This is the last chance to get the Founder's colorway of our Gravel Bear shirt. Available till Wednesday June 15, this is the best way to support locally focused content on the races, stories, routes, and people you ride with. Shop now .

Have you ever felt like energy gels are over-engineered and wanted a better option? Then check out Embark Maple; they're in Viroqua, Wisconsin and have a simple passion for good food and outdoor adventure. Eric and Bree from Embark Maple ( Instagram ) started an off-grid maple syrup farm in 2011. As lifelong endurance athletes, they turned their maple syrup venture into a wholesome, simple, and delicious energy gel. In this interview, we chat about their maple syrup energy and what in the heck inspired them to become maple farmers. Interview with Eric from Embark Maple: What is Embark Maple and what makes it better for endurance activities? Embark takes two of our biggest passions and morphs them together; good food & outdoor adventure. The concept of Embark came from bikepacking & multisport adventures in the late naughties (2008ish) where I wanted everything brought with to have multiple uses, and this is what makes Embark unique from other gels or maple syrups. One 3oz Embark Maple Energy pack is similar in size to three tear-off single-use off gels; however, Embark has a resealable cap so you can use exactly how much you need and save the rest later. In addition, once enjoyed you can put the cap back on and eliminate the sticky mess associated with tear-offs. Tell me about Embark's varieties, ingredients, & product development. Each of our Embark Maple Energy varieties was developed with a team of ultra-athletes & adventurous chefs, bringing a culinary focus to sports nutrition. We start with our sustainably harvested Wisconsin Certified Organic maple syrup and add a pinch of sea salt. This results in a bright maple flavor that has a complete electrolyte profile from just two simple ingredients. Organic maple syrup also has a glycemic index that is half of maltodextrin, a common ingredient in commercial energy gels. The rate at which your body metabolizes Embark is less “peaky” than many gels and without the same spike & crash associated with more simple sugars. Coffee Maple: 30 trials to get the flavor just right The versatility of Embark was important in our flavor development, and we like to highlight those uses as Energize, Hydrate, & Rejuvenate. Embark Coffee Maple is my go-to for a quick, long-lasting energy shot. We cold brew Certified Organic coffee from Wonderstate Roasters (also in Viroqua, Wisconsin), and went through almost 30 trials to get the perfect flavor profile without oxidation (the truck-stop flavor) or being too bitter. Smooth roasty notes of graham and fudge shine through, which is a delightful experience when combined with the 72mg of caffeine. We standardize our caffeine level with green tea caffeine since it also has a relatively slower release rate. Elderberry: The great mixer Embark Elderberry Maple has many benefits beyond its deliciously dark & deep blue fruit flavor, and is fabulous when mixed with water in a water bottle for an Embark Hydration. We typically recommend starting with a mix ratio of 1 part Embark to 32 parts water; or about ½ oz Embark in a 16oz water bottle. I get 5-6 water bottles from one pack. Everyone's nutritional demands and taste preferences are different, so it’s something to have fun experimenting with. Salted Maple: Cooking & culinary exploration Embark Salted Maple is our standard go-to for camp cooking & mock/cocktail culinary explorations, as well as non-caffeinated energy. Check out our social media for some of our favorite trail snack recipes! What in the heck inspired you and Bree to become maple farmers? Bree and I met in 2010 and we both had a shared yearning to responsibly work with the land. Around this time I was also seeking more purpose in my life, learning that I’m a better version of myself when I’m working outside. I was experiencing intensifying seasonal depression that was carrying through all the seasons, and I needed more positive mental & physical outlets. We started dreaming up plans to start farming, but there was always the looming reality that it had to support itself financially. That winter we tapped a maple tree in Bree’s backyard and made a big mess trying to boil sap into maple syrup! The following spring we found a small parcel of woods was for sale that was dense with sugar maples, so we applied for a Beginning Farmer Loan, hoping someday it could become our full-time jobs and lead to a more fulfilling & meaningful life. We set up the woods to collect sap in 2011, and successfully boiled our first batch of maple syrup in 2012! With your energy products, why do you focus so much on endurance cycling For as long as I can remember I’ve been happiest when I’m on a bike. I was “introduced” to endurance mountain biking & bikepacking during a tough transition in my life when I first became aware of needing positive mental & physical outlets. It’s my goal to give back some of the good energy I received from the cycling community when I really needed it, which is partly why we’ve been so active at aid stations, checkpoints, trail days, advocacy events, and general volunteering behind the scenes to help make cycling and the outdoors more accessible for everyone. I was fortunate to find endurance cycling when I did, however not everyone sees cycling as a sport for them and we want to a positive part of changing that. I feel that particularly in past couple of years more people are seeking out challenging cycling events because it helps them process the world. By choosing to take on the challenge of a difficult race or ride you are really training yourself to find the strength to work through other life challenges that maybe you didn’t choose. But really, we just love riding bicycles and want more friends to ride with!! What are your favorite places and events to bike? My favorite place to ride is right in our backyard, the greater Driftless region. We have a 6 month old, so big trips are fewer and farther between, but that doesn’t mean adventure isn’t still readily available. I’m setting up an old bike to be our trailer-toting kid-packing rig. I can’t wait for spring so these adventures can begin! I love S24Os (Sub 24 hour Overnights) and exploring what is “nearby” but often overlooked. My favorite is to load up camping gear & a packraft on my bike and explore our Driftless trout streams, particularly our home watershed (Timber Coulee) that we spend a lot of time and effort caring for. There are endless meandering creeks to paddle down and then steep coulees to ride back up. We have a good mix of paved & gravel backroads, as well as some wonderful MTB trail networks fairly close to our farm. As far as *favorite* events, anytime there are good people having fun riding bikes together, I’m in a happy place. I enjoy events that put more emphasis on building a supportive community than on the podium.

