Cuyuna is a midwest singletrack paradise for mountain biking in the summer and fat biking in the winter. If you're looking to book a trip there, why not stay in a beautiful and unique cabin close to all the action? Here are 6 beautiful Cuyuna cabins surrounded by adventure to check out for your next trip. Time to start planning winter fat bike weekend getaways? Nestled in the heart of Minnesota’s Cuyuna Range, a fat bike winter wonderland awaits those seeking frosty adventure on two wheels. In the winter, the area’s singletrack trails transform into a pristine and chilly playground for riders of all levels. For those wanting to immerse themselves in this magical setting, these six impossibly beautiful cabins offer the perfect basecamp. Whether you’re looking for cozy retreats or luxurious lodges, each cabin promises a memorable experience in one of Minnesota’s most breathtaking destinations. Eco-Luxe Shipping Container This shipping container cabin features two bedrooms with queen beds, a bathroom with a walk-in shower, a small kitchenette, and a living area with large windows offering views of the surrounding forest. Amenities include a hot tub, fire pit, covered patio, and a Mississippi River overlook. The cabin also has a multifunctional office and laundry space. LEARN MORE . The Iron Owl This newly built 600 sq ft cabin, located 1 mile from the Cuyuna Lakes Trail and Crosby's historic downtown, offers views of 20+ acres of wetlands and wildlife. The cabin, designed by a husband and wife, features a queen bedroom on the main floor, a loft with a queen bed, a bathroom, kitchen, and a living area with a wood stove. Outside, guests can enjoy a pondside patio. The cabin is secluded and surrounded by white pines, offering privacy with occasional distant town sounds. It sleeps up to 4 people and shares the property with a second cabin. LEARN MORE . The Hilhaus Aframe This newly built A-frame cabin, located near downtown Crosby, offers a cozy retreat with a lower-level master bedroom, a loft bedroom, a kitchen, a dining room, and a living room with a fireplace. Outside, guests can enjoy a back deck, a fire pit area, a picnic table, and a bike shed. The cabin comes equipped with essentials like coffee, tea, board games, and books, along with upgraded Starlink Wi-Fi. It's well-suited for couples, families, or those looking for a fat biking getaway. Firewood and lawn games are also provided. LEARN MORE . Tiny House Luxury Getaway Another new addition to the Cuyuna area! This cozy 280 square foot, one-bedroom tiny house is a perfect getaway in Cuyuna Country. The location is incredible with the Sagamore Unit mountain bike trails and Hwy 128 trailhead only two miles away. With over two acres of privacy on a ridge that has frontage on Little Rabbit Lake. From inside the cabin you will have views of the woods. LEARN MORE . Cuyuna Cove Cuyuna Cove, located on the edge of Crosby, MN, offers vacation rental cabins with direct access to the Cuyuna Country State Recreation Area. This area features over 70 miles of mountain bike trails, gravel routes, and scenic lakes. The property, opened in 2020, provides a redwood sauna and encourages guests to disconnect, relax, and enjoy outdoor activities. The cabins are popular for romantic getaways and are situated near the historic mining town, offering a unique destination for year-round adventures. LEARN MORE . Tiny Pine-A The tiny 500 sq ft A-frame cabin, part of the Cuyuna Matata Cabins, is set on 8.5 acres overlooking the Pine River. Located 10 minutes from the Cuyuna State Recreation Area biking trails, it provides a peaceful nature getaway. The cabin, built in 2022, features a minimalist Scandinavian design with bright pine interiors. It sleeps up to 4 people, with a queen bed in the loft and a fold-down couch on the main floor. Guests can enjoy a cedar wood barrel sauna and use complimentary snowshoes in winter and kayaks in summer. LEARN MORE .

With fat bike season near, we've put together a top to bottom adventure checklist including our top picks for fat bike destinations to ride, events to register for, Airbnbs to pick, and gear you'll need along the way. Start planning your winter and make time for memorable adventures in beautiful places. MEMBER EXCLUSIVE

The new Ironton Island cabins in Cuyuna were a couple's passion project that opened in the spring of 2024. The unique cabins are close to downtown Crosby and the Cuyuna trailheads. Take a look inside these cabins as you plan your next Cuyuna adventure. Both cabins are 2 bedroom for 4 guests.View the Iron Own or Dragonfly cabins on Airbnb or follow along with Ironton Island on Istagram. Just outside of Ironton, Minnesota and right next to the Cuyuna Country State Recreation Area are two new custom-built cabins—Iron Owl and Dragonfly at the Ironton Island property. Created by Jessica and Chad, a couple with complimenting skillsets, these cabins are a gateway to red dirt and crystal clear lakes in the summer and tons of beautifully groomed fat bike trails in the winter. Jessica's background is in art and functional design while Chad's background spans construction, masonry, plumbing, and electrical work. Together, they’ve dreamed up and built some really special cabins that fit perfectly in the Cuyuna biking landscape and culture. Their initial cabins started with A-frames on their Lazy Loon property. Building on that, they set their sights on a new property—a peninsula they named Ironton Island, just a mile from Cuyuna’s Miners Mountain Rally Center. The location feels remote while being close to town and trails. Iron Owl and Dragonfly: 2 Custom Cabins Designed for Adventure and Comfort Jessica and Chad’s newest cabins, Iron Owl and Dragonfly, opened in March of 2024. The cabins are custom designed by Jessica and built by Chad and reflect a labor of love, with all the woodsy, bike-y details carefully selected. The cabins focus on catering to the needs of outdoor enthusiasts and inspiring outdoor adventures. Both cabins feature dedicated bike storage and a bike wash station, making it easy to maintain and store bikes during your stay. For those ready to hit the trails as soon as they arrive, the great location makes it so you can bike directly from the property and start hitting dirt in minutes. A Perfect Cuyuna Adventure Weekend at Ironton Island With its location close to downtown Crosby and various trailheads, clear lakes, and local dining and entertainment options, Ironton Island is an awesome base for a weekend of exploration and relaxation. If you're booking a Cuyuna trip, here are a few ideas to make it an epic weekend. Hit the Trails and Explore the Cuyuna Lakes Area Start at the Miners Mountain Rally Center – Located just a mile from the cabins, this is the perfect launching point for a day of biking. Choose the Galloping Goose trail, a fun loop with a mix of easier trails ideal for beginners or a warm-up. Check out the Bobsled Trail – this trail offers thrilling climbs, descents, and large berms with optional jumps and features. It also winds around the tiny Trout Lake. Explore the Sagamore Unit Trails – these trails offer wider paths and a gentler ride, ideal for winter biking and accessible options for all riders. Enjoy the Lake and Explore Downtown Crosby Try a morning paddle on the mine lakes – they're clear, deep, and have minimal boat traffic, making them perfect for a quiet paddle. Kayak or SUP rentals from Cuyuna Outfitters will get you out on the water to enjoy the surroundings. Refuel at Red Raven – Stop by this coffee spot, which also has a bike shop, making it a convenient stop for bikers. Grab a coffee or a light breakfast before hitting the local shops. Try the Iron Range Eatery or Drunken Noodle for food options then, later, unwind with a craft beer at Cuyuna Brewing. Discover Adventure at Ironton Island Jessica and Chad have created more than just cabins—they’ve built a space where visitors can experience the perfect blend of adventure and serenity. Whether you’re here to challenge yourself on red dirt trails, paddle through deep blue lakes, or simply enjoy the tranquility, Iron Owl and Dragonfly at Ironton Island offer a unique and welcoming escape. View the Iron Own  or Dragonfly  cabins on Airbnb or follow along with Ironton Island  on Istagram.

