Welcome back to this Deep Stuff Podcast.

I'm your host, James Loriello, and I'm so excited to welcome Kyle Richardson back on the show.

Kyle is fresh off his Northeast Summits tour, where Kyle biked from basically from Manhattan all the way up to Maine and ended his trip in New Hampshire.

A 1,300-mile trip with 84,000 feet of elevation gain over 15 days.

In that trip, he hit six peaks across New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine, starting with Hunter, hitting Colden, Abraham, Mount Washington, Mount Catain in Maine, which you guys might be familiar with, and then ending on Mononduck in New Hampshire.

Super fun getting to talk to Kyle, catch up about his trip, talk about the art and his why.

One thing I really appreciated about Kyle and always have is that he always brings the flavor of art into the sport.

And with the sport getting so sciencey, leaning one way to the other, it's always been fun to kick Kyle's perspective where he brings just a fresh perspective of art into it.

Another thing we talked about was Kyle's South Platz twirl route that he created, which was a bikepacking tour, as well as his route that he put up this summer, biking from Boulder to Steamboat and back for his moot cycles tour, which is pretty dope.

Guys, I hope you enjoyed this one.

It's always fun getting to catch up with Kyle to talk about what he's been up to, especially over the summer.

I think you guys are gonna appreciate his perspective.

So without further ado, Kyle Richardson, Kyle Richardson.

Welcome back to the Deep Stuff Podcast.

How's it going, man?

Hey James, thanks for having me on.

I'm good.

Uh yeah, got back to Boulder like a few days ago, so settling into my routine here.

And uh I'm sure we'll get into it.

But yeah, I had a really good month out on the East Coast.

Um but yeah, so that's that's kind of what I'm up to.

Dude, I love it.

I mean, it was so much fun following along.

I don't know if you still call it the same thing.

I know you were calling it the Northeast 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 of a situation there.

Starting off in Manhattan and then kind of uh ending in New Hampshire, but still stopping off in Maine.

I don't know.

Maybe maybe you tell me like your reaction and just like kind of the the aftermath of of of the journey.

Yeah, no, it's uh it's kind of one of those uh projects that that you're really psyched that you were able to do, you know.

Like it's it's fun to set big goals and objectives at the beginning of the year, but like I feel like you don't yeah, you don't end up doing most of them.

Just uh if you're setting stuff that's really like you know, you're reaching and trying to strive for excellence, like you might get one or two of those things.

And uh yeah, this is one of those 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 so bad.

Like you yeah, I don't know.

It's like we can get into the details, but I feel like it was just it all went how it was supposed to go.

Like it was smooth, there was no issues, there was no stress, there was no um super low points.

It was kind of like excitement and motivation for 15 days, which to just like have that every day and just be psyched is is awesome, you know.

Uh I've gone on other trips where it's uh you're like oh, this is a bit of a drag, or your your mind wanders, and um sometimes you have like low motivation moments, and like this was just like at the top, feeling so good, pushing you know, for 15 days, which yeah, I don't know.

I feel like that's sort of rare.

I'm I'm grateful that like I was just able to do that and be in that space.

So I'm like, oh wonder I wonder if that will happen again.

And yeah, obviously it could happen again, but yeah, lifetime moment, lifetime trip for me, and uh yeah, I feel like I'm still gathering my thoughts about it.

Um But yeah, I've always been inspired by just packing up all your camping stuff on your bike and a pair of running shoes and going off and tagging some peaks.

It's like you get to experience the the landscape with the bike, and then you get to slow down or speed up, however you want to think about it on foot, and get to 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 head around like the scale of a place.

You know, we both understand that you can go out your your front door and like learn the the hills around where you live intimately, and it's kind of expanding upon that and like living off the bike is like kind of a way to yeah, you're really learning the place that like you know, I'm not living there, but I feel like I can really take it in and appreciate it, um, kind of like through a trip.

Um you know, I I saw like lots of different parts of the northeast and like kind of have like these core memories about like what the distinct styles and like the different landscapes in those ranges.

Um whereas if you were driving through in a car and just like doing a summit and moving on, it kind of I don't know, it's just a different way to experience it.

And so I've always gravitated towards yeah, l living off the bike uh and little spurts.

This is certainly my longest trip that I've ever done.

So yeah, curious to see where that experience takes me in the future if I want to do something longer or yeah, different.

So cool, man.

How was the uh we'll get into the the details, but I'm just curious how the recovery was from all that time.

Like, did you recover pretty darn fast?

I mean, I just listened to the body and the psych.

I feel like it didn't like recovery was pretty quick.

I also wasn't like the the goal of this project wasn't to just bury myself every day.

It was like this is so new and foreign to me that you kind of just like do what the day um sort of gives you.

And like I would love to get into this more because I feel like this sometimes is like a mental block that people have with doing trips like this.

Is I didn't really plan it out to where I was like, oh, I want to get here on this day and do the peak on this day.

I was like, I'm gonna wake up like a little bit before sunrise, like I don't know, sometime between five or six.

I'm gonna spend all day moving outside, and then I get tired at night, I'm gonna go to sleep.

Like it wasn't like oh this suffer fest or the hammering and like really like digging myself into a well.

So I my body was like great the whole time, you know.

Like I I took two days off and I was like, oh, I'm kind of I want to go ride the bike.

So no, I come I wasn't sore, I wasn't it was more just mental like brain fog, um which is yeah.

I mean, I was putting in big days, but it all felt reasonable and it was like, I don't know.

Just yeah, you're sort of just soft pedaling all day, you're running, you're running pretty easy.

It's just like just kind of like that endurance mode.

Um I'm sure like if I was really start doing some high intensity training, I'd probably feel like a little sluggish and and off and yeah, like just a little taxed.

But other than that, yeah, I feel great and certainly like psyched to to get outside and go running and biking.

I love it.

Let's get into that, what you said a little bit with I I really like that style where you bring your bivvy with you, you're living off the bike, and you're not really setting expectations where, you know, especially for instance, I'll just use the first leg of your journey on the New York or the Empire uh trail, um, where you can kind of just jump off and bivvy as you go, and you don't really have to set expectations on, oh, I have to be in this town by tomorrow, or I have to be in on this peak by the next day.

I almost feel like that just opens the journey up and really with the relief of expectations, it allows you to kind of I don't know, be more open to the experience and let it come to you as opposed to rushing it.

Does that make make sense?

Yeah, I mean you you're saying it perfectly, and it's leading up to the trip, it was like kind of chaos.

