The Radavist

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.

Our friends at Swift Industries have continued their virtual Stoked Spoke Adventure Series in a pandemic period correct Zoom format. The latest episode features a panel of BIPOC guests with stories aplenty. Give this one a watch or play it in the background while you work at your desk…

Our friends at Giro have sponsored a new collective of athletes and brands that stand united in a common goal to introduce new audiences to cycling. Read the full press-release on this group below!

In its first year, Dead Man Gravel is the newest race to join the gravel racing circuit. Today, the DMG registration is open for women and BIPOC participants – and general registration opening on March 23rd for everyone else. The event is scheduled for July 31, 2021 in Nederland, Colorado. This unique event strives to be both inclusive – as organizers believe everyone should feel welcome, regardless of experience, race, gender, or sexual identity/orientation – and challenging – as very few other races have as much climbing, technical sections, and sustained elevation.

To strike a balance between challenging and inclusive, Dead Man Gravel will feature three courses: the 66 mile Tungsten loop, the 41 mile Gold loop, and the 25 mile Silver loop, providing three distinct experiences for riders of all levels. 

DMG is also partnering with Ride for Racial Justice and Shark Tooth Cycling, two non-profits doing incredible work in bringing new, and typically disadvantaged, athletes into the sport by helping to increase awareness and reduce barriers to entry.

Register today if you’re BIPOC, or female at Dead Man Gravel.

In the summer of 2017, Lael Wilcox rode all of the major roads in Alaska, totaling 4,500 miles on mixed pavement and gravel. Lael is fourth-generation Alaskan. This is where she began endurance riding and her goal to get to know her home state.

In 2020, Lael went back to Alaska with her girlfriend Rue, a photojournalist, to ride together and document her project of riding all of the roads.

This scholarship is intended to enable another woman to design and ride her own 1,000 mile Alaskan adventure in the summer of 2021. This scholarship is open to a woman (including femme, trans and non-binary) of any age with any level of bicycle touring experience. We are looking for positive energy and a strong desire to experience the remote roads of Alaska and have some fun.

The recipient of the scholarship will receive a Specialized Diverge bicycle, Revelate Designs bikepacking bags, PEARL iZUMi apparel, a premium subscription to Komoot, Easton wheels, a Wahoo ELEMNT ROAM GPS, Big Agnes camping equipment, Rene Herse tires, a year subscription to Bicycle Quarterly, Trail Butter, and a $1,500 travel stipend provided by Easton.

Prepare a digital application based upon the questions on the following page and send to Lael Wilcox and the selection team at laelridesalaska@gmail.com no later than February 6, 2021. Provide your responses as the text of an email. The recipient of the scholarship will be announced April 5, 2021.

The scholarship selection team includes Lael Wilcox, previous scholarship recipients Kailey Kornhauser and Brooke Larsen, Abigale Wilson from PEARL iZUMi, Cari Carmean from The Radavist, and Natsuko Hirose from Bicycle Quarterly.

Head to LaelWilcox.com to apply for this scholarship!

Kialani Hines knows while there is always space for a shreddy edit, focusing on her riding, she decided to take “Validation” in another direction:

“My goal with the short video is to share something I’ve been passionate about, help welcome all to something that has created a safe space for me, and to encourage new faces to fall in love with what makes them happy (hopefully that is mountain biking!). It’s been an incredible experience and privilege creating my vision with Heather Young and Grow Cycling Foundation. I hope that it inspires all to follow whatever path they envision for themselves.”

What a cool project from Giro and Vernor!

“The bike world is undeniably insular. It’s always been divided into categories, but as we add more subcategories, riders become more confined to fitting into their neat little boxes of road, cyclocross, gravel, XC, enduro, downhill, freeride, BMX, street. Riders pick a box and stick with it, rarely acknowledging that the others exist.

Andrew Jackson is out to break down those barriers.”

PEARL iZUMi‘s Go Connection series features stories from all over and this Dig Episode two takes us to the Eastern Band of the Cherokee in North Carolina:

“Cherokee, North Carolina, is home to the people of the Eastern Band of the Cherokee. The Tribe took advantage of their land’s beauty to generate an eco-tourism economy and improve their people’s health through an active lifestyle. They have created a network of trails to enjoy the beauty of their land while riding, hiking and running. The Fire Mountain Trails is a little over 10 miles of trail purpose-built by Trail Dynamics. With wooden features, berms and jumps, any rider of any ability can get out to get connected to their natural world.

These trails have opened the door to the world of mountain biking many only thought about or didn’t know. For some, riding Fire Mountain keeps them focused on progression and improvement not only on the trail tread but in their daily lives. These trails have been a catalyst for reconnecting to generations of stories and harmony with the land.”

Cheech, founder of Casa Verde and partner with Matt at Crust Bikes reflects where she’s going in her life…

Our good friend Namz wrote a beautiful piece for Bedrock Sandals’ blog. Here’s an excerpt:

“Thunder Moon of July:
-I’m smiling a lot because my friend Sam is observing this one with me, all the way in another state. We both listen to N.K. Jemisin’s “The City We Became” to deepen our bond.
-Learn that the opposite of depression is not happiness but playfulness and remind myself to be a little more playful.
-Decided on wearing a linen cycling jumpsuit which allowed for airflow and a breeze all day (and I thought I looked really cute) but still wearing clipless cycling shoes and suffered pruned up, soggy feet at the end of the day.”

Head on over to Bedrock Sandals to read the whole piece!

Filmed by Bike is pushing for a substantial BIPOC filmmaker grant to help Supporting Black, Indigenous and all People of Color tell their bicycle stories via video:

“We spend eight months of the year digging into the far-reaching corners of the internet in search of the world’s best bike movies. (Really, it’s not as scary of a place as you might think it is.) You know what we’ve learned over the years? The world is dreadfully devoid of films created by or about BIPOC.

That’s not to say the films aren’t out there, it’s just to say they are rare and precious gems – the quantity of which does not reflect the population of people who are passionate about riding bikes. We know there are many barriers to filmmaking, and funding is a huge barrier. So we decided to do our part to help bring more representation to the world of bike movies. We hope you’ll join us by applying for a grant, spreading the word about this program, and making a donation today.”

See more at Filmed by Bike and make a donation here if you have the means.

If you’re a BIPOC cyclist, who enjoys bikepacking, or perhaps you’d like to give it a try…

The BIPOC Bike Adventure Grant is Bikepacking Roots’ grant program created to help reduce the barriers to bike adventure for BIPOC individuals.  The BIPOC Bike Adventure Grant will support recipients by helping fund fun and empowering bike adventures.

Apply between now and November 8th. We anticipate requiring ~4-5 weeks to review and follow up with all applicants, meaning we plan on announcing the recipients and their planned adventures in mid-December.

Qualified applicants are those who
-have any level of experience riding a bicycle.
-would benefit from support in order to pursue a specific bike adventure.
-identify as BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and people of color).
-live in the United States.
-are any gender identity, age, class, body size, or ability.

Proposals can include requests of $500 to $3,000+ for the autumn 2020 grant cycle. The next grant cycle will open in late spring of 2021. Some equipment support will also be available as needed.

Apply now at Bikepacking Roots!