shifters. When I saw that the package included polished aluminum brake calipers bodies, I thought that'd make for a nice accent to the whole bike. I had been thinking about picking a bright anodized color for accessories, but hadn't settled on a color yet, so it was an easy decision. We worked on getting all the accessories in polished metal finishes, like the hubs, the handlebars, stem, steerer spacers, even the bar ends. I really enjoy the retro look this bring to a very modern gravel bike.
SRAM brake caliper
Salsa bars & Whiskey stem
Wolf Tooth bar-ends
My other color pick was the Salsa Gel Cork bartape in dark brown to both give a nice throwback esthetic and to play off the tan walled GravelKing SK tires.

For the bags, my early plan was to get brown waxed canvas top tube and half frame bags from Cedaero. Cedaero makes bags to fit the Cutthroat, based on frame size and are designed to match up with the Cutthroat's mounting bosses, meaning very few straps, making for a very clean setup! Before placing an order, I'm very happy that we made a tenting trip to the North Shore. We were camping at Split Rock, just north of Cedaero in Two Harbors; so we stopped into their shop to look at the options in person. I picked the Squid Ink (black) RX30 bags. These bags are better matches for the other bags I already have and I'll use on this bike, like Revelate 16L Spinelock saddlebag. Bonus, RX30 is 100% post-consumer recycled materials. 
Cedaero Cutthroat half-frame & top tube packs
Nerdy Details & Specs (* = Minnesota-based companies):
  • Frame: 56 cm 2023 Salsa* Cutthroat frame is a good match for me at just under 6 ft tall. This frame is a little smaller than my road bikes (58 & 57 cm); but larger than my last gravel bike (54 cm). 
  • Shifters: SRAM Red AXS HRD levers including the extra blips (bonus buttons) that I found I can use the change pages on my Garmin Edge 1040s. It's nice when you're in a good low body position or on rough roads, allowing you to change the page while keeping your hands in place on the shifters. I want to look into what other functions I can do with my buttons, I've only programed 4 of 10 button options! 
  • Drivetrain: SRAM X01 Eagle AXS rear derailleur and 12-speed cassette ranging from 10 to 52 tooth. 40x52 gearing makes for a great stump-puller! I really enjoy the electronic shifting, it's responsive and just works. This is my first bike I've used Silca's wax system, Tonka cleaned and waxed the new chain with the build and I've been loving it! 
  • Cranks: SRAM XX1 cranks in 170mm with Quarq DZero power meter & Wolf Tooth 40-tooth chainring*, and Crank Bros Eggbeater 3 pedals. I kinda backed into the shorter crank trend, because we couldn't get 172.5mm cranks, and I'm finding this is an improvement for my knee comfort and possibly getting better/more power than the 172.5 cranks on my other bikes. 
  • Wheels: Berd HAWK27* rims, with Berd spokes and Onyx Vesper* hubs rolling 29 x 2.1 Panaracer GravelKing SK Plus. Berd spokes are very unique spokes, they are a fabric spoke and are like a wet noodle out of the wheel. But in the wheel, with tension, they offer great comfort over all kinds of nasty conditions and they are light! BONUS Berd is based just a few blocks from my house! 
  • Cockpit: Salsa Cowchipper* bars and Salsa Gel Cork bartape* and Whiskey No 7 Stem* 120 mm and -6°. 
  • Saddle: Brooks C-17 carved saddle on the Salsa Guide Carbon seatpost *
  • Bags: Cedaero Salsa Cutthroat V2 Half -Frame Pack* and Tank Top Pack*. 
  • Bottles: B-RAD Double Bottle Adapter* and I love the look of the new Camelbak steel water bottles to go with the polished metal accent on the bike. 
The bike weighed in at 9.7 kg (21+lbs) when I picked it up ... just a little heavy than my road bike!

Bike fit with GO PHYSIO

I can't say enough good things about a bike fitting with Paulie at GO PHYSIO. In addition to being a Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) and bike fitter, he's an ultra-endurance rider. I've worked with Paulie on some oddball bikes, and he doesn't flinch at fitting a drop-bar fatbike or a gravel tandem! I wanted to get the Cutthroat to Paulie as soon as it was ready (and it was still not fully built when I brought it in) so I could use the Cutthroat on the DAMn just a few weeks after it was fully finished. 

Spinning the Cutthroat on the GO PHYSIO trainer
My 2025 DAMn was a totally different effort than I have done in the past, but the point here is that I was happily and comfortable on my bike for 16 hours of riding. Link to DAMn blog. 

A fun final detail (but hard to get a good picture) is The Tour Divide route is on the bottom of the downtube. 
I look forward to some epic adventures with this bike!




