Read, listen, or both. I sat down with Castelli to talk about getting the most from their line of cold weather clothing, which dipped into general principles, and numerous tips and tricks riders can use to steepen the learning curve and create great winter cycling experiences. The blog post elaborates on numerous threads within the podcast, and functions as a complementary resource.

The second explosion sounds louder than the first, probably because I’m conscious from the go this time. What time? 05:00. What is going on here? I feel fairly certain that was some sort of cannon, and wow, did it ever pack a concussive punch. It didn’t go off in Mals, I’m pretty sure; somewhere else in the valley. An avalanche cannon? If so, why, it’s August. There’s no snow around here.

What to pack for 4 weeks riding in Spain and France? I have a plan, let’s see how it goes!

Vermont's 6 Gaps ride is iconic, mythic, a rite of passage. But we'd done it, and were left wondering, what if? What if there was a 6 Gaps route on dirt? What was possible?

One bike, three exploratory phases of endurance cycling progression, and numerous insights around why riding my bike long and far in 2020 wound up helping me maintain my mental health and well-being in a way that distinguishes cycling from any other endurance sport.

One weekend, two dirt races. BORCA’s Spring Chicken Enduro MTB race, and OBC’s Almonte Paris-Roubaix are the perfect pairing for weekend of racing bikes on dirt.

Riding bikes doesn’t have to be just about riding bikes. These machines are catalytic; they open and expand possibility like no other technology can. Sometimes the adventures they underpin unfold as planned, but if we’re honest, these aren’t really adventures, are they? Our day spent riding, scrambling, and hiking from Bordighera to Limone Piemonte, Italy, was a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

Can an aluminum fat bike actually feel good enough to want to ride it a lot? What would it take to make it rule?

How often do products actually live up to their name? Meet Castelli’s Unlimited Puffy jacket.

It’s Monday morning, and I’m a wee bit hobbled. Yesterday was HARD; I’m wondering whether it was my hardest ride of 2021. I’ll go with yes, and feel tempted to say it was ‘epic,’ because I wasn’t sure I was going to make it home without calling a life-line until I was 10km from home.

The Polare 3 departs significantly from its predecessor. Tasked with covering the coldest temperature range Castelli designs and builds for, the 3 prioritizes dry-cold more than the NanoFlex, which is biased toward wet conditions.

For those with ample supplies of motivation and zeal, but insufficient kit for spring riding, this is a short guide to a selection of key pieces from Castelli. Quality cycling kit is expensive, so I hope this helps inform decisions that lead to many hours of happy riding, not regrets.

Two-hundred kilometer rides every month through winter; doable? All I actually needed was an objective, something to look forward to through the dreary days of November, as daylight hours diminished rapidly, and the stark reality settled in: winter was coming. And not just any winter; COVID-winter.

The early phase of the pandemic threw me for a loop; not right away, it took time to settle in. Work on the computer, Zoom meeting after Zoom meeting; I struggled. I read a lot of fiction in an unconscious effort to escape a reality I had little control over. When do we ever have ‘control’? Never. But we think we do. I had to ride my bike in a way I’d never needed to before.

The devil is in the details, right‽ A garbage bag is wind and waterproof. A wool sweater underneath is warm. Poke some holes in strategic locations and the whole shebang is ‘breathable.’ There are metrics used to define each of these parameters, but that’s a rabbit hole I don’t want to go down. There is too much going on with the Alpha RoS 2’s design, materials, and construction to reduce its discussion to metrics that might be worth focusing on in the case of a shell. Instead, I discuss the elements that comprise a system that is very effective in the use-range its intended to perform within.

Updated for 2020-21