What We're Loving: Jerky Chips, Windbreakers, and Gravel Tires

Published September 26, 2020 02:03PM

As the weather turns and we all get a little fidgety, we’ve been trying out some new gear, snacks, and routes—just like you. With a staff full of triathletes, we spend a lot of time triathlon-ing (and all related exercising) and here’s what we’re using and loving in our regular lives right now.

Kalahari Crisps

While chips made from air-dried beef might sound kind of…odd, they’ve actually been my go-to snack this week and I’m definitely hooked. Made from biltong (the unofficial national treasure of South Africa, like jerky but way better!), Kalahari Crisps pack a hefty 20 grams of protein per pack and 100 calories. The story behind the brand is cool, too. It all started when three friends were in South Africa to race an Ironman and an ultramarathon in the space of a week. They got hooked on biltong and wanted to bring it back to the USA. Highly recommend it as a go-to healthy snack.

Ortovox Windbreaker

This is a brand that I honestly didn’t know much about until a month or so ago, but now I’m obsessed. Ortovox’s super simple style, mixed with crazy technical wool blends, makes for some excellent outdoor equipment, but their windbreaker is a total game-changer as we head into fall running. The super packability of this jacket means it’s perfect for changing conditions or as you start to heat up, and the fact that it’s ultra windproof and yet reasonably soft makes it a good pre-workout layer as well.

Panaracer GravelKing SK Tires

I’ve written an ode to my 13-year-old road bike before and I’m not a huge gear nerd—I don’t think I’ve ever loved tires before—but hear me out. Yes, I have a very nice, fancy road bike I ride most of the time and it’s amazing. But my old Cannondale road bike has become my go-to for dirt roads and messing around. The only problem was it had very narrow and slick tires on it, which wasn’t great for going uphill or downhill on gravel. The other problem was older bikes, like this one, can’t usually take as wide tires as modern bikes. I had to do some research to find 26mm knobby 700c tires. Panaracer makes these GravelKing tires in a variety of sizes—the 26mm really measure more like 25mm. I ordered them, put them on my old bike, and boom, game-changer. Now it counts as a gravel bike, right? While I’m probably never going to get super into pimping out my ride, for anyone who’s looking to just add a little more traction and flexibility to their road bike—so they can hit some dirt roads and trails too—I can not recommend these enough.