Beginner’s Gear Guide: Two easy, cheap upgrades to make riding your bike better

If you’re considering biking to work, start here. If you need to know what basics to get started with and how to avoid helmet hair, start here. If you want to affordably pimp your ride, keep scrolling!

Finding a new seat

Getting a new seat since arguably has the biggest impact on how comfortable it is to ride your bike. I had a regular, generic bike seat. At the risk of giving you too much information, my downstairs was feeling very….smushed when I was riding. It was getting so uncomfortable that I didn’t even want to take short rides around my neighborhood.

If you don’t want to spend a ton of money (over $50) you’re going to have to choose between “anatomic comfort” (aka a cut-out for your lady parts) and level of cushion in the seat. Due to the aforementioned smushing issue, I prioritized finding a seat that would first and foremost alleviate that.

I ultimately settled on this one, Planet Bike’s A.R.S. Standard bike seat. The reviews specifically mentioned alleviating smushing (yes, that’s the technical term) and I’m happy to report that has absolutely been the case. I could have gotten a seat with more cushion, but I wouldn’t want to trade that anatomic comfort. If you do opt for a more cushioned seat, make sure the cutout is actually for your nether regions and not just for airflow.

Installing a new bike seat is surprisingly easy and only took me about 15 minutes (because I put it on backward first). Serious bikers call the seat a “saddle” so don’t be confused if that comes up in your search results. All you need is a screwdriver and the ability to follow directions (included with the seat)!

cell phone holder on bike handlebars

Phone holder for your handlebars

Securing my phone to the handlebars of my bike has been the best safety upgrade I’ve done (well, after getting good lights). As I try to bike more and drive less, I don’t always know where I’m going. I want to have Google Maps on but I can’t hear her if my phone’s in my pocket, and I don’t want to have headphones on for safety reasons.

Enter a phone mount! For $12, I got this mount from Amazon that enabled me to hear the Google lady and glance at the map while riding. It also has the recreational benefits of making it easy to play music while you ride (hello, Friday bike rides home).

The mount was super easy to install (and remove if you’re cleaning your bike) and required no tools. I mostly love it because it fits any phone and holds it VERY securely. I’ve biked over super bumpy pavement, come to a screeching halt, and straight up dropped my bike while parking it and my phone has never come loose. Plus, the mount has a 360-degree swivel on it so you can adjust it to the exact position you’d like.

Upgrading your seat is the easiest way to make biking more comfortable no matter how cheap (or nice) your bike is. Adding a phone mount makes it safer to ride your bike in new places and adds a little bit of fun when you’re out for a casual ride and want some tunes.

The more comfortable and safe you are, the more likely you are to ride your bike places. I’m consistently one of the few women I see out there biking, so ladies, if you’re worried about finding your way…or just want your lady parts to not be so dang uncomfortable, these upgrades are for you. See you out there!

Gift guide for the injured runners in your life

It can be difficult to find a gift that strikes the balance between, “This will be helpful to you in your athletic endeavors” and, “Remember how you can’t run right now? Because I’ve just given you a gift for running? Which you can’t do right now. Because you’re injured.”

But rest and recovery come with their own expenses and gear, and there are plenty of things you can get to help the injured runner in your life feel supported on their road to recovery.

#1: KT Tape (or their tape of choice)

KT Tape is a supportive but flexible type of tape that worked miracles for me when I was dealing with ankle and foot issues. When I was still depending on tape to get me through runs and workouts, I was flying through KT Tape, which at $20 a pop isn’t particularly cheap (making it a great gift!).

It comes in a ton of fun colors and patterns, which honestly did help perk me up a little even though I was rehabbing an injury.

The base model of KT Tape is obviously the least expensive, but I recommend the Pro version for a few reasons.

First, if you sweat much, it falls off pretty quickly. The base model KT Tape starts falling off of me after about 20 minutes of running. Plus, I wanted to make KT Tape more cost-effective by stretching it through multiple days (and showers) and the regular tape will (obviously) not hold up to that. I typically got two to three days of continuous wear out of the Pro tape, which is super helpful if you’re supposed to be taped up even when you’re not exercising. Unless your runner is wearing tape to swim, you won’t need to buy the “EXTREME” version.

KT Tape is available on Amazon for $16 per roll, which is significantly less than Target or most sporting goods stores.

#2 Resistance Bands

Affordable Home Gym Resistance Bands At Home Physical Therapy

Bouncing back from any injury involves strengthening exercises, and 100% of the exercises my physical therapist prescribed me used a resistance band. These are stretchy elastic bands that come in a variety of tensions (and therefore level of difficulty).

