Van Gals van tour

Video: Van Gals – Tour of the van

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Emma and Carly – the ‘Van Gals’ – are two of our newest contributors, but they’ve quickly gained quite a fan club among our readers. If you read their stories without laughing, we really can’t help you. We’re pretty sure you’ll be delighted to know that we’ve persuaded them to bring us a series of videos from their latest road trip. First up is a tour of Travis, their van.

Van Gals

Of course, you may well already be well acquainted with Travis having read about him in Issue 131 of Singletrack, where Carly told us all about the expertly devised and executed plan to take up #VanLife. Subscribers can hop on over there now and read all about it.

Van Gals

In true Singletrack Forum fashion, the article spawned a thread discussing the pros and cons of their choices – with plenty of ‘you didn’t want to do it like that now, did you’.

This video bodes very well for all that’s to come from the Van Gals, so make sure you like and subscribe on our YouTube channel to hear when more tales from their latest road trip are posted. This episode offers a good mix of practical tips and their usual ‘learn from our mistakes’ wisdom, plus a taste of the riding they’re able to access from their #VanLife. Whether you’re considering a life on the road or just want to feel a little bit more grateful for the roof over your head, it’s worth a watch.

If you’re in need of a further Emma and Carly fix, while they were still in lockdown and living in an actual house, we also had a chat with them for our podcast:

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Amanda Wishart

Art Director

Amanda is our resident pedaller, who loves the climbs as much as the descents. No genre of biking is turned down, though she is happiest when at the top of a mountain with a wild descent ahead of her. If you ever want a chat about concussion recovery, dealing with a Womb of Doom or how best to fuel an endurance XC race, she's the one to email.

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Comments (12)

    One of the best articles in recent issues. All the more brilliant for the spectacular man-splaining forum post that followed. Great one Emma and Carly.

    What a fabulous pair just enjoying life, that van is cracking.

    possibly some of the best content ive seen (in video form) from singletrack.

    Brilliant video. I am sooo jealous right now!

    That was an excellent watch.

    Such a brilliant video – more please STW! (though less of the mansplaining would be great too!)

    Oh gee, i haven’t went over the man’s planning, but I can see where it could come from… You gals have made your dream -and the one if many of us around here- true, and you are absolutely ripping it!!!!

    I sincerely love when someone is able to spread the enthusiasm and joy over a video, it’s the same feeling I get when I watch a Danny Macaskill or Chris Akrigg video. I ended up with a smile on my face so big my wife asked me what was I watching!

    Thanks for sharing this piece!!!

    Crappy autocorrect, that was meant to say “mansplaining”, not man’s planning…

    Hi, I’d just like to call out the use of the term ‘mansplaining’ as being not helpful.

    I’ve read the thread, and there’s some clumsy mysogny on it, but it has has technical detail, and reads in a similar fashion to other thread. it’s STWsplaining, if anything. (people telling Brant how to design a frame, for example)

    The issue with labelling everything mansplaining is that you will put up gender labelled barriers where people are then not comfortable discussing on a technical level

    This is a real issue in STEM and Engineering education, particularly as we try and increase equality in the subject.

    Good point bigrich, and I like the term ‘STWsplaining’….not that I have ever been guilty of it of course (Cough!).

    Regarding the van gals video – myself and the OH love it! Makes a refreshing change to see some mixed ability riders on accessible trails having fun, rather than the usual ‘same old, same old’ videos of skilled Pro/semi-Pro riders pinning it down Enduro/DH trails.

    In my opinion, Emma & Carly’s articles have been some of the most entertaining in any MTB magazine for years. Looking forward to their next update.

    HP sauce – nom, nom, nom….!

    Emma and Carly are ace. I always look forward to their next article; keep up the good work.

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