It’s that time of year when I can rationalize escaping to the wilderness for two days. Everyone needs a break, right? We’ll be back, full throttle on Wednesday.
Hope your weekend has been jammin’!
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Out on the Weekend
Guys, gals. I’m beginning to make the move to Los Angeles. Today I left Austin at 4am and began to drive out West, planning to arrive in LA Friday night. Next week brings about a MTB jaunt, a few awesome galleries and Interbike coverage, as well as some Austin-ender photosets.
Thanks for coming here, commenting and sharing the stoke. I can’t wait to land in Los Angeles and share with you some more rad atavism.
Reportage
Brooklyn’s Deluxe Cycles – Cooper Ray
Brooklyn’s Deluxe Cycles
Words by Wilis Johnson and photos by Cooper Ray (unless noted otherwise)
Deluxe was born from the experience of the mechanics and riders who work in the shop. The business itself is built around building deeper, more intimate relationships with the customers, the suppliers, and everyone down the line. Every bit of the shop has more effort and thought put into it: The focus here is quality over quantity. Being confined to a studio space improves the quality of the work and attention to detail of what is being produced – this is possible without the distraction of the storefront and what that entails. You walk into Deluxe and you realize how intimate the space is. Located in Bed-Stuy in Brooklyn, the lofty studio feels more like someones living room than a traditional bike shop.
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The Radavist 2015 Calendar: August
This is the eighth layout of the Radavist 2015 Calendar, entitled “Los Padres”. The camera, film and location are noted on the bottom left of the document.
With the summer in Texas, comes unbearable heat and an instinctual behavior to retreat to the far western reaches of the United States for some Cali vibes. The Los Padres mountains are by no means “cool” this time of year, but I’ll take an extra 15º any day. With tonality like this and endless possibles for road and dirt excursions, maybe it’s time to relocate… permanently.
For a high-res JPG, suitable for print and desktop wallpaper*, right click and save link as – The Radavist 2015 Calendar – August. Please, this photo is for personal use only!
(*set background to white and center for optimal coverage)
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Two Film Panoramics
Photos by Kyle Kelley and Spencer Brown
One of these was shot in the back country of Montana and the other, inside the city limits of Los Angeles. That’s some perspective.
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Metaphors
Film, like a road can make for many great metaphors. Sometimes though, a photo itself resonates meaning to not only the creator but the audience. I just got back a bunch of film from my weekend getaway to Joshua Tree and Yucca Valley, but this is one of my favorites…
Don’t worry, if you don’t like this one, there are more to come.
Tools of the trade:
Mamiya 7ii / 80mm
Portra 400
Reportage
The Desert Ramble – Erik Mathy
The Desert Ramble
Photos and words by Erik Mathy
It all started some months back when Jason, aka Gnat, set off a discussion amongst a small group of us. The topic? A fatbike only bike-packing trip along the Kokopelli Trail to celebrate his birthday with Glenn, Eric, Lelan, Jim, Bobby, Brady, Cass, Tim and myself. The Kokopelli is a gorgeous, 142-mile, multi-use trail connecting two of the great meccas of mountain biking in the United States: Fruita, CO and Moab, UT. It features a ton of technical single track, rocks, places where we’d carry our bikes up embankments, and long stretches of desert. Once we got to Moab, we’d spend a day riding the Porcupine Rim Trail before doing one last incredible overnight camp on Kane Creek Road.
Reportage
Enjoy Your Fourth of July Weekend!
Last week our friends at Flat Track Coffee celebrated three years of business here in Austin. Wheels of all shapes and sizes showed up to ride a janky obstacle course, drink, chat and watch the shenanigans erupt well after the sun went down. Hopefully these party vibes will inspire some similar celebrations with the Fourth of July approaching… We’ll see you on Monday!
Tools of the trade:
Leica M7
Zeiss 35mm f2
Kodak Portra 400
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Austin Texas #GetSickDay Information
Austin, TX
Thursday, June 25th
10am rollout from Mellow Johnny’s
Roadie or Dirty ride options.
Hey Austin! We know the weather has been a bummer as of late and that means the trails have been unofficially off-limits. Well, it looks like this week will be a bit drier and hopefully Thursday we’ll have somewhat sunny skies.
The Radavist and Mellow Johnny’s have your #GetSickDay plans covered with two ride options: a Mellow’s roadie ride or the Radavist’s dirty ride.
