Oak trees are native to six of the seven continents on earth, so chances are you have mountain biked among them. Learn more about this magnificent tree species.
Updated Norco Revolver XC bike comes with 100mm or 120mm of rear travel. Plus, there are new forks from Cane Creek and Marzocchi, moto-inspired MTB rims from Zipp, and tall tires for wet and loose conditions from WTB.
The Vee Flow Snap is an enduro mountain bike tire from the Thai company. It's a little on the heavy side, but seems to be a great aggressive trail tire.
The Mountainsmith Cycle Cube is a bike-specific duffel bag meant to manage lots of awkward and stinky bike gear.
Deborah Meghen and Niall Davie talk about the development of new mountain bike trails all over Ireland.
The Bluegrass Eagle Armour Lite D3O is a lightweight and simple vented spine protector.
A San Diego mountain biker finds a barbed wire trail trap and a rider in Colorado leaves the scene of another trap with several broken bones.
There's a lot of hype about the new WaveCel structure in new Bontrager helmets. Competitor responses came just as quickly, and it's hard to recognize who's right in the end.
We check out mountain bike multi-tools from top brands like Pro, SIlca, Pedro's, Topeak and Pro Bike Tool.
New 12-speed hub options, alongside a more affordable 4-piston brake and 203mm rotor option, show Shimano's dedication to entry-level riders.
Link your Singletracks and Wahoo accounts to get free mountain bike trail routes on your GPS.
It's easy to let negative externalities ruin mountain biking's moments. Here are a few tips and philosophies to focus on the now.
Pro mountain bikers like Katy Curd know how to adapt and learn a new game. Katy shares her tips for building skills and managing fear.
We test ride the new Revel Rascal trail bike in Moab.
The Clear Creek 10 is Mountainsmith's first hydration pack marketed for mountain bike. It's fairly simple and affordable.
This week we get news on who's dominating the EWS, new bikes from Diamondback and Bold, and another NICA expansion.
Check out the trails, bikes, skills, and good times from the 2019 Singletracks Ride-N-Rally.
The Leatt DBX 4.0 pants are tailored, tough, and ready for the trail.
A Georgia mountain biker takes on the Huracan bikepacking race for the third time, and find new challenges along the way.
Online retailer Moosejaw is now offering complete mountain bikes for sale from brands including Evil and Niner.
The Pisgah Stage Race is already well known for five days of riding the best mountain bike trails in Pisgah. Key changes for 2019 seek to make the 11th edition the best one yet.
The way a rider treats their mountain bike will affect its lifespan. Here are five things you can do to keep your bike healthy for the long haul.
In this episode of the Singletracks podcast, I ask Jeff Kendall-Weed about his inspirations, favorite places to ride, skills progression, and how he makes time for riding.
Adding an eMTB category to the EWS has some riders calling it the EEWS.
This new product allows mountain bikers to ditch packs of any form and fit cargo directly on their lumbar.
Pick up trash during your mountain bike rides in April to join in the plogging phenomenon. Share photos of your haul on Instagram to win prizes from Singletracks. @singletracks #bikeplog
Life is busy, but often it's easier than not to ride with friends. Matt reflects on a trip years ago that formed lasting friendships.
Crankworx Rotorua and Absa Cape Epic results, Revelstoke gets a lift and new trails, plus new Teravail MTB tires and etnies shoes.
Geometry changes a lot from bike to bike, but a fit should always suit the rider. Gerow goes over a few fitting tips to help all the bikes in your stable feel comfortable and consistent.
The Dirtlej Dirtsuit is a wet-weather onesie for mountain biking.
Is it worth spending good money to enter a mountain bike race? Dillon says yes, and shares 5 reasons why you should sign up.
Rachel Walker sheds light on what Hopetech Women is and what the mountain bike brand is up to these days.
The Kuat Transfer is an entry-level rack that can be converted from a single to a double bike hitch rack. The Pivot get mountain bikes them out of the way to get to the trunk or truck bed.
Exploring beautiful singletrack mountain bike rides along the Basque coast of northern Spain.
World famous mountain biker Chris Akrigg shares his winning approach to challenging conditions, both on the bike and off. Want to know what it takes to build incredible bike-handling skills? Listen to find out!
Cities around the US are working to attract new workers with mountain bike trails. For some places, this gamble more important than ever.
The MET Roam MIPS mountain bike helmet balances comfort and protection.
Hannah Bergemann talks about racing with Kona, her ambitions in the sport, and why the most important mountain bike race of her year is the one she'll race with her dad.
Riding the enduro-worthy singletrack mountain bike trails in northern Spain. In Part 3, Lee and his group ride in Val de Tena near the towns of Biescas and Panticosa.
New mountain bike shoes from Rapha, a taste of the Pivot Phoenix 29 downhill bike, new Stans rims, and more in the MTB News Mix.
In this first Pro Skills article, we get advice on recovery from endurance mountain biker Payson McElveen.
Gerow talks with IMBA EU to find out how mountain bike advocacy is going in Europe.
Exploring the best trails in the Spanish Pyrenees by bike, Lee and his group ride Cotiella, Ainsa, and Zona Zero, including an EWS stage route.