Dan Cruikshank started Cedaero as a sister company to Spokengear Cyclery and Cedar Coffee Company in Two Harbors, Minnesota. Now turning 5 years old, we chat with Cedaero to learn how it all came together and what challenges they've overcome. Learn more on the Cedaero website or follow them on Instagram . Interview with Dan Cruikshank: You're 5 years into Cedaero. What inspired you to build a bike bag company? Forgive my rambling, but that’s a long story. I’ve come to know that I’m blessed with a mind that works like an entrepreneur. I love to tinker with things. I can’t stop thinking about what products and services I would want for myself, and how can I offer them to everyone. Back in 1985 I was on a canoe trip deep into Quetico Provincial Park north of the Boundary Waters with my friend Jeff Knight. The idea for Granite Gear was born from the spark of an idea around the campfire that night. Over the next 28 years it was always like an adventure to figure out the next business hurdle to overcome. We expanded from canoe packs to ultralight backpacking, as well as packs for the US Special forces. Jeff and I built Granite Gear into a brand we were both proud of, and wound up selling the company in 2014. I looked back with fondness on the early years of brand building with Granite Gear. I wanted to build another brand from the ground up, taking all I’d learned and applying it to a new company. I’ve always been into biking. Ever since I was a kid, the bicycle gave me freedom and joy like nothing else in my life. I’ve toured around Lake Superior, and I’ve commuted by bike for many years. So it was natural that I wanted to make packs for cycling. I had a few ideas. At that time all the bike pack makers were doing pretty much the same thing and I figured I could make something a little different than what was out there. Then the entrepreneur in me took over and I thought it would be great to have a bike shop as well in our small town of Two Harbors. Also a great coffee shop. After a couple of years of planning and building we opened Spokengear Cyclery, and Cedar Coffee Company on Memorial Day in 2016. The plan was that Cedaero would be phase 2. Over the next few months I moved all the sewing and cutting machines from my home garage/ sewing studio to the back room behind the bike shop where I’d been tinkering and scheming and I hired Karl Mesedahl - a master at tinkering himself - to help me build the Cedaero Brand. I had a few orders already, and had developed the concepts for several packs including custom bolt-on frame packs, and we delved into steady production 5 years ago. The synergy of having the 3 Brands under one roof is awesome. We have been building a community around bikes, coffee and adventure here. Looking back so far, what are you most proud of that Cedaero has accomplished? The products are the obvious thing we are proud of. With each new product we strive to create a durable, unique, colorful and functional piece that will accompany you on so many adventures! We want these packs to function flawlessly so you can focus on the ride. Beyond the products themselves, I’m most proud of the team I’ve assembled around here. Having great people is the name of the game, and it all starts with that. The people I work with just "get it” when it comes to having fun and building a brand at the same time. It sure is a lot easier to go to work with folks you care about and trust. The conversations in the shop range from serious production problem solving to “What should we have for lunch on S'mores Friday?". Sometimes the conversations go totally random like “OMG we should call that cat on the towel Slender James” which is a completely different story ;). If you want to join in the shenanigans download your photo to the Cedaero Adventure Team link on our website. https://cedaero.com/pages/cedaero-adventure-team-1 What were some of the bumps you ran into along the way? Well, it’s not really an adventure until something unexpected happens, right? COVID 19, Bike Boom, delays in the supply chain, to name a few. That’s where the team gets down to business and figures it out so we can get on with doing what we do best. When you live with an adventurous spirit the bumps don’t slow you down too much. Two Harbors seems like a wonderful place to HQ a bike bag company; what's the land and the community like up by you? Well there are the bugs, lot of biting flies and ticks. And the cold. Really cold. Seriously, don’t even think about moving here! All that stuff keeps the riff-raff out. The rest of us who can get past the bugs and the cold enjoy the connection with the boreal forest, the big lake, the Superior highlands backcountry and community of hearty locals. Our building sits on 6 acres in a cedar grove. We can ride a few minutes out of town and be on remote gravel and B roads for days. One of the current projects we are working on is building a bikepacking campsite just 8 miles form the shop on county land. It’s going to be on a river in a grove of ancient White Pines. It will be the first bikepacking campsite in the region. We plan on making a network of these sites around Lake County. We'll keep you informed as it progresses. You've done some fun projects from Pogies to 906 collaboration bags. What has been your favorite project? I suppose the “Ode de Trout" packs we made for the Salsa Blackborrow introduction still truly stands out. Last year we bought an ambulance, converted it into a Cedaero Adventuremobile and drove it to a few events with sewing machines in the back to sew custom packs for folks as they watched. That project was a lot of fun! But it seems like every time we make a custom frame pack for someone, and it goes from an uploaded photograph of a bike to a finished pack in the colors the customer picked, there is some magic that we make. It’s fun to create a new favorite pack every day! My favorite today was the unveiling of the “Rainbow Road” edition packs.

