A collection of articles, blog posts, and websites addressing off-road touring, ultralight touring, and bikepacking.
This month, we're celebrating Fat Bike February. We'll be sharing stories, how-to information, and all things fatbike and winter-cycling related on this page. Share your winter cycling adventures and fattest photos by tagging your posts with #FatBikeFeb on Twitter and Instagram.
Photo by Aaron Teasdale
Ultralight bicycle touring is half knowing what you shouldn't live without and half knowing what your friends are bringing. Here's one group's lightweight packing lists for a summer five-day, off-road ride in Alberta’s Kananaskis Country.
Going cold with food means carrying less weight, less cooking gear to fiddle with, and far fewer dishes to do at the end of a long day.
While cyclists have been exploring unruly stretches of earth on bicycles for generations, mountain bikes make the harder parts easier and more fun. Mountain bikes have forever changed and expanded the sport of bicycling by opening up a new world of terrain for velo exploration.
A free service of Rails-to-Trails Conservancy featuring more than 30,000 miles of bike trails, walking trails, equestrian trails, and hiking and running trails including interactive trail maps, trail descriptions, photos, reviews and more.
Nicholas Carman wrote this for us a few years ago and it’s fun to look back out how fat bikes have evolved into today’s machines.
by Chuck Haney. Riding the Kettle Valley Railway in southern British Columbia. (PDF)
Thanks to gear breakthroughs and pioneering rides, there's a new style of bicycle touring that embraces all types of terrain. (PDF)
Fatbikes and winter riding will surely change your perspective about what is possible on a bicycle.
Fatbikes are all grown up. They are more numerous in shops and magazines, and most importantly, they've become more common in the wild. Yet you may not have seen anyone riding a fatbike this year, because that rider was likely exploring the river bottoms, snowmachine trails, gravelly lakefronts, or abandoned singletrack trails where you don't yet ride. But you can change that. With the growing range of options and increased availability of fatbikes, there is, more than ever, a fatbike for every rider.
by Nicholas Carman. A rundown of currently available fatbikes ranging from (relatively) budget-friendly to full-custom titanium rigs to get you off the beaten track.
It's been nearly two decades since we commenced research on the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route, and we've run off-pavement tours for fat-tire enthusiasts since the 1980s. But it took the vision of Adventure Cycling cartographer Casey Greene to add a third element to create what just may be the perfect triad: backcountry, bicycle travel, and natural hot springs.
Last week to celebrate the release of our newest mountain-bike route, and our first-ever route featuring singletrack, we announced a giveaway for two complete Idaho Hot Springs Mountain Bike Route (IHSMBR) map sets. Randomly chosen from the hundreds of comments on last week’s blog post, the winners are ...
We know you're as excited as we are to get out and ride the Idaho Hot Springs Mountain Bike Route (IHSMBR) this summer. Adventure Cycling Cartographer Casey Greene, creator of the IHSMBR, supplies a closer look at the singletrack options.
For the second year running, Adventure Cycling Association is celebrating Fat Bike February. You can join in the fun on Instagram, on our blog, and over on our Facebook page.
This winter we will attempt our most ambitious winter cycling trip. We have titled it “Fatbike to the Arctic.” We intend to ride the Iditarod Trail as far as Norton Sound and continue north across the Arctic Circle and on to Kotzebue. If all goes well we will continue on to Point Hope, North America’s longest continually inhabited community.
Winter is coming, and that means adjusting our cycling wardrobes to include some slightly warmer apparel. But just because it's winter, doesn't mean you can't keep touring! Chillier temperatures at night require fluffier sleeping bags and warmer fires. Here are equipment tips for staying warm and toasty on your next overnight ride.
by Aaron Teasdale. A discussion of gear for the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route that accompanies Aaron Teasdale's story of his ride on the route's Canadian section (see "The Good, the Bad, the Ugly, and the Beautiful" in the July/August 2008 issue of Adventure Cyclist).
Media specialist and BikeOvernights.org editor lists his 10 favorite rail-trails.
On a mountain bike, space is often at a premium. One of the most effective places to cut both space and weight on a bicycle camping trip is your shelter. Even light solo tents usually weigh two to three pounds and take up quite a bit of space. Bivy sacks can feel claustrophobic and don't always provide the best protection from the weather. A great method is to use a SilNylon or polyethylene "tarp," rope, and stakes to construct a barrier from the elements.
Who makes the smallest pack-size solo tent? If you're traveling lightweight and only carrying two pairs of shorts maximum, how do you prevent saddle sores? What's the weather like on the Colorado Trail in August? Find out!