Like I joined Killian to go up Long's Peak at the start of his like States of Elevation project, and then the next day I flew to Brooklyn, which is like a full day of travel, and like landed in the afternoon, got the bike, like took a taxi to my friend's place in Brooklyn, and we like I didn't even set up the bike.

We like went out, we rode city bikes in to the to Manhattan, I guess.

I don't even know where we were.

Went to like an art show, we got like late night Chinese food, we went to the pool hall, we were having beers, like it was not like this like, oh, I'm rested and recovered.

Like, I was wanting to soak up the full experience and like hang with my like really close friend, see his sort of spots.

Um, we woke up the next day, I went for like a four-mile run around Brooklyn and got like breakfast sandwiches, and like I didn't start the technical day one till like 11 or noon.

So it was like very much about the whole experience, like you're saying, like let let kind of letting go of like an itinerary, or like I had the peaks, you know, and it was like I guess I'll just say this for people that aren't familiar with the trip that I did.

I did um a peak in the Catskills, the Adirondacks, the Green Mountains, the White Mountains, and then I don't really know what you want to call the big range of mountains that go up through Maine.

I I'm not even sure what they're called, but went up to Catawdin and then back to Mount Menadnock in southern New Hampshire.

So those are like the core pieces 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 a refreshing, exciting way to like go go about things because like I don't really know what's gonna happen next.

Like I like that rhythm of like sometimes you're biking all day, sometimes you're like biking and then doing a peak the next morning.

So you're kind of anticipating running in the morning, and you kind of can get in that headspace, like starting the day with a run.

Sometimes you bike all morning and then do a run in the afternoon, and you're like running into the evening light, and that has a completely different feel than kind of the other options.

So it's super exciting to kind of have it constantly switching because you honestly don't know how far it's gonna take or how long it's gonna take to get somewhere.

It's been kind of like that.

That's what I'm talking about with the stress of trying to analyze.

Oh, I have to get here at this point.

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 kind of feeling.

Like you kind of you kind of get excited about the next peak, I guess, the next place that you're gonna get to.

Um also when you're somewhere that you've never been, it's like I don't really know what this terrain's gonna be like, and the riding and roads in the northeast, you can link a lot of trails and rail trails, so it you don't really know where you are because sometimes you're just in this tunnel and you're just in that for a long time, and then all of a sudden you get to the next spot, and you're like, oh now I'm here.

Whereas in Colorado, if say you're in like the Arkansas River Valley, you like you can see like kind of the terrain ahead of you.

You can see like, oh okay, like I 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, you just see like the towns, you see the landscape better in the northeast.

You're you're sneaking around, you know, like you can't really tell the scale of things.

You're just like, I guess I'm gonna ride a long time, and then oh, there's the mountain right in front of you, or you'll go over like so many rolling hills, and then you'll get to something that looks a little more prominent.

You're like, okay, now I'm in the next zone.

So it just had yeah, a new feel to that kind of the way that the terrain hits you.

Um so and the terrain is interesting too.

Well, the thing I think that when I figured out what you were doing, I I was so jealous.

I was like, I have to do something like this at some point, just because you know, if for the and if for folks and listeners of the podcast, like that have either explored, you know, whether it's the catskills or the whites or the Adirondacks, the terrain more or less gets more aggressive as you kind of go further north and then I guess northeast.

Um you know, ending in in in Cantatin, which is this like beautiful knife edge ridgeline that's like you know, totally exposed and something you would never expect to see in the Northeast.

Um did you kind of conceptualize it from that?

Like, did you have any other like renditions of this route that you wanted to do, or was it always kind of this beautiful idea of starting in New York and then biking to uh these locations?

Like, how did you put that plan together?

Yeah, no, it's definitely evolved.

Um, I did like a nine-day trip last year that I tagged summits in um Vermont and New Hampshire.

That was kind of a stepping stone for this project.

I've talked around like adding more peaks or different ranges into a similar trip, but I don't know.

I I uh halfway through the year I like wanted to that this idea of starting in New York City and then going to Catada, and that was like the major part of the route 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 out in the woods of Maine, you know, and uh kind of explore the possibilities of having adventure in these like super dense urban areas, because for the most part, except for Maine, like there's people everywhere, and you could still have this like wild experience.

Like I felt very much out there many times throughout the whole trip.

Um so yeah, it kind of there was that through line of of you know exploring the sort of the wilderness of of of these different mountain ranges.

And I certainly made it a point to like get off the main roads, like follow trails and rail trails and back roads and gravel roads as much as possible, um, for a multitude of reasons, like dealing with cars and also just it's more scenic.

But you know, that does add challenges with like a lot more vertical, you're constantly going like over kind of the the more difficult way.

Um yeah, I would say just the city, city to the different peaks is kind of the the inspiration when it came down to the like to get to start.

Let's get into that a little bit.

I want to talk about some of the like the specific routes.

Like you started your obviously started your trip um on in Brooklyn or was it Queens, and it kind of goes I because I know that's where the Empire State Trail starts, which I've ridden on a ton, both uh I've ran on a ton and then I've biked on it a ton.

And we'll talk about this a little more, but like what did you think of that?

I thought that was kind of neat that like that is a pretty solid, for the most part, rail trail system that you can kind of get at least I've only been on it through what is it, past Poughkeepsie to New Palts, and then a little bit closer to the cat skills.

Like, does it is it pretty legit the whole way through?

Like, are you able to not really get too connected with cars and stuff like that?

Are you kind of on your own?

Yeah, no, good question.

So I started the trip technically started in like high bridge, which I just started the old Croton Aqueduct, which I've seen like these YouTubers and Instagram sort of cyclists, Terry Baronson and um Tim Fitzwater, 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 leaves High Bridge, which you feel 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 alternate routes or like the Empire Strait Trail maybe doesn't include the OCA, but either way, they're both like bike-friendly options.

I think the OCA is like a little more cuddy, interesting, sort of going through people's backyard on like this single track following like this historic aqueduct 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 the Empire State Trail, and then from there it's like, yeah, all the way to Kingston or I guess New Paul's, it's um yeah, it's all bike path.

So I think that's a hundred miles or something at least.

Or and yeah, you're crossing intersections where you could take a left turn and like go into town, or you can just stay on the path, and so yeah, that's like a really nice way to go about biking, you know.

Um you cross like the AT for the first time on that segment, and I saw other bike packers, you see runners, hikers, every you know, everyone's out and about on those, so it's fun to yeah, just kind of log the miles in the the green tunnel there.

Uh the you know, the leaves are starting to turn, and that was the only day that I this is day two.

The only day where I like there was a storm.

Um I was in New Palts and this like giant front was like crashing over me, and like I just got nicked by it, but I was like waiting under cover just for 30 minutes or whatnot, eating some stuff from the gas station, and uh it passed, and I was like, all right, now we're good.

