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Today, we have a conversation with the one and only Austin Killips. This year, she set a new overall record for the Arizona Trail and now a new women’s record for the Tour Divide. Spencer got the chance to ask Austin some questions as she prepared for the Colorado Trail to round out her Triple Crown. See what Austin had to reflect on and look forward to below…
This June, Meaghan Hackinen set out to compete in the Tour Divide. While no stranger to big rides or bikepacking races, this would be Meaghan’s longest off-pavement adventure yet. After a neck-and-neck race with Ana Jager, Meaghan reached Antelope Wells in a time of 15 days and 23 hours, winning the 2024 women’s division (7th overall) and setting the fastest women’s time for a grand depart.
In this reflective essay, Meaghan weaves together snapshots from her experience while exploring the invaluable but less visible support network that helped her achieve this Tour Divide win.
Supporting photographs from Seth DuBois, Alexandera Houchin, and Megan Dunn
Hot off the heels of a Tour Divide second place with Salsa rider Ana Jager, the brand announced three key updates to the popular Cutthroat touring bike. Let’s check it out below.
Tailfin R&D Division Rider Justinas Leveika recently set a new record on the grueling 2700-mile Tour Divide. If you’re curious about the journey that led to this landmark win? Check out this trailer for Tailfin‘s documentary launching this fall…
On August 4, 2022, Scarlet and her dad set out from Calgary, Canada to ride the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route. 42 days and over 2,900 miles later, they arrived at the US and Mexico border with a deeper understanding of themselves and each other. Along the way a poem was written to help a dad come to terms with the inevitable growing up of his daughter.
This summer, Lachlan Morton set out on an Individual Time Trial (ITT) on the Tour Divide. He reached the finish in Antelope Wells in 12 days 12 hours and 21 minutes, but due to the presence of a media crew his time is not officially recognized. Watch the film, The Divide, to follow his 2,671-mile journey.
In the dark hours of Sunday September 10, 2023 Lachlan Morton reached the US/Mexico border in Antelope Wells, NM at 9:24pm. According to his sponsor E.F. Education-EasyPost’s recap on Instagram, his individual time trial (ITT) on the Tour Divide Route was about pushing himself in a sustainable way and during his 12day 12hr and 21min run down the divide, he stopped to rest for 12 hours out of every 48. While it is unlikely that his ride will be counted as the official record given the presence of a media crew, it should be noted that he went nearly a day-and-a-half faster than the late-great Mike Hall (13:22:51), with neither rider going over the now-notorious Koko Claims hike-a-bike section (Lachlan being forced to reroute due to wildfires in Canada).
For framebuilders, there’s no better test for their product than a long bike tour. When I last saw Brian, he had just completed the Baja Divide on a bike he built. At the time, he had just left the outdoor industry and hoped to transition into building frames full-time under the Rare Earth Cycle Craft banner.
His hardtail was one of my favorite bikes I documented this year until I saw his Tour Divide bike…
It’s Monday. While you’re sitting at your computer, hit play on this video from Chumba Cycles on Alexandera Houchin‘s 2023 record-setting run!
In Episode 2 of the Search for ATB: Howes Divided on the 2023 Tour Divide, a lot of questions are asked. Tune in to this episode to see if any of them are answered…
What is the “Spirit of ATB?” And how/why should we catch it, assuming we want to? Those questions and more will be answered in a new series that we’ve partnered with our friends at Mythical State Of to create called The Search For ATB. A little bit Parts Unknown, a little bit Alone, a little bit Donut Media, and a little bit National Geographic, The Search For ATB will explore the people, places and things that make all-terrain culture so compelling and inspirational. And FUN. From underbiking and the art of pushing your bike, to interviews with legends and questionable infographics, The Search For ATB begins now!
Our Radar Roundup compiles products and videos from the ‘net in an easy-to-digest format. Read on below for today’s findings…
Our Radar Roundup compiles products and videos from the ‘net in an easy-to-digest format. Read on below for today’s findings…
Today we’re continuing our week of Ruta Del Jefe stories with a story about new friends, bike events, and how John stays engaged with this job over the years… Oh yeah, there’s a sweet Ti Fargo awaiting you below!
We posted part one of this video series a week or so ago and here’s part two!
Three friends bikepack 1,300 km over 3 weeks through BC and Alberta on the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route (GDMBR) and BC Trail in snow and record-breaking heatwave. Follow @Sir.Bikes.Alot on Instagram for more!
“Well, what the hell now?” I thought to myself as I stared down at my carbon fork now resting on the ground in three separate pieces. A curb-sized, unassuming jump on a wooden arch bridge outside Breckenridge had taken me down, imploding my bike with me. The front brake cable was the only thing connecting my front wheel to the rest of my bike. I had never experienced a mechanical problem like this trailside. That’s it, game over. All the planning and anticipation, just to make it halfway through the Tour Divide.
This one from Rapha and Lael is not to be missed!
“Crisscrossing the Continental Divide for 2,450 miles between Banff in the Canadian Rockies and Antelope Wells on the Mexican border, the Great Divide is one the world’s most iconic long distance mountain biking routes. On this sky high trail, there’s no such thing as a regular ride. But even by ultra cycling standards, Lael Wilcox’s history on the route is a colourful one.
In 2015, Lael raced the Tour Divide – an event that follows the route – and set a new women’s course record despite having to ride herself to an emergency room en route to deal with a persistent breathing issue. But rather than celebrating her achievement, Lael set out to better it. Just two weeks later, she rode to the start from her home in Alaska, took on the trail for a second time and lowered her own record by another day and a half.
Today, the outright course record is held by the late long-distance legend Mike Hall, whose time of 13 days 22 hours and 51 minutes has stood since 2016. Inspired by Mike’s methodical approach to managing the mileage but convinced she can beat the record, Lael is returning to the Rockies with unfinished business. In the latest episode of Rapha Gone Racing, we document her latest record attempt and follow her as she runs into issues much bigger than any bike ride.”
The beauty of bikes is in the people who ride them—and how they all have a story. I have little doubt that everyone—serious riders, aeroed and grimaced, and carefree cruisers alike—have experienced that epiphanous fresh-air feeling of freedom that accompanies spinning your legs astride two wheels. Sometimes we just enjoy it at the moment—letting the short-lived wave of release and clarity wash over us during a weeknight burrito run, or a trip to the coffee shop. Other times we chase that feeling down with the hope that, somehow, it might change our life.
What first intrigued me about Josh Uhl was, however, not his history with bikes but his podcast Here For Now, which he started in February of 2021. Josh uses this platform to have intentional and intimate conversations with his guests about motivation, struggle, and the big whys of life. Listening to an early episode with Peter Hogan, where the recovering addict asserts that “Bikes aren’t God,” and to a later episode where the writer Zoe Röm reflects on the delusion of “authenticity” on social media, I found myself frequently nodding along. Yes, exactly.
