Brent Prenzlow and Andy Brightman are two local riders who have watched the Belgian Waffle Ride evolve from its inception in 2012 in the hills of North San Diego County. Ahead of this years California BWR, we caught up with each of them to hear about how the race has developed over the years, and how their equipment has adapted. Plus a few predictions thrown in, some general cycling wisdom, and gear talk. If you're an aspiring Belgian Waffleur, this is a read you won't want to miss!   Brent Prenzlow I've been racing BWR since the inaugural edition in...

Dirt Connections. People Connections.  Chances are if you’ve called Spinergy for customer service then you may have spoken to Jeff Paulson. And that phone call may have started on a Spinergy bike wheel inquiry then likely gravitated to a chat about a new trail or a super-secret gravel connection found in the byways and backyards of North or East County San Diego. Gravel cycling for Jeff is the consequence of a natural evolution of his passion for riding ever since the training wheels came off. When we asked him what sparked his interest to start riding way back when, Jeff...

I recently wrote a story about a couple bikepacking adventures I took in Southern California right before the coronavirus hit us. I wrote about circumnavigating Santa Catalina Island, riding the mountain bike trials of Cuyamaca Rancho Park, and took on the Stagecoach 400 mountain bike race. You can read about those routes here: https://www.gravelstoke.com/gravel-cycling-gear-blog/bikepacking-gems-of-southern-california. I was super stoked to have such reliable wheels for the varied terrain I met on those of adventures. From the steep tarmac and smooth gravel roads on Catalina Island, to the technical mountain bike and side-wall slashing rock gardens of Cuyamaca, to the mud slogging and...

  Casey Cohenmeyer describes her brutal experience at The Rift in Iceland. The Rift is a 200 km (125 miles) off-road bike race through the dark lava fields in the Highlands of Iceland. It traverses the continental rift between North America and Eurasia - a rift that grows one inch every year. The growth is evident with vast lava fields all around creating a surreal landscape. A landscape that is remote, rugged and unpredictable!    The following account was originally published on Casey's blog, NoFcks Given Gravel. Dire. Not the first word that one would typically hope to describe a “vacation,”...