adventure daily.
Summer evenings are my favorite. The heat fades, the sun becomes less intense, and, my favorite piece of all, it's light until 9pm (or later, around the solstice). I love daylight. When I was in Alaska in the summer and it was light almost all the time, it was heaven. I know they make lights …
"Slush day" doesn't sound like a whole lot of fun, but it was, surprisingly so. Last weekend we got 2 feet of snow. This past weekend, temperatures jumped into the 50s. We weren't too sure how conditions would be for riding, if there would just be deep slush everywhere that would make for a miserable, …
This past weekend, "Winter Storm Jonas" dumped almost 2 feet of snow on us. This meant the end of singletrack riding for a little while (or until we get some trails packed in) and the dawn of the age of snowmobile trail riding. Luckily, there are a number of options, and since the snowfall came …
This year was my third Frozen Fat, and it was definitely my favorite one ever. More fun, less "race-like," and at this point, I know most of the people who keep returning year after year, so the event has the feeling of a reunion. The "frozen" part was missing more most of the weekend, so it was …
For a while, I was convinced that I'm not a people person. Large crowds freak me out. I need plenty of alone time in my life to feel sane. A lot of people tend to sap my energy. In the extrovert/introvert scale of things, I've always pegged myself as an introvert. But to be honest, it's …
Though I don't do it nearly as often as I'd like, every time I leave on a bicycle with everything I'll need to spend the night packed in my panniers, I just have this good feeling of excitement and adventure and utter peace all at once. A couple weekends ago, I went on my first …
Continue reading "Bikepacking Rothrock State Forest & Big Valley."
I sat in my car in the parking lot, tired, hungover. It was early, too early for how late I had gone to bed the night before. I felt more like snuggling in the warm covers than hopping on a mountain bike and pedaling through the snow for a couple hours. But I refused to …
When the alarm woke me Saturday morning at o-dark-thirty, I felt like I got hit by a train. My head was pounding, my stomach was queasy, and my muscles hurt. Coffee helped, as did the small amount of food I choked down because I knew I'd need to fuel up for the 30 miles of …
Continue reading "Frozen Fat, Day 2: It’s about the comaraderie, not the competition."
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 …
For the past few weeks, I've been really stoked on this loop in Rothrock State Forest---up Tussey Mountain Trail and along the ridge, then back down to Thickhead Mountain Road and John Wert Path. It's about 11 miles, doable in 2-3 hours, and is full of stunning views and challenging rock gardens. And, only about …
helena kotala 