The Radavist

The Endless Fiesta in Bolivia’s Kimsa Cruz
Photos and words by Ryan Wilson

The best part about riding in the Andes of Perú and Bolivia is that finding a great route is about as simple as pointing to a couple of interesting looking spots on the map and connecting the dots.  Chances are good that you’ll end up on a rollercoaster of dirt roads through quiet valleys and over dramatic mountain passes.

While it’s fun to follow the tracks of fellow cyclists that have sought out these remote roads and trails previously, if I see a chance to head through an area with little to no info readily available, there’s definitely an extra element of intrigue.  Is there water?  Anywhere to find food along the way?  Is there actually a bridge over that giant river?  After all, the mystery of what lies around the next bend or over the next pass is what keeps me wanting to turn those pedals.

Silver Siouxon: Fall Bikepacking in Portland’s Shoulder Season
Photos and words by Gabe Tiller

One of the most frequent questions I hear is: “What can I bikepack on a long weekend that’s close to town?” The Silver Siouxon route is the answer to that question. You get incredible backcountry singletrack and a remoteness that seems much, much farther than an hour’s drive from Portland.

We rode it in October with vibrant fall colors, but late spring and early summer sport an equally beautiful wildflower bloom. The variety of terrain you pass through is unique. Countless waterfalls, working timber forests, the faux-alpine terrain of Silver Star (a byproduct of the Yacolt Burn), the giant scree fields of Bluff Mountain, the imposing Cougar Rock, and the verdant green tunnel of Siouxon Creek’s old growth forest make this a route that’s challenging physically and technically, but inspiring and soul regenerative at the same time.

The Cannell Trail… Don’t Call it a Shuttle Run!
Words and photos by Kyle Kelley

Years ago Ryan Wilson told me of this mythical mountain bike ride in the Sequoia National Forest that dropped from the sky to the desert floor. He said it was thirty-something miles long and had around 8,000 feet of ripping descent. To be honest, I didn’t really believe him, so I retained little to no information that night.

Fast forward a few years, Mike Kalenda had just come onboard at Golden Saddle Cyclery, and one morning he was telling me about this crazy ride out of Kernville where you get shuttled up to 9,200 feet and you spend all day riding your bike down the mountain to a brewery! It all sounded familiar, but nothing was sticking, and then I heard about a Plunge and that got me thinking. Hell…I’m not even sure if Ryan even said the word plunge that night, long ago, but something about that word reminded me. I immediately started researching all I could on the internet about this trail, and came to the conclusion that this must’ve been what Ryan was talking about! Maybe the word plunge just sounded cool and I gravitated towards it, but either way, the word plunge got me there and after riding the last part of this trail called “The Plunge”, I’ll definitely be going back.

Yes, those astute readers of this website will recognize this bike. Kyle photographed it at Grinduro Scotland already, along with the bikes of other builders. It was the only mountain bike in the bunch and it coincidentally won the People’s Choice award at Grinduro Scotland, which is why it’s here in California right now. Adeline makes Mercredi Bikes in the UK. Her torch time is usually spent on road and ‘cross bikes, but this mountain bike was her first, in terms of building and the first MTB she’s owned. A serious cyclocross racer, it didn’t take much for Adeline to adjust to racing this mountain bike at Grinduro, where she won. I’ve always been of the opinion that riding mountain bikes will enhance your ‘cross skills and she’s quickly finding that to be true.

Smoked and Stoked: Riding High in Central Oregon
Words and photos by Colin Frazer

Growing up outside of Eugene, I’d spent Summers camping and swimming in the rivers, lakes and hot springs that define the west side of Oregon’s Cascade range. Mountain biking was still a fledgling sport at the time and I was only vaguely aware of the burgeoning meccas sprouting up around me. Since I really only started riding after high school, I’ve been wanting to get back home to do some bikepacking for a while, but the right conditions just hadn’t come around. With all the rad work that Gabe and crew have put in making the Oregon Timber Trail a reality, the interest was brewing and a small crew started to form. Adam and Sam, childhood friends from Colorado, would come over with me from Bozeman, Corey and David, childhood friends from Ohio, would come from Seattle and LA respectively, for a week or more of shredding central Oregon.

330 Miles of the Gorge Backcountry
Photos and words by Gabe Tiller

The Gorge Backcountry route is a 330-mile loop leaving Portland which encompasses lesser known vistas and lightly trafficked asphalt and dirt ribbons through lush forests, river canyons, and rocky escarpments both north and south of the mighty Columbia River.

