Osprey is proud to announce that we will be attending the action-packed Dominion Riverrock Festival in Richmond, Virginia during the upcoming weekend of May 17-19. We’re super excited to be a part of the only festival of its kind, one that combines the best of both the outdoor adventure and the music worlds. Throughout the Fest, there will be endless competitions in biking, hiking, running and climbing, as well as performances by top notch artists such as Toots and the Maytals and many more!

Not only will there be on-going comps, music and fun, we’ll be there hosting our own events. One such activity will be the infamous Osprey Packs bola ball toss, which you can play to win a pack! All proceeds will be donated to the Blue Sky Fund, which makes your chance to win a pack that much better. We’ll also be selling packs in alliance with Blue Ridge Mountains Sports at a killer 20 percent off, and our very own Osprey Athlete Ben Clark will be guiding hikes with Virginia Trail Blazers and signing free posters throughout the weekend.

If you’re in the area and looking for a mind-blowing good time with loads of things to do, stop by our booth to check out the packs, get a poster or try your chance at bola ball for a good cause! Connect with the Fest on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter and share the #riverrockrva love!

Bike, Events, Music Festivals, Osprey Athletes, Osprey Culture, Outdoor Activities, Retail Promotions, contest, travel ben clark, biking, Climbing, Dominion Riverrock, festival, hiking, music, Osprey Packs, outdoors, running, Virginia

‘Tis the season to celebrate two wheels! May is National Bike Month, and there was no better way to kick it off than with the The Bike New York event this past weekend, supported by sponsor and dear friends of ours, Eastern Mountain Sports and the NYC Department of Transportation.

New York commuters and individuals from around the world came to Pier 36 to check out the latest trends and to prep themselves with gear for their ride in the 35th Annual Five Boro Bike Tour in which the cyclists overrun the streets of New York and visit the cities that make up the surrounding areas of the Big Apple. Over 30,000 riders participated in the Sunday ride!

Take a minute to check out some photos and highlights from the trip above.

**We would like to highlight the third picture on the right, this here is Randy. Randy had never heard of Osprey and as a native of New York. Randy spends all her time commuting on her bike, getting from point A to point B throughout the city. Randy had a pack with little support for her back and the necessary things she carried on her commute. Randy told our sales rep, George (in photo) “if you can fit all the things I carry, including the old pack, in this Momentum 34, I will buy it on the spot.” Well, truth be told, George did so, and Randy was welcomed to the Osprey family with open arms!

Bike, Osprey Culture, Packing in the Streets, Retail Promotions, Uncategorized Bike, bikemonth, BikeNY, citylife, commuting, family, Ospreyfans, Randy, stories

If you are in the Big Apple May 3rd and 4th, don’t miss the chance to attend the Bike Expo New York as there will be more than 60 vendors attending, one of them being yours truly, Osprey Packs! This event is great for road bike aficionados, and we’ll be showcasing and selling our recently redesigned line of hydration packs.

Over 50,000 spectators are expected to attend and admission is free and open to the general public. Hours of the show will be from Friday, May 3rd from 10 a.m. -8 p.m. as well as on Saturday, May 19th 9 a.m.-7 p.m., so come after work and check out the product tonight or head over first thing tomorrow. The event takes place at the Pier 36, 299 South Street, Basketball City, New York, NY.

Want to know a little bit more about what to expect? Here’s the rundown from last year’s awesome Expo:

In keeping with its mission to provide free bicycle education in New York City, Bike New York held several of its signature Learn to Ride classes throughout the event. Garnering more than 43,000 attendees, Bike Expo New York 2012 presented by Eastern Mountain Sports was the most attended inaugural consumer bike expo in the country.  BE NY carried an unmistakable New York flair with street signs, carpeted bike lanes and even a massive Verrazano Bridge suspended from the ceiling.

We hope to see you this year!

Bike, Events, Outdoor Activities, Product, Retail Promotions, Uncategorized Big Apple, Osprey, Osprey Hydration, Osprey Hydraulics, Osprey Packs, road biking, Roadies

The Sea Otter Classic proved to be bigger than ever this year as the 22-year-old event brought together racers, fans and bike companies from around the globe to start the spring season with four days of festivities, races and all things bike. The attendance was staggering this year; it’s grown exponentially since 1991, when only about half a thousand gathered around the course, to nearly 65,000 people attending, all in the name of love for our two-wheeled friend, the bicycle.

