Ride Adventures

Editor’s note: Readers Write is a collection of essays and fiction written by readers. Have something you’d like to submit? Send it [email protected].

by Jim Murren

The Mountain Bikers Liberation Front (MTBLF) says to the bosses of the world, “there are days in this life that the trail calls us in such a way that we are not able to resist.” We do not say that out loud to them, but rather we say, “I am sick and will not be in to work today.”

Editor’s note: Readers Write is a showcase of essays and stories from readers just like you who want to share their experience. If you have something you’d like us to consider publishing, please send it to [email protected].

by W. K. Medlen, Huntsville Alabama

By Scott Berelson

Words by Jeff Potter

Photos by Tim Potter

Cross-country skiing is a great way to stay in shape in the off-season. Groomed ski courses let you flow the terrain like a magic carpet of corduroy and grooves. But, as an added inticement, with today’s new equipment you can also ski the very same trails you love to ride. And after you get the hang of it you’ll even find that the ski rhythm is similar to biking. Then no more will you whine when deep snow flies!

Editor’s note: We love to hear from readers who want to share their story with others. Got something you think Dirt Rag readers would be into? Send it to [email protected].

By John Frachella

By Adam Newman

You read that right. My productivity for the day stopped dead in its tracks when I found out about this brilliantly mad concoction. If you’ve ever dipped your french fries in your Frosty (and who hasn’t?) you already know the delicious combination of salty and sweet that Burger King is going for here. 

Randonneuring is long-distance, unsupported, noncompetitive cycling within prescribed time limits. The events—called brevets—are 200km (13.5 hour time cut-off ), 300km (20 hours), 400km (27 hours), 600km (40 hours), and 1000km (75 hours). Grand Randonnées are 1200km and riders must finish in 90 hours or less.

We love hearing from readers, especially readers who are as passionate about mountain biking as we are. Alexis, 13, of Biddeford, Maine, sent us this poem that beautifully summarizes why we do what we do. Thanks Alexis.

The author, lugging the ever-present load of camera gear, with Adam Craig looking on.

By Adam Newman. Photos by Adam Newman A. E. Landes Photography.

By Joel Kostelac.

A few weeks ago I celebrated my birthday. It was a great week and day and probably fairly typical as birthdays go. I worked, enjoyed time with my family, and even managed to squeak in a ride at Allegrippis. I am thankful everyday that I can do so.

Ten years ago I celebrated my 28th birthday a bit differently in a small southern Iraqi city named As Samawah. It is a small city straddled over a key supply line to Baghdad and home to an important bridge over the Euphrates River.

By Stephan "Geronimo" Kincaid.

Over two recent weekends I rode in two different events, the Hell of Hunterdon and the Monkey Knife Fight.

Neither of these are "races", but there are some people that will "race." It’s no bother to me. What matters most is we all are safe and have a great ride. Both of these rides accomplish this handily.

By Vicki Barclay

Approaching a big race like the Trans-Sylvania Epic, people always ask, “How you are feeling?” and “Are you ready?” I always find it a funny question to answer! The same way as when someone asks how a job interview went, men tend to answer with confidence, I have noticed, whereas females tend to be more coy and careful. I prefer the coy and careful approach.

Editor’s note: Each year Dirt Rag solicits readers’ fiction, essays and poetry in our annual Literature Contest. In Issue #182 of Dirt Rag you’ll find the winner of our 2014 Literature Contest, but we received many submissions worth sharing, so we will be posting some of the finalists here over the next few weeks. We hope ...

Editor’s note: Each year Dirt Rag solicits readers’ fiction, essays and poetry in our annual Literature Contest. In Issue #182 of Dirt Rag you’ll find the winner of our 2014 Literature Contest, but we received many submissions worth sharing, so we will be posting some of the finalists here over the next few weeks. We hope ...

