My year of gravel
As I thought about what I wanted to accomplish in 2023 for running and biking events, I ended up landing on a theme. In addition to doing another 100 mile trail race this year, I wanted to incorporate some biking events. As I started to investigate what events appealed to me, a pattern developed, so […]
Read more
Shoe Review: Altra Outroad
Ever since Altra made changes to my beloved Timp trail shoes, I’ve been shopping around a bit more. I still wear Timp 4s (finally settled on size 9), and they’re fine, but I figured this was a good opportunity to check out what else is out there, both inside and outside of Altra. The biggest […]
Read more
Surly Ghost Grappler – the 400 mile review
When the Surly Ghost Grappler was announced in February of 2022 I was intrigued. It was a weird mix of mountain bike, gravel bike, and… something else. The geometry was strange and foreign to me, but the chonky tires screamed “THIS BIKE IS FUN!” Billed as a “drop bar mountain bike” I just wasn’t sure […]
Read more
Race Report: Tuscobia 80 Winter Ultra
As friends and family are aware, I’ve been trying to finish the Tuscobia 80 Winter Ultra for 3 years. After two failures in 2019 and 2021, this was the year I committed that it would happen no matter what. I knew I could do this race. I knew it was within my limits. I just […]
Read more
2022 Biking year in review
This year was another great year for me when it came to biking. Although I had to take a break in the middle, due to my surgery, I still managed to have a solid year of riding. The year started out with some riding in the desert as we brought our bikes down to Nevada […]
Read more
2022 Running year in review
This year was a bit of a “lumpy” year when it came to my fitness. With a surgery scheduled in July (and COVID), and the recovery from that, I had to split my year into two cycles. The first half of the year was dedicated to training for the Kettle Moraine 100K race, my goal […]
Read more
Whoops guess I forgot to blog…
So I promise that I’m still alive. I realize that having my most recent post be about my surgery makes it seem like something dramatic happened and I wasn’t able to blog for a long time, but alas my only excuse is business and a bit of burnout. This fall ended up being very busy […]
Read more
My first surgery – Hiatal hernia repair
For a long time I’ve lived with something called a hiatal hernia. This is a situation where my stomach is pushing up through my diaphragm. This means that the opening into my stomach is above where it’s supposed to be, which leads to the classic symptoms of GERD such as acid reflux, heartburn, chest discomfort, […]
Read more
Quick and dirty bike stand
Over the years we’ve started to acquire a few too many bikes, and figuring out a good way to store them in the garage can be a challenge. Not because there isn’t a good way to do it, but because there are 100 ways to do it. From expensive systems that hang from your ceiling […]
Read more
Altra Timp 4: The 130 Mile Review
This has been one of the hardest reviews for me to sit down and write. Ever since I started running in zero drop Altra shoes a few years ago, the Timp has been my go-to trail shoe. I was a fan of my original 1.5’s and I’ve owned 3 different pairs of the 2.0. Since […]
Read more
Lake Bemidji State Park Bog Walk
Last month when we were up in Bemidji, MN we stopped by the Bog Walk at Lake Bemidji State Park. My wife loves bogs and the flowers that grow there, and as a photographer I always like the opportunity to shoot something new. The bog walk at Lake Bemidji State Park is only a half […]
Read more
Race Report: Freedhem 46 gravel race
With my wife’s departure from the trail running world (due to knee issues) she’s taken a shining to gravel biking. I’ve happily joined her in this since, from outward appearances, gravel biking has a very similar ethos to trail running. In general it feels like sports that are “dirt” oriented are pretty akin to one […]
Read more
Second Runnings 