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Tuesday, December 31, 2024

2024 Year-In-Review

 

2024 was WAY bigger than planned! 
2024 race bibs, challenge over quantity 
Most years, I try to pick one "pinnacle" event per year; "pinnacle" meaning an event that is more than a day-trip and is typically considered an ultra endurance event (ultra meaning a ride that's over 125 miles). I try to stick with this one major event rule for a long list of good reasons, like giving my body time to recover, giving the credit cards time to recover, time to focus on other parts of life, etc. 

Near the end of 2023, I had two pinnacle events on the 2024 calendar, but they were 6 months apart, so that seemed doable: The Arrowhead 135 at the end of January and The Wolf at the end of July. But before 2024 even started, it was announced that The DAMn was back ... there was no way I could say "no" to this amazing (& crazy) event. Then, over the Fourth of July weekend, when talking about some travel vouchers we needed to use before September, Lisa suggested going back to Hawai'i in August for my Maunakea revisit. And just like that, I had FOUR pinnacle events in 2024, with three of them in a 6-week period! 

Here's all of my 2024's events, small and large: 

The Tuscobia Winter Ultra 
December 30, 2023
Photo Credit: James Swifter 
To start my 2024 review, I have to go back to the last days of 2023 and the Tuscobia Winter Ultra. I rode the 80-mile route in preparation for the Arrowhead 135. This is a qualifying event for the Arrowhead 135, but I was already in for the Arrowhead 135, so this was all about testing my fully-loaded bike over a long course. So, I decided to ride the Tuscobia with all of the gear required for the Arrowhead 135. 
Photo credit: Jameson Swift
For the logistics of this event, there is a 160-mile route that's an out and back from Rice Lake; and the 80-mile racers get a bus ride to Park Falls (where the 160-mile racers turns around). The course is fairly simple on a rail-trail, there are some punchy climbs were the train had a bridge over a ravine, but the trail no longer has a bridge. With only 1,200 ft of climbing over 80 miles, it's a flat course. Also, this is a snowmobile trail, however without any snow there was no stress about sharing the trail. 

The morning of the race is an early start, racers get to the place where we will be finishing the race in Rice Lake to load gear in a semi trailer, and board a bus to Park Falls. The race normally starts with racers crossing the frozen Butternut Lake, but with the extremely mild winter, the lake ice was not safe for racers. 

My biggest mistake for this race was not keeping my CamelBak with me in the room overnight, it was with most of my on-bike bags in my car overnight to streamline my early morning drive to the bus. That was a bad choice with temps around freezing and caused issues with a frozen hose all day, but thankfully was overpacked for hydration. 

I kept thinking with the no-snow conditions, I was silly for riding my Dillinger 4 studded tires. Forecasts for race day looked like temps would be just below freezing, overcast, with little-to-no precipitation. I was VERY fortunate I wasn't trying to optimize for going fast, I heard too many stories of riders that decided to ride gravel bikes and/or summer tires. And it honestly seemed like a good idea. But the weather delivered a surprise with a day full of light freezing drizzle that accumulated a glaze of ice on everything. My tires ended up being the best possible overkill choice. 
Ice crusted fork bags
This event had me riding many miles solo after the first 15-20 miles. It's a good thing that I'm very comfortable riding with nothing but myself for company. 

The long course racers started the morning before the short course racers. The out-and-back course for the 160-mile races offered a fun opportunity to cheer for them as they crossed paths with us on the short course. 

There's one checkpoint on the 80-mile course at roughly mile 34, it's a nice trailside shelter to warm up, fill up on water, and grab some food/snacks. I did my best to thaw out my hydration pack and hose, adding some very hot water to the bladders ... in hindsight, I should have dumped the whole thing and started over with hot water.

After many miles alone and in the last of dwindling light of the grey day, I got a little surprise as a large owl flew across the trail at my eye-level right in front of me. I let out a little yelp of surprise as another rider (Andrew) caught up to me ... we shared a laugh about the owl spooking me. Andrew and I rode together most of the rest of the way to the finish line, and shared a lot of miles on the Arrowhead a month later. 

I ran out of liquid water on the final miles into the finish, I was counting on my Embark Maple to have enough hydration to carry me to through ... and, happily, I was good.  

My official time was 7:20; and I ranked 16th of 68 starters; & 12th of 46 men. I was one of very few riding with a fully-loaded fatbike. In fact, with no snow on course, many racers rode gravel bikes or MTBs, so this result feels feels really good! 
The finish line! 
Maybe the worst challenge of the 2023 Tuscobia was driving home after finishing, the roads were terrible and the freezing rain converted to heavy snow that really challenged my trip back home (... an extra night in the Rice Lake hotel would've been a good idea!)

