Family bikepacking with Clem & Lubin in The Analog Kids – Just as I have become enamored with the simple escape of the sub 24 hour overnighter, and the fun of packing the whole family up on bikes to head out in the woods for the night, so has our friend Clement Shovel, and adventurous rider working with Bombtrack bikes. Clem & his seven-year-old son Lubin packed up their respective adventure bikes and headed out into the forest. And Bombtrack made a fun video taking us all along on the trip.
The heart of the trip is a couple of capable bikes: Clem on his customized steel single speed Beyond+ and Lubin on the 24″ alloy Beyond Junior.
Story below by another friend, Franzi Wernsing of Tales On Tyres:
The soothing sounds of rustling leaves and a trickling stream of water soon replace the hectic noises of the big city of Lille. 7-year-old Lubin and his father Clem Shovel have set out on a small bikepacking adventure with a plan to explore the woods around their home and to spend the night under the open starry sky.
Lubin’s father, Clement is used to spending his time outdoors. From an early age, Clement would disappear every now and then for a couple of days into the thickets around his home in order to escape the frenzied pace of city life. His passion never stopped and today he devotes a fair amount of his time to it, taking part in long-distance bikepacking races around Europe every year. However, for his son Lubin, spending a couple of days traveling by bike, sleeping in the wild, was something he had never done before.
Growing up in an age of cable TV, social media and video-games, he thought these kind of adventures were something for fearless heroes and maybe his father but nothing for a kid like him. But Clement was eager to prove him otherwise and to show him that an adventure can be something for everyone, big or small. Nevertheless, it was important to Clement to not take Lubin on a pre-planned bike ride but instead to give him the chance to let him make his own decisions, discoveries and experiences. So in the days leading up to the weekend, Clement and Lubin spent their time after work and school, planning their trip together, listening attentively to each other’s concerns, wishes, fears and expectations.
And finally, for two days they travelled by bike across familiar and new territory: crossing wild rivers, navigating through thick woods and climbing seemingly endless hills, finishing their days roasting home-made stick bread over their own bonfire.
And when they returned home it was as if something had changed. Even though they had set out as father and son, returned as such, in-between they had become two trusting companions in the wild. And there was something else, Lubin didn’t rush back into the house to pick up his video-games right away. With the smoke of last night’s campfire still sticking to his clothes and hair, mud covering his shoes and shins, he paused standing there dirty and tired, realizing that the really big adventures aren’t something you can only follow on a screen but are rather best experienced oneself.
Where to ride
- Join Brother in the Wild for weekends of gravel adventure across Europe – Brother Cycles, who just dropped a new all-road bike this week, is maybe even more at home off the beaten track. Join them for one of their 2-day bikepacking, gravel grinding, beer swilling festivals – dubbed Brother in the Wild. They return to the UK on the Isle of Purbeck for their 10th anniversary May 15-17. Then, there will be three slightly lower key events on the continent over the summer: Jun19-21 in Munich, Aug 7-9 in Berlin, and Sep 4-6 in Bordeaux.
Gear Tease, Industry News & Deals
- Ventum teases gravel bike with former pro Christian Vande Velde – Road bike maker Ventum just announced a partnership with ex road pro Christian Vande Velde to develop new bikes. But while adding Vande Velde to the brand isn’t all that interesting, hidden in the announcement was word that Ventum will launch “its new GS1 gravel bike early this summer”, the first of “several” new models coming in 2020. “The GS1 will have the same inspired performance design as our other bikes, but made to go fast when the pavement ends”, according to Ventum CEO Diaa Nour. VentumRacing.com
- Mondraker celebrates 20 years of DH wins – On the occasion of their 20th anniversary, Mountain bike maker Mondraker put together this video looking back on twenty years of “passion, hard work and innovation at the leading edge of the MTB scene”. The ‘20 Years of Winning’ short packs in two decades of the Spanish brand’s race-winning downhill bikes – evolving from generation to generation in one run as they take on the iconic Val di Sole World Cup DH track. Mondraker.com
- Get $50 Off Fox Tailgate Pad to get ready for shuttle season – Winter’s grip will soon release and it will be time to load the enduro bikes back up and hit the trail. Protect the back of your pick-up and your bikes. Fox’s Factory Tailgate Pad is on sale for 1/3 off retail, now through Mar 13 direct from rideFox.com.
- Save on a Wahoo Elemnt Bolt – Wahoo has chopped $20 off their compact Elemnt Bolt cycling computer. The base computer now comes in at $230 on its own as the
“first fully aerodynamic GPS bike computer”. Or you save the same twenty buck down now to $330 for the Bolt Bundle with a Tickr heart rate strap, speed & cadence sensors. WahooFitness.com
- Save 30% on Kinetic trainers & accessories – With a new race season looming (and maybe more thoughts of staying inside to avoid Covid-19), now could be a good time to amp up your indoor training. Kinetic has a end-of-winter deal running now that cuts 30% off all of their trainers, trainer accessories & Kinetic TRAXLE thru-axle adapters. Plus there is free shipping. US & Canadian customers go here. And EU & UK customers can go here to get the deals.
