The Radavist

… and it was so sketchy to photograph!

… I’m off to the desert to chase Team Dream around on a photoshoot.

… not enough for a gallery, but they’ve gotta see the light of the display! Enjoy more below.

Here’s a few photos from this morning’s TGIFGSC Free Coffee Friday ride. Remember, if you’re in Los Angeles, these rides leave every Friday morning from Intelligentsia coffee on Sunset avenue at 7:30am sharp. Follow Golden Saddle on Instagram for which bike to bring, as they announce each Thursday.

It’s time to pack up, clean up and drive up to Salt Lake City for NAHBS. Thanks for sharing your ripping trails with us, Moab.

… we’re staying shreddy! Follow along on Instagram.

… for a pre-NAHBS shred in Moab with some framebuilder friends. Expect a few pre-NAHBS teasers to pop up before the coverage engulfs the site again this year, as well as plenty of riding photos. If you’re in Moab, drop a line!

I recently got Cari an All-City Mr. Pink. She really loves her Elephant Bikes NFE but wanted something zippier to ride around town and go on longer rides with not only me but her girlfriends who often organize ladies-only road rides. I knew if I left it to her to buy a new bike, she’d never do it, as someone who prefers to be frugal and spend her money on experiences, rather than possessions. Even though I see bicycles as vessels for said experiences.

Anyway, her Mr. Pink showed up to Golden Saddle, it got built up, I swapped out her saddle and gave her some special edition Yanco bags I had made from the California Sage pattern. We spun around town a few times before ramping up to a big, tough ride.

Yesterday we rode through the Hollywood Hills, up to Mulholland Drive and across the Santa Monica Mountains to Topanga, before dropping down to the coast for some food. After meeting a friend for lunch, we pedaled down to Santa Monica and took the Expo subway line back to Silver Lake. Our ride came in at 40 miles and 4,000′. It was the longest ride Cari’s ever been on, and surely offered some challenges for someone who’s used to riding a 27.5″ x 2.0″ tire on rocky dirt roads.

Now her biggest challenge is finding clothing that isn’t “overtly bike geeky.” One step at a time…

At a certain point, even I become inundated with so many balleur rides rolling around, but sometimes a project pops up that catches my eye. Max’s new Rock Lobster S&S road bike is one of those moments. I can’t wait to see this one built up. It definitely needs some rasta components!

We haven’t seen Smokey Bear this stoked in a while! When the fire danger is low, it’s a good thing, especially for the dirt. This morning I showed Connor around our local hobo trails on a quick jaunt. I’m always excited to show out of towners our local rides.

… this is all that matters. Riding whatever kind of bike you want, however you want. The end of this day in particular was beautiful!

Photo by Cameron Best

Locke’s story yesterday featured a snippet about how Cameron was shooting a photo of a rattlesnake (Prarie Rattlesnake) when it leapt from its coil in a defensive strike. A lot of these desert dwellers are coming out of their dens already, so make sure you don’t tread on them, and it’s best to keep your distance. Rattlesnakes can strike over half the length of their bodies and some of them grow up to 74″.

I get a lot of emails, messages, and comments about shooting photos while riding bikes and over the next few weeks, I’ll be doing my best to address them using Instagram’s “Stories” format. Yesterday, I took to the Verdugo Mountains in LA County to share the process for shooting landscapes with a 90mm lens and a mirrorless camera. These stories are still live for another few hours on the Radavist Instagram, so check them out. Next up, I’ll be discussing the options for carrying a camera on the bike, which is part of a gallery I’m working on this week so tune in! Unfortunately, “stories” aren’t viewable on your desktop, so you’ll have to look on your mobile device.

I’m so moved by this studio photo and that doesn’t happen all too often. Check out more at Hypebeast. If you don’t know who Bill Cunningham is, or was, rather, check out the documentary on Hulu. Thanks for sharing, Julian!

Spring is on the way!

Hey, did you hear? California is getting rain. Highways are disappearing, landslides are covering roads, but the mountains are rippppping. After a full week of riding in Utah, I took the rest of the week off but the mountains are calling yesterday so I hollered at Colin to go ride Strawberry peak, which did not disappoint.

In the beginning of 2017, Patagonia penned a critical, yet warranted blog post about Utah and its connection with the outdoor industry. Then, last week, literally the day we got to St. George, Gov. Gary Herbert reached out to the Trump Administration, requesting the monument status of Bear’s Ears National Monument be lifted, allowing mineral and oil extraction to take place, resulting in Patagonia flexing its Outdoor Retailer muscles…

In addition to this blow, the BLM has opened the land lease on the original Red Bull Rampage site in Virgin, Utah. After some commentary on Instagram, @ParkCityMountainBiking dropped a bit of insight on us:

“There’s a lot of folks here in Utah fighting the good fight, but we can’t do it alone and especially need those with a prominent voice and platform to push these issues to the forefront. Here are a couple of good places to start:

1. Public Comment on leasing of BLM lands (specifically the old Rampage site) – You can also use this link from the Sierra Club.

2. Defend Bear’s Ears National Monument (Use zip code 84032). Email is nice, but phone calls are better.”

So yes, Utah needs our help. If you have ever stepped foot on public land there, or taken part of your own kind of Rad Atavism, please take a few minutes and read the above two links. It’s gut wrenching to read headlines like this, but as cyclists and lovers of the outdoors, we need to do our share. Thank you.

We decided to stay in Utah a bit longer, but don’t fret, there’s Reportage coming through all week. You can also follow us on Instagram to see more.