Dogs, Blogs, and Bike Cogs

“Were you ever scared?” 

I get asked this question a lot when I talk about the Great Divide. The answer is absolutely. I was scared every day on that trip.

I thought my bike trip was impressive – until I learned what the Tour Divide was.

It’s funny. If you complete the Great Divide, people start to think, “You must be a pretty big bike guy.”

Spoiler alert: I’m not.

There are some real gearheads out there and I definitely recommend going to your local bike shop if you want any advice on how to fix your bike. If you’ve read my exploits, you know bike repair isn’t my forte.

The Great Divide is the longest mountain bike trail in the world -- which is exactly why I picked it for my first-ever bikepacking adventure. Go big or go home, right?

Drum roll, please! 

Introducing the new and improved Pedaling4Pups! 

It's been a while since I shared my exploits trekking down the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route. We climbed mountains together, fought off bears together, and even shared our deepest darkest secrets, well, I did at least -- but you get the point.

We made it!

And I don’t just mean me and Apollo. I mean everyone. You, me, even Spunk.

Almost only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades (well that escalated quickly).

This is a commonly used expression in the Fontanella household accredited mostly to the matriarch of the family — not a big surprise if you’re familiar with her brand of humor.

Call it a quirk — or a downright weird thing that I do — but I like to jokingly refer to my "future self" to help me procrastinate important things. If you’re looking for ways to improve your procrastination skills, this is a great place to start.

"I don’t have to do that now. Future Clint does." See. See how easy it is to kick the can down the road with that.

As a through-and-through New Englander, I can’t say I know much about New Mexico.

If you’re bravely and boldly following along, last time I left us with a precarious, cliff-hanger as my water filter broke while I was camping in southern Colorado. (TV Audience: *gasp*)

Good news: I found a new filter and my dysentery joke didn’t become a reality. (TV Audience: applause)