A 15-Day Whirlwind Tour of Bucket List Trails in Colorado (and one in Utah!)
Photos and words by Jeff Frane

Greetings party people,

It’s me, Jeffrey G. Frane and I’d like to share some stories and photos from a recent 15-day whirlwind tour of bucket list trails in the Colorado mountains. (and one in Utah!) For two weeks we moved non-stop taking in 3,300 miles of van life, the finest rest stops and porta-johns the West has to offer, mountain peaks, mechanical mishaps, world-class campsites, bug bites, crashes, new friends, and countless ribbons of singletrack. The itinerary was exhausting and ridiculous, but as traveling always tends to be, it was also the best.

It all started last Spring (2016) when my partner Chelsea won the fatbike category at the Lutsen 99’er deep in the Northwoods and North Shore of Minnesota, which qualified her for the famed Leadville 100 Trail Race. For those uninitiated, the Leadville 100 is an absolutely ludicrous endeavor that’s been going on since 1983 and takes in 12,000 feet of climbing in 100 miles at elevations between 10,000 and 12,000 feet. Owing to the seriousness and financial cost of the undertaking, she decided to take a full year to prepare her body and mind.

For those of us from the low-lands just sleeping is challenging at that altitude, nevermind throwing down what would be a monster day on a bicycle at any elevation. To add to the challenge, she had never before been to the high mountains or spent any time at elevation, and thus had no idea how her body would react. Because of the race altitude, we wanted to spend as much time in the mountains as possible prior to the event, and since she had never been to Colorado before, we agreed that rather than choosing one destination, we’d simply do everything!

On a Sunday we loaded up the van, left our home in Minneapolis and cannonballed toward the Front Range, spending a night in Denver before hitting up the legendary Monarch Crest in Salida, 401 Trail in Crested Butte, the race in Leadville, 18 Road and Horsethief in Fruita, and finally the whole Enchilada in Moab, Utah. This was our first extended road trip as a couple and after a hard Summer of being separated, traveling for work and bike racing, it was very special to reconnect and share her first time in the mountains.

Here’s to the great tradition of Summer Road trips!

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Follow Jeff on Instagram.

Out of the Bolivian Yungas and into the Cordillera
Photos and words by Ryan Wilson

After plunging into the depths of the Bolivian Yungas, your brain likes to trick you into overlooking the relatively low altitude ups and downs of this area, while focusing in on the inevitable slog back to the thin air of the high mountains. But these Yungas roads have a way of telling you right away that just because you’re not at 16,000ft anymore doesn’t mean you’re getting away unscathed here. What the Yungas lacks in pure altitude, it easily makes up for in relentlessly steep, hot, and dusty roads that zig and zag across the rippled terrain. Make no mistake, the challenge here definitely stacks up with just about anything else in the area.

Los Angeles is no stranger when it comes to wildfires, even in the short time I’ve lived here and while most of the fires over the years have been in the San Gabriel mountains, I never expected to have a fire ravage my favorite place to ride, the Verdugo Mountains. You’ve probably heard of these mountains before, we post a lot of photos here on the site from their peaks, fireroads and singletrack. To give you some perspective, the dirt roads are 7 miles from my front door, with the first saddle being exactly 10 miles. The peak, at least on the road, tops out at 3,100′ and it’s a long, steep way up, with climbs averaging between 10 and 18%.

Trail Working for the Trans-Cascadia and Oregon Timber Trail
Photos and words by Dylan VanWeelden

In Oregon, it is not uncommon to see two rolling waves moving with equal speed and swell in opposite directions. The Pacific is chaotic and tumultuous and the rocky beaches and moody weather facilitate this diversive behavior. But occasionally these waves move toward each other, combining and colliding with a massive, wild spike of energy — more beautiful and twice as tall as anything else on the horizon.

This is exactly the type of energy that came together last weekend in the mountain bike community. http://trans-cascadia.com/Trans-Cascadia (the 4-day blind format enduro race) and the newly founded Oregon Timber Trail (bikepacking trail going across Oregon) joined forces to create one hell of a trail building party. Over fifty cyclists, from top enduro racers to core bikepackers, shared rakes, saws, loppers, and endless Basecamp beers around the fire.