Arrowhead 135 
January 29-30 
The Arrowhead 135 is a winter ultra race that you can run, ski, or bike. The race course is 135 miles along the very remote Arrowhead Trail between International Falls and Tower, MN. The Arrowhead is known for being held at the coldest time of year in the coldest part of Minnesota with race temps as cold as -40°F/C.
Ragnarök 105 
April 6
Ragnarök is a classic old skool gravel riding at it's best! It is an early April gravel race to challenge your fitness before you've had any real time to train outdoors. The organizers have kept this event classic with entry via postcard, no GPS route - you'll get cue sheets, and it's very simple event in all the best ways .... classic gravel! 

After the Arrowhead, my Pugsley was back to it's Salsa Woodchipper bars with Gevenalle shifters, ready for a summer of gravel grinding! 

The race starts just out of Red Wing, MN at 7:30 in the morning. It was chilly at the start line with temps just above freezing, and you needed to be dressed in layers because the temps were forecasted to get up to the mid-60s in the afternoon, quiet warm for early April. 
The start line
This is a small event, with roughly 125 riders. This means after the first few miles, there's a good chance you'll be riding by yourself. The race is a fun role out, starting in the parking lot of a golf course and climbing up and out of the river valley right out of the gate. This start really gets the heart pounding and the legs complaining! And the route continues to challenge your legs and heart with a bunch of punchy 200-300 ft climbs. The course gives you 100 ft of climbing per mile over the first 25 miles of the course ... and only slows a little through the rest of the route. This adds up to 8,000 ft over the 107-mile course. 

Riders have two checkpoints on course: mile 36 in Zumbro Falls and 81 in Lake City. Both checkpoints are basic, but there are convenience stores nearby to resupply as needed. I had a great day, but there were some crosswinds that really challenged me! 

I finished at 3:49 pm (8 hours and 19 minutes), placing 67th place of 118 finishers (plus 6 DNF)

The Wolf 
July 20-21 
The Wolf is a 3-day, 300+ mile bike packing event, riders must carrier what they will need to camp during the race. The course is in Minnesota's Superior Nation Forrest, riding from Finland to Ely to Grand Marias and back to Finland ... unfortunately, there was major damage to road from unprecedented storms that caused the 2024 race to be shorted to two days, riding between Finland and Grand Marias and back to Finland. 

The DAMN 
August 9 
The DAMn is The Day Across Minnesota, a race that starts at midnight and allows racers 24 hours (one day) to get from Gary, SD to Hager City, WI. It's 242 miles of nearly all gravel roads that challenge a racers endurance and focus. In 2024, I set the record for the fastest fatbike to every ride The DAMn!

Maunakea 
August 29 
Maunakea is the largest mountain on the Island of Hawai'i and it is the largest climb on Earth a person can do with a bike, riding from the shore of the Pacific Ocean to the summit at 13,800 ft in just 42 miles. This was not an event or race, just my personal solo challenge ... and it was epic! 

Following Maunakea, I took the longest break from riding I can remember. Only riding for short errands or very relaxed recreation rides ... no structured training, no group rides, no races. My body and mind both needed to recover after the most intense schedule of events I've ever done.

Twin Cities Bike Tour 
September 15
The first annual Twin Cities Bike Tour was great with a fun 40+ mile route, big turnout, lots of wonderful volunteers, and plenty of well stocked rest stops along the route. This is an event for everyone, start at your time and ride at your pace. 
Enjoying a break and beer at Dual Citizen
The route took us along some very familiar trails and roads, and introduced us to some new trails and roads too. 

Lisa and I rode our Co Motion Java tandem on this ride which was great fun, but there were some challenging spaces to navigate the big bike. I shouldn't complain, we saw a crew riding a four-person tandem! 
Photo credit: Lisa Nelson
With Access Hopkins, we are excited to be working with BikeMN on the 2025 route, with which will include a route through Hopkins.

Gravel West 
October 20
This is a casual late October event, there's no real timing or ranking, just a lovely route around the far western suburbs of Minneapolis. I've only missed this event once since it started in 2017, it's that much fun to ride. The route starts and ends at Gear West in Long Lake, an easy 10 mile ride from my driveway ... well, those 10 miles don't feel that easy on the way home. This event is mostly gravel roads, starting and ending on the limestone Luce Line trail, and includes a fun and technical CX section on Nordic ski trail on a private property. The course changes a little from year to year, but you can expect some scenic roads and trail out west of Minneapolis. 

