Shoulder Season Bikepacking in Europe

Sep 15, 2022

Spring and autumn should not be ignored for cycle travel. There’s a real joy and satisfaction that you can find with “out-of-season” travel that you’ll never get if you think of summer as your only option for cycling and adventure. However, the moods of the weather and route choice need thought, so I compiled a few ideas and tips to maximize the enjoyment of shoulder season cycle travel. I’m Andy Cox, creator of the European Divide Trail bikepacking route, and I’ve been bikepacking mostly around Europe for the last five years. Before I started out on this Grand Adventure I’d done quite a few shorter trips around the UK and into Europe, but I was always focused on the summer as my main travel season. While I don’t often travel…

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Why Rest Days Matter

Aug 30, 2022

The ache in my toes was subtle at first. I came off of a multi-pitch climb in California, unlaced my shoes and noticed a new tenderness in my joints. But I was rock climbing. Didn’t something always hurt while I was rock climbing? Cramming my feet into narrow blocks of rubber was just part of the process. Over the following weeks, I alternated between taking rest days and partaking in light activity to give my feet the chance to recover from their ailment. But it wasn’t long before I was back on the wall, exploring the limits of my body. Early on in my life, I learned that if you just put your head down and move forward through the pain, things usually get better. In my experience, doctor’s visits…

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Great Climbs & Worthy Causes: Rock Climbing in Eastern Europe

Jul 14, 2022

Nina and Jeremy’s Big Idea Summer, 2020 Beranger, Savoie, France The choice of vehicle wasn’t simple. It had to be more than a camper van—reliable off-road and in remote parts of the world, and tough enough to transport a climbing wall (yes, you read that right), all of our rock-climbing gear, photography equipment, and oh yeah, also be a small apartment. Through a bit of luck, a lot of networking and some big decisions, on September 1st, 2020 our very own 1991 Unimog, which we immediately named Andrea, made it home to our village in France. For the last two years, my partner and I had not traveled abroad, for obvious reasons. As an outdoor photographer and a professional climber, Jeremy and I had shaped our lives around our travels…

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More than Bikepacking: How to Help Foster Environmental Sustainability

Apr 26, 2022

My introduction to bikepacking was unintentional, which is perhaps why it never felt like my two-wheeled adventures needed to focus on me. My first forays didn’t involve much more than a backpack filled with fishing gear and a tent, riding my 90’s era mountain bike down dirt roads toward reservoirs in Truckee and creeks in Davis, California, intent on fishing for the weekend. As an undergraduate in Bozeman, Montana, my lack of a driver’s license left me peddling up Hyalite Reservoir Road, touring skis strapped to my backpack as I rode that same bike from my dorm to a weekend basecamp. These days, I still avoid putting together routes based on their distance or elevation gain, choosing instead to find purpose in escaping from my normal routine at a slower…

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Choosing Mountains: Mountaineering with Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)

Mar 15, 2022

Diagnosis: Traumatic Brain Injury Exhausted before it even started, my first expedition was one of survival. Constant changes in direction, diagnosis, and dialects across seven hospitals in three countries. 70% vision loss, cognitive chaos, murky memory and an abolished appetite—I was both lost for words and a lust for life following 26 stormy months in a constant climb for my life. Every step felt like an unsteady crevasse crossing, my medical team leading me from the edge of death’s doorstep into an avalanche of unknowns. Adrift amidst the losses, the only sign I could see illuminated was the mountains. They are home, comfort and constant. Mountains allow me to make sense of the confusion that surfaces amongst crowds and questions, stares and cities. Natural colossi—blockades to some, obstacles to others, opportunities…

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Crag Dogs: A Climber’s Best Friend (Or Worst Enemy)

Feb 15, 2022

When you punt off your project for the hundredth time in a row, having your dog at the crag with you can spell the difference between holding it together and bursting into tears. But it’s a double-edged sword. If you’re going for the send on your project and your crag dog spots a wild animal they want to chase, you need to stop, go in-direct or lower and handle your crag dog. Whether dogs belong at the crag is a difficult question with many different answers, and they may all be right. We’re here to help you make the right decision for yourself and your dog. Rules and Regulations It doesn’t matter if your dog is the best crag dog in the world, if the area’s regulations say no dogs—sorry…

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