Andy Amick

Dreaming Of Multi-Day Trips With Kids

by Andy Amick

Hopefully, you’ve already made you plans and reservations for this summer’s trips.  If you haven’t, what are you waiting for? Over dinner the other night, my kids and I started talking about trips and places we would like to explore.  Yes, these are the dinner conversations we have, especially when my wife is out of [...]

Backpacking Read the full article →

Bikepacking With Kids? Yes You Can

by Andy Amick

Don’t let people tell you that you can’t go bikepacking with kids. You can. They certainly can. And it’s fun! Taking your child out on the trail presents a few challenges, but there are many more positives than negatives.  Here are three things to keep in mind when planning a bikepacking trip with younger kids. [...]

Bikepacking Read the full article →

Where Has Your Bike Taken You?

by Andy Amick

It’s a subtle difference, but it’s not about where you have taken your bike.  It’s really about the places your bike has taken you.  And those places are some incredible places.  Instead of focusing on the next ride or next trip, it’s a good idea to occasionally look back and think about the variety of rides your bike [...]

Cycling Read the full article →

A 2 Pound Bikepacking Clothing System

by Andy Amick

Maybe it’s the continual barrage of Monday night snowstorms hitting Denver lately, or maybe it’s just me being crazy, but I’m still writing about bikepacking clothing choices.  After three posts, hopefully everyone gets the idea that it’s best to have lots of layers that work in a variety of conditions.  If you can be comfortable [...]

Bikepacking Read the full article →

Life Is Short. Embrace Each Day

by Andy Amick

In the midst of tragedy and loss, can anything good come out of it?  That is a question that has been on my mind since Monday’s horrible events at the Boston Marathon.  We have probably all gone through so many emotions from shock, disbelief, anger, sadness, blessed, vengeful, hurt and many others.  Instead of dwelling on [...]

Dreams Read the full article →

What Is Bikepacking?

by Andy Amick

In it’s most basic form, bikepacking is nothing more than combining cycling with camping.  I have even used that description on the Bikepacking 101 page to introduce people to bikepacking.  But that simple definition leaves out some of the best parts of the bikepacking experience. Yes, bikepacking will always be centered around cycling and camping, but [...]

Bikepacking Read the full article →

A 3 Season Bikepacking Clothing System

by Andy Amick

My fashion sense is a little whacked.  Ok, a lot of whacked.  I have no problem wearing cuben fiber knickers or a short sleeve down jacket.  For bikepacking, my mantra is definitely function over form.  If there was a great wool baselayer that only came in purple with red polka dots, I’d have no problem [...]

Bikepacking Read the full article →

Bikepacking Clothing For Extreme Conditions

by Andy Amick

Spring has sprung which means summer bikepacking trips are on the mind.  But before winter disappeared, I decided to give my bikepacking clothing an extreme shakedown on a recent snowy, windy, and cold afternoon.  Even if your bikepacking trips are in the summer, you never know what kind of weather you might encounter on the [...]

Bikepacking Read the full article →

Don’t Let Emergencies Stress Your Finances

by Andy Amick

This is the final post in a three part series on reducing the stress of personal finance. Each post details a simple technique to reduce financial headaches.  Previous posts discussed using a personal escrow account to help smooth out yearly or irregular payments and using the envelope method to smooth out monthly spending.  This post focuses [...]

Finance Read the full article →

Toothpaste Dots Are Not My Friend

by Andy Amick

Or as my kids would say – Epic fail!!  Making the dots was easy, but actually using them for toothpaste was the hard part. Some experiments in lightening your camping setup result in failures and that’s ok.  They either become too lightweight and don’t hold up, or they are too uncomfortable.  For this attempt, the [...]

Camping Read the full article →

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