Annual statistics:
My longest ride ever: 242 miles (that's likely a GPS/data thing, since this was my fourth DAMn)
My biggest climb ever: 13,760 ft (Maunakea is the biggest climb you bike)
My longest duration ever: 19 hours and 15 minutes of riding (or walking) on the Arrowhead 135
2024 Distance: 5,056 miles
2024 Hours: 376 hours
2024 Number of days riding: 243 days
2024 Elevation climbed: 170,222 ft
Bikes: 10 different bikes including 5 of my bikes & our tandems
States biked: 6 different states, including TWO Hawaiian islands
My Minnesota tracks in orange
My Surly Pugsley has a few standout statistics for itself:
It's 10 years old, a 2014 Christmas gift
I've ridden 12,300 miles on this bike 
This bike got the most miles of my bikes in 2024 with 2,335 miles, and most miles I've put on this bike in one year. 
It was both on flat bars and drop bars in 2024, thanks to my buddies over at Tonka for the help transforming the Pug from winter ultra beast mode to summer ultra beast mode.
 The Pugsley in summer ultra beast mode (drop-bar) 

I'm excited for 2025 and I'm still working on the race calendar, looking to visit some old favorite events and find a few new ones too! 


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Saturday, September 7, 2024

Maunakea | Journey Complete!

Start of this Crazy Dream
In November of 2016, we were enjoying our favorite resort on the North Shore of O'ahu when we got the idea to take a day trip to the Island of Hawai'i to see the eruption of Kīlauea. As our plane approached the Hilo airport, we both marveled at the massive mountains out the window. And I first shared that I'd read about folks biking to the summit of Maunakea, the biggest climb you can do with a bike on the planet. Our trip that year was an epic journey in one day, exploring the Big Island, finding places that we've come back to visit again and again, this is an exceptionally special place! The trip included renting some cheap bikes to ride out and see the Kīlauea lava hose ... 'cause I'm gonna find a bike everywhere I go LOL! I really should make a blog on that day, seriously it was that memorable! 
Lava hose from the 2016 Kīlauea eruption ... BREATHTAKING

First Attempt | I Was Not Ready for That! 
In February 2023, I made my first attempt to bike to the summit of Maunakea, link to my blog post on this ride ... Spoiler Alert: I stopped at the Visitor Information Center at 9,200 ft.
Feeling the magnitude of this challenge

Second Attempt | Never Got Off the Ground
August 2023, we had a trip booked to return to Hawai'i, a vacation with the goal to make a second attempt. Lisa had a business trip right before our flight to Kona, she'd only be home for 24 hours before our flight. We were all packed to leave, but Lisa got home to find she had COVID, and it was seriously kicking her butt. I caught COVID too, but somehow, I was asymptomatic, I only knew I had COVID because I was self-testing since I was sharing the house with Lisa. Obviously, we had to cancel the trip, and less than 24 hours before our flight ... it was really hard on both of us. But we had travel credits from the cancelled trip, so we decided to book a return the following August.

Third Attempt | Third Time's the Charm! 
We flew into Kona on Thursday, August 22 and left late on the following Thursday, August 29. Leading up to this trip, we were watching the weather and there was a major tropical storm forming in the Pacific with Hawai'i looking to be impacted, this became Hurricane Hone. Our ideal plan was travel on Thursday; settle in and assemble my bike on Friday; and ride on Saturday. But the forecast showed that the storms would start impacting the island on Saturday. So, we agreed to make a push to get the bike assembled on our travel day and attempt my ride on Friday. 
It was after sunset and the bathroom in our room had the best lighting LOL
This plan worked out well, my bike was reassembled, all the needed food and support equipment was packed in our Jeep right after we checked into the hotel. Less than 12 hours after we landed and with less than 6 hours sleep, thanks to jet leg we were both wide awake before 4:00 AM, we had some coffee and light breakfast before making the short drive to Waikōloa Beach. I was on my bike and riding before 6:00 AM, it was nearly perfect! I felt great, the bike was perfect, and the weather was amazing! 
The Waikōloa Beach public beach access ramp
There was that black cat that crossed my path leaving the beach. I'm not into this kinda thing, but the storms winds got started earlier than forecasted. About 25 miles into my ride, I was getting hit with 25-30 mph crosswinds and having a hard time controlling my bike in gusting conditions with heavy highway traffic right next to me. I was very happy to see Lisa stopped just a couple miles later. I didn't want to say it, but I knew that was the end of the ride for the day. And to be clear, I don't shy away from windy conditions, I'll happily ride in the wind when I have space to recover from a gust ... but with the busy highway and winds pushing be towards the traffic, it wasn't safe to continue the ride. We agreed to head back to the resort, get some food, drinks, rest, and look for a day when the weather would be safer.
We were staying at The Westin Hapuna Beach Resort and were very fortunate that Hurricane Hone wasn't a serious impact in this area. We had a rainy day on Sunday, but that didn't stop us from enjoying the beach and resort pool. It was a good chill day for both of us. 

Because I'd used some of my nutrition and hydration mix, we were looking for a place on the island to find my preferred products. We found Bikeworks Beach & Sports in Waikōloa Beach, they had the products I was looking for, and they were the best bike folks. We had so much fun talking with the staff! They introduced us to their favorite products from locals on the island, HIDrate Electolytes, and we shared our favorite local nutrition, Embark Maple ... one of the shop staff decided to order some Embark while we were in the shop. 

