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Photo by Brian Vernor
Living in the Great Plains of the US means you spend a lot of time riding gravel roads and it just so happens, people take that very seriously these days. Today was the Gravel Road World Championships in Lincoln, Nebraska and Brian Vernor has some great photos up on his Flickr from last year’s event. I’d love to make it out and “compete” one year.
Check out Brian Vernor’s full Flickr set here.
EDIT: Congrats to Austin Horse for winning the Gravel Worlds!
Some scenes evoke a certain resonance within our subconscious… ok, whatever, go out and find some dirt this weekend to rip around on.
Tools of the trade:
Yashica T4 / Pro400H
Over the years, some of these guys have become good friends of mine and I’ve enjoyed watching their lives change in the time that the Rapha Continental has been around. Since its inception, the Continental not only influenced the lives of the members, but undoubtably cycling as a whole.
Watching this video from the 2013 Pacific Northwest Rapha Continental ride, all I can think about is doing something similar with a group of close friends. The PNW really is gorgeous.
See more incredible photos at the Rapha Flickr and read Jeremy Dunn’s thoughts on the ride at Rapha.
My childhood winters and summers were spent on the Canadian border in Vermont. To this day, a majority of my dad’s side of the family lives in the Green Mountains and their foothills (Vermont actually translates to green mountain in French).
After a 17 hour drive yesterday, my mom, Lauren and I arrived at my aunt’s house. She lives on the top a hill that as we were driving up it last night, all I could think about was bombing down it and consequently riding back up on my Geekhouse Mudville.
This morning, like an excited kid on Christmas, I kitted up and headed down to the main road before turning around and climbing back up. My plan was to do it four times, but neighboring hunting dogs kept me from more than two intervals.
These country roads are amazing. Most of which are closed during the winter months and are straight out of an “epic” ride video. Even though I’ve only got two days up here in the mountains, I’m planning on sneaking a ride in tomorrow morning before heading to Burlington on Friday for the JDRF ride with my mom and brother.
Remarkably, I’ve got wifi in the middle of nowhere, so I’ll do my best to update the site as events warrant.
As a side-note: I’m really digging the RX100!
If you enjoy riding up and down ranges in the ‘wood, or tearing down fire roads, then Santa Cruz is heaven. There’s even great road riding but this trip, we stuck to the trails. USCSC has a ton of trails on its campus, all of which cross, zig zag, ascend and descend around neighboring systems. When I initially headed down from SF with Brian Vernor, my cross bike was in the car, which would have been a fine vehicle for the day but I made a few phone calls and ended up demo’ing an Ibis Ripley instead. Let’s just say the day was probably a lot more enjoyable (hopefully I’ll be able to review that bike extensively in the future).
Garrett from Strawfoot, Vernor and I did a series of loops, ranging from relatively technical, loose and sandy descents to wide-open, no fucks given blast-fests down through Wilder. None of us had a Garmin on our bikes, so I have no idea how long we were out there, or how far we traveled, but my legs told me around 30 ish miles and in trails, that’s a long afternoon, especially when Santa Cruz was spiking into the 90’s and no, that’s not a reference to the vernacular style of the town.
Santa Cruz was heaven for those few hours and people often ask why I don’t shoot photos of the more technical, beautiful singletrack when I ride MTB. It’s because we’re going too fast and no one wants to stop! Except when someone wrecks…
My extended family grows every time I visit San Francisco. They’re always there to party, ride and pause for photos (usually I actually have to chase them for photos). The day I got into SF during my last stay, I met up with a group of fit fellas for a little road and a lotta dirt, right over the Golden Gate Bridge. Hawk Hill is the staple ride for many cyclists in SF. There are trails, singletrack and roads literally snaking all the way up to the top. Most of us were on cross bikes and a few were on road bikes. We all had fun, regardless! Check out more photos in the Gallery.
Tools of the trade:
Yashica T4
Fuji Pro400h
Here’s an unexpected piece from the NY Times on the rising popularity of gravel grinders like the Dirty Kanza 200. Worth the watch for sure!
Photos by Craig Lindner
Because of a huge scheduling snafu on my part, I couldn’t make it to the Almanzo 100 or the Royal 162 this year. People are saying that it was a brutal ride and Craig’s photos are striking proof. Over 100 miles and around 7,000′ on gravel is no joke and the Royal 162 looked like a brute as well.
I hate to say it but “next year”… til then, check out all of Craig’s photos at his Flickr.
Ok, brace yourselves here. This bike is absolutely stunning. It’s no secret that Jordan Hufnagel made some Beautiful Bicycles in his days as a frame builder and I feel like in the last few months of his torch time, the bikes he built were so full of class and character. Ty’s cross, his own porteur and Jesse’s “Fire Road Racer”.
When you are from LA, you’re very familiar with the various fire roads and singletrack off-shoots. After spending time on his road bike, carefully descending down these rutted and rocky descents, Jesse decided it was time for a more fitting vehicle… See more in Gallery!
You’ve been waiting for the chance to ride. Get out there this weekend…
It’s the sort of tale that is the segue into a horror movie. A few mates take to the ‘Strayan wood to celebrate one of them turning forty years young. They don’t have a support car, one (ok two) of them has a camera and all hell breaks loose. Right? Well, not hardly. No hell broke loose, no hillbillies made us squeal like pigs and no thirty foot crock ate our tour guide.
