events

After seven years of annual Dirt Fests at the Allegrippis Trails in Pennsylvania, we hosted our first Dirt Fest West Virginia at Big Bear Trail Center this past July 14-16, and we’re happy to report that it was a rousing success! Big Bear Lake Trail Center proved to be the perfect venue for the event, with ...

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. Chuck, Bill, and I laughed as I cracked my first cold, foamy, and sweetly malted can of America. I had just arrived at Big ...

By Stevil Kinevil  The year was 2007. One person or another asked me if I’d planned on attending the first-ever Singlespeed Cyclocross World Championships, which were to be held a few weeks later in Portland, Oregon. Having been in the trenches both organizing and racing in some of the first Singlespeed World Championships of the ...

I often say that I don’t really race. I do a few events a year, but I usually would much rather go on a big group ride with friends than spend the day trying to ride faster than other people. That being said, I have had a lot of fun at every race I’ve ever ...

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 ...

Words and photos by Jarrod Bunk Dirt Fest is a bit of a homecoming for me each year. I don’t get to see or ride with friends who are relatively close to me throughout the year, because, bike shop life, so I get to typically catch up as well as ride some fresh new bikes. ...

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 ...

The number of companies making kid-specific bikes is continuously growing. Rather than simply seeing smaller (yet heavy) versions of adult bikes with cheap components, we are starting to notice a movement towards high quality rigs for kids. There were several new brands and models at Sea Otter this year. Prevelo Prevelo launched just two weeks before ...

It’s no secret that drop bar gravel riding and racing is hitting its stride and that’s even more apparent by the influx of custom bikes popping up within the bike industry. While most if not all production versions resemble cyclocross bikes rather than mountain bikes, clever insiders are pushing the concept of making custom, more ...

The Sea Otter Classic is more than just a mecca for bikes. Going out and finding those non-bike items is one of my personal goals. DRINKTANKS offers two sizes of growlers; a 64oz and a 128oz. They are double wall insulated, come in multiple color choices and they offer a Keg Cap Accessory Kit. The kit comes with a ...

Dirt Rag is headed to the West Virginia Mountain Bike Association (WVMBA) cross-country and enduro events at Big Bear Lake Trail Center on April 29-30, 2017. The Big Bear trails are staff favorites, and we can’t wait to kick off Big Bear’s 2017 season in style. We’ll be sending our fast kids out to race cross-country ...

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 ...

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, ...

Funk Cycles was born in 1988 as the brainchild of Darryl Funk, whose passion lies in rethinking the status quo and creating bikes that are outside of the box. Starting out in aluminum when most of the industry was still using exclusively steel, and then moving on to titanium, Funk’s flagship design deviates from the norm ...

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 ...

The series kicks off July 15-16 at Angel Fire Resort in Angel Fire, NM; travels to Powderhorn Mountain Resort outside of Grand Junction, Colo. August 5-6; features new, never-raced trails in Steamboat Springs (Enduro-X) September 9-10; and wraps up the season with the two biggest backcountry enduros of the year—The Whole Enchilada in Moab, Utah ...

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 ...

Liv Cycling is inviting female riders to enjoy an exclusive trail session alongside their athletes and ambassadors as they take over one of Skyline Rotorua’s most-exciting trails during Crankworx. Following the success of the A-Line Women’s Only Session held annually at Crankworx Whistler, Liv is expanding the Women’s Only Session across the globe. From 9:00am ...

Hello from Salt Lake City! We’re here at the North American Handmade Bicycle Show, checking out some highly unique and interesting bikes and bike-related things from builders around the country and world. This is personally my first time at the show, but it’s been one that I’ve been hearing about for the past several years. ...

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 ...

This new event will take place at Big Bear Lake Trail Center, near Bruceton Mills, WV, July 14-16, 2017. Pivot Cycles is very excited to be such a big part of yet another big east-coast event. Carla McCord, Marketing Manager of Pivot, says it’s great to see more and more events like this pop up in the east, ...

Dirt Rag Dirt Fest Pennsylvania has a renewed focus on getting new riders into the sport of mountain biking, and we are very happy to once again partner with SRAM, who have been a huge supporter of women’s events in previous years. Leigh Donovan and her team at ichoosebikes will also be returning to teach women’s-specific skills ...

