The Radavist

Well, after two weeks in sunny SoCal, I’m back in even sunnier and hotter Austin. I cannot express with words how much fun I had this round in LA. We rode and rode and rode, all the while I tried to document the daily happenings going on around me. There’s much more to come but these photos didn’t really fit in with any of the future photosets, so I’m dumping them into a Randomness gallery. Enjoy!

If you have questions about any of these photos, hit me up in the comments. And thanks to everyone who made this trip such a blast for Lauren and me.

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The customers and their bikes that walk in and out of Golden Saddle Cyclery amaze me. One minute, a custom Moots, the next, an Indy Fab cross bike. It never really gets old but you quickly adapt to seeing Beautiful Bicycles everywhere you look. Then a gem like this rolls into the doorway. A 50th Anniversary Schwinn Paramount track. These frames were made at the Waterford facilities in the late 80’s and it shows. The finely-crafted lugwork, anniversary logos and bright jade paint make this track frame one Beautiful Bicycle. I took it outside, in the last moments of sunlight and tried to capture all these details.

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It doesn’t take a lot to classy up a stock build, or even a frameset. Especially when it comes to a Surly. These “do anything” bikes are great. Throw some dirt drops, barcons and knobbies and you’ve got an off-roader, camping mobile. Or roll one stock and race cross. Perhaps you just want to have a nice, balanced and smooth, reliable ride to scoot around on. The latter was the inspiration for this recent Golden Saddle Cyclery customer build.

A 1×10 is ideal for a city commute. Then, by adding a tried and true Wald basket, a Brooks, one slick Archive x Tracko bag to the mix, along with a mix of Paul Components and some solid wheels, you’ve got a stylish, balleur and relatively affordable ride.

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Like many shops, Golden Saddle Cyclery has rats. Not disease-spreading vermin, shop rats. You know, young, McDonald’s-eating, enthusiastic, kids who ride. These kids swarm en masse, consume lockrings and inner tubes, then head into the streets to get at least 12″ of air at jib spots.

Yesterday, I rolled around with Ty, Collin and Christian for a few hours. We hit some spots and the shop rats got rad. Ty’s at the ripe (old) age of 29 but that’s not stopping him from throwing down as well.

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My absolute favorite day of the #ATOC was the Mt. Baldy stage. We woke up, rode to the first KOM and hung out all afternoon in the blazing sun. After shouting and being utter jackasses all day, we took off down the descent. What a day!

While I was shooting on the top of the Rapha Mobile Cycle Club, I passed my T4 off to Jeremy Dunn, who assisted in the KOM shots. Thanks to Jeremy for getting some of the action and thanks to everyone who made that day so rad.

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I love the old Somerville-era Indy Fab bikes from the early 2000’s. When I walked past this beaut at the Golden Saddle Cyclery Champagne Brunch, I stopped in my tracks and immediately began to look it over. Who on Earth had such style? Turns out, it was Cole. Big surprise there. You’ll recognize this mustache’d face from a lot of the Rapha imagery and videos. I’ve spent some time hanging out with Cole but had never seen this steed.

After shooting a few photos of it leaned against a wall, I got Cole to take it out into the street for some 50mm lens love. Man, what a looker!

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Mr. Save the Track Bike has quite a few nice geared bikes in his stable. As co-owner of Golden Saddle Cyclery, Kyle’s spent a lot of time pulling together a classic vibe for the shop. Sitting in the racks is this gorgeous 3Rensho road bike, built with Campy Ergo. When it comes to classic lines and Italian-influence, 3Rensho road bikes are some of the nicest vintage steeds available, which is why I was surprised to hear that he’s thinking of selling it…

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This whole trip has been a blast and what better way to end these escapades than with a party at the Golden Saddle Cyclery? As the AMGEN Tour of California finished up in LA, the city rejoiced. Over at GSC, the party was going strong and Hennie, the Rapha Mobile Cycle Club served up the coffee as Kyle and company made brunch.

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The closer we got to Los Angeles during the AMGEN Tour of California, the more fun the days became. We woke up bright and early in LA and drove out to Azusa. From there, we parked and rode up towards Baldy. Words cannot express how much fun this ride was. We climbed as high as we could before the course started to get closed down, totaling around 35 miles and 4,600′ of elevation.

Hennie, the Rapha Mobile Cycle Club was parked at the first KOM, so our group arrived and the party had already been raging. I can’t describe the afternoon, so I’ll let the photos do the talking!

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Edit: I’ve added the Previous posts for the #ATOC below…