Shane Hitz has long wanted to create a fatbike specific bikepacking route in Northern Wisconsin. Here he shares his planning and scouting process for that route, "La Serpiente de La Arena" (Spanish for the sand snake). Story by Shane Hitz The idea of this route was a long time in the making. A couple years ago I discovered he sand roads around Butler Rock and I was recently thinking about those roads with the intention of creating a fatbike specific bikepacking route. The thought of creating a bikepacking route through areas too difficult for tires narrower than 2.8” was really intriguing to me. I’ve been to the Butler Rock area many times since that initial time there. In fact it’s the area that I used for the 2021 Tour de Nicolet route. But the roads I used on the TdN, although sandy, are some of the easier in that area to ride through. I wanted to dive deeper into the area, making this more of a challenge and find all that the area had to offer. On April 16 of this year I made my first scouting trip with the goal of discovering as many roads as possible that are rarely used. I used the fat bike for that ride and laid down tracks on over 85 miles in the area. Some of it was still ice covered. I came away with a good understanding of what I wanted the bikepacking route to look like. When I got home I mapped my bikepacking course based on what I had found in April as well as past knowledge of the area. One of my other objectives was to map the route through the Nicolet Roche but to use only the two track instead of the singletrack trail but still stay really super close to the singletrack, at times crossing paths with it. I would follow the general direction of the singletrack from south to north. The reason for this was to create a route that could be ridden even when the singletrack was closed for the season or to give the rider the choice of riding the two track or singletrack or a mix of both. Or a person could decide to make the Roche their camp location and ride singletrack for the day, making this a three day adventure. For my trip I decided that my best point to start at would be in Lakewood. There are numerous places to start, which I labeled on the map. Where I chose has a super nice paved ATV parking lot with bathrooms and it’s right in town. A bike rack is placed near the bathrooms, which makes me feel that the town welcomes and promotes cyclists. It would be a safe place to leave my vehicle overnight. The bathrooms would provide a great place to change out of my bikepacking clothes after the ride. There are also a few restaurants in town for after the ride. Three weeks later on a Monday morning I set out on my overnight trip. I had a few camp spots in mind so I was pretty chill on my pace and let the day come as it may. A mile or so of atv trail connected me to some super curvy and hilly blacktop. A person starting this route might be initially thinking that this will be super easy and quick. A roadie came at me, zipping along. Probably a great road for local cyclists with its curves and hills skirting along the edge of Paya Lake, the lakeside cottages empty for the week. A couple short bits of gravel until mile 10 and then I hit endless gravel. At mile 14 I got off of the main gravel road and onto four miles of atv trail that brings me into Crooked Lake. Being a Monday nothing was open in Crooked Lake so I just passed through and back onto some atv trail. The groomer was out smoothing out the sand making it extra difficult even with the fat bike tires. About four miles of this super loose sand and then the surface started consisting of more of a gravel base making things a lot easier to roll on. I found a super cool two track that atv’s were not allowed on which connected to another road and as a bonus I avoid going down County Road W. Great find! Some more miles of super loose sand and sections of gravel in between to break things up before coming to Butler Rock and it’s super high view point if you decide to hike up. I don’t always take the hike up but today I did and I sat and ate lunch at the top. The day was windy with gusts in the 40’s predicted. It was at least that gusty, maybe higher. Continuing on was more of the same loose sand before coming to a firm gravel road for a few miles. I spot a snowmobile trail that has a sign posted for no atv’s. I take it hoping to find a nice path through and be off the beaten path a little. A distance in and the trail forked. I take the more overgrown direction and soon the truck tracks that kept the grass at bay made a loop to turn around but I kept going, regardless. It starts to get more overgrown as I hike my bike around fallen trees and soon I am carrying my bike over downed trees before coming to a total trail blockage of downed trees, impossible to get my bike through. I turn back to the last split and ride that out to the main road. Making it out to the main road I still consider this a win cause I did use about three miles of snowmobile trail and avoided that much of the main gravel road. I also came across a sign posted that I was alongside Waupee Lake Swamp State Natural Area. This happened to be a nice find with its views of the small lake off to my left and one that I would not have found if I stayed on the main gravel road. Continuing on the gravel I made my way to the most southern portion of the route. After one small river ford I came to an area that was recently burned from a forest fire only to discover a half mile later that I was riding into that fire. The winds were so strong that it pushed it across one gravel road. My route went around the back side of it and as I rode in the direction it was pushing towards a police car came in with its emergency lights going and soon after the forest service fire department came with sirens on. I went around the front side of it safely as the main fire was still a ways from my route. It was a good reminder of the consequences even a small campfire could have. I reached the blacktop that brought me towards Mountain and Bagely Rapids National Forest campground. With the wind at my back I made quick time on the five miles of asphalt. Rolling into the campground I had my pick of sites with only four other sites taken. With the forecast for possible severe storms I picked one with the safest looking trees. I also was lucky to have a site on the river. A quick meal of Mountain House was what my belly needed after a hard day in the saddle. After dinner I got rid of my trash from the day and from dinner and then refilled all of my water before going to bed for the night. I had the roar of the river as background noise however it was a restless night with the possibility of storms weighing in the back of my mind. I woke up early the following morning with only a sprinkle throughout the night. Any lost sleep was for nothing. I got everything packed up, ate a meal bar and an apple for breakfast and made my way onward. My first five or so miles were made up of atv trail on the old railroad grade, the surface being super loose but not bad at all on a fat bike. Two nice bridges overlooking the river was the highlight of the five mile stretch. Also, in the middle of that five mile stretch was the town of Mountain consisting of a restaurant and two bars and a gas station. On a Tuesday morning the only thing open was the gas station. Turns out they had a great