The Steamboat Springs Ramble Ride is not an easy route, so having it be your first bicycle tour is quite the endeavor. Youtubers Mo and Hannah reports on their experience in their latest Vlog…
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Bikepacking Roots is Seeking New Members for Its Board of Directors
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…
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Around the Mountains Trail: Touring New Zealand’s Te Waipounamu South Alps
There is something in the mountains, a kind of magic that from the beginning of humanity has exerted influence in our history. They have been adored as gods in different religions, they have forged cultures and inspired their stories, and even countries have been formed and developed around them. New Zealand is one of these countries.
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Sim Works: New Doppo MTB Frameset
The Sim Works Doppo is quite the versatile platform and today, the brand announced its newest addition to their touring lineup with the Doppo MTB. These frames are made in Japan by Shin Hattori and the frames come in two sizes, medium and large, but with their compact geometry, can fit a variety of riders. With a segmented Tange fork to complete the look, the Doppo is priced at $1,880 and yes, the fork can be purchased separately. Head to Sim Works to see more!
Uses Tange Chromoly Steel Tube Set
・44mm head tube
・Light weight and high strength TIG welding
・Recommended suspension stroke: 120mm stroke for 27.5″
・Can be used with up to 180mm disc rotor
・Rear 12mmx148mm BOOST
・Max tire clearance: 27.5 x 2.8″ / 29 x 2.4″
・73mm JIS Threaded BB Shell
・Seatpost size: 30.9mm
・Seat clamp size: 34.9mm
・Front chainring single up to 34T
・Seat tube has holes for internally routed dropper post
・Eyelets compatible with anything cage under the down tube
・Front and rear thru-axle included
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Not the Distance
Sometimes it’s not the distance that’s important…
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Bike Touring the Continental Divide Trail CDT in Northern New Mexico
DISCLAIMER: Travel is limited to New Mexico at this time and there is a mask requirement. This trip was planned before the recent changes and we adjusted to ensure safe distances and to limit any small community contact. Be safe.
Starting at the border of Colorado and following along the Continental Divide Trail, some friends helped hatch a plan to traverse the central highlands of New Mexico by bike over 3 days, covering 100 miles of unbelievably-beautiful country.
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An In-Depth Review of the Redesigned Swift Zeitgeist Saddle/Handlebar Pack
Years ago, after finishing the slowest-known-time attempt on the Oregon Outback during its 2nd annual ride, I wound up in Seattle. Just to clarify for those familiar with our rolling squad of rodeo clowns from that year, we didn’t shit in that dudes yard, we were drunk in the woods 40 miles behind because we couldn’t even make it to most peoples 1st night camp on our 2nd day.
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Deer and Wolves: Josh Ibbett on the GBDURO 2020
Josh Ibbett just won the GBduro. A 2000 km mostly off-road Ultra Distance race from the most southern tip of the UK to the most northern in Scotland.
This is the second edition of this race.
The first one was won by Lachlan Morton last year.
The Racing Collective, organizers of the race, best described by themselves as “the UK’s flagship not-for-profit bikepacking club” had to change their race format this year. They did it, brilliantly.
There were no stages anymore, the race described as “a scrappy rolling picnic through Britain’s ever-changing landscapes” had that new daunting rule about it, you had to be “self-sufficient”, no stopping allowed in shops, cafe, restaurant or hotel, whatsoever, so you carry your own food, filter water from streams or sources and mind yourself and your bike ‘till the end. There is a new level in the game of Epic.
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Lael Rides Alaska: Touring the Dalton Highway and Gear Breakdown
Dalton Highway
We land in Deadhorse on the North Slope of Alaska in the evening under sunny skies and drag our cardboard bike boxes out of the single gate terminal. We’re the only passengers on the flight not starting a two-week work shift on the oil fields. The wind is ripping so fast, it’s hard to put the bikes together. We help each other. We velcro bags to our bikes and load up our camping gear. It’s cold enough that we put on all of our clothing layers. We cram days’ worth of food into every pack. The workers at the airport are kind and helpful. A woman gives us directions to the shop where we can buy a camping stove canister and a can of bear spray that we couldn’t bring on the plane. She asks us to leave our bike boxes in storage. They always save the big ones for hunters.