The Sun Valley Bike Festival will be taking place June 29-July 2 in Sun Valley, Idaho. It’s a celebration of life on two wheels, including races, group rides, clinics, and demos. There will also be live music and plenty to do in town during the festival. Sun Valley boasts over 400 miles of singletrack, including some ...

For its eighth year, the event will be returning to its original location, Bear Creek Lake Park in Lakewood, Colorado. The main highlight of the weekend is a women’s-only race that caters to every skill and experience level, from pro racers to those who have never tried a race before. But this weekend is not only ...

This May, Dirt Rag Dirt Fest will be celebrating its eighth year, and Pivot Cycles will be returning for its third year as presenting sponsor. “Dirt Fest is an amazing weekend that truly offers the best in good vibes and great trails. It’s a can’t-miss event!” says Carla McCord, Marketing Manager of Pivot. “We are ...

The mission of the LadiesAllRide program is to grow the presence of women in mountain bike communities across the nation (and world) through fun, educational skills camps. Bringing ladies together to enhance their mountain bike skills also helps them use riding as a tool to enhance their lives. As Director of Inspiration for LadiesAllRide, Lindsey ...

It was an amazing adventure to a historic land littered with scenic trails, long climbs and high-speed descents. A holy land that hosts one of the best three-day mountain bike stage races I’ve ever done. Yet it almost didn’t happen. In early 2014, I received an invite to attend the Epic Israel. While some questioned ...

In October 2016 Rotating Mass Media announced the hiring of Evan Gross as Events Coordinator. Gross, along with the rest of the RMM staff, has been busy expanding the events lineup for 2017. Dirt Fest Pennsylvania Presented by Pivot Cycles will take place at Raystown Lake on May 18-21, 2017, welcoming festival goers on Thursday—a ...

Originally launched in 2013, the VIDA MTB Series has evolved into, “a full-fledged movement of women who are shifting the paradigm of what it means to be a female rider.” Taking place in and around the Rockies, the VIDA MTB Series provides clinics that focus on just about every aspect of mountain biking, from skills ...

All of the handmade, drool-worthy bicycles are back for another year when the North American Handmade Bicycle Show drops the curtain at the Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City March 10th through the 12th. In its 13th year, NAHBS is the show to attend if you want to look at (and maybe even ...

The Dirty Kanza 200 is known as one of the first endurance gravel races in the world. It’s also known as one of the most challenging. Sending competitors out on the rugged, remote and soul-crushing dirt and gravel roads through the Flint Hills region of Kansas, the Dirty Kanza sells out all of its racer ...

Like any good event, TSEpic is evolving, and for the better. Last year the event moved from seven days to five, making it much more manageable for those with limited vacation days. In 2017 the race will run over the Memorial Day weekend. TSEpic says: “You should be the first to know we’re shaking things up ...

For more than a decade, IMBA has hosted Take a Kid Mountain Biking Day in October. This year, for the first time, it has added a spring event on June 11. You’re invited to register a ride, sign up for an existing one, or simply spend the day enjoying dirt on two wheels with the kid(s) ...

Multi-time U.S. Cross-County National Champions Ned Overend and Todd Wells are reuniting for the second annual Todd & Ned’s Durango Dirt Fondo presented by Fort Lewis College. Limited to 500 spots, riders will join Ned and Todd in their backyard training ground of Durango, Colorado, on Saturday September 17 for a mountain bike gran fondo ...

Editor’s note: Mark Tierney takes readers on a Minneapolis trip, deep into the underbelly of the 2000 Single Speed World Championships. This story originally appeared in Dirt Rag Issue #80, published in July 2000. Photos by Maurice Tierney and Karl Rosengarth. Ha! Of course I reserve my young ass a seat on the magic Dirt ...

Note: The email sent about this contest mistakenly gave the deadline as January 10. You have until February 10 to enter the contest. Escape the cold in southwest Utah, March 18-20, with a trip to the sixth-annual Hurricane Mountain Bike Festival. The event includes shuttled rides, food, beer, live music, skills clinics, bike demos, warm weather, ...

Just so we are clear, this story is about Crested Butte Fat Bike World Championships, as in SSCXWC and SSWC and #fatbikeshit. The acronyms UCI and USAC had nothing to do with the super-fat-tire race that went down last weekend high in the Colorado mountains. Crested Butte, Colorado, claims itself as the birthplace of mountain ...