You can get bands that are loops or just one long piece of elastic. I’ve used both types. The loops are really handy for hip strengthening exercises, and the long, straight ones have been great for stretching and ankle and foot strengthening.

I found both of my sets on Amazon – loops here and straight ones here.

#3 Gift certificate to their physical therapist

Unlike most other doctor’s offices, physical therapists often offer gift certificates. Copays pile up when you’re going to PT twice a week (or more!) for months at a time, so this is a gift that’s both thoughtful and practical.

Going to PT can also be a nice tune-up or maintenance gift for someone on the end of rehabbing an injury or someone who is just generally injury-prone, so this is a great gift option for anyone athletic in your life. Many PT offices also offer massages, which are more expensive but another great treat!

Make sure to ask your runner where they go if you don’t already know – most people are ride or dies for the PT they’ve found that works for them. Once you know where they go, call the office and ask about their gift certificate options.

If you can’t get a pre-made gift certificate from them, check out Canva for some easy-to-design templates so your runner still has something fun to open.

Anything I missed? Let me know what you would want as a gift when you’re dealing with a running injury and can’t get out and actually, you know, run. 

Beginner’s Trail Guide: Trout Lake in Yellowstone National Park

The hike to Trout Lake is a great way to top off a morning of wildlife watching in the Lamar Valley (extra bonus: have roadside breakfast at Soda Butte Creek on your way). This 1.2-mile round trip hike in the northeast section of Yellowstone is initially steep but totally doable for beginner hikers. Once you get up to the lake, it’s a nice flat walk around with panoramic views of the mountains.

How do I get there?

Trout Lake is located in the northeast section of the park, and we planned our hike around a morning day trip to the Lamar Valley. The valley is renowned for its wildlife watching opportunities, and we certainly weren’t disappointed! After spending sunrise watching the bison and wolves, we continued northwest on the northeast entrance road until we saw the trailhead for Trout Lake.

The drive is easy – the trailhead is right off a flat, paved road. Your biggest obstacle is bison. They may be in the road or immediately adjacent to it, so be prepared to slow down for them and any drivers oogling them.

bison graze on the side of the northeast entrance road at yellowstone national park
My husband – who was NOT driving – took this. Don’t be the person endangering others because you JUST HAVE TO have a photo.

Where do I go?

There is only one trail at the Trout Lake trailhead, which as you may have guessed, takes you to Trout Lake. The trail is a lollipop shape, so you hike straight to the lake and then have the option to walk around it before heading back down the same trail.

The hike up to the lake is a little bit steep, but the scenery is beautiful so just take as many breaks as you need and soak it all in.

What should I wear and bring?

Anywhere you hike in Yellowstone, you should have bear spray with you as a precaution. You can buy it ahead of time or rent it at a number of stores in the park. You probably won’t use it, but you should bring it with you and know how to not accidentally spray your spouse in the face with it.

We hiked the trail in the morning in mid-September, so the weather was in the 40s and gradually warmed up. You’ll be plenty warm on the first part of the hike thanks to all the exertion from hiking uphill, so make sure to dress in layers. There is plenty of shade on the trail, with just one side of the lake being in the sun.

trout lake beginner hiking yellowstone2
Bundled up! I had a pair of leggings on under my hiking pants, too.

I wore hiking boots, but the trail isn’t particularly rocky so you can get by with any athletic shoes. It was wet on one side of the lake, but my husband was still fine in sneakers. A lot of the grasses surrounding the lake were pretty tall, so I was glad I had pants on instead of shorts.

For more information on what you should bring hiking no matter what trail you’re on, read my previous post here.

Is it crowded?

In the summer, everything is crowded all the time in Yellowstone. Crowded trails are just something you’re signing up for when you go there.

When we hiked Trout Lake in the fall, we only saw a few other hikers since it was also pretty early in the morning (around 8 a.m.). By the time we were coming back down the trail, we passed a lot more hikers than we did on the way up, but it was still manageable. The lack of crowds was one of the biggest reasons we scheduled our visit in the fall, and it definitely paid off.

Anything else I should know?

We happened to do this hike on a totally wind-free day, which meant the mountains’ reflections in the lake were totally stunning.

trout lake beginner hiking yellowstone3
Water so clear you can see straight through it. And so still that you can see the clouds reflected in it.

Everywhere in Yellowstone is bear country. While you shouldn’t let fear keep you from hiking (this was certainly a struggle for me!), it is important to know what the best practices are for hiking in bear country. Yellowstone’s website has great resources.

Honestly, I felt pretty paranoid about bears the entire trip and only started to calm down when there were more hikers around. The only bear we saw was right off the highway on the drive to Grand Teton, but we still had bear spray with us every time and made lots of noise while we hiked!

beginner hiking yellowstone trout lake fall beginner's guide
A few moments of anxiety-free hiking did happen. Bear spray is holstered, though! Check my right hip belt loop out.

