Happy New Year! A New Year's Eve Ride

Photo by Gary Chrisman

We wrapped up 2017 with a day of family fat bike training, around the south Teton Valley groomed fat bike trail system. Thanks to the volunteers of Teton Valley Trails and Pathways and Fitzgerald's Bicycles, we have an awesome network of groomed single track specifically for fat bikes just minutes from our home in Victor, Idaho.

April tagged along in her Burley Solo for our outing. We ran the 16+ wheel set for the adventure, switching to the ski set, when we hit Sherman Park, less than a mile from the house. From Sherman Park there is over 10 miles of groomed fat bike single track to ride. The trail network winds through Sherman Park, Teton Springs Golf Course, and then through the forest to Mike Harris Campground. 

Bryon is currently wrapping up his training for his first winter ultra, JayP's 200k Fat Pursuit, next weekend in Island Park, ID. Becky is in training for her first fat bike races, a night race at Grand Targhee, at the end of January and The Bear, a 45 mile fat bike race near Steamboat Springs in February.

April is training for long hours in the Burley this spring and summer. If the weather and trails are adequate, April will tag along on her first fat bike race at Togwotee in March.

We began our ride with a loop through Sherman Park. Sherman Park, has just over 1.5 miles of groomed trail that leads out of the park, under the highway and then a mile up the road to Teton Springs.

Teton Springs has a 4.3 mile loop of groomed single track. We met up with our friend Gary, who will also be competing at the Fat Pursuit, with Bryon, next weekend. He joined us for the loop through Teton Springs and what followed.

After looping through Teton Springs we headed out on the powerline trail up to Nemo's, a popular mountain bike trail in the summer months, that recently was approved for winter grooming. This section was another 3.5+ miles of groomed trail. 

After a steep climb that involved teamwork to get Bryon's bike with the Burley and April in tow up the hill, we descended through the forest. The trail then led to the parking lot of Mike Harris Campground, which is near the base of the Teton Pass. This is where we swapped April's skis for wheels and took the road home.

We were happy to wrap up 2017, with a wonderful winter ride.

We have several bikepacking aspirations for the 2018 year. We will be completing a 160 mile ride through Grand Staircase-Escalante, this March. We have plans to ride the Idaho Hot Springs Tour this June, and in August we intend to complete a 1000+ mile trip following the Fitzbarn course and a Tour Divide segment from Butte to Lima. 2018 will help us to build our fitness base, as we ultimately would like to complete the Tour Divide in 2019. 

Of course, we will also be completing a number of fat bike and gravel races in between our bikepacking adventures. 

We look forward to 2018 and all the adventures to come! 

Seasons are shifting...September Gravel Grinders

After an awesome summer of traveling and biking, we finally got to September. With September came the time for me to return to work, as a teacher, and summer's end. We finished off our summer with Rebecca's Private Idaho Small Fry and began our fall with JayP's 60 mile Gravel Pursuit. 

Rebecca's Private Idaho was a huge event in comparison to the Dead Swede 40, that we completed back in June. The race took place in Sun Valley and had just over 800 participants between the Big Potato and Small Fry. 

Bryon pulled April in the Burley behind his Salsa Mukluk and I rode my Salsa Fargo. The first 12 or so miles of the route climbed. We found that even though we had started at the very back of the pack we were able to pass people during the long climb. 

The aid stations were well stocked with Red Bull and GU products and the overall event was fantastic. We finished in just under 5 hours with a time of 4:55:29. April did well in the burley as always and was all smiles when we stopped at aid stations and at the finish. 

JayP's Gravel Pursuit

To wrap up September we completed JayP's 60 mile Gravel Pursuit. Last year when this event took place I was 8 1/2 months pregnant and drove up the day of the event to see Bryon finish. This year I was participating! The Gravel Pursuit is based in Island Park, ID at the Pond's Lodge. We camped at the Buffalo Campground in the Alaskan the night before the event. 

We chose to ride our Salsa Mukluks for the Gravel Pursuit. We had gone up to Island Park a few times before the actual event to ride segments of the course and found that fat tires were necessary, for towing the burley on the course. Bryon towed April the first 42 miles and I towed her the last 21 miles. The weather turned about 6 hours into our almost 8 hour ride. We were prepared for the rain and cold though. I had put a fleece bunting bag in April's Burley, so she stayed plenty warm. We had brought rain gear to ride in for Bryon and myself. 

The route was challenging, but we completed the course. Our summer riding and training had paid off. I was thrilled to cross the finish and head into the nearby Pond's Lodge, for salads and pizza.

I am sure we will return to the Gravel Pursuit next year. It really is a wonderful local event, that Jay and Tracy put on.

We are thankful for all the support we have received from Derrick & Liz Nobman and the entire staff at Fitzgerald's Bicycles in Victor, ID, to help us with all of our bicycle needs. We are proud to be shop ambassadors. Our September was pretty spectacular and I can't wait for our upcoming fall and winter adventures!

Bryon, Becky, Bikes, and a Baby!!

    We have decided to share some of our adventures, experiences, successes, and not so successful moments, in our journey to be active, fit and healthy parents. We hope to inspire, motivate and educate other new parents and families to get out and go!!  We also look forward to being educated and inspired, along the way. We will be sharing some of our rides, bikepacking, camping, and travel experiences. Maybe even a little racing and few events along the way. We will also be doing some product reviews, of our set up, and what we find works for camping and traveling by bicycle with a small child. This will definitely be a learning experience for all with one experienced cyclist, one new cyclist, and a little girl, whose everyday is a new experience...

  Our home is located in Teton Valley Idaho, Victor to be exact. We feel extremely lucky to live in  such a beautiful area. With living on the fringe of Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks, there is an endless amount of terrain to be explored, not limited to, the other incredible mountain ranges that surround us. 

Bryon

   Bicycles have been my love and passion for practically my entire life. BMX racing dominated almost 25 years, with only a few breaks here and there. Somewhere along the way I also fell in love with mountain biking, especially the climbing and suffering part of it. In the past few years I have discovered bikepacking, and the absolute joy of bike rides that literally last for days! 

 My hope is to share this passion and love for cycling and the outdoors with my amazing partner Becky and our beautiful daughter April. 

Becky

Bicycling is fairly new to me. This past winter I got my first fat bike and recently got my gravel bike. Although, cycling is a new hobby, I have enjoyed staying fit through running and hiking in the past.

I am excited to experience bikepacking with our wonderful little family, for the first time this summer. I hope to complete my first gravel race this year, as well. 

April

April is our 5 1/2 month old daughter. She was born in October. April travels by burley. She loves taking in new views, while mom and dad bike or run with her in tow. 

   A huge Thank you to Fitzgerald's Bicycles Teton Valley, and owners Derrick and Liz Nobman! I'm extremely honored to have been chosen to be a Fitzgerald's ambassador and help share the stoke.
We love our Salsa Mukluks & Fargos and April absolutely loves her Burley trailer!!  #fitzymbtstoke #salsacycles #burleydesign