Simplicity of Living
and a Quest for Pure Joy
Story by Michael Ackerman
Photos courtesy of Jody Furtney
Jody and
Seth on the Great Divide in 2012
Amazing partnerships are
rooted in trust, open communication and an undying commitment to your mate. Such
is the case with Seth and Jody Furtney, a
husband and wife team from Durango Colorado. For decades, this adventurous pair
has explored and experienced the world together. Their story provides us all with
a powerful lesson of triumph over tragedy and how dedication to your partner,
simple bicycle travel and an awareness of the present moment is what life is
really all about.
Early Partners in Adventure
Jody on Cataract Ridge, Colorado Trail 2014
Jody Furtney owns an
impressive cycling resume and tells stories that spin with all the action,
challenge and inspiration of a Jill Homer novel. Jody recalls what drew her to
begin cycle touring and an early trip on the Transamerica Route.
Really where I started with the biking, and it wasn’t
with Seth, was in 1998, when I realized I was done with my job and I got on my
bike and I had a ball. I rode my bike from Eugene OR to Steamboat Colorado. I
had never done anything like it before and I was coming off a really stressful
job. I was just done. I mean I was really stressed out! The first day…I take a
Greyhound up to Eugene, and my bike’s in a box, so I have to put it back together.
He [Seth] had taught me how to put it all together, and change the tire and do
all this stuff. I get there and I can’t figure something out. I try to call him
and the phone is dead in the motel I’m staying at. So I’m like, I gotta do this
myself. And so…. So I did it!
And the next morning when I set out, it was euphoria.
Just that freedom. Just joy. Pure joy! Just being out there under my own
control after all the planning and troubleshooting. And that was the start of
where I was like… long trips are where it’s at! It’s where I really get into it
because you get into a rhythm, a simplicity of living.
Jody’s husband of twenty-one
years shares her desire for freedom and joy through adventure. Seth Furtney is a
smart, strong and steady partner. He’s a great athlete, a good listener and a
solid complement to Jody’s drive, vision and ambition. Seth was the youngest
child of three, with two older brothers who he credits with shaping his “drive
to get going, to keep up and keep doing things!” Seth brings motivation and
energy to the team. And when conditions get tough, his patience and commitment
to his partner is admirable.
Seth pushes through a windstorm on the
Kokopelli Trail in 2014.
Seth and Jody met at CU
Boulder and it was a relationship that from the outset was founded in adventure.
But it wasn’t exactly love at first sight for Seth. Jody recalls how he was a
year ahead of her in school and they were assigned to be partners in a French
class. She was excited. But Seth had judged
Jody as “too well dressed and “too well quaffed” for him and quickly determined
he “had no interests with this lady.” He continues, “I saw Jody as a sorority
girl and I was well…. well I was a dirt bag!”
But as they worked together
in class, Seth warmed quickly to his partner and he realized they shared common
interests for exploration and travel. The more they talked, the more he began
to see Jody as “reasonably adventurous” But he wasn’t convinced, so as Seth
explains it, he devised a plan to test Jody and see if she really was the
adventurous woman of his dreams.
It was a winter day in Boulder, Colorado. Snowy, a
foot of snow on the ground and we’re going out on a date. And I’m like okay,
let me see if this girl is really adventurous or just talking tough. I propose
we climb up a building to overlook Boulder’s Baseline Center. So we head around
back and we scale a drainpipe for two stories. I climb up and work my way
across these windowsills to the roof and I’m like….we’ll see? On up comes Jody
and that was it! Not many girls were going to climb a drainpipe, up a building
with me in the snow. I was hooked. Now I was like, this thing has got legs and
we can actually see where this goes”
To her credit, Jody didn’t realize
the stakes were so high on those first few dates with Seth. She jokes, “I
didn’t understand my entire life’s trajectory was on the spot.” After
completing Seth’s buildering challenge, the two charged forward into an
adventurous future together.
Their relationship
strengthened as they enjoyed hiking, climbing, boating and pedaling throughout
Colorado’s Front Range. When college ended, they decided to cycle tour the
classic Loire Valley in France. Yet biking was not the muse that was calling to
them. Their first decade together, the duo became “fully addicted” to
whitewater kayaking.
Jody sends the Third Gorge of Lime Creek, Colorado
Seth and Jody settled in Sacramento
California, a home base that supported both their paddling and professional
aspirations. They didn’t cycle much during those years, preferring to boat
class 4 and 5 rivers “about forty weekends a year for about ten years.”
Yet a shaky US economy and
bursting bubbles in the technology and real estate sectors resulted in the pair
losing their jobs. Undeterred, the couple traveled to South America for a six-month
kayaking, climbing and trekking trip. Refocused and recharged after some
quality adventure time, Seth and Jody made their way back to the states and
back onto their bikes.
