The Joys Of Gravel

by Andy Amick

The sun is brightly shining.  The ride starts and that familiar sound of dirt under the tires brings a slight smile.  Miles come easily as the dirt, bike, and legs work together. Sounds like a great trail ride doesn’t it?  But the cows, barns, open views reveal it to be a quiet country gravel road […]

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Moose, Bears, and Whistles. Oh My!

by Andy Amick

Shouldn’t it be “Meese, Bears, and Whistles”?  That’s not really the point, but whistles and paracord are the point here. Bear and moose encounters are a few of the things that Tour Divide planning has caused me to think about. People have various ways to alert the animals or protect themselves from wildlife.  One option […]

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Are You Prepared For Backcountry Riding?

by Andy Amick

In late September a Colorado Springs mountain biker got lost while exploring some new trails.  The good news is she was found the next day.  The bad news is she had to endure a cold and lonely night in the mountains without any emergency gear. UpADownwa posted a full story on the incident and how […]

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Path To Less – October 2013 Updates

by Andy Amick

This post have nothing to do with bikes and everything to do with bikes.  Huh?  Well, by getting non-bike parts of life in order, there will be more time for the bike riding that is so enjoyable.  This is the idea behind the Path To Less posts here at Pale Spruce. My friend Brion describes […]

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A Glimpse Into The World Of Bikepacking

by Andy Amick

Are you curious about bikepacking but unsure about how gear is packed on the bike or some of the logistics?  While testing out some gear in my yard, I decided to do a full camp setup and time lapse the process of waking up and switching from camping mode to bike riding mode. Ideally, the […]

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Enjoy The Ride One Mile At A Time

by Andy Amick

It’s too easy to focus on mileage, avg speed, or some Strava KOM segment. Sometimes, the beauty and joy of cycling is lost.  What’s needed is a little reminder of why cycling is so great. On a recent ride when I was testing out my bikepacking setup, I decided to look around and take one […]

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Hiking Stick With Two Color Paracord Wrap

by Andy Amick

Earlier this year, my kids and I made hiking sticks with paracord wrapped handles.  This post details the steps taken to make an aspen hiking stick with a basic wrap for the handle.  The details of the aspen turks head and maple spiral hitched sticks were published in earlier posts. My kids chose the paracord […]

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Take A Kid Mountain Biking Day

by Andy Amick

Mountain biking is a wonderful thing.  It’s even better when you can share it with your kids.  This Saturday, October 5th is IMBA’s ‘Take A Kid Mountain Biking Day‘. Bring The Kids has a good post that goes into more detail on why IMBA created Take A Kid Mountain Biking Day.  For Saturday, IMBA’s interactive map shows […]

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Helping A Strong Willed Child Ride A Bike

by Andy Amick

Notice how the title does not start with “Teaching”.  With a strong willed, stubborn, independent child, it’s more about helping than teaching. There are plenty of online resources such as REI and Bicycling.com  for teaching a kid to ride a bike.  It’s all laid out with step by step instructions.  However, some kids don’t like […]

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September Sunrises

by Andy Amick

The month isn’t over but there have been some spectacular sunrises.  They are even more enjoyable when they are viewed during an early morning bike ride. Here’s to more awesome sunrises and early rides during the cooler Fall mornings.

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