We are in the eye of the storm in terms of our road trip – it was a crazy drive out to Montana for Robby with stops in Pittsburgh, Chicago and Sioux Falls for Ragbrai. Now, we are at Robby’s parents’ house while we get some extra time with family and a little more time on the bike too (thanks Tammy and Rob, my amazing in-laws!) before we hit the road again for a very busy August! 

Many of our stops are around mountain bike events this summer and with limited space, I only brought my mountain bike on this trip. In 2013, when Robby had just quit his job at Icebreaker and I was getting my footwear development and manufacturing agency off the ground, we came to Red Lodge (Robby’s home town) for a large portion of the summer and brought our mountain bikes with us then too! A new trail, the Palisades trail, had just been opened and it was so fun to ride daily and challenge myself up the hills. I have been running more this summer (and years tbh) as I have limited time with the two kids and Bivo, so I find a quick run workout is a bit more efficient for me! So switching back to mountain biking (at altitude!!) has brought on a good challenge and I’m having so much fun with it.

Red Lodge, just like so many fun outdoor towns, is becoming more popular for mountain biking. Beartooth Recreational Trails Association (BRTA) has been working since 2002 on continuing the operation of nordic skiing in Red Lodge (yay!!) as well as a more robust mountain bike trail network in the area. They are building more trails and there are some fun new adventures to be had! Robby and I set off for a ride this past Saturday up that same Palisades trail and connected a couple new ones that put us on the bike for a little over two hours. The wildflowers are out, the huckleberries are starting to ripen, and the dirt is actually still a little tacky in places, making for some beautiful riding! At one point on the ride, the whole trail smelled like huckleberries. I was on the lookout for bears and Robby was on the hunt for berries.

This brings me to my bottle selection! I want to bring attention to the fact that some of our bottles are single wall (non-insulated) and some are vacuum/double wall (insulated for 12+ hours on the bike!). Here’s a quick cheat sheet:

Bivo One – 21 oz, not insulated

Bivo Duo– 25 oz, not insulated

Bivo Trio – 21 oz, INSULATED, brrrrr

Bivo Trio Mini– 17 oz, INSULATED brrrr

This is Rachel, picking the Trio up. The shoes? They are our friends over at Hilma, check them out if you are a runner looking for super personalized fit! 

Why do we offer insulated and not insulated?

We launched with single wall bottles in late 2020, why? Well, for starters – weight. We were concerned about having too much weight on the bike. So we opted for a thinner gauge stainless steel that allows our bottles to weigh a mere 6.5 tablespoons of water more than traditional plastic bike bottles. Plus, we didn’t think having cold water on a ride was thaaaaat important. We also wanted to be conscious of the size of the bottles because there is limited space on the bike. Vacuum insulation takes up more space, and therefore reduces the amount of water that can be carried. For example, the Bivo Duo and the Trio look very close in size, but the duo holds 25 oz of water while the Trio holds 21 oz.

For my ride this past weekend, I chose the Duo. It was not too hot - 75-80 degrees - and Montana is DRY. I knew I’d want the extra water and the Duo can fit on my mountain bike. I was really happy to have that extra capacity by the end of the ride.

Waiting for me in the car? ICE cold water in the Trio Mini, my favorite bottle for shorter, hot rides, or for use throughout the day. It’s sitting right next to me as I type this now.

Thanks for reading and I look forward to seeing many of you at the upcoming events this August! Here’s a quick hit list of where the Bivo crew will be. 

Aug 3: Grassroots Enduro - Bolton Valley, VT 

Aug 4-6: The Last Best Ride - Whitefish, MT 

Aug 10-12: Leadville 100 - Leadville, CO

Aug 12: Slab City Trail Challenge - Randolph, VT 

Aug 13-18: Breck Epic - Breckenridge, CO 

Aug 14-17: Women's Cycling Summit - Breckenridge, CO 

Aug 18-20: SBT Gravel - Steamboat Springs, CO 

Aug 24-26: Hotter N Hell - Wichita Falls, TX 

Aug 25-27: MADE - Portland, OR 

Aug 28: Race to the Top of Vermont - Stowe, VT 

Please come to say hello!  

Cheers,

Carina