World Vertical Week will be held globally on February 27 – March 5. You can climb where ever and choose whichever human powered sport you want. Last year the biggest average ascents per Move were climbed in Switzerland, Austria and France. Ski touring and mountaineering led the highest average ascents for individual sports. Which countries and sports will lead the way this year? The only thing you need to do to participate is to make sure your country information in your Suunto App settings is correct. After that your ascent will automatically be calculated in your home country’s total figure. By the end of the week we’ll find out where in the world the real climbers live. Have fun! #VERTICALWEEK PHOTO CONTEST Share your Vertical Week experiences on Instagram or Facebook with #VerticalWeek for a chance to win a Suunto Spartan Ultra GPS watch. (Terms and conditions apply. Read them here.)   Read more How to enjoy the outdoors with your partner: a chat with Emelie Forsberg and Kilian Jornet Greg Hill's mountain rules 7 tips to accelerating your uphill speed

I train 5–6 days/week for a total amount of 5–600 km/week. Not so impressive if you consider the normal activity of a pro rider, but that's winter conditions, under the rain or the snow, and usually includes about 8 - 10k of ascent per week. Last year I did 31.000 kilometers, between training, races and solo adventures. My coldest ride saw temperature of -20 to -32°C. It was the last stage of my 2016 Norwegian adventure. It was by far the coldest ride I’ve ever done. Spikes and disk brakes are the way to go. You need spiked tires – and disc brakes For winter rides like the one I will do in Finland I use a Wilier Triestina Cross Disc Carbon, equipped with a Shimano Ultegra Disc Groupset and Mavic Disc Wheelset. I will use two kinds of tires: normal tires in case of standard conditions, and spiked tires in case of very icy roads. On my stem I will put my Suunto Spartan Ultra watch: I love recording the ride to analyse the performance and to see what I’ve done. But one of the most important things is disc brakes – I did my first Arctic adventure with normal brakes, and it was horrible. Always listen your body During my adventures I usually have a support car. They film my ride, and support me in case of an emergency. My girlfriend is an expert in first aid. The most important thing is to stop when you “hear” something strange from your body. During 2016 adventure in Norway, for example, I stopped for two hours because I simply lost all feeling in two fingers. "Listen to your body," says Omar. A standard day is 10–12 hours on the bike I wake up to a good breakfast at 6. I’m on the road at 8. Somewhere between 18:00 and 20:00 I stop, have a good dinner, then check over the bike. You’ve got to eat right You need the best possible food to have enough energy – and in cold conditions, your consumption will be higher than ever. It’s a challenge for me -– and my support team too! Follow along with Omar during his current Arctic challenge – cycling across Finland from South to North – at his Facebook page! So far he has covered 826 km on complicated icy road surfaces in four days. READ MORE Ultacycling man Omar Di Felice is heading straight north The art of cycling around the world

Over the last few years, Omar has pedaled through some unique, lonesome, incredible Arctic adventures – first 700km, then 1200km, then 1400km – and now, an even bigger goal: 1600km, or one thousand miles – finishing well above the Arctic Circle. He hopes to do it in just ten days, with one rest day – and make no mistake, it is not going to be easy. It’s waking up early, going hard, and then doing it all again, in freezing rain and blizzards, on top of asphalt, snow, and ice. This is not your average New Year’s Resolution.  What drives him to do this? Something much warmer than temps outside: passion. Says Omar: "(Ultra)cycling for me is a job, and a real challenge against myself, but I don’t forget that everything started as a game. The game of a boy who dreams to discover the world on his bike. To ride a bike in the winter is really amazing! Of course, you’ve to choose the right equipment and to pay attention more than during other seasons. But if you are so brave to ride in such cold conditions, you will discover a new world!” This year’s adventure has a unique route: straight north, from Helsinki, Finland, to Nordkapp, Norway. It’s the first time Omar will cross a country, 100% from South to North – which suits his thirst for exploration. “I enjoy the ability to explore the world at the speed and in the manner I prefer," he says. "For example, in 2015, when I cycled from Paris to Rome (1600 km) nonstop, I passed by the Tyrrhenian Coast, through the Alps, and two countries in only 72 hours. Exploration is one of my considerations when I look for an extreme challenge.” Extreme challenge indeed. So is it pure misery? Not at all. "A lot of people think that my adventures are only a suffering exercise. No! It’s a pleasure and a real amazing experience to put your wheels on the ice and the snow. When you cross an Arctic country during the winter you can see something special like the Arctic night and his magic silence, beautiful colours on the sky and, if you’re lucky, the Northern Lights." His adventure starts January 30th, and you can be sure to check the Suunto Facebook page for some updates – or follow along at his Facebook page. Tune in next week for some of Omar’s top tips on winter road biking!   READ MORE MEET THE NOMAD WHO HAS CYCLED AROUND THE GLOBE FOUR TIMES A FIVE-DAY BIKE RIDE AS A SINGLE FILE – WITHOUT RECHARGING THE AMBIT3 PEAK  

