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In the past couple of years, we've learned a lot from teaming up with Blackburn Designs in support of their Ranger program. One of the results of the partnership is Roll With It, a book about the ins and outs of traveling on your bike. Roll With It, released this past summer as a collaboration between Blackburn, New Belgium Brewing and Niner, offers a wealth of information for anyone interested in heading out on their bike. Here are some of our favorite images from the book that show a variety of ways to pack up your bike. From the minimalist to the pack mule, you'll get a good idea of what packing a bike might mean for you. For more detailed information, get the book. (llustrations by Chris McNally)
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For many of us, hopping on a bike and heading out on the road or trail offers us time away. Time away from the daily grind, time away from the list of things to do around the house, time away from the noise. Sometimes that time lasts an hour, sometimes two. Other times it lasts an entire day or maybe a weekend. And then there are times that lasts much longer.
The Blackburn Rangers program began its fourth season this past spring. With names like Christian and Ivan, Brian and Courtney and Katie and Laura, this season's Blackburn Rangers headed out for some serious time away. Their adventures would take them across the country, over mountains, along oceans, through deserts and everywhere else in between. They would encounter a variety of weather, fierce headwinds, friendly tailwinds and an entire cast of colorful characters.
With bikepacking equipment provided by Blackburn Design and bikes provided by Niner ( The ROS 9 Plus shown below or RLT 9 steel shown at top) , these teams would split up and encounter different adventures along the way.
| | | Katie shows off her ROS 9 Plus set up that would take her from one end of the trail to the other. |
One such team, Katie and Laura, rode the Great Divide trail together, the longest off-pavement route in the world. Stretching from Canada all the way to Mexico, Katie and Laura pedaled the days away, the dirt and gravel grinding away under them. You can watch a short video on their trip through Wyoming here.
For more info on what Christian, Ivan, Brian and Courtney are up to, visit Blackburn Design where you can read all about their plans, check out their equipment setups and follow them along on their blogs. And stay tuned. With Niner's support, Blackburn will be launching it's 2017 Ranger program soon. |
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| |  | | The new Coler Trail opened to the public to rave reviews. | |
20 years ago, the IMBA World Summit was more about how to build a sustainable trail. Today, it's all about kissin' babies and shakin' hands. Mountain biking has grown up since the boys in California raced the Repack. It's now the college graduate who's out there trying to make its way in the world. Mountain biking means networking, listening, interviewing, thinking outside the box and workin' hard. Kissin' babies and shakin' hands.
The IMBA World Summit sold out this year. As IMBA staff and chapter leaders gathered in Northwest Arkansas, there was much talk about land access, e-bikes and purpose-built trails. Here's the real question. What can you do to help the growth of mountain biking opportunities in your area? If you're already involved, how can you become more effective as an advocate?
As many of you know, summits, conferences, and the like, are generally events where you hear a ton of information, but only come away with a couple learning points. I walked away from Bentonville with three main thoughts. Thoughts that I already knew, but after the Summit, I saw them in a different light.
| | | Pretty cool trail maintenance set up that we saw at the Summit. |
Communicate - If you ride past another trail user, say, "Hi". Be courteous. If you know your local politician, let them know mountain biking is important to you. If you meet someone interested in mountain biking, talk about it. We all started off as beginners. It's important we make anyone and everyone feel good about their experience.
Collaborate - Reach out to other user groups, land agency staff, businesses and elected officials who you don't already know. You never know who your next ally might be. Conversation and relationship building are the reasons we have the phenomenal diversity of trails we do today. Think of it this way. Every new conversation has the potential to become a new trail.
Volunteer - You might think I mean trail maintenance. Get out there, trim some trees and move some rocks. Sure, mountain biking means getting dirty, but the hard work happens behind the scenes. Every IMBA chapter could use an attorney, a social media guru, an event planner, a grant writer and a parent with a little extra time to keep it all together. Volunteer your time to your local trail group. Maybe they just need someone to drive a water jug to trail workers? Maybe they need someone to take on a Comprehensive Mountain Biking Master Plan in your area? Your skillset is unique. Reach out and see how you can help. Trust me, no effort is too small. -Scott Sherman
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Purpose built for adventure with full rack and fender mounts to get you off the payment and onto the road less traveled, this high-performance carbon fork can take on gravel grinding, bikepacking and more. The Niner RDO Gravel fork starts with our acclaimed Niner carbon fork and adds the increased steering precision of a Rock Shox Maxle. We also utilize carbon in ways no other fork manufacturer has done before. From the tip of the dropout to the top of the steerer tube and everywhere in between, Niner carbon forks take full advantage of the damping characteristics of carbon. The outside shape of the fork was also designed to disperse road and trail impacts throughout the entire structure, damping vibrations before they get to your hands without compromising steering precision. From top to bottom, the Niner RDO fork is designed for better performance. The Niner RDO fork is stiff, light, strong and forgiving.
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| Niner employees are passionate riders who believe that time spent on the trails with friends is as important as time spent in the office. Scraped knees, riding tales and camp fire smell in our jackets remind us of our primary goal - building beautiful, dependable bikes that you will enjoy as much as we do. Thank you, from the Niner Bikes Crew!
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