Editor’s note: Each year Dirt Rag solicits readers’ fiction, essays and poetry in our annual Literature Contest. In Issue #182 of Dirt Rag you’ll find the winner of our 2014 Literature Contest, but we received many submissions worth sharing, so we will be posting some of the finalists here over the next few weeks. We hope ...

Editor’s note: Each year Dirt Rag solicits readers’ fiction, essays and poetry in our annual Literature Contest. In Issue #182 of Dirt Rag you’ll find the winner of our 2014 Literature Contest, but we received many submissions worth sharing, so we will be posting some of the finalists here over the next few weeks. We hope ...

Editor’s note: Each year Dirt Rag solicits readers’ fiction, essays and poetry in our annual Literature Contest. In Issue #182 of Dirt Rag you’ll find the winner of our 2014 Literature Contest, but we received many submissions worth sharing, so we will be posting some of the finalists here over the next few weeks. We hope ...

Editor’s note: Each year Dirt Rag solicits readers’ fiction, essays and poetry in our annual Literature Contest. In Issue #182 of Dirt Rag you’ll find the winner of our 2014 Literature Contest, but we received many submissions worth sharing, so we will be posting some of the finalists here over the next few weeks. We hope ...

Editor’s note: We love hearing stories from our readers, so if you have an experience you’d like to share, send it to [email protected] with “Readers Write” as the subject line.  Words and photos by Rob Whelan This is a story about three dudes from the flat city of Kingston, Ontario. A story about riding bikes with ...

Editor’s Note: Readers Write is an occasional feature of reader-submitted stories. Do you have a story you’d like to share? Send it to [email protected]. [wonderplugin_gallery id=”46″] By James Murren Halcyon is a kingfisher. It is also a fabled bird that had supernatural powers to calm the sea and turn the sky blue so that it ...

Words and photos by James Murren Feature story from Issue #182 The Cuyamacas My bike leans against a tree as I walk in cleated shoes through the green spring grasses in the direction of granite slabs slightly visible from the trail. Remembering a group of picnicking students that had piqued my interest during a previous ...

Words: Hans Rey Photos: Stefan Voitl A young man, 18-year-old Kevin, stood on a dusty street corner on the outskirts of Antigua, Guatemala, waiting for us. Two years ago he received a bicycle from Wheels 4 Life through his school, “Escuela Proyecto La Esperanza,” which was founded and is run by a UK-based charity. When we found ...

With apologies to Bill Bryson.  I come from San Antonio. Somebody had to. There are generally two types of people born in San Antonio: those who can’t imagine leaving, and those who can’t wait to. Raised by two Midwesterners who often seem bewildered as to how they ended up as residents of the Lone Star State in ...

Words: Mary Dishman Photos: Adrian Marcoux Trails are the basis of everything in mountain biking. They’re the arteries that flow life into every ride. They’re the blank canvas, the empty sheet. They’re the beginning, middle and end of every mountain bike story. Whether beaten into submission by machines, carefully sculpted with blistered hands and simple ...

Words and photos: Zach White Originally published in Issue #190 When I was a kid, my great-grandmother’s humble backyard was my favorite place in the world. It couldn’t have been more than 1,000 square feet, yet within that confinement was a separate little area behind the broadside of a detached garage with a massive wall ...

Words: Brice Shirbach Photos: Abram Eric Landes Originally published in Issue #189 Growing up, I’d often sit and stare at it. My obsession began the moment my family moved to Emmitsburg, Maryland. I was 7 years old and we piled into a single-story rancher a mile and a half down the road from town square. ...

Words and photos: Montana Miller Originally published in Issue #191 My back just went numb, right between the shoulder blades. Which actually feels a lot better than the shooting pain I had a few minutes ago. I hike slowly next to my bike; hopefully I can make the top of this pass before sunset. I’m ...

