Sam sent in his 1990s Novara Corsa road bike for this week’s Readers’ Rides, built with a 1×8 drivetrain and plenty of beausage. Let’s check it out below!
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Radar
Swift Campout Video Challenge 2021
Our friends the SKID LIZARDS take sharing the gospel of bike-camping every bit as seriously as they take spreading the stoke of the skid! Once again, we’re collaborating with them to launch the SWIFT CAMPOUT VIDEO CHALLENGE! That’s right, Campers, it’s your time to shine! Consider this our challenge to you — we want to see your 2021 Campout experience: the good, the bad, the ugly, the hilarious.
Capture your Campout on vid — iPhone is cool, pro gear is cool too, it really doesn’t matter. We’re looking for creativity, entertainment, hilarity, and meditative scenic inspiration here. Surprise us! One talented winner will have their project shared on the Swift IG and YouTube channels, and will receive A GIANT PRIZE PACKAGE stacked with gear ‘n goodies from Snow Peak, Reyr Gear, Nocs Provisions, Kitsbow, Bedrock Sandals, Rapha, Ombraz, Six Moon Designs, Swift Adventure Co, Black Coffee Roasting, and The Radavist!
*** Edit and share footy to IGTV the week of June 21. Deadline Midnight June 27!
*** TO BE ENTERED INTO CONTEST:
Must tag @swiftindustries @skidlizards #swiftcampout #swiftcampoutvidchallenge in post!
Must be no longer than 5-mins in length!
Must meet June 27 deadline!
Bonus points for sharing to Stories, Reels, and main feed ;)
Reportage
Education Through Experiences: Bikepacking the Yellow Dirt Route onto Comb Ridge with Dzil Ta’ah Adventures
In the Navajo Nation town of Kayenta, Arizona, Jon Yazzie runs a guide company called Dzil Ta’ah Adventures. Its intent is to educate visitors on the history of the areas surrounding Kayenta through guided bike trips. This particular route is one he’s been working on for a while which parallels the mighty Comb Ridge before climbing the Sandstone Backbone via an old Mormon dugway, overlooking Kane Valley where the US government drilled into the Earth, uncovering uranium for the Manhattan Project. The result would send waves of radiation through the community for decades to come…
Radar
HOUSE BLEND: Loose Cycles, Ljubljana
House Blend is a new video project by Bombtrack:
“HOUSE BLEND is a video series presenting dedicated Bombtrack core-shops spread all over the planet. What feels better to a cyclist than to have a home, somewhere you feel comfortable with each time you’re crossing the threshold, where someone that can help to build the bike of your dreams resides, and where you can always find skilled mechanics that leave no doubt to their abilities and are always happy to help in moments when one at their wit’s end? All those shops we are presenting in this series are a focal point for a local scene, as they offer a quick coffee the moment your destination passes by, or they organize community ride-outs with like-minded individuals on the weekends – or they do both, and even more.”
This first episode features Loose Cycles, in Ljublijana.
Reportage
Impossible Route: Yuma to Bishop via Death Valley
February 28 – March 8, 2021
February 27th
Arrival in Yuma, Arizona
The Impossible Route team arrived about as prepared for it as a groom to a shotgun wedding.
We planned on paper, but this was the Mojave Desert and Death Valley; and they would definitely hold some big surprises.
Radar
It’s Swift Campout season! Swift Industries partners with Snow Peak, and The Radavist to Present the 7th Annual Swift Campout Solstice Bike Overnight
The Swift Campout is a global call to go bike-camping on June 19th and 20th, 2021. For the seventh year in a row thousands of adventurous spirits will load camping gear on their bikes for a weekend adventure. In the words of Martina Brimmer, Swift Industries head honcho and the visionary behind Swift Campout, “Here at Swift, we believe that there’s little better than spending the longest day of the year on a bicycle and the shortest night of the year sleeping under the stars. The entire Swift crew, from our stitchers to our coin-counters, is driven to delight our communities toward bicycle adventure.