In fact, we all made it out unscathed, including my film…
Tools of the trade:
Yashica T4
Fuji Neopan 400
Previously:
MelburnOut: Shifter Dan’s 40th Birthday Bush Bash Day 02
MelburnOut: Shifter Dan’s 40th Birthday Bush Bash Day 01
Commuting, for most anyway, can be a fairly boring and mundane experience, even on a bike. But for those who grew old in the wood, taking the “long way” into work as important as a cup of coffee. My Melbourne mornings usually began slightly hungover, no coffee or breakfast (sorry, brekkie) and immediately hopping onto the bike to ride into the city with Dan from Shifter Bikes. We’d always end up in the same place, but we never took the same route. The Yarra Trails quickly became my new favorite locale in Melbourne.
Check out more narrated photos in the Gallery!
Tools of the trade:
Yashica T4
Fuji Neopan 400
Yes, these roads are as beautiful as they look here. Except, I heard one of the teams died at the hands of a hungry pack of drop bears? Check out more at Rapha.
Few can narrate like Andy from FYXO. I can only imagine the stories he’ll tell his daughter when she is all grown up. My recount of Shifter Dan’s Birthday Bush Bash Day 02 pales in comparison to that of Fyxomatosis’ efforts.
Head over to Fyxomatosis now to check out more great photos and a pretty great ride recap. I already miss that place…
The wood is a magical place. It turns fat bloggers into slightly less fat raconteurs. It clears your head, makes your chest pound, legs throb and palms sweat. You bond with your mates and let the beauty of nature envelop you. The first day of Shifter Dan’s 40th Birthday Bush Bash set the stage for the second…
After a much-needed 12-hours of sleeping, I awoke in my Courthouse Hotel bunk bed to the call of the Magpie and the ruckus of Cockatoos around 7am. We showered, packed and went over our bikes. Which, after the rutted, bumpy and dusty descent into Jamieson, were in disrepair. A little bit of lube and a quick tightening of the bolts and we were ready to take on the second day of Dan’s 40th Birthday Bush Bash.
The course this year was the reverse of last year. We left climbing over the Great Dividing Range and ended up on the very track that caused so many flats on the previous ride, but this time we were climbing up, rather than flying down. Our spirits were bright, our legs were loose and all we could do was soak in the sights and sounds of the bush.
We finished the day at 76 miles and over 14,500′ of elevation gain. There was only one thing, wait, a few things that I wanted after the ride: a bottle of ginger beer, a coffee and a pair of mushroom and steak pies!
Enclosed is the ride report for the first leg of this 19.33 MP/C* ride.
Check out a bunch of narrated photos in the Gallery!
Photos by Andy White
Many years ago, Andy had his first love affair with the ‘Wood. You can read about it here (seriously, do it). I remember the first time I read that ride report. My mind was blown. “Those Aussies are insane”. This year was the first time a large group went on the ride and it won’t be the last time. Before you read about some brand claiming the roads are their own, go out and do it yourself. These roads are yours for the taking.
If you need any more motivation, head over to FYXO for the full checklist of how to get into the ‘Wood as well as more incredible photos.
Great photos Andy. Let’s do it again in October.
Let’s rewind a week or so ago. I had just “escaped” from China and landed in Melbourne via a hellish flight, filled with turbulence, a pesky, smelly neighbor and suspect food. Andy picked me up and after noting an “off smell” (me), he asked what I felt like doing. What came out of my mouth never felt more right: “a ride”…
You know, like 30k or so. Just a pleasant spin around the ‘hood. With FYXO, there’s no such thing as short and sweet. We went here, then there and ended up on Bald Spur road, one of the many areas that was ravaged by the Black Saturday bushfires of 2009. Trees stripped of their leaves, half-charred houses, melted water towers littered the roadside.
It was around 60 miles and 6,000′ or so. I didn’t have my Garmin, so my legs, the elapsed time and post-ride appetite were the gauge. To think that this was all in Andy’s backyard…
Check out some narrated photos in the Gallery.
Tools of the trade:
Yashica T4 (the last photo is my Leica M7 with Zeiss 28mm)
Neopan 400
“Aged many years in the wood”. How many years? Well, like everything in Straya, there’s a story for that. Daniel John Hale has seen his share of saddle time in the years he’s spent on Earth. An ex-pro mountain biker, owner of the Best Bike Shop in the World and one of the first solo riders to take on this particular area of Australian Bush, Dan’s no stranger to the wood.
Ten years ago, he did a similar ride to what we just completed this past weekend but instead of two days, it took him four. Rather than ride a mountain bike or a geared bike, he took his singlespeed Monster Cross. No GPS, no satellite phone and no idea where he was going, save for a map he bought on the side of the road. Later, he, Dave, Scooter and Andy began to tackle these rides annually. That’s 10 years in the wood of Upper Yarra, familiarizing themselves with the ‘bush, the many off-shooting tracks and trails.
Last year, a very similar ride changed me as a cyclist. It took the 215 pound me and slapped it around before spitting (i.e. shitting) it back out. I learned a lot in two long days, but left Melbourne wanting more. When I mentioned returning this year, Andy proposed me landing in for Dan’s 40th. As Andy put it, “we’ll do another ride”…
I’m now around 185 pounds and have been putting in serious saddle time, so the anxiety wasn’t as bad. Until he showed me the route. Day 01, 100 miles, 16,000′ of climbing. BUGGA!
A total of nine riders started, seven finished. Andy’s brother made it up the first climb before returning home and Scooter, one of the original badass couriers in Australia (and aforementioned Upper Yarra riders) only had time for Woods Point and back. That left Dan, Andy, Joe, Dave, Reuben, Mal and myself for the haul… Enclosed is the ride report for the first leg of this 26.6 MP/C* ride.
Check out a bunch of narrated photos in the Gallery!