Suunto athlete Patrik Nilsson was a long distance runner, but it didn’t satisfy his desire to train. Then triathlon found him, and now he’s one of the fastest in Ironman history. © KMD IRONMAN DenmarkAt this year’s KMD Copenhagen Ironman, 25-year-old professional triathlete Patrik Nilsson had his mind set on one thing – having fun – but he achieved much more. He came first, smashed his own best time by 20 minutes and got the seventh fastest time in the history of Ironman: 07h49m18s. “It was the perfect day,” he says. “In Denmark it’s so open, and flat, and close to the sea so there’s always wind, but that day there was no wind. When we did the swim it was all flat, no waves at all. The conditions and course were perfect for a really fast day.” Only one year ago, Patrik wasn’t in such good form. Personal difficulties with his then coach were adversely affecting his training and outlook. It all came to a crunch at Ironman Cozumel 2015. He was in first position, with only 10km of the run remaining. But he was hating it so he quit and walked home. “To do well in races, you need to have fun,” he says. “That’s why I couldn’t run those last 10km; when it starts to get tough, you need to feel that it’s fun, and that’s what I felt again in Copenhagen.” © KMD IRONMAN DenmarkFrom Stockholm, Sweden, Patrik has lived to train since he was a kid. At school, he competed at a high level in long distance running, but it didn’t quench his thirst for training. He did his first triathlon in his last year at high school and finally found a worthy outlet for his energies. “With triathlon, there’s always something you can train,” he says. “If you can’t develop your running, maybe you can work on the swim or the bike. There are so many aspects. That’s what inspired me.” Patrik is currently training for Ironman Barcelona 2016. If he performs well, he’ll qualify for the Kona world championships in 2017. He’s working with a new coach, who also happens to be his girlfriend. “It’s good to have a close connection with my coach, which is easy when the coach is your girlfriend,” he says. “It makes it really easy for her to understand how I’m feeling. “There have been a lot of small things we’ve been trying to work on. One of the biggest was around my mentality – to make sure I’m having fun and really enjoying it. It’s worked out perfectly.” While he enjoys pushing his limits with racing, Patrik doesn’t overdo it. Training is what he loves and that’s the focus for most of the year. “For me, it’s better to have one, two or three months of really good training and then do one race and go really hard,” he says. “The most important thing is to have fun. “In Copenhagen I really felt it was fun, I really enjoyed standing on the beach next to the guys and saying, ‘I’m really going to beat you, I’m going to kick your ass and this is going to be fun’. That gives triathlon something more than just the expectation you should win.” Stay tuned for part two of series about Patrik! MAIN IMAGE: © KMD IRONMAN Denmark

In this third part of our series* about them, nomadic globe-pedalling cyclists Pierre Bouchard and Janick Lemieux tell us which countries were the most bicycle friendly!© nomadesxnomades.com After cycling the equivalent distance of four times around the planet, Canadians Pierre Bouchard and Janick Lemieux are in a unique position to say which countries are the most bicycle-friendly. They’ve cycled across Asia, around the Pacific Rim of Fire, down and across Europe, through Africa, all around North America, even through tiny Pacific Islands – about 60 countries in total. Click for part one and part two of the series! © nomadesxnomades.com Mostly their nomadic journeys have been enjoyable, with few negative experiences. They did, however, get held up at gunpoint by a bandit in Mexico. Crossing from Tibet to Nepal, they were blocked in a narrow gorge by a 15 km avalanche. Roasting in 45° C in Sudan also proved threatening! It’s important to pay attention to potential safety issues before and during the journey, Pierre says.Which people in the world were the most friendly and helpful? For a long time, Russians topped our list of the most hospitable people until we set wheels in the archipelago of Vanuatu. More recently, Jordanians went regularly out of their way to support us, meet our needs and accommodate us. © nomadesxnomades.com Which places were the most bicycle-friendly? Japan: it's go to be be international bike touring’s best kept secret!Western USA’s Pacific Coast Highway: incredible cycling infrastructure, from exclusive and cheap campsites to a simple and clever flashing light safety system warning motorists upon entering a tunnel there is a cyclist inside – this should be standard everywhere!Rwanda: with its low traffic roads lined by wide shoulders and filled with legions of cyclists, most of them carrying huge loads!Norway: for its exquisite road network and very friendly “Allemansrett” law that allows travellers to camp for free virtually anywhere. Besides respecting private properties and observing the leave-no-trace code of ethics, this bill stipulates that campsites have to be at least 150 m from any inhabited building and that two consecutive nights is the maximum time allowed. It opens quite a realm of possibilities!This map shows the NOMADS² cycling odyssey. © nomadesxnomades.com What have been challenging places to ride through?   Based on the first 20 months of our most recent expedition, the NOMADS² cycling odyssey:Europe’s Schengen zone: only 90 days per six months to explore that zone? Come on!Egypt: security and police escorts.Sudan: In July – sooooooooo hot! 45°C and sometimes even hotter in the shade!Ethiopia: hostility towards visitors travelling slower than 10km/h. Every time we would climb – and there are some of the world's most beautiful mountain ranges there – locals, especially children, would follow us for a few kilometres, consistently begging and throwing stones at us for not giving. We were even ambushed a few times. This has also been widely reported by other “slow travellers” – we're still puzzled!© nomadesxnomades.com Tell us about cycle touring in Africa? Cycling in Africa has been a great adventure, exactly as one expects this continent to be. The roads have been better than anticipated as Chinese road building companies have been frantically paving Africa’s roads for more than 10 years. Of course, if one wants to leave the pavement, the continent offers tracks big and small. Away from Cairo and Nairobi, most roads have been surprisingly quiet with most users being on foot or bicycle. On top of breath-taking landscapes, busy rural life, age-old traditions and surreal animals, Africa is clean and peaceful, smiles and greetings never held back. *This concludes our three part series on the Pierre and Janick. In part one and part two they explain their efforts to learn about nomadic peoples and what it takes to cycle all over the world!