This year’s featured artist is none other than bike industry mainstay Chris McNally, whose signature watercolor style conjures a dreamscape of fantasy environments with cuddly critters to explore on two wheels. The scavenger hunt theme of the new Campout microsite invites digital exploration, too! Campers are encouraged to lose themselves in Chris’s wonderland, discovering fun and informative hidden gems as they “pedal” through. In its 7th year, the Campout recipe of partnering with like-minded outdoor brands to amplify the encouragement for cyclists of all experience levels and abilities to take to the trails for a weekend of bike-camping is a timely and relevant invitation to re-engage with the community in cherished outdoor spaces. Swift continues to push the envelope as a gear brand that has put roots in a unique space between the cycling and outdoor industries–two marketplaces whose cultures did not overlap when Swift Industries entered the arena in 2008.
Swift keeps nurturing their culture by gathering a unique blend of cycling and outdoor brands such as Bedrock Sandals, Black Coffee Roasters, Kitsbow, Nocs Provisions, Ombraz, The Radavist, Rapha, Reyr Gear, Six Moon Designs, Snow Peak, and Swift Adventure Co.
Head to Swift Campout to read all the details!
Reportage
Inspired by the Ride of Norma Jean Belloff in 1948: Chariot Bike Mobile Repair Shop
Adaptability. Sometimes life provides us with circumstances that are not exactly beautiful. Somewhere among the ugly bits, though, these cracks emerge from the rubble of things seemingly falling apart. I think of that space the cracks create as portals to a different way. These chasms are opportunities if you will. And that’s just it – you must have will.
Radar
Gravel and Gratitude: Leonardo Brasil
The second installment of Gravel and Gratitude has launched, featuring Leonardo Brasil:
“Freedom, adventure and self-sufficiency. This is why I ride bikes. In a world so dominated by motor vehicles and technology, my bicycle represents simplicity, a way to see the world powered by nothing more than my legs, imagination and loads of carbs. I am a Brazilian landscape and adventure photographer living in Colorado, who is passionate about storytelling, coffee and long days in the saddle.
I grew up riding a yellow 26’ aluminum hardtail mountain bike on hard packed gravel roads through farms and old villages with my dad in Brazil. I remember feeling a strong sense of freedom by being able to ride from one town to the next. In a lot of ways, my riding style has never really changed.”
Continue reading this story at Salsa Cycles!
Reportage
The Open Road: the Orbit 360
2021, March 14th, 5:16 pm Runa, Portugal
Runa is a small village that looks like it was supposed to become a town, it just never happened. Not much to see around here.
Traversed by a fast road right through it, longing a deserted train station that never felt so vain.
All along that single file highway, tiny factories, warehouses, abandoned, emptied in a rush. Nature is invading, reclaiming those empty spaces, plants, and trees through the cracks and walls.
I press on the pedals.
A bit further down the strange fast route, a tiny park and one big tree, one massive tree, an old man walks around, talking to himself, or rehearsing what seems to be a speech or sermon, rehearsing those words while mastering their hand choreography.
Reportage
Control-Alt-Delete: Bikepacking the AZT – Plan B
When this year’s last winter storm went big (like, really big) we realized we’d have to adjust our plan to bikepack the Coconino Loop in northern Arizona. We shifted our focus South, to the Arizona Trail segments around Tucson, hoping the lower latitude and elevation would deliver the sunshine we craved.
Instead, we were greeted in Tucson with heavy rain, so we postponed the trip by a day, hoping it would blow over. When the next day also looked rainy, and kind of snowy too, we lost half our riding crew. My partner Brandon, our friend Sarah and I decided to make a start anyway.
Radar
Coming Off a Wonderful Weekend With Silver Stallion in the Navajo Nation
Things are moving a bit slow over here this morning after I spent the weekend in Arizona with the Silver Stallion team riding trails with kids and documenting a very busy Sunday in Fort Defiance at the Silver Stallion mobile bike shop pop-up in the Navajo Nation. Being present while this team worked all day in the sun and wind on its community’s bikes was a wonderful thing to witness, so expect some Reportage coming up next week. For now, I just wanted to say thank you to the entire Silver Stallion team for being such great hosts.
Radar
Readers’ Rides: Grant from Cowichan Cycles’ 1941 Schwinn Cruiser
Inspired by the recent cruisers being posted here, Grant from Cowichan Cycles sent in his 1941 Schwinn Cruiser build, along with some stellar photos for this week’s Readers’ Rides. Check out more below!