selection of ready to eat hot breakfast sandwiches. Thinking about the unseasonable heat and humidity I would be facing that day, I also grabbed a bottle of Body Armour. After the grade I crossed highway 32 and onto a logging road with active logging going on. Passing two log truck semi’s bouncing along down the rough logging road I thought about the enormity of the amount of timber that was hauled out of the area from the 2019 blow down, a super powerful straight lined wind storm that took out trees in a line from Jack Lake to Mountain. For anybody not familiar with the area, as the crow flies it is roughly 30 miles in distance. I was heading into the blowdown area and would be in the hardest hit part of it later in the ride. After crossing highway 64 I came across another snowmobile trail that I decided to check out. This one worked out to actually take a short cut to where I needed to go and it was a more exciting way to get there not only because it was off of the main gravel road but also had some nice down hills and ended with a run through a tall stand of red pines. Once back on the gravel it was not long until I made a left onto another atv trail. This one was another that had soft beach sand. Lots of turns and punchy climbs meant hike a bike in a few spots. Midway through this short two mile section I came across a giant bullnose snake laying on the trail. I picked it up with a long stick, its head flattening and getting wide as I did, to get it off of the trial where it would be safer. I was glad I took this road and came through at the time I did cause I got to see such a cool and unique snake. After the atv section was another nice, easy pedal down a couple miles of blacktop and a right turn onto Old Grave Road, a beat up logging road which turns into two track leading to Nicolet Roche. Being here many, many times I knew exactly what to expect, which was a mix of sand roads and washed out roads littered with baby head rocks to super smooth forest two track. After crossing the bridge on Van Alstine road I headed north on two track that I have never been on. Very unexpectedly I had a white wolf trot across the road about 20 yards in front of me. It was the highlight of the entire trip! Of course things happened so fast I could not get a picture but it is something I will remember forever, much like the moose that jumped out of the ditch right in front of Candace on one of our waterfall bikepacking trips in the Upson area. Just a very cool memory to hold onto. Heading north across highway 64 I climbed the super steep Humble Hill, known from the old Humble 44 Nicolet Roche race. When you climb (push a loaded bike) up this hill with all the baby head rocks scattered all over it, you think that you are at the top but then it flattens for a second and steep again until finally you crest it. The downhill after is so fun though. It is void of the baby heads and is super smooth as compared to the climb, yet you still expect some bad spots judging from the road surface of the climb. My descent was great though. A few more climbs highlight this section of rough forest road, each summit featuring a great view of the endless miles of straight line wind carnage, the open landscape now exposing all the hills and valleys. Another section of snowmobile trail and then onto primarily blacktopped surfaces to finish out the ride. The exception is the unique ride through Cathedral Pines State Natural Area. The gravel road narrows here to one lane through a tunnel of dense trees and moss lined ridges which make up the edge of the road. It is such a fitting way to end the ride and roll back into civilization.

Le Grand Du Nord took place last weekend where Josh Kowaleski from Pointed North Photography was set up in the rain shooting riders' portraits around mile 100. Each photo tells its own story and captures a slice of joy and resilience. Josh will be shooting portraits again at The Fox and Heck of the North later this year. Find more photos at Pointed North and follow along on Instagram to see what he's up to next.

Who the heck is Ruby? Ruby Coffee Roasters is based right here in Nelsonville, Wisconsin. Originally founded in the garage of Ruby's founder, Jared, their coffee can be found in cafes and homes nationwide and yes, now they operate out of a real building. According to Ruby, each of their coffees is carefully and specifically chosen to represent a glimpse of microclimate, micro-region, and a vignette into a moment in time. They like their coffees with a little flair and are proud to celebrate the broad range of beautiful, colorful flavor coffee can have. They focusing on celebrating the unique, exciting qualities of each offering. Since Ruby is local and they make steeped coffee and instant coffee, I thought they'd be perfect for bikepacking. My biking buddy, Donavon Schumacher, is a licensed and board certified coffee snob so I asked him to try Ruby's steeped and instant coffees on his recent bikepacking trip to the Sand County Caress and here are his thoughts: Ruby Steeped Coffee and Instant Coffee review by Donavon Schumacher: It's not espresso but it's pretty darn good! According to Google a coffee snob is someone who cares deeply about what kind of coffee they are drinking. Coffee snobs judge their beverage based on quality and taste, and they won't settle for fast, cheap coffee from any grocery store or a fast-food chain. I don't know if I'm a coffee snob but I will tell you straight up I like good coffee. Preferably espresso from an independent coffee shop and if it's not espresso my regular go to is a DARK blend with no "foo foo" mixed in (cream, milk, flavoring). Next to coffee my second passion is cycling so when my friend Josh offered up a few samples of Ruby camp coffee to try on a recent bikepacking trip in exchange for a review I happily obliged. I had every intention of sampling this coffee in the field over a brightly lit jet boil but my plans were foiled after a bike mechanical forced me to bail and return home a day early so you will have to settle with my plan B brew from home review. The first sample I tested was the Ruby - August Seasonal Blend (steeped bag version). Let me begin by saying the convenient packaging had me at hello. I couldn't wait to prepare and drink my first ever steeped bag cup of Joe . I steeped the coffee for several minutes and waited for it to be ready. After initially taking the coffee bag out way too early, I continued to let it steep. Even after the 5 minutes, I never felt like the flavor was fully extracted. Could be in part because I've always leaned toward more more robust dark coffees. I've never been a big fan of most light or medium brews so I wasn't expecting to experience the bold taste that I prefer but the coffee flavor just wasn't there so I can't give the steeped version the highest review. But luckily, there was another option to try which I would enjoy a lot more. Next up was the Ruby - Creamery Seasonal Blend (freeze-dried instant version). I have only sampled a few different blends of instant coffee during bikepacking trips and have been perfectly happy with the Starbucks VIA Pike Place version but this Ruby blend was a grand slam for me. The flavor was smooth and ready to drink almost immediately. I think I have a new favorite instant camp coffee to throw in my bag for the next bikepacking adventure.