Nomads Pierre Bouchard and Janick Lemieux have cycled all over the world, covering an equivalent distance of four loops of the planet. In this second instalment of our three part series*, we asked them about daily life on the road. © nomadesxnomades.comCycling from Quebec to Miami in the summer of '89 was Canadian Pierre Bouchard’s first long distance tour. He calls the 4000 km journey his “L’initiation” into bicycle touring. “I came back hooked and convinced that the bicycle is the ultimate conveyance for overland journeys,” he says. “The reasons are many: the autonomy and freedom it provides, the fact it’s an environmentally sound means of transportation, it keeps one very fit, and provides a very intimate connection with our surroundings, whether landscapes, flora, fauna or humans!” Since his “L’initation”, Pierre and his partner Janick have cycled through more than 60 countries in the Americas, Europe, Asia and Oceania and Africa. They have mastered of the art of continental bicycle touring. We asked them about their daily life on the road. Click for the first part of the series! © nomadesxnomades.com How has bicycle touring changed since ’89? There’s been many changes, especially the improvement of the equipment to travel on bikes. From outdoor and camping innovations to bikes specifically designed and crafted to haul all the necessities to roam continents. Lately, with the advent of fatbikes, a whole realm of wild and remote terrain has become accessible. © nomadesxnomades.comWhat does an average day on the road look like for you? Unless we're in hot deserts, we're slow risers. I usually get up first and ignite the stove to prepare hot drinks and porridge. We then start to pack up, a process that takes a couple of hours before we then hit the road. Depending on conditions and how scenic the landscape is, we cover anywhere between 40 to 120 km a day, averaging about 80 km. On expedition, taking the time to hike-trek-climb, write and immerse ourselves, we cruise about 1,000 km per month. © nomadesxnomades.comHow much do your bikes and gear weigh? Janick carries about 25 to 30 kg and I carry between 40 and 45 kg. It fluctuates with the amount of water and goods we need to carry. We're no minimalists. As this is a form of nomadism, our way of life, we'd rather make ourselves comfortable and ready to face any eventuality. © nomadesxnomades.comHow do you navigate and keep track of your daily efforts? On the road, our Suunto Ambit 3 Peaks play the role of dashboards and control panels. They record our daily pedal strokes and tons of useful data like altitude profiles, ambient temperature. For sketchy passages, like crossing into Ethiopia from Kenya via the Lower Omo River Valley and Turkana Lake over shifting desert tracks, we used our Ambits to navigate, having loaded them with the .gpx route a fellow bike traveller previously recorded and passed along over e-mail. With the impressive battery life, along with our Goal Zero solar power charger, we managed to keep them going for the last 600 days spent on the road, from the onset of our NOMADS² cycling odyssey. © nomadesxnomades.comHave you ever had a problem with your bicycles in the middle nowhere? Of course! We always carry all the tools needed to open and adjust each of the components and carry crucial spare parts: tires, tubes, spokes, cables, drive train parts (chain, cassette and chain rings), brake pads. Breaking a rim is the only mechanical breakdown that can bring our caravan to a halt; we either have to walk or wait for assistance in order to move on! © nomadesxnomades.comIs finding food and water sometimes difficult? Yes indeed! Thinking of our panniers as pantries, we always store and carry extra food. We spend a lot of time and effort getting info about the stretches of road ahead, especially with regards to availability of food and water. If we can collect water along the way we can usually last about seven to eight days without resupplying. If we need to carry our water, up to 30 litres between the two of us, we can last out there some three to four days – unless we’re in Sudan during July and both need to drink 10-12 litres a day! © nomadesxnomades.comAny advice for someone doing his or her first bicycle tour? Make sure your bike is well adjusted to your body (seat, handlebars and seat post). Prioritize simplicity, sturdiness and durability. Don't hesitate to invest in high-quality carrier racks, generally made out of steel (chromoly). And most importantly, planning is great but set a departure date and ready or not, go – it'll all work out! Trust the road! *Stay tuned for our third instalment about the Nomads, and find out which countries in the world are the most cycling-friendly!