Ride With GPS and Komoot are two mapping tools used to discover, plan, organize, and share bike adventures. In this story we compare them head to head and share our thoughts on which one may be a better option for each type of riding and planning. Jump to Section 1. Overview 2. Pricing 3. Route Editing 4. POIs & Highlights 5. Social Sharing & Adventure Discovery 6. Unique Features: Ride With GPS 7. Unique Features: Komoot 8. Ride With GPS Wins if you... 9. Komoot Wins if you... OVERVIEW: Ride With GPS vs Komoot White both tools target the same overall goal of planning adventures using a map, the focus of Ride With GPS and Komoot are pretty distinct. Let's break down the focus and audience of each platform which will translate into the unique features they offer. Ride With GPS Ride With GPS is for map creators who want more advanced tools to create and organize highly detailed rides and routes. It's an incredibly powerful too for those who spend hours drawing lines, cataloging POIs, analyzing rides, and take pride in architecting detailed routes using many different routing tools at the same time. You simply won't find this level of detailed organization and customization in Komoot. Holiday 2024 Promotion: Get 15 Months of Ride With GPS for the Price of 12. Komoot Komoot is focused on crowd-sourced adventuring, deep social sharing, and photo-centric story telling around the globe. For those looking to follow the stories and adventure highlights of explorers all over the world and then plan the adventure yourself using the community's favorite highlights as your guide, Komoot is your best friend. NOTE: Many of the strengths of Komoot are heavily dependent on user volume. Komoot currently has a massive presence in Europe but has a significantly smaller base in the USA which makes the benefit of user generated content less significant in many places. Pricing Ride With GPS has 3 monthly tiers: Free, Basic, & Premium. The Basic plan is $7.99/mo and gives you advanced route planning on the mobile app. The Premium plan is $9.99/mo and gives you the full suite of web-based tools. The Free version allows for basic route planning and ride recording. Komoot has two pricing models: Komoot Maps and Komoot Premium. Maps are all one-time payments and give you permanent access to voice navigation and offline maps for the geographies that you pay for ($3.99 for one region, $8.99 for a region bundle, or $29.99 to permanently unlock the entire world). Komoot Premium is $5.99/month and includes World Map access, personal collections, live-tracking, multi-day planner, on-tour weather, safety contacts, and more. Holiday 2024 Promotion: Get 15 Months of Ride With GPS  for the Price of 12. Route Editing We'll get deeper into this section with each platform's "Unique Features" but for now I'll just say that this is an area where Ride With GPS dominates. Both the desktop and mobile route planner are extremely easy to use and are packed with high powered advanced tools unmatched by Komoot. Komoot's route editor is much more tedious and and has a significantly simpler toolbox to use when trying to meticulously plan perfect routes. It's a slower process with fewer options to customize. Points of Interest (POIs) & Route Highlights Ride With GPS's Points of Interest (POIs) are created for each individual Ride With GPS account. You can add POIs to any of your maps for any reason to mark anything you want. They are uniquely built into the maps that you choose (or dynamically available in a POI library if you use a Club account) and they won't show up in the map building tool for the general public unless they're viewing your unique route. Komoot calls these "Highlights" and they're 100% crowd sourced and built on community generated content for everyone to use. The downside is that you can't add private POIs such as "Camping in my uncle's backyard" or temporary POIs like "Race day headquarters" but the upside is that the entire globe is covered in the adventuring community's best route highlights, photos, and tips for anyone to go exploring. Every Highlight and photo is rated by the community which makes planning incredible adventures significantly easier. Social Sharing & Adventure Discovery Komoot owns this category. The entire platform is built around photo-first adventure discovery, community generated map highlights, and ready-to-ride collections of the world's best places to explore. The social feed is deeply inspirational and the biggest names in gravel biking and bikepacking are constantly sharing their ride galleries, map libraries, and tips to take their adventures and do them yourself. While Ride With GPS is a really powerful planing tool, its strength is less in discovering new adventures through community sourced mapping highlights. Ride With GPS's tools like "Inspect" and "Heatmaps" are really great for finding new places to ride, but they end at drawing great lines on a map. Trail level photo content is sparse and community sourced tips are non existent outside of individually created maps. Similarities We don't dig into every feature in this article. Several features exist in both platforms and are at least comparable. "Surface Types" is a feature of both platforms and I haven't found it to have any accuracy in the region that I live in either platform. Both platforms have Safety Tracking and Privacy Zones which are an important part of staying staying safe on and off the bike. There are many other features they both share. Now let's break down their unique features they each have. Ride With GPS Unique Features Ride With GPS has an extensive toolset for advanced route editing, adventure planning, and deep organization. Let's break down the main features are exclusive to Ride With GPS. Global & Personal Heatmaps Heatmaps are