I grew up knowing my mom was Native, but the fact that she was adopted out of our tribal community as a young child made my identity seem like a...
Issue 12.4
Issue 12.4
An unprecedented number of people are riding mountain bikes as an outlet for exercise and exploration and, as a result, discovering a truth we all eventually come to know: Every ride is an adventure. Freehub’s 12.4 edition is a celebration of this truth and a meditation on how adventure leads to discovery, both of the outside world and within oneself. In our cover story, ultra-endurance racer Alexandera Houchin writes about how her relationship with the bike has instilled a deeper understanding of her identity as a Native woman—and how she’s come to realize the act of racing is a ceremonial expression of her Ojibwe spirit. Transformative adventure pervades this book, with feature stories on a life-changing family bikepacking journey in the Alaskan wilderness and the existential reckonings of a rider attempting to clear a long-neglected trail in central Nevada’s remote Toiyabe Range. Welcome to Issue 12.4—a tribute to self-discovery and embracing the unknown.
In this Issue
I used to work for wages as a tool under employer will. Eventually, choosing to shirk the restraints of debt, I sold my house and whatever other...
It’s 9 o’clock at night, the temperature is 45 degrees Fahrenheit, and, still, there is plenty of light outside. It’s not exactly raining, but we’re...
A short, stocky Latino man flashed a smile at me from under his wide-brimmed hat, moving his hands back and forth along a narrow ribbon of dirt that...
We live during a time when the natural world is changing more quickly than ever before. Ever-shifting weather patterns are toppling the paradigms of...
My invite came on a sweltering summer night as heavy smoke blanketed Colorado’s Front Range. The American West was on fire from the Pacific Coast to...
If you’re like me, you’re deeply captivated by mountain biking. Joking with friends, in a cheeky and biased way, I routinely assert that mountain...
Who We Are The Power of Adventure
Adventure
If there’s one good thing that’s come from the global tumult of the past 18 months, it’s that interest in outdoor recreation is exploding. As indoor...
I hated high school. Admittedly, I was a dork, but still, aren’t most kids at that age? On top of my dork-ness, I was also a late bloomer physically...