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Gabe’s Moné Bikes Boca de La Roca
I’m a diehard fan of tough and playful hardtails. My affinity probably started with an invincible brick of a Schwinn BMX back when I was 13. It eventually evolved—I ditched my full suspension bike for the first generation of Surly’s infamous Krampus, morphed into the slacker front and tighter rear of a Carver Gnarvester, eloped with Tony’s personal Breadwinner Goodwater for a week, and then fell in love with Cjell Monē’s La Roca.
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Calling it Back in: Revisiting a Problematic Article
It was brought to my attention almost two years ago that my framing of Ariel’s encounter in our TEMBR reportage as a cultural exchange glossed over the history of systemic restriction of women’s access to reproductive health in Ecuador and Central/Southern American countries. This framing allowed the possibility for it to be construed that the family is responsible for their ignorance (cultural), rather than being victims of a cruel system meant to strip them of their rights (systemic). Glossing over these conditions only perpetuates the erasure of the experiences of women, especially indigenous, in Ecuador.
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Through The Wardrobe: Touring the Oregon Timber Trail’s Anaxshat Passage
Last Autumn, I found myself wondering, “How do I pack for a bike ride through Narnia?”. I had just been asked to sample a small section of the wonderful Oregon Timber Trail by my friend Gabriel. I packed a grocery bag full of Voile straps, my foul weather gear, a laminated local mushroom-foraging pamphlet, and prepared to step through the magic wardrobe.
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Forgotten Highways
‘Forgotten Highways’ is a film of documenting self-supported travel bike bicycle and cultural discovery set in the Whanganui District of New Zealand. The film is a journey through a challenging landscape following the historical trails to and from one of NZ’s most significant rivers (or Awa).
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Review: BINGO Components B1 Headset Spacer Gives a Lashing Point for Your Stem Caddy Bags
BINGO Components is a new company that is looking to make problem-solving products for your bike, beginning with the B1 headset spacer. These 5mm thick 6061 aluminum alloy spacers are anodized black and feature two loops to attach stem caddy-style bags.
You can run them above or below the stem and it even works with shorty MTB stems. These are made in Oregon and retail for $20 at BINGO Components.
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Pedal Through
REI‘s latest video showcases a group of female black cyclists as they embark on their first-ever bikepacking trip. Watch the premiere here with a panel discussion with the film makers after.
“Despite never having camped or ridden a bike off the pavement, Analise Cleopatra sets out to take on a week-long backcountry mountain biking adventure in Central Oregon on a journey of self healing and growth. Along with fellow beginner Dejuanae Toliver and professional mountain biker Brooklyn Bell, she discovers the joy of sleeping under the stars, the power of biking and the strength that comes with pedaling through.”
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Yeah Buddy! The Dugout Boys on the Tour Divide
Since no one is out riding the Tour Divide this year and I’m locked away in a lake house in Wisconsin, why don’t we take a trip down memory lane? Like, I found a backup of these images on my iPod kinda trip down memory lane, back to 2014 baby. This was my first proper “bikepacking” or off-road touring trip. I borrowed my dad’s 90s hybrid and put a Surly fork and some racks on it and hightailed it to Missoula after finishing my first few weeks working as a tour guide in Oregon. I met Kurt and Sam as they were working their way down the Tour Divide as the inaugural Blackburn Rangers, which I had applied for too, but didn’t get, so why not just crash their party anyway?
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Drovers
Perthshire Gravel worked on this lovely project, titled Drovers:
“Filmed on the Drovers Trail, a new 331-km-long gravel bikepacking route in Scotland, ‘Drovers’ tells the story of the ancient drove roads, an important part of Scottish history, which inspired Scotland’s greatest writers like Burns and Scott. The new video from round the world singlespeed cyclist and film-maker Markus Stitz follows him on his adventure on the route, retracing the footsteps of the cattle drovers on their journey from the Cairngorms through the Tay Valley to Crieff, which became Scotland’s most important cattle market in the end of the 17th century.”
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Nordest Cycles: Sardinha 2 Rigid MTB Frame Pre-Order
Nordest does such a great job of instilling local lore in with their brand and for their newest release, they look to Nordeste (Portugal) and an ancient occupation, held by the almocreves; austere merchants who carried their saddlebags with goods to supply the Trasmontanos from village to village. One such product they carried on were sardinhas (sardines) on the backs of pack animals. This tale has inspired the name of their new Sardinha 2 rigid MTB, a bike ideal for bikepacking. This frame can clear a 27.5 x 3.0″ or a 29″ x 2.6″ and features a steel fork. With the pre-order pricing of 532,23 € for a frameset, it’s hard to overlook. Head to Nordest Cycles for more.