indispensable for finding out where everyone else rides (Global Heatmap) and seeing a live log of where you've ridden (Personal Heatmap). If you're exploring a new area, there's no better way to find some of the most popular routes than seeing where the community is doing the most riding via Heatmaps. Inspect Tool Touch a point on a map and see the most popular routes going through that spot. Without the context of community generated photos and tips, I don't find it very useful as it only shows personally created routes that get a lot of engagement but this doesn't actually aggregate any crowd sourced information about that route. Ride Metrics If you like analyzing post-ride data, you're going to love Ride With GPS's deep stack of metrics. There are over 26 metrics that are fully customizable during your ride and their post-ride metrics are going to give you a lot of data to pour over when you're done. Bike Maintenance Log A fun way to keep track of maintenance, repairs, and upgrades for each of your bikes. Custom Cues Create cues that say whatever you want them to. These are supported in TCX files for Garmin devices, Wahoo devices, and the mobile app will read them aloud just like a normally generated turn left turn right cue. Clubs & Organizations If you're an organization or club, this is the clear winner for organizing, customizing, and embedding various route libraries and POIs that can dynamically be pulled into maps of your choosing. Colors, layers, images, categories, routes, links, and POIs can all be fully customized to your needs and the ability to give free navigation and offline use for your members/customers. Plus a Lot More Both the deskop and mobile applications have a lot more tools and custom configurations at every point of your process from planning, to riding, to organizing and they're regularly adding more. I don't expect them to slow down adding new tools and features in the future as they're hyper focused on helping map lovers and organizers plan using as much data and efficiency as possible. Holiday 2024 Promotion: Get 15 Months of Ride With GPS  for the Price of 12. Komoot Unique Features Komoot's strength is less in mapping tools, metrics, and organization and more in social and community tools. Tools that inspire users to explore the world and have the most fun getting from point A to point B. Trail View This is the "Google Streetview" of off-grid trails. If you've ever studied satellite images trying to guess what the surface is like and if the trail is actually passable , Trail View is going to be a life saver. Komoot uses artificial intelligence to pull all public photos of trails and pin them to where they were taken on the map for everyone to use. The result is trail-level photos of any place any Komoot user has taken a public photo of a trail on a route. No more guessing whether that obscure line on a map is a hidden gem or a total bust. Pioneer & Expert Gamification Base on community cues and up-votes on Highlights, photos, and tips, Komoot gives points for all the activities and regions that you've recorded activity. This is a fun way to build your expertise and social influence within the app as well as finding the best adventurers to follow Sport-Based Route & Highlight Searching Use the Discovery tool to select routes and highlights based on the sport you're interested in such as road cycling, gravel riding, and bikepacking On Tour Weather Plan daylong or multi-day adventures and see temperature, precipitation, wind direction, and sunshine for any point in time on the map. Crowd-Sourced Highlights This is mentioned earlier in the article but i's worth repeating here because Komoot Highlights isn't just a similarity to Ride With GPS's Points of Interest, it's a it's really a unique feature that makes Komoot stand alone. Highlights is a rich user generated global library of the best places to ride, stop, and explore. They're all filterable by sport type, voted on by the community at large, and logged with rider tips so that you have the easiest time having the best experience from point A to point B. Personal Collections This is another feature that does exist in Ride With GPS but I think Komoot does it much better. Personal collections are a way to show off your rides, routes, highlights, story, and photos all in one beautiful place for the world to see in their Komoot social feed (or embed on your website). For other users, these are an incredible way to discover new places to explore and be inspired by brilliant photography and gorgeous bikescapes. So Which is Better, Komoot or Ride Withg GPS? Cut to the chase...you want to know which is better right? Well of course it depends. Their features and tools are built for similar but different audiences and the best platform is going to be the one that meets your planning and riding goals. Ride With GPS Wins If... You want to build a library of personal (or organizational) mapping assets that you can customize and organize however you want You care about advanced planning and analyzing using the most data available You prefer customization, tweaking, and analyzing over social sharing You are a club or organization who needs advanced organizational and embedding tools for your members. Komoot Wins If... You want to use the community's favorite crowd-sourced highlights, tips, and photos to plan your routes. You're looking for ready-to-ride collections of routes, highlights, and photos from other users' libraries Sharing the best parts of your ride and discovering the best parts of others' rides is more important than personal customization tools and metrics You only need offline maps and voice navigation and don't want to be locked into a paid subscription Holiday 2024 Promotion: Get 15 Months of Ride With GPS  for the Price of 12.

