Rode it, finished it, much to say. I don’t know where to start, and I have had thoughts about this kind of percolating out of my mind since Saturday. I can’t hope to do it justice in one blog post…

Rebecca Rusch’s Kokopelli Trail record. Pretty cool visuals…

IMG_5065 by Bike Jerks on Flickr.

Yes! It’s Almanzo eve, but this is a damn fine picture.

By Matt Hampshire, via Fat-bike.com.

ringtaileddouchebag:

Clint Reynolds - Tree tyre-tap

I do this all the time.

(via titsandtires)

This Vagabonde is a gorgeous piece of fatness.

Seeing this Moonlander last spring kicked off my now-consummated lust for a fatbike.

This is a gorgeous bike.

An interview with racer Jesse LaLonde, who won the Fatbike Frozen Forty back in February. 

“Pedal hard if you want to go fast, harder if you want to go faster.”

This story on the women’s Afghan cycling team is inspirational. These women crush gravel as a matter of course, and face dangers that no American riders do. 

Yes.

Gravel riding gets some love from Outside. (And a couple unnecessary coinages: “groadies”? Ugh)

Gravel riding, or “gravel grinding” as it’s known, is a different sort of race than the ones that came before. These are epic rides on forgotten, unpaved roads covered in crushed rock. They’re more relaxed, more low-brow, and more hardcore than you average road crit.

Toni and Peter in Finland blog about some amazing riding in Finland on their blogs, but their most recent posts outdo all the others: two long, profusely and gorgeously illustrated accounts of a daylong fatbike ride they took last weekend. I’m inspired.

Toni Lund: Fatbike perfection in Paimio
Peter Nylund: Riding on snowmobile trails

Though I didn’t exactly crush the Fatbike Frozen Forty course last weekend, I was pretty happy with my kit. Going into the race, I had a little bit of concern that I would be either too cold (very possible in the 5-degree F temperatures) or, much worse, too hot. When I kitted up on the morning of the race, I resisted the urge to pile on the layers, which was the right thing to do. I was a bit chilly on the start line, but perfectly fine for the rest of the race - not too hot, not too cold. Here’s what I wore:

Craft windbriefs
Bontrager knickers
socks: a pair of crew socks under a pair of knee-length “snowboarding” socks, all of some sort of quasi-wool performance fabric
Craft winter tights
Keen Brixen boots
Craft base layer sleeveless shirt
Craft long-sleeve thermal shirt
my club’s winter jersey (Louis Garneau)
lightweight buff (neck gaiter)
45NRTH “Greazy” winter cycling cap
Craft Siberia lobster mitts

Of this kit, the boots, hat, and gloves were the stars - all amazingly great in terms of comfort, warmth, and performance.

Eric Benjamin, the Adventure Monkey, took a long ride on his new Salsa Beargrease the other day. The ride was amazing, his pictures are (as always) wonderful, and his writing is moving.