Rider & Rig

We catch up with Australia-based Pepper Cook and her basketpacking Tumbleweed Prospector. Whilst cresting the mountain passes of Peru, we ask her about solo tours, what she’s been doing to get women cycling, bikepacking verses road touring, and braids…

The second coming of Virginia’s Salsa Deadwood was a last-minute scramble build finished the day before our flight to the Republic of Georgia. Fortunately, it couldn’t have turned out any better… or more comfortably. In this Rider and Rig we talk to Virginia about her style of bikepacking and how to stay comfortable on long tours… plus her full packlist.

Wondering what it takes to forgo the majority of your earthly possessions for two years and ride the length of South America? We caught up with San Francisco-based architect Brian Mulder and checked out his patinaed, battleworn Ventana el Gordo, complete with Rohloff Speedhub, Gates belt drive, and SON dynamo hub… We asked him what he learned after riding from Patagonia to Colombia, how his gear fared, and pressed him for a few highlights from his journey…

In our latest Rider and Rig, we admire Danish couple Kenneth and Marie’s beautifully crafted 29+ steel hardtails, made by framebuilder Ari Rosenzweig in Israel, for their dirt road journey across the Americas.

We talk to filmmaker Jay Ritchey about his 27.5+ Tumbleweed Prospector, the camera gear he carried on a recent tour of the Peru Divide, and find out about the rack and bikepacking bags he custom made to accommodate it.

In the latest Rider and Rig, we check out Michael Dammer’s Surly Karate Monkey bikepacking rig as used on the Colorado Trail, plus its awesome farm-made leather framebag…

We take a look at Zach Shriver’s all carbon, 29+ trail slayer, the Trek Stache 9.8. We also hear about how it was set up for bikepacking the Colorado Trail, as well as exactly what gear Zach carried. It’s a great checklist for anyone planning to undertake this beautiful, challenging journey.

Dylan Taylor is currently leading the American Trail Race and after 14 days he’s just about halfway through the 5,148 mile route. We caught up with Dylan to inquire about his bike, gear kit, and race experience so far…

After just 12 days, Indiana Schulz is almost halfway through the 5,000 mile American Trail Race from North Carolina to Oregon. We intercepted Indy just outside the Smoky Mountains to learn more about his gear kit and trip so far…

As riders trickled into Calgary and onto Banff in preparation for this year’s Tour Divide Grand Départ, Skyler had a chance to intercept Lynne Slivovsky and her mesmerizing Moonmen #M32 titanium bike. In this Rider and Rig learn a little more about this artful ti masterwork and how Lynne is attacking the Tour Divide.

In the first of a new series, Rider & Rig, we take a look at Joe Cruz’s Seven Treeline SL titanium fat bike. Find out more about the bike, the journeys he takes it on, and how he packs it…

In this Rider and Rig we bring you an unfiltered quasi-report on the Rivendell Atlantis by Benedict J. Poppi Kuuhl (Ultraromance)… “we like our tubes lugged and our cotton waxed as our bikini lines.” Read on.