Hollow socks are headquartered and designed in Wisconsin and manufactured in North Carolina. Their socks are made of alpaca wool, nylon, and spandex and come in black and gray. Here we share a review after using them gravel biking this summer. To learn more visit HollowSocks.com . Meet Hollow, alpaca wool socks from Wisconsin Hollow is a Wisconsin-based performance sock company that uses alpaca wool to improve comfort, dryness, and breathability. Designed in Wisconsin, they're all made in the USA in North Carolina. Their lineup is pretty simple and includes no-show, ankle, crew cut, and boot cut and are all available in black or gray. When I was recently riding the Valhalla Beach Party bikepacking route with Dave Schlabowske, he mentioned that he usually buys Wisconsin-based socks. He was wearing some gray boot-cut Hollow socks and I figured I should get a few pairs of my own to try out and share with more up-north adventure cyclists who want to support a local company. Alpaca vs merino wool for socks Wool socks are often made with merino wool. Merino is antimicrobial and breathable which makes them great for long, warm activities like hiking and biking. Hollow makes their socks exclusively with Peruvian baby alpaca wool (usually around 45% of each sock, with the rest being nylon and spandex). Alpaca wool is a finer, softer, and less absorptive wool than merino well which leads to some improved benefits that we'll break down here. Softness Alpaca wool is a physically finer strand of wool. The microscopic fibers are less pronounced and more uniform. This makes them smooth and incredibly soft. Merino can sometimes feel itchy where alpaca wool is predictably smooth. Dryness Alpaca wool can hold 8% of its weight in moisture where merino can hold 30% of its weight in moisture. Both types of wool are great at moisture-wicking and resisting odor but alpaca is going to dry faster since it absorbs less moisture to begin with. Overall Strength Without getting too nerdy, alpaca wool has a higher tensile strength (~50 N/ktex) than merino wool (30-40 N/ktex). This means it can put up with more abuse and last longer, depending on construction and other materials used of course. Warmth To be fair, I couldn't find any hard number on this one. What I did learn is that alpaca fibers are hollow (hence the name "Hollow" socks) which means every single strand contains trapped pockets of air for insulating. Merino wool on the other hand traps air between all of the microscopic protrusions in the fiber, but it's not hollow. Due to alpaca wool's hollow-ness, my findings seem to suggest that it insulates heat better. Hollow socks on & off the bike, up north, in the summer I've been using Hollow's black no-show socks (43% alpaca wool) and gray ankle socks (46% alpaca wool) on a lot of my longer rides this summer. Here are a few of my thoughts: Off the bike My first impression was that they fit perfectly. I have small feet (size 8) and got their size 8-10 socks. Usually when my feet are on the low range of the fit, they're always a little too spacious. But these have a great stretchiness that hugs my feet really snug. I wore them around the house, in the yard with no shoes, several days without washing and they're always nice and snug even without a fresh wash. They almost have a luxurious feel because the fibers are so fine and they just glide right into my shoes or slippers. On the bike While biking, I never really noticed them. They stayed cool and dry on extremely hot summer rides. They also never felt sweaty or sticky when I was done. Again, they kind of feel a little lux because they're so smooth to the skin and on whatever you're walking on. But I like that they don't look silky. I prefer the gray color; it looks just like a traditional tough wool sock but wears more comfortably than either my Smartwool or Darn Tough socks. ​Pros Cons Extremely comfortable Stay dry and don't smell Strong and snug construction Designed in Wisconsin ​Only available in black or gray Somewhat expensive ($20-$35/pair) Review Wrap-up I don't think I've ever had an alpaca wool clothing of any sort. And to be fair, I haven't used these in the winter yet and my feet tend to get cold in even the warmest boots. But the no-show and ankle socks performed really well for hot half-day summer rides. To learn more or pick up a pair for yourself, head over to HollowSocks.com .

Interested in a new winter fat bike ultra adventure? Jay Petervary runs Fat Pursuit in Island Park, ID and has also done Arrowhead 135 six times. Here Jay talks about what makes Fat Pursuit a unique adventure to add to your list this winter. To learn more visit Fat Pursuit . Photos by Eddie Clark Media @eddieclarkmedia Fat Pursuit is a winter ultra endurance race in Island Park, Idaho that takes place in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. There are 60km and 200km options as well as a 3-day optional workshop prior to the races. Known for its heavy snowfall and diverse microclimates, the route traverses remote landscapes where riders encounter snow-coated "goblin trees" and can see Yellowstone’s natural beauty up close. Interview with Jay Petervary: 1. You've done Arrowhead 135. How would you compare Fat Pursuit to an event like Arrowhead? I love the Arrowhead 135. I’ve done it six times and I’ve always used it to test and challenge myself with new ideas and set-ups. But it’s tough to compare Fat Pursuit to Arrowhead. Fat Pursuit is what I would describe as a winter expedition backcountry race. First off, with over 300 inches of snowfall annually in the area, snow is guaranteed! The event takes place in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem where the weather is unpredictable and even throughout the course there will be different microclimates. The landscape is also very different. The mountains aren't huge but on the high sections of the route you will see the mysterious encrusted snow covered goblin trees that have been painted by Mother Nature making you feel much higher than you are. When the route winds onto the border of Yellowstone National Park it looks and feels like it! The Fat Pursuit is also much more committing, meaning when you leave the checkpoints you are moving away from civilization, into more remote sections of the route, where deciding to quit mid-route isn't really an option. This is an event that will properly challenge you and more than likely make you use the equipment you carry. 2. Who are the 60k race, 200k race, and workshops for? We offer a 60k event on Saturday for folks who want to get a feel for the event, see the area, and not have to carry all the gear for a overnight. I believe everyone needs a chance to learn so we don't ask for qualifiers for our 200k event , it is open to everyone. It's definitely for the winter expedition-curious adventurer. By design most people will need to use the gear they carry if they want to be successful. Both distances are also open to XC skiers and runners. I always knew I wanted to add runners and skiers, and had a lot of requests to include those disciplines, so I finally opened it up to them in 2020. We don’t have a lot of folks who line up for the long distance ski or run every year, but for those who do, I have tons of respect for their toughness. The Fat Pursuit Workshop is great for everyone! Anyone who wants to advance their own winter skills, learn, and pick up on some tips and tricks – I guarantee you will walk away with something no matter how experienced you are. It's also a great experience to see all the different gear and ways to do things from others. We’ve had everyone from first time snow riders to Iditarod Trail veterans do our workshop and we are proud to be able to accommodate all. Many have done the camp more than once. It's not just about the learning but also a great opportunity to practice, acclimate, and build confidence before the actual event. As far as value goes I can't think of a better way to get properly immersed in sport by doing the workshop and then the race. You will be getting 10 years of knowledge in less than a week's time! Plus it's fun! 3. What is Island Park, Idaho like and why should people add this area to their list of ultra experiences? West Yellowstone is the gateway into Yellowstone National Park and Island Park sits just before it. It is surrounded by public lands and with over 500 miles of groomed snowmobile trails, it is a fat biker’s playground. If you are traveling with a partner or have additional time yourself seeing YNP in the winter is a bucket list item. Harriman State Park also sits in Island Park, is non-motorized, and has dedicated trails to ski, fat bike, and snowshoe. 4. What are the biggest challenges riders will face in this unique race? What I see and have seen as the biggest challenge for racers is using their equipment while accepting the current trail conditions and weather. Many succeed in the Arrowhead by putting their heads down and not stopping until they finish. That’s not always the right mindset for the Fat Pursuit. You need to be open to being out there for a couple days if that’s what the weather and conditions dictate. That openness will set you up better for success! 5. Anything else you want to add? I started Fat Pursuit in 2014 because I wanted to showcase the great fat biking in Island Park and improve non-motorized access there. Plus, I always dreamed of establishing a premier endurance fat bike race in the lower forty-eight. I used to travel to Alaska every winter for the ITI and I knew the expense and time commitment. Many riders don’t have the luxury of making that trip north, so we wanted to offer something similarly epic but more attainable, financially and logistically. 2025 will be the twelfth year and I think we’ve really gained a reputation for offering an experience that’s challenging but rewarding, with a community that’s super special and a vibe that couldn’t be better. To learn more about the 60km or 200km events or the Fat Pursuit workshop, head to Fat Pursuit .

