It’s tiresome to still be writing about the heat, but this Summer was a doozy. For those of us in Tucson and the surrounding Sonoran Desert, we’re coming out of one of the drier monsoons of the last 50 years, logging 15 more 100F+ degree days than normal. Much of Arizona and the country at…
Summer has finally started to subside here in the Sonoran Desert, and my morning cups of coffee are starting to make sense and do their job of warming me up instead of inducing sweat at 7AM. The transition felt like it would never happen, but it’s here, and it’s glorious. Speaking of glorious, we’re stoked…
We’re back for a Summer roundup of bikepacking news, and as always, we’re excited to share with you a collection of stories and other tidbits that caught our attention. June and July are full of endurance racing in the Northern Hemisphere, and with the Tour Divide being the big draw, we decided to cast a…
Southern Arizona is well known as a cycling mecca. Hundreds of miles of singletrack and dirt roads lay within thousands of acres of public land ripe for day rides and overnight exploring. In the few short years I’ve lived here, the now iconic San Rafael Valley outside of Patagonia has gone from a ranching road…
Welcome back to another news roundup! In this Spring edition we’re excited to share a smattering of films, inspiring and interesting reportage, gear, and upcoming events right here in Tucson. We’ll keep the intro short this time. Read on for our favorite tidbits from the last couple months, and if you’d like to see more…
It’s never easy to pair down the list of exciting, entertaining, and inspiring bits of news to share for these roundups, and the past couple months have made it extra challenging. The list was especially long this time around, but we’re excited to bring you a paired down version featuring a hilarious and heart-warming film…
The Sky Islands Odyssey is a special route for us here at Campfire. In 2022, we rode the East Loop as the advanced option in our backpacking series, a trip that saw temperatures well below freezing and eternal wind. A few weeks later, we supported Sarah Swallow’s Ruta del Jefe event by providing repairs, service,…
Happy New Year and welcome to our first news roundup for 2023! The end of the year can be a little slow at times, but we’ve managed to put together a solid collection of events, stories, and bits of gear from the world of bikes that we came across in the last couple of months….
Back at the end of 2021, once it felt safe and reasonable to spend time with small groups of people outside, we restarted our bikepacking series with an overnight trip to the Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge (BANWR) outside of Arivaca, Arizona. That trip was such a memorable time that we decided to end another…
It’s been a little while since we’ve done a roundup of our favorite things from the bikepacking world, but we’re back! A lot has happened in the past four months, and we’re excited to share a few pieces that caught our attention. We’ve got a collection of videos and articles covering events like the Arizona…
Flagstaff draws us all up for different reasons. Some make the drive to visit family and old stompin’ grounds from childhood. Others wait for Winter snowfall to ski at Arizona Snowbowl, and a handful have made the cool pine country of Northern Arizona a yearly pilgrimage to escape the long summers of the Sonoran Desert….
One Drop at a Time by Alexandera Houchin published by FreeHubMag – June 14th With the bikepacking season in full swing, there are a plethora of great stories and events to highlight. But what stood out most was this powerful written story and accompanying video by Alexandera Houchin. Alexandera has been quietly building a substantial…
Bikepacking Roots & Adventure Cycling Partner Up on Launching the Intermountain Connectors Routes We are very excited about the launch of the Intermountain Connector routes. Bikepacking Roots and Adventure Cycling have teamed up to design these connectors between their two epic bikepacking routes, the Western Wildlands Route and the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route. These…
It’s been a busy spring here at Campfire and we have been having some fine adventures. The one that stands out the most has to be our lovely overnighter of the Tombstone Hustle- we had to plan this one a bit late in the season. But as luck would have it, we had a cool…
A Bikepacking Gear Library for RAR Atlanta Our top story for February and March is Radical Adventure Rider’s Atlanta chapter launch of their bikepacking gear library. With the goal of making bikepacking gear more accessible, RAR Atlanta set to work on gathering gear, developing a library system and finding and setting up a space. The…
Our first plans for a circumnavigation of the Sky Island Odyssey East loop had been cancelled at the start of the pandemic. Finally getting around to leading this ride felt like a return to forward momentum after the chaos of the last two years. For this trip, I had a slightly modified version of Sarah…
Queen’s Ransom Our top bikepacking news story for December and January is the publication of John Schilling’s new route, The Queen’s Ransom, at Bikepacking.com. We’re building up a great collection of routes here in Arizona, and this one is a great addition. John designed this as a bikepacking route he could depart on from his…
Moving into our new shop locale was our big story of 2021. As we embark on a new year, I want to reflect on the past year and also rattle off other 2021 Campfire and Tucson Cycling scene highlights. In case you missed it, a few weeks ago I summarized the news from around the…
As the year wraps up, I thought I’d look back at the news from around the bikepacking world that inspired us most here at Campfire Cycling. These are the events, products, stories, and films that really stoked the fire, igniting fun conversations among our team as we got it done in the shop and warehouse…
Our screening is right around the corner, next Tuesday, September 14th from 7 to 9PM! Tickets are still available but selling out quickly. Get Your Tickets Now! If you’re still on the fence about coming out, here is a quick rundown of the just updated Filmed By Bike Adventure Shorts program. The Filmed by Bike Adventure…
After a long wait, we’re hosting our bikepacking events again! The decision to begin running events has obviously not been easy. And just as we were starting to settle our plans, the Delta variant became a major concern. We are forging ahead with our plans but prioritizing safety every step of the way. The majority of our…
As you might imagine, launching and growing Campfire Cycling over the last two years has not been an calm, relaxing affair. Riding the waves of these times and circumstances has provided a steady supply of challenges to untangle. This spring the challenges really reached a crescendo. It was time to find a new location all…
We just signed a lease at a new downtown Tucson location! We’re moving to 15 E. Toole on the NE corner of Stone and Toole. Tuesday, March 23rd we’ll be open at 15 E. Toole. Our last day at the old location (2801 Flowing Wells) will be Friday, March 19th. Temporary hours – March 4th…
The weekend following Thanksgiving, our family went on an overnighter bike campout from our house in central Tucson to Catalina State Park. It was the first bicycle camping trip of any sort that I’d taken since the start of the pandemic. Figuring out how to stay safe, manage our time, keep the kids having fun…
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