Welcome to the first Bicycle blog round trip this year!
This year again I present you selected videos, texts, pictures and podcasts from the world of bike travel and bikepacking. And since autumn last year I have collected some pearls worth reading and watching. This time with articles about functional clothing and sustainability, bikepacking with toddlers, gravel bike trends for 2022, info about stack and reach, supply bottlenecks and a bike trip in Kyrgyzstan.
And again: to prevent copyright problems, there are pictures from the last weeks of me instead of the respective post pictures.
Have fun!
Let’s go.
Bikepacking as a girls’ vacation (ger)
Johanna and Lisa are writing the blog MountainbikeLiebe, with which they also want to inspire and inspire other women for this sport. The two also write here about their first bikepacking tour and what they learned along the way. Not only for women a good read for the introduction to bikepacking and as preparation for the hopefully approaching spring.
Click here for the article >>>
Hunting boars in Belgium (ger)
Tom aka Bikingtom was at the Dirty Boar 2021 in Belgium and rode this gravelride for us. This time the weather was probably better than the year before, so Tom was able to garnish his report with nice pictures. Worth reading and informative for all who want to experience the dirty boar this year.
Click here for the article >>>
Gravel Bikes for 2022 (en)
New year, new bike? If you are looking for a gravel bike, you can find an overview of new bikes for 2022 at BikeExchange. And maybe some of them are even available…
Click here for the article >>>
With camera on tour (eng)
I really like to take pictures when I’m on the road with my bike. In the past I used real cameras for that, today I do everything exclusively with my smartphone. Also because a camera is often too bulky, too heavy and too complicated for me to carry. Cass Gilbert talked to bikepackers on Bikepacking.com who are on the road with cameras, how they transport them and what tips they have. It’s worth reading for all those who are concerned with the topic of photography on the road and safe transport of the camera.
Click here for the article >>>
Outdoor clothing and sustainability (ger)
Everyone has their blind spots and often we don’t look closely when it comes to sustainability and bikepacking or even clothes. Katrin aka Fräulein Draussen has dealt with the topic of outdoor clothing and sustainability and collected some good information and tips.
Click here for the article >>>
Gravelbike Trends 2022 (eng)
More suspension, more electronics, more tire width (you could almost think it’s about MTBs ): The colleagues of Bikeradar have identified a total of 5 trends for this year, which could be interesting for gravel bikers (and others).
Click here for the article >>>
Silk Road Mountain Race Video (eng)
Steven rode the SRMR 2021 and recorded his experiences as a video. They give a good impression of what the riders had to expect there. Don’t expect an artfully composed video, but a realistic insight into probably the toughest bikepacking race in the world:
High up in Schleswig-Holstein (en)
Col de Hahnheide – the Northern Germans among you will now smile knowingly – is a ride in Schleswig-Holstein. It takes you to a forest area called Hahnheide, because there’s a hill there that’s scary high for us Northerners, 99m above sea level, and the lookout tower there, before heading back to Hamburg. That’s quite a distance and Lena tells us how it can be quite an adventure.
Click here for the article >>>
Bicycles and sexism (ger)
Diamantrad has published a remarkable post on their blog that deals with the topic of bicycles, prejudices in product communication and implied sexism. It’s well worth reading and interesting to know, also and especially to check and expand one’s own understanding and sensitivity towards this topic. I can therefore highly recommend it, especially since Diamantrad also shows there concretely what they are going to change now.
Click here for the article >>>
Bikepacking with baby (ger)
What’s it like to do a bikepacking tour but take a baby with you? Katrin and Jakob have become parents and take us and their daughter Ronja on tour through the Black Forest:
1.000km, 100 hours, 20.000 HM (ger)
Eva aka Takeshi rides a bike took on the randonneurs challenge Le 1000 du Sud and reports on her blog about this ride and how she approached climbing.
Bikepacking TransGermany (ger)
Unfortunately this great ride through all of Germany doesn’t take place officially anymore, but if you like, you can still walk on old GPS trails. And if you are still looking for inspiration and information: In 2020 Elena and Hannes have been on the road from Rheinfelden to Cap Arkona and report about their ride on the CXB Blog.
Click here for the article >>>
Bohemian Border Bash Race 2021 (eng)
I am really looking forward to start at the BBBR this year. And that’s why I love reading reports from the first edition of this bikepacking race through Bohemia. It’s going to be pretty fun and if you want to know how it was last year, you can find pictures and impressions at Bikepacking.com.
