The Rider
by Kurt GensheimerA lot of metaphors in life can be found through riding a bicycle long distance. The discipline it takes to push through muscle cramps, driving rain, unrelenting headwinds and never-ending climbs is the same kind of discipline it takes to successfully raise a family and run a business.
And few people in White Pine County understand this metaphor better than Basin Engineering principal engineer and founder, B.J. Almberg.
As an indispensable part of the Ely community, Almberg’s company provides engineering services to the city and county, helping improve the community in which he was born and raised; a community where he and his wife have raised three children of their own. There’s a certain amount of pride and responsibility that goes into running a business in your hometown.
“There wasn’t the same sense of pride and responsibility in my job when I worked in Las Vegas,” said Almberg. “In a city as big as Las Vegas, you’re anonymous, so if a job doesn’t work out like you hoped, you can hide from it. Here in Ely it’s different. If I don’t do a good job, everyone knows.”
This sense of civic duty to his hometown requires leadership, organization and discipline; the same traits required for long distance cycling with a support crew. So it’s no surprise that despite only having 10 years of experience on the bicycle, Almberg and his crew have notched some significant victories in the long-distance cycling world.
After getting his start doing marathons and half-Ironman events with his wife, Almberg migrated exclusively to cycling ten years ago because of how much less abusive cycling was on his body compared to running. His first event was the Saints to Sinners ride, a 516-mile bicycle relay race from Salt Lake City to Las Vegas. Almberg entered the event with nine teammates to tackle the entire distance, but during the event he met a guy named Michael Conti who did the entire ride solo.
“While we kept switching out riders, Michael just kept pedaling,” said Almberg. “The day after the race, Michael loaded his bike into his truck like nothing even happened. His effort intrigued me.”
Almberg had never ridden a century – a ride 100 miles in length – and did an event called The Ultimate Challenge in Park City, Utah, dubbed one of America’s toughest road rides with more than 10,000 feet of climbing, finishing with a grueling climb up Little Cottonwood Canyon. The route also happens to be the “queen stage” of the Tour of Utah professional road cycling stage race.
But riding a single century wasn’t enough for Almberg, he wanted a bigger challenge, so he registered for the Hoodoo 300 in St. George, Utah, the “ultramarathon” of bicycle races. At 300 miles in distance, a new element came into Almberg’s long-distance solo cycling endeavors; hiring a coach and securing a support crew.
After nine months of regimented training and assembling a support crew including his wife and a few of his Basin Engineering co-workers, Almberg took to the Hoodoo 300 course and finished second overall in his first attempt. Almberg immediately acknowledged the importance of his crew.
“None of my success would have happened without the support of my wife, family and co-workers,” said Almberg. “They watched my nutrition and made sure that I stuck to the plan.”
Almberg was tempted to “chase the rabbit” early on in the event when other riders took off at a faster pace, but Almberg’s discipline kept him from chasing, maintaining a steady pace that he could hold for 300 miles. By mile 100, Almberg started reeling in the rabbits, and his patience paid off. But the biggest challenge still lay ahead of him.
The Race Across the West (RAW) from Oceanside, CA to Durango, CO is a 930-mile segment of the infamous 3,000-mile Race Across America, and Almberg’s mission was to ride RAW solo with the support of his crew while raising funds for the White Pine Youth Center. The grueling course features 56,000 feet of climbing, equal to climbing almost two Mount Everests. In order to win, Almberg would have to complete the ride with only four hours of sleep over two-and-a-half days.
The team spent months preparing for the event. Because Almberg’s support team needed two vehicles, the crew met weekly to go over logistics and scenarios. The morning of the start at the Oceanside Pier along the Pacific Ocean was emotionally heavy for Almberg.
“I had a lot of uncertainty at the beginning,” said Almberg. “Our team had prepared and sacrificed so much just to get to the start line, and I wasn’t sure that I was physically up to such a challenge, but the fear of failure is a big motivator. From the beginning, the goal was just to finish, not win.”
As soon as Almberg put rubber to the road, he was in his element. Michael Conti, the solo rider from the Saints to Sinners event that originally inspired Almberg, saw how organized and prepared Almberg’s crew was, and agreed to join the team, riding in the van to navigate problems that Almberg’s crew didn’t have the experience to handle.
The most crucial decision point came between Parker and Congress, Arizona, where Almberg struggled in the blistering heat that registered 138 degrees Fahrenheit on his Garmin device. In the 110-mile stretch between Parker and Congress, Almberg lost seven hours to the leaders in the heat, but he never gave up. By sticking to a plan and pacing himself, along with the expert guidance of Conti, as the route slowly climbed into higher terrain and cooler temperatures, Almberg regained his strength, and like the Hoodoo 300, reeled in his adversaries.
Almberg rode through the night with calm winds and into the dawn as they passed through the majesty of Monument Valley, Utah. The last 50 miles were a whirlwind of pedaling and emotions for Almberg and his crew, as they passed every other team en-route to their first place finish in Durango. The strong bond between Almberg, his wife, family and co-workers that already existed before the event was cemented once they emerged victorious in Colorado.
What is it that keeps someone like Almberg on the bicycle for so long?
“You have to build your psyche more than your legs,” said Almberg. “If you want to succeed, you can’t stop, ever. You have to keep going. Your psyche evolves from ‘I have to stop’ into ‘I don’t have to stop’. When I’m on the bike I don’t pay attention to how many miles I’ve ridden or how long I’ve been riding for. It’s easy to overwhelm yourself, so I put those things out of my head and just ride.”
All of this success in Almberg’s cycling endeavors has carried over into his personal and work life. His discipline on the bike has made him more successful in his work.
“I’m a better person because of the bike,” said Almberg. “Cycling is therapeutic. There’s a lot of stress in my work, and cycling forces me away from the desk. When I’m on my bike, I am so focused that I don’t think about work, all I think about is the bike and what’s next.”
What’s next for Almberg and his Basin Engineering crew? So long as they can assemble the crew to do it, Almberg’s mission is tackling the “World’s Toughest Bicycle Race” in 2023; the 3,000-mile Race Across America, climbing 175,000 feet from California to Maryland.