S E A T T L E
A CANNONDALE PROJECT
47. 56 3 3 3 °
N O RTH
122 . 8 06 9 4 °
W ES T
I roll my bike out the front door and head off toward the hills. I am alone, with zero responsibility outside of c o m i n g h o m e t h e f o l l o w i n g d a y. I r i d e away from the city, snaking my way through traffic, dodging under a freeway and onto quieter roads. I charge up broken pavement. I pedal my bike to the brink of no return.
Rider Ben Popper, @gravelcruiser Special Thanks Best Made Co., @bestmadeco Apidura, @apidura Gregg’s Greenlake Cycles, @greggscycle Photographer Chris Milliman, @millimans
hate turning around. I shout a string of obscenities and direct my bike back the way I came. I was trying to ride through a series of forest roads I had never seen, on the backside of Green Mountain on the Olympic Peninsula outside of Seattle. My goal was to summit before sunset. My intentions were good. I wanted to get there without trespassing on county watershed land, again. Now I find myself stuck. I am on a rutted-out game trail. What had started as a promising paved road behind a closed gate, slowly disintegrated into a gravel road, then steep 4WD track, followed by a jeep trail and then single track. My path whittled its way down to the deeply rutted, overgrown, unrideable trail I am now on. The day’s light is starting to fade.
By Ben Popper
V
O
L
U
M
E
T
H
R
E
E
While my intent for these weeknight jaunts is simplicity, that
where the dad part takes top priority. Most days I start
rarely pans out. Most often, I am doing this same thing: rid-
work early so I can finish in time for school pickup, after
ing roads I’ve never seen and hoping for the best. So while
which a whole host of after-school activities and vari-
I am always trying to convince my buddies, and myself, that
ous needs await to be met. Violin lessons, t-ball practice,
the line will go, I seem to be route-finding more often than
Scouts, grocery shopping, laundry, dog walks, trips to the
I’d like to admit. Yet, I keep doing it all the same. It adds a
park, play dates. The after-work part of my day is often
bit of big adventure to a micro-adventure. I’ve done a fair
more difficult and tiring than the paycheck-earning part,
amount of riding that takes a lot of planning to pull off, but
but far more rewarding.
for these overnighters, I just scan Google Maps for a nearby forested landmark, hand draw a basic map, and make
Bikes and bike racing have ebbed and flowed throughout
it up and modify as I go. These escapes into the wild un-
my life in different ways for as long as I can remember. My
lock when my partner says nine magic words: “I have the kid
younger brother and I would race around the block. Those
tonight, you should get out.”
races transformed from sidewalk sprints to laps around the BMX track, where my brother eventually became fast-
This casual, last-minute nature suits my style just fine. I
er than me. Tired of the racing structure, I left the track
leave for less than sixteen hours and between start and
and became a park rat, spending every available minute in
finish there isn’t much I need. I pack bare essentials: some-
the woods building dirt jumps, or riding in the skate park.
thing to sleep on, the makings of a meager cup of coffee for
Eventually, work and school took hold and I had less time
the next morning, a single can of beer, a paperback pocket
for maintaining trails and started alley cat racing, immers-
Western, a headlamp and knife. That’s it; fast and light. I
ing myself in the fixed-gear culture. A chance encounter
grab dinner and breakfast enroute, and the brevity of the
with cyclocross was a cupid’s arrow. I fell in love. I started
trip means I am not spending much time awake — or asleep
training, got faster, rocketed up in category and spent a
— at camp.
few seasons racing at the elite level, traveling all over the country for four months a year. That was until I burned out and we moved to Seattle from Chicago.
I am an outdoor-adventure loving, work-from-home dad,
S
E
A
T
T
L
E
V
O
L
U
M
E
T
H
R
E
E
We moved west for proximity to nature. Once here, I
and fatigue are battling for priority and it is hard to stay
started skipping cross races to ride around in the moun-
positive. I was out for a good time, and at this moment, a
tains. I found a different, more fulfilling reward racing to a
good time sounds like diving into the burrito I’ve packed,
mountaintop to beat the setting sun. I put the fattest tires
drinking my one beer and settling into my tent. I ride a few
possible on my cross frame and tried not to melt the pads
miles up the road. On a spur — a small dirt road off the
on my canti brakes during mountain descents; I spent days
main gravel road — there’s a grassy knoll with a westward
riding deep into the woods in search of abandoned mines
facing view of the last sunlight setting over the Olympic
and railroads.