Words and photos: James Murren Originally published in Issue #191 Shakedown in the Storm The evening light wanes, but we ride on into it. Carlos’ German shepherds weave and dart between our bikes, never dragging tail. I am on a shake-down ride in preparation for the big one coming up two days from now. Singletrack ...

Words by Eric Porter. Photos by Scott Markewitz. This story originally appeared in Dirt Rag #186. “Pull over! It’s burrito time!” snarled Scott as he reached his breaking point. Throughout our entire time in Ecuador, he had been carrying a bag of tortillas and a can of refried beans that he brought from the U.S. ...

Words by William O’Connor, photos by Michal Dzikowski This story begins at my house, in a small village in the west of Ireland where bank holiday weekend biking plans are being made. My usual plan involves packing a van, a motorway dash, service station food and a late night drive home. Our rule of thumb ...

Words by Scott Williams Frozen Fat is a fat-bike-only weekend held in Huntingdon, PA, or more simply, Central Pennsylvania. As evident as it may appear from the event title, I would be willing to bet there are quite a few individuals who ask, “Do I need a fat bike?” The short answer is no, but ...

Words by Jeffrey Stern No longer a fad, but a full blown discipline covering a wide range of mixed surfaces such as dirt, sand, pothole-littered pavement, grass and of course, gravel. Events are springing up across the country featuring long courses, winding through relatively untraveled roads in the most remote corners of states. Gravel grinding, ...

Mulberry Gap Mountain Bike Get-A-Way lies in the Chattahoochee National Forest within northwest Georgia. It was initially built as a family retreat, but when the current owners stumbled upon the property they had to take a closer look. Once the tour was given, there was no turning back. They purchased the land in fall of ...

The National Ultra Endurance (NUE) series is dedicated to 100 mile and 100 kilometer mountain bike racing. With over a dozen races across the United States and a newly added race in Costa Rica, both professional and amateur athletes alike have been chasing the series title since its birth in 2006. For 2017, the NUE ...

Words by Jeffrey Stern. Photos via blackriver.  On a brisk spring morning we navigated our rental van from Chicago to Madison in search of the best charcuterie we could find, rolling country farm roads and more information on the mythical blackriver—the ultimate place to create, find and share cycling experiences, or so we’d heard. We ...

Words by Mike Cushionbury. Photos by Sterling Lorence. As I trudged up a 45-minute hike-a-bike, less than 1 mile into the “ride” I looked back at Giant Factory racer Adam Craig and sarcastically said, “This is awesome.” Shortly after that I pulled to the left and let him pass. We were less than an hour ...

Ed. Note: Mountain Bike Trailer Park is a regular column written by Uncle Dan that appears monthly on the Dirt Rag Interwebs. If you missed his previous columns, check them out here.  My wife grumbles as the alarm sounds. It’s Saturday and she wants to sleep a little longer. She rolls away on her side ...

Eric Porter has spent 15 years traveling the world in search of beautiful trails. But his favorite spot is Alaska, and he’s returned to ride a ridgeline that has been on his mind since his last visit. After waiting for storms to pass for days, a break in the weather finally allowed Porter to hike-a-bike ...

Trail Boss is a video series produced by Jeff Lenosky and documents his attempts to ride some of the most technical trails he can find. A veteran rider with a 20-year professional career and three Observed Trials U.S. National Championships to his name, Lenosky uses his skills to ride the unrideable. In Jeff’s latest episode ...

Words by Russ Risdon When I think of Valdez, I visualize steep, backcountry lines accessed by Heli drop for snowboarders and skiers. It is on the top of every adrenaline junkie’s tick list. When I received an email inviting me to come to a festival and ride those same infamous passes on a fat bike, ...

Words by Jeffrey Stern, photos courtesy of Eroica California Passing over rolling hill after rolling hill, surrounded by lush vineyards and old barns with signing birds, wispy clouds and blue skies you’d think you were in the famed Tuscan region of Italy. But no, you’re actually right here in the lower 48, the Central Coast ...