Reportage
Moksha Patam: Snakes and Ladders – Flashpacking Through the Tasmanian Mountains
Moksha Patam is a game based on traditional Hindu philosophy. It was designed to teach players the Hindu concepts of Karma and Kama: virtue and desire. The virtues of generosity, faith, and humility are the ladders that carry you up the board, upwards towards enlightenment and to the end of the game. But if you follow the path of vices—lust, anger, murder, and theft—the snakes will pull you back to the beginning of the game. Up and down. Enlightenment and rebirth. Making it to your destination or being pulled back to the start.
Reportage
An Interview with Ariel Wickham Earnhardt and the Full Circle Cycling Project
For today’s Reportage, we linked up with Bay Area artist Ariel Wickham Earnhardt to discuss her artwork, her riding, and her role in the Full Circle Cycling Project video we posted earlier this month, which supports the Coast Miwok’s work to share and preserve their culture, by selling artwork inspired by the land, cycling, and community. Read on below for an interview and a look at Ariel’s local rides…
Reportage
Mewinzha
Blow up a balloon, it’s full. Shiny even. More than anything, the balloon reveals your reflection in her taught, shiny facade. You look past the balloon; the balloon reveals your likeness.
Reportage
Workbench Review: Ratio’s 11-Speed Road to 12-Speed Eagle Drop Bar Conversion Kit
I’ve got this bike. It’s a touring bike. So when it’s loaded down with gear, it can get quite heavy. To remedy this, I built it up with an Eagle GX rear derailleur and cassette, giving me a whopping 10-50t range (the new GX goes to 52t even). To shift this range, I used a barcon shifter from Microshift because as you are well aware, SRAM doesn’t make a cable-actuated road shifter that’s compatible with their MTB mech lineup.
Now, there’s nothing wrong with the Microshift barcon. I was and have been more than pleased with this option but then Ratio, a small startup out of the UK announced a 11-speed road to 12-speed mountain upgrade kit.
I think this is one time when we can ignore that old Eddy Merckx adage “Don’t buy upgrades, ride up grades…” Sorry Eddy, Johnnie’s bike needs this.
We posted about Ratio’s kit back in October. I ordered a kit the day the post went up but didn’t get motivated to do the install until I felt like I had a reason to. A few friends here in Santa Fe are taking on an all-road tour in April, and I wanted to get this bike dialed in before that trip, so last week, I swung by Sincere Cycles with the Dreamer and Ratio’s kit with hopes of rolling around on an 11-speed road shifter working with a 12-speed mountain…
Reportage
Being Seen. Being Heard: Ride Slow, Take Photos – 1200 Miles Of Conversations Along the Butterfield Overland Mail Route
On November 1st, 2018 I rolled out to cover 1200 miles of the old Butterfield Overland Mail Route from San Francisco to Tucson, AZ. For almost a year prior the headlines had been dominated by news of things happening along America’s southern border. Child Separations. Immigration Caravans. National Guard deployments. On social media channels the rhetoric from all sides, which had already been getting increasingly strident, ramped up to a fever pitch. Normal conversations spiraled completely out of control. I found myself caught up in it all, furious at family members, friends, and strangers alike.
Radar
Broken and Coastal’s 6th Issue has Dropped with All Proceeds Supporting Ride for Racial Justice
Broken and Coastal are psyched to announce the release of their 6th print issue.
In 2020, Broken and Coastal set out to further disrupt the norm by turning their small magazine project into a platform to not only support storytellers, photographers, and designers but to give back to their community by donating the proceeds from each issue to charity.
Proceeds of the sixth edition will benefit Ride for Racial Justice, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that exists to ensure access to resources, education, and community for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) cyclists and to dismantle systemic racism so that EVERYONE can feel safe, free, and empowered to ride a bicycle.
“This is not just a publication you will want to read once. It’s a coffee-table worthy product to look back on for years to come, and a movement you can get behind,” said San Agustin.
Broken and Coastal is a studio focused on creating content that enriches the human experience. The Broken and Coastal journal is an independent print magazine for cyclists with courage — the non-traditionalists and the rule-breakers who dare to live life outdoors. A platform for change, we created this magazine to empower storytellers, inspire creativity, give to charity, support our communities and do our part in making the world a better place.
Head to www.brokenandcoastal.com to pick up Issue 06 today!