Dillon shares his strategy for fueling before, during, and after the ride, and provides a sample template for varying mountain bike ride lengths.
Trek / Bontrager claims their new mountain bike helmets reduce the chance of concussion significantly.
The Rocky Mountain Thunderbolt A50 is an affordable and fun trail bike with price-minded performance.
Matt reviews the aluminum Rocky Mountain Thunderbolt trail bike and shows it in action!
The new Santa Cruz Megatower 29er is a long travel enduro mountain bike with 160mm of suspension front and rear.
2
![[caption id="attachment_259347" align="alignnone" width="1170"]<img class="wp-image-259347 size-large" src="https://images.singletracks.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/lighter-leaves--1170x780.jpg" alt="" width="1170" height="780"> The leaves of this Hungarian Oak (Quercus frainetto) darken and become brittle later in the summer.[/caption]
If you scaled trunks as a kid or adult, there is a reasonable possibility that one of them belonged to an oak tree. Maybe you stop mid-ride and climb trees today? Many species of oak grow ideal trunk girths for human legs to wrap around, and have grippy bark, and large sturdy limbs to sit on for a rest. Native to six out of seven continents on earth, there is likely one of the 600 oak species near your home. Let's look past the acorns, toward some roots of the Quercus narrative.
Oak is a symbol of strength and fidelity all around the globe. It is the <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130505014026/http://www.venablesoak.co.uk/about-oak/oak-as-a-symbol-2/">national tree</a> of Bulgaria, Cyprus, England, Estonia, France, Germany, Moldova, Jordan, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Serbia, the United States, and Wales, gracing a number of flags and coins with its iconic leaves and fruit. Dating back far before any of these were countries, Oak is among the most culturally significant tree species in written history.
On Hampton University campus in Virginia, a sprawling southern live oak (<a href="https://www.agedwoods.com/the-emancipation-oak/"><em>Quercus virginiana</em></a>) stands as a reminder of the dehumanizing slavery that African people were forced into in the USA. In 1831, a <a href="https://www.agedwoods.com/the-emancipation-oak/">Union General</a> began classifying African slaves who had escaped to Virginia as "contraband" so that the army would not have to return them to plantation owners. Soon after <a href="http://www.womenhistoryblog.com/2014/11/mary-peake.html">Mary Smith Peake</a> started teaching the children and adults who made their way across the battle line, employing the live oak's shade as their classroom. This arboreal education setting marked one of the earliest recorded education opportunities offered for African-Americans. The <a href="https://www.nps.gov/articles/featured_stories_fomr.htm">Emancipation Oak</a> took its moniker in 1863 after the South's first reading of the Emancipation Proclamation was heard beneath its bows.
<h2>Genis Quercus habitat and habit</h2>
[caption id="attachment_259346" align="alignnone" width="1170"]<img class="wp-image-259346 size-large" src="https://images.singletracks.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/oak-shadow-1170x823.jpg" alt="" width="1170" height="823"> If you look closely you can see a scurrying ant just above the leaf shadows.[/caption]
Most oak species are deciduous, with a few exceptions that include the evergreen Holm Oak (<a href="https://www.vdberk.com/trees/quercus-ilex/">Quercus ilex</a>). Oak leaves tend to hang on longer than others, blanketing the trails with their crunchy chorus in late November and December in the northern hemisphere. These trees love to drink water, consuming more than nearly any other documented tree, and most prefer well-draining soil profiles. Oak species can be found at sea level in semi-desert climates and at elevations as high as 2,300 meters in the <a href="https://tropicalbotany.wordpress.com/category/uncategorized/high-elevation-oak-forest/">tropical rainforests</a> of Costa Rica.
Oak are highly laborious trees, regularly growing over 2,000 acorns every second or third season, though only 1 in every <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oak">10,000</a> of those fruits become a mature specimen. Acorns can take between 6 and 24 months to fully mature, and they are often consumed by animals before they reach the forest floor. The nutty fruits range in size and shape between species, with some fitting into the perfect cartoon image of a 2 cm X 2 cm cherubic face and pork-pie hat, and others taking on an elongated shape similar to almonds.
<img class="alignnone size-large wp-image-259345" src="https://images.singletracks.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/oak-habit-1170x780.jpg" alt="" width="1170" height="780">
Oak trees grow from short, shrub-height species to sky scraping giants at <a href="https://www.monumentaltrees.com/en/trees/quercusrubra/records/">180ft</a> (55.2 m), with squatting bases as wide as 23 ft (7 m) around. Branches in the taller species, like white oak, are well-spaced, and grow at approximately a 90° angle to the trunk, while the arms of shorter species start closer to the bottom and grow toward the sun at closer to a 45° angle.
<h2>Animal uses</h2>
<img class="alignnone size-large wp-image-259344" src="https://images.singletracks.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/oak-buds-1170x780.jpg" alt="" width="1170" height="780">
Humans and other animals have employed every last bit of these trees, and oak supports <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/43vC3LHlWykpcX4M2Ty9djJ/12-mighty-facts-about-oak-trees">more</a> forest life than any other native species. Though a number of animals, including dogs and cows, are allergic to the tannic acids in acorns, more than <a href="https://blog.nwf.org/2013/10/the-wildlife-benefits-of-acorns-and-oaks/">100 vertebrate species</a> eat acorns as a primary dietary component in the U.S. alone.