This year, there were a variety of races from road races to downhill mountain biking. Sea Otter serves as the first race to kick off the season as top pros in North America and from around the world flock to Sea Otter. However, all of the events are also open to amateurs so if you want to race your bike, you have the chance!

One of the greatest things about Sea Otter is that it is open to the general public, which allows everyone to check out and demo different bike product for the upcoming season from a wide range of vendors. Osprey teamed up with Cambria Bike shop for a four-day sale of Osprey Hydration packs and demos.
Osprey mascot Talon also made an appearance at the event as he cheered on our Osprey athlete Macky Franklin and even had a photo shoot with the Sea Otter himself!

Start planning your trip here for next year as everyone is welcome!

Photo via Alex Strickland

Bike, Brand Team posts, Events, Osprey Athletes, Outdoor Activities, Product, Uncategorized Bike, biking, Laguna Seca, mountain biking, Osprey Athletes, Osprey Hydraulics, Osprey Mascot, road biking, Sea Otter Classic, Sea Otter Classic 2013

With the onset of spring comes the Sea Otter Classic — known as North America’s cycling season opener — and we couldn’t be more excited. Here’s a bit more about the event, from the Sea Otter site itself:

Known as a sprawling and energetic “celebration of cycling”, Sea Otter is cycling’s North American season opener. Professional and amateur athletes alike make the annual pilgrimage to Sea Otter to participate in some of the sport’s most competitive and enduring events. Hundreds of pro cyclists, including national, world, and Olympic champions attend Sea Otter to race and meet with fans.

You can download the entire Sea Otter Classic event guide here, but the event will take place in Monterey, California from April 18th through the 21st, and is sure to be four action-packed days of bike demos, stunt shows and more. What’s more, we’ll be in Booth #100 (sharing the love with Cambria Bike Outfitters) with the complete new 2013 hydration and commute cycling lines available and on display. We’ll also be demoing packs for you try out, along with free pack fitting and sizing. Pro mountain biker Macky Franklin will also be at the booth, signing free posters between 3 and 5 p.m. on Saturday — and we’ll have ongoing fix-a-flat competitions with prizes for fastest times, as well as other fun games TBD!

We’ll see you in Monterey!

Bike, Events, Osprey Culture Bike, cycle, Monterey, ride, Sea Otter Classic

March 1st is upon us, and that can only mean one thing: the Moab Thaw is here for another weekend of events, riding, food and, of course, schwag. The Moab Thaw takes place annually at Poison Spider Bicycles in Moab, Utah and can be summed up as a giant, weekend-long mountain bike demo that takes place on the Moab single track trails. Naturally, there will be a slew of Yetis, Konas, Niner and other mountain bikes to demo with an after-hours continuation event at the Blu Pig BBQ and Blues Joint on Saturday night. The formal schedule of festivities goes as follows:

FRIDAY

Noon: Women’s skills clinic and group rides open to all skill levels, shuttle included meet at PSB- led by Moab Mountain Bike Instruction.

5 pm  to 8:30 pm : Meet and greet party at Love Muffin Café catered

SATURDAY

10 am to 4  pm: Demos, shuttles, games and fun! At the Moab brand trails

11 am: Legends Ride- Ride with multiple legends of the cycling industry. Led by World Champion Greg Herbold.

1-3pm: Lunch from Pasta Jays

8 pm: Party, raffle, Hors d’oeuvres at the Blue Pig ——Frame Giveaway!

SUNDAY

10 am to 4 pm:Donuts and Coffee from Rim Tours, Demos, shuttles, games and fun!  At the Moab brand trails

We’ll be there providing free pack demos focused on the Spring 2013 hydration line, but we’ll also have a full display of what’s new for Spring 2013 so you can peruse to your heart’s desire. If you’re looking to get a new pack, we’ll also be  providing professional pack sizings and fittings and as always, there will be daily giveaways that you won’t want to miss.

You can register for the Moab Thaw here today, March 1st, through Sunday, March 3rd. Tickets cost $39.95 and include an event pass for all three days of activities, a T-shirt, a pasta lunch and lots of schwag. We’ll see you there to Thaw out!

Bike, Events, Osprey Culture Bike, Moab, Moab Thaw, Mountain Bike, ride, singetrack, Thaw, Utah

Mountain2Mountain's Shannon Galpin and Georgian photographer, Mikhail Galustov ride through the streets of Kabul, Afghanistan. Photo: Warren Buttery

Dare to believe in our common humanity.

