Are you cringing every time you drive past the gas stations these days, like we are?  It’s no surprise that as the gas prices rise, cycling is also on the rise.  We thought that you may enjoy this article from Chicago Now, regarding this topic.  Happy trails!

It happened in 2008.  It’s happening again.

Gas prices are rising.  Rapidly.  Inexplicably.  In an election year, coincidentally.

Unless you are an heir to an oil fortune, an executive at a multinational oil company, or a Wall Street speculator, this is probably not good news for you.  It likely falls somewhere between monkey wrench and economic catastrophe.

When this last happened four years ago, there was a nationwide shortage of 27 X 1 1/4″ bicycle tires.

For the 99% not familiar with bike tire sizes, 27″ tires were last popular in the 1980′s.  Back in ’08, people were dragging old ten-speeds out of sheds, down from attics, up basement stairs, out of garages and into bike shops in record numbers.  The bike boom of the 1970′s had been accurately recreated without terry cloth shorts and striped tube socks…

Read Full Article Here.

Photo via Mellow Johnny’s Bike Shop – Austin, Texas.

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!

Advocacy, Ditch Your Car Chicago Now, RIsing Gas Prices

Under the moniker Sparth, Nicolas Bouvier creates tremendously inventive worlds, mostly for video games. His art has appeared in Wired, among other places, he’s won tons of awards, and he’s currently working for Microsoft and the hugely popular Halo franchise. He’s also a prolific photographer, creating images that are often ethereal and reminiscent of his art, including this one from Hurricane Ridge in Olympic National Park, Washington.

For more of Bouvier’s photo work, check out his Flickr page.

Thanks to Adventure Journal for posting this beautiful image and story!

Have a lane that you love? Send us a photo! You can post it to our Facebook page, shoot us an email at blog[at]ospreypacks[dot]com or upload to our Flickr group and we might just feature it here on our weekly photo feature, Lane Love.

Lane Love adventure journal, Nicolas Bouvier

Ready to roll at 24 Hours in the Old Pueblo

It is 3:45 a.m. on a Sunday morning and the temperature has dropped into the 30s. The sweat pouring out of me would freeze to my helmet strap if I wasn’t giving off heat like a glass blower’s furnace. I have been pedaling way over my lactic threshold for the past 20 minutes riding like a scared rabbit being chased by a pack of angry coyotes. Our team is fighting hard to maintain that 3rd place position on the podium.

While thoughts should be focused on how to reel in the team in front of us, the doubt is creeping in… can I hang on? How much more will my legs take? Where is that big rut that almost killed me on the last lap? This is lap number 14 at the 24 Hours in the Old Pueblo bike race and I am fighting hard for my four-person single speed team.

Read more…

Events, Osprey Life 24 hours in the old pueblo, endurance racing

Ever wondered how much your pocketbook may benefit from you ditching your car? We have and were excited to read this article, originally posted by Out Of Your Rut. We hope that you are inspired to trade the car keys in for your bike lock, next time you need to run an errand.

Read more…

Advocacy, Ditch Your Car bike commuting, bike to work, cars, traffic, travel

Osprey Bikers After Hours

The Southeast Bike Expo brings suppliers of bicycle products from all over the United States to show and demo their products in a fun filled, party atmosphere.

Join Osprey Packs along with manufacturers like Trek, Niner, Specialized, Scott, Shimano, and SRAM for some great riding, product demos and a giant party!!

When: February 25th and 26th

Where: The Georgia International Horse Park in Conyers, Georgia (site of the 1996 Olympic Mountain Bike cross-country course)

Read more…

Events, Non-profits demo, product promotion, Southeast bike expo

A friend posted this photo of her Pugsley in the snow and captioned the photo: “mountain biking – not just for summer anymore”.  It’s good to know that winter cannot stop one of our favorite activities nor can it get in the way of creating our own bike lanes, when they are otherwise covered in snow!  In honor of Presidents Day and ideally a day-off for the majority of you, we wish you happy trails and bliss-filled adventures whether you are on or off your bike today!

Photo via: Jennifer Eckhardt.

Have a lane that you love? Send us a photo! You can post it to our Facebook page, shoot us an email at blog[at]ospreypacks[dot]com or upload to our Flickr group and we might just feature it here on our weekly photo feature, Lane Love.

Active Lifestyle, Lane Love Pugsley, Surly

Ditch Your Car to provide youth in crime ridden cities an outlet of fun, education, love and life. We first saw “Scrapertown” at last year’s 5Point Film Festival in Carbondale, Co.  Baybe Champ was on the scene to talk about this film and to bring an inner city point of view, to an otherwise very white audience.  As a result, we were all in awe of his story and his grace; overwhelmed with love for what Champ has dedicated his life to and humbled by our own lives.  So today, we wanted to post this film to remind each of you, that there is always an alternative to the life that is seemingly ‘dealt’ to you.

