‘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!

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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

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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!

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Today marks the kick-off of the Red Rock Rendezvous, and its 10 year anniversary, at Red Rocks Conservation Area in Spring Mountain Ranch State Park. The event is a veritable extravaganza of outdoor adventure, which includes back-to-back clinics focused on climbing, mountain biking, trail running and more. Powered by Mountain Gear and yours truly, Osprey Packs, we’ll be there to help celebrate and make it as unforgettable an event as ever!

Osprey Packs will be providing mountain bike clinics through the weekend at Red Rocks with the likes of Osprey Pro Athlete Alison Gannett and Osprey Amateur Athlete Jeff Fox. We’ll have demo bikes from our friends at Trek Bicycles and much more.

Saturday’s bound to be a big day, with Osprey-sponsored climbing clinics instructed by Osprey Athletes and pro climbers Majka Burhardt and Beth Rodden. Majka will instruct a “Learn to Trad Lead” clinic, and Beth will be leading a clinic on “Intermediate Sport and Techniques.” Adding to that, Saturday we’ll host a “Meet the Osprey Athletes” event from the booth with free poster signings. Come by the Osprey Booth  from 6-6:30 to see Majka Burhardt, who will be signing posters and talking about her latest adventures. Right after, Beth Rodden will be signing posters and talking about her latest adventures from 7-7:30! For more information about the schedule and to sign up for clinics, visit the Red Rocks Rendezvous website here.

Throughout the weekend, Osprey Packs will also be stationed at its booth offering  free pack demos, and we’ll have the brand-new line of men’s and women’s 2013 hydration packs and Variant and Mutant climbing packs there for you to try on. We’ll also be offering free pro pack sizings, fittings and advice from Osprey Packs experts throughout the event.

Adding a little more recreation to the event’s festivities, come by the Osprey booth to play our Access Fund Bola Bowl/Ladder Toss Game and you may win a free pack as we raise funds for the Access Fund! Then, try your hand at our “Fix a Flat Contest” and race against the clock to win prizes that include our spring 2013 line of Osprey hydration packs! To top it all off, we’ll have daily giveaways with swag, stickers and catalogs — so stop by to say hi!

We’ll see you at Red Rock!

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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!

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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

Here at Osprey, we’re proud to support the work of people making this world a better place. One of those people is Shannon Galpin. Shannon founded Mountain2Mountain in 2006 to help empower and give a voice to the women and girls of Afghanistan. Two years ago, she biked across the country in an effort to raise awareness and funds.

Tomorrow, the filmmakers at Red Reel are launching a series called MoveShake, that features Shannon and other movers and shakers around the world…

Read more…

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America has 200,000 miles of  trails that, as the American Hiking Society puts it, “allow us access to the natural world for recreation, education, exploration, solitude, inspiration, and much more. Trails take us to good physical and mental health by providing us with a chance to breathe fresh air, get our hearts pumping, and escape from our stresses.” We couldn’t have said it better.

Of course, these expansive trails come at the cost of a lot of hard work on the parts of the people who help organize for, plan around and essentially build the trails we use on a regular basis. As such, it’s only appropriate that we take time out of our busy lives to appreciate not only the trails themselves but also the work that goes into their very existence. National Trails Day — held every year on the first Saturday of June — is one such time when everyone can come together to celebrate trails through a wide range of events including “hiking, dog walking, bike riding, trail maintenance, birding, wildlife photography, geocaching, paddle trips, trail running, trail dedications, health-focused programs, and children’s activities,” among others. Pioneered by the American Hiking Society and its outstanding volunteers, National Trails Day boasts events in all 50 states —and you can easily find an event in your area here.

Read more…

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by Serena Bishop Gordon

Three sure-fire ways to recover from jet lag…

1. Mountain Biking: Two wheels and tacky trails
2. Coffee and Cake
3. Whiskey Tasting

Our trajectory to Scotland felt like traveling into the future, or maybe the past – but instead of a clean break, we lost half a day, never saw the sun go down and arrived in Scotland after close to 24 hours of consistent daylight. Exhausted but invigorated, we did our best to beat jet lag. Our first full day in Peebles, Scotland, located in the Borders Region just 40 kilometers south of Edinburgh, presented us with relatively clear skies and loads to explore.

Read more…

Bike, Osprey Athletes, Outdoor Activities, travel 7stanes Mountain Bike, Bike, Europe, Glentress, Mountain Bike, Peebles, Raptor 14, Scotland, Serena & Ben, single track, trails, travel tuesday

We see a lot of great photos throughout the week. So, we thought it was high-time we started rounding up some of our faves each week and highlighting one each Friday on our blog to inspire our weekend adventures. We call it the Osprey Round Up.

Tyler Coplea posted this great shot on Twitter this week from his ride over the weekend: “Massive rain, mud, and wind was no match for my BMC TE29 or awesome OSPREY pack!” Definitely looks like those storm clouds were rolling in.

Now, who’s ready for some spring singletrack? Happy Friday!

Tyler Coplea is a bike racer for the US BMC Mountain Bike Team while also in search for the greatest espresso in the world.

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