Registration is now open for the seventh-annual Dirt Rag Dirt Fest, aka the most awesome mountain bike festival in America, aka the most fun you can have camping and riding your bike. This year’s event, presented by Pivot Cycles, takes place May 20-22, 2016, at Raystown Lake in central Pennsylvania. Sign up now! You’ll find 36 ...

PRESS RELEASE — Crankworx World Tour announced it’s adding Les Gets, France, to the family. Crankworx begins in Rotorua, New Zealand, March 9-13, 2016, and will hit Les Gets the following month for a June 15-19 run. The event returns to its Whistler home base in British Columbia, Canada, for a 10-day event staged August 12-21. Nestled in the 12-resort ...

Sea Otter Classic, the California event that “kicks off” the road and mountain bike race seasons each April, has announced it will host an e-mountain bike race at next year’s event. While plenty of battery-powered technology has seeped into mountain biking via electronic shifting and suspension adjustment, this move strikes me as ominous. The manufacturers ...

Oskar Blues’ Old Man Winter Rally had a wildly successful first year in 2015, with nearly 700 riders from Tour de France participants to 10-year-olds on fat bikes, and is set to go even bigger in 2016. The event takes place in Boulder County, Colorado, on February 7, 2016, and you’re invited.   Choose either the ...

Kick off spring next year with a trip to the Sedona Mountain Bike Festival in Arizona the weekend of March 4-6, 2016. Last year, we thoroughly enjoyed our trip to the inaugural edition of the festival and highly recommend it to anyone looking for a dose of sunshine and slickrock to jump-start their riding season. The 2016 event will build ...

By Chris Reichel There has been quite a bit of grumbling lately about singlespeeding being dead. They will say single speeds are played out, jumped the shark, sold out, mainstream, and so on. But there is still a large group of miscreants and derelicts from all over the world, who meet up once a year ...

Massachusetts-native Nicholi Rogatkin is no slouch of a pro mountain biker. The 19-year-old finished third overall in this year’s FMB World Tour and is competing in his second Red Bull Rampage. In Thursday’s qualifying round, Rogatkin suffered one of the scariest crashes in the event’s history but managed to finish his run, including sailing over a massive canyon gap and back-flipping the ...

Few mountain bike races have earned the title of “legendary,” but if one is a shoo-in for the list it’s the Leadville Trail 100. With a starting elevation above 10,000 feet, it climbs to more than 14,000 through thin, Colorado air. In a race where just finishing is a victory, this year Alban Lakata took the ...

As a first-timer at Crankworx, most everything about this event is eye-opening. From the overall turnout to the the diversity of the crowd, I’ve come away impressed. While there are plenty of incredible events, including Saturday’s legendary Red Bull Joy Ride, the Whip-Off World Championships was one of the events I was most excited to watch ...

It’s that time of year again—Voting is now open for the nominees in the next class of the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame. This will be the first class since the Hall of Fame moved to the new Marin Museum of Bicycling, in Fairfax, California, which opened in June. There are six nominees, but you can ...

Test yourself this August in The Mariposa Challenge, a month-long, digital, mountain bike event for women. Log your daily riding adventures on MapMyRide and measure yourself against other riders in your area and across the USA. It is free to enter and the first 50 women to sign up in each Mariposa Challenge area will ...

Photo by Eric Lenseth, Windham Mountain Resort On July 10 Windham Mountain Resort celebrated the grand opening of its lift-serviced Mountain Bike Park of downhill trails for pro and intermediate- level riders, a skills park,  and a pump track. The park was officially opened when New York State Assemblyman Peter Lopez, Elite U.S. Downhill Racer Neko ...

It has been said that the Vermont Mountain Bike Festival is the country’s most scenic and family-friendly riding festival. Riders can expect the best festival bang for their buck in Vermont July 31 to August 2. Registration comes with full access to ten companies demoing bikes, guided rides, women’s clinics, kids camps, BBQ, T-shirt, camping, ...

The fifth annual Ride Sun Valley Bike Festival presented by Subaru of Twin Falls drew a large number of the biking community with an array of two-wheeled events June 25-28. From fierce competition in the SCOTT Enduro Cup presented by Vittoria and the new Shimano Boulder Mountain Fox Trot 50k cross-country race to the comedic ...

Six mountain bike athletes have been handed a camera and given free reign to share their storytelling skills with the mountain bike community. Together with a team of riders and videographers, they have from today until August 4 to craft a four to six-minute video to be screened at the Whistler Olympic Plaza during Crankworx ...