And so I went up and over there the gunks and then over down into Kingston.

So yeah, that was a pretty car-free day.

Um trying to think you go over the that big Hudson Bridge.

Yeah, is it what's it called?

Hudson Bridge.

I should know this.

My wife's family is literally from there.

Uh the the mid-Hudson Bridge.

And New Polts, yeah, yeah.

So that's epic.

That's so cool.

Yeah, it's what is such a small world.

I saw like I like obviously I was following your Instagram story.

It's when I messaged you, I was like, dude, like I I was here all summer.

It's such a beautiful place.

And I don't know, I feel like the 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 or less have their own kind of natural beauty to them.

You know, I I know a lot of people kind of play in the cat skills.

It's almost like kind of the little bro.

I I feel bad because it gets like the reputation of maybe the little brother to the Adirondacks, if you will, which are a little bit more burly and gnarly.

Um, I kind of told you it was like Hunter Mountain, check it out.

What was your experience there?

What did you think of that peak?

I know it's kind of short but sweet.

Yeah, no, I mean I I was kind of like reaching out to a couple of people and like what should I run here because I don't know anything about the area, and like it's easy to just default to like the high point, which I slide, right?

And I don't know anything about it.

I don't this wasn't a high points tour.

I kind of like wanted just to get that flavor, like what's a good taste of this mountain range?

It can be short or long.

Like, I wasn't trying to do anything crazy long, but yeah, no um, yeah, no uh preconceived notions about this is the kind of peak that I want to run.

So you gave me an excellent recommendation, and like earlier a second ago, you were like um it gets more technical as you get up to Maine, but like going up Hunter, that's brutal.

It's technical, and that's the exact kind of trail and mountain that I like to run.

So yeah, I think that lives next to all the other peaks that I did, and I thought it had a unique summit and yeah, just interesting terrain, interesting yeah, just kind of little ridgeline that you go up.

Uh so yeah, I thought that was sick.

Um it was a good entry to like running in in New York and sort of what the trip had to offer, you know.

Um that whole day was good, like the rail trail living leaving Kingston, um the towns that I went through, the roads, it was all like A plus, you know, good riding, interesting, beautiful hillsides, and yeah, I feel like yeah, that was one of the better days.

And then even after the run, I think I described this section as it it's mostly paved, but the way that I was trying to go north is you'd kind of cut up up and over these hills, and like the very top bits of these hills had little interesting dirt sections.

So you'd climb for a little bit on pavement, then you'd have like you know, a four by four road just to get you up and over, or you know, you could ride around on a busier road, but I like kind of like taking the steeper, quieter option.

So I thought the riding was super beautiful and interesting, had it like a really good mix, you're constantly changing surfaces, um, going through small towns.

Um yeah, I left with with a good impression of the cat skills and like to go back uh and explore more.

Uh yeah.

How long was that connection, if you don't mind me asking, between the Adirondacks and the Catskills?

Was that about a day, two days, something like that, to get from one range to the next?

Yeah, I think it was like a day and a half.

Um and that was totally just me uh, you know, looking at a map, trying to figure out the best way on the computer before I left.

Um I felt like I did a pretty good job um blinking the roads, but yeah, that that certainly that section is a bit arbitrary, you know.

Like I'm staying out of the Hudson Valley.

You could default back down there and maybe hop on rail trail, but I was like, oh, I want to keep it a little more direct.

So it ended up working out great.

Uh good roads, good towns.

Uh so it feels like Amish country, you know, down in the farmlands, and yeah, it was just kind of this cool little connector.

Um, mostly paved, but good good roads.

How was it bivvying out?

Like, did you did anybody give you any heart?

Like it's I find it funny because like we have a culture here in the West where it's much more common, and obviously in some parts of the northeast, maybe a little common for bike packers, but like did anybody come across here like, what the hell is this guy doing?

Like uh like yeah, you get you always get comments here and there, like at gas stations and here and there, but it's people are yeah, surprised to see you out there, they want to know like where you started or how heavy your bike is.

But for the most part, people kind of just are in their own little world.

I I I tried to busy where you know people weren't gonna see me.

I I didn't really want to have interactions with people out, you know, stealth busying.

It's uh it's definitely hard to find places to sleep.

Like in a trip like this, you can sometimes call ahead and get a campground spot.

You sometimes can't anticipate when you're gonna need that or like show up at a campground.

So I never had a ton of success with that.

So I was often just looking for little bits of public land or state forests and kind of sneaking away on little yeah, quiet roads and stuff out in the woods.

So I didn't have I didn't have any issues with people.

Uh that's positive.

It's good to hear.

But it's always a little touch and go, you know.

Yeah, yeah, no, of course, of course.

You never know if you're gonna like run into a homeless guy or something out there.

It's like you need to be.

No, it's it's happened before, and like yeah.

Yeah.

Here in Colorado, you know, oh yeah, Baltimore go into the national forest, and there's not like homes in between you.

Like it's at least where I was traveling through, it's like little spots in between subdivisions or like people's houses, basically.

So you kind of like can hear dogs barking and yeah, so it's it's a little touch and go sometimes, you know.

You you might be rolling up in someone's property, but interesting.

How um you must be like a uh like Gaia GPS like savant?

Like how how did you map this whole thing going into it?

Like were you just sitting on there for like days trying to figure out like okay, like this word connects to this, to connect to this, to connect to that?

Like, how did you put this all together?

Yeah, I mean that's yeah, that yeah, using Gaia and like other mapping apps, but like definitely defaulting to Gaia to just make the segments like break it down piece by piece.

I don't think most apps crash when you try to make a route like past so many miles or something.

It's like it's better to just break it down into maybe pot I kind of was like potential days, but sort of yeah, transfers from one mountain range to the next.

And then I also was riding on some known bikepacking routes like the Eastern Divide, like um the cross Vermont Trail, and um what's it called, the Eastern Trail, Eastern Greenway or whatnot.

Uh so some of it was like stuff that people have scouted, so I was kind of mixed-maxing that all together to yeah, get the route.

But some of it was just on the fly, like type it in on Google Maps and just put put it in the most direct way.

Yeah, well, I I feel like it's gotta be one of those things too where at least my hesitation would be like trying your hardest not to end up on like a busy road.

Like trying everything you can to like end up on like it somehow on like a dirt road or something like that.

That happened once, and it was like the that was probably the sketchiest moment of the whole trip.

I was getting towards uh Croton Point um on the first day, and I like dumped onto the interstate on accident.

