The Town Bicycle

18/01/2023

Last October, Ashley Carelock headed over to Morocco for the Atlas Mountain Race. In this thoughtful piece, she explores what it means to her to be an athlete in these events, the challenges that come along with being a woman traveling solo, and most importantly, what it means to be human. Give it a read, there's a lot to think about.

It’s dark outside and I laugh at myself as small balls of ice hit my face. Perhaps it’s just cold rain falling quickly from the clouds that circle above me, but either way, it is slightly painful. How many hours have I spent inside, on my trainer sweating profusely in a grand attempt to prepare

16/01/2023

There are so many ways to be involved with the winter ultra racing community besides just being a racer. After several years of lining up to race the Fat Pursuit, Betsy Williford was looking for something different, a way to give back to an event that had given her so much. She ended up volunteering to run the social media throughout the weekend and got to spend the weekend out on course. Here, she writes a reflection on the community that surrounds the event, the importance of mentors, and how volunteering for events can be just as rewarding as racing them.

A Fat Pursuit - 10-Year Anniversary Edition Recap by Racer Turned Volunteer By Betsy Williford I first met Jay Petervary, ultra-endurance cyclist, ambassador of sport, and the founder of Fat Pursuit back in 2017, at a winter workshop hosted by Pedal of Littleton in Colorado. Captivated by his passio...

05/01/2023

2023 winter racing is here! This year's Fat Pursuit 200k kicks off with eight women on bikes on the start line. As always, this highly regarded winter ultra, located in the heart of the Yellowstone ecosystem, promises to dish up an array of challenges including cold temperatures and lots of snow. We have profiles of a handful of women lining up for the event. Give it a read and follow the dots starting Friday morning!

Based out of Island Park, Idaho, Jay Petervary's Fat Pursuit is one of the most highly regarded winter ultras on the calendar. Covering 200 kilometers of "groomed" trails in the Yellowstone area, the event is notorious for lots of snow, difficult conditions, and extremely cold temperatures. One of t...

15/12/2022

Alexandera Houchin shares reflections from her journey incorporating ceremony into bike racing. The piece dives into a little bit of the history of Native American spiritual oppression and the significance of exercising Native rights in contemporary spaces.

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…” —The First Amendment to the United States Constitution In 2018, in the throes of my undergraduate education, I read an article highlighting perspectives of Indigenous reflections o...

14/12/2022

Even with 20 years of experience working in the medical field, Leigh Bowe () had very little idea of what to expect when it came to riding throughout her pregnancy. As a retired enduro racer and current bikepacker, and now a mother of a beautiful and healthy little baby, she shares her experiences of riding throughout the nine months of pregnancy. Leigh provides a thoughful and detailed account of how things changed, what stayed the same, and how she was able to make accommodations to be able to ride for as long as possible. Check it out!

I went for a little backcountry ski with my partner in mid-January of 2022. It was awful. The conditions were sun-affected and variable, and I felt like trash. It was the slowest and sluggish-est I’d felt in a very long time. Maybe I was finally getting COVID? Later that day, my breasts started to...

08/12/2022

Founded by a group of bike-loving women who saw a need in their community, the Washington Bikepacking Women group strives to grow an inclusive, inspiring, and supportive women and gender-diverse bikepacking community in Washington state. With plans to continue conversations about bikepacking, share women's stories, and organize group overnighters when the weather warms up, this group is aspiring to increase the women's turnout at the Cross-Washington Mountain Bike Route (XWA) Grand Depart in May. Check it out!

Founded by a group of bike-loving women who saw a need in their community, the The Washington Bikepacking Women group strives to grow an inclusive, inspiring, and supportive women and gender-diverse bikepacking community in Washington state. With plans to continue conversations about bikepacking, sh...

21/11/2022

The Townie founders (Alexandera, Katie, and Eszter) had a chat with the Like a Bigfoot podcast () last week. We talked all things Townie (including the name), Arizona Trail, women in bikepacking, and more. Links to the podcast in the post below. Give it a listen!