We recently shared 4 cyclists perspectives on why they switch to XC skiing in the winter rather than fat biking. Today we hear from Ben Senkerik who is another cyclist who, after a bad original experience with skiing, now finds the change to cross-country skiing refreshing during the winter along with the enhanced physical activity. Words by Ben Senkerik My journey to becoming a cross-country skier started in high school. I was an avid downhill skier, so once I began cycling in 2008, cross-country skiing was the logical next step. Around 2010, I first attempted to cross-country ski. I thought I would naturally excel as I had spent the better part of 10 years downhill skiing. Well, that preconceived notion was quickly changed. After falling six times before we even made it to the Zillmer trailhead, my coach, Joe Cieszynski, told me to hit the kiddy loop while he completed his workout. After this day, my ego was bruised enough that I hung up the cross-country skis for the next nine years. Returning to the Trails: Training for the Birkie Now in 2019, my good friend, Chad Sova, pitched an idea to ski the Birkie for his 35th birthday. I, being blissfully unaware of what is to come, took him up on this offer. That December, we started our training at the Iola Winter Sports Club. Chad, being the great athlete he is, quickly exceeded my abilities and left me behind. Again, with a bruised ego from being unable to ski down the front straightaway, I used that fuel to propel my Birkie training and first attempt. Starting from the seventh wave, I weaved through a throng of people to complete the race in under 3-hours. Now in my sixth season, and fourth year in the elite wave, this sport is slowly becoming my primary sport. Getting back to the normal format in 2025 excites me, but I do have to say that the 2024 looped course was amazing! Skiing in the elite wave, through a crowd of people three rows deep around the entire course, was the coolest experience. Having a "World Cup" in our backyard was truly something special. Thinking about this race still gives me chills to this day. Why Skiing Complements My Cycling Training The reason I feel in love with skiing is that it gives me a reason to get outside during the cold winter months. Skiing when it is 30 degrees in a short-sleeved shirt and light pants beats sitting on the trainer or bundling up to ride outside. You also don't have to deal with the road slop and salt ruining your equipment. Along with this, coach always says, "Great cyclists are made in winter". There is a reason why skiing has produced most of the highest VO2 max numbers ever recorded. After a season of skiing, I am stronger and faster than if I stuck to cycling. Skiing makes me a more dynamic athlete. I also feel refreshed coming into the spring as I have stepped off the bike. The changing of the sporting season is now something I need to keep things fresh and exciting. For anyone looking to start or continue with their skiing journey, this sport is one of the best sports I have tried but is as equally frustrating since it is so technically demanding. Effortlessly gliding on a two-and-a-half-inch board takes years of practice and constant refining. I still find myself struggling to find my flow after a summer away but the challenge is what makes this so gratifying. Now with snow on the horizon, I hope you all find a reason to hit the ski trails this winter.

Many Northwoods summer cyclists will be fat biking when the snow falls, but should you focus on cross country skiing instead? While different sports, there is plenty of overlap in the fitness it takes as well as being two great ways to enjoy the beautiful winter. Here we check in with Chris, Sally, Jens, & Jamie on why they focus on cross country skiing in the winter. As a year-round cycling publication, we certainly get excited about fat biking when winter comes. In some ways, fat biking is still a new sport. Let's just remember back to before 2005 when the Surly Pugsley was the first mass produced fat bike. Before that, winter cycling on soft snow was all but impossible. We love fat biking and look forward to it every year. But is there a case for forgoing the fat bike and switching to xc skiing in the winter? Many cyclists switch from biking to skiing in the winter and they do it for different reasons. Today we're chatting with Chris Stindt, Sally Meyer, Jens Brabbit, and Jamie Mannion who all bike in the summer but primarily switch to XC skiing in the winter. Here's why they switch to XC skiing and why you might consider doing the same: Chris Stindt I have shared my cycling journey, but one thing I haven't really talked about is how I made cycling my full identity, including spending winters alone in my basement on a bike trainer. It was legitimately bad for my mental health, and I dreaded winter. In La Crosse we have an amazing year-round outdoor community, and my endurance mentor Jamie gave me a pair of skis to try. I crashed, broke the boot and hung them up. I had no idea what I was missing out on. Eventually I decided to commit to trying, and bought a decent setup. It took some adjusting, but I truly fell in love with skiing. The amazing community here means I have folks to roller ski with in the fall, and ski with all winter. I get outside, get socialization, have fun, and come into the spring refreshed and ready to ride a bike again. The only thing I'd do differently is start sooner, and possibly buy a place in Cable. I finally understand those who ride all summer but identify as skiers first! Sally Meyer I’ve always been a bit of a fitness nut, but in 2016 I got my first set of nordic skate skis thinking, “how hard can it be?!” Well, if you’ve ever tried to learn skate skiing you know it’s actually a really difficult sport to get the hang of. I had young kids at the time and didn’t know a thing about trail conditions so my first couple of winters on the skis were rough and I was terrible! I signed up for my first Birkie event in 2018 and no-showed because I just didn’t have the confidence yet. After my third pregnancy and watching a couple friends ski their “virtual Korte” during covid I decided to put in the time to figure out this sport. Finally, in 2022 (yes, 6 years after my ski purchase!) I skied my first Birkie Tour & Prince Haakon. And in 2023 my first Sisu, Ski de She, Pre-Birkie & Kortelopet. To say I was hooked is an understatement! I’m always working on my technique, but I’ll ski out of wave 1 in my 2025 Kortelopet and I can’t wait. There are so many things to love about the sport and being outside in the winter is definitely at the top. Nordic skiing is a fun and challenging full body endurance activity that will have you coming out of winter in the best shape. An