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I’ve been planning on writing this piece for a few weeks now, but struggled with finding the right way to go about it. Wouldn’t you know it, before I got my act together and sat down and finished the thing, badass mountain biker   Stacey , posted something very similar to the draft I had begun. I considered scrapping my piece altogether, but after more consideration, I thought maybe I could build off of what Stacey had started. So what is this popular issue? I’m calling it self-deprecation. Stacey calls it our need to apologize.  “I’d love to come, but you might be waiting for me at the top of the climbs…”   “I’m not sure I can handle that descent...”   “I’m racing, but my goal is just not to be last...” [Read more at Machines for Freedom]

Bicycle Touring - DC to Pittsburgh to Toronto from Levi on Vimeo .

Port Townsend from Raleigh Bicycles on Vimeo .

Your guide to the fattening They say that there are seven stages of grief. I went through all of them when I heard that plus-size tires would be the ‘next big thing’ in the bike industry. You know–shock and denial, pain and guilt, angry-as-hell muttering and throwing of crap at the wall. Photo by Van Swae But you can’t stay mad forever. I mean you can, but if you do you usually wind up living under a bridge, coaching a troupe of dancing rats. So, I resigned myself to getting some answers to the following questions: What the hell is “plus-size” anyway? What are these bikes supposed to do well? What are their limitations? What kind of rider might like a plus-size bike? Is this the end of ‘normal’ mountain bikes? Why are we also getting new fork and rear axle standards?  Ryan Palmer,  Bike magazine’s  gear editor, and I headed out on a cross-country journey to find those answers. It was like “The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants” or maybe “The Fellowship of ...

Former  NYC   DOT  Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan says a nimble,  tactical-urbanism-style  approach was key to her success. (AP Photo/Henny Ray Abrams) Last week, former New York City Department of Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan spoke to a packed house of enthusiastic urbanists in Seattle as part of a Seattle Department of Transportation ( SDOT ) speaker series on the future of city transportation. Sadik-Khan is something of a celebrity in the alt transportation world for her role in implementing major positive changes to New York City streets under Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Introducing her to the crowd,  SDOT  Director Scott Kubly said, “It’s not an overstatement to say she changed how the entire country thinks about transportation.” [Keep reading at Next City]

2014 Arizona Trail Race from Aaron Johnson on Vimeo . In April of 2014, about 17 of us lined up along the desolate Mexican border in Arizona, and headed north in a race across the deserts, mountains, forests, and canyons of Arizona, headed for Utah. This is the story of how my race unfolded. The Arizona Trail Race is a self-supported mountain bike race along the famed Arizona Trail. Starting at the Mexico border, there are two distance options: 300 miles to the Picketpost trailhead near Phoenix, or the full traversal to Utah, more than 750 miles. There is no race organization, there is no support; you carry all your own gear, and must be completely self-sufficient. Resupply is allowed only at any commercial establishment. Read more about the race here: http://www.topofusion.com/azt/race.php Huge thanks to Joe Polk at MTBCast for providing the call-in audio for the narration. MTBCast is a podcast that offers racers a way to call in and leave messages, sometimes the only commu...

2013 Colorado Trail Race from Aaron Johnson on Vimeo . The 2013 Colorado Trail Race. Self-supported mountain bike race from Durango to Denver, 550 miles. July 21, 2013 Race info: www.climbingdreams.net/ctr/ Filmed and edited by Aaron Johnson. www.mowglimedia.net Music: "Around the Block" by Pretty Lights www.prettylightsmusic.com "Holocene" by Bon Iver http://boniver.org/ "The Stable Song" by Gregory Alan Isakov http://gregoryalanisakov.com/