Our next target date for my ride was Tuesday, the weather looked amazing as Hone moved away from the island and that was the day we planned to move to Volcano Rainforest Retreat, so it was kinda perfect to have our Jeep packed and we needed to drive to the Hilo side of the island. However, the Manua Kea Access Rd above the Visitor Information Center (VIC) was washed out from the storm and was closed for repairs. Midday on Monday, we decided we'd move the ride back to our last day on Hawai'i. Funny enough, the Access Road was reported back open late on Monday, but we made the decision and stuck with it. 

Hone damage to the Access Road https://hilo.hawaii.edu/maunakea/
We truly loved our time at the Volcano Rainforest Retreat, so peaceful and restful! The staff was very interested and excited to learn more about my ride. 
May Peace Prevail On Earth
Starting from Volcano meant riding up the mountain from the Hilo side because Hilo is only 45 minutes from Volcano versus 2 hours to get to Waikōloa Beach. I had looked at the Hilo route to Maunakea but had not planned on it. So there was a ton of last minute planning, loading the route on my Garmin, and a route for Lisa to follow me in the Jeep. Riding from Hilo meant avoiding Mamalahoa Hwy, I never want to ride this road ever again, this is an extremely stressful 3-mile section of road on the Waikōloa Beach route. The Hilo route looked like it had less stressful roads. The beach starting point in Hilo was a little tough to get to, with the Hawai'i Belt Rd cutting off the path to the Coconut Point Lighthouse in Kaipaloao Landing Park. We agreed to just roll with it and figure it out real time when we saw the park and adapt as needed.
 
Sea to Sky | The Full Ride
The Jeep was nearly fully packed before we went to bed, ready to roll early the next morning. We were both up before 4:00 AM, neither of us totally acclimated to the 5-hour time difference on Hawai'i. After a light breakfast and coffee, we rolled out for the 45-minute drive to Hilo. 
Seeing Maunakea from the shoreline in Hilo
There were a couple challenges getting to the starting point at the Coconut Point Lighthouse, there's no parking at the park, but there's lots of parking across Hawai'i Belt Rd. I walked down to the lowest point and started my Garmin, while Lisa moved the Jeep and found a place to put the Jeep for just a minute (in a no parking zone) for a couple pictures as I prepared to start this epic journey.
Coconut Point Lighthouse
I couldn't have been happier with the roads from the lighthouse to the Saddle Rd, they were low speed limits (30-35 mph) with very light traffic. On the other hand, the roads out of Hilo are straight onto the climb. You do not get to warm up, you see 6% grades, and more, in the first couple miles! I was challenged with the grades, and the road surfaces were rough, but I was so much happier than the first miles out of Waikōloa Beach.
 
There were very few places for a nature break on this route, and it had been a long time since leaving Volcano, so I was very happy to find a public rest area at the Kaumana Caves. At this point, I got stressed out to find that my Garmin map was not working correctly, it was stuck on one point. I was both stressed out but also had some hope since I'd had issues like this in the past ... I was challenged to trust the Garmin to work it all out at the end of the day. That said, the Garmin wasn't giving me turn-by-turn directions, thankfully I was past any complicated roads. After fiddling with some tricks that had fixed this map issue in the past, I gave up knowing that all the data fields were correctly updating ... and randomly, a ways up Saddle Rd, it worked itself out and the map on my Garmin was working correctly. 

The Google Maps route I shared with Lisa didn't work, she didn't find me until I made the turn onto Daniel K. Inouye Highway, commonly called the Saddle Rd. I turned right onto Saddle Rd, and BOOM, there was Lisa shouting out the window of her Jeep, she found me! Happily, I was all good up to that point with all the food and hydration I needed. But we both had our challenges with the last-minute change to the Hilo route. 

After that, Lisa would drive roughly 5 miles up the road, find a safe turn out and wait for me. In addition to avoiding the hateful Mamalahoa Hwy, you spend a lot less time on the Saddle Rd. The Saddle Rd has a wide shoulder, but you've got semis and tons of traffic passing you at 60+ mph, I can't help but think it's stressful for anybody, but I know I can't relax in that environment. Add that the shoulder has a lot of little chip rocks and other debris. Additionally, when the road curves to the left, the road bevel is kinda stressfully, at a low speeds on a bike, it feels like it's pulling you toward the traffic lane. 
Enjoying a Coke on Saddle Rd
After 20 miles, the road flattened out notably, allowing me to get into the big chainring for a while and even freewheel for just a minute. The climb mellowed out for nearly 7 miles, mostly staying between 1% and 3%, allowing me to get the Mauna Kea Access Rd quicker than I expected.
Shortly after turning up Mauna Kea Access Rd, you get a very real warning
I let out a little cheer as I made the turn onto the Access Rd. There was very little traffic on the Access Rd, but I did take note of the ubiquitous white rental vehicles that really struggled to offer safe passing distances on an empty road. Later, at the Visitor Information Center (VIC), I loudly shared my feeling on these thoughtless drivers while talking with Lisa, knowing that a couple of those rental drivers were within earshot.
 