unexpected love for me with skiing has been exploring new-to-me nordic trail systems and the confidence it’s built to know that I can go anywhere and enjoy my favorite activity. The community of skiers is the absolute best and as soon as you fall in love with the sport you realize winter is way too short. Learning to ski has also made me realize how important it is to keep trying new things in life, especially during middle age, because we are not done learning & growing and you never know when you’ll find a new thing in life that lights you up. The steep learning curve to skate skiing makes it even more rewarding when you are finally gliding down the trails and tucking to take a downhill at top speed. If it feels hard, you’re doing it right. Just keep going! Jens Brabbit Living in the Midwest allows me to embrace all the seasons. Much of what brings me joy in cycling is the camaraderie and friendships while exploring together. Nordic skiing allows me to do the same. I have always felt the nordic ski community is and encouraging and friendly group. Jamie Mannion I grew up in Missouri but have always been fond of winter. Ice hockey was a favorite sport of mine as a young gster. After college I took up triathlons and bike racing. Winters were spent running, swimming, and on a trainer. We moved to Vermont and my loving wife gifted me with a pair of skate skis she had found at a garage sale. I was thrilled. I had heard that xc skiers were some of the most fit people on the planet and I longed to explore their world. My technique was poor, but that was part of the allure. To apply my base fitness to a sport that was new and challenging was a joy. I loved skiing through the woods in the early morning before most others were even awake. I became a part of a dedicated community of like minded Nordic ski folks and have never looked back. It is still my favorite sport 37 years later. I am still learning nuances and love sharing the sport with others. I hear people bemoan winter, but I am a member of that “secret society” that yearns for and embraces all that winter gifts us. I feel bad for those who will never know the pleasure of skiing at pace through a moonlit forest on a crisp winter morning. I am so fortunate to have found this life-sport and to have the good health to enjoy it!

USA Cycling just announced that the 2025 and 2026 Gravel National Championships are coming to La Crosse/La Crescent in the Driftless region. This region has a uniquely rich gravel history that looks forward to welcoming a national audience of gravel cyclists and fans over the next 2 years. Story by Chris Stindt Maybe you saw the announcement, but if not, USA Cycling Gravel National Championships are heading to the La Crosse area in 2025 and 2026 . One week after Chequamegon 40 , the final stop on the Life Time Grand Prix , riders from around the country will descend on La Crosse, and La Crescent, Minnesota. The Driftless, as we call this little corner of paradise, is really centered around these river towns. Bisected by the Mississippi River, the area is home to 500 foot bluffs, endless trout streams, and some pretty neat bike riding. Use your best mental voice for Bill Nye as you read the following: the Driftless region is in the southwest section of Wisconsin, the southeastern section of Minnesota and a bit of the corners of Iowa and Illinois. Over the past several ice ages the area remained untouched, unglaciated, and was not filled in, or ‘drifted’, as all of the areas surrounding it are. This has created an outdoor paradise, which is also a cycling paradise. Where's The Beef I had a bit of a gravel beef with gravel pro pioneer Ted King this year. When he went to the northwest US, he commented about the hills and how it wasn’t "flat like the midwest". He didn’t know we had a beef, but c’mon this is Wisconsin; we got more cows per capita than anywhere else in the world. Suffice to say, it’s anything but flat here. The Driftless is truly a gem, and in fact, arguably, the birthplace of the modern gravel movement. Driftless Gravel History In 2007 a guy by the name of Chris Skogen started a little free bike race, the Almanzo 100 , on gravel roads a couple hours west of these future gravel nats. It was free, and it blew up, ending up with nearly 1500 racers before Skogen pulled the plug. I recently spent a weekend volunteering with Skogen and it was a really cool experience getting to hear his insights on how things have changed and how they could be better yet. Anyway, Skogen ended the Almanzo 100, but his legacy lived on. He was recently inducted into the gravel hall of fame. During that time, Additionally, some guys racing Almanzo from the Minneapolis area felt like their cyclocross bikes weren’t really adequate and they created the OG gravel bike - the Salsa Warbird . Were there other gravel bikes? Maybe. You could even argue all road bikes are gravel bikes, but this was the first mass produced, gravel specific bike and it came out of an idea from the Driftless. Ope, Scuse Me The region has hosted a few other gravel races over the years. Perhaps the original was the ‘skullsplitter’ which was pretty grassroots and at one point was an uphill enduro, well ahead of its time. Former race director for the La Crosse Omnium TJ Brooks shattered his elbow in an early edition, and it drew riders from around the Midwest. More recent are two very midwestern gravel races, the Hot Dish and Old Fashioned Gravel . Gravel pro, and Lifetime Grand Prix athlete, Chase Wark just held his third annual Hot Dish gravel race. Chase calls the Driftless home, and bases a lot of his training on these roads. There is a sketchy minimum maintenance road halfway through the race, which Chase calls ‘Ope Hill’. He literally serves hot dish (aka casserole) after the race, and as neat as the idea is, I wasn’t able to consume any after this year's event ended in near 90 degree and humid temps. Paul Reardon, of Blue Steel Bikes , is a world renowned mechanic. Paulie just started the ‘Old Fashioned Gravel’ race, named after one of the Midwest’s favorite beverages. (Side note, the other is probably BEER, and La Crosse is home to the world’s largest 6-pack of beer, and no this isn’t a joke, and yes, you should get a picture when you come.) Paulie is a mechanic for EF Education-ONTO, as well as USA Cycling, he also builds custom bikes, oh and just for fun he’s putting on a gravel race. It will have vibes, and you can still register for the early October event. It would be a shame not to mention the other local Driftless gravel races as well. Dairy Roubaix is currently run near Viroqua, WI, by Pete Taylor and the great folks at Blue Dog Cycles. And of course you have Trenton Raygor, who is a future entrant into the