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John’s Favorite Products of 2023 (… and Top 10 Albums!)

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John’s Favorite Products of 2023 (… and Top 10 Albums!)

We’ve had a busy year over here at The Radavist. From the return to being 100% independent, launching our Group Ride subscription service, our Rad Bazaar marketplace, and adjusting to being a small business owner again, my free time has been limited. Yet, I can thank a few products for making my job and life easier this year, along with the albums that became the backdrop for my rides, so let’s check out my Favorite Products of 2023!

A Different Kind of Coffee Routine: Espresso Forge is Owned and Run by Cyclists

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A Different Kind of Coffee Routine: Espresso Forge is Owned and Run by Cyclists

I value my coffee ritual each morning. As I’m sure, many of you do. The five minutes it takes me to make my americano/long black in the morning is a way to ease into a busy day. I’ve been using the Espresso Forge for the past year and couldn’t be happier. It’s not compact enough for on-the-bike outings, but I throw it in a bag and bring it on the road when I travel for events, car camp, or photoshoots.

Let’s take a look at this unique no-nonsense product that makes a killer shot of espresso…

Bicycle Boys Clubhouse: The Fixie Kingdom of Bangkok

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Bicycle Boys Clubhouse: The Fixie Kingdom of Bangkok

Up at the crack of dawn, we start our ride through the bustling streets of Bangkok. As the sun struggles to break through the dense smog that engulfs the city, we wrestle and weave through the maddening metropolis. People flood the streets. Market stalls pop up around us, and woks roar as they fire up and perfume the air with an explosion of rich Thai aromas. For once we won’t stop. We’re on a mission, we tell ourselves as we ignore the pull of the pad thai, and arrive at our destination: Bicycle Boys Clubhouse (BBCH).

Tucked away on Charoen Krung – the first road ever built in Thailand – Bicycle Boys Clubhouse is a breath of fresh air. A bike and coffee shop specializing in fixed/track bikes, high-end components, and kick-ass food. Surrounded by an array of artisans, specialty coffee hideouts, and a lowkey vinyl record store, the space exudes a sense of style. But BBCH is more than just a trendy bike shop: it’s a statement and a community.

Product Shout Out: Velo Canteen Stainless Double Wall Insulated Canteen

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Product Shout Out: Velo Canteen Stainless Double Wall Insulated Canteen

Coffee-carrying devices on your bike are fairly ubiquitous, yet if you’re looking for a classy-looking, and modern functioning coffee canteen, look no further than the Velo Canteen, a fluted, double-wall insulated coffee canister, explicitly designed for traditional bottle cages. John’s been enjoying this simple product for a few months and is ready to give it a quick Product Shout Out, so read on below.

A Pit Stop at Roly Poly Coffee in Bozeman: Vintage Threads, Old Trucks, and a Madrean Touring Bike

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A Pit Stop at Roly Poly Coffee in Bozeman: Vintage Threads, Old Trucks, and a Madrean Touring Bike

I still look back at my time in Austin, Texas, with the fondest of memories, thanks to the many people I met while living there. I got to know the most amazing, down-to-Earth, truly unique souls in the five years I called Austin my home. Many of which I’m still quite close with today. A few have since moved on to other cities and are doing big things in their respective new homes.

One of which is Taylor Wallace, a fella I met at Flat Track Coffee years back and have since gotten to see the life he’s made for himself in Bozeman, Montana, where I’ve been visiting for a little over a week now. Taylor owns a coffee company which he operates with his brother, Gavin, called Roly Poly Coffee. We haven’t featured many coffee shops here at The Radavist but Roly Poly, as an extension of Taylor himself is much, much more…

Velo Canteen’s Double Walled Stainless Coffee Bottle Fits in Your Bottle Cages

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Velo Canteen’s Double Walled Stainless Coffee Bottle Fits in Your Bottle Cages

If you love to roll by a local coffee shop on your way to work, sometimes on your gravel, road, or mountain bike, then you know the amount of skill it can take to navigate a city with one hand on your bars and one hand on your paper coffee cup, sloshing and spilling all over your work clothes. Well, hopefully by now you get coffee in a reusable bottle or mug but if you don’t, check out the Velo Canteen. This 13.5 ounce stainless steel, double-walled, insulated coffee bottle features a leak-proof twist-on cap, weighs a mere .45lbs (200grams), and yes, it fits in a standard bottle cage. These canteens retail for $44.95 direct from Velo Canteen.

A First Timer’s Take on Sea Otter

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A First Timer’s Take on Sea Otter

There’s dust, cold, chaos, and bikes.  Bikes everywhere. Almost more bike tracks than footprints in the thick dirt of the Laguna Seca Raceway paddock, where rows of tents and more flags than the eye can count have taken over for the weekend – this is The Sea Otter Classic.  It’s my first time not only to Sea Otter but to a bike expo- having gotten seriously into cycling during the quarantine this first wave of events post- pandemic is also my first wave of cycling events- period. I did my first bike race two months prior, and while there was an expo there it nowhere near compares to this ocean of logos.  Being a photographer in the cycling world this weekend is a chance to connect with clients I haven’t seen in a while, touch base with connections I have prior only talked to through emails and DM’s, and hug the bejeezus out of the rad gravel ladies I photographed for ‘The Leaders of Gravel’, a series here on The Radavist.