Like there was like a bike path that was protected, but it was like on the other side of the road, and I I think Google Maps had me going on that, but I didn't like zoom in to see exactly.

It looked like it was like the interstate, or yeah, at the time I was like, Oh, this is just another busy road.

I didn't actually yeah, process that the I was hopping onto the highway, and it was like, yeah, not chill.

But luckily, I like merged onto the highway and it was the next exit I could get off, so I was on it for like two minutes, but still it was I was like, Oh shit, this is not what I'm trying to do.

That's crazy.

You know, whatever 75 miles an hour, and I'm like crossing three lanes of traffic in my like 50-pound rig, you know, it's hard to accelerate super fast.

Yeah, big time, big time.

It's gotta be nerve-wracking, dude.

Yeah, that was the only part where I was like, that was just a dumb mistake, you should have stopped and zoomed in on the route.

But other than that, I didn't have any other issues with cars or like getting onto their bad roads.

Um I would say yeah, most of the time, even Google Maps, like it won't send you down the highway.

Like I think it knows better.

I was just stupid to not inspect.

Interesting.

Interesting.

What was uh all right, so I'm I'm trying to the way I'm trying to bridge this conversation is like so we we kind of got through the cat skills.

I want to talk about the Adorox a little bit.

Um in out in the Adirondacks, you did it was it Mount Abraham, if I remember correctly, um, or was that in Vermont?

That was Vermont.

I did um Mount Colden, uh like Chop Dike.

Um yeah, in the Adirondacks.

That was a really good one.

That was probably one of my favorites.

Talk about that one a little bit.

Was that just like a like a short and sweet one?

Or is it you know because I've been on Marcy before.

I haven't like ex I haven't spent too much time in the Adirondacks, only like a couple trips.

Um, but just it seems like it's a bit more burly, technical, a lot of exposure, just a different type of range.

It's a lot of fun.

So yeah, not totally.

So um the Adirondacks are kind of hard to get to, at least from any roads, and certainly where I was coming from from the south, like I was trying to find an entryway into the Adirondacks coming like from the south.

Um, so I landed on like the upper works trailhead.

Otherwise, you'd have to like bike kind of all the way around to access from the north.

And so I like where I wanted to go next, it made more sense to come in from the south.

Uh, so I decided, like, oh, I'm gonna do something from upper works, and from there I decided like, 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't like dead set on doing that.

I wanted to just do like a technical route that has like an interesting summit, and so this like checked the box and all that.

So this route trap dike goes up this big dike onto a huge slide, um, which kind of feels like a big flat iron.

Um, so I had some interesting, like easy scrambling, and then some just slab romping up to the summit, and it kind of puts you right at the top.

Um, it's yeah, super interesting trail, um, with some good exposure, some cool like ladders and slab running.

And so yeah, it was um, I think I want to say 15 miles, something like that.

Uh so kind of yeah, like a pretty good sized run after a morning or I guess half a day of biking.

That was one of those days I was like, oh, I don't know if I'm gonna be able to get the run in today, you know, because I don't know how what the roads are like to get there, but I ended up arriving at like one o'clock in the afternoon.

Which is perfect, plenty of you know, daylight to go do the run.

So that was a fun one.

Just starting near the headwaters of the Hudson River.

I don't totally know the historical context for the trailhead, but I know there is some interesting stuff about like I think it was Theodore Roosevelt was staying there at one point, and yeah, just kind of like some interesting yeah history there.

Um, I was kind of like too tired to really dig into that.

You know, you could tell that it had some meaning, and I definitely got a kind of sort of a glimpse of that.

Um so yeah, it was a solid run.

I feel like that had some you know interesting tactical elements that made it full value.

Uh yeah, cool summit.

So I was psyched to kind of pull that one off and then bike another 30 miles into the night down into the Hudson River Valley.

So yeah, solid, solid impression, first impression of the Adirondacks.

Wow.

Uh I mean, and that dude, that's a range you could spend so much time in.

Like there's so much going on there, uh, in the sense of like lots of cool FKTs, lots of cool like like classics and up down routes that are like pretty dope.

And yeah, the Endronic Mountain Park is is legit.

Obviously, Vermont is Vermont.

I've never been on Abraham.

I actually don't know much about it, but I do want to get to, for the sake of time, I want to fast forward to New Hampshire and talk about running up, you know, just the white, running up um Mount Wash and just kind of your experience with that.

I know obviously it's probably not your first time up there on Mount Washington, but it's always a special time going in those mountains.

Like that those mountains have me very interested.

Like I love the white mountains in New Hampshire.

Like everything is very steep, it's very technical, it's very vertical, it's just so different from Colorado in so many ways.

Um talk about your experience just in New Hampshire in general.

Um, but you talk about the sp the whites specifically.

Yeah, so I honestly Washington is sort of the only no, I've done a couple other peaks in the whites, but it's kind of the only peak I've really spent more time on than just once.

And yeah, it's it's big, it's tall, so I feel like that is appealing.

Um kind of thinking that maybe in the future I'd like to explore different peaks because I feel like I've always dedicated these trips to kind of yeah, going up Washington.

Um I um yeah, it was a super solid run.

I feel like it started in the afternoon and there was not many people on the summit, or there was no one on like where the sign is, you know.

So you could go out there and just kind of soak it in and not feel like you're on the top of like a mall or something.

Uh but yeah, no, the light was gorgeous, but you know, the fall of tundra technical, like fun fun to like run up that thing.

Uh it just makes sense to kind of tag it from the what would that be, the east side or no, the west side.

Yeah.

I've like done um what did you go?

Did you go up the man?

What is the like the ammo trail?

Yeah, yeah.

And then it was it's across from Wildcat.

What is the name?

Uh Tuckerman Ravine.

Did you go up that way or no?

I I was so I went up the other side, but I've I've done Tucks and I've done Huntington Ravine.

Uh, but this trip just some of it 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 a certain trailhead.

Yeah, it's like what makes the most sense in a like a nice aesthetic loop.

I feel like sometimes it's worth it to yeah, dig your heels in and be like, I have to do it from 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 as interesting as like the Tuckerman Rim, uh like the Pink'em Notch side.

And yeah, like that side's a little more raw and kind of rugged, whereas I think the the west side it's like more just talus, like like a gradual slope.

Uh, but still I it's cool.

Um, I I liked it.

Uh, but it doesn't compare to Catahdin in terms of an interesting sort of alpine peak.

It's yeah.

Yeah, talk about Catain, because that that's a legit, legit peak.

Yeah, I mean that's the closest thing that I encountered to anything in Colorado or like in the Longs area, or yeah, sort of the 14ers we have.