The “Tutti Frutti Epic” MTB Tour is a one-day bucket list ride that includes most of the new and existing trails at the Carosello 3000 Mountain Park in the resort town of Livigno in the Italian Alps. The 45km tour feels like an endless rollercoaster. It includes only a few hundred meters of uphill pedaling, since ...

Words and photos by Brian Leddy  High in the pines of northeastern Arizona lie 200-plus miles of sweet singletrack. Traversing the rocky, volcanic slopes of the White Mountains, the trails flow through ponderosa pine forests and high mountain meadows. If you’re looking for a place to get away from it all, this is a great ...

Words and photos by Rob Korotky It’s Oct. 21, 2016, and a beautiful autumn morning in Marin County, California. A group of 12 guys with their bikes mill around under a canopy of trees at the end of a dirt fire road in the hills above Fairfax. A few minutes ago, the last rider skidded ...

Words and photos by Leslie Kehmeier. Originally published in Dirt Rag 193.  Road trips have become a regular part of my work routine as I seek out mountain bike stories across the country. Over the last few years I’ve crisscrossed many states north and south, coast to coast, visiting both the renowned as well as ...

There was a hint of skepticism on my guides’ faces as we stood in the parking lot and they looked all 5’3″ of me up and down, no doubt trying to decide if it was going to be a mistake taking me on this ride. “What’s your overall skill level? What’s the longest ride on ...

When you express to a co-worker or family member that you signed up for the Trans-Sylvania Epic mountain bike stage race you’ll likely be greeted with an interesting response, and rightfully so. You want to do a what? On your pedal bike? You’re going to do this for how many days? The conversation continues but ...

In summer 2016, five friends traverse a large swath of southern Alaska by sea kayak, fat-bike, and packraft. Through interviews and footage, shot underway, the adventurers share their experiences and reflections about their journey. Traversing wild landscapes by human-power isn’t a quest to achieve enlightenment. You might, but that’s not the point. Counteracting a cresting ...

Words by Anthony Duncan, photos by Jesse Cheers I’ve always been vaguely aware of bear protocol when out in the wild. I say “vaguely” because my bear knowledge has never really been tested … until recently. Here’s the scenario: It’s roughly 3 a.m. and I’m wide awake in a hammock after a nearly 50-mile day ...

Words by Kurt Gensheimer, photos by James Adamson  California is home to nearly 40 million people. With constant urban and suburban sprawl, it’s a state where change and “progress” is inevitable. But there is a corner of California called the Lost Sierra that hasn’t changed much since the 1849 Gold Rush. Plumas and Sierra counties ...

By Maureen Gaffney  Clouds indistinguishable from 50’s-style UFOs marched past, a sleek and silent armada against a blue background. Red, pink and sand-hued rock formations towered, bulgy and swirling in the wavy heat. Any vegetation in this stern expanse looked ready for a fight, scrappy little dukes raised skyward, each fist or finger equipped with ...

Words by Andreas Hestler, photos by Dave Silver Last time I went bikepacking it was with a 50-pound backpack while smashing my personal undercarriage to smithereens on the saddle! It was tough (maybe we were just tougher then), and it gave me reason to pause whenever considering a repeat. Fast-forward a few years, the equipment ...

Trail Boss is a video series produced by Jeff Lenosky and documents his attempts to ride some of the most technical trails he can find. A veteran rider with a 20-year professional career and three Observed Trials U.S. National Championships to his name, Lenosky uses his skills to ride the unrideable. Check out all the ...

By James Murren We woke inside our tents under a cloudy, early morning sky. Knowing we had a hard ride in front of us and unsure of what the trail conditions would be like on this backcountry route, we welcomed the cover from the sun. The Fiske Peak loop, in California’s new Berryessa Snow Mountain ...

Kona Gravity team rider Graham Agassiz and Kona Canada’s resident fishing enthusiast Matt Stevens head out to do some fly fishing in British Columbia on the new Kona Remote. What are your thoughts on e-bikes for applications like bikepacking? Let us know in the comments!

