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)
Global Fat Bike Day is an annual celebration of fat bikes. It falls on the first Saturday of December each year and brings with it group rides, get togethers, adventure coffees, baked treats, and great times. Like true Minnesotans, we have to start by talking about the weather. We had temps in the upper 40’s this year and well… it was weird. Questions arose like … Continue reading Global Fat Bike Day – Recap
Global Fat Bike Day is Saturday, December 7th. We’d like to highlight some rides happening close to us and with some of our favorite folks for group rides, hot chocolate, bon fires, and hopefully snowy conditions. If one of these rides is happening close to you, come join the fun! If not, reach out to your local Otso dealer or local bike shop to see what’s … Continue reading Global Fat Bike Day 2024 – Events
Words and photos by Sarah Swallow Having fun together is vital to relationship satisfaction, according to the Gottman Institute. The research shows that the stress that couples experience must be balanced with a certain amount of connection and fun to build a positive relationship perspective. In other words, we need to have an archive of fun experiences so that when times are tough, those positive … Continue reading Bikepacking for Couples Part II: Strategies for Experiencing Joy and Managing Conflict
Words and photos by Sarah Swallow The setting was the Bolivian salt flats outside of Uyuni. The time was November 2019; Adam and I were one-and-a-half years into our relationship. It was the end of a month-long bikepacking trip that had started with getting stuck in La Paz during a coup d’état of Bolivia’s then-socialist President Evo Morales, and some of the most intense and … Continue reading Bikepacking for Couples Part I: Lost on the Bolivian Salt Flats, A Story
This isn’t your typical Hallmark Holiday. On the first Saturday of December, cyclists from around the world set aside their differences and come together to celebrate all things fat bike. Carbon or steel? 26″ or 27.5″? Pogies or thick mitts? All that matters on Global Fat Bike Day is a united love for bikes that can fit fat tires. It really is something special. Continue reading Global Fat Bike Day 2022 Events
The Tuscobia Winter Ultra is a 160 or 80 mile race along the Tuscobia and Wild River Trails that takes place in December or January. The 80 mile course is one way, this year from Northern Pines Resort on Butternut Lake to Rice Lake, Wisconsin. The 160 mile course starts in Rice Lake; at Butternut Lake racers turn around and go back the way they came. In 2019 I completed the 80 mile race on bike, it was warm (for winter), rainy and icy. This year I was wishing for cold and my wish was granted, and then some. Continue reading Tuscobia Winter Ultra Race Report
Our patented Tuning Chip rear dropout system is found on all bike platforms in our collection, and adds an element of versatility to any Otso Cycles bicycle purchase that can make your bike feel like three different machines. Continue reading Tuning Chip Technology on Otso Bicycles: Everything You Need to Know
Over the nearly four years we’d been on the road for our Alaska to Argentina bikepacking journey we’d anticipated our arrival in Patagonia. The southernmost region of South America is famous for its soaring granite spires, tumbling glaciers, alpine lakes and sprawling forest. A wild frontier land where humans have tamed only the fringes of its terrain. A place with untold possibilities for adventure. Continue reading End of the Road — A Transcontinental Bikepacking Tour Cut Short by COVID-19
There’s a bikepacking adage that says “it’s not bikepacking until something goes wrong.” In a previous post, I wrote about a bikepacking trip that had almost nothing go according to plan at a humorous level. But what about when everything goes right? No rain, late departures, wrong turns, closed kitchens, etc. This is one of those trips–okay, we made one wrong turn, but we figured it out before going too far off course. Continue reading Bikeglamping
