Roman Dial

May 19, 2024 | nature.com | Jonathan A. O’Donnell |Michael Carey |Joshua Koch |Kenneth Hill |Patrick Sullivan |Roman Dial

AbstractClimate change in the Arctic is altering watershed hydrologic processes and biogeochemistry. Here, we present an emergent threat to Arctic watersheds based on observations from 75 streams in Alaska’s Brooks Range that recently turned orange, reflecting increased loading of iron and toxic metals. Using remote sensing, we constrain the timing of stream discoloration to the last 10 years, a period of rapid warming and snowfall, suggesting impairment is likely due to permafrost thaw.

Mar 20, 2024 | adventurecycling.org | Ana Zamorano |Lauren Hudgins |Roman Dial

When I first suggested the idea of merging skiing with bikepacking to Diego, his round blue eyes widened, and his eyebrows shot up in surprise. Looking back, I can understand his reaction — I was improving my ski touring skills at that moment, while he was new to bikepacking. He had recently acquired his first touring bike and had only a handful of short pannier-packing experiences. The idea of blending off-road cycling, camping, and skiing felt too big to comprehend. But that was a few years ago.

Mar 20, 2024 | adventurecycling.org | Carolyne Whelan |Lauren Hudgins |Roman Dial |Dan Meyer

Despite their prevalence in society, bikes aren’t commonly featured in mass-consumed media. At least, not for stories set in the modern day, and not ridden by adults. So when a show like “Stranger Things” comes out and the opening episode has children riding their bikes home from a late-night game of Dungeons & Dragons, the fog as thick as the whimsy still in their hearts, I — like most bike nerds out there — latched on. I was that kid, and at 41 years old, I still am.

Mar 15, 2024 | adventurecycling.org | Dan Meyer |Lauren Hudgins |Roman Dial

This article first appeared in the January/February 2024 issue of Adventure Cyclist magazine. It’s no secret that I’m a fan of Black Mountain Cycles: they’re simple and affordable steel bicycles designed by owner Mike Varley and produced in small batches overseas. After reviewing an MCD way back in the July 2019 issue, I purchased a Road+ frame that I turned into my beloved do-anything fender/basket bike. Since then, both the MCD and the Road+ have been discontinued and replaced by the Mod Zero.

Mar 15, 2024 | adventurecycling.org | Roman Dial |Jessica Zephyrs

Like an isolated Galapagos, Fairbanks, Alaska, in the 1980s was a veritable hotbed of thriving mutants who evolved with a suite of novel outdoor skills built on the experience and wisdom of the climbers, canoeists, backpackers, skiers, snowshoers, hunters, and homesteaders who came before them. But by adapting an explosion of new gear to novel techniques, Fairbanks’s adventurers marked the beginning of outdoor pursuits that would spread across the world over the coming decades.