Our ride today was rad and very tough but we still stopped for some roostin’, GSC style.
#dirt
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Radar
Mudfoot: The Dirty Hundo Cyclocross
The Hump Hundo was such a rad time that the guys from Mudfoot are throwing the Dirty Hundo Cyclocross edition. In typical Mudfoot fashion, it’ll be a fun, but tough ride. 90 miles, 9,000′ climbing and 35 miles of dirt. We did part of this ride the other day and it’s amazing.
Head to Mudfoot to find out how you and two of your friends can ride.
Radar
It’s Been Real Nice in Los Angeles
…Perfect for riding and sometimes, hiking. Excuse the lack of updates today, the weather has been insane! Keep tabs on my Instagram @JohnProlly for more updates and I’ll be posting a bunch of rad shit next week!
Radar
Meet the Blackburn Rangers
Blackburn‘s got a great vignette up featuring some of their rangers, all with various cycling backgrounds.
Reportage
The Last Frames
When you shoot a lot of film, you end with a few frames left over from time to time. Some of these photos are from my AWOL ride, others from MTB trails in Austin and a few randoms. None really mean much together but as individual frames, they tell their own story. Check out narrated photos in the Gallery!
Radar
The World Needs a Soulcraft Dirtbomb
With all this talk about “adventure” bikes, or “gravel grinders”, all I want to do it move back to old school rigs. Away from talks of hydraulic discs or 1×10 drivetrains and onto cantis, with MTB drivetrains. While it’s easy to overlook brands like Soulcraft in the modern age, they have been killing it for over 10 years with bikes like the Dirtbomb.
Don’t think cantis are a feasible option? Ride more. Learn to control your bike. Focus less on the details of what the industry sells you and more on the experience. This bike will rip apart your trails and potentially win MTB races.
I’m not sure what spawned this post, because honestly, the Dirtbomb has been around for a while. Actually, that’s a lie, I do know what spawned this, but more on that later…
Radar
The 2014 PiNP Calendar: February
This is the second layout of the 2014 PiNP Calendar, entitled “AWOL”. The camera and location are noted on the bottom left of the document.
I don’t know about you, but I’m getting antsy to go on another ride like this. California has many hidden roads and we barely scratched the surface in the Diablo Range. Out of all the photos from that photoset, this is the one most people requested in high-res.
For a high-res JPG, suitable for print and desktop wallpaper, right click and save link as – 2014 PiNP Calendar: February
Please, this photo is for personal use only!
Radar
Viking Trail Blazer Patch in Stock
It ain’t easy hitting trails with a Viking Blazer. Remember: if you aren’t crashing, you’re not going fast enough. Drop one of these on your backpack, bar bag, saddle bag or jean jacket. Artwork by Kyler Martz!
Patches are 3″ wide, iron-on, crafted with care in the USA and will cost you $7 shipped to the USA and $8 shipped worldwide. Expect shipments to leave Austin in two weeks!
Sorry, sold out!
Reportage
The Yonder Journal Mythical State of Jefferson Brovet
Flashback to July. I was in considerably good shape, coming off a lot of base miles in the early spring with China and Australia, back to back. After those two countries, I kept pushing myself to be a more fit cyclist. Why? Because I knew this Brovet was coming up and I had something to prove. Both to myself and my friends, who had heckled me incessantly since my bonking in Pittsburgh. Let’s just say, I was ready.
My equipment was dialed, my fitness was in-line and aside from a MTB wreck the week before, I was in tip top shape. The initial talks of the route had numbers like 250 miles and over 30,000′ of climbing. After we completed the route, it turned out to be around 235 miles and 18,000′. Still, no small feat.
Look, it was hot, tough and with around 10 people in our group, it was the largest Brovet ride yet. Was it fun? You bet your ass! It’s amazing how enjoyable rides like this can be when you’ve got the fitness. You’ve already read Yonder’s report, so here are my photos from the ride, in as accurate of an order as I can recall.
Radar
That Was Fun!
I hope you had a great weekend. We sure did! Nothing like camping out, doing a big ride and getting some winter-time swimming in. I shot a bunch of film, which I’ll pick up later this week, until then, check out some of my favorites from Instagram and for more, look at the #SuperBroWeekend hashtag.
Radar
Gone Campin’
The winter is the time of year to camp in Austin. Some of the Beat the Clock Cycling club guys and I will be spending the weekend camping and riding a nice loop I put together in the middle of hill country. While I doubt I’ll be maxed out in gearing like I was in this photo, there will be a lot of climbing and a lotta dirt. I can’t wait!