A huge and heartfelt thanks goes out to the more than 3,600 attendees, exhibitors, sponsors and volunteers who made Dirt Rag Dirt Fest presented by Pivot Cycles possible this year. Special thanks to the Army Corp of Engineers and the Friends of Raystown Lake for providing an incredible venue and working hand-in-hand with us to make ...

Underway this week the Inca Avalanche Trail Fest has returned to the Sacred Valley of the Inca and Ollantaytambo, Peru. The festival features five days of riding on the best descents in the area, evening cocktail parties, Inca sites and cultural experienced you just don’t get anywhere else. The week is capped off by the Inca Avalanche race ...

Calling all women! Are you ready to get rad on mountain bikes in a welcoming and encouraging environment? Whether you’re interested in getting into mountain biking or already ride or race and want to take your riding to the next level, join the Ladies AllRide crew this summer to play on bikes in awesome locations ...

It feels like only yesterday that we were breaking down the big top tents but here we are preparing for the Dirt Fest 2020 events. Registration is officially open for both events and we have some great things planned for 2020. We hope to see you all on the trails of Allegrippis and Big Bear ...

photo by Garth Milan courtesy of Red Bull Style, class, and ice in his veins, Brandon Semenuk showed up to win Red Bull Rampage and did just that. After strong winds delayed the start of the competition Semenuk wasted no time showing everyone he meant business in a field of 20 of the best riders ...

Photos by Brian Lorence Well, its that time of the year again when a large portion of the mountain bike community drops everything to watch an elite few push the boundaries of what is possible on a bike. Red Bull Rampage has gone down in the deserts of Utah since 2001 and the amount of ...

It strikes me as a bit of a chicken-or-the-egg scenario as cyclists are taking their bikes to places they’ve never been, and new bike designs are allowing them to push them even further. That trend extends to events as well, and the Maneha 250 is an epic two-day bikepacking ride with a unique twist: a fully ...

By Malcolm Mclaws It might be no accident that the first day of this year’s weeklong CruzFest in Santa Cruz, California, was on 4/20. Like most edgy underground festivals you need a theme. This first time event in the NorCal area was the initial stop of the six event Fest Series. Now in its second ...

Photos by Brian Leddy. The twelfth annual Whiskey Off Road kicked off the Epic Rides Off-Roads Series over the weekend, 2,000 riders enjoyed perfect trail conditions and an estimated 10,000 spectators enjoyed the party along Whiskey Row in Prescott, Arizona. Highlights Friday’s 15 Proof Fun Ride guided riders of all skill level on a scenic course of ...

The legendary Ned Overend and his Specialized teammate, multi-time, multi-disciplined USA National Champion Todd Wells, are teaming up to present the first Durango Dirt Fondo. The two D-town locals are inviting 500 guests to join them in their backyard on September 12 for a mountain bike adventure that will feature challenging single-track that has served ...

Photos by Emily Walley and Justin Steiner. The VIDA MTB Series is a multi-city women’s clinic tour spearheaded by Sarah Rawley and Elena Forchielli that evolved out of the Beti Bike Clinics of 2013 and 2014. The Sedona MTB Festival was the debut of the VIDA MTB Series and the first of five stops for 2015. ...

Photos by Jeff Swigart, Michael Raney, Emily Walley and the author. There’s no denying the pull of Sedona’s aura for mountain bikers. Aside from being on nearly every “top 10” list of mountain biking destinations in North America, we all recognize the mystique of the city’s gorgeous red rock landscape and copious singletrack. As such, ...

Being around the industry as long as I have I know a lot of people, many of whom congregate once a year in a different location to look at the fashionshow we call The North American Handmade Bicycle Show. Where artisan framebuilders show off their latest and greatest creations, which are judged and given giant ...

Courtesy of Epic Rides Today Epic Rides announced headlining musical acts for the 12th Annual Whiskey Off-Road on April 24-26 and the 3rd Annual Grand Junction Off-Road presented by U.S. Bank on May 29-31. Music and mountain bikes create lasting memories, which is why Epic Rides events bring both together in a weekend-long experience that’s ...