Follow high school senior and Canfield Brothers rider Lorin Whitaker on his final cross-country race of his high school mountain bike racing career and for a run down the infamous King Kong freeride line in the Utah desert.

I attended the inaugural Keystone Gravel on a whim last year and I’ll forever be glad I did. It was the day before I needed to get on a plane to head to my first Interbike and I still needed to pack, but it turned out that all the rushing around was worth it. My ...

By Peth Puliti  It’s too early to be awake, but I’m too cold to sleep. I attempt the fetal position in the tight quarters of my sleeping bag, but wince in pain when my weight shifts to my hip bone. Last night was the second spent camped out in the shell of an outbuilding on ...

By Montana Miller “We’re going to San Felipe. On a bike tour,” I say to the Mexican border guard, nodding toward my dusty bike. We’re going a lot farther than that, but I’m hoping our first stop sounds more believable. “San Felipe? On bicycle? No.” He looks at me like I’d just told him I ...

By Carmen Freeman-Rey Chances are that in the past, if you had heard of Tasmania, it was for one or maybe all of the following reasons: It’s a decent-sized island 150 miles off the big island of Australia; there is a tough little creature that lives only there called the Tasmanian devil, immortalized by the Looney ...

Words and photos by Myke McNoldy  “Koan ˈkōän/ noun a paradoxical anecdote or riddle, used in Zen Buddhism to demonstrate the inadequacy of logical reasoning and to provoke enlightenment.” A sandy recollection of images, craggy peaks and rocky singletrack. Jeep roads. Horse flies. The sound of rushing water. Tires crunching against ageless sediment. The trail ...

“A bike ride fixes everything;” that is a statement that is pretty much completely true. Look, I know if you have a broken leg or a blown out knee and you are reading this you’ll quickly disagree, and I don’t blame you. First, you are right; bike riding will not miraculously mend your broken bones ...

The only thing better than a big day of riding is a big day of riding on new trails. My husband and I, and our friend Ryan, marinated on this thought as we left in the pre-dawn cold to drive an hour and a half southeast, towards unexplored (by us) territory. We sipped coffee as ...

North of Nightfall follows freeride mountain bikers Darren Berrecloth and Cam Zink as they ride alongside up-and-comers Carson Storch and Tom van Steenbergen on an expedition to the top of the world. The full film is presented by Red Bull Media House and will be released in Spring 2018. From Red Bull Media House: Tucked within ...

  Traveling around the world is one of the greatest pursuits mountain biking can afford. Many riders often crunch numbers in order to make the most of their limited free time, utilizing the precious vacation days for a trip in some far off land, where the loam can smack you in the back of the ...

France isn’t just home to good cheese and great wine. It’s got its share of amazing riding too. Follow Kona riders Jordan Regnier and Alexander Kangas on a journey to the Tignes and Val D’ Isere bike parks in the French Alps this past September.

Remember that feeling of freedom when you were a kid on your bike? Your little world expanded from your driveway to your street to your entire neighborhood. If you were curious enough to explore off-road you probably had adventures skidding through the fallen leaves, smashing through puddles, and jumping whatever was in your path. Follow ...

There’s a common saying that life is like a wave and our existence is essentially surfing whatever kind of water comes our way. Metaphorically, there may not be a better way to justify the ebbs and flows of good and bad that everyone undoubtedly experiences. What sets certain people apart though, is their ability to ...

Ride of the Dead takes us into the world of the Mexican mountain bike culture during the famous annual celebration known as Dia De Los Muertos. This film follows Oaxacan-born-and-raised rider and trail builder Yefra Ram through some of Mexico’s best mountain bike trails as he honors the passing of loved ones and competes in ...

