Las Vegas. Land of casinos, water fountains spraying mist into the desert air, blackjack tables shrouded with cigarette smoke. Forget that noise. Our Vegas lives and breathes 15 minutes west of town, fired by the sun. Red Rock Canyon, land of glowing sandstone, home to over 2,000 rock climbs scattered among giant boulders and soaring […]
I’m balanced on my toes 300 feet off the ground, chalk dust blowing off my fingers. My friend Brandon yells encouragement, but the gusting wind gobbles up his words. It’s my first time climbing Monkey Face, the famous feature in Oregon’s Smith Rock State Park. Tomorrow, we’ll crush plates full of Thanksgiving food. Today, […]
Mile 57. I’m five hours into the High Cascades 100 mountain bike race and five miles up its longest climb. My stomach grumbles. Twists. I’ve heard that if things go wrong with the gut, it’s now. NOT TODAY. While spinning uphill, I force down a Picky Bar and ShotBlocks, then chug electrolyte water. My stomach […]
The dust has settled and the High Cascades 100 race is fading into the rear view mirror. Don’t worry, 100 miles and 9+ hours of pedaling didn’t beat the love of mountain biking out of me – I’ve already ridden again! I’ve got a blog post brewing with details of the race (spoiler: it was […]
At 5:30 tomorrow morning, I’ll pedal off on my mountain bike (along with 350 other lunatics) to race 100 miles. The event, High Cascades 100, traverses some of the best trails around Bend and climbs about 10,000 feet in the process. It’s the culmination of months of hard training. I’ve put in the time […]
Whoa, how did two months pass since I last posted? Whoops… For all you new subscribers, howdy! Don’t worry, there’s not usually this much radio silence. Not that I’ve laid around in traction or anything! Far from it. It’s merely that Bend is the ultimate distraction. Turns out that 1) the city and surrounding area are […]
Hey, did you hear about the Women’s March on Washington!? Oh, right – unless your news is delivered via the Pony Express, you did. Most people in Bend live here for the amazing outdoor access, not for political events. Yet 5,000 people skipped a powder day of skiing on Mt. Bachelor to march through downtown […]
A bit quiet on the blog recently! We spent December digging into snow sports in Bend and hanging with family for the holidays. In other news, a podcast interview we did called “Creating a Life of Adventure” was the #1 show for 2016 on The Startup Sessions. If you’re new to Traipsing About, it’s a great way to […]
I recently wrote about an experiment to claim control of my tech and social media life. Some tweaks worked, some didn’t. After 1.5 months of testing, here’s a quick update on the success (or failure) of those four goals. As a good stress test of this, we spent October living in (and loving) Bend, followed by […]
Cyclocross: Take high-octane bike racing, then shake things up with terrible weather and tough terrain. My friend Paul calls cross, “The hardest hour in cycling.” Started in Northern France 100 years ago and featuring a deep history, cross is a lap race in the sharp teeth of incoming winter. REAL cyclocross happens in pouring rain, sleet, […]
After two summers of bike touring, we carved out September for a Canada mountain biking van trip. A glance at the Trailforks app whet my appetite: British Columbia has 7,182 mountain biking trails and Alberta chimes in with 1,329. This was a lifetime of pedaling, and there just weren’t enough sunny fall days to explore […]
Noise has tugged at my concentration lately. Not voices in my head (I’m used to those), but comments, likes, and a gravitational pull from my phone. I’ve felt myself twitching to check in, to scan through social media. My phone feels like a distraction scalpel, slicing away my ability to focus. This has happened before, […]
Haunted by stories of midnight toilet backups, some people would rather burn their house than rent it out. I prefer putting our home to work while we travel to fund my kombucha and mountain bike habit. While it’s possible to do a house swap or hire a house sitter during travel, this post isn’t about that. […]
The text message read, “You interested in an alpine adventure?” Having no idea what that meant, I (of course) said yes. My guide was Jake, a local from Canmore I met through Instagram who offered to show me around. Our destination was Black Rock Mountain, a peak in the Canadian Rockies near Canmore, Alberta. Jake’s truck […]
Our NW Montana/Canada road trip continues! Currently, we’re up in Canada enjoying most-excellent MTB trails near Canmore. Jasper and the Icefield Parkway beckon to the north as September steams ahead. *** The end of the NW Montana plains is a splendid sight as craggy peaks of green and white spike toward the moon. It’s the front range […]
Hey y’all! After a week chilling out in Idaho after Iceland, we’re on the road in the Sprinter. This time, it’s for a van road trip I’ve wanted to do forever. After some fun in NW Montana, we’re exploring western Canada for a month of pedaling and hiking. On the list are Waterton, Fernie, Banff, Jasper, […]
I had to try mountain biking in Iceland. How often can I pedal on a volcano and soak in a hot springs in the middle of a ride? (Want to see live action? Here’s the video, or click the ridiculous photo above!) With only two days between our camper van trip and our trek in the […]
In 2010, Iceland’s impossible-to-pronounce Eyjafjallajökull volcano erupted. The resulting plume of ash shut down air traffic in Europe, and all eyes were suddenly on Iceland. “Hey, what IS that place?” asked people around the world. “I thought Iceland was just a big, boring glacier?” Nope! Turns out Iceland is green (and Greenland icy) and features spectacular scenery. […]
There are many ways to explore Iceland. You can rent a car, bicycle tour, hitchhike, or take the public bus. My hands-down vote, however, is to travel Iceland in a camper van. As part of a month-long trip in summer 2016, we spent 2.5 weeks exploring the perimeter of the island via van. We followed a […]
Interested in visiting Iceland? Check out my guide for traveling here in a camper van! ** It would be wrong if I didn’t immediately say WOW, Iceland is beautiful! The varied terrain, stunning waterfalls, glaciers, and sweeping vistas are stomping my expectations. If there was a I Heart Iceland shirt, I’d wear it. A week […]