gravel hall of fame. He ran the Filthy 50 for 10 years before taking a pause this year, and it’s perhaps the most quintessential Driftless gravel race. He also is part of the crew that operates The Day Across Minnesota , 240 miles across the entire state, ending in the Wisconsin Driftless. What to Expect When You're Expecting a National Championship Ok, so enough of the history; what about the future? What can you expect when you come here to ride or race? I’m going to say bring your climbing legs and fast gravel tires. I’ve been riding and racing on gravel here for about 10 years and I’ve pretty much seen it all. Road surface: usually very fast. Occasionally fresh gravel but mostly smooth with some kitty litter over hardpack. Some folks will always be comfortable on bigger tires, but those who will be taking home national championships will be on fast rolling stock. I currently ride an allroad bike with clearance for 35c gravel tires and I’ve made it work. At the recent Hot Dish the conditions were right, and I actually won the 100k - but I sent it down Ope Hill because at heart I’m a mountain biker, so make sure you match your equipment with your ability. Twists and Turns Speaking of sending it… This is not Unbound. You won’t find many (any?) long straight flat roads on the gravel here. In fact, if the map has a straight line, it’s almost certainly 100 foot gravel rollers. Otherwise expect a lot of squiggly lines. The Bluffs Expect very hard hills (bring a low, low climbing gear) and very fast descents. I had a buddy lose traction on a decreasing radius turn halfway down a descent and he ended up crashing off the road at almost 40 miles an hour. Two ambulance rides and a week in the hospital with a collapsed lung later, he went home. And at the Hot Dish I’ve hit 50 miles an hour on one of the gravel descents…which I don’t recommend. Once the race courses are finalized I’ll do a detailed course analysis. For now, if you’re curious about places to stay and eat, check out my gravel biking guide for La Crosse ! I And if you want to come out for a warm up, I can highly recommend the La Crosse Omnium as a 3-day road race the first weekend in May. The gravel pros coming in 2025 won’t be the first pro racers here. A youthful Matteo Jorgenson (yeah the guy from the Tour), won the Omnium as a junior. And look where he is now… See You in the Driftless Region? In the early days of internet memes there was a nerdy nature lover who enjoyed neature. He thought it was pretty neat and wanted you to think so too. That’s how I feel about riding gravel in the Driftless region. I hope the midwestern puns didn’t put you off too much, because you’d really be missing out. The region is going to break through to the national scene; this isn’t a place you come to once a year because of the event. It’s a place you ride and it gets in your gravel soul, and you come to pre-ride, and then to race, and then just for vacation or fun or optional suffering, and maybe you even think about buying an affordable house in a great place. Let’s start with a visit first though, eh? See ya real soon! Chris Stindt has called La Crosse and the Driftless region home for almost 15 years. He fell in love with riding a bike here, and the cycling community is like family. Chris is the parent of two young riders, the Team Director for the NICA team (one of the largest in Wisconsin), race director for the La Crosse Omnium and ORA Trails Fest WORS race. He rides all the bikes, is a Jakroo All Star and is a regular contributor to the Nxrth. He also works part time for Wisconsin Bike Fed and full time for the University of Wisconsin - La Crosse. Reach out with any media or gravel inquiries, he’s excited to host everyone and share his love for the Driftless.

Jenna Rinehart and Chase Wark, both from Minnesota, just completed their 2024 Life Time Grand Prix racing season. The season was full of big highs, disappointing crashes, and lessons learned for the future. Here we check in with them on how they felt about the 2024 season and what's next for 2025. Follow Chase Wark and Jenna Rinehart on Instagram. Photos by Taylor Chase . 2024 was Jenna Rinehart's second season in the Life Time Grand Prix . In 2023, she finished 6th overall and just wrapped up the 2024 season finishing 13th overall. Chase Wark got a last minute entry to the Life Time Grand Prix this year. He finished the 2024 season in 24th overall. Interview with Jenna Rinehart & Chase Wark: How Did You Feel About the 2024 Life Time Grand Prix? Jenna Rinehart Overall I'm satisfied with my 2024 season in the Life Time Grand Prix (LTGP). This year had some big highs and big lows compared to 2023. I started out the season on a high with a strong ride at Sea Otter finishing 6th overall. Unbound went pretty well with no mechanicals and riding with the lead pack for the first 130 miles. After not finishing it last year I was happy to have survived the 200 miles. I then battled with some fatigue in July and August which was really hard. Leadville was just brutal but I finished it. This took quite a bit out of me though. I took 8 days off the bike after Leadville in hopes of being able to recover a bit for the end of the season. I was really hoping for a good day at Chequamegon at my home LTGP race but unfortunately got caught up in a crash and was left chasing for over half the race. I started to feel a bit more like myself for the last LTGP race of the season, Big Sugar. This course suits me pretty well and I was able to ride to a 10th overall and 8th LTGP. I was happy to finish the season with a solid ride. My favorite part of the series was being able to ride with the strongest women's field yet and having our own separate starts this season! Chase Wark The Lifetime Grand Prix originally wasn’t a part of my 2024 season plans until I got a last minute spot in the series this spring. Before getting into the series I was having a great early season where I won Rock Cobbler, got 13th at BWR AZ, and I got 2nd at Valley of Tears where I finished right behind Keegan Swenson. After those results is when I got my last minute entry into the series. Just getting to compete in the biggest off road series in the US was a highlight of my 2024 season. My favorite race from the series had to have been Unbound. Riding 100 miles off the front at the largest gravel race in the world was pretty heckin cool. I think I gained a few fans after that risky move. On top of being off the front, my bike setup got featured on GCN and Ben Delaney’s Youtube channel, The Ride. My biggest highlight from this past season was having several younger riders throughout the year come up to me and tell me that I’ve inspired them to try to become a professional cyclist and that they look