Unconventional Family Fun: My Mom’s Birthday Party Riding the White Rim
Since we moved into the van, my partner Andrew and I have spent every spring and fall in the canyon country surrounding Moab. This year, our parents joined us so we could share our favorite place. My mom has a tradition of choosing a bucket-list adventure for her birthday each year, and my glowing review…
Surviving Pregnancy
My pregnancy journey is not a story of an adventurous woman continuing to do the things she loves. Merely surviving the day-to-day has been the biggest physical challenge of my life.
The Oregon Timber Trail: Past and Present
Over the years I have developed a reputation for “liking to be the first”; not to the finish line in a bikepacking race, an outcome such as that is unlikely with this body of mine, but to be the first to ride a new route. It’s not so much that I actually desire to be…
Bonus time: My journey back from the edge
After 82 hours of pedaling 302 miles through headwinds, epic Arizona sunshine, rain, and temperatures ranging from 20 to 100 degrees Fahrenheit, I arrived back at the Flagstaff Bike Revolution shop. I was the last finisher, but half the field had dropped out. Race organizer, Dana Ernst, and one of my riding buddies who had…
Sand and Snow: Bailing from the Mojave Road
By: Katie Strempke Katie’s first-person footage from her day on the Mojave Road Prefer to listen? Here’s Katie reading her story. “Is this a good idea?” I wondered as we drove on I-15 toward the Camp Cady Wildlife Area in Newberry Springs, California. The wind was blowing violently and I had a white-knuckle grip on…
Meg Knobel on Organizing the Stagecoach 400
Meg Knobel is a staple in the bikepacking community. A down-to-earth, positive spirit, one of her major roles is being the race (dis)organizer of the Stagecoach 400, a popular bikepacking route in Southern California created by Brendan Collier. What makes this route special is the access to the coast, mountains, and desert all in one…
PolarRoll Ultra – My First Winter Ultra
Two years ago my husband Al and I watched the documentary Safety to Nome. If you’ve not seen it, it’s about the 350/1000-mile human-powered (by bike, foot, or ski) race through the Alaskan wilderness in the dead of winter. By the way, it’s going on right now. As we’re watching, Al turns to me and…
I Took an Awesome Frame Building Class at Brew Bikes
I traveled to the beautiful Appalachians in North Carolina to help design and build my latest MTB frame at Brew Bikes. Here are details of the adventure, Q&A style. Why did you take a frame building class? I live in my van and designed the garage to fit 2 bikes: one gravel, one mountain. My…
Memories From the Cardboard Box in My Closet: Tales and Photos from Alexandera’s First Winter Bike Tour
In the early years of my bike adventuring, I didn’t have a smartphone and chose to bring a 24-shot disposable camera with me on my adventures to document my trips. I’ve shared a selection of photos from that tour. I was supposed to ride the Tour Divide in the summer of 2014. I’d learned about…
Living the Dream: Positive People, Negative Temperatures
I went on my first expedition in 2002; I was a student on an Outward Bound course. Those 16 days opened my eyes to the world of the outdoors and expeditions. Over the past 20 years, I have been beyond lucky and privileged to take part in many expeditions into the mountains and deserts. In…