Josh Kowaleski just finished rigging out his new portrait studio bike on a Salsa Blackborrow. Working with Cedaero, his bike can fit his cameras, lights, stands, and more. He'll be shooting portraits of cyclists fighting their hardest miles at Le Grand Du Nord, The Fox, and Heck of the North. Josh Kowaleski is an adventure photographer who owns Pointed North photography. See more of his work on his website or follow him on Instagram . You specifically designed this setup for photo-by-bike; how did this idea evolve? This idea of mine draw from a few different sources of inspiration. I’m not one to limit myself in what I think can be done, and I’m not afraid to just try something and see what happens. I don’t mind chasing down a ridiculous idea that comes up in a conversation around a campfire every now and again! That said, this project is a culmination and reflection of my circle of influence in my friend group. Conversations that happened in passing, asking “What if?”, and then just being curious enough to try to make it happen. If this project was represented in a Venn Diagram, it would live right in the sweet spot for me between photography, bikes, and silly ideas. I am actively drawing inspiration from my buddy, Ben Weaver, and his approach to performing music off his bike. Most notably his 2018 ride on the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route with “Music for free”, where he carried his guitar and banjo down the divide and played shows along the way. I am also looking over at my friend, bike nerd, and mentor in photography, Minneapolis-based TC Worley. TC is a phenomenal photographer and videographer, and he has some seriously cool projects under his belt. One of his personal projects is “Portrait Van”, where he built out a portrait studio in the back of a Dodge cargo van. He hauls that thing around and takes portraits along the way. For a proof of concept, Salsa’s chase the chaise is hard to ignore. That whole crew had a lot of fun hauling a couch out onto a racecourse and then spending the day taking photographs of riders on courses like Mid-South 100, Unbound, Le Grand Du Nord, and a few others. Lastly, I was simply inspired by the blank canvas, think big, be weird, choose your own adventure platform that is the Salsa Blackborow. When I worked at Cedaero/Spokengear we were approached by Salsa to make the packs for the “Ode to Trout” bike. We had a prototype tucked away, secretly, in the sew shop for the summer and I spent too much time playing around at the bike shop on that bike! With just one look at it, the blank canvas that it provides will have you cooking up your own silly ideas as you try to get to sleep at night. Why do you want to be shooting bike events right from your own bike? Isn't that limiting? I believe in bikes. Bike rides change people. Long rides, short rides, rides in the rain, solo rides, and rides with friends, all change people and I’ve NEVER had a bike ride that I’ve regretted. I firmly believe that any bike ride is transformative. As an active participant in long distance gravel races, I know how hard the back half of the day is and I believe that there is something to that 80-ish-mile mark that’s unique. It’s the spot where you’ve worked so hard to just get to. You’ve battled your highs and lows, and you may still be fighting some of those thoughts and thinking about quitting. You are just close enough to know that you’re going to finish and just far enough away that it still seems kind of daunting. That’s the spot where I want to spend a minute with the rider, offer up some words of encouragement, hear their story on the day and take a portrait that tells their unique story. A story that only exists in that fraction of a second, right there in the woods. I’ll offer them a high five, and then send them on the way to the finish. The person that crosses the finish line is a different person than they were at mile 80 when we hung out. The mile 80 person is different from the person who started the day. Riders need to know that person that lives within them and to see that part of themselves. The day has been long at that point, and I think you’re the toughest and at the same time the most vulnerable in that mile 80ish window. I want people to have that image to look back at and be reminded of their story from that ride. This bike looks ravishing. Tell me about your rig. What are you riding and how did you configure this pack setup? The bike is my 2018 Salsa Blackborow that I’ve converted over to a 29er for the summer season. It’s the bike that I’ve been riding the most lately and it's super fun! Most recently it’s been pulling its weight as a pint-sized adventure rig for my son and me. Cedaero provides the packs! I’ve had it equipped with a frame bag and a few packs since I originally got the bike in 2018 and late this winter, I sat down with Karl at Cedaero and he and I began to dream up the setup that would be ideal for carrying my camera gear. It was not a small feat to figure out. As it sits, I can carry two studio-style strobe lights, two stands for those lights to be mounted on, two light modifier setups, and then all the small odds and ends that come along with me. We had to keep the lights secure from bouncing around and protected from any weather. We had to protect my camera and have it be accessible while riding. We had to figure out how to carry collapsible stands and with that, how to keep the stands upright when deployed. It’s common to use sandbags to hold lights in place in the studio, but what do we do in the woods? Karl designed me some custom, re-usable, re-fillable “sandbags” that I can fill with whatever I find out on the course. I can use rocks, gravel, sand, or snow(?) and then empty them so I’m not riding around with the additional weight penalty. It’s well thought out and checks off all my boxes for this setup. What kind of photos and events do you have in mind for this project? In the first draft of this idea, I’d like to try and execute studio-style portraits, like in the image below, but of riders at that mile 80ish mark as we talked about above. This is where I’m starting but not the only way that I want to make photographs at these events. We will see what it evolves into. As far as events go? This season I’ll be taking the portrait bike around the arrowhead region as I chase down riders at Le Grand Du Nord, The Fox/The Wolf, and my personal favorite and the all-time classic, The Heck of the North. Jeremy Kershaw was open to this idea and has partnered with me this season with his events to see if this works out. We will see what lessons I learn this season and how the project evolves, but I’d love to continue to approach like-minded race directors around the Great Lakes region to see if the portrait bike could make an appearance and offer up a unique spin on documenting these events, regardless of the season or the distance.