up to me. As someone who isn’t winning or getting any spectacular results, that meant a lot to me. Being someone who inspires young riders to pursue their dream has been a dream of my own for a long time. My results at Unbound and all of the other races in the series are nothing to write home about. I feel like before each race I always made a mistake on how to prepare or had some unfortunate luck with sickness. If I get back into the series I’ll take a different approach into the races and hopefully get one or two break out results. I’ll also try to avoid crashing at Chequamegon, which wasn’t my lowest point of the season. I had to pull out of Chequamegon because I hit my head really hard. The concussion meant I had minimal training going into The Rad and had my worst performance of the year there. The positive part about having to take some time off the bike was that I went into my last few weeks of training with a lot of motivation. I put in a big 2 week block where I rode around 65 hours leading into Big Sugar. At Big Sugar I was pretty timid in the chaotic start which had me off the back pretty early on. I ended up riding with Lachlan Morton most of the day then and we picked riders off every few miles. I was happy with my performance on that day which has me excited and motivated going into next year where I hope I can build upon my 2024 season. What's Next for Your in 2025? Jenna Rinehart I haven't quite nailed down my plans for 2025 yet. I'd like to do the LTGP again but it is getting so competitive with only 22 women and 22 men being selected for next season. We won't find out who is accepted into the series for next year until November 7th. I learned some big lessons this last season and found my limit so I will try to not make the same mistakes. There are so many good events out there I'd love to do but it's hard to do them all. Other than the Grand Prix, races I have on my radar include Midsouth, USAC Gravel Nationals in Minnesota, Gravel Worlds in Lincoln, and possibly the UCI Gravel World Championships again. I also hope to go on plenty of bike adventures along the way and do some big days on the bike. I didn't get to ride my mtb as much as I'd like this last season so I'm hoping to spend some more time on it and ride some fun trails in 2025. Chase Wark I’ve applied for the LTGP for next year! I’m crossing my fingers I get in, but if I don’t I’ll go for one of their new wild card slots which means I’ll have to have a good Sea Otter Gravel Race and a good Unbound. If I don’t get into the Grand Prix after that, that’s okay since I still have a lot of fun races planned. I’ll be directing Granny’s Gravel Grinder, The Day Across MN, and a couple other races next year which will be a huge task in itself! Gravel Worlds just announced a $100,000 prize purse so that will be a big race to focus on. Then there’s USA Cycling Gravel Nationals which will be only 25 minutes from my house! That’s the most important race for me next season I think. Not many people have a chance to win a national championship on the roads they train on, so I need to make the best out of that opportunity in 2025 and 2026. Another big project of mine that I’ll be starting this fall/winter is creating a YouTube channel. I want to be able to create race recap videos, show what training and life looks like as a pro, and be able to express myself more than I can over other social media networks like Instagram and Facebook. I already have a rough schedule of what my race season will look like: Feb. 8th - Rock Cobbler March 1st - BWR Arizona March 8th - Valley of Tears March 15th - Midsouth April 5th - Ragnorak April 11th - Sea Otter Gravel May 3rd - Host Granny’s Gravel Grinder May 31st - Unbound Maybe Lutsen July 12th - Lyon’s Heart Gravel July 19th - Nepomuk Narly August 2nd - Host The Day Across Minnesota August 9th - Leadville (If I’m in the LTGP) August 23rd - Gravel Worlds Sept. 13th - Chequamegon Sept. 19th (?) Gravel Nationals Old Fashioned Gravel Oct.12th - Little Sugar (if I’m in the LTGP) Oct. 18th - Big Sugar I’ll be putting a big focus on those early March races as that can set the tone for the rest of the season. I’m hoping I can add a few more local races next season since I really missed connecting with the local MN gravel community this year. A few ideas that have crossed my mind if I don’t get into the LTGP are to focus on the UCI World Championships and try to collect as many UCI points as I can so I can get a good callup. Another idea that I have chatted about with Silca is doing something dumb like setting the unofficial world record for the furthest distance traveled in a roundabout in 24 hours. Also, maybe a gravel Everest in the Driftless? I also want to make the Driftless Adventure Club a little bit more of an official club that anyone can join. I want to host a monthly ride down in the Driftless for that. Until then, I’ll enjoy catching up with my friends and family over the next few weeks before hitting the training hard for those early 2025 seasons! See ya around! Here are some ways that folks can help support me next season: Come out to Granny’s Gravel Grinder on May 3rd Order some cool cycling kits from my Driftless Adventure Club clothing store. I think the blaze orange vest is a good idea to get with deer hunting and winter coming up! Use code “waxingwithwark” on Silca.cc for 15% off for all those marginal gains. Use code “chase” on www.piedmontese.com to save 25% off all of their grass fed, grass finished beef products while cooking with the family this winter!

MEMBER EXCLUSIVE Last year, the Filthy celebrated 10 years of gravel. The sellout event has been drawing a wide crowd of cyclists from far and wide to this autumn classic event around the beautiful Root River valley in Minnesota's Driftless region. Event organizer Trenton Raygor was also the organizer the The DAMn (Day Aross Minnesota) until the final DAMn was announced a few years ago. This year, Trenton Raygor brought back The Damn on August 10th and announced there would be no Filthy 50 this year while brining back The DAMn.

As we approach the final month of 2024 gravel race season, we're reflecting on where the gravel racing scene is at in 2024. Some favorite races didn't take place and some new ones popped up and several other themes have been growing in the community. Check out reflections on the state of up-north gravel racing here.  MEMBER EXCLUSIVE Words by Josh from The Nxrth My first gravel race ever was Heck of the North. I had just started The Nxrth and was a regular bikepacker and sought out gravel rides but never participated in an event. I remember the energy and ruggedness of my first Heck as I took at least 25 miles just to figure out what pace group to ride with.