The requirements of becoming a member of the Scraper Bike Team:

“In order to become a member of the Original Scraper Bike Team, you must: Be a resident of Oakland, CA. Be at least 7 years old or older. Retain A 3.0 Grade Point Average (GPA), Create your own Scraper Bike…(It Has To Be Amazing, Or Else You Can’t Ride.) A single-file line when riding. After 10 rides The Scraper Bike King and his Captains will decide if your bike is up to standards and if you can follow simple guidelines. After your evaluation we will consider you a member and honor you with an Original Scraper Bike Team Shirt. Only worn when Mobbin’ Stay posted to our website for all upcoming Scraper Bike Rides…” — The Scraper Bike King

A film by Drea Cooper & Zackary Canepari

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!

Advocacy, Ditch Your Car 5Point Film Festival, Baybe Champ, Scrapertown

In lieu of Valentine’s Day tomorrow, we couldn’t resist posting this video from The Grist List by Jess Zimmerman.  We hope that you enjoy and happy early Valentine’s Day to you!

“Nothing says “I love you” like a bicycle that forces you and your partner to cooperate to the point of absurdity, so Instructables user Carlitos has posted specs for a bike modification that places two riders side by side. If you have access to a welder and a good source of junker bike parts, you can make this your weekend project and be done in time for V-Day.

This is no standard in-line tandem bike, where the person in the back can coast. The conjoined twin bike requires you to work with your partner in awkward forced harmony, just like a traditional marriage!

Okay, I’m mainly kidding, because this is a really cool build and it’s nice to have a bike where you can actually talk to each other but don’t take up quite as much trail space as two side-by-side bikes. But you gotta admit that lift-off looks a little challenging.

Once you get the rhythm, though, one commenter reports, it’s “almost boring” — just like a traditional marriage! Zing! (Hi honey.)”

Jess Zimmerman is the editor of Grist List.

Have a lane that you love? Send us a photo! You can post it to our Facebook page, shoot us an email at blog[at]ospreypacks[dot]com or upload to our Flickr group and we might just feature it here on our weekly photo feature, Lane Love.

Lane Love

Everybody remembers his or her first bike. Mine was a blue Schwinn — traditional bars and a seat with a metallic blue paint.  In particular, I remember my first ride without training wheels. My father ran alongside me in an empty parking lot pushing and balancing me and then I was free — spinning away from my Dad, pedal, pedal, pedal — already worrying what to do when I came to a stop because the bike would now TIP OVER!! That bike saw many miles and many tip-overs. Over the years, it was shamed by my envy of Schwinn sting-rays only to rise proud again, converted to BMX style.

Osprey was introduced to 88Bikes when we first entered the bike industry with our Osprey Hydraulics™ line of hydration packs. Their model is simple yet incredibly powerful: provide bikes — often the first — to young people living in challenging environments across the planet. In places like Cambodia, Uganda and Peru the addition of a bicycle to a young person’s life almost always is a life-changing event.

Read more…

Advocacy, Non-profits, Osprey Life 88bikes, Navajo Nation

What’s not to love about ditching the car (or bus) in order to pedal your way to school, alongside your best friends? The Dutch, always taking the lead when it comes to biking.  Someday we hope to see a few of these bike buses grace our streets!

“The Dutch are bicycle fanatics. Almost half of daily travel in the Netherlands is by bicycle, while the country’s bike fleet comfortably outnumbers its 16 million people. Devotees of the national obsession have taken the next logical step by launching what is likely the first bicycle school bus.

Built by Tolkamp Metaalspecials, and sold by the De Cafe Racer company, the bicycle school bus (BCO in Dutch) is powered entirely by children and the one adult driver (although there is an electric motor for tough hills). Its simple design has eight sets of pedals for the kids (ages 4 to 12), a driver seat for the adult, and three bench seats for freeloaders. The top speed is about 10 miles per hour, and features a sound system and canvas awning to ward off rainy days.

Co.Exist spoke with Thomas Tolkamp who built the BCO about its origins and how the idea is catching on around the world for the sets of 11 lucky kids who get to arrive in school pedaling their own school bus.”

“I hope I can sell the bike in the near future to a foreign country and see how people at other countries react on the bike. I think it will work well in other countries, because as more and more people [are] becoming fat and “green living” becomes more important, ideas like this get more popular.” -Thomas Tolkamp

You can read the full interview here.

Photo + Article via: Fast Company contributor, Michael Coren.

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!

Bike Europe, Ditch Your Car Co.Exist, Fast Company, Thomas Tolkamp