The Radavist

Loving the Uphill Battle with Roam Industries
Words and photos by Locke Hassett

“Long time no see!” piped Dustin from a leather chair near a window with grey morning light pouring in through the huge windows of Roam Industry, a backcountry focused bike, climb, and ski shop in Monticello, UT. He sips his coffee as we catch up and listen to Zeppelin. His kid has teeth coming in, and he is a small business owner in a small town. He is tired, but not too tired to laugh, talk, and show me around the shop.

Quicksand, Camaraderie, and Existential Optimism in Canyon Country
Words and photos by Spencer Harding

Sometimes you plan a trip months in advance and mother nature decides that the normally dry ground you planned to ride your bike will now be a raging soupy brown milkshake of a river. 

Sometimes you help a random couple push a broken down vintage Jaguar in the middle of nowhere in the rain. 

Sometimes you get stuck in waist-deep quicksand in said raging soupy brown milkshake river and have to yell for help until your friends come to rescue you covered in cockle burrs. 

Sometimes you ride your bike even though the map says you are underwater in Lake Powell. 

Sometimes you decide to drag your bike and raft upstream for some damn reason.

Sometimes your overnighter was shorter mileage-wise than an average grocery run. 

Sometimes in desperation, you make a pipe out of the darndest things and then eat it.

Sometimes you realize maybe you should have left the damn bike at home this time.

Sometimes you decide to go for a leisurely ride to see pretty fall colors on the way home, which turns into a two hour long hike-a-bike ending with Y’all running from a snowstorm.

And finally, sometimes none of these things matter because the people and places around you are so dang beautiful…

____

Follow Molly on Instagram follow Brenda on Instagram and follow Tyler on Instagram

Blazing Trails and Ripping Hardtails with Blaze Bicycles!
Photos and words by Kyle Kelley

Pierre Chastain, the owner and fabricator at Blaze Bicycles, has been building bikes for over 10 years now. I’m not sure if this makes him a veteran or a rookie in this day and age, but I’m leaning towards veteran. Pierre knows what he likes, he also knows what he is good at, and this is how I know he has his shit together. Pierre started building bikes in Venice, California but has since moved to Moab, Utah where he lives and works today. When he first arrived in Utah, he partnered with Chris Hill at Moab Classic Bike. This was the beginning of what would become the Blaze Bicycles empire – I’m not sure it’s an empire, but it sure sounds good! Today Pierre is the sole owner of the bike shop, now branded Bike Fiend, where they concentrate heavily on getting people on these beautiful bikes made in the town they love.

A fun fact about Blaze Bicycles before I continue: Firemen love Blaze Bicycles.

Bike Fiend Moab: Where the Locals get Their Fix!
Photos and words by Kyle Kelley

Moab Classic Bike was started by Chris Hill back in 2012. It began by selling refurbished bikes to Moab residents and certified dirtbag adrenalin junkies like himself. Later, Pierre Chastain, the man behind Blaze Bicycles, would come on board to refine and reimagine the way the bike shop worked and what they would sell, eventually making Moab Classic Bike more of the bike shop it is today. In 2016 Moab Classic Bike would become Bike Fiend, Pierre would take full ownership, concentrating on Blaze Bicycles and the Bikepacking community at large, all while keeping the “dirtbag” vibes alive!

The whole reason we embarked on this road trip was the Green River Rock and Mineral Festival, an event thrown in conjunction with many talented individuals including Cari’s friend Alison Jean Cole and Epicenter, a local non profit operating in town, looking to revitalize, create positive change within the community through design in order to accentuate Green River’s rural pride and pioneering spirit. Their slogan is “Rural and Proud” and it’s something that impressed me beyond words. In fact, as I’m writing this, I hope I do their efforts justice. Change through design is something that has worked in the past and Green River’s unique geographical location is prime for this experimentation. Before we jump into more, I’ll say that Green River is making mountain bike trails and I can’t wait to help out in any way I can.

It had been a wild 48 hours at White Pocket in Northern Arizona. At one point, we turned to each other and expressed, rather reluctantly, that we didn’t think it could get any better on this trip. What we saw was a geologist’s dream site and as a photographer, I couldn’t have asked for a better backdrop for a full day’s worth of meandering and analysis. It seems the crescendo had come and gone. Or at least that was our perception. We made our way back to civilization, via a myriad of deep, sandy roads. In order to plan our next few legs of the trip, we needed strong coffee, food, and wifi.

In this zone, there’s only one place to go for such modern amenities; Kanab, Utah.

Bikes. People love seeing bikes. Especially ones made by this feller, Adam Sklar. I’m going with my gut here, which is telling me to share this bike, before the story of how we got to where this unique shred sled was photographed. I’m assuming you’ve probably figured out that we spent last week in the Moab, Utah area, which is where we linked up with some people from Bozeman, Minneapolis, Tuscon, Philly and Los Angeles.

We initially rolled through Fruita, then out to Klondike Bluff, a singletrack area between Moab and Green River, to ride trails, check out dinosaur tracks, rock hound, and enjoy all that Utah has to offer. It was here, that I shot one of the wildest Sklars to date – sorry Benedict!