Words by Kurt Refsnider, photos by Kurt Refsnider and Kaitlyn Boyle I stood chatting with my friend and trail advocate Tom Riggenbach on the sidewalk in front of a plaza in the Navajo community of Cameron, Arizona. This town, built upon a treeless landscape of colorful rock between the Painted Desert and the Grand Canyon, ...

By Jon Marsden The rain had flashed on and off like a yellow amber in a midnight town since about two-thirty that afternoon and the subject matter in my middle school science classroom was a perfect match for the melancholy weather. This had been a day filled with bloodletting and bone saws and I often ...

I have a certain fascination with and interest in exploring abandoned manmade things. There’s a surrealness that comes with being in a place that is in between urban and wild, developed and natural. Rusty metal, crumbling concrete, smashed windows. The ruin, decay, and nature taking over, perhaps as it should have been all along. I love to wander ...

Words by Emma Rehm, photos by Mike Q Roth  Since I finished riding the Baja Divide — 1400 miles of dirt and sand from San Diego, CA to La Paz, Baja California Sur — I’ve been waiting for its lessons to reveal themselves to me. Some are obvious: Don’t be in a hurry. See what ...

By Ange Gagnon I’ve heard about the Ride Like a Girl at the Wheel Mill for a few years,but this was the first year that I actually had the nerve to pursue it. After years as a bike commuter, I’ve decided that this is my year to learn how to mountain bike. Of course, I ...

While my home in Pennsylvania was experiencing a February heat wave (temps in the 60s!), I woke up just before dawn on the first morning of Frostbike and looked at my phone to see that the temperature was exactly zero degrees. Part of me said that staying in bed an extra hour was a fine ...

Access to our remote backcountry trails aboard a mountain bike is becoming more and more challenging. Ride along on the Fun/Suffer Divide with Chris Shalbot, Scott Rinckenberger and Justin Olsen as the trio discovers a stretch of the Continental Divide Trail between Montana and Idaho in the hopes of shedding some light on this beautiful ...

A Scottish and a Swiss mountain biker meet on a trail… What seems to be the beginning of a lame joke is actually the beginning of a magnificent encounter. You can see what actually happens when mountain bike pros Danny MacAskill and Claudio Caluori meet up in Graubünden, Switzerland, in the new video “Home of ...

Patagón is a new short film from Montanus that shares a bike and packraft adventure in a remote area of Southern Patagonia, where, between the Austral Andes and the huge glacial lakes, the traditional Argentine culture of the gauchos still survives. The endless and arid steppe, the wonderful and jagged peaks of the Andes, the ...

Words by Emma H. Rehm, photos by Mike Q. Roth On the Baja Divide (1,400 miles of dirt and sand down the Baja peninsula in Mexico), my crew was routinely teased by other riders for being so organized. Spreadsheets! Lists! Itineraries! But we love those parts. We love the skill building, the dry runs, the ...

By Robert May (the fatbike guy) We’ve been on our bikes for hours now with the daunting realization that we are nowhere near the end of this journey and will spend days, not hours, out here in George Washington National Forest. Despite the calendar saying it’s April 7th, it has been snowing for hours now ...

In the Fall of 2016, mountain bike legend and mountain bike hall of famer Hans “No Way” Rey teamed up with internet action sports phenom Danny Macaskill and professional mountain bike guide Gerhard Czerner to raise awareness for Rey’s non-profit Wheels 4 Life. Macaskill famous for viral mountain bike videos Wee Day Out and Imaginate ...

Trail Boss is a video series produced by Jeff Lenosky and documents his attempts to ride some of the most technical trails he can find. A veteran rider with a 20-year professional career and three Observed Trials U.S. National Championships to his name, Lenosky uses his skills to ride the unrideable. Check out all the ...

Words and Photos by Andrea Wilson I hail originally from the hot, flat realm of Memphis, Tennessee. I moved to the Colorado Front Range almost three years ago, and I’ve been obsessed with finding all of the nooks and crannies of the mountains ever since. When I realized that the population density of the Denver ...

