Happy Father’s Day!

On our road trip up to Bozeman for the Swift Campout, we mosied up through Abiquiu to visit some friends who own a nice little tract of land in the hills. At a favorite lunch stop of ours, we bumped into a father and son bikepacking duo from Arkansas. They are riding the Tour Divide from south to north, beginning in New Mexico. They were 14 days into their trip when we bumped into them. They looked cooked!

They were refueling their supplies in Abiquiu when I approached the father, who was wearing the Radavist Giro VR90 shoes. After a brief introduction, Sterling, the father told me that their water filter had broken earlier in the week and that their last few days had been hell.

Sterling, the dad’s bike.

Oskar, the son’s bike.

Water is always an issue on the Divide and not being able to filter any of the river and stream water was becoming a real issue. Sterling was contemplating riding to Santa Fe to buy a filter from REI. A 90-ish mile round trip endeavor.

That’s when I offered up Cari’s trusty MSR pump filter to them. Then, a magical conversation unfolded that truly captured what it means to be so vulnerable on the road and to have the kindness of strangers enable the spirit of exploration. They were pumped!

It was a very moving experience and hopefully, one that Sterling and Oskar will remember forever.

This duo is living the dream. Oskar races NICA down in Arkansas and is stoked to finish the Divide, hop on a carbon hardtail and rip it up all season. Sterling is just stoked to be able to take on such a daunting feat with his son. Seeing this pair of explorers on the road really moved me and left me stoked for all the father’s out there sharing these experiences with their sons. I’d like to give their local shop PlayTri in Rogers, Arkansas a shout-out for outfitting them for their trip!

Happy Father’s Day. Give Sterling and Oskar a follow on Instagram!