Just before the VIC, you'll hit the steepest mile of the whole ride, the road goes up 757 ft in one mile! Back home in Minnesota, 100 ft per mile is big ... this is massive, with one mile at an average of 13.2% grade. I walked this part of the road during my first attempt in 2023, and I was fully prepared to walk it again this year. It is a BEAST, holding 16-17% and kicking to 18% grades ... I can only think of one short path in the Twin Cities that briefly gets this steep, but the Access Road just holds this grade! 
That last mile getting to the VIC
Getting up to the VIC, I met Lisa and talked with the park rangers. I shared my hiker/biker form with one of the rangers as we arrived and letting them know my plans. I took time with Lisa to get food, The Fox (flour tortilla with humus wrapped around a pickle) and Coke. I added some layers to stay warm with the cool winds and added sunscreen ... the sun close to the equator and above 10,000 ft is nothing to mess around with! I enjoyed a ton of conversations with other visitors interested in my adventure, including many fellow cyclists that knew what I was doing was an epic effort.
Enjoying my Fox wrap at the VIC, I grew up using tailgates for seating ... felt like home!
After nearly an hour at the VIC, I was already to start my ride again, with my USWE hydration pack for easy access to my sports drink. I got to the rangers to find out the ranger I talked with when we arrived was no longer at this post and the current rangers had no idea what happened to my form. So I ran over to the box at the VIC doors to grab a new form and Lisa was great helping me get if filled out right away. I shared the form with the ranger and he asked me many tough questions, and I respect him for challenging me, this ride is massive and these rangers see too many folks like me that think they're badass, but not prepared for what is ahead of them. I'd love to say I knew what was ahead of me, but I was overly confident too.
Waiting in the que to go above the VIC
I rolled up the first ramp of the unpaved section above the VIC. To call this road surface "gravel" is too kind, this is a combination of beach sand texture silt with massive rocks. I've seen some crazy gravel road conditions on a wide variety of events over many years, and the road above the VIC is nothing I've biked before! I was able to ride to the first switchback and half the way to the second before getting off and walking. I was pleased to be able to ride the first real kick on this unpaved road, getting over 16% grade. But then I hit some deep and soft sand that'd require much wider tires to ride through (or a much better bike handler than me).
A little on bike climbing in the 'gravel' section
After this point, I was walking about half the distance to the summit and slowly biking the other half. Any time the grade dropped below 10%, and the road wasn't too tough to ride, I'd get on and peddle as far as I could. My walking speed was about 2.5 to 3 mph and while biking with all my power to get up to 6-8 mph. This is the part of the effort that turned into a major mental challenge, my body was ready to call it, but I was too close to finishing this massive goal to give up. As an experienced rider, it is demoralizing to walk, but it's more demoralizing to quit!

Lisa would park the Jeep in a safe space half a mile up the road and it looked like a marathon distance to get to her. I'd just have to stop walking to simply breathe, I was getting light-headed and the starts of tunnel vision. Happily, I was listening to my body and would not push past these signs ... I'd take a break to get the oxygen my body it was demanding. 
This is where the mental game was EVERYTHING!
When I was able to ride, I was a little surprised that I was more comfortable riding than walking! But the grades needed to be lower, and there was no getting out of the saddle at this point, I did not have that kinda strength with the limited oxygen.