Since Halloween, I have been fundraising for AIDS/LifeCycle to earn my spot riding with roughly 2,200 other cyclists and 500 volunteers from San Francisco to Los Angeles. The ride brings awareness to the streets of California and our internet communities; the funds bring needed financial support to organizations who provide education, community, and medical access ...

Words and Photos by Andrea Wilson I hail originally from the hot, flat realm of Memphis, Tennessee. I moved to the Colorado Front Range almost three years ago, and I’ve been obsessed with finding all of the nooks and crannies of the mountains ever since. When I realized that the population density of the Denver ...

by Cassidy Randall photos by Lisa Sumire Ankeny The early morning sun cut through the alpine chill as we assembled with our bikes at the remote backcountry trailhead. We double-checked our gear and sorted through food as the shadows retreated up Sol Mountain, preparing to head out on the heralded new Caribou Pass trail deep in ...

by Colleen O’Neil A recent Facebook ad read: “Ready for Adventure! 1978 Minnie Winnie Camper $4900” It was a real classy remodel: white with blue and brown stripes, a bright new coat of interior paint over the original particle board walls, some amateur woodworking, and a few tasteful decorative accents à la Target. “This Minnie ...

by Jen Rose Smith In Huaraz, Peru, local athletes don’t really have a place to swim—the town’s river is clogged with trash, and nearby mountain lakes are glacially cold—but they’ve got easy access to the Cordillera Blanca and the Cordillera Negra, a matched set of mountain ranges that rear up in the country’s northern Andes. ...

By Emma Walker If you’re coming from the Front Range, Del Norte is on the way to big-name destinations—Wolf Creek, Pagosa Springs, Durango—but blink, and you might miss it. It was hard to believe, as I circled my truck around the block to pull in at the historic Windsor Hotel, that this was the place ...

Words and Photos by Leslie Kehmeier “Time doesn’t really matter now – we just talk about lunch time, dinner time…” says Beth Roberts. Her tone is soothing. Beth is a guide for Rim Tours, a mountain bike outfitter based in Moab, Utah. She’s leading us on a section of the Arizona Trail on the north ...

Last weekend, I took a scenic drive up to Montpelier, Vermont to check out the unassuming state capitol and spend three days pedaling along dirt roads and single track with a group of Women, Transgender people, Femme-identifying individuals and non-binary folks (WTFs), coordinated by WTF Bikexplorers. I spent a night stealth camping in a bivy ...

Words and Photos by Andrea Wilson I hail originally from the hot, flat realm of Memphis, Tennessee. I moved to the Colorado Front Range almost three years ago, and I’ve been obsessed with finding all of the nooks and crannies of the mountains ever since. When I realized that the population density of the Denver ...

Words and Photos by Andrea Wilson I hail originally from the hot, flat realm of Memphis, Tennessee. I moved to the Colorado Front Range almost three years ago, and I’ve been obsessed with finding all of the nooks and crannies of the mountains ever since. When I realized that the population density of the Denver ...

Words and Photos by Andrea Wilson I hail originally from the hot, flat realm of Memphis, Tennessee. I moved to the Colorado Front Range almost three years ago, and I’ve been obsessed with finding all of the nooks and crannies of the mountains ever since. When I realized that the population density of the Denver ...

Editor’s note: In excitement for our upcoming issue on Making Do, in your mailboxes and select storefronts soon, here is a story from contributing writer Bryan Chambala on his quest to finish the Green Mountain Gravel Growler. For more stories like this, subscribe now to Dirt Rag by clicking this link, to ensure speedy delivery ...

Words & Photos by Josh Woodward Situated in a small suburban neighborhood, behind a high school in the heart of Silicon Valley’s sprawl of tech giants and venture capitalists, lies a patch of dirt so steep the property developer who bought it couldn’t get permission to build anything of value. So it sat. For years. ...