A day trip to the Lamar Valley isn’t complete without a hike around Trout Lake. Getting up at the crack of dawn was completely worth it for wildlife watching, seeing the sunrise over the mountains while we had breakfast, and then doing this unbelievably gorgeous hike. While it starts out steep, it’s a great shorter option for beginner hikers visiting Yellowstone. Don’t miss it!

Un-Campground Guide: How to stay at Old Faithful Inn without breaking the bank

Like I said in my Yellowstone campground guide, lodging at the park is super expensive. Our trip was for our first wedding anniversary, so we were willing to splurge, but wanted to do so within reason. Fortunately, you have great options at the Old Faithful Inn to make lodging less horrifically expensive (I won’t say affordable…it’s just not as bad).

The Old Faithful lodging area can be confusing – this blog is referring to the historic Old Faithful Inn not the Old Faithful Lodge or the Old Faithful Snow Lodge (seriously, who picked these names?!). The trickiest part of staying here was just getting to the right building.

The Old Faithful Inn is basically a giant log cabin, and was one of the first lodges of its kind in a national park. For the history alone, it’s worth staying there.

interior of the old faithful inn at yellowstone national park log cabin
Basically a treehouse on steroids.

Opt for the “Old House Room without Bath” option to save yourself some money. This got our nightly rate to under $200, which is a steal for Yellowstone (yes, I realize that’s not a steal in real life).

As unappealing as the name sounds, our room was great. You obviously don’t have your own bathroom, but you do have a sink with a vanity. The shared bathrooms were nicer than my own home and you get a nice bathrobe in your room, so you’re not sneaking around the hall in your towel. The rooms don’t have TV or air conditioning, but we weren’t worried about either of those since we wanted to unplug and it was mid-September.

To save yourself a little bit more money, opt out of housekeeping services. This saved us an additional $15 per night, which isn’t a ton, but is better than nothing! By the time all was said and done, we were paying about the same as a Holiday Inn for our stay in an incredibly cool historic building.

The inn is itself a tourist destination, so it’s pretty crowded during the day. Walking around the lobby/reception area was a little frustrating since it’s totally packed, but the upper floors are much more manageable. We were on the side of the building where the viewing deck for Old Faithful is, but we were still able to take a nap with the windows open without much disturbance (even with everyone day drinking!).

old faithful inn exterior yellowstone national park beginner's guide to saving money
Our room was in the middle row of windows, second from the left. This is the view of the inn when Old Faithful is to your left.

The dining options at Old Faithful are in my opinion, average (to below-average) food for way above-average prices. But you’re staying at a major tourist destination that is the only thing for miles, so that shouldn’t be a huge surprise.

The Old Faithful Inn dining room is the most expensive option, and you’ll need to make dinner reservation way in advance. We wanted to eat there one night just for fun, but didn’t make our reservations until a few weeks before our trip. We had dinner at 9 p.m.

For less expensive options, the Bear Pit Lounge is right next to the dining room and offers a yummy, but more limited, menu. You don’t need reservations, but you do need to get the Huckleberry Lemonade (non-alcoholic) or a Huckleberry Mule if you’re in the mood for a cocktail. They were both delicious. Huckleberries are apparently a big thing at Yellowstone, and we didn’t really lean into that until our last night when we ate at the Bear Pit. There is huckleberry everything at Old Faithful, and if the cocktails were any indication, embrace your touristy side and get something huckleberry-ed.

The most affordable option and best food at Old Faithful is the Old Faithful Basin Store, also known as Hamilton’s, just a few minutes’ walk from Old Faithful Inn. We had breakfast and lunch there both days of our stay. Most importantly, the inn has a cafe inside of it that serves generously portioned and very yummy ice cream!

There is a ton to do around the inn, even if you aren’t a big hiker. We had originally planned a more ambitious hiking itinerary, but I ended up getting altitude sickness. The super comfy chairs on the second and third floor were a godsend while we were waiting to check in and I felt like death. I curled up in one and read for a few hours, plus enjoyed some really terrific people watching. If you also aren’t feeling well, you’re across one large parking lot from the medical clinic, which operates as an urgent care. All of the staff was super friendly and helpful – huge shoutout to the PA Andrew who gave me anti-nausea medicine that was SO clutch.

IMG_2299
There’s a lot more to explore than Old Faithful, and you don’t have to do any intense hiking to see it! 