In spring of 2021 a group of bikepackers set out to ride around the perimeter of Michigan's Upper Peninsula. The approximately 1,600 mile journey, dubbed Project Adventrus, would trace the outline of one of the most unique geographic and cultural regions in America. Ironically, the Upper Peninsula, or U.P., is often left off of maps due in part to data glitches and an inconvenient silhouette. Join the crew on their unforgettable journey to explore, suffer and celebrate the region via bike. Project Adventrus riders: Todd Poquette Marc Salm Kelsy Kellermann Liz Belt Unforgettable Fim

Laura Hrubes is an endurance/adventure cyclist who lives in Viroqua, WI but has deep roots in the U.P. She has big goals for 2022 and a beautiful new purple yooper bike to match. In this interview we talk about her year, her bikes, and her top 5 things in the north. Find Laura on instagram @foodieknitter It looks like you have a legendary 2022 planned; what's on your plate? I’m so stoked for 2022! I have a tendency to overcommit and try to do all the things, and it’s just not possible or sustainable, so this year I’m trying really hard to just focus in hard on the things that really matter and that I really want to do. Mostly, that looks a whole lot like staying pretty tight to the upper Midwest in northern Wisconsin, the UP, and northern Minnesota, and taking on some longer distance rides as well. I started the year with a big bucket list dream ride at Tuscobia on New Year’s Day, and it was amazing! I wasn’t really sure if I could do that, and having a really great ride in such challenging winter conditions gave me a lot of confidence going forward. I just rode the all new Dairy Roubaix route in the Driftless region of Wisco, and that was pretty epic as well, as it had a solid 8000 feet of climbing in 90 miles. Then I went to Laona in Northern Wisconsin for The Bear 100, and am now headed in a few days for the Crystal Bear, which is a 200 mile, 2-day race from Laona, WI to Crystal Falls, MI. Then it’s the Borah epic bike fest up in the Cable/Hayward area, and on to a big summer of Crusher events, including the mass-start 175 mile race in Munising. In August I’ll head to Nebraska for Gravel Worlds, but my biggest goal of all for the year is the Marji 100 mountain bike race. "That will complete my “triple crown” of the hardest level of each event in all the 906 Adventure Team races…I’ve got too many Crusher and Polar Roll entries to count at this point, and I just need to finish that dang Marji so I can be done with it." After that, October is going to be packed full of some of my absolute favorites, just for fun: the Lone Wolf gravel race in iron mountain, the Moran 166 (the shorter route) on a tandem with my dad, the hibernator, and maybe the 144 mile Iron Bull in Wausau. Then, if all goes well and my application is accepted, I want to get some rest and then focus hard on preparing for the Arrowhead 135. That one is a huge dream of mine and right now, my biggest goal for 2023. It doesn’t really look like much on paper, but wow, that feels like a lot when I start talking about it! What are your "Top 5 Up-North Things"? 1. Embark Maple | Viroqua, WI I love everything about this: they are all awesome people behind it that live in the same town I do here in Wisco, the products are sooooo good and just work, and it just feels like good energy. 2. Ruby Coffee | Nelsonville, WI The best coffee ever, in the whole entire world. Amazing owners, local here in Wisconsin, great products (their freeze dried coffee packets are a must-have for big adventures!) and just something to feel really good about. 3. Morrow packs | Iron Mountain, MI James Morrow is making some of the most exciting bikepacking stuff around up in my hometown of Marquette, MI, and I am so stoked to have these on my Bearclaw. He’s even putting iridescent UP designs on them for me. 4. Steger mukluks | Ely, MN I’ve had a pair of the tall moose hide mukluks for many years, and they have become one of the most important pieces of winter gear I could imagine. I’ve done several 40+ mile snowshoe events in them and my feet have come through them warm and safe and happy, and literally wear them almost every day in the winter. They are handmade up in Ely, Minnesota, and I don’t ever want to have to face winter without them. 5. Broken Spoke Bikes | Green Bay, WI Besides the coolest bikes and best crew of people, there is always something fun happening here. I wish I could do them all! There’s always a group ride happening for all levels of athletes, and this February they hosted the US fat bike open. 6. Marquette, Michigan A perfect Marquette day for me would include an oat milk latte from Velodrome, a really fun ride on the south trails, lunch and a treat from 231 West, some shopping at the Sports Rack, Beth Millner jewelry, Down Wind Sports, Snowbound Books, a Jean-Kay’s veggie pasty or a Vangos Greek pizza (or both, if the ride was big enough!), and then maybe a night ride on the north trails. You just got super-purply new bike, tell me about it My gravel/off-road/adventure bike is so freaking beautiful it’s ridiculous: it’s a full titanium Bearclaw Thunderhawk. "I wanted the ultimate yooper/Michigan bike, and this feels like it." We started with the Bearclaw frame and ti fork, and the Sports Rack in Marquette Michigan built every bit of it up custom for me. I’ve got two wheelsets for it, a set of Velocity Blunts with 50mm Donnelly Xplor off-road tires and a dynamo hub wired up to a light and battery pack, and another set of Velocity Ailerons (with custom oil slick hubs that are soooo pretty!) and skinny Teravail Cannonball gravel tires. Both sets in purple. Agave Finishworks custom anodized the ti eeWings and ti seat and stem for me in this absolutely