Courtesy of Sarah Galbraith, Ambassador to Vermont Mountain Bike Association. Photos courtesy of the VMBA.  When most folks think of Vermont they might think of maple syrup and skiing, but the Green Mountain State has seen an explosion in mountain biking in recent years. The Vermont Mountain Bike Association is leading the charge thanks to a ...

Feeling pretty sluggish this time of year? It’s time to blast out the cobwebs with an indoor cross-country race at BOTH Ray’s Indoor Bike Park locations: Cleveland and Milwaukee. Both venues are tearing down walls, rerouting trails and creating a one-of-a-kind opportunity to get back on your bike and ride hard in a one-lap, time-trial ...

It’s the end of an era. The Aptos Post Office Jumps and the accompanying pump track in Aptos, California, are being razed in February. Earning notoriety for their death-defying vert doubles and the local kids that have grown up with these jumps—both the jumps and kids are now internationally-known entities. While on Saturday, February 14, ...

Photo courtesy of the Bush Institute’s Military Service Initiative It’s hard to imagine mountain biking being a priority of the United States military, but without the sacrifice of men and women in uniform, it’s possible many of us would not be able to enjoy our favorite sport the way we do today. Former President George W. ...

This time of year isn’t ideal for mountain biking in the Midwest, so we’ve become huge fans of the Wheel Mill in Pittsburgh, a massive indoor bike park with flow lines, jump lines, a pump track, a skills park, a foam pit and more. It’s the perfect antidote to the winter blues. This year on January ...

Here at Dirt Rag we love all kinds of riding, not just mountain biking. That’s why we launched our sister magazine, Bicycle Times, in 2009. This year we’re adding some adventure to the mix with a new event—in the spirit of Dirt Rag’s Dirt Fest—where cyclists of all types can share a weekend of riding under ...

We’re excited to announce Pivot Cycles will join us at Dirt Fest 2015 as our Presenting Sponsor. Pivot Cycles will be on-hand with a demo truck packed full of the latest Mach 4 Carbon, Mach 429SL and Mach 6 models. Registration to Dirt Fest 2015 is open now at BikeReg. If you don’t already know, ...

By Joh Rathbun. Photos courtesy of Jessica Klodnicki. Still in its infancy, the Girls Rock ride, organized by Jessica Klodnicki, general manager and executive vice president of Bell and Blackburn, hosted its monthly ride at Ibis Cycles last month. More than 70 women showed up to take advantage of the free Ibis demo fleet and to ride ...

Don’t hang up your bike for the winter just yet. The Old Man Winter Bike Rally (OMW), a winter cycling celebration for bike aficionados and beer lovers, will debut in Boulder County, Colorado, on February 8, 2015.  The OMW is a 31 or 62-mile adventure ride and race that promises dirt, snow, sweat, and beer, a ...

Not what you expect to see from mountain bikers, huh? Photographer Leo Volz III captured the action at the International Intergalactic Global Open Mountain Bike Team Relay Championship of the Multi-Friggin-Verse (yes, that’s the official name) in Marysville, Penn. It was the first race of the Mid-Atlantic Super Series and afterwards there was a special bonus ...

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.

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 ...

Our friends in Gunnison are throwing a big party on the trails of Hartman Rocks. Race 10 hours individually or as a team riding on a bike, running or both! Come have fun while enjoying the fall biking at Hartman Rocks! They have also partnered with ROMP Skis so all racers get a chance to ...

Words by Andrew Juiliano Photos by Ethan Lawrence 06:15 a.m. ish I open my eyes and stare through the mesh tent window. I’m belly up, on the bank of the North Yuba River, six miles upstream from of the tiny town of Downieville, California, the site of the 24th annual, two-day bike race that bears ...

The Ales and Trails Festival is May 21 in San Rafael, Calif., and if you make it there, be sure to bring a print out of your favorite cycling photograph to enter in the Dirt Rag Photo Contest.

The winner will be chosen anonymously be attendees and will be published in our Rider’s Eye photo section.

Big Bear Trail Center is a special place for riding. The trails are an equal part of challenging and extremely fun. Located in a Jurassic like setting, the site of a human on a bike is almost more out of place then it would be to see an actual dinosaur move through the landscape. Massive ...

By Scott Williams Photography by Devon Balet It’s been two years since I had the pleasure of doing my first multi-day mountain bike race at the Trans-Sylvania Epic (TSE). The first half of the initial day started like any other race I’ve done. Smiles on the outside but inside was strictly business as I tried ...