It was a hut trip that reacquainted
them with the joy of traveling simply by bicycle in the backcountry. They
reminisce fondly about those early trips.
We were
totally convinced that traveling by bike was the way go. There’s just so much
fun stuff we could see and go ride! Traveling from the desert to the mountains
was amazing. We enjoyed the fact that we
could see more than when we were hiking. When you’re hiking, ridges obscure
what you can see. You can only see limited distances, maybe ten miles. But with
biking you can see that distance and travel that distance comfortably. Then you’re
on top of that ridgeline and you can see and travel even more miles than that!
That’s when you really start to notice flora and fauna change. That’s when you
realize you can go fast and light and really cover lots of terrain. That the
bike is the way to travel. That’s when it clicked for us.”
A High
Performing Partnership
Seth and
Jody own an impressive adventure resume but are humble and quick to downplay
the success and scope of their exploits. For
over a decade, Seth and Jody have been busy completing an impressive CV of both
self-supported bikepacking adventures and what they
define as “BikeSlacking tours” which include “credit card rides, hut trips,
hotel to hotel excursions or vehicle supported adventures.” When taken in
total and combined with their two plus decades of whitewater boating experience,
the Furtneys are nothing short of BADASS. Since answering bikepacking’s siren
call, this impressive pair has completed:
(Biked through the Mekong in Vietnam, then
through Cambodia to the Thai border)
They are a duo that
understands balance, deftly transitioning between their personal and
professional pursuits. Utilizing meticulous planning and logistical skills,
they’ve become masters at filling up every last second of vacation time.
They’re clear about what they want their time in the field to look like. Seth
and Jody want to be outside, on their bikes, enjoying whatever life brings
their way. If an adventure offers diversions to fine dining, B&Bs or hot
springs, then that sounds just great to them! But on longer trips, “you’ve got
to make sure you’ve planned enough time off from work so you can really give
yourself to the experience.” Jody explains.
We were on the Divide in 2012, the Canada part and we
were totally enjoying ourselves. We were only rolling 25 to 30 miles per day.
We were meeting new people and camping in new places everyday. Just totally
lost in it all, the people and the magic of the Divide. And then Seth looks at
the map one night … and is like, “how many miles are we planning to go?” 1100,
I say. “How many days do we have left?” Uh….We did the simple math. Uh-oh. This
is not computing. The schedule wasn’t adding up. So we ended up having to pick
it up and do much, much bigger days because I had to get back to work on time!
The pressure of work
schedules aside, she remembers their time on the Divide fondly. Another “ride of pure joy.”
I would say
that trip was where we kind of came back to the simplicity we seek. Where
you’re really out there. Where you’re out on your bike and there’s no outside
stimulation. There’s nothing going on but the landscape in front of you. You
don’t have the phone ringing or anything like that. You get to the point where
you see a [road] sign and it’s going the other way and you turn around to see
what the sign says just because you want that stimulation. Because you don’t
have any of that going on!
Seth and Jody
recently returned from a late summer tour of Adventure Cycling’s newly mapped, Idaho Hot Springs Route.
Idaho was awesome. As soon as we saw this route in
the magazine we just knew we had to go and do it! It’s the trifecta for us.
It’s got good riding, it’s remote and it’s got hot springs. What’s not
attractive about that? We went from
Boise City, up to Stanley and then we took what they call the Lowman Cutoff
back to Idaho City. We didn’t have to carry any extra water and we stopped to
camp when it made sense for us. We passed over 30 hot springs and the springs
were wild! You don’t have to pay to get to them. They show you how to find them
on the map.
We encountered only three other cyclists. Probably
because it was late in the season and we went on the section that was closed by
huge rainstorms that had hit the area really hard. There was a large section of
road that just wasn’t there. So we had to bushwhack around that. It took hours
to go feet. We had to complete a pretty hairy river crossing. It kind of prevented
that part of the route from seeing any traffic. So no one else around, the route’s
first season…It was great! It was just wonderful!
No trail, no problem! Idaho Hot Springs Route, 2014
Idaho was also a great
reminder that “circumstances change and you’ve got to deal with whatever comes
up. Remember the mark of a seasoned traveler.” Seth continues, “Be adaptable
because the best laid plans don’t survive contact with the enemy. Just roll
with it and chill.” Although these two seasoned travelers have wisdom and
experience on their side, the Furtney’s bikepacking adventures are not without
mishap.
