The Radavist

The Western Wildlands Route as seen from the Paria Plateau in northern Arizona, traditional homelands of the Ute, Southern Paiute, Pueblo, Hopi, and Diné Tribes.

At Bikepacking Roots, our mission includes “advocating for the landscapes through which we ride.” Indigenous peoples are an integral part of the future, present, and past landscapes in U.S. America. Thus, as advocates for a healthy, vibrant, and whole Western landscape, we are responsible for communicating and educating ourselves, our members, and the riders of the routes we design in a way that progresses Indigenous liberation from colonial trauma. With that intent, we’re announcing the renaming of the 2,700-mile-long Wild West Route to the Western Wildlands Route.

If you’re a BIPOC cyclist, who enjoys bikepacking, or perhaps you’d like to give it a try…

The BIPOC Bike Adventure Grant is Bikepacking Roots’ grant program created to help reduce the barriers to bike adventure for BIPOC individuals.  The BIPOC Bike Adventure Grant will support recipients by helping fund fun and empowering bike adventures.

Apply between now and November 8th. We anticipate requiring ~4-5 weeks to review and follow up with all applicants, meaning we plan on announcing the recipients and their planned adventures in mid-December.

Qualified applicants are those who
-have any level of experience riding a bicycle.
-would benefit from support in order to pursue a specific bike adventure.
-identify as BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and people of color).
-live in the United States.
-are any gender identity, age, class, body size, or ability.

Proposals can include requests of $500 to $3,000+ for the autumn 2020 grant cycle. The next grant cycle will open in late spring of 2021. Some equipment support will also be available as needed.

Apply now at Bikepacking Roots!

With the news today that Bike, Powder, Snowboarder, and Surfer Magazines have been shuttered by their owner, American Media, we can’t help but feel an immense loss in print magazines. This news was shocking, as Bike Mag’s content has always been sharp, including the last entry on their website, penned by Bikepacking Roots‘ Kurt Refsnider dubbed “Solutions for Smaller Bikepackers” which offers up a lot of pointers for cyclists who don’t ride a size large frame. Head on over to Bike Mag to read all about it.

Bikepacking Roots is expanding and diversifying their Board of Directors and are welcoming applications from individuals looking to be a positive influence for and within the bikepacking community. The Board of Directors is made up of passionate volunteers who act as representatives of the organization and as advocates for the bikepacking community, the experiences we collectively seek, and the landscapes through which we ride. Read on below…

This is an exciting announcement from our friends at Blackburn and Bikepacking Roots!

“The National Interscholastic Cycling Association (NICA), Blackburn Designs, and Bikepacking Roots are excited to announce a new partnership that establishes a bikepacking curriculum and traveling gear library for NICA student-athletes and coaches. Bikepacking Roots is providing the on-trail expertise and Blackburn is providing the funding and bikepacking kit for 20 riders as part of their Bronze Level sponsorship with NICA for 2020.”

Keep an eye here on the site for more coverage from this exciting announcement!

To help raise money for the Wild West Route and Bikepackingroots.com, Long Distance Studio has a collection of goods for sale, with 50% of the proceeds going to help fund Bikepacking Roots’ efforts. You can head on over to Long Distance Studio to see more of their offerings in detail. Don’t miss our features on the Wild West Route by Molly Sugar at part 1 and part 2!

Originally published in 2015 thanks to Salsa Cycles, Bikepacking Roots has just announced this 90-page field guide is now available for digital download after you donate $5 to the non-profit. This guide was written by Kaitlyn Boyle and Kurt Refsnider and was created to help incite a love for those looking to get into bikepacking by providing helpful information and various pointers to get your bike loaded up and pointed down the trail.

Head to Bikepacking Roots to check it out!

This is exciting! Jan Bennett and Bikepacking Roots have been working on a few new routes, including the Pony Express. This past summer, Jan became the first person to pedal the old mailing route, officially and now they’re working on making it an official route but they need your help. Read on for more…

To help satiate the rapidly-growing bikepacking community’s desire for new long-distance routes, Bikepacking Roots recently released the 2,700-mile-long Wild West Route. This Canada- to-Mexico epic links together dirt roads and rough 4×4 tracks through Montana, Idaho, Utah, and Arizona, showcasing the vast expanses of wild and public lands in the Intermountain West.