The Trail Dog Chronicles: Puppy Training
Our trail dog in training, Roxy, recently completed puppy training and I can’t recommend it enough. She didn’t finish the course with the ability to speak on command or play a musical instrument. Nor did she learn anything directly related to being a trail dog, but the puppy training course we took her through set her up with some important foundations that every puppy could benefit from, whether on the trail or anywhere else. The training was as much about training us as dog owners as it was about training Roxy The training was as much about training us (my wife Heather and I) as dog owners as it was…
5 Outstanding Tires For Your Fat Bike That Won’t Break the Bank!
Are you in the market for new tires for your fat bike? Maybe you’ve worn out your current set and are looking for replacements. If that’s the case, good for you! You’ve been putting on a lot of mileage and you deserve a shiny new set of tires. Or maybe you just brought home a brand new fat bike and realized the one-size-fits-all tires it came with don’t actually fit anything. Bike manufacturers do their best to try and please everyone with their choice of tire, but it’s hard to find one that will fit the different riding styles and needs of everyone. Jack of all trades, master of none…
Winter Fat Bike Etiquette: The Basics
Riding your bike on snow is a fun and exhilarating experience. And fat biking is booming in popularity. As a result, trail associations all over North America and beyond have started grooming and maintaining ever-growing networks of winter trails. It’s essentially a new sport, and with a new sport comes a new set of guidelines for making sure everyone on the trails has an enjoyable experience. Some would call it etiquette. Nothing will interrupt a great fat bike ride like coming across a section of trail that someone has torn up and made unrideable by being unaware of, or unwilling to practice, some simple fat bike etiquette. Let’s keep the…
5 Winter Cycling Activities to Help Keep the Pedals Turning All Year Long
Every year, without fail, winter visits us all. For those of us at higher latitudes, the days get shorter and the temperatures drop—sometimes dramatically. If this sounds like where you live, and you are a mountain biker like me, you may have a strong urge to hibernate and not show your face again until spring. For many, winter is a time to rest and recharge and cycling activities take a back seat to other warmer (mainly indoor) endeavors. Author John Geddes sums up how many people feel as summer comes to a close and we think about putting our bikes away and begin to recharge for the next riding season.…
The Trail Dog Chronicles: Our First Mountain Bike Trail Dog!
They’re the subject of videos and photos all over the internet. Bounding down the trail, tails wagging, tongues and ears flapping—not a care in the world. I’m talking about a mountain bike trail dog and they’ve worked their way into mountain bike culture, becoming favourites on social media and at trailheads alike. And it’s no wonder. Dogs and humans have a special relationship. We’ve relied on dogs for thousands of years to help us hunt, haul supplies, and everything in between. They’re called our best friend for a reason, and that notion applies to mountain biking as much as any other job or activity. They’re called our best friend for…
The Rocky Mountain Freeride Awards: Preserving the Spirit of Canadian Freeride
Canadian Freeride? The term lacks a solid definition. Maybe it’s more of an idea or way of life than something that can be defined in a sentence or two and it can mean something different to everyone who rides a mountain bike. Canada is known as the birthplace of freeride mountain biking and the movement has made British Columbia a mecca for riders from all over the globe. But to some, the spirit of Canadian Freeride is fading, being sidelined by new styles of riding and trail building. None feel this more than the Calgary-based freeride group called The Flannel Crew. In fact, they feel so strongly that they’re launching…
An Argument for Morning Indoor Trainer Rides
When to ride the indoor bike trainer, that is the question. Morning or evening? It’s something I’ve asked myself for years now. Mountain biking is a big part of my life and riding inside during the winter months is a priority for me. Because they’re a priority, I want to make sure I’m scheduling rides for when I have the best chance of actually doing them. “I’ve now switched over to morning rides and I’m sold!” In my early days of trainer riding, my work schedule demanded that I start early in the morning. So early that morning rides weren’t an option for me. I would come home from work,…
From Transrockies to Singletrack 6: A Tale of Two Mountain Bike Races
The Transrockies Challenge. If you’ve been mountain biking for any length of time, there’s a good chance you’ve heard that name before. The name is synonymous with stage racing in North America, and for good reason. It was one of the first, and most iconic, mountain bike races on the continent. It blazed a trail for other stage races that would come along as the sport grew in popularity. Today, the Transrockies Challenge, created by Transrockies Inc., is no more. It has been replaced by another stage race — Singletrack 6. Singletrack 6 keeps the multi-day mountain bike stage race format of the original Transrockies Challenge, but many other aspects…
5 Studded Fat Bike Tires to Keep You Rubber Side Down!
Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase. Not long ago options for studded fat bike tires were very limited. You had one, maybe two tires to choose from and it seemed that stores and websites would sell out quickly every fall. If you didn’t get your order in on time, or happen to be one of the lucky few to get your hands on a pair at a local bike shop, you would be out of luck until the next season. “To save you the time and effort…
5 Winter Mountain Bike Destinations in the USA: The Best Times to Visit!
It happens every year. What we hoped would be an endless season of riding suddenly turns into fall. We keep riding, trying to ignore what is inevitably on the horizon—winter. But those cold dark days loom large and for many of us in the northern hemisphere, our thoughts turn to escape. Even before the snow starts to fly and we hang up our mountain bikes for the season, we begin planning our liberation from our icy prison. Luckily there are a number of winter mountain bike destinations in the USA that can provide relief from winter’s frosty embrace. But when is the best time to ride? Many of these destinations…
