We have a handful of super rad Otso Ambassadors taking on the Tour Divide this year and we had to take the opportunity to share a bit of each of their stories here. Below you will find bike photo galleries and answers to the questions we all want to ask these types of folks. We hope you enjoy the photos and the reading as much … Continue reading Tour Divide Bike Checks
Words and Photos by Stephanie Hall Let’s first start with some definitions. Definitions: Big Dumb Ride [BDR]:Type 2 fun, a bad idea, usually long, dumb in all the right ways. Vermont Filthy: Friday ride crew, sendy, gnarly rides, kind people. Fat Filthy, 189 miles 27,000ft climbing. Voytek 2: Exactly the right tool for the job. A fast fat bike with ample geometry options utilizing a … Continue reading Stephanie’s BIG DUMB RIDE (BDR)
Words by Dexter KopasPhotos by Aaron Hardin Howdy, y’all! Stoked to be welcomed into the Otso club. I am 28 years old, live in Tucson, AZ, and I am drawn to Otso for three reasons, which together encapsulate what I love about bikes. The structured component of my biking life is around competition. Over the last three years, I have gone from never racing to … Continue reading Meet Otso Ambassador Dexter Kopas
Otso Ambassador Justin McKinley has been sharing some rad updates on his YouTube channel about his upcoming adventure: The Tour Divide. This will be Justin’s third attempt at the route. This year, he’s chosen to race The Divide on his new Otso Fenrir Ti. Justin recently shared that he got his Fenrir Ti all built up and we couldn’t be more excited about the result. … Continue reading Tour Divide: Ride It with Style
Golden sunlight filtered through the morning fog as 166 racers gathered at the foot of the Andes in the small Chilean town of Coyhaique. This is Across Andes – a 1,000 km (595 mile) self-supported gravel race that weaves through Chile’s diverse landscapes. The 2024 route spotlighted the fjords, rainforests and dry high altitude grasslands of Northern Patagonia. A small group of locals and supporters … Continue reading Winning Across Andes – Becca’s Race Recap
Words and Photos by Sarah Swallow Bicycle travel is an incredible way to explore new places and immerse yourself in cultures around the world. Unlike traditional travel, cycling allows you to bypass crowded tourist hotspots and engage more deeply with a place’s natural landscapes, cultural heritage, and daily rhythms—all at a human-powered pace. Traveling by bicycle is not just about reaching the final destination; it’s … Continue reading A Guide to Bicycle Travel
Words and images by Mark Watson Figuring Out the ‘Packing’ in Bikepacking Bikepacking can encompass rides from overnighters right through to multi-month tours, and consequently a lot of variation in the gear and supplies you carry. I like to adapt my setup to suit the type of trip as well as the length of my packing list. Following are a few tips for streamlining your … Continue reading Pack for the Ride
Words and Photos by Sarah Swallow Bikepacking trips and events can require months of training and preparation, financial investment, and time off work and away from loved ones. So, what leads us to quit things we have put so much emotional, physical, and financial energy into completing? How do we avoid quitting? How do we know when to stop, when to pivot, or when to … Continue reading Quitting: A Cyclist’s Guide to Graceful Exits
Words by Lauren Cantwell. Images by Lauren Cantwell and Matt Reid. The shoulder season — that awkward time of the year that the snow starts to fall just enough to knock out the mountain biking, cover the roads with thin layers of ice, but still not enough to ski. Maybe it’s days of wet, cold rain — but for many of us who live in … Continue reading A cure for those shoulder season blues…
Words and images by Sarah Swallow “Embrace the journey, not the destination” – Ralph Waldo Emerson. My partner, Adam, and I crossed paths on the 2017 inaugural Baja Divide grand departure. Since then, our shared love for adventure and the sea has led us back to the Baja Peninsula and the Gulf of California every year. Nestled in central Baja is a spot we’ve grown … Continue reading Adventures in Baja
