essays

15 posts with this tag.
Digital Detox

Digital Detox

By Trina Haynes The dictionary definition of Digital Detox is: “a period of time during which a person refrains from using electronic devices such as smartphones or computers, regarded as an opportunity to reduce stress or focus on social interaction in the physical world.” Taking a break from all the digital in our life for ...


Two-Wheeled Musings

Two-Wheeled Musings

Words by Paul De Valera My bicycle is my best friend, my only true ally in this world. My bicycle will never betray me. Though it may break and throw me off into a bush or get a flat and make me push it now and again, it won’t ever work toward my undoing — ...


Essay: Ignorance is bliss

Essay: Ignorance is bliss

Words by Helena Kotala, photos by Evan Gross As someone who has been serious about riding bikes for a relatively short period of time, I still vividly remember being a beginner. Well, to be honest, I started riding bikes seriously a long time ago (around age 10 or 11), even raced a little, but then ...


It Sounded Like A Good Idea: The Beginning

It Sounded Like A Good Idea: The Beginning

Ed. Note: It Sounded Like A Good Idea is a new semi-regular column by Olympic track racer Bobby Lea and endurance mountain bike racer Ian ‘Big DiRtY’ Mullins who have teamed up with plans to race Cape Epic, Breck Epic and Leadville next year. But, this isn’t just another story about some guys going to ...


Adventure: It’s what you make of it

Adventure: It’s what you make of it

I think today more than ever, it’s easy to get caught up in the belief that our own lives are mundane. The internet constantly throws articles about traveling to far-off lands in our faces. Instagram makes it easier than ever to see a lot of beautiful people doing amazing things. Every single day, our news feeds are ...


Reset Button

Reset Button

I came really close to bailing on the ride. I felt overwhelmed with stuff to get done. It was a dreary day. I was tired. Maybe I’d just take a nap and then spend the evening at home packing for my upcoming trip, getting ahead with work, and cleaning my mess of a house. But ...


Tested: Singlespeeding

Tested: Singlespeeding

Singlespeeds aren’t rational, like eating cereal for dinner. That’s not healthy; you know better; you just can’t help it; you don’t have time to put together something more complicated or nutritional. You just want to get on with it. Cereal for dinner was an extremely rare occurrence in my childhood home and not even all ...


Essay: Trucks and bikes – dreams of the off-road

Essay: Trucks and bikes – dreams of the off-road

I finally got myself a truck. I didn’t really “need” a truck, nor does its lightweight rear end make it the most practical vehicle in snowy Colorado (doth protest my loved ones), but hauling things like fatbikes and riding gear and sometimes camping stuff and often the dog in a cramped, low-riding hatchback had proved time ...


Start slow and taper off: forest bathing on two wheels

Start slow and taper off: forest bathing on two wheels

By Rob Kristoff   The higher purpose of practicing a sport such as fly fishing, hunting, or mountain climbing is to affect a spiritual and physical gain. But if the process is compromised, there is no transformation.- Yvon Chouinard “If you’re not worried, you’re not paying attention.” It’s an old cliche, but it captures an ...


A 4.5 hour drive

A 4.5 hour drive

The first bike shop job I ever had was at a place called Rob N Charlie’s in Santa Fe, New Mexico. One of my wrenching mentors there gave me good advice when I began working on an expensive bike for the first time: “Consider the Hippocratic Oath: First, do no harm.” That advice stuck with ...


Opinion: Ride more, worry less

Opinion: Ride more, worry less

By Jeffrey Stern What do we know about even the most well thought out plans? Well, they more often than not they don’t pan out as expected. But only if you let them derail your training, fun, life or work should they cause any concern. We all want to ride 10, 15, 20 hours per ...


Opinion: Love the bike you have

Opinion: Love the bike you have

By Jeffrey Stern We’ve all experienced bike lust. You know, those days that your friend rolls up to your group’s adventure on a bike so new the chain is still silver, the hairs on the tires are still jutting out and the frame just glistens in the sun. Bike envy ensues. The questions come from ...


Essay: In pursuit of endless adventure

Essay: In pursuit of endless adventure

By Jeffrey Stern It goes without saying, but sometimes it still needs to be said: we’re lucky. Much of the United States offers an undeniably unique opportunity for people of all types, abilities and with varied interests to get outside and play outdoors. Whether it be aboard a bike, on foot, hanging from a rope ...


Essay: The joy of mountain biking with your dog

Essay: The joy of mountain biking with your dog

By Jeffrey Stern Climbing the steep pitches, he’s faster than me. Four-wheel (er, leg) drive naturally makes it easier. When the trail flattens and turns into flowy singletrack, we’re about dead even; it’s as if I’m riding with someone who has the same climbing skills as me. When it comes to the technical, ripping downhills, ...


Connecting and converting: Finding balance in a busy world

Connecting and converting: Finding balance in a busy world

By Jeffrey Stern We all know them, those friends that appreciate the convenience and simplicity of integrating more bike riding into their daily lives, but rarely do it. Why? It’s hard to put a finger on one reason why and pin it down as the end all, be all for all of our once in-shape ...




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