beautiful sort of purple rainbow design, and purple Paul components Klampers and some Wolf Tooth bling just add to all the special little details. Morrow packs made me some incredible yooper bags for bikepacking with it, and this is what I’ll load up for the Crystal Bear and probably the Crusher 175. It’s all 12 speed sram electronic shifting and set up 1x with an absolute black oval chainring (oil slick, of course!) and it just feels amazing to ride, the compliance of titanium is incredible. I rode this for the Dairy Roubaix and will switch the wheelsets here and there depending on if I want to go fast and light or will need the bigger tires and dynamo for longer adventures. It looks so simple and stripped down it almost looks like a singlespeed until you look a little closer and notice some of the sweet little elements. It looks like a Barbie dream bike and just seems to make everyone that sees it happy. This bike is such a dream come true! What else are you riding? My mountain bike is a 2019 full suspension carbon Kona HeiHei crdl. I love this bike! You know that magical feeling when a bike just kind of becomes an extension of you? I’ve always felt that way about this one. I’ve added so many sweet details to it over the last couple years…really the only thing left is to convert it to AXS, which I want to do soon, it’s got everything else I could want already. I’m considering trying to get a Juliana wilder mtb to replace it, but I love this one so much I’m just not sure I’m ready to. My fat bike for winter adventures is a 2021 full carbon salsa mukluk. I have upgraded almost everything on it: carbon bars, the drivetrain, sram AXS electronic shifting, and I usually run 45nrth wrathchildren xl studded tires on it. This beast feels rock solid on anything and everything, and with all the beautiful cedaero bags I have for it, it feels ready for almost anything. I feel both very slow and also completely unstoppable on this beast. I absolutely love this bike. In the summer, I switch the tires out to teravail Coronados and actually ride it quite a bit year round.

Adventure coffee that was born in a bike shop I stumbled upon Northern Coffeeworks recently when researching local, high quality, instant coffee that doesn't require me to bring filters or a pour over kit on my rides. Now, to be fair, I'm not totally opposed to bringing the whole kit. I have a mini-grinder and don't mind bringing the whole kitchen sink, but there are times for something a little more sleek. Northern Coffeeworks is a roastery and cafe based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. They were born out of a bike shop and a love for the outdoors, inspired by the natural beauty in the state they call home, Minnesota. They want to be the coffee you take with you on adventures and the coffee you come home to. Meet "Boundary Waters Instant Coffee" The Boundary Waters whole bean is Northern Coffeeworks' flagship drip coffee. It's brewed in collaboration with Save the Boundary Waters , an organization leading the fight to protect the Boundary Waters. To make their flagship whole bean coffee easier to take on self-supported adventures, they teamed up with Swift Cup Coffee to create an instant version. It comes with 6 packs per box and each packet contains 5g of freeze dried coffee which mixes with 8-10 ounces of cold or hot water. Testing it out: Should you take this bikepacking? First off, I was extremely surprised by the taste. Now to be transparent, I'm not a coffee snob. I'm a daily drinker, but I'm generally happy with warm cup of coffee and rarely find something I don't like. That being said, instant coffee is usually awful. Like, barely even in the same family as coffee. The Boundary Waters instant cup was really impressive and has a taste surprisingly similar to delicious drip coffee. In their collaboration with Swift Cup, they use a proprietary process to come up with a gourmet coffee that coffee nerds will seriously appreciate. On the downside, it's pretty expensive at ~$3/cup. There are definitely a lot of cheaper ways to make coffee in da woods. But for those who value ultralight bikepacking and gourmet coffee, this is a great option. I even poured a cup of drip vs Boundary Waters instant during my work day and forgot which was which. Sure, it's still instant coffee and isn't going to hit the spot if you just HAVE to have fresh ground coffee on the trail. But it's not very often you find instant coffee with high quality taste that originates on socially and environmentally conscious cooperatives. It weighs virtually nothing and is smaller than the amount of whole bean or ground coffee you would need to make the same size cup. Plus you get the benefit of not having to bring a pour over kit and hand grinder. ​Pros: - Smaller than bringing a brewing kit - Weighs nothing - Tastes pretty darn close to drip coffee - Sourced fair trade Cons: - Expensive at about $3/cup - Some won't like the taste Currently costs $18 for a pack of 6 at Northern Coffeeworks

The Nxrth has brand new t-shirts! The Gravel Bear is now available in a "Founder's" colorway until June 15. Find out more about the design here. We wanted a custom t-shirt design that represented the rugged beauty of the Northwoods. We worked with Tim Reddington from Milwaukee, Wisconsin to design the Gravel Bear. Gravel Bear is a super comfy tri-blend t-shirt that ships free inside the USA. The Founders colorway is a one-time edition that we made to thank the early supporters of The Nxrth and to give you something only available to the OGs. The Gravel Bear is: Made of the super-comfy tri-blend Designed in Wisconsin Ships for FREE This colorway is available until June 15 and can be found HERE . After June 15, we'll launch the standard Gravel Bear colorway.

