Choice Cuts–Bjorn Olson

For the month of December and into January, we’d like to share some of the Salsa Crew's and our sponsored riders' favorite moments from 2015. By all accounts, it's been a great year!

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For three grueling days, my girlfriend Kim and I pitched, carried, and unstuck our carbon fiber Beargrease fatbikes through a never-ending forest in southeast Alaska. To make matters worse, I was sick. My head swam with dizziness, I couldn’t eat, and when I tried, I vomited it right back out. Every few minutes my bike would hang-up in another cluster of alder branches, devils club, or salmonberry brush. Utterly exhausted, I read the decal, “Adventure By Bike” plastered onto my chainstay. More like “Adventure with Bike,” I thought.

What adventure with bike looks like ...

My favorite moment of 2015 came when we decisively emerged from the brambles. Much like a toothache that brings you to your knees and then suddenly stops hurting, the euphoria of our escape was palpable. Kim and I took off our clothes, bathed in the river and let the evanescent sun kiss our worn hides.

We were blissfully unaware, as we rested on the river bar, of the fresh hell that was still to come. At that moment, though, we were on the far side of what we thought was the worst obstacle of our expedition, and that was all that mattered.

Favorite moment of 2015 ...