The dirty will be arguably more, uh, interesting as we take you on a cutty, go nutty trail ride to some interesting, off-the-beaten-path routes. Expect lots of potential hiking, swimming, boozin’ and yes, shredding.
Cyclocross or mountain bikes are a necessity here.
Due to the nature of the trails, we’ll be navigating a lot of overgrown territory, so I’d err on the side of shorts and a t-shirt, rather than your favorite new kit. Unless you feel like ripping through lycra on a tree branch. It’ll be a chill pace, but we’ll be packing in some miles (around 50), so plan and dress accordingly. The bigger tire you can fit into your cross bike the better. Mountain bikes will be a bit overkill on this ride.
Bring two inner tubes, a pump and any tools you’d need. We ain’t fixing your flats for ya!
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Tomorrow We’re Heading to the Woods for a #SwiftCampout
Some dirt, some coffee and summer solstice. The #SwiftCampout ride in Austin tomorrow is gonna be a blast. Check out some other rides happening across the globe at Swift Industries.
Reportage
Singlespeeds and Sunburn in the Lost and Found Race – Kyle Kelley
Singlespeeds and Sunburn in the Lost and Found Race
Words and photos by Kyle Kelley
It’s not too often you get asked to hop in a car and drive 8 hours north, race (I didn’t do much racing though) a 100 mile “Gravel” Race with 7,000 feet of elevation on a Single Speed, then hop back in the car and drive another 8 hours home. So of course I said “Yes!”
While I said yes, I must admit I was kind of worried. I’d agreed to do something I really knew nothing about. I’m not in the best shape at the moment, definitely not in 100 mile Single Speed shape. This is kinda like hiking 16 miles round trip to Half Dome in brand new boots, which I’ve also done. I never said I made the best decisions, but luckily I’m still having fun and the 2015 Lost and Found Gravel Grinder was no exception!
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I’m on the Road A Lot
Photo by Kyle Kelley
So I can appreciate photos like this. The hotel life struggle is real, so have fun while you’re at it. There’s more to this story coming next week, including a review of the Niner Bikes Ros 9+ so stay tuned.
Reportage
Not So Recent Roll: Summer of Road Trippin’
Vacation. Holiday. 3-day weekends. From Memorial Day until Labor Day, the road is wide open and the sun is putting in overtime. Taking advantage of those days is key to sucking the last drop from life and its possibilities.
Last summer, I bought a 4 banger Tacoma pickup in Portland and it kickstarted a whole series of road trips. Most of which centered around cycling-related themes or events but it was the interstitial spaces and moments that I remember vividly. Sunsets, sunrises, rain, fog, wind. All of these had a specific scent and sensation. Most of which were captured visually throughout those long summer months.
I carried my Mamiya 7ii with me on every trip, loaded with Portra 400 220 film. It wasn’t until recently that I finally sat and dug through it all, compiling a Gallery of these moments and vignettes. They’re mostly in the correct order, beginning in Portland and traveling down south.
A lot of these spots are well-known, others not so much but they all serve one purpose: to inspire you to travel to the West Coast and see what you’re missing. Pardon the succinct nature of this intro, but there’s not much to say. I’ll let the photos speak for themselves.
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Mountain Biking Metal Punks!
Photo by Kyle Kelley
Camo shorts, check. Disma shirt, check. Neon enduro MTB, check. Thanks for the throwback thursday, Tracko! It’s my birthday today, so I went on a bike ride and took a nap.
Sorry for the slow afternoon on the site…
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Team Dream Team: The Full 36 Number 20
Photos by Sean Talkington
The last time I was in Los Angeles, Sean had his Yashica on a ride we did up the 2 one morning. It was the most epic I’ve ever seen that lonely highway and his photos really captured the mood. I love the shot of Kyle and the crow.
See the Full 36 Number 20 at Sean’s Flickr. Now what’s up with that jersey, Kyle?
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Heavy Weights
Photo by Kyle Kelley
Tracko gave three of my favorite Instagram accounts some love with this photo. Spencer J Harding, Brian Vernor, and Tytanium are all worth the follow if you aren’t already. I need to get back to LA, asap!
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Enjoy the Weekend
A few of us are camping and attempting to recreate last year’s Super Bro Weekend, even though the looks less than favorable. We’ll see you later this weekend. If you’re looking for some ride inspiration, check out: Super Bro Weekend.
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Mash SF: 220 Film Riding Wallet
Continuing their products inspired by film, Mash just stocked these 220 film riding wallets. I love clever flips like this, especially when it’s of my favorite film format. See more at Mash!