When Jody left Seth on the
Divide in 2012, he pressed on to Jackson, WY in the face of some very scary
wildfires. Finishing the trip would be difficult, with smoke and particulate
devastating the region’s air quality. But Seth stubbornly completed what he
dubs “The two pack a day ride”
The Idaho wildfires were going off so the smoke was
coming over into Montana. And holy shit was it smokey! You know, like 200 yards
visibility. And you’re biking hard. And you’re like breathing smoke. And at the
end of the day, you’re like “ugh huhuhugh” [Seth hunches over, re-enacting a violent
coughing episode] You know you’re getting punished so you’re like, well…we’re
in this smoke, ride or bitch. You got to pick one!
Aggressively pushing forward
into an unknown future has, at times, stretched their resources. Although they’re
known for eating and drinking well while traveling on their bikes, The Furtneys
have experienced a few trips where they have run out of food. Seth chuckles.
You know I think we pack about every bit as much as
we would expect to eat. And then we eat more than we expect. It’s like we think
we’re going to have extra food. And we don’t pack DAYS of extra food you
know...we probably pack an extra meal or two and those meals just kind of get
eaten every time!
A Partnership Tested
Colorado Trail 2011
Adversity has tested and
strengthened Seth and Jody’s partnership. The
challenges of pedaling long distances, getting lost in the mountains, running
out of food and weathering poor cycling conditions pale in comparison to the
couple’s greatest test; a tragic accident that almost took Seth’s life in 2008.
The pair had spent the day
riding from north to south on the classic, Hermosa
Creek trail. Emerging at the southern trailhead, they pedaled
through the campground and coasted down the road towards town. Suddenly and
without warning, a car appeared. The driver was speeding blindly up the road, came
skidding around a corner and collided head on into Seth. He didn’t stand a
chance. Jody was right behind him and “came upon a scene that was just….just
horrible. I thought he was dead.” Seth had sustained massive, life threatening
injuries and was life flighted to Denver. Thus began a three-month hospital
stay.
Seth had experienced a
severe, traumatic brain injury. If his body could survive the initial trauma, he
would have to learn to walk and talk all over again. His body was badly broken
in many places and it would take a long time to heal.
Through it all, Jody was an indefatigable
caretaker. Her partner’s story of recovery, which she chronicles in the blog Seth Monster’s Progress is incredibly moving.
Jody was at Seth’s side the
whole time. Ever the planner, Jody would set goals for achieving milestones in Seth’s
recovery process; scheduling dates for him to open his eyes, say his first
words and take his first steps. One gently concludes that by establishing a
scope for achieving these benchmarks, it gave Jody some sense of control in the
otherwise uncontrollable turn of events that had befallen the couple.
Unquestionably, the most
inspiring albeit audacious and seemingly impossible goal Jody established for
Seth concerned the CT. She believed he could regain the strength and health
needed to thru-ride the entire Colorado Trail with her. At the time, Seth still
wasn’t walking. Elevating the bar for his recovery to such a precipitous height
seemed somewhat foolhardy, kind of like she was setting them up for failure. Undeterred,
Jody persevered and maintained a positive mental attitude and outlook on the
future.
Through the pain and
unpredictability of rehab, the Furtneys focused on their goal. The dream of completing
the 500-mile route was a powerful
motivation for both of them and they pursed the objective with “absolute
commitment.” Before the accident, Seth had been healthy. He was young and in
shape and these factors now contributed to an “exponential rate of recovery.”
He completed a year of physical therapy and exercise. Meanwhile, Jody
researched their intended route and coordinated gear and logistics. Together,
they trained for the trail and in the summer of 2011, Seth and Jody achieved
their longstanding goal.
The pair took twenty days to
complete the Colorado Trail, a fitting capstone to an unexpected and arduous
journey that had started with a day ride gone wrong almost two years prior. Navigating
the horrors of the accident and the challenges of the recovery process together,
they found strength and grew profoundly through this difficult experience. They
realized they could continue undertaking and completing difficult adventures
together. What they had survived and accomplished was incredible. It just might
be the most amazing chapter in Seth and Jody’s wildly amazing story.
Pedaling into the Future
Jody climbing over Black Bear Pass heading to Telluride
in late September, 2013
Moving forward, nothing appears
to be slowing Seth and Jody down. They keep their
minds, their bodies and their partnership strong by training in the San Juan Mountains
of Southwest Colorado. With access to hundreds of
miles of single track outside their front door, the pair frequently complete rides north
to Silverton, northwest to Telluride and east to Lake City via the Colorado
Trail and the Alpine Loop.
They believe
in giving back, volunteerism and service to place. I’ve joined them for many laugh
filled hours of lopping, chopping and re-treading our local trails. Seth and
Jody are volunteer CT trail stewards, who have adopted a 6.5 mile section
of Segment 23, from Stony Pass south to the top of Elk Park.
