Welcome to Issue 16.2

Riding alongside a good friend is often about more than shared laughs and exercise. At their best, these hours on trail transcend everyday life and open portals to deeper communication, problem solving, and meaning. In this issue of Freehub, we examine human connection through the lens of mountain biking. Tim Wild reports from Scotland, where government programs are adopting the sport wholesale to promote and fund healthy, meaningful lifestyles. Elladee Brown examines the life of Alice Jowett, an enterprising woman born in England in 1853 who later came to own and operate the Windsor Hotel in Trout Lake, British Columbia. Still in operation, the Windsor sits at the base of some of interior B.C.’s most stunning and remote singletrack. These stories, and many others in this edition, all point to a simple fact: Humans thrive on shared experience, with bikes acting as the perfect tool for facilitating their journeys.