Last week, the Townie founders Katie Strempke, Alexandera Houchin, and Eszter Horanyi got on the Like a Bigfoot podcast with our good friend Chris Ward. We talked all things Townie, including the name (yes, we know that there are several meanings for town bicycle), Arizona Trail, bikepacking, and lo...

14/11/2022

Using just her phone, Alexandera Houchin put together a video of her experience on the Arizona Trail 800, including the highs, the lows, and all of the snacks. Give it a watch!

I gathered about an hour and a half of footage on my iPhone over the 12-day journey I had racing the 800 miles of the Arizona Trail Race this fall. I edited it down into a short video and I hope that you like it!

08/11/2022

Some of our favorite stories here at the Townie are the ones we hear for our Last Woman Standing articles. And the Arizona Trail 300's Last Woman Standing, Isabelle Fisk, had stories! Check out how her first ever bikepacking race played out for her. Spoiler alert, it involved a flooded bivvy and a massive no-sleep push to the end. Check it out!

When Isabelle Fisk rolled up to the Arizona Trail’s Picketpost trailhead at 6:22 on Monday morning, the look on her face was a cross between incredulity and complete joy. She’d been up for nearly 48 hours to complete a long push to the finish, partially because her entire sleep kit was wet from ...

04/11/2022

As the AZT800 wraps up, Eszter Horanyi put together a photo essay of her experiences shooting photos of the women of both the 300 and 800 with some of her favorite images, stories of racers not doing what she expected them to do, and a reflection on what special events the AZT 300 and 800 are.

Check it out! We had so much fun covering this race!

Hi everyone! Eszter here. We're pretty much wrapping up our Arizona Trail Race coverage (we have a few more fun things in the works, don't worry) with a little photo essay from yours truly with some of the images that I loved that didn't make it anywhere else and stories from trying to shoot an

02/11/2022

The women of the Arizona Trail Race 800 are done! We've got a wrap-up of Ana Jager riding away with the win and completing the Bikepacking Triple Crown Challenge and Alexandera Houchin setting a new singlespeed record. Check it out!

When asked who was going to win the women’s Arizona Trail 800 race, most people were hesitant to commit to either Ana Jager or Alexandera Houchin. The pair had shown earlier this year during the Colorado Trail Race that when it came to multi-day racing, their speeds were similar enough that it wou...

30/10/2022

Everyone! Ana Jager, 25 years old from Anchorage, AK, is just a few days away from completing the bikepacking Triple Crown (Tour Divide, Colorado Trail Race, and the Arizona Trail Race in one year). When she finishes, she'll be only the second woman to do so, following in the footsteps of the great Alice Drobna who finished it in 2015. Ana is currently leading the AZTR800, and if she holds on to the win, she'll have completed the Triple Crown with huge style, winning Tour Divide and the AZTR and finishing a hard-fought second in the CTR. Ana is amazing, and here at the Townie, we're so stoked for her. Go watch the final couple of days over at Trackleaders.com.

25/10/2022

The top three women of the AZT300 are in with Ana Jager coming into Picketpost just 40 minutes ahead of Katie Scott! Alexandera Houchin finished third later in the afternoon and continued on behind Ana on the way to the Utah border. We also have our last woman standing, Isabelle Fisk only 30 miles out from the finish. Read more about the the women's race, which was super close from start to end, and check out a pile of photos from out on course.

The second annual fall edition of the Arizona Trail Race 300 proved to be a tight and exciting one from start to end for the women. While many bikepacking races have a clear leader who establishes their dominance from the start, this year saw three women riding at the front of the field, trading lea...

19/10/2022

We're starting off AZTR '22 Week with a post from Elizabeth Sampey about her 2019 FKT-setting AZTR750 route. A deep dive into her love for the trail, the benefits of skinny dipping, reasons to hike-a-bike without shorts, and more. Give it a read!