The Catain lived up to that with some good exposure and like ridge, ridge running, like an extended ridge that's technical.

Uh so like doing a cathedral trail, like it you gotta use your hands.

I mean, it's easy scrambling, but still it's more interesting than just hiking up stairs or hiking up the slope.

And yeah, it was just kind of a perfect run.

Um interesting, beautiful terrain.

That I was like, oh, it was worth it for all the the miles.

Because there's a lot of terrain from Mount Washington to Catatin.

That was like three and a half days of riding, and the riding is like very burly, like it's some of the burliest riding we've ever done.

Super remote, like long stretches 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 a little taste of that, and yeah, definitely got the most beat up on the bike out of the whole trip.

Like my hands were cooked after those three days, just super rocky and bumpy roads and sandy and every honestly everything that you could imagine.

Uh a lot of logging roads?

Is it just like logging up there where they just kind of destroy the road more or less?

Or like what is that yeah?

It's a mix of dirt roads, logging roads, kind of um four by four roads, uh snowmobile trails that are overgrown that you're riding.

Like just yeah, there is some really cool stuff, but also like ah, it's it's really rough and slow going.

It's yeah, I think why there's this like 80 mile stretch of just double track, or you're just like in this tunnel, super pretty.

This is going on forever.

You just like feel like when is this gonna end?

I mean, yeah, that's pretty cool to have a section like that.

In a section like that, are are you in your own head or like just deep in thought and experience, or are you listening to music?

Like, how how do you choose to experience something like that?

Yeah, I mean, I just both probably, you know, like it was like my headphones broke halfway through the trip, so like I I got new ones, but the you know, they were kind of like on the fritz and like slowly dying.

So yeah, I would probably like listen to a music or podcast for an hour or whatever, like till it ends, and I'll check out of that and just be like in my own head for a couple hours and back to the music, and then you know, just kind of like oscillating between the two, just depending on like how interesting the terrain is, or like if I'm on a road with cars, like uh it's easier to kind of want to block that noise out, not like block it out so I don't hear it, but just have like something on top of the noise to kind of like make it more palatable, honestly.

Uh so interesting.

What um I gotta ask you this, like because I I feel like so we nailed the peak because we talked about that.

I want to make sure we encompass like everything from this journey that was as like to make sure we capture everything.

Like what what what would what are the final takeaways?

Like, is this something you're gonna are you gonna build on this and go back and try and do something else?

Do you think you're done with the Northeast?

Or like what what are your what are your final thoughts on this particular project?

Yeah, no, I feel like that definitely I would do something different.

Like it would it wouldn't be um maybe like someday doing the all the 4,000 meter or f 4,000 foot peaks um in that area, but I don't think I'm gonna do something kind of like what I just did.

I feel like I like check the box on that and would want to move on and do something different.

Um certainly want to do other like bike and peak link ups, but I feel like for the northeast, yeah, it would have to be something like much bigger, or like yeah, doing all those peaks in one trip, which I've talked about with some people before.

And I don't know.

That doesn't really pull me as much as like what I just did.

I don't know.

It's something about like it's a it's not contrived, but it it like it's less interesting with the biking.

I feel like you're having to bike all around the different ranges and like this micro level just to get to all the peaks.

Whereas this was a nice way to kind of spread it all out.

I mean, maybe I'll change my mind at some point, but for now I think that was like a good chapter for this kind of trip.

But I'm definitely not done with the Northeast in terms of wanting to go back and just do single-day runs and peaks and bike like bike rides.

I'll always be coming back to do stuff there.

Uh so it's too I mean, it's there's so much there to do.

I think it's yeah, just immensely slept on that people don't understand just like the level of tech like technicality and stuff that's out there.

Uh on the topic of like going back and doing stuff, is there any like one peak that kind of calls to you like for a record?

Like, did Katahdin like kind of speak out?

Because I know Dan's got some records on there.

He might even have the overall record on Catatin, I can't remember.

Is there any like one particular peak that like sticks out maybe in New Hampshire or or Vermont or even Maine that is worthy of you coming back and trying to give it like a world-class effort on?

I mean, Katahdin is I think the Katahdin, Washington.

Um those are definitely like striking peaks.

But even the last peak that I did, Mount Menadnock, um that's like one of my all-time favorites, and it's pretty I think slept on in like the running community.

I think it's really popular with hikers, and there is a core group of runners that like recreate up there, some super fast guys, and I've had the record on one of the trails there at one point.

Um so yeah, I feel like those three definitely if I could go spend more time, and Menadnock's certainly the easiest one to kind of dedicate to learning intimately because I go for Nabbies from um that area, and so I I've done that peak like 30 times, and there's half a dozen sort of premier ascent and descent lines on that peak.

So that's one where you can really like dial in and it's shorter than Catatin or Washington, but I don't think that takes away from it.

I think it is just as cool.

Uh interesting.

All right, dude.

I I wanna if you're if you're good on this, we can actually I do have one last question for you, kind of related, kind of not.

Is it a pain in the ass to fly with your bike?

Like I I've not tried that yet.

I've been wanting to do that.

This is like people waited the whole podcast for like the most important question.

Like we like stop rambling, let's get to the stuff that I actually can help other people do this kind of trip, which is good.

I feel like end on something that's useful.

Uh, it's not hard to fly with your bike.

You know, you have to make the investment to get the bike back, but once you have the bag, it's like yeah, it works.

You know, I've flown with him multiple times and never had an issue.

Uh get one that has wheels that you can roll around and like kind of research on the airline what their bat bike policy is.

Uh depending on, I guess, where you're flying out of or like what crew, you know, there's looking at the bike or when you have to pay.

I think the the pricing definitely varies.

Like I've I've flown with it where where it's free, I've flown with it where it's just a regular check bag, I've flown with it where they like want to weigh it and it's like crazy heavy and it's like you know, a hundred bucks or something.

So yeah, I've kind of gotten the full spectrum there, but you're also flying with your bike and all your stuff.

It's kind of like it's gonna cost a little bit.

So but that it works.

You know, I'd I've nothing but good things.

I mean, I fly United, I feel like 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 bike fully, uh even like the little parts that could bend, take the the rotors off and kind of pad it and put all your like other clothing and bike bags in there and like kind of situate that nicely, and yeah, you'll be good when you get to your destination.

So yeah, there's no no stress there.

I appreciate that.

Yeah, I've always been curious.

I almost did it this year and decided we drove instead and I just wound up packing it in the car, which is way better.

But yeah, no, definitely something I'll be doing in the future.

All right, I gotta shift gears because I gotta talk to you about Long's Peak with Killian.

Um you kind of mentioned that in the beginning of the episode.