Next up for the two is a fall expedition where they’re aiming to pedal singletrack
around the entirety of New Zealand while enjoying a wealth of extraordinary
diversions on both islands. And after this year’s self-supported success on the
Kokopelli trail, Seth and Jody are “very interested in the Arizona Trail.” But
as the two divulge more, it’s clear that their future interests and excitement
is for long, remote, overseas explorations.
They’re
scheming two big trips for the near future. The first includes a “warm up by cycling from Cairo to Cape Town.” Then they plan on completing a bikepacking safari in the wild lands of Africa. The Furtneys
would like to follow that endeavor up with a bikepacking expedition to the Himalayan Region of
Northern India. With no
shortage of ideas, passion, motivation and vacation time, Seth and Jody
continue to live busy lives of adventure. And who knows? Maybe they’ll add
fatpacking to
the mix, visit
the Polar Regions and become bikepacking’s first, seven continent explorers,
akin to mountaineering’s seven summiteers club.
What is known however
is that Seth and Jody don’t like to repeat trips they’ve already done. I asked
them if they want to go back and repeat past adventures? Seth responds, “Our
trips produce precious memories and we try not to repeat those experiences.
Chasing those moments again just doesn’t work for us.” However, if they do
repeat a route, it’s probably because they’re looking to do it self-supported and
“in better style” as they did with their latest run of the Kokopelli trail in
2014.
Despite their love
and affinity for the “raw beauty” of the Colorado Trail, they do not plan on
tackling those 500 miles again as a thru-ride. “The CT was everything for us. Coming
back from the accident, having great weather and a year with such crazy wild flowers.
We just don’t want to displace that memory of the trail.”
Seth and Jody
are an inspiration to be around. They exude a passion for life and for each
other. I ask them to summarize what it is that motivates them to continue
adventuring together. Jody responds,
I think partly why I want to keep doing
this stuff is because I thought Seth wasn’t going to be there. Doctors told me
Seth had a fifty percent chance of survival and if he did survive, he might very
well be a vegetable. I had to prepare myself for that and for a while after the
accident, I just didn’t know. So that’s where I tend to amplify things on these
trips of ours. Like I’m so glad he’s alive. I’m so glad he’s living to see
things on these trips with me…He’s okay and he’s here with me! I didn’t always
think he was going to be…
Emotion fills the
room. Seth speaks softly.
Yes, it was certainly so. There was a time
when Jody was thinking I wasn’t going to be out there doing these trips with
her. She had to sit with, “Well, that’s it! He’s done” In the end, Jody had to
wait for me. She had to nurse me back from death. These trips are definitely
payback for her. And if in the future, if I have to wait for her at the top of
the mountain…You know it’s like whatever dude, I don’t even gripe. I just chill
out and think, “these are minor details” I definitely think I’ve developed patience
through all of this. All those things that might irritate or annoy me, I’m
like…nah, it’s payback time. It’s payback to her for the rest of my life.
The power in
his response is touching and overwhelming. Feeling the weight that Seth’s
answer has just levied upon the conversation, Jody redirects the dialogue.
When you are in normal environments,
living your day to day, your bed is nice, the food is good, you know…you’re
good. But then you go and you do this bikepacking thing. And it’s hard. And
it’s beautiful. And it’s amazing.
And that’s what I love about it. You
just…you just get out of your comfort zone and everything becomes the most
amazing thing. It’s so intense. It’s so awesome.
Jody begins to
tear up and loses focus to internal sensory overload. She looks upward, visibly
moved by the memories of past experiences of which we’ve been speaking. Sensing
his partner’s drift, Seth reaches over and places his hand on Jody’s arm. His
touch calms her, she smiles and he continues answering.
That’s really what it is for us. These
trips are all about feeling. When you’re hungry, you’re fucking hungry. When
you’re tired, you’re fucking exhausted. You’re not in a comfort zone. You’re
not near it at all! You are in this outlier zone where things are fairly
intense because they are maximal. And there’s a certain joy we’ve found in
that. In being in that place. To be really hungry and to be really tired and
then to make it work out, minimally. You
want it more. Then you’re like, I want to feel that hungry again and I want to
be that tired again! Because that’s…..that’s….
Seth’s eyes
turn to meet his partners and she completes the thought.
“Because
that’s what makes us feel alive.”
Jody heading out of Idaho City on Idaho Hot
Springs Route. 2014
Michael Ackerman is a professional educator and adventurer
based in Durango CO and is a frequent contributor to Bikepackers Magazine.
