Your daily ride might involve a lot of things, but how often do you come across this? “You never know what you might run into during a seemingly normal ride around Banff, Alberta,” as Justin of Venture There says. We figured it was a fitting photo to end our Ride of the Week contest with.
Thanks to everyone that submitted! We’ll be announcing our grand prize winner next week. And even if your photo wasn’t selected, keep your eyes on the Osprey Bike Blog, because we’ll be featuring more contests soon.
Every Wednesday on Ditch Your Car we’ll be bringing you just another reason to spend more time on two wheels. Be it a photo, a statistic or an inspirational video, we want to keep reminding you about why riding is great!
Osprey Adventure Envoy Evan Stevens, who normally covers climbing and guiding for us over on the Osprey Blog, shares with us his other love, mountain biking, and reminds us that riding buddies come in all shapes and sizes.
In my life it feels as though you get pigeon holed into a social circle based on your outdoor activities. For me, guiding is my source of income, whether it’s skiing or climbing, small rocks, glades, big mountains, you name it. As a consequence it seems like the majority of my skiing and climbing partners are all guides, as we share the same love for the mountains and very flexible work schedules.
However, I have one hobby which doesn’t seem to fit in with the rest: mountain biking. Where I live in Squamish, BC, biking is just as much a way of life as climbing is, and with all sports like climbing and biking, you can choose to be a queen of one trade or a jack of a few.
I guess I might actually be a 10 of diamonds when it comes to biking, but I do love to hit the local trails here. Problem is I don’t really have a circle of friends that bike with my random riding schedule. Sure I have a few friends who ride, but there is one friend that I do 99% of my riding with exclusively, out there on every single ride I ever do.
Fridays are the best!! There is the entire weekend to look forward to and if you live near Cortez, CO you can join in the weekly bike polo match!
Bike polo in its simplest form is two teams of four people competing head to head with the objective of scoring more goals than the opponent. Goals are scored by hitting the polo ball into the net using a polo mallet while riding a bicycle. A standard bike polo field is 100 yards long by 60 yards wide but any open area will suffice. A playing field of grass is recommended but not required. Our games take place in a wide open asphalt parking lot which makes for a much faster (and much more dangerous) game. Evidently there are some rules to the game which can be found at the U.S. Bicycle Polo Association website. However, our games are simple with only 2 primary rules; you have to hold the mallet with your right hand and if your foot touches the ground you are “out of play” until you ride one complete 360 degree circle.
How could we not choose to feature this photo today?
Not only is this ride pretty out of the ordinary, we like that it’s even got a Talon in it. Thanks to Joe for submitting it, and we should add that it was taken during a recent self-supported mountain bike trek around the Annapurna Circuit in Nepal. If that doesn’t give you some inspiration to get out on a good ride this weekend, we don’t know what will.
For all of October we’re running our Ride of the Week photo contest. You send us your best shots your “ride” — be that your bike all covered in mud, a shot from your morning commute or your favorite section of singletrack — we’ll feature a weekly photo here on the blog, and at the end of the month we’ll pick a grand prize winner who will score a brand new Osprey hydration pack: the Viper or the Verve depending on your choice! Just upload your photo to our Flickr pool and tag it with “Ride of the Week,” or email us your photo to blog[at]ospreypacks[dot]com.
Every Wednesday on Ditch Your Car we’ll be bringing you just another reason to spend more time on two wheels. Be it a photo, a statistic or an inspirational video, we want to keep reminding you about why riding is great!
Nothing screams bike inspiration like an Estonian music video. Seriously.
That hurt. From the very start that hurt. My legs were burning before we even climbed the hill on lap 1.
Photo by Heidi Swift
WOW. My teeth were covered in dirt. Dust + heavy breathing + sweat = oh so nice. I hang my body over my bike as soon as I roll to a stop on the other side of the finish line.
For this week’s Ride of the Week, we had to go with this creative shot by dan1racing on Flickr. You can easily imagine the driver downing an early morning cup of coffee in anticipation of the day’s glorious ride ahead of them. Wonder where they’re off to?
For all of October we’re running our Ride of the Week photo contest. You send us your best shots your “ride” — be that your bike all covered in mud, a shot from your morning commute or your favorite section of singletrack — we’ll feature a weekly photo here on the blog, and at the end of the month we’ll pick a grand prize winner who will score a brand new Osprey hydration pack: the Viper or the Verve depending on your choice! Just upload your photo to our Flickr pool and tag it with “Ride of the Week,” or email us your photo to blog[at]ospreypacks[dot]com.
Every Wednesday on Ditch Your Car we’ll be bringing you just another reason to spend more time on two wheels. Be it a photo, a statistic or an inspirational video, we want to keep reminding you about why riding is great!
Here’s an intriguing pro-bicycle campaign. Earlier this year the City of Copenhagen published this ad which reads:
You won’t believe it… You’re safer on the bicycle than on the sofa!
Lack of daily exercise is harmful to your health, while physical activity keeps your body healthy.
Cycling extends your life – daily excercise for minimum 30 minutes extends your life with up to five years.
Although promoting active transportation, focusing on the exercise benefits of riding your bike, the ad actually comes from the city’s public health department.
Last week, after my unfortunate run-in with a stake on the Alpenrose course, my coach told me not to Spaz Out.
Are you calling me a spaz? I asked, half joking, half serious.
The truth of it is; last week, I rode like a Spaz (notice the capital S). I was all over the place, unsure, lacking confidence, inconsistent with my lines, rushing through the motions, way too jacked up on Cross Crusade fever. I needed to calm down and trust myself.