Uh let's talk about the experience.

Was that because Long's Peak is so iconic with you?

It's very integral to your story in a lot of ways.

And that was the first peak he chose to do on his uh kind of his journey, his project that he's working on.

Like, talk about that experience and how special that was for you.

Yeah, that was uh that was one of the better runs that I've ever done, you know?

Linking up with Killian for like a 4 30 a.m.

start to go up your favorite mountain, you know.

It's like not every day you get the text message to like come out and and join someone like that up a up a mountain.

And yeah, super grateful that I got the opportunity to do that.

And part of me was like, oh, it would be kind of nice to follow someone in the dark up longs that knows it really well, you know.

Like there is some advantage to be had there, especially at n uh, you know, at night.

And um yeah, to to be super efficient, it's like the the line is pretty nuanced.

And I was like, oh shit, but I better not mess this up.

Because a lot of time in the daylight, you're using like features on the landscape that are really far away to kind of decide where you want to go once you're above tree line.

So with the headlamp, it's like kind of hard to do that.

But we ended up, you know, we nailed the route perfectly, and yeah, it was just good vibes and good conversation the whole way.

Uh you got to the summit and like the alpin glow is starting, and went on to pagoda, the next peak in the LA freeway.

Yeah, it's just good good conversation and and fun times, just chatting and sharing the the love for the place and kind of like hearing about the project and his inspiration and talking about shoes and nutrition and this, you know, we kind of just yeah, hit the topics, you know, we were just talking and having a good time.

So cool.

If you if you don't mind me asking, 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.

I mean, we I don't want to say we're like we're not really we're friends and acquaintances, but like we've chatted a bit on Instagram or like 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 there or whatnot.

Uh but yeah, I was like, how could I turn that down?

Also, I was like, who knows how my summer is gonna go.

Hopefully I'm healthy, I can do it.

You know, it was like kind of far, it was yeah, um after Western, I think he reached out, or maybe it was before that.

Either way, it's like you put that on the calendar and you're like, oh okay, I hope let's just like keep that in in mind for your or gone through summer, it's something to look forward to.

Um so and it's cool to see that he's included so much of the community over his whole project, like so many people have gone.

Um, like that after um he did the LA Fria, he like linked up with Leo Wilcox, like ultra cycling legend.

Like then they ride to Echo Lake or wherever they is that where they went to like below uh Mount Blue Sky.

Yeah, yeah.

And it's like, bro, what are you doing?

Like 21 hour, 22 hour pull, like your first day.

It's like no one could even do that ever.

Like, no his first day is like an iconic day, and then he just continues to back that up day after day, doing these insane days, and it's I can't wrap my head around it, and I kind of into that sort of sphere of doing big days and linking stuff, but this is on a whole nother level, you know, no one's even coming close to doing this kind of stuff, um, which is yeah, crazy.

His 14ers, it was like I I don't remember the average vert that he's doing per day, but it's like 16k or something per day.

You know, something silly.

It's like that's bigger than anyone's one day, you know.

Really?

Dude, it's bananas, man.

I don't know how these guys are superhuman.

It's it's absolutely crazy.

Did you get a chance to read Dakota's experience with him in the Wilson group?

I thought that was interesting.

That was that was a good write-up.

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 his perspective and like honesty and vulnerability about the whole thing was like super interesting.

And yeah, I I thought that was really well done.

And uh it just gives you like a look into one Dakota, but also Killian, like he's he's a good guy, you know, he's not like someone that's gonna force it or like if if if you're not feeling it, like he's down to like go the longer way.

And like that says a lot about I don't know, who he is and like the people he wants to be friends with, and like their Dakota and Killian's relationship.

It's like they obviously have a good friendship and like close connection.

Um so yeah, and it's also a good reminder that yeah, if you're not feeling it, just because you're with the goat doesn't mean you need to like force something that you're not comfortable with because you like yeah, you're with someone that could give you a false sense of confidence.

And so that's also something to like be reminded of, you know, like to to not go get get out of your comfort zone just because you're like you just could be with a new friend or someone that's showing you a technical route.

Like I've had these um interactions and experiences with people.

It's like it's a good reminder to like be vocal and communicate if you're not like vibing with something, you know, like you don't need to I don't know, be in your own head about that.

I feel like that's when mistakes are happened, so it's better to kind of collaborate and you know it's interesting because they made that decision to kind of turn around or bail and that like shed light on the the a new way uh across the ridge that they hadn't originally seen.

And so it's like that communication opened up a new door.

Um so I think there's a lot to be said about that, and so that was like the big thing that yeah, rang through the piece for me.

So I thought that was super cool.

Um, and of course, like Killian, he he would just go on like he could just go on solo and just dance across the the ridge, you know, like it's no problem for him.

You see him doing like crazy stuff.

Um but yeah, no, that that that was a cool piece.

It speaks to his character.

I I I think that above above a lot, it it definitely says like you know, him willing being willing to to change change up the plan or change up the route in general, just you know, given with Dakota's comfort level, I think 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 really excited to see you do longs.

On that thread of normal, I saw that you were wearing the Jirag Brut.

Um that was that the the solo shoe of choice on your on your link up that you did.

Yeah, definitely.

I mean, I just love that shoe.

Like I like shoes with big lugs.

Um I feel like it's perfect for the northeast for like the muddy, wet, roody, rocky trails.

And also they're just like super light, you know.

It's like the lightest shoe that I have.

So if you're gonna be carrying it 1300 miles, like it's nice to have a light shoe.

Yeah, but you know, and they're also um what do you want to call like hydrophobic, or they like the water kind of like repels quite easily through them.

I mean, they were designed to be running in the fells, so like they can get completely drenched and they like don't hold any water.

So that happened multiple times.

Like in the Adirondacks, like both my feet just like plunge into a bog.

You know, your shoes are just absolutely caked with mud, you just like dip them in the river.

By the end of the run, they're just like fine.

Uh, whereas like a shoe with a lot of padding on the upper, and all these shoes would get like super like soggy and gross.

Uh so these are the perfect sort of water waterproof option, and has the the tread and the lug pattern to go up like technical rooty um trails.

Cool, cool.

So it's a cool shoe, it's aesthetically beautiful too.

I've seen a few of them in the wild.

Like I have a buddy that wears them all the time.

I'm like, that is a really cool looking shoe.

Yeah, no, it's like it's literally the only shoe that I brought, even like after the trip was done.

I was like, like going to dinner in them, you know.

Yeah, yeah.

It's the only shoe I had that wasn't the cycling shoes.

And it's like, I think my partner, Abby, she was like, Oh, those are like really like pretty shoes, like they kind of like work as a lifestyle shoe.