When I decided to give the Arizona Trail Race 750 (AZT 750) a go back in 2019, the initial inspiration was to traverse the state of Arizona by bicycle at a reasonably quick pace, not to be competitive or go for the record. I’d spent winters there the previous few years living in my van,

03/10/2022

A lot of factors can go into deciding whether touring a bikepacking route or racing it as part of a Grand Depart is better for someone. Katie Strempke has done both, touring the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route with her husband in 2018 and racing the Tour Divide (and finishing second woman and first single-speed woman) in 2022. She takes a deep dive on the differences between the two experiences. A great read for those debating the merits of the two styles of riding a route!

Riding the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route (GDMBR) or racing the Tour Divide is a rite of passage for many bikepackers; it’s seen as the “Big One” in North America. Stretching 2,745 miles from Banff, Alberta to Antelope Wells, New Mexico, it loosely follows the Continental Divide through the ...

29/09/2022

There's normal Strava art, and then there's Jenny Acker's Strava Farts. Also known as “Buttcrack Jenny,” Jenny is both a cyclist and artist, and she's combined these skills to create “Stravafarts,” a term coined to describe the GPS art she makes while riding her bicycle. For those who know Jenny, that makes perfect sense. Jenny’s energy is infectious. She shares her Strava art, pictures of out-of-the-ordinary items she finds on bike rides, dog photos, and a revolving fashion show of her creative, hand-made costumes made for bike racing under the Instagram handle . Check out our profile on this amazing woman to more about "Stravafarts" and how she uses her bicycle as a vehicle or creativity.

Jenny Acker, also known as “Buttcrack Jenny,” is a cyclist and artist. She has combined these skills to create “Stravafarts,” a term Jenny has coined to describe the GPS art she makes while riding her bicycle. You read that right, “Strava-farts,” and for those who know Jenny, that makes ...

22/09/2022

The Utah Mixed Epic kicks off tomorrow morning, and we've got profiles of the four women lining up for the 637-mile loop around Utah sandstone country. With high-mountain to low-desert riding on tap, we get their takes on bike setup, water carrying, and ride strategy. Read more here, then go cheer them on at Trackleaders.com!

https://thetownbicycle.com/faces-behind-the-dots-utah-mixed-epic-2022/

The Utah Mixed Epic is known for linking together some of the more remote and rugged pieces of road and trail throughout the state of Utah. This year, Tim Tait's 637-mile route starts and finishes in Moab, arguably one of the birthplaces of the underground adventure ride race scene. Heading straight...

21/09/2022

Heather Rose has spent a decade bikepacking across continents and remote mountain ranges. The more remote the ride, the more she would start to doubt her ability to repair any mechanical issues that might arise. She decided to do something about that and now she is a professional bike mechanic (who humbly acknowledges that she still has a lot to learn).

In this article she describes her journey in becoming a bike mechanic and reflects on her recent experience as a Gender Diversity Scholarship recipient and student of a professional bike repair class at United Bicycle Institute.

“Friends would comment “but you hate working on your bikes”. It turns out that I don’t like working on my bikes alone, at home, without the correct tools, and without anyone to ask for help when things don’t go as planned.”

When you walk into your local bike shop, who do you expect to see working? Especially behind the counter turning wrenches? Go ahead picture it, I’ll wait… Men, lots and lots of men, right? It’s no secret that the bike industry as a whole is still very white cis-male centric. I never liked bike...

14/09/2022

Alexandera Houchin was the first woman to cross the finish line in the 2022 Colorado Trail Race and the sixth overall finisher, setting a new southbound/westbound women's course record on her Chumba Sendero SS, with a finish time of 6 days, 2 hours and 33 minutes.

In her most recent essay, she reflects on her fifth journey along the Colorado Trail.

"I was playing a game; I would wait until the moment I saw her headlight disappear and soon as I saw the last glimpse, I would look at my watch and start timing myself. The first summit, I was 47 minutes behind her light, then 32 minutes, then 24 minutes, until I saw her pushing up to the summit of Stony Pass and finally was just eight minutes behind her."

Awards for the fastest male and fastest female finisher Reflections from Alexandera's 2022 Colorado Trail Race After a somewhat apocalyptic shiver-bivy at 12,500 feet on Cataract Ridge, I felt overcome with emotion as I was pulling into Silverton. It was seeing Ana with her 1,000-yard stare that rem...