A fair number of rangers and other mountain staff stopped to encourage me on my way up, I can't say enough how much they meant to me. I had a brave and happy face on, but I was fighting to stay out of a deep and dark hole. I was also enjoying hearing encouragement from other visitors, we talked with many of them at the VIC and they knew what I was doing, it meant so much to have their support on this very remote and exposed mountain. 
The summit is in sight! 
When I turned a corner and saw the first observatories, it was the light at the end of the tunnel. I was so so close to the summit. And I was determined to cross the summit on my bike, and not simply pushing it! That was not easy, and I only rode the last quarter mile, but I did it! It had been 9 hours since I started at the Coconut Point Lighthouse. 
Lisa gave me a big hug and we celebrated with some pictures to remember this moment, as well as simply taking in this amazing place.
Summit selfie
It was important to me to remember that Maunakea is a sacred place. It was my goal to bring only good energy and be grateful. While looking at the sacred summit a short distance away and shared a quiet prayer of gratitude to the spirits of this magnificent place.
The Center for Maunakea Stewardship works to achieve harmony, balance and trust in the sustainable management and stewardship of the Maunakea Science Reserve through extending Native Hawaiian and community involvement and programs that protect, preserve and enhance the cultural, natural, educational and scientific resources of Maunakea in a manner that integrates traditional Indigenous knowledge and modern science. [source https://hilo.hawaii.edu/maunakea/]
I had always planned to get a ride back down the mountain, I do not like descending (and yes that's very odd for a biker). And that road is stressful coming down in a 4WD Jeep! Getting back down to the VIC, the rangers will use a FLIR temp gauge to check your brake rotor temp before letting you drive below the VIC. Lisa challenged the ranger to see if her brake temps were lower than Shea's - Shea (our son-in-law) drove us down from the summit back in February 2023. Lisa did great, but Shea won ... it wasn't a fair comparison, it was much colder the day Shea drove us down the mountain (HA!)

We took a few minutes at the VIC for me to change into something less stinky while Lisa did some souvenir shopping. I was sure to find my hiking/biking form, the ranger had put both forms together, he apologized for the confusion, but it was honestly no big deal. As we made our way down the mountain, Lisa felt bad that achieving this massive goal wasn't celebrated with a big meal and beer, but we had a flight to catch! 

We went straight to the Kona airport to pack my bike and tons of crap. I had to laugh at our sh..show!! Lisa dropped me off at the curb, so she could do the return process for the Turo Jeep. I was happy with myself, as tired as I was after that effort, and starting the day at 4:00AM, it only took me 45 minutes to get the bike fully packed, as well as a ton of our gear from the day's big adventure. We had a few security staffers keeping an eye on us HA! The best was a bike cop that stopped to talk and he shared his ride on the gravel route from Waimea to the VIC, that sounds so cool!!
The KOA yard sale LOL!!
We had enough time to grab a very basic dinner at the airport, for reference, Kona Airport is very small with simple restaurant. We got a couple beers, and shared a chicken finger basket with fries. After boarding the plane, I only lasted a few minutes before sleep took me over. Lisa reported she kept checking on me, a little worried about me, and that I was hard asleep nearly the full flight to LAX. After our LAX to MSP flight, it was great to get home, after picking up the dogs from boarding, and we all slept for nearly 12 hours comfortable to be back home!

THANK YOU!
There's an entire blog post on all the amazing things Lisa does to support me with my crazy bike adventures. She has her own endurance event following and supporting me, along with navigational challenges, the thin air at nearly 14,000 ft, managing marketing with pictures & updates during the ride, challenges with busy traffic, and "weather girl". She is my hero, because I could never do this without her efforts before, during, and after these adventures! 
Lisa with trusty Turo 4WD Jeep Gladiator with the North Gemini Observatory

WARNING!! The following is nerdy bike details! 

THE BIKE: 
I made the choice to change bikes this time, in 2023 I rode my gravel bike, a steel frame Breezer Radar Pro. This time I brought my carbon fiber Bianchi Infinito. This shave 10 lbs off the bike weight, but limited me to 32 mm tires, where the Breezer had 50 mm tires. My calculation was that having a lighter bike and narrower tires would save me energy and time on the lower parts of the ride, and I'd have to walk a good part of the highest elevations of the mountain, no matter what tires I had. 
My 2021 Bianchi Infinito
I know some riders will bring two bikes, road bike to get the VIC, and a mountain bike or gravel bike with wide tires for the rest. It wasn't an option for me, but this seems like a great way to go if you can have access to two bikes for the ride.
 
If you're thinking about this challenge, here are things to think about, especially above the VIC: 
The Tires: as a very experienced gravel rider, the 32 mm Panaracer GravelKing SK tires worked very well. I've ridden gravel roads with everything from 28 mm tires to 4" fatbike tires, and I'd say the 32 mm tires were the least of the limiting factors for me on the unpaved section of the road. I don't think many tires would have been able to get me through the sandy sections. 

The Drivetrain: this was a bigger limiting factor, my smallest gearing was 33x36, and I was bumping into the lowest gear with anything over 12% grade. For most of my riding, I will just get out of the saddle and mash up the steep ramps, but around my area, these ramps do not last very long. I'd like something more like 38x50 or 36x50 to get me up nearly all of this climb. But I wasn't interested in rebuilding the entire drivetrain for one ride, so I maxed out the gearing I could with the current drivetrain. 
SRAM AXS app tracks time spent in each gear; I could've used more climbing gears
The Cyclist: living at 950 ft above sea level, I knew I'd will be challenged above 9,000 ft. But, I've successfully biked steep gravel roads above 9,000 ft - like Old Fall River Rd in Rocky Mountain National Park. But there's no way for me to acclimate to these elevations at home, I simply focused on VO2 Max efforts and very long rides.
One big change, prior to leaving for Hawai'i in 2023, I was just above 170 lbs; a year and half later I've dropped below 160 lbs. And I was in the best condition I'd been in for 10 years. Plus my year included three ultra endurance efforts: The Arrowhead 135, The Wolf, and The DAMn.
There is 42% less oxygen at 14,000 ft compared with sea level. We have a medical grade pulse oximeter, it was interesting but not a major data point. Lisa, AKA the mountain goat, was maintaining her pulse ox on the way up, and I was getting readings in the upper 70s at the summit, as we drove down, my numbers came up very quickly and I was back to 97% 
at the VIC.