Yeah, and that was like kind of a thing with my whole kit is like have stuff that like looks good, that's stylish, that's multi-purpose, that's like I don't look homeless out there and about like I I don't know.

I something about looking like a bit more put together, like the the button-up shirt, and I don't know.

Like maybe that's just all like mental, but kind of just have the the kit they look presentable, you know, the shoes and the the colorway, like it kind of helps with that.

So super cool.

Yeah, yeah.

All right, let's shift gears a little bit with the time we got left.

I I really want to talk about your 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 a little 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, and uh and people can read your write-up as well on the Gaia.

Uh it's in your Instagram bio.

So yeah, so this trip came up with uh my partnership with Moots, they're based out of Steamboat Springs.

So they were having their 40th anniversary, sort of they were coining the ranch rally, which is was like a 40-mile ride, kind of touring the dirt roads north of Steamboat.

And yeah, I thought it'd be cool to kind of ride out there and like do the XL version of their of their ride.

So it was like a four and a half day trip, five-day trip.

Um, I brought the running shoes and like went up Long's Peak on my way out there, and then crossed the Continental Divide a bunch of times and did a bunch of passes, sort of classic Colorado roads.

Uh and then and that was also kind of like good prep for my trip in the northeast.

It's kind of like a shorter hard loop that would kind of condition the body and build summer fitness, and yeah, it's kind of just like a stepping stone for what I was doing later in the year.

Um yeah, the it was a beautiful route.

I've done a bunch of those roads many times and separate trips, but this was kind of like the perfect tour, like where you do it in a direction that flows really well, like good resupply, and yeah, kind of finish with the crux of the route coming down Rollins Pass, and then you drop down in a boulder and the route's done.

So um Gaia had reached out to me about doing a little partnership about routes, and I was like, Oh, this would be the perfect opportunity to kind of yeah, nail down the route on paper and like show give all the waypoints and do a little trip report for that, and kind of yeah, so that was just something that sparked after the fact, but certainly it was cool to like showcase it a bit.

And I feel like Boulder's kind of missing some more like premier bikepacking routes or you know, steamboat or wherever you want to drop into the route, kind of like missing that premier short to middle distance like bikepacking route.

Like there's long stuff, there's shorter stuff, but kind of that sweet spot where it's yeah, you could do it in three or four or five days, uh, and kind of feel like it's not too long, but it's also not an overnighter.

So I feel like the routes oftentimes live in those two categories where it's like you could do overnighters, and uh obviously that varies with the kind of mileage that you're looking to do, but at least for me, it's like you got those mega rides and then like the overnighters, and this is kind of lives in that like middle ground, or it's could take a long weekend, or you know, it's manageable, it's not it's nothing crazy.

Um, so cool.

Yeah, what a better way to celebrate like a partnership with a bike company than to like bike to their their event.

It's so dope.

Yeah, no, it's I want to do more stuff like that moving forward.

It's just the best way for me to like represent brands is to like yeah, fully embody what they do and like integrate that with what I like to do, and so it's not like it's nothing new to me, you know.

Like I've been bikepacking on bikes before, but it's like it just integrates seamlessly to what I like to do, and it's documenting it and sharing that with people, it's cool to get people psyched on the bikes and the Colorado history of like Moots being such a core brand, and yeah, like trying to take that those feelings that I work with Moots and other brands, and like further into like my professional career is like how can I build relationships like that and um just like authentic partnerships and stuff.

Uh, and then like at the end of the day, if like you have to post about it, like that's okay.

I feel like I would shy away from that or like not wanting to do paid content, but it's also cool when it's something that you're excited, excited about, and um feels natural.

Like it's easy for me to talk about routes or bikes or running shoes, you know, it's like stuff that I use every day.

So and I feel like people like are psyched about it and they want to ask me questions, and it's cool to motivate and get people and like inspired to go do 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 like a something fun and cool to do.

Like I want it, I don't want to send people on like bad routes.

That's like a fear, you know.

I want it to be like the premiere curation of like this is the ultimate loop, you know.

I've thought about it in this this way or that way, and like I settled it on this because it makes more sense or whatever, it's more beautiful.

So, yeah, really like digging into that and excited to like share.

Um, I'm gonna share one more, like this month, October, um, one more route.

So something to look forward to, and this is another one that's like super special to me.

And yeah.

I like them all.

I mean yeah, and I'll I'll link them in the show notes so people can read them.

And I I really want to direct folks because I I think you're very intentional in your writing as well with what you say.

I mean, like you said, you don't want to share a bad route, but you're also very intentional in even talking about like traffic level, like, oh, you know, this is a wide shoulder, you know, this is a one-way road.

We're especially when you're talking about the the initial path um going over to Steamboat, uh no, no, I'm sorry, too, into Granby uh in like the Grand Lake area, how it's a one-way dirt road and uh there's a wide shoulder and it's only one-way traffic.

Watch out for elk.

Stuff like that, I think you would like really appreciate.

Um and it's very intentional.

So that's interesting because I feel like other websites, I'm not trying to throw anyone under the bus, but like if you talk to most like 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 route like a five out of ten, and it's like there's a ton of hike a bike, it's like, is that a five out of ten?

You know, like I'll be honest with the difficulty, and like I'm not saying my routes are easy, but it's also like I feel like I'm just being realistic and setting expectations, and that's kind of the idea with the the ride up that pairs with the routes is like I'll give you like a follow-through, like kind of a play-by-play of what to expect.

And if you need to alter that route 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 to force you to do it this way.

It's like this is this is what it is, this is my take on it.

Uh, so yeah, trying to be like transparent because it's nice to know some of that stuff, especially if you're you travel here and you're like following the route and you see the waypoint, it's like kind of interesting to click on that stuff and like read what read what's about to happen, you know.

It's not totally in the dark.

Dude, it it's amazing.

And like I on that thread, uh, maybe we talk a little bit about the South uh the South Plot Squirrel.

Like I've done part of that route already.

Like I've got the GPX and everything saved.

I've did the chunk from kind of around um Willdom Park up to what the heck is the name of that town?

Not Lake George or No.

Um Deckers.

Deckers, that's it.

Yeah, through Decker's.

It's I mean, it's so beautiful out there, and I think it's such a slept-on area that like a lot of folks don't really know about, which is interesting.

Yeah, this is probably my one of my favorites.

I was about to say favorite, but it's so hard to pick like your number one.

But this one is like I've done it five years in a row, four or five years in a row, and it's like always a tradition to go do that route like in the beginning of spring.

