The Radavist

“I think the big highlight for me was just the energy—the energy shared any time I passed someone, or they passed me—I’d stop and think I was alone, and all of a sudden, I’d turn a corner and see someone I knew. The energy we left echoed through those mountains.”

This past April, in the quiet Spanish town of Teruel, a few hours east of Madrid, 56 riders set out by bike to take on the Komoot Women’s Montañas Vacías Bikepacking Challenge, an eight-day exploration of one of the least-populated regions in Europe. The 57th rider, Josie Fouts, followed along in the media van and recaps the challenge below.

Note: This article is part of a sponsored partnership with Komoot. We’ll always disclose when content is sponsored to ensure our journalistic integrity.

Katherine Moore, a zoologist by training and a cycling writer by trade, has just launched a new bikepacking route through her home turf in East Devon. Besides the gorgeous coastal tracks and sleepy wooded trails further inland, quaint thatched villages, and colorful seaside towns, the East Devon Trail features a twist: linking up nature reserves and bird hides along its 115-mile length. While the release of this accessible weekender trail has been the cause of much excitement, its development sprung out of a much darker and unexpected place.

Note: This article is part of a sponsored partnership with Komoot. We’ll always disclose when content is sponsored to ensure our journalistic integrity.

When you think of volcanic landscapes, is your mind is drawn to the barren, rocky, and dark moonscapes of Iceland, Hawaii or Lanzarote? Well, in the volcanic regions of Central France, a different kind of geology awaits.

Enduro World Series racer turned YouTuber Scotty Laughland has traveled the world mountain biking, from British Columbia to Jamaica, but world events in recent years kept him closer to home than anticipated.

Born out of a fresh perspective on his local trails after the birth of his first child, Scotty set about sharing the gems he’s enjoyed over the years – as well as some thoughts on sustainable mountain biking development, the role of trail associations and how we can support these valuable networks.

There’s nothing worse than ending up on the shoulder of a highway due to bad planning, only to find later that a pleasant gravel road was another option. Heat maps show the most popular routes cyclists ride in dense urban environments, rural areas, and beyond. They are helpful when visiting a new city, or learning how to commute by bike safely and of course, when planning rides and routes.

Ride with GPS has rolled out a new mobile and web-compatible heatmap, which aids in planning rides and routes, worldwide. You can check it out on the web at Ride with GPS and on the iOS and Android mobile apps. The heatmap is viewable when recording a ride, for free, for all Ride with GPS members, and also available for Basic and Premium members as an overlay in the Mobile Route Planner for creating and editing routes on the fly.

Head to Ride with GPS’ blog post for more information and pick up your app today to start planning.

Wearable tech doesn’t have to be techy. Apple, Garmin, and many others make watches that can be linked to various ride tracking apps, yet I found myself drawn to the Suunto line, a lesser-known GPS watch brand. Part of my interest in Suunto was due to that they design and manufacture their watches in Finland, a country that seems to specialize in GPS watches and devices. For me, switching a computer from bike to bike, and managing the mounts for each, was too big of a pain in the ass. Convenience is king when your life revolves around riding, reviewing, and documenting bikes and bike rides. I’ve been making moves with the Suunto Traverse for three years now and truly believe these watches are worth their hefty price tag.