Alex Kowalski | ultra goober

#BerdCustom from start to finish. This set is heading out to @kowa_bunga , a single speeding ultra-endurance cyclist. We are excited to be backing his goal of trying to set the single speed FKT of the Triple Crown Challeng this year. That’s the Tour Divide, Colorado Trail & Arizona Trail. The current record is 33 days 18 hours and 22 minutes. Best of luck Alex! We teamed up with @onyxracing and built this HAWK30 wheelset. Light for the journey’s and robust enough for the rough adventures. Rims: @weareonecomposites HAWK30 Hubs: @onyxracing Vesper Spokes: @berdspokes Trued by @trudibyberd

When an ultra race ground score backfires!

Went out for an overnight camp with these hooligans this weekend. Got caught in a wacky lightning storm in our tents at the top of white rock! The fog on Saturday was reminiscent of the weather from @doombikepacking last year and gave me even more FOMO (it’s just MO since I know that I’m missing out and there is no longer fear of it). Good luck to all the brave souls lining up in Hot Springs next weekend! Don’t forget to rejuvenate in one of the historic bathhouses after the race.

Was lucky enough to get out to Las Cruces for a rip out on the @monumental_loop route with some new friends this past week. Always a treat to explore a new zone…especially when it involves a 3-4 burrito per day quota. These kinds of shared moments feel extra meaningful right now. Sending love and solidarity to those navigating tough times ❤️

Holy guacamole! Successfully escaped LA 🤘 Spent the first day and a half chasing @t_s_d until I realized he wasn’t slowing down at all 😂 also found out after the race that he’s a bit of a road ultra legend with several TCRs under his belt, including a podium finish. That made losing to him about a million times easier. Watch out for David on the tour divide next year! Managed to snag a 2nd place finish and was one of the first singlespeeds to attempt the race so established an FKT of 60 hours and 46 minutes. Slept less than 1.5 hours so it was also my largest sleep deprivation effort. @fgeof put on a really strong fight out there - could feel him hot on my heels for most of the race. Awesome effort for one of his first “real” SS races. Stoked to see what he gets up to next! I was really blown away by this race. I didn’t think it was possible for a route in such close proximity to one of the largest cities in the country to deliver on incredible mountain biking. You can tell @gregg_sees_the_world and @jasonshafer have poured their hearts into this one. From the tweaker paths hugging interstates and the willow bushwhacking it’s clear they have an intimate relationship with every inch of the route. If you like hiking with your bike and sometimes riding downhill you’ll have an absolute blast out here @labikepackingsucks Aaaaaand a MASSIVE thank you to my dad, brother and sister in law for watching my sweet baby Luna while her dirtbag father explored CA by bike. Means more than you know. I’d also like to dedicate this effort to my sister in law, Holly and her sisters and grandmother, Peg, who recently lost their grandfather and husband, John Cook. I was thinking about them a lot out there. Even got to share a quick FaceTime with Peg halfway through the race ❤️ hug your people, tell them you love them, and don’t forget to live your life hard - it’s just one.

WELL WELL WELL. If it isn’t another series of photos of my bike for yet another silly bike race. Really looking forward to this one. @labikepackingsucks has been on my list since my buddy Gregg put this bad boy together and released it to the world a few years ago. @gregg_sees_the_world was my first “competitor” in this silly sport, but also one of my early mentors. I learned a lot from Gregg during that first race in 2022, and have had the ultimate pleasure of running into him several times since then - can’t wait to see that big smile and mega positive attitude again in person! It was an absolute joy to spend 10 days touring from SF to LA with one of my best friends @tomhhanna proud of that dude for hanging in there for his longest tour ever! And a huge shoutout to my insta-less friend and new SF local, Binny, for joining us for the first two days ❤️ I really love the idea of getting the “tour bug” out with friends before a race. Had some really fun mellow days with unforgettable bivy spots, and now I’m ready to ditch some weight and give it my friggin all. YOLO folks

YAAASS!! Friends baked together this video of bikepacking ball of joy @kowa_bunga on his recent, successful run at the Colorado Trail Race—just wanna share the blissed-out delight! Alex powered his abundantly sick @jamesblacksheep built out in always perfect @canecreekusa components, and, naturally, dressed in @southcitystitchworks gear. ✌️ Bikepack racing is too much fun! ✨