Chris Schmidt of Studio 13 is a bike-racing, cross-country-skiing graphic designer living in the Keweenaw peninsula of the U.P. He creates race posters, t-shirts and various forms of clandestine cycling propaganda. In this interview we talk about his art and that one time he almost finished Marji Gesick. Interview with Chris Schmidt of Studio 13 . You've done a butt ton of designs for U.P. events and recreation. What do you want people to feel when they see your up north adventure prints? With my race posters, I really try to give a sense of what a given race is like. I've either competed in most of the races myself and, if not, have usually either shot photos or spectated and have a good idea of what kind of vibe surrounds an event. I'm sometimes asked to create a poster for an event I've never experienced. If the promoter can give me enough information - with words and photos - I can usually still tell the story in pictures. Of course, I'll sometimes let the organizer know I'm not the man for the job if I can't get a feel for the event. In addition to event posters, I also create posters that highlight what I find special about the Keweenaw: the Lake Superior shoreline, winter, the area's extensive copper mining heritage. Have you ever done any of the 906 events yourself? The 906 events are a special breed of race: The Polar Roll, The Crusher and the Marji Gesick. They're less about winning and more about overcoming personal limits and pushing yourself to do something that is hard (all races promoted by Todd Poquette - the king of doing hard things). Nearly all of the posters I've created for those events put pain and suffering front and center. I did attempt the Marji Gesick the second year it was held. 90 miles in, I had a problem with my crank arm that forced me to stop (not that I was in need of much convincing to stop at that point). Even though I might still have unfinished business with the Marji, I'm not in any hurry to see it to completion. What's your bike story and tell me about those 'underground' races in your bio I got into bikes back in high school in Northern Lower Michigan, mainly due to any lack of skill in ball sports. If I was lucky, the coach would put me in for a couple minutes at the tail end of a soccer game provided our team was either so far ahead or so far behind that there was little chance of me somehow altering the outcome. But on a bike, I could ride all day and never see the sidelines. Fueled with photos from now defunct cycling magazines (Winning) or images from the sparse TV coverage of professional cycling back in the 80s, every ride could (and did) turn into an imaginary race against the greats. After a year or two of riding alone, I connected with some other like-minded individuals in a town of just a few hundred. Pretty soon the three or four of us grew into a dozen. Teams formed. Races were held. Time trials, crits, road races. The stock boys from the grocery store faced off against the staff of one of the town's restaurants. After a couple years, our weekly races were a solid alternative to a 4 hour drive for a 30 minute crit in a downstate industrial park. Life eventually took all of us in different directions, but most of that core group is still involved cycling or the cycling industry. Though technically not a race, I still put on an underground event to keep the tradition alive. Now in its eleventh year, La Flèche du Nord is mixed surface ride on Michigan's Keweenaw peninsula held in the tradition of the spring classics. Ideally, the ride is approximately 75 miles long with 20-30 miles of gravel. The Keweenaw was battered with over 300 inches of snow this year, so nearly all of the gravel is still under feet of snow as I write this (May 4). We'll be mainly on pavement this year, riding some of the greatest roads anywhere (a black ribbon along Lake Superior), though a few sections of year-round gravel did find their way into the course. Promotion of the ride is mainly word-of-mouth, helping ensure the number of riders doesn't attract too much attention. The 40-50 who do ride are treated to a gut wrenching climb to the finish (Brockway Mountain Drive) and panoramic views of the big lake from the top. You're way up in the Keweenaw peninsula with an abundance of wilderness, snow, and adventurous people. Why do you live there and what do you like about it? If you've spent much time in the Keweenaw in the winter, you'll know that the area generally gets more than its fair share of the aforementioned snow - thanks in large part to the local geography: a thin sliver of land jutting out into a massive body of (relatively) warm water means lake effect snow as long as the lake stays open. What to do with all of that snow? Nordic skiing typically starts in mid-November and, in a good year, runs through April or even into May. Top-notch grooming and a number of excellent trail systems make the area tough to beat for xc skiing. With Mont Ripley in town and Mount Bohemia less than an hour away, the Alpine skiing is excellent as well. Snow biking is a solid option here now, too. As you can probably surmise, winters are a big part of why I (and many) love living here. But summers, while short, are amazing as well. Low-traffic roads offer great road riding. Endless logging roads, and two-tracks are ideal for exploring the most distant reaches of the peninsula by bike. And, of course, mountain biking has exploded on the Keweenaw in recent years, especially in Copper Harbor - but also up and down the peninsula - Michigan Tech, Churning Rapids, Adventure Mine and Swedetown all maintain quality trail systems. For anyone who loves the outdoors and - especially winter - the Keweenaw is a tough place to beat - particularly in the Midwest. What's next for you in the area of bikes and art? In the area of bikes: less racing and more exploring. I'm hoping to do a couple bikepacking trips in the UP this summer. Really, cycling is a way to stay sane, recharge and disconnect from the world for an hour or two most days. I'm grateful for every opportunity I have to create a race or event poster - and those are keeping me plenty busy at the moment. When I have some downtime, I'm likely working on projects for friends or on one my own ideas. Or sneaking out for a longer ride if I'm lucky. To learn more about Studio 13, visit their website or follow them on instagram .