Six years ago, Shannon Galpin walked away from her career as an athletic trainer and used her own limited funds to launch Mountain2Mountain and “be the change” she wished to see in the world. Today, Shannon and the M2M team, are just returning from their latest trip to Afghanistan where they launched the Streets of Afghanistan project and rode bicycles through Kabul to raise awareness of cultural barriers and empower women and girls in conflict regions.

We believe in the power of voice as a catalyst for social action.

Here at Osprey, we are proud to support Shannon and M2M’s work, both in the US and in Afghanistan. This year in particular, we’re incredibly proud of Shannon, who is one of the National Geographic Adventure’s Adventurer of the Year nominees—and you can vote for her throughout all of November and into January! To celebrate and stoke the fire of Shannon’s work, we’re highlighting this incredible organization for the entire month of November. Please join us and spread the word about M2M.

Here’s what you can do:

1. Use your voice. Share a photo or video from M2M with your online network on Facebook. Make sure to tag M2M and Osprey Packs in your post.
2. Tell a story. Post a photo of your own on the Osprey Packs Facebook wall. Your photo can be of someone that inspires you, or an image that you believe exemplifies our common humanity. Just make sure to write a short caption that tells us about your image.

At the end of the month, we will be choosing three people at random to highlight right here on our blog and Facebook page and we will also award each winner with an Osprey Raptor Hydration Pack!

It didn’t take long before Shannon gathered a crowd of other bikers and formed a bike gang. Photo: Warren Buttery

Please share your stories between November 7 and 29. We will choose three winners on Friday, November 30. You can share and submit  from anywhere in the world, but we will only ship prizes to addresses within the United States and Canada.

Bike, Osprey Culture, causes, contest, travel afghanistan, bicycling, conflict regions, contest, giveaway, human rights, international affairs, mountain2mountain, shannon galpin, women's rights

Andrew McLean packed the Bear Tooth Theater for the annual Friends of the Chugach Avalanche Center fundraiser. This is the biggest event for the Friends, who provide weather stations, salary and gear for Southcentral Alaska avalanche forecasts. To over 400 fired up Alaskan skiers, Andrew told stories from ski adventures in the Wrangell St. Elias Mountains in Alaska. These are the most vast mountains in the U.S., and Andrew’s current ski obsession. Between slide shows-he gave another show for the Hatcher Pass Avalanche Center–we played in the hills above Anchorage.

During 45-minutes of  laughter, Andrew told of one expedition where “The Sex Troll” drug his kite, ready for any puff of wind, across the Bagley Icefield.

At a Chugach trailhead with the fat tire bikes loaded onto the Rice Rocket. Or is the Honda Rice Rocket loaded onto the fat tire bikes? Andrew had never ridden a fat bike, so I gave him the Alaska experience.

Some hazards on the ride into the Chugach. We counted 16 moose along 4 miles of trail.

We biked around Gray Lake below Ptarmigan Peak.

Along the way we noticed this iceflow up in the rocks on Ptarmigan Peak.

We came back the next day and climbed this beautiful route. It was 300 feet of rolling water ice 4.

Following Andrew’s lead up the steepest section. Thanks for coming up Andrew and supporting the Friends. And thanks for the mountain time!

Bike, Osprey Athletes, Uncategorized, adventure Alaska, Bike, Climbing, Joe Stock

I got motivated after watching the Tour de France, especially after Vancouver Island native, Ryder Hesjdal, won the Giro d’Italia, becoming the the first Canadian to do so. I decided to get on my road bike and do my own tour, which is about as close as I’ll ever get to starting a grand tour, riding from Horsehoe Bay to Naniamo with four ferry crossings.

I started at my friend’s place in Robert creek, getting a very early start to avoid all traffic. I put the hammer down on the steep rolling terrain of the sunshine coast and rode toward the ferry. I enjoyed the calm of no cars and the amazing views of the coast mountains and ocean views.

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Bike, Osprey Athletes, Outdoor Activities, adventure, travel road cycling, Vancouver island

As a professional skier I should be the kind of person who wants endless winter, yet I’m the person who can never get enough summer. Last night the temperatures dipped and we felt the first breaths of winter. Our gardens were safe, but I felt for sure that it might have frozen in Crested Butte, 3,000 feet above our farm in Paonia, Colorado. Between putting up food for the winter and work, I can only hope for several good months of riding here in the lowlands, dropping me fit as a fiddle into an epic powder skiing season.

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Bike, Osprey Athletes, Osprey Culture, Outdoor Activities, Southwest Colorado Colorado, mountain biking, MTB, Paonia, singletrack, ski