Hunt Journal

PODIUM FOR JOSH AT BIKINGMAN OMAN

After starting his year with a Costa Del Sol epic, our man Josh has put in a solid performance at this year's BikingMan Ultra in Oman. Ahead of his crack at the Tour Divide, we'll be filling you in on how Josh prepares throughout the year. Everything is just training, until then.

To add just that bit more difficulty, Josh decided to fly into Dubai and ride 515km to the race start over two rides. What's more, is he did the first 310km ride at an average speed of over 30kmh... Unreal... Oh and he also bagged the KOM on the brutal Jebel Shams climb during the race itself.

GROVE GRIND 100

Right then... we've had a couple of sunny days now, so it's time to start fantasizing about summer. Short sleeves, no leg warmers or tights in sight, tan lines a-plenty, maybe even a cold alcoholic beverage or three.

To get you all in the mood, we thought we'd share this video of Grove Bike Co'sinaugural Grove Grind 100 over in Australia - a ride comprising of "100km of rough and raw fireroads around Sydney's Northern Beaches, the home of Grove Bike Co. Scorching temps, pounding sandstone, an arvo storm and locally-brewed beers from Nomad Brewing Co to round it all out - a cracking day indeed."

ON THE DROPS WITH STEVE BATE MBE

This week, we've been catching up with a rider who needs no introduction (mostly because we've already featured loads of his ridiculously epic riding). Steve Bate was a prolific climber, with sights on a solo attempt at the ridiculously tough El Capitamn in Yosemite, until he was diagnosed with Retinitis Pigmentosa in late 2011. After losing his driving license and ability to independently do the thing he loved, he turned to cycling.

For a hobby taken up as a second choice, Steve happens to be quite handy on a bike. This guy covers ground like carpet, it's absolutely unreal. He recently rode 501km across Scotland in 22hrs and 20mins. Not bad for a guy who's rapidly losing what remaining vision he does have left. He's an inspirational rider and all-round decent bloke, who won't take no for an answer.

"Wild about Argyll" by Steve Bate

It was quite a challenge to convince Ibrahim to head to the south west coast instead of the north west, like we usually do for adventures in Scotland. We’ve shared many outings, climbing and biking in the north west, as it offers endless possibilities for people in search of remote adventures. But heading towards the big city of Glasgow instead of away from it, ran against the grain of our long time adventure history. I’d come across the Bike Packing Scotland website, when they had just released a short film called Wild about Argyll. Apart from getting married on the banks of Loch Lomond six years ago, almost to the day, I hadn’t spent any time in the south west and this little video sparked my interest.

LESS THAN 1000KM TO GO IN ROUND-THE-WORLD RECORD

Round-the-world rider Jenny Graham is edging nearer to her final destination in Berlin. With less than 1000km to go, the Adventure Syndicate at the time of writing is crossing the Belgian/Dutch border. After putting in some huge miles, including a huge day which clocked in at over 300km with only 5 hours sleep, Jenny is determined to reach Berlin and smash the world record of 144 days.

WHAT TO LOOK FOR IN A SET OF WINTER WHEELS

When selecting a wheelset to get you through the darker, colder and wetter months, it is essential to look past whether you have rim or disc brakes. At Hunt, we relish in smashing through the winter miles. If this is a morning commute to work, an hour jaunt early on Saturday or an all-day winter epic on Sunday – getting a wheelset to match your needs will make those miles pass by more easily (and save trashing your good wheels come summer).

PROJECT24: EDINBURGH TO THE NORTH SEA

Stephen Bates is more than just a bike rider. He is an adventurer, World Champion, Olympian and being a vision impaired rider and inspiration to what is possible. Coming off his win at the recent World Championships in Vancouver, Canada on the Velodrome, Stephen decided to take on a more endurance-focused challenge. Here is his story riding from Edinburgh to the North Sea.

GRAVEL RIDING HEAVEN? ROB HARWOOD HEADS OUT TO WALES

If there is one rider who embraces the weekend epic it is OpenDev rider Rob Harwood. Not one to shy away from distances which exceed 300km, Rob is the man when it comes to riding a really long way in a single day. He's not out to break record, nor is he out to impress, but he's out to do what we all love - ride his bike.

As the co-founder of Colvelo Collective, he organises a range of weekend 'monuments' throughout the year as well as the odd trip from their native Colchester to the Welsh hills.

READER'S RIDES: TRANSCONTINENTAL RACE NO.6 SETUPS

This is a first for Reader's Ride - we are featuring all of the wheels currently out there taking on the Transcontinental Race. On dispatch out at the start in Geraardsbergen, Belgium, 2015 Winner and Hunt team member Josh Ibbett was there to check out the brave souls taking on the epic race to Meteroa, Greece.

HOW TO GET THE MOST OUT OF YOUR DYNAMO HUB

After our feature of the development of the Hunt Dynamo range, a few of you got in contact with us asking how to get the most out of a dynamo....

READER'S RIDE | PETE'S MASON BOKEH IN ADVENTURE MODE

Hunt co-founder and new bikepacking convert, Pete Marchment has transformed his already versatile Mason Bokeh to be suited for his shorter two to three-day bikepacking escapades.

READER'S RIDE: PADDY'S BERGAMONT GRANDURANCE

Paddy 1

Every now and then we're caught off-guard by something that really catches our eye & we really like. More and more often, these small little features are aboard gravel bikes. How these bikes are progressing in terms of design, really makes us happy to see that gravel is really becoming a thing of its own and not a scaled up 'cross bike or a XC MTB with drop bars.