Regular posting will commence on Sunday but I’ll be posting to Instagram @JohnProlly all weekend!
Radar
FYXO: Kumo 650B Trailbreaker
Photo by Andy White
FYXO was busy photographing bikes during the Tour Down Under. One of which included this Kumo 650B Trailbreaker travel bike. Paul Racer Mediums, Brooks Cambium, Patebury leather and those bars! See more details at FYXO!
Radar
All This Talk About Australia
Has me missing it! This day was so incredible on so many levels. I was excited to be riding new roads and we ended up rescuing a Wedgetail Eagle. These photos are from a lost roll of film I just found from Australia. Read up more on this ride, right here.
Reportage
Trek Singletrack 970: Benedict’s Trek 970 650b Shred Sled
The 970, one of the last made in the USA, lugged MTB frames ever produced by Trek. In recent years, there has been a resurgence in interest for these bikes. Especially seeing as how a XO-1 can set you back a pretty penny. They’re Wisconsin-made, rugged and actually pretty lightweight, considering. Frames can be found on eBay for around $200.
Reportage
Going AWOL in the Diablo Range
When Erik and I met at Eurobike last year, we talked about doing a ride to celebrate the Specialized AWOL release. Originally, we talked about Oregon, then LA, but after some research, we realized there were plenty of roads, tracks and trails literally in SF’s backyard.
With the help of Jared from Riv Bike, Erik began to think about a three day route from SF to the Diablo Range, Morgan Territory, Henry Coe and finally, into Morgan Hill where we’d share our story and watch the premier of the Transcontinental film. It seemed like an achievable goal. We’d pack for camping, which included cold nights and mornings and most importantly, we’d take our time.
Rather than actually planning our route, we decided to take trail maps and meander a bit off the beaten path. Digital maps don’t have all the trails marked and some of the current maps of the Diablo range revealed a path none of us had taken. We were set.
Unfortunately, as it tends to go, unexpected elements came into the equation and our plans changed. At first, I was pretty upset about it, seeing as how I was planning on pulling a few stories out of our ride, but after reviewing my photos, I decided it made for a good story…
Part of what the Specialized AWOL project represents is an escape, a desire to get out of your normal ride routine and try something new. Taking a chance if you will. While we didn’t complete our ride, we had fun and saw some incredible displays of color as Mother Nature impressed us all.
Seriously, the sunrise the second day rivals all in my past experiences…
Read on in the Gallery!
There’s more to come, including my review of the AWOL Transcontinental Limited Edition and a Beautiful Bicycle post on Erik’s own bike.
Radar
Well That Was Fun
Apologies for the lack of updates today, I was unable to spend any time online and spent the afternoon working on the story and photos from the weekend. All I’ll say right now is that I had a blast, even though our original plans got shortened a bit.
More to come, including a bunch of rad photos, a review of the AWOL and photos of Erik’s mad-peacock AWOL.
Radar
Cold Rolled Chapter 04
The holidaze got the best of me and I slipped on posting the latest Cold Rolled videos. Here’s chapter 04, which I might add, is pretty damn rad:
“Chapter Four is a humorous documentary segment featuring Noquemanon Trails Network lead trailbuilders Mike Brunet and Matt Belic that traces the thought process behind creating dedicated snow singletrack and the physical process of fabricating a special groomer to keep Marquette’s abundant snowfall ridable.”
I wonder how much of this has changed with the onset of the Polar Vortex?
Previously:
Cold Rolled Chapter 03
Cold Rolled Chapter 02
Cold Rolled Chapter 01
Reportage
Upper Chilao Trail Session
I have to admit, it was a little weird traveling with my Santa Cruz Tallboy LTC instead of a cross bike this last trip to Los Angeles. Riding mountain takes it out of you. There isn’t the same kind of physical recovery or relaxation that you get on a road bike. No zoning out. You’ve gotta be there 100% of the time, or there are consequences and I knew we’d be hitting it hard every day.
Apprehension aside, the first ride we took on was Upper Chilao in the Angeles Forest, off the 2. I’d been up in this neck of the woods before on my road and cross bikes, but never on a mountain bike. I knew what to expect for the most part: upper altitude desert / arid riding. There would be no mud, but rather rocks, sandy switchbacks and fast, technical descents.
On the ride was Brandon, Sean from Team Dream, Kyle, Ty from GSC and Lyle from Mission Workshop. That’s three cross country bikes, a fatbike and two Tallboy LTCs. We were prepared, already hitting the flask and ready to roll, but first, a small climb up to the Rosenita Saddle…
Check out more in the Gallery!