We’ll just put it out there: Iceland is really affordable to fly to from the United States at the moment, especially from the East Coast. Maybe it’s time to abandon the idea of a warm getaway and go headfirst into the wintry wonderland. Though, we gotta say, from the looks of this video, it looks like ...

Words and Photos by Kristin Winet The front entrance to the welcome center is not entirely legible, because years of snow and harsh Idaho winters have rubbed the black paint into a faint gray. The tip-off that we’ve made it here is the parking lot, which is full of cars and trucks and tourists, many—but not ...

I have a certain fascination with and interest in exploring abandoned manmade things. There’s a surrealness that comes with being in a place that is in between urban and wild, developed and natural. Rusty metal, crumbling concrete, smashed windows. The ruin, decay, and nature taking over, perhaps as it should have been all along. I love to wander ...

A few years back a good friend and I took a trip down Highway 1. Our trip started in the Bay Area, and we beelined it for the coast on our first proper morning of the journey. With our backpacks and camping gear stuffed in the back of a cherry red Chevy Cruze (RIP) we ...

The sun blasted its way through the large plate glass window of Java on Fourth and straight into my face. I shoveled an omelet down as quickly as I could between intervals of coffee and water. I searched for any excuse I could think of, “I haven’t packed my bags quite yet.” “I have to ...

The trails of Big Bear West Virginia hold a special place in the heart of Dirt Rag. Our annual mountain bike festival has taken place there during the month of July over the last three summers and we are already looking forward to the 2020 event. Besides being our partners in Dirt Fest, Big Bear ...

Editors Note: I have to be honest, I was digging through the back catalog of Dirt Rag’s searching for a ghost story, something Halloween related when I stumbled upon Watts’ “Vanzig” story from a few years back. While not a spooky story per se, it is a story I quite enjoyed. So while we are ...

The annual Tour Divide event has become almost a right of passage for the bikepacking enthusiast. The route, taking riders from Canada to Mexico through the heart of the Rocky Mountains is a grueling and taxing ride at even a casual pace.  This year Lael Wilcox set out to break records, and while weather and ...

Road-Trip Objective: Explore the northern Canadian territory known as Yukon. See, bike and experience its rarely spoken-of bike culture. Hosting more trails than the total population of riders, this remote location supports a thriving bike world thanks to an abundantly passionate community and a supportive history. We were positive that the people and the trails ...

“Just don’t look them in the eyes.” This was the most memorable moment from my last trip to Portugal in 2008. My husband Chris was staring at a plate of sardines that had just landed in front of him. His vision redirected quickly to anything else on the table once the waitperson gave his advice. ...

One of my riding companions has a shit-eating grin—quite literally. We’re descending Mill Creek, just outside Grand Targhee Bike Park on the west side of the Tetons. This is very much cattle country; reports on Trail Forks reference dung rather than dust (“no cow shit today”). But when the riding is this good—the flipbook-fast flash ...

My friend and her husband were planning a trip to visit his mama in Russia, and they were considering a stop in Switzerland for a five-day mountain biking tour to break up the trip. “Would you all want to go, too?” she asked her girl posse on a ride. “Um, let me think about it. ...

Fat  Tire,  a poem submitted  by  Barry  Oblas  of  Phoenix,  AZ: Dialed  into  my  Barracuda Cruising  in  the  sage Hanging  on  for  dear  life Wondering…why  don’t  I  act my  age? For  I’m  feeling  like  a  kid Popping  like  some  corn Out  in  desert  singletrack In  early  summer  morn Gulping  on  my  Camelback Squeezing  down  some  ...

I’ve got to stop watching television. It just gets me into trouble. Not that I didn’t have an excellent excuse to be watching it the other day. Yes, an excellent excuse indeed. All I wanted to do was get in an hour’s worth of spinning on my stationary trainer. That’s all. Just a little workout, ...