California Sierra Trail Race from Aaron Johnson on Vimeo . From the mind of Sean Allan comes the California Sierra Trail Race, a self-supported bikepacking race in the Tahoe region of California. Beginning and ending in Auburn, CA, the route traverses historic 19th Century mining trails and roads, winding its way slowly up the foothills and dropping down into Lake Tahoe. It then follows the Tahoe Rim Trail around the lake, over 100 miles of some of California's best singletrack, before making its way back down towards Auburn. At 430 miles and 70,000 feet of elevation gain, the route is a monster, but rewards those who attempt it with incredible scenery and riding. This film showcases the second running of this race, in July of 2014. Turnout was incredibly low, with only 4 starters, and the goal of this film is to generate awareness of this amazing course so more people can experience it. This year's racers: Jack Anderson Aaron Johnson Jeremy Noble Greg Levitsky A...

MONTANUS - The COLD VEIN from MONTANUS on Vimeo . The call of the mountain is even stronger during winter, when the snow breaks the tree-tops and the cold weather freezes the bones. During this time, when most people put their bike to rest, an adventure between two Italian buddies began. They aimed to search for the COLD VEIN, that vein which come back to pulsate in the winter wilderness. This was an experience that brought Giorgio and Francesco to find more than what they were searching for. A journey through their own limits, where what is important, is not the width of the tires but the extent of the horizons. The video is dedicated to Walter Belli, a dear friend who had a bad injury during a DH session and who is still fighting every day with the wilderness alive in his heart. Self filmed with a Canon 500D (2009), a GoPro HERO4 and a “no brand” alluminum tripod. Aerial filming by APR Italia. Edited with Adobe Premiere Pro CS6. Music: Ark Life - "Some Unheroic Hi...

Introducing the Rocky Mountain Sherpa from Rocky Mountain Bicycles on Vimeo .

PHOTO BY SHANE MCCAULEY At 6-foot-8, Don Ward is an imposing figure in L.A.'s bike scene. He's the creator of outlaw rides and a powerful voice in the fight for more bike lanes. BICYCLING: You once organized a race between cyclists and a commercial jet. Seriously? Don Ward:  Los Angeles  shut down a section of Interstate 405 in 2011 to remove a bridge, and the city was up in arms. People called it "Carmageddon." Jet Blue created a promotional flight between Burbank and Long Beach. A friend suggested the race. We won by 77 minutes. What did that show about promoting cycling events? It's the same thing I learned working for an automative ad agency:  Sexy and fast  captures people's attention. [Keep reading at Bicycling]

Blueprint: 29+ and 27.5+ Bikes – Innovation or Industry Scam? A no-bullshit video investigation into the bike industry's latest wheel sizes Video by Dan Barham What’s the deal with 29+ and 27.5+ bikes? When we first caught wind of the new breed of 29+ and 27.5+ bikes, we were as suspicious as any rider. So, we started asking questions: why have these new standards emerged? Are the new wheel sizes simply a way for industry big wigs to convince consumers to buy new bikes? We flew around the country visiting the folks who are putting the new wheels to work at Rocky Mountain in Vancouver, Canada, SRAM’s Development Facility in Colorado Springs and Trek’s World Headquarters in Waterloo, Wisconsin.  Trek and Rocky Mountain are only two of a handful of brands announcing 29+ and 27.5+ bikes. You’re going to be seeing more of these plus-size bikes, and you can be damn sure that we’ll have more to say about them. Rocky Mountain’s 27.5+ Sherpa Rocky’s Sherpa is a specializ...

Cyclists riding double file on a narrow rural road. Riding double file deters unsafe same-lane passing in narrow lanes and makes the cyclists as visible as a car from the front and behind. [Mike Dayton photo] Group rides are extremely popular among recreational and competitive cyclists. Although social interaction is a major incentive to ride in groups, so is safety. One technique cycling groups use to reduce the risk of collisions is riding double file, particularly in narrow lanes and when approaching intersections. This article discusses how riding double file can deter common crash types and what group cyclists should consider when choosing their position on the roadway. [Keep reading at BikeWalkNC]

Helinox Table One from Helinox on Vimeo .