Fortunately, there is a nice, flat boardwalk you can easily cruise around to see lots of really beautiful geysers, springs, and pools.  The boardwalk in the immediate area of Old Faithful takes about 30-60 minutes to walk around and has a TON of cool geothermal features. Thanks to our 9 p.m. dinner time, we had some time to kill around 5 p.m., when the boardwalk was way less crowded and the wildlife was out! We saw this elk family on the way back to the inn, which was pretty spectacular.

old faithful inn hiking wildlife watching elk fall
Dinner entertainment before our 9 p.m. reservations.

Overall, staying at the Old Faithful Inn was a bucket list experience. Fortunately, having altitude sickness the first day didn’t ruin it, particularly because there is so much beginner-friendly hiking around the inn. Sharing a bathroom and opting out of housekeeping was 100% worth it to save some money and be able to stay in such a cool historic building walking distance to incredibly beautiful geothermal features (not to mention the ultimate bucket list item, Old Faithful itself). If you’re planning a trip to Yellowstone, the Old Faithful area is a must-do.

Beginner’s Gear Guide: Coleman one-burner butane camp stove

I have long been an advocate of “keep it simple, stupid” when it comes to campground food. But to keep it hot-dogs-and-smores simple, you need a fire.

Yet another drought year in Colorado resulted in statewide fire bans, meaning campfires were out of the question. We kept (naively) kept hoping the bans would get lifted, but a week out from our camping trip, we realized that wasn’t going to change. We didn’t have a way of cooking hot food, so we quickly scrambled to figure out what our camp stove options were.

My husband dove headfirst into Internet Research to find a camp stove that was affordable, but not crappy. We quickly settled on the Coleman one-burner butane camp stove, found here at REI or here on Amazon. At $29, the price was right, and we hoped we wouldn’t regret this spur-of-the-moment decision to become camping cooks.

Spoiler alert: we didn’t. I’m an official convert.

coleman one burner butane camp stove affordable beginner friendly camping cooking
Roadside oatmeal and coffee! A million times better than PopTarts (after already eating PopTarts three mornings in a row).

Besides fire bans, is there a reason I’d want a camp stove?

Camp stoves cook food way more quickly than a fire. You can boil water in just a few minutes plus there’s about one minute of set up and no waiting for the fire to catch.

You can also save a ton of money by cooking more meals at camp. We would typically plan on going into town to a restaurant if we were camping for more than one night. Or, we’d want a hot breakfast so we’d pack up early and stop somewhere on the way hom. Now, we can have a hot meal (plus coffee!) at camp without going tout to eat. Plus, firewood can really add up if you are burning multiple bundles!

So how’d the Coleman work out?

Because it’s ightweight and inexpensive, I was worried there would be a catch (aka it would turn out to be a piece of crap). The Coleman brand bolstered our confidence, and we really didn’t want to spend a ton of money, so we pulled the trigger on it. Now that I’ve put it to the test on multiple overnight camping trips, I can report back that it’s a high-quality, lightweight, game changer of a stove.

Coleman puts the stove in a really convenient hard plastic case with a handle, which makes it easy to pack and carry around. Because it’s so light, you don’t feel like you’re hauling a massive stove around. And it seems fairly hardy. I’ve dropped it a few times (this is just who I am as a person) and it doesn’t even have a ding on it.

Was it easy to use?

The camp stove is pretty idiot-proof to begin with and also comes with easy-to-follow instructions. Butane is sold separately, and that was honestly the trickiest part of getting the stove to work. You have to make sure to line up the notch on the nozzle of the can of butane with the loading area for it in the stove or the stove won’t light. It’s for safety reasons I think but was initially easy to miss. All of this information is in the instructions, so don’t worry!

The stove lights instantly and cooks quickly. Water boils in about the same time it does on a real stove, and a can of Spaghettios is piping hot in about a minute. I’ve made corn fritters and pancakes on it, too, and they cooked just the same as they would at home. We’ve made at least ten meals on it by now and we’re still on our first can of butane, so it seems pretty fuel-efficient as well.

Is one burner enough? Should I get two?

I’ve only used the stove to cook for two people at a time, so one burner was totally sufficient for us. If you have a bigger family or are trying to make multiple things at once, you may need to upgrade to a larger model (or buy multiple of these).

What’s the bottom line?

Light-weight, powerful, and easy-to-use, the Coleman one burner butane camp stove has totally changed my outlook on camping. Eating terrible junk food is fun for a few days, but ultimately gets pretty tiring if you have no way to make something better. Waiting forever for water to boil on a campfire when you just want your morning coffee will be a thing of the past.

Invest $30 in a camp stove to broaden your options for yummier meals without sacrificing your desire for simplicity.

coleman one burner butane campstove on a picnic table in front of a mountain lake