TRUE GRIT #3
I live in Brooklyn, NY - so a city girl - but soon I’ll be dividing my time between here and a cabin in the woods upstate, in the beautiful western Catskills.
I rode as a child around the neighborhood, then didn’t “rediscover” bikes till I was an adult. What began as a means of transportation slowly evolved into the reason to go somewhere, and in 2014, I went all in on cycling.
Discovering new places and adventures is what motivates and excites me. Once, that landscape was NYC but now it is usually something very different.
Riding gravel requires a heightened sense of attention to anticipate how the bike is moving below you. It’s not as predictable as riding pavement, so I like that it asks more of the rider - a different sensibility, a new awareness.
Upstate NY is underrated, in my opinion - we don’t have huge mountains or long climbs like Colorado or California, but there is a cozy, human scale to the landscape and the variation is also thrilling.
You can easily get lost in this wonderland!
It’s a vast area to explore - between Minnewaska State Park and the neighboring Mohonk Preserve.
In the fall, the colors can be amazing as the leaves change.
There are over 100 miles of gravel track to explore. And the setting is absolutely stunning.
Called “The Gunks” for short, it's not that far from NYC but seems relatively undiscovered for many city cyclists.
The setting is absolutely stunning.
Waterfalls, crystalline sky lakes, sheer cliffs and ledges with sweeping views.
Some of the more beautiful tracks I’ve ridden around the world have been on gravel - carriage roads leading to mountaintop views and alpine lakes in upstate NY; chunky, hypoxic switchbacks in the Cordillera Blanca in Peru.
Plenty of destinations in Europe are still high on my to-do list - it’s the combination of stellar riding + exploring small villages and towns (and their food + people) that appeal to me most!
We’re setting our sights on the Torino-Nice Rally route next year.
It’s never lonely riding a bike - and the connection to other riders is immediate and tangible.
It’s often a struggle to have delicious things on a ride, but my favorite are homemade rice cakes with almond butter and bacon (thanks, Scratch!). Getting fresh, warm apple cider doughnuts from an apple farm are a close second.
TRUE GRIT #1
Gravel is hard on your whole body and requires skill as there is so much variances in what is under the wheels.
THE INVENTOR
Cessole is the person credited for pioneering the mountains that form the last chain of the Southern Alps.
ON THE INCA TRAIL
In the shadows of the Tramnuntana, Inca is Mallorca’s third-largest town and is situated nearly in the middle of the Island.
BIKEPACKING GUIDE
Different methods and style mean there are many variables in the make-up of every bikepacking adventure.
