Graham Averill is Outside’s National Parks columnist, as well as a gear columnist for the magazine, spending most of his time writing about travel and the equipment he uses while traveling.
He grew up in the South before bouncing around the West where he studied at the University of Colorado and fell in love with skiing, surfing, and mountain biking. Eventually he and his wife settled down in the Southern Appalachians because it’s the only place in America where you can get boiled peanuts from a roadside stand.
He’s contributed to a wide range of magazines, from Bike mag to AARP, and he really likes to write stories about pushing his own limits. Also, he jumps at the opportunity to write about his truck.
Published
The sport has reached critical mass, which means there are more trails than ever across the U.S. curated specifically for those extra wide tires.
When a craft-beer brewery starts making hand-made mountain bikes and putting them on a kickass North Carolina ranch, happiness is only a singletrack ride away.
Kai Lightner of Fayetteville, North Carolina, is making himself known in pro competitions and confidently tackling some of the toughest routes out there. It's even more impressive when you consider that he's only a high school sophomore.
