- Ride the Votec Gravel Fondo this October – This past spring, the german bike maker Votec added a new gravel bike to their lineup. And now together with some of their partners from SRAM, Strava, and online bike retailer Brügelmann, they’ve put together a new gravel adventure event. Set for Oct 15-16 in the Black Forest of Germany, the Votec Gravel Fondo 2016 will take in a wide range of surfaces, from tarmac, to gravel, to singletrack sections as riders explore the region. The two day event will mix some classic camaraderie on the bike, with picturesque views and some full-on competition on some well-curated Strava Segments. GravelFondo.de
Where to Ride
- Québec Singletrack Expérience: North America’s new east coast mountain bike stage race – Groupe Pentathlon just announced the launch of a new recurring international mountain bike stage event called the Québec Singletrack Expérience (QSE). The QSE, unsurprisingly based out of downtown Quebec City, will run from Jul 29 – Aug 5, 2017 through seven excellent trail destinations in the region. It will take in Mont Sainte-Anne, Vallée Bras-du-Nord, Shannahan and St-Raymond sectors, Sentiers du Moulin, Lac-Beauport, Valcartier Military Base, and Lac Delage. An impressive list, the new event should offer some unique riding in a whole new North American environment for a lot of riders. Mark your calendars! QuebecSingletrack.com
- Tours, Trails and Tracks of Saalfelden Leogang’s bike mecca – The Austria Alps have plenty of two wheels adventure in store, with updates all the time. This week we were reminded of the newest addition to Bikepark Leogang, a 3.5km/2.17mi flow trail called “Hot Shots”. Plus there’s the Big-5-Bike Challenge for die-hard freeriders, with 5000m/16404ft of trail over five gondolas and five mountains linked together in the Leogang and Saalbach region. Altogether, there’s 720km/447mi of mountain bike trails and 480km/298mi of designated cycling tracks in the valley to sit pretty much anyone. Saalfelden-Leogang.com
Gear & Goodies
- Yum, Bonk Breaker debuts Mint Chocolate Chip energy bar – Bonk Breaker had been teasing a new extravagant flavor for a while now, and just let us know that it will be Mint Chocolate Chip. The fresh-made, real energy food company works hard to try to make energy bars not taste like, well… cardboard. And they claim that this new combo is their new best, and makes you wonder how it is really made from wholesome, nutritious, real food ingredients. The new Mint Chocolate Chip bar is verified non-GMO, certified gluten free, and dairy free. All at exactly 200 calories of energy-refueling goodness. BonkBreaker.com
- Lower prices coming from Vittoria tires – We just got some information in from Vittoria that they have reworked their entire tire pricing scheme for 2017. Apparently in an effort to make for more consistent pricing globally they have reduced a lot of tire prices for the coming year. With some of the fastest rolling road race tires, and some solid trail offerings, both incorporating some cutting edge Graphene tech, it will be interesting to see what the lower prices will come to when they make it out through distribution by the end of this year. Vittoria.com
