Justin Simoni as: THE LONG RANGER - Almost falling off mountains by bike and by foot, one misadventure at a time

Salsa Journeyman Apex 1 700: Initial Impressions

Note: this bike was bought by me at retail. All opinions are mine. Interested in me reviewing your product?

Pros: Inexpensive, light-enough, comfortable, good bike handling for endless miles. 1×11 drivetrain, carbon fork
Cons: You really want a tubeless setup
Weight: 24lbs for 54cm model
Interesting To: dipping your feet into All Road/Gravel bikes, winter trainer
Price: $1500
More information: Salsa Cycles Website
Purchase at REI or your local bike shop

Intro

With Winter slowly creeping in, I was in the market for a do-it-all road bike – “All Road” being my primary requirement.

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Bikepacking Talk + Workshop at the Colorado Mountain Club’s Mountain Fest: THANK YOU!

A belated thank you to all the people who showed up at the CMC‘s Colorado Mountain Fest and participated in my talk + workshop! Thanks to the CMC for having me. Below are a few of my favorite slides from the talk.

Here’s some more information on the talks I do – if you’d like to see me talk in your city, help out by telling your favorite outdoor gear/bike shop to get in touch with me. Tell them how stoked you’d be to have me share my stories, inspiration, and advice.

Flatiron Classics Linkup: ROUND ONE!

By around 5:00pm, Peter and I had made our way to Tomato Rock via an overgrown mining road that used to end at a nearby (now closed) quarry. My feet feel as if I’ve been walking on glass for the last 13 hours. My hands, filleted.

A Beautiful Nolans 14 Failure

I HAD SO MUCH FUN on my “failed” Nolans run. “Failed” in quotes, as I believe I set my intention on trying to do the best I could do to get through summiting 14 14ers in a row in less than 60 hours. But I came up short – only summiting 7. Cutting it short felt the best thing to do at the time.

Here’s how my 33 hours on the Nolans Line went down:

Nolans 14 Scouting: Columbia/Harvard/Oxford/Belford/Missouri/Harvard

It’s becoming, “put up or shut up” time my attempt at a Nolans run: Fall will soon becoming a reality as the days are getting shorter and the temperature is surely to drop. I also have a guiding gig in September that will take priority soon. One more lightning fast trip out for a dress rehearsal for my gear selections.

Training Journal 8/19/19 – 8/25/19

Nolans 14 Scouting: Shavano/Tabeguache/Antero/Princeton/Yale

Surprising myself even, I made a trip to the Sawatch to scout out a potential Nolans run. I’ll make it my own, but one of the goals is to do the line, TH to TH (Northbound) unsupported under 60 hours.

Review: Ultimate Direction SCRAM

The Ultimate Direction SCRAM is a large-capacity running vest that’s been toughened up and given storage capacity for all-day missions, allowing you to take it anywhere to help in supporting you doing essentially anything.

Pros: Classic Ultimate Direction Running Vest Design, tons of storage, tough materials, minimalist.
Cons: Maybe too minimalist for some? Not perfect for a dedicated running vest: if you don’t need the storage, this isn’t the best vest for you.
Weight: 445 grams / 15.7 ounces
Storage Capacity: 23.5 Liters
Interesting To: mountain runners, skimo, fast-and-light climbing missions, bikepacking
Best For: those needing a lot of capacity, but not yet Fastpack-capacity; people who are very tough on gear
Price: $134.95
More information: The Ultimate Direction SCRAM | Adventure Collection
Purchase at Ultimate Direction | REI | Backcountry

Bikepacking Talk + Workshop, September 29th, 2019 @ Golden, CO: Colorado Mountain Feast, American Mountaineering Center

Bikepacking With Justin Simoni | 2:30 – 3:30 p.m.

Have you ever wondered what it would take to combine backpacking and biking? Join us for this presentation about bike packing from Justin Simoni, a guy who has spent countless hours traveling by bike to remote Colorado locations.

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