Words and Photos by Bruce Buckley Memorial Day weekend serves as an unofficial start to summer in the mid-Atlantic states—as temperatures finally hit a point where we are no longer reaching for long-sleeve tops or extra layers before we head out to ride. Since 2010, the start of the season in western Pennsylvania has kicked ...

There was a time when Mike Tyson was the most destructive force on the planet. He flattened beastly opponents and made short work of some of the most feared fighters the world had seen. One by one opponent fell in the wake of what was the most feared heavyweight champion in the world. Coming into ...

A few months back, we broadcast the announcement that Quality Bicycle Products (QBP) was again offering up its Women’s Bike Mechanic Scholarship. The time has come, the winners have been chosen, and we are so friggin pumped. Each of the 32 scholarship recipients will attend a two-week Professional Repair and Shop Operations class at United Bicycle ...

Some people like to envision tropical scenes when they feel cold in the winter. Here at Dirt Rag HQ, I’m trying something different, something a bit closer to schadenfreude: watching a video of someone train for, then compete in, a fat bike race. The training for the race takes place in New Jersey, and the ...

New year’s resolutions are fraught with peril. By design, they set us up for failure in their all-or-nothing approach to self-betterment. The new, hip thing to do is to “set intention.” If you identify as a girl, are at least eight years old, and intend to gain some bike skills in 2019, consider taking a ...

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. ...

Pittsburgh, PA — December 1, 2018 Rotating Mass Media is proud to announce that Pivot Cycles will once again be joining us as title sponsor of both Dirt Rag Dirt Fest Pennsylvania and West Virginia in 2019. Dirt Fest will return to the Allegrippis Trails at Raystown Lake, Pennsylvania for its tenth year, and after ...

Carved into the back of the goalpost I tended on the homefield of my varsity field hockey team back in high school was a wise offering: “The only way to beat temptation is to yield to it.” This is what comes to mind when I look out my window to the gray, snowy Pittsburgh I ...

OK, so now that I’ve gotten the Pittsburgh tragedy out in the open, let’s move on to the PHILLY BIKE EXPO! Maurice (Dirt Rag’s publisher and mastermind) and I drove into Philly with a few bikes in tow, plus some old copies of Dirt Rag to hand out, socks, pint glasses, hats, t-shirts, frame bags ...

I got my first job as a wrench when I moved to New Mexico. I hung out at my local bike shop whenever I had free time, and when I got laid off from the food co-op I suddenly had enough free time for them to notice. The head mechanic, Laura, said, “if you’re gonna ...

Dakine has a sick new gravity line called Thrillium, with their partnership with Graham Agissiz and Team Aggy, bringing a very specific “wolf” vibe, which I am not opposed to, into both their men’s and women’s cuts. They have new knee pads and gloves, and their baggies have been redesigned to offer a ton of ...

Wahoo Fitness has a new product called the Kickr Headwind, which gives you a headwind (duh) while riding your bike. You can either use this to keep you cool while riding indoors on those rainy, wintry days, or charge through 30mph winds in penance for whatever terrible thing you’ve done (like choose to ride indoors). ...

Dirt Rag is officially in the throes of Interbike, the annual expo of the bike industry where companies show off their latest developments and newcomers have a chance to put their product in front of the eyes of purchasers and reviewers. Monday was Dirt Demo, the day to check out some of the latest mountain ...

Crankworx has been happening all week and will continue through the weekend. It’s a great time to check out some feats of mountain biking. Sometimes is inspirational, or at least entertaining, to see how these tricks are learned. Here’s a little video Haro put together that shows Ryan Nyquist training for the Crankworx Whip-off.

Words and Photos by Brett Rothmeyer There’s a certain romance to summer living in the Northeast. Winter can be long and cruel; spring often teases you with a warm day here and there, but only when it’s not raining or just above freezing. I remember being 13, and those first few warm days of summer ...

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 ...

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. ...

Interested in hanging out with us in West Virginia this month but not sure what to expect? Big Bear Lake Trail Center’s recreation land manager Jeff Simcoe shares his insider’s tips on the trails, amenities and points of interest at Big Bear Lake Camplands— the site of Dirt Rag Dirt Fest West Virginia presented by Pivot Cycles. ...

