The Radavist

What I said yesterday about Austin seeping with cross bikes stands true and I haven’t even begun to cover them. Mark from Majaco recently built up this sick singlespeed cross bike from True Temper OX Plat, specifically for the forthcoming Philly Bike Expo. His component choice is well thought out, putting the extra money where it counts and maintaining the aesthetics throughout.

Case in point: White Industries cranks and freewheel with Surly hubs. He then went with Paul and Thomson, resulting in a frame that by my judgement, weighs in around 16 or 17 lbs. It’s incredibly light!

I love the classic red to white livery and stainless head badge. For those interested in a similar frame, expect a pricepoint around $1400 for standard geometry or $1750 for fully custom.

It’s almost cross season here in Austin, with the first race of the season coming this weekend, everyone’s dialing in their race rigs. So it goes without saying that everywhere you ride these days, you’re being bombarded with balleur bike builds. Take for example, Peter from Mellow Johnny’s new (to him) Richard Sachs team cross bike.

While I’m not sure of the exact year, knowing Richard’s internet presence, I’m sure he’ll be able to chime in – especially with that fork crown detail.

Peter went with Campagnolo Chorus 11 speed on this bike, with matching Zipp bar, stem and post, topping it off with Chris King R45 hubs, laced to HED Belgiums. When you photograph a Richard Sachs, you end up just hitting all of his logos and lug work, both of which were given meticulous presence by none other than Joe Bell himself.

I gotta say, riding bikes to shoot them is fun, but this was a pleasure…

The 2014 Langtown “Cross Race”
Photos by Matt Irwin, words by Sean Talkington

What is Langtown? This is Langtown! This backyard venue was made famous when it used to facilitate motocross races in the late 90’s. If you like to party, then Langtown is easily Southern California’s best race.

I knew I wouldn’t be able to take part this year because of a stupid wedding (just kidding Jesse/Ariel and congratulations!) so I asked Matt Irwin to shoot “a few” images for the Team Dream Tumblr page. The gallery he created looked so fun and was larger then a Tumblr can facilatate so we thought it would be better suited here on The Radavist. Primarily because Matt’s images are awesome and realistically only my mother views the Team Dream site (I know this because I now have Google analytics).

Anyway, it’s a party. Or it’s a race. Actually, it’s both. It’s Langtown….
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The 2014 Trek CXC Cup Pro Women
Words and photos by Kevin Sparrow

With a heavy thunderstorm moving through overnight I was secretly hoping for some mud. Turns out, the sun made another appearance late in the day making for almost identical conditions as the Saturday races. The wind did seem to kick it up a notch however.
Some of the biggest names in Women’s Pro cyclocross were in town and I’d be damned if I’d miss shooting some of the best athletes in the world.

Katie Compton, Georgia Gould, Gabby Durrin, Meredith Miller, Caroline Mani were all favorites for Sunday’s race.

The first couple laps there was a lot of bottlenecking going on. A group started to form in the front all heavy hitters. After the third lap Compton found her way to the front and never looked back. Gould chased but couldn’t seem to reconnect with Compton. Caroline Mani put in another huge effort, this time ending up taking third place.
Damn good show.

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The 2014 Trek CXC Cup Day 01
Words and photos by Kevin Sparrow

It’s not too often we get cross weather like this in Wisconsin. The sky cleared up and dried the course for the pro race. Its always a treat to have big names show up for races here and they didn’t disappoint.

The course was on the Trek Factory grounds in Waterloo, Just 15 miles outside of our state’s capitol. Riders from Chicago and Minneapolis were thick in attendance.
The big names in attendance were Powers, Johnson, Driscoll, Mcdonald, and Berden just to name a few.

From the get go Jeremy Powers had a pulled away, looking strong through the race as Tim Johnson and Shawn Milne battled for second. Most of the spectating was done on a super steep down and up section that many fell victim too. Powers held his lead and went on to win day one of the event.

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Hawaii is a haven for cycling. From Mauna Kea on Hawaii to MTB trails on Kona, this archipelago has it all. One island you mustn’t overlook however is Kaua’i. I’ve already touched on a few points here on the Radavist. Including Kaua’i Cycle and a few random photos from a quick cross ride I did, so let me further expand on those.

Chris and Jonny from Kauai Cycle take to the woods when they can on their mountain bikes. In the drier months, hog trails open up to form a dense network of singletrack. Other service roads open up, as the plant life withers and thins out, but right now, in the middle of summer, everything is overgrown.

While visiting Lauren’s parents, I brought my cross bike and ventured into the woods with Chris and Jonny, not knowing what to expect. I was promised “Jurassic Park” landscapes, a swimming hole and lots of ripping down dirt, well, mud roads on the island. We did 45 miles and around 3,300′. More than enough to leave your legs and shred sled, sated.

If you ever find yourself heading out to this island, do not leave your bike at home!

Cross Vegas is the official kick-off for American cyclocross season, in my opinion anyway. It’s raucous, rowdy and best of all, FUN! The highlight of the evening for me is the Wheelers and Dealers event where industry reps and shop peeps battle head to head for a place on the podium next to Craig Etheridge – who wins every year.

The crowd loves it. Everyone’s doing handups, toss ups, spraying beer, hecking and this year, like it does every year, it carried on well into the UCI race. This year’s event drew big names like Lars van der Haar and Sven Nys – maybe you’ve heard of them? At any rate, these pros had an introduction to the party time that is Cross Vegas and yes, things got out of hand.

Thanks to everyone who hung out and made the evening an enjoyable one!