Cass Gilbert

With a renewed desire to dabble with different bikes and camera gear alike, Cass shares a late summer list of picks in his Editor’s Dozen. Expect a mix of durable, road tested new gear and a twenty year old favourite, plus ways to look sharp in coffee shops on tour and carry a week’s supply of your favorite toothpaste.

Cass and Vish set sail for the Isle of Wight to beta test the new Solent Scramble, a route that blends the best of the island’s soaring, grassy coastal yomps and ancient woodland bridleways via a ferry service from the New Forest. And what better bike to choose than his Rambler, his UK steed built purposefully for such outings? Read about the route’s development and what it’s like to ride it, along with a full bike check and mini review of his faded yellow summer Stooge…

The Huascarán Circuit is a highlight of any pedal-powered adventure in South America. Not only does it make a fantastic loop in its own right, showcasing some of the highest peaks in Peru, but it’s also an ideal shakedown ride before embarking on the Peru Great Divide. Find Cass’s diary from his second lap around the eye-popping 230-kilometer loop, along with a map, itinerary, and a suggested pack list for both it and the Divide here…

Colorado’s Rollins Pass is the stuff of legend. It’s the highest point on a wild, rugged railroad built in 1904 and a crossing that’s now accessible only to cyclists and hikers. Reachable by public transport and a day’s pedaling, it’s also an alternative gateway to the state’s largest bike park. Fueled by gummy worms and dreams of endless descents, Cass and Sage combined bikepacking with bikepark-ing for their first experience of gravity-fed riding…

Hike-a-bikes have a habit of embedding themselves deep in our memories. Returning to Peru’s Cordillera Blanca after a long hiatus, Cass re-rides a “leisurely” overnight route with a “modest” hike-a-bike, or so he described it in his blog at the time. Will he think the same, almost 15 years later? Find out here and see other acclimatization day-ride routes for those headed off to tackle the Peru Great Divide…

In the film “Never Stop,” Samer Abouhamad shares the third chapter in his 74,000-kilometer bikepacking odyssey, covering 20 countries including Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon. Plus, find stats from the three-year ride and answers to questions on everything from his route choice and how much time he spent alone, to thoughts on traveling through the region as a Lebanese American…

Is coffee outside an excuse to get out on a morning ride, or the gateway drug to a local overnighter? Cass ponders how small rituals encourage us to slow down and linger, as the Oaxaca Café Afuera Crew heads out to the newly opened Café Cruz de la Peña, lured into a 6,000-foot climb by the promise of the best sunrise coffee and conversation in town…

In this cross between a Rider and Rig and Route Report, Cass heads off to ride the epic and wild Vuelta de Citlaltépetl, a loop he’s shared on the site and written about for The Bikepacking Journal, as a yearly bike touring pilgrimage of sorts. This time, he does it in style. Or, at least, in Corey-style, complete with a chimney-equipped hot tent pulled in a trailer by a pink Bike Friday…

In their final mountain missive from Colombia, Cass and Emma trace their ride to El Cocuy National Natural Park. They roll along dirt roads with colourful Lada Nivas, strike up chats with poncho-clad Boyacenses, and race milk lorries through the folds of the Andes. Ultimately, they choose to follow their hearts rather than the map, heading off route for a few last nights in páramo country. Read all about it here…

As a follow-up to their last Colombian journal entry, Cass and Emma head north of Bogotá to ride two of the site’s popular routes, Páramos Conexión and Oh Boyacá! After fabulous encounters and 35,000 meters of climbing, they wonder to themselves, “Can anywhere be as good as Colombia for dirt road, mountain touring?” Find out here…

In this report from Colombia, Cass and Emma share a journal entry from riding a trimmed-down version of the Ruta Chingaza, a multi-day loop that takes them from a balmy, jungly 1,500 meters to a 3,400-meter expanse of páramo and its otherworldly frailejón, just a day’s ride on dirt roads from the capital, Bogotá. At 290 kilometers and with a hearty 10,000 metres of climbing, it’s quite the welcome to the Andes…