The Routes:
Starting in Hilo:
This route is 42 miles with an average grade of 6.1%. The one con for this route is that Hilo is typically rainy (as in 275 rainy days a year), which wouldn't be a great way to start this long ride. I was fortunate to have sunny conditions and was able to see the summit from Hilo... both motivating and intimidating! I found everything else better from Hilo. The first 8.5 miles of this route are much calmer roads, mostly 30-35 mph zones, plus much lighter traffic. The Hilo route spends much less time on Saddle Rd, about 19 miles. The Hilo route is just over 27 miles from the ocean to the Mauna Kea Access Rd. The trade winds on Hawai'i are going to be a tailwind from Hilo. Tech advantage, I had cell connectivity nearly the whole way. The only debatable difference is the grade of the climb from Hilo, it's going to be steeper with basically no descending. Plus the road kicks straight to 4% to 6% in the first mile, there is no warming up to the effort. Link to Strava segment: https://www.strava.com/segments/20849873
Starting in Waikōloa Beach: 
This route is 53 miles with an average grade of 4.9%. Riding out from Waikōloa Beach is fun, being able to walk down to the sandy beach and start from actual sea level. It's nearly always clear skies on the part of the island and can see your goal from the beach. You'll have 2.5 miles of flat roads before the first ramps start. This route is over 40 miles from the ocean to the Mauna Kea Access Rd. You enjoy some very quiet resort roads for the first mile, before you get onto the first highway, Queen Kaahumanu Hwy, and it's all highways until you get to the Access Rd. This route includes 3 miles on Mamalahoa Hwy, connecting Waikōloa Rd to Saddle Rd, this is an extremely stressful section of road with little-to-no shoulder and 50+ mph traffic - I never plan to ride on this road again! There will be some descending on Mamalahoa Rd, and again after mile 30 on Saddle Rd. I got no joy from the descents on Saddle Rd during my 2023 ride, there was a strong trade wind that forced me to keep peddling on this little descent. On the tech side, there are large areas on Saddle Rd without cell service. Link to Strava segment: https://www.strava.com/segments/10729084
Other Considerations:
Most riders will need support, either a friend or paid service, there is virtually no places to refresh hydration & nutrition, and you'll almost certainly need additional layers with the massive temp swing from sea level to summit.
If your support driver is going with you to the summit, they will need a vehicle with locking differential 4WD, this is required for all vehicles going above the VIC. The Jeep Wrangler, and it's variants, are the standard, but there are some other options like a couple Toyota models. Your support crew will be questioned about using the locking differential and engine braking by the rangers before being allowed to drive above the VIC. We have used Turo to rent our vehicles, standard rental companies do not allow you to bring your vehicle to the summit. We have gotten explicit and written agreements with the Turo vehicle owner to drive to the summit.
You will want to think about sunscreen or other sun protection, the sun is powerful near the equator and that is compounded by getting up to nearly 14,000 ft. I went with Pearl Izumi sun sleeves, legs, and buff, plus sunscreen for my face and other exposed skin.
An odd little comfort detail, saddle angle. In 2023, I was training with my Breezer on Zwift, added blocks to replicate the 6% average grade and adjusted my saddle angle down 5% to be comfortable. I didn't get the Bianchi set up on the trainer, and didn't adjust the saddle angle. It wasn't a gamechanger, but I did notice it was less comfortable with the saddle closer to 0% while constantly climbing.
Breathing techniques at altitude, there are a different options, do some testing for what will work for you. We both found that a large draw in through your mouth and slow exhale through your nose help us when feeling the need for more oxygen. This was critical for me on the final miles when my body was starving for oxygen.
Walking shoes, nearly everyone walks on this climb, including the KOM Phil Gaiman. You'll want shoes that you can comfortably walk in. And they should be good for walking in the sandy gravel, No matter what, you'll definitely not want pure road bike shoes above the VIC.
Additional Media:
Here are some links to resources about this ride and Hawai'i that I recommend to anyone planning on this ride or simply visiting the amazing Hawaiian Islands:
Strava screenshot of my route

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