It’s been a hot, hot summer here in Los Angeles and after two weeks of over 90º weather, we had to get out of town. Let’s be honest, though, that’s what everyone in this county of 10 million people was thinking too! So where would we go? As I was contemplating this very question, I bumped into my friend Nathan, who told me he had an amazing touring route from San Francisco out to Point Reyes National Seashore planned for the long weekend. I immediately asked if there was room for Cari and me to come along… I owed her a better touring experience after getting us lost in the Sequoias!

Jotunheimen Super Randonnée
Words and photos by Johan Björklund

In late July it was finally warm and dry in Sweden, so we decided to go to cold and wet Norway and ride the Jotunheimen Super Randonnee, 600km with 10 600 meters of elevation. We had been talking about it for the last two years when Daniel, Even and I suddenly decided to ride it without doing any real planning.

A Super Randonnee is a 600km brevet, but with a minimum of 10 000 meters of elevation gain. In return, you get a more generous time limit, from 2017 and forward 60 hours and before that 50 hours plus one extra hour per additional 1000 meters of elevation. They’re run as permanents, so you can ride it when you want with the permission from the local organizer. The regular brevet card for stamping at gas stations is partly replaced by awkward staged photos where the bikes of all riders with an attached plastic sign have to be visible at specific locations.

There’s nothing like a California sunset, especially over the San Gabriel Mountains here in Los Angeles. Those faded evenings usually come after an all-time MTB ride and for Nathan, he was craving some trail time. Sure, he’d ridden a lot of the singletrack in our great city on a bike before: his Rock Lobster all-road, but he wanted to finally rip them up – and himself – on a proper MTB. He went to the team at GSC and began talking to them about a Ritchey Timberwolf build. One unlike any the shop had put together before. GSC contacted Ritchey and requested one of their special Heritage paint jobs, then Mike, a mechanic at GSC talked to Nathan about a build kit. A Fox 36 fork would take the hits, while a Shimano drivetrain would offer smooth, worry-free shifting and braking. Wheels, featuring White Industries and durable rubber from Onza paved the way for one slick build. Being Nathan’s first mountain bike, it’s had a number of crashes already, but with each ride, he gets more and more accustomed to speed and cornering on loose and sandy trails.

The Timberwolf is a very popular hardtail option, I reviewed one and loved it. I know a number of you have these bikes, so share them in the comments.

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If you want a custom build like this and live in Los Angeles, hit up Golden Saddle Cyclery.

Words by Ty Hathaway, photos by Ty Hathaway and Julia DeConcini

It wasn’t but a few minutes of being back in the van after floating the Snake River that Julia was already figuring out what river was next and how to make it better. We had already gotten some good info about the North Fork of the Flathead River in Montana from a good friend of ours who grew up taking family trips down the section. He made it sound like some kind of magical dream land filled with big fish, crystal clear water, and endless scenery. Naturally, this would be our next river of choice, but this time we would do an overnight and with no van shuttle.

Taking the “Death Road” to the Edge of the Bolivian Jungle
Photos and words by Ryan Wilson

Coming into Bolivia, it’s hard to know what to expect. Where Peru’s reputation is pretty much all happy people, ancient ruins, and fluffy alpacas, the stories you hear about Bolivia prior to visiting are a bit more of a mixed bag. Some are very positive, but one thing repeated pretty often (other than how bad the food is) is that outsiders aren’t quite as popular with the locals. Rather than the welcome party you get in nearly every village in the Peruvian Andes when you roll in on two wheels, the Boliviano response is a bit more tepid… At least that’s the reputation.

Finding Friends on the Isle of Arran at Grinduro Scotland – Kyle Kelley
Words and photos by Kyle Kelley

You can read race reports all over the internet about Grinduro Scotland and that’s exactly why I’m not going to give you that here. It was Scotland, so of course, it rained! It was on the Isle of Arran, so of course, it was beautiful! It rained, so of course, it was muddy! And did I mention… it was Scotland, so of course, we drank whisky!

Down on Muddy Creek, She Sends Me
Words by Spencer Harding photos by Spencer, Molly and Tyler.

So, I had a week off from leading bike tours in southwestern Utah and like any sane individual, I headed straight for Moab. I met up with Tyler and Molly whom I had connected with last fall through a mutual adventure buddy (thanks, Tommy!). Anywho, they had been pestering me to get a packraft for awhile and I finally just bought a lil’ dinghy raft from Klymit before heading out to Utah. There was some deliberation on route options and at the last minute, we decided the conditions for running Muddy Creek would be perfect.

The plan was to drop off bikes and camping gear at the take-out, drive the truck and boats to the put-in, raft down, camp out, and bike back to the truck the next morning.