It's like the the it's just warm enough, the snow has melted off those higher elevations, like above Lake George, because it does get up to like above 9,000 feet there, so it holds snow through March.

And um yeah, that one I just feel like it's the perfect mix of trails, dirt roads, like sort of like OHV roads, some pavement.

Like it's a perfect curated mix of surfaces, and that's kind of the riding that I like to do where it's always changing, it's not just like the same thing for the whole ride.

And um, yeah, that's when I can feel like I can put my name behind like a lot of the other routes, 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's more of just the interpretation of how to ride it.

But certainly this one is like I put uh put a lot of time to try to like make it the best that it can be.

And uh, if you were to go download it, I can almost guarantee you you're gonna have a good time.

Like the route is solid.

Um, so yeah, I'm I'm kind of proud of that one and I've ridden it with friends over the years, and it's like I said, it's a tradition to go do that.

And I'll yeah, looking forward to next year.

It's like it's so much fun.

Like you start the route with going down North Fork Trail, which is like 10 miles of the best flowy single track in Colorado.

It's it's like how often you get to start a ride like that, like fully loaded bike.

Just I don't know.

There's just so many little fun parts like that.

You're riding the Colorado Trail, riding Buff Creek, um uh Matucat Road.

There's like so many of these classic, like amazing bike segments.

You link it all together and you hit all the best stuff.

It's yeah, it's a good one.

That one I can't say enough good things about.

Yeah, absolutely primo.

Yeah, I can't wait to do the whole loop.

It's uh it's legit.

Um I was thinking it'd be cool to like partner with Moots and like try to do like invite like more people out to come do it.

So do like it it's pretty manageable 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 packed for two nights of of sleeping outside and yeah, get a bunch of people and kind of like do another rally with with folks.

I think that would be cool.

It's a good route for that.

So yeah, no, that'd be sweet, man.

There's a lot of good camping spots, like yeah, throughout Pike National Forest, and just just in general.

I don't think people realize the enormity of like that.

And a lot of it like I guess burned, which the the tree line aspect of it, which I think is kind of neat that you can just see so far out to Pike's Peak and to the north.

It's just yeah, there's it's very iconic, very different.

Yeah, totally.

Like it's a narrow loop.

Those different rock formations kind of anchor you with like where you are on the route, and you can see like you saw one side of it and then you went around the loop and you're like, Oh, there's that same rock, but now we're on the other side of it, and it kind of like gives you that scale, which is uh very different than the northeast summits, so it's just like hard to find scale.

Yeah, that's true.

You ever stop off and like try and like mess around with any of those like formations and like try and like climb any of them?

I mean, I've thought about it.

A lot of them are quite technical.

I think it would be like something you'd want like a rope and a partner.

I mean you could like do some interesting sort of yeah, rambling around in the hills, but to do anything I think significant or any of those like major summits, I think yeah, I certainly would want like a partner and a rope.

And at that point it's like it's more of a climbing trip.

Yeah, I was just like, uh that kind of want to like make that the focus, whereas like this is definitely the biking and like getting around the loop.

I mean, certainly someone could go do it and it would make it yeah, pretty rad to l do like a bike climb link up.

Uh but I think they're all they're all like pretty hard routes and sand like I don't know, slabby and sandbagged.

So maybe at some point.

So dude, what's uh now that you're home and you know, I saw you've gotten up a green the last few days, you're kinda back into the swing of things.

What's uh what's next on the calendar?

Like what are you thinking for for the late fall, uh early winter?

I don't have anything on the calendar.

Just enjoying the the mountains and getting outside.

Yeah, no no plans.

It's nice, dude.

It's nice.

Yeah.

Yeah, I mean I I feel like I since January it's been kind of a a build of of doing stuff and those couple of projects that we've been talking about and running up longs all summer.

Like I definitely was focused and like had these objectives in mind and now it's yeah, it's just take a couple months with no agenda and then that kind of helps build the stoke for like what do I want to do next year.

And uh I have some ideas, but certainly right now it's yeah, just yeah, get outside.

See where see where the motivation is, see where the what the body wants to do and not force anything.

Uh honestly just like stay healthy, um and yeah, enjoy it, get outside.

Nice, man.

Well dude, I think we can end it on that.

Thank you so much for coming on again.

I love these recap episodes where you talk about your projects, they're so much fun.

Uh yeah, we'll have to do uh we'll make this a semi-annual or annual thing.

So yeah, no, thanks uh thanks for having me on.

I appreciate like the the recommendation to go up hunter and like the little support, encouragement along the way on the gram.

I feel like that's nice to like have other people contribute to the trip.

And so yeah, if no, it was cool to chat about it and thanks for having me on.

Absolutely, dude.

I appreciate you.

Thank you so much.

What you guys think?

Oh man, Kyle always brings some great perspective to the sport and uh his stories are always amazing.

I want to thank him so much for coming on the podcast and telling his story about what he's been up to this summer.

The Northeast Summit tour was absolutely inspiring route.

Um hope more folks go out there and try to do stuff in the Northeast and go after big objectives out there because I genuinely think those mountains are just slept on, and there's just some really inspiring and really 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 by giving him a follow on either on Strava or Instagram.

You can find his Instagram high uh handle at Kyle Richardson.

That's one word Kyle Richardson.

Same with Strava.

You could just type in Kyle Richardson and give him a follow.

Kyle uh frequently posts and he puts up really good stuff.

So definitely appreciative of Kyle.

Um, yeah.

Guys, if you enjoyed the podcast and enjoyed this episode and others, the best way you could support us is giving us a five-star review on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you consume the show.

Um, would really appreciate that.

That's how we can continue telling so many amazing stories for all these athletes uh across the world, which is pretty cool.

Uh, very last but not least, you can also support us by supporting our brand partner, Ultimate Direction.

Hop on over to ultimatedirection.com and on their site, if you use code Steep Stuff Pod, that's one word, Steep Stuff Pod, that's gonna get you 25% off your cart at checkout.

Um, they dropped all kinds of new stuff this summer, not just belts, but two really inspiring looking vests, uh, the new race vest six liter and the ultra vest 12 liter and some aesthetic colorways.

Great belts as well, the sport belt um as well.

I'm sorry, the race belt as well as the comfort belt are amazing.

Um, and yeah, like I said, use code Steep Stuff Pod for 25% off.

Also, check out the quiver that just dropped.

The quiver's dope.

Uh, I've been using the quiver for a minute now before it came out, and uh I was just really stoked on uh that particular product.

So, guys, thanks so much.

Uh keep a lookout for Wednesday episode with David Hedges.

Whole reflection on Nolan's 14 is going to be dropping.

So hope you guys enjoy that one as well.

Thank you.