Click here for the article >>>
Lael and the GDMBR (eng)
This movie accompanies Lael Wilcox on her ride on the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route (GDMBR) and her record attempt. Nice pictures, great performance!
Tubular or tubeless? Lab test! (ger)
For many it is actually still a question: Do I ride with tube, or tubeless? The colleagues from Mountainbike Magazine have looked at both systems in the lab and summarized their results for MTB riders.
Click here for the article >>>
Supply bottlenecks and background (ger)
By now, everyone should have noticed: There are significant supply bottlenecks for bicycles and bicycle components. WirtschaftsWoche talked about this with Rose shareholder Marcus Diekmann. An informative look behind the scenes.
Click here for the article >>>
Endurance races and sleep (eng)
Often we read about bikepacking races where there is little or no sleep. I get tired right away. But James Hayden gives good tips and explains backgrounds, what it has to do with the sleep at these events and how you can get through with little sleep.
Click here for the article >>>
Bikepacking in Kyrgyzstan (eng)
Bernhard met Tobias and me at the airport in Istanbul when we boarded our plane to Bishkek. Bernhard was on the road at the same time as the Silk Road Mountain Race in Kyrgyzstan, but with more time and a bit more leisurely. Now he has summarized his experiences on his blog and reports with wonderful pictures about his tour through the Tien Shan and the impressive Kyrgyzstan.
Click here for the article >>>
Death in the tent (ger)
Actually everybody knows it, but cooking in the tent holds dangers, which are obviously still underestimated. Franziska writes in the magazine “berg und steigen” about the death by carbon monoxide by careless cooking and I think that many should know.
Click here for the article >>>
Which is better: electronic or mechanical shifting? (ger)
The colleagues from MTB-News have once again taken on the subject of gears and not only given a current overview on the subject, but they have dealt intensively in five parts with the question of whether an electronic has advantages over a mechanical shifter – or not! For this they have taken the current best MTB gear systems and evaluated in detail.
Here you can find the gear special >>>
GranGuanche Trail with Josh, Sofiane & Ryan (eng)
The GranGuanche Trail is a bikepacking race across all the Canary Islands. The concept is quite interesting, but you have to plan for the ferries. At Radavist Sofiane, Josh and Ryan talk about their ride and the GranGuanche.
Click here for the article >>>
Geometry 1×1 (eng)
What do stack and reach mean and how does trail specifically affect the bike? Cyclingtips has written an informative article about this, which can also help you to better understand these terms and data and apply them to you and your bike.
Click here for the article >>>
Why handlebars with flare? (eng)
The ends of the drop bars sticking out to the sides are a trademark of bikepacking and gravel bikes. This shape is called a flare. See what it’s all about and the benefits of flare in this video from Salsa:
Ride home (ger)
Jana and Björn aka Ride Punk Ride set out on their journey home in the fall of 2021 and rode from Hamburg to their families – by bike, of course. I found this inspiring and their pictures make me want to get on my bike even in rather autumnal weather.
Click here for the article >>>
GBDURO with Marc (eng)
The GBDURO is an off-road race from one end of the British Isle to the other. Marc Beaumont won the race in August 2021 and this video accompanies him and other riders on this challenge:
Bibs, with which woman can also pee (ger)
The Woman all Ride collective has taken on the topic of bibs for women. These cycling shorts are worn with straps, which is great when riding and keeps the shape.However, if you have to pee, it is anything but easy, especially for women. But there are also bibs that solve this problem. And The Woman all Ride took a look at a few winter-ready and pee-friendly pants.
Click here to read the article >>>
How functional clothing works (ger)
Breathability, merino fabrics, Gore-Tex – when we’re outdoors, we often rely on functional fabrics in our clothing. How these work and how we can get the best out of them, the colleagues from MTB-News have taken a closer look.
Click here for the article >>>
With Peter into the Caucasus (ger)
I already had Peter Baumeister as a guest in the podcast and there he also told about his Caucasus Bikepacking Tour. Now there are finally also moving pictures and I can only recommend his episodes about the adventure in Georgia:
So, the round trip is over. Did you enjoy it? Do you have any tips on interesting articles and blogs?
Then let me know in the comments below.
The next cycling blog tour will take place in spring!