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Keeping Up With The Cartel

Keeping Up With The Cartel is a new video series following the team behind the scenes of The Good Coffee Cartel, a specialty coffee roastery, and coffee-based shop in Glasgow, Scotland. Episode 1 follows Todd and Tony as they cycle 100 miles (160km) over the wonderful Scottish countryside to visit a wholesale customer for a coffee. They pick up some friends on the way and make some classic one-take promo to keep Courtney happy.

It’s coffee and cycling, need we say more…

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Latigo Campout: Kernville Oct 2019

Our friends at Latigo Coffee hold annual Campouts in the areas around their operations on the Central California Coast. Last year’s event took them to Kernville, a veritable gravel and mountain bike mecca, for some riding, running, swimmin’, good times, music, and of course coffee! Check out their vibes-heavy video.

Austin’s CyclEast and Flat Track Coffee Continue the Bikes and Coffee Tradition

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Austin’s CyclEast and Flat Track Coffee Continue the Bikes and Coffee Tradition

Wow! It feels like yesterday I was still calling Austin my home, riding the rolling hills and ripping around on the limestone and cedar tree-lined singletrack. Those were some magical years for me, filled with a lot of amazing memories, solid friendships, and watching my friends open their own businesses, only to have them bloom and grow when I left town.

I’ve been back through Austin a few times since leaving in 2015 but never really had enough time to settle in and document the spaces of these businesses. This past trip, we had all the time in the world, so I got to work documenting my favorite of the Austin scene: the space at Cycleast and Flat Track Coffee

Good Coffee, Clean Bathrooms: Being a Breezer for Two Weeks at Angry Catfish in Minneapolis

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Good Coffee, Clean Bathrooms: Being a Breezer for Two Weeks at Angry Catfish in Minneapolis

FOREWORD: Back in May and into June, I had the pleasure of helping the crew at Angry Catfish for a couple of weeks as their summer season began to pick up. The following is a series of entries from a journal I kept during my time there. My hope is that through these vignettes you will get a glimpse of what it’s like to not only work at one of the most successful bike shops in the country, but be a bicycle salesperson and mechanic in the city of Minneappolis. Think of this as an extended shop visit, one where I get my hands dirty and experience the area and community the way those at Angry Catfish and other locals do. All photos are film, shot on 35mm and 120mm. Enjoy!

Captain + “The Most” Stoker Coffee

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Captain + “The Most” Stoker Coffee

If you’ve been to the Sea Otter Classic in the last couple years, it’s very likely that you’ve been to Captain + Stoker Coffee. It’s become quite the staple for bicycle nerds making the annual pilgrimage to the event. I’d even say that Captain + Stoker has become a home base for many people attending the Classic. Hundreds of people meet there before and after rides, they host movie screenings and even live stream races in their beautifully converted service station.

It hasn’t been easy for Tyler Ellis and Kelsey Richmond the owners of Captain + Stoker to get to this point, but from what I’ve seen each time I’ve been there, I believe they’ve both found their calling.

A Timeless Pairing at the Breadwinner Cycles Cafe

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A Timeless Pairing at the Breadwinner Cycles Cafe

Coffee and bikes. It’s a timeless pairing and one that Breadwinner Cycles, the Portland-based framebuilding operation, has embraced with their new cafe and shop. It’d been since 2015 when I got to visit their facilities, which at the time were in Tony Pereira’s house. Tony and Ira Ryan make up Breadwinner, along with some of their employees. Last year, Breadwinner opened their new shop and an adjacent cafe, along the bicycle expressway off North Williams. Since then, it’s become a hub for people meeting for group rides, or laptop-toting freelancers, and tourists like myself wanting to peek into the process that is making a Breadwinner.

Our Latigo Coffee Free Subscription Giveaway Winners

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Our Latigo Coffee Free Subscription Giveaway Winners

When Mark from Latigo Coffee and I discussed the giveaway contest we ran last week here on the site, I added in two additional subscriptions, bringing it to a total of three lucky winners, which we’ve just announced:

Of the 3x winners:
Michael Nagy – @nagyszsege
Adam Hancock – @adamshancock
Sebastian M.

Congrats and thanks to all who entered. If you’re interested in trying out Latigo Coffee, head to their website to read about their coffee subscriptions.

Win a FREE Coffee Subscription from Our Friends at Latigo Coffee

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Win a FREE Coffee Subscription from Our Friends at Latigo Coffee

I don’t know about you, but I can’t operate without a good pot of coffee in the morning. That goes for work days and camping days. Over the past few months, I’ve really enjoyed the coffee our friends at Latigo Coffee are roasting. So much so that I wanted to offer some free coffee to the readers of this website. For free.

It’s a simple email sign-up form. Just enter your name and email below. The winner will be randomly selected from this list of new email subscribers. Winner would receive a free 3-month Gift Subscription (details at Latigo), for a total of 6x shipments. Brand new coffee every time – Latigo is sourcing + roasting + shipping every 2 weeks. Best of luck to you all and if you’re always looking for new coffee, I highly suggest checking out Latigo! Enter this giveaway below.

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Cocora Velo

This takes the whole camp coffee and coffee outside thing to a whole new level!

“All The Places is a travel film series exploring our relationship with food, culture, sport and the environment. Each bikepacking trip maps out a new travel route through a region of global significance – whether it produces coffee, whiskey, music, tea, apparel, world class athletes, palm oil, or centenarians.

Colombia is world class in two things, coffee and cycling. In episode one, CocoraVelo, we look at these two important and very well-acquainted industries and as they converge in a symbiosis unlike anywhere else in the world.

This is the Napa Valley of coffee.”