Ted King’s granola with maple syrup

This past January, Ted King was in California and was worried about polar bears. The former pro, who retired from Cannondale-garmin at the end of 2015, was riding and attending meetings in the West Coast state. Roughly one week before, he was sleeping outside in the snow on Whiteface Mountain in the Adirondacks. The camping was in preparation for the James Bay Descent, a 600-km fat bike ride from Attawapiskat First Nation in Northern Ontario to Moosonee, and then down to Smooth Rock Falls. “I think polar bears are cool,” he said, “but I’d really prefer not to see them.”

The ride was planned by a former teammate of King’s, Buck Miller. The pair rode together in the early 2000s. Two other former elite riders were up for the trip as well: Ryan Atkins and Eric Batty. King was the only American among the Canadian riders.

Before the trip, King spoke about the importance of being quick and efficient in the cold of Northern Ontario. During the practice event in the Adirondacks, one of the things the group focused on was packing. “As soon as you finish riding, you need to get warm quickly. You want the tent and the stove at the top of the bag, not the bottom where you need to root through other stuff,” he said.

This focus on efficiency has some parallels with his experience as a Grand Tour rider. “Surviving a Grand Tour is absolutely beastly. I survived a handful of Giros. I had slightly less luck at a couple of Tours de France,” he said with understatement. The Tour’s race jury said King didn’t make the time cut in a team time trial that he rode injured in 2013. In 2014, injuries and illness forced him to abandon. “In a Grand Tour, you have to think about every movement, every concerted effort, and the conservation of energy,” he said. “Whether it’s out on the day or as soon as the race is finished, you’re trying to conserve energy. We certainly will not be expending the same amount of energy all day every day up on James Bay, but you can’t be making extraneous movements. This is a very dialled trip. You have to pay attention as the risk of exposure is quite high.”

The James Bay Descent team rolled into Smooth Rock Fall on Feb. 12. The ride was a success. They celebrated with a few beers, including an Ontario brew called “Bear Runner” that has a person running from a bear on the can.

Ingredients

3 cups rolled oats 1 cup almonds, chopped (pistachios

or pecans work in a pinch, too) ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil ¼ cup sesame seeds ¾ tsp nutmeg 1 cup dried unsweetened coconut chips ½ cup pure maple syrup (or 4 maple Untapped packs. King is a fan of maple products and a co-owner of the company.) 2 tbsp brown sugar 1 tsp salt ½ cup dried cranberries

Directions

Preheat oven to 300 F. Mix together all ingredients except cranberries. Spread mix in an even layer on a large baking sheet. Cook for 40 minutes, stirring every 10. Add cranberries, stir and bake for 10 more minutes.

“Surviving a Grand Tour is absolutely beastly.”