Humans have <a href="https://blog.nwf.org/tags/oak/">historically used</a> oak's strong lumber for ship and home building, its fruit ground for baking flour, its natural colors for dies and pen ink, and its gracious shade for thought and reflection. We have been drinking wine and spirits that were aged in oak barrels for centuries, and corking bottles with its bark for just as long. It's likely that you own a piece of furniture, or a kitchen cabinet door, made from a Quercus trunk.
In addition to their physical uses, oaks have provided humans with a plethora of spiritual and ritual understandings that have helped to shape the nature of the unknowable.
<blockquote>Oaks are more likely to be struck by lightning than other trees. This enhances their significance for Druids who seek ‘arwen’ or inspiration which they believe can come through lightning. They call this ‘courting the flash’. -<a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/43vC3LHlWykpcX4M2Ty9djJ/12-mighty-facts-about-oak-trees">BBC</a></blockquote>
The musical uses for oak don't stop at drum kit shells. German recording artist, <a href="http://traubeck.com/works/years">Bartholomäus Traubeck</a>, uses a special camera to read the grain widths and shifts on wooden discs sliced from trees and converts their patterns into music. Check out his oak jam below.
https://youtu.be/tyVf-IpPZ-I
<h2>How to identify an oak</h2>
<img class="alignnone size-large wp-image-259346" src="https://images.singletracks.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/oak-shadow-1170x823.jpg" alt="" width="1170" height="823">
With a wide variety of shapes, sizes, and leaf formations, the only way to positively identify an oak tree is with a field guide or dichotomous key. <a href="https://gardenerdy.com/oak-tree-leaf-identification">Here</a> are a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBx6SC0Gw90">few places</a> to <a href="https://sciencing.com/identify-oak-trees-leaf-shape-6365583.html">start</a> your <a href="https://www.wikihow.com/Identify-Oaks-by-the-Acorns">identification</a> journey. These guides use a tree's location, height, bark type, and shape, its leaf shape, leaf size, and how each leaf attaches to the branch, and a variety of fruit characteristics to help you determine what sort of oak stands before you.
[caption id="attachment_259415" align="alignnone" width="1170"]<img class="wp-image-259415 size-large" src="https://images.singletracks.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/acorn-BBC-e1553680571295-1170x781.jpg" alt="" width="1170" height="781"> Our local acorns have all been consumed by wild boar, but fortunately, the BBC had this sweet image. The tough little fruits feel like ball-bearings when they come between your tire and the dirt. Photo: <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/43vC3LHlWykpcX4M2Ty9djJ/12-mighty-facts-about-oak-trees">bbc.co.uk</a>[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_259343" align="alignnone" width="1170"]<img class="wp-image-259343 size-large" src="https://images.singletracks.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/oak-leaves-1170x780.jpg" alt="" width="1170" height="780"> If you are rapt by the oak's story, check out this <a href="https://www.fs.fed.us/foresthealth/technology/pdfs/fieldguide.pdf">USNFS field guide</a> to learn a whole lot more. Many oaks have these deeply lobed leaves, with variations in the depth, number, and shape of each lobe.[/caption]
<h2>Oak aged bourbon cocktail recipe</h2>
<img class="alignnone size-large wp-image-259351" src="https://images.singletracks.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/freeland-spirits--1170x807.jpg" alt="" width="1170" height="807">
Wait a second, booze barrels are made from white oak? Well, let's celebrate some bourbon infused by oak!
For folks who enjoy a fantastically delicious cocktail, you can taste the beauty of oak trees with Jeffrey Morgenthaler's famous Bourbon Renewal. As a true aside, I was once a dishwasher at Clyde Common, where Morgenthaler now mixes these renowned flavor creations. The Bourbon Renewal is my personal favorite.
<strong>Recipe</strong>
<ul class="ingredients">
<li>2 oz bourbon whiskey (I highly recommend <a href="https://www.freelandspirits.com/">Freeland Spirits</a>, from Portland, Oregon)</li>
<li>1 oz fresh lemon juice</li>
<li>0.5 oz creme de cassis</li>
<li>0.5 oz simple syrup</li>
<li>1 dash bitters</li>
</ul>
<strong>Mix method</strong>
<ol class="instructions">
<li>Shake ingredients with ice until cold</li>
<li>Strain over fresh ice into an old-fashioned glass</li>
<li>Garnish with a lemon wedge, or fresh currants if they are in season</li>
</ol>
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=15&v=7G82DknEFPs
[caption id="attachment_259349" align="alignnone" width="1170"]<img class="wp-image-259349 size-large" src="https://images.singletracks.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/wisteria--1170x780.jpg" alt="" width="1170" height="780"> In honor of a brightly blooming spring, here is a gratuitous wisteria shot. Imagine the bumblebees humming around the camera.[/caption]](https://images.singletracks.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Barb_Wire.jpg)
