We’re getting quite a few inquiries about Flaanimal 4.0 so we thought we’d give an update. We actually were trying not to really announce 4.0 very loudly because we didn’t want to create a situation where the bikes would be considered late and everyone would flood our inboxes for updates. But you know… word leaks out.
Every ride is a good ride.
We’re always looking for another reason to throw around the word “epic”.
But most rides are not epic. Some rides are merely good, or great, or fun, or “I’m glad I got outside today”.
If everything is exceptional then nothing is exceptional.
So three cheers for good rides with friends both old and new, on roads both old and new.
Hat tip to Rocky Mountain Road Club. They know how to put together a good ride.
Best adventure bike? Run what ya brung!
It is happening.
The adventue bike segment is getting bigger, exploding. The offerings are more vast with each passing week.
You know how they say that the universe isn’t just expanding, but that the rate of expansion is accelerating? Well, that’s “Adventure” bikes too.
When we build Traildonkey 1.0 in 2014 the pickings were slim, and in our opinion nobody had really nailed the sweet spot for a multi surface, multi terrain bike capable of properly ignoring traditional bike categories – which is why we decided to go for it ourselves. Now almost four years later the industry has caught up. Almost every major brand (with a few notable exceptions) has a super legit gravel adventure bike. And here’s the thing: They are pretty much all great bikes. I can’t think of a single company that has made something awful and my money says that the genre is going to keep getting more interesting, more capable, and more fun.
A Year In The Life of A Donkey
Today my Trail Donkey turned one year old. Not sure how many Donkey years that is, but it’s about 3,748.3 miles of adventures. Lots of people ask me what kind of bike the Trail Donkey is. I’m still not sure what to tell them, other than it’s a cyclocross-adventure-commuter-criterium-dirt-gravel-grinder-group-ride-fendered-fat-tire-road-racer-kind of jobby. Jack of All Trades, Master of Fun might be a better way to sum it up. Here’s what my Donkey’s First Year looked like.
Fall.
Fall tricks you into welcoming it with a fleeting bouquet, then unceremoniously hands you off to winter before you know what happened. Its the world’s best bait and switch.
Das Boot Cup (Gravel Ride), Oct 15th Helen, GA
Rodeoer Mike Smith aka “Donkeyslayer” has put together a geat open invite ride in his native territory and we are helping to spread the word.
(questions should go to mike at wwmd (at) comcast.net)
October 15, 2017
Ride Time 8am
Interdonkey
Traildonkey build of the day: Interdonkey.
This bike is heading to the SRAM booth at Interbike for display next week, but we don’t just build display bikes, we ride the pants off of them then display them.Continue reading
This is absurd. Cycling Imogen Pass.
It’s 10am on a Thursday morning in late August, I’m getting ready for a bike ride and thinking about the year so far. It’s the time of year when people start asking themselves where the summer went and why didn’t they get that thing done that they wanted to do this year.
I’ve asked that question more then once this year myself and the answer is always the same: You can never get it all done, you can only try your best.
World’s Worst Climb™
I’d heard of The World’s Worst Climb™ in passing comment and conversation.
There were rumors of a dirt switchbacking climb snaking up the near vertical mountain slopes that wall in the historic town of Georgetown, CO. Rumors they were though. Nobody I knew had ever done it. I think the first photo evidence of its existence may have come from Matt Deviney on Instagram. Or maybe it was a photo linked on Strava? I can’t remember.
ALPHARD – Or well Le tour de Grandes Alpes
NOTE: This writeup and photos were kindly submitted by Alex Munz. Alex hails from Amsertam, Netherlands
In a region far, far away (imagine Star Wars music), two lycra padawan’s were heading out to conquer the mountains… okok i stop.
Anyways Cyril and me (Alex) we went out on a big bikepacking adventure. We had the crazy and of course awesome idea to do the Tour de Grandes Alpes on our bikes. With panniers and our tents, cooking gear, cloth, shoes, rainjackets… bikes were way to heavy :D