January can be kind of gloomy. The holidays are over, there's not much going on, the days are short, and the temps are generally pretty frigid. Luckily, there's Frozen Fat, a winter fat-bike weekend full of camping, beer, bonfires, good people, and of course, plenty of riding bikes. This is the fourth year of the …
Just one more small climb.
Well, we did it---the around-the-lake ride we'd been planning and anticipating for weeks. On Sunday, six of us ended up partaking in the day of grueling climbs, leaf-strewn descents, and all-around good times. It couldn't have been a better group---a fun and tight-knit bunch of like-minded individuals. For some, it was a harder ride than …
First snow.
I awoke to a slightly different light coming through our bedroom window, and I had a hunch. I sat up, peering into the outside world. My hunch was right---a thin layer of white powder covered the ground. We had received the first snow of the season, the first snow in our new house. Evan and …
Bicycle Times Photo Shoot.
This is old news by now, as I've been a little bit backlogged on some bloggage, but oh well. A few weeks ago I spent a few days camping, riding, and hanging out with folks from Bicycle Times magazine, who were in the area to do recon and gather promo footage for Adventure Fest, another cool …
Staycation.
We were supposed to be on vacation this week. We were supposed to load up bikes with touring gear and hit the road, going somewhere we'd never been, exploring unfamiliar territory. First the plan was somewhere in West Virginia, then northern Pennsylvania's Elk Country, then the burning ghost-town of Centralia, a place we have both …
The woods and the waters and the people that make a home.
It's hot as hell again. Not even a slight breeze to offer some relief from the sweltering, humidity-laced heat that hangs in the air. I don't think I have stopped sweating since I left the air-conditioned hotel room in Kyoto yesterday morning. I sit here at my computer, my damp fingers on the keys, trying …
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helena kotala 