13/09/2022

The top women of the 2022 Idaho Smoke 'n' Fire are in! Lauren Brownlee put in a hugely impressive ride to win the women's race and place second overall. We've got impressions of the race from the first three ladies and more. Check it out!

Just days before the grand depart was set to leave, the original SnF course that looped around the Sawtooth National Forest and the Sawtooth Wilderness, was changed to an out-and-back route due to active fires in the area. After months of planning, scouting and preparation by many, riders were force...

07/09/2022

There are a lot of theories on what inspires women to get into bikepacking. What Laura Heiner did was invite them, creating the Idaho Women’s Bikepacking IWBP group to provide a supportive pathway to racing the Idaho Smoke 'n' Fire for any level of rider. She answered countless questions, set up training rides, put together overnighters to check out the course, and created a strong sense of community. The IWBP group is a huge success story of getting more women into the sport, and the beauty of it is, it can be replicated pretty much anywhere. We had a chat with Laura about her history with the sport, why she felt the need to start the IWBP, and how she made it such a success.

On a September day in 2017, the early morning air was heavy with nerves. A thickness was tangible in the atmosphere; morning Grand Departs are somehow always both friendly and fiery. Some lined up at the small coffee shop for a pre-race caffeine boost while others made last minute tweaks to their bi...

06/09/2022

The Smoke 'n' Fire 400 is an undisputed success story of increasing the number of women in a bikepacking race field. Steered by Laura Heiner, the Idaho Women’s Bikepacking IWBP group has led to what may be the largest women's field in a bikepacking event. Get to know some of the faces behind the dots of this year's race and then follow along at Trackleaders.com as the race gets going on Wednesday.

https://thetownbicycle.com/faces-behind-the-dots-smoke-n-fire/

The Smoke 'n' Fire bikepacking race is a roughly 400-mile (sometimes closer to 500) race that starts in Boise, Idaho every fall. Aptly named, many years of the race often see re-routes due to current fires, and haze in the atmosphere isn't unusual. This year is no different, with a recent fire causi...

02/09/2022

Meet the women of the 2022 Gunny Loopy Loop! Both Catherine De Medici Jaffee and Alexis Ault are amazing bikepackers and humans, and their paths to bikepacking are well worth a read. Check out their stories in our Faces Behind the Dots and then follow their dots this weekend at Trackleaders.com as they take on this massive route.

https://thetownbicycle.com/faces-behind-the-dots-gunny-loopy-loop-2022/

Billed as harder mile for mile than the Colorado Trail Race, the Gunny Loopy Loop is the brainchild of Jefe Branham, legend in the bikepacking world and also the current event disorganizer of the CTR and the Fossil Ridge Ultimate. If you know Jefe, you know he doesn't shy away from difficult, and he...

01/09/2022

Mary Ehlers was the Colorado Trail Race's last woman standing, coming in as the fourth finisher this past Sunday. We had a chat with Mary afterwards about her ride - discovering that she'd gotten her first mountain bike this spring and taught herself how to ride trails during a July spent in Salida, and that her pathway into bikes was through bike touring with her husband and two young kids.

We're super excited to share Mary's story of bikepacking, the CTR, and a willingness to set big goals and see them through.

When Mary Ehlers rolled into the Junction Creek Trailhead as the fourth and final woman finisher of this year’s Colorado Trail Race, she’d owned a mountain bike for less than half a year. Not only that, but she’d finished on a single speed during a race where over half the field had dropped ou...

01/09/2022

This past winter, Annie Evans became the first person to complete the Highlands Trail 550 in the winter. She carried a camera on her ride, documenting the highs and lows of her experience and put together a stunning film called The Longest Night.

Annie took the time to answer some of our questions about the making of the film and her impressive ride. Check out the film and learn more about Annie and her ride here.

https://thetownbicycle.com/q-a-with-annie-evans-making-of-the-longest-night/