Have you registered for Dirt Rag Dirt Fest West Virginia yet? If you register by July 9th you’ll save $10, and there are just three spots left for the coveted RV/Trailer/Pop-up campsites, so be sure to head over to registration now to save big and camp big. If you’ve never been to Dirt Fest before, ...

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 ...

  Website URL: https://RideGG.com/GRG Do you think you can handle a fully-pinned day at the bike park? If your answer is “hell yeah maybe,” then this is the event for you! Guerrilla Gravity, the Colorado-based mountain bike manufacturing company, is stoked to announce their first-ever The Good, The Rad, and The Gnarly “race.” One part ...

The Regular Guy Mountain Biking Podcast recently sat down with Dirt Rag Events Coordinator Evan Gross to discuss all the things Dirt Fest. If you are planning on coming to this year’s event this is a great listen to find out what Dirt Rag Dirt Fest is all about.   If you would like to ...

The International Mountain Bicycling Association just announced the creation of International Women’s Mountain Biking Day, which is to be held on the first Saturday of May every year. IMBA will partner with SRAM, PeopleForBikes, Rebecca Rusch and others to promote the inaugural edition of this event, taking place May 5, 2018. International Women’s Mountain Biking ...

The early bird gets the discount! Hustle over to BikeReg before Tuesday, May 1, 2018 at 12:01 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time to register for Dirt Rag Dirt Fest West Virginia presented by Pivot Cycles before prices increase. Dirt Fest West Virginia presented by Pivot Cycles is scheduled for July 13-15, 2018 at Big Bear Lake ...

Rotating Mass Media is proud to announce the addition of REI to the list of sponsors at Dirt Rag Dirt Fest presented by Pivot Cycles. This partnership highlights the continuing convergence of the cycling and outdoor industries and will open the door to more outdoor companies becoming involved in mountain bike events and opportunities to ...

If you look up the word stoke in the English dictionary you will find that it means, “to poke or stir up or supply with fuel” or “to increase the activity, intensity or amount of.” On highway 58 in the town of Cedar Point, North Carolina, there is an old service station coated in fresh ...

The Skull 120/60/30 Gravel Grind highlights Harney County, Oregon’s rugged character, from long mountainous ascents to teeth-chattering and eye-watering descents, to breathtaking vistas, open rangeland and alpine forests. With two stream crossings and cattle guard after cattle guard, this gravel grind is a feat to finish and a testament to the rider’s grit and determination. The Skull 120 ...

Fuzzy eyed and coffee charged, we lumbered our way to Day 2 of NAHBS. The myth of Jenga greatness welcomed our visitors to the Dirt Rag booth today. Young and old looked to achieve legendary status in the attempts to out-Jenga Dunk and Evan. Day 2 also brought the judges out and the inevitable winners of ...

Words and photos by Colt Fetters The mild winter in the San Juan’s didn’t keep the fat bike freaks from swarming Silverton for the fourth annual Whiteout Festival. The winter fat bike course winds through the former silver mining camp that now is Silverton, nestled among Colorado’s San Juan Mountains below the infamous Red Mountain ...

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 ...

This contest has ended, congratulations to the winners: Nittany Outdoors Hip Pack and Roll-Down pack: Chris Donabella of Denver CO Ibis Bikes wool jersey: Sean Bell of Cranberry TWP PA SRAM DESCENDANT CoLab Troy Lee Designs Carbon Bar: Julie Kieliszak of Landenberg PA Ritchey Logic pair of ZMax Evolution tires: Chris Behm of East Prospect PA Stan’s No Tubes ...

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 ...

Global Fat Bike Day (GFBD) was started in 2012 as a grassroots movement in the UK. As fat bikes gained in popularity, a couple of dudes dreamed of getting a bunch of like-minded fat enthusiasts together for a big group ride. But said enthusiasts were scattered all over the globe, brought together by forums like ...

We’re headed to the Philly Bike Expo this coming weekend! The 2017 Philly Bike Expo is taking place November 4-5 at the PA Convention Center in Philadelphia, PA. Come by the show and check out over 150 exhibitors, including Dirt Rag! We’ll have swag and merchandise for sale at our booth, including a selection of ...

The International Mountain Bicycling Association’s Take a Kid Mountain Biking Day (TKMBD) will take place on October 7 this year. This annual event seeks to introduce the joy of mountain biking to the next generation of enthusiasts and activists. Mountain bike clubs, IMBA chapters, youth groups, community organizations and schools all over the country host ...

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 ...