Yaaaasss! Alex Kowalski (@kowa_bunga ) has posted a truly great read at ‘The Buffet’ on his “elevation quest” at this year’s @colorado_trail_race . 🙏✌️ Alex had himself an extremely impressive ride and fought through wildfire smoke and other adverse situations to accomplish a long sought goal. For anyone that knows and/or follows Alex, they know he is one of the best ambassadors of bikepacking and ultra racing one could ever hope for. His perpetual optimism, infectious humor, and genuine authenticity really shine through in this article…reading it brought back some of my own adventure memories and got me psyched to get out for another soon. I hope this read does the same for you! ✨ For anyone considering the Colorado Trail or simply in the mood for some stoke, head over to SOUTHCITYSTITCHWORKS DOT COM and serve yourself a plate from ‘The Buffet.’ Link in stories. ✌️ Thanks, Alex! We love you. 💕 And thanks @joshhicksss for the fotos. 🙏📸

5 days 5 hours and some change for my first CTR finish! pretty damn jazzed about this result and the quest of elevation I endured. holy shit I’m obsessed. started the race by riding straight into the stoner mesa fire smoke cloud. what a welcoming party and first punch from the san juans. soon realized that if I tried to “race” through the conditions, I’d be diggin myself into a hole I couldn’t climb out of. so instead, I slowed down. slept a lot (14 hours in the first 3 nights). that’s basically a vacation in CTR time, but I knew I needed it badly. once we surpassed the smoke and my body started thanking me for rest, I knew it was time to flip the switch. from mt. princeton hot springs to the finish at 540 miles, it was a delirious but magical 55 hour push with a 2 hour sleep before the massive climb up the ten mile range between copper mountain and breck, and one “MJ” 23 minute nap after passing wellington lake late thursday night inspired by my good buddy and coach @natronbom somewhere in the haze of trail dust, delirium, sleep deprivation, sunrise after sunrise, the whole journey turned into one of those magical experiences everyone talks about after they complete the CTR. the kind that will make you want to do the same race year after year after year 😉 what made this race even more unreal was the company - getting the chance to share trail miles with some of the very folks who inspired me to dedicate my life to this strange craft of singlespeed dirtbaggery and bikepack racing. legends, friends and maniacs alike. and of course, none of this happens in a vacuum. I’m constantly lifted by the people who support me in my ridiculous pursuits of adventure - especially my loving mother @renydivi who has now been at the finish line of my two most monumental rides. ❤️ if you know you know - she’s a saint of saints. more on this in my next post for the bikepacker’s buffet @southcitystitchworks

colorado trail race starts in less than 24 hours! ~540 miles ~75k feet of climbing this isn’t a race. it’s a slow motion bar fight with a mountain range. got racing stripes shaved into my head for psychological warfare. my vessel for this journey is a titanium speedster from @jamesblacksheep donned in passion loaded bags from my buddy zach of @southcitystitchworks and some top notch components from the lovely folks at @canecreekusa ❤️❤️❤️ couldn’t be happier about this hog of a bike. was blessed to share pre-race hangs with some demons of the sport @the_nat_daddy @natronbom & one of my SS heroes/legend/ambassador of the route @alexanderahouchin we fueled like kings and queens! next stop: waterton canyon. send courage. send love. pray for the other racers when they see these stripes.

rode bikes with @the_nat_daddy it turned into a test of survival through nearly 100 degree temps. I swear we still had fun! big hot rides have been a trend this summer.

as the grand depart for the colorado trail race draws near, I can’t help but think back on my first full on mountain bikepacking experience that just so happened to be on the colorado trail nearly 4 years ago. @arthurelmer & @kieran_rettler let me tag along for the second half of their tour of the route from denver to durango. I joined them in twin lakes, but a broken shifter ended my ride early in silverton and ultimately encouraged my shift to minimalist riding and sparked a ridiculous single speed obsession. the ride took a serious toll on me. at the time my mountain biking skills were mediocre at best, and I had only been on a few bikepacking trips before embarking on this one. needless to say, my body has never been so physically torn up and bruised from one single route. I can’t thank my vin diesel and paul walker enough for letting me tag along on this mission of a lifetime. love you two 😘. I hope you all enjoy these pictures and videos from that smoky trip. 25 days til I’m back out there!!! wish I could miniaturize these two and bring em with me for good luck.