Mountains. I set up camp.
My six-year-old son is just about big enough to start riding
It is a simple affair for a quick night. I pitch my tent out of
the mountain bike trails with me. He can almost outpace his
view from the road and lay out my sleeping pad and bag
mom and me on the hiking trail, and I am pretty confident
inside. With camp set, I roll over a big rock for a seat and
he will be skiing harder terrain this winter than I can. But
unwrap my now cold burrito. I raise the shaken and warm
for now, these little weeknight retreats are something I do
beer to the sky, salute the day and devour my supper, filling
alone. If I get slightly lost in the process, no big deal.
my belly for a warm night under the stars.
Back on the trail, a new goal is set: I need a flat piece of
Settled in my sleeping bag, the disappointment of not
ground big enough to pitch a tent. Ideally, that spot isn’t in
achieving my goal flitters away into the stars. I enjoy this
the middle of a dirt road, or on the side of a dirt road, and it
lack of competitiveness. I am never going to win when
comes with some kind of view.
the mountain is my opponent. The climbs will never get shorter, the grade will never lessen, the gravel will never
I tuck tail and make the best of my deteriorating situation. I
become firmer. Nature always wins, and I am okay with that.
sway, slide and skid down the dirt. The sun descends along-
I focus only on what I need, which isn’t much — to ride until
side me. I reach the gate. I lift my rig over it and mentally
I am tired, go to sleep when I feel like it and wake up early
abandon the summit attempt. At this point, disappointment
enough to get home in time to see my son off to school.
S
E
A
T
T
L
E
V
O
L
U
M
E
T
H
R
E
E
I N T E R V I E W What kind of camping do you do with your kid?
kid. When I’m not around him, it’s weird for me. But it also feels
Mostly backpacking. He is six years old. We started backpack-
so good to move at my own pace.
ing with him when he was four, so now he can walk quite a bit. In the last year or so, it’s become really rewarding with him — we
Can slowing down be a perk?
can go seven miles into the wilderness, up into the mountains
Definitely. When going from a car to a bike, you get to see so
and pitch a tent and be out in the middle of nowhere and then
much more. You see stuff that you would have never seen in a
wake up the next day and keep going.
car. When you get out with your kid, and every puddle is something to play in and stop for, you get to see even more of the mi-
What does the packing list include?
nutiae of what’s around you, because you have way more time
It’s all normal stuff. Sleeping bags, a tent, food, a poop shovel
to look. When I get out on my own, I move at a significantly
and some toilet paper. He carries his sleeping bag and sleeping
faster pace and I don’t look at every little waterfall. When we’re
pad now, but he’ll always bring a stuffed animal or two and a few
with the kiddo, we look at every waterfall. And that’s awesome.
books to read. And snacks. Snack stops are imperative with a kid. Any advice for someone taking their kid(s) into the woods? What’s the pace?
Lots of snacks. And stop when they ask for them. We didn’t do
We don’t go fast. He hikes between a mile and two miles an
that at first. We wanted to go our pace. We wanted to go our dis-
hour. So it’s all day. But it’s just like going out on a long bike
tance. We had this idea of what needed to get done. And then we
ride, it’s what you’re out to do. It’s what you’re doing. It doesn’t
realized that regardless of what our goal was, we were not setting
matter how fast you go, because you’re out to do it.
the pace, ever. And once you realize that you have to stop every mile or every half mile to have a rest and a break — when you ac-
Why is it important for you to get him in the outdoors?
cept that that’s the pace — everything is a hundred times easier.
I think it’s good to give him a broader understanding of how things work. To have appreciation for things we can’t control. To not be
So we had to practice slowing down. Because once you slow
comfortable all the time. To earn something. He’s proud of himself
down you get there. But if you’re just trying to push through
when he gets to places. Mostly, though, it’s just to do it. To get out.
and rush it, he’s not going to make it. And then he’s not going to like it. You have to make sure it’s fun. If it’s not fun they’re not
It’s also the type of family we are. We don’t go to church, we
going to like it and they’re not going to want to go back. So lots
go camping.
of snacks. It’s all about snacks.
How is it to go out on your own versus camping with the family? On my own it’s fast and light, but I miss the family almost from the first pedal stroke. I work from home and I take care of my
S
E
A
T
T
L
E