Colorado Trail Race – Beauty Within the Failure

by Andy Amick on September 1, 2019

in Bikepacking, Cycling, Personal

The Colorado Trail Race is both brutal and beautiful. The beauty of the trail, the mountains, and the vistas allows one to keep pushing (literally) over pass after pass after pass. Unfortunately, this rider was not able to keep pushing to the finish. I had to stop my race on the third day in Lake […]

Colorado Trail Race – Final Gear List

by Andy Amick on July 26, 2019

in Bikepacking, Cycling, Gear, Uncategorized

A quick post to document my CTR gear least.   Final decisions Switched to a down bag and a Klymit X Frame sleeping pad No bear spray Packing a stove for coffee and freeze dried meals. This choice forces me to take a break during the day. If I carry the meals, I’ll be inclined […]

Colorado Trail Race Gear List (Work in Progress)

by Andy Amick

While preparing for the Colorado Trail Race, I re-organized my gear placement to account for more singletrack riding. For the Tour Divide, I aimed to place all gear on my bike with the bulk of the weight on the handlebar. The setup worked well for the limited technical riding on the Tour Divide. For the Colorado trail, most of […]

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Training for the Colorado Trail Race

by Andy Amick

How do you train for 500+ miles of technical mountain terrain? I’m using my 2014 Tour Divide training log as a guide, and using a very similar mantra. “When there is time, get outside.” I personally don’t prescribe to a training plan because too many other things in my daily life are scheduled. I want […]

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Have You Ever Been Chased By A Turkey?

by Andy Amick

In all my years of mountain biking, I have been chased by dogs, crossed paths with a mountain lion, and been blocked by a cow on the trail. But never have I been chased by a turkey. That all changed last weekend. While pedaling up a dirt road, I noticed a sound. Not a squeak […]

Cycling Read the full article →

Rethinking: Gear Placement

by Andy Amick

In the beginning, I packed my sleep system on the handlebars because it did not fit anywhere else. From that first day, I always packed my gear this way. Sleep system on the handlebar, clothes in the seat bag, food and water in the frame bag. Until now…. Swapping the sleep system to the seat […]

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Douglas County Libraries Local Author Showcase

by Andy Amick

Join me and fourteen other authors Sunday August 19th at 2:00 p.m. to hear about their books. Douglas County Libraries in Castle Rock, Philip S. Miller branch 100 S. Wilcox, Castle Rock, 80104 Jon Wolfe – The Domestic Dominion. An isolated southwestern Colorado town denies a development company the opportunity to buy all surrounding land […]

Personal Read the full article →

Little Green Singlespeed. Oh, The Places You Will Go!

by Andy Amick

Next week, my kids start a new school year. Way too early to start if you ask me, but they didn’t ask me. Not only do I have two boys going to school, but my dear little singlespeed will be turning 18 and “graduating” this year. Dear Bianchi, oh the places you will go my […]

Cycling Read the full article →

Thank You!

by Andy Amick

A year ago, I clicked the “Publish” button, sending my Tour Divide book into the world. Two years of writing, and learning to accept my wife’s edits (I still hate that purple pen) came down to a single mouse click. Thank you to everyone who bought the book, or thought about reading the book, or even […]

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Continued Effort

by Andy Amick

A year ago, I put the finishing touches on my first book about the adventure of riding the 2014 Tour Divide. During the race, my friend Brion texted me quotes. I received them when reaching a town that had cell service. Some quotes were funny like “Each year, hundreds of trees grow because squirrels forget […]

Writing Read the full article →

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