… Next week we’ve got one hell of a Ride Reportage to share. You can see a few teasers at @TheRadavist.
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Showing Found in the Mountains LA
Morgan and Stephanie from Found in the Mountains are here in Los Angeles and over the next few weeks, we’ll be showing them around to the local rides and maybe we’ll even do another group ride or two. While our touring couple has seen much of the West Coast so far, I don’t think they were prepared for the coastal desert that is Los Angeles, in the middle of the summer.
We’ll be riding early in the mountains to keep cool and laying low during the heat of the day. Expect lots of coverage from their trip to hit the site next week!
Reportage
We Met Found in the Mountains for Margaritas and Fish Tacos
With group rides in Los Angeles, ya never know what you’re going to get. As I was packing the night before for this ride, my girlfriend asked me how many people I thought would show up. My response: either 20 or 4. In my experience, the latter is easier to manage, especially when rides like this include around 30 miles of inner-city road riding, yet I have wrangled enough cats to know how to deal with larger groups as well.
While half of this ride is indeed on sealed roads, the 30 that is on dirt is some of the finest Los Angeles has to offer. Dirt Mulholland takes you in the Santa Monica Mountains and intersects miles upon miles of singletrack and fire roads. You could literally spend days riding in the mountains, provided you’ve got access to water.
Four people showed up in the morning. Four new faces, two of which were tourists, who happened to find themselves in LA this weekend. We met up for coffee and left 15 minutes behind schedule to allow any Saturday morning stragglers to roll up. Confident with our group’s size, we headed out through Hollywood and up Nichols Canyon Road, a climb that is often hectic during the week, yet at 7:30am on a Saturday was quite peaceful. With our heads down and in a paceline, we snaked our way to the dirt and that’s where the fun began.
After casually spinning through the mountains, we dropped down to the Pacific Coast Highway via Topanga Canyon HWY 27 and met up with Found in the Mountains at the Reel Inn for fish tacos, margaritas, and stories.
The ride home is always interesting. If you’re visiting LA as a cyclist, it’s a great way to see the places you’ll probably never want to visit again. This includes: Beverly Hills, Melrose, Rodeo Drive and most of Hollywood. As we zig-zagged our way back to the east side, I found it funny how our caravan of cyclists were keeping pace with luxury cars, busses, motorcycles and other vehicles, once again proving that the bicycle is always the best form of transportation in a city.
Transportation and a vehicle for socializing along 60 miles of fun on a Saturday morning.
Radar
The Rose Mountain Rumble in New Hampshire
Ever heard of Lyndeborough, NH? Me neither. Well, it’s home to the Rose Mountain Rumble, a fundraiser ride with all proceeds go to local conservation efforts. There are multiple mile options, set up for various levels of expertise. Check out more information at Rose Mountain Rumble.
Reportage
Karerfornia – Thomas Larsen Røed and Hans Petter Hval
Editor’s intro: I met these two randomly a few weeks ago. They stopped into Golden Saddle while they were in Los Angeles and I took them up into the Verdugo Mountains at sunset one evening. They had been on the road for a week or so, soaking in California’s mountains and bikepacking around various trail networks. For me, seeing photos and reading, albeit brief, words from visitors to this great state is always entertaining. So, without further adieu…
Karerfornia
Words by Thomas Larsen Røed, photos by Hans Petter Hval and Thomas Larsen Røed
Up, up and up. The gravel road leading us from South Lake Tahoe towards Star Lake is ridiculously steep. And straight. Defeat is inevitable. With loaded bikes we have to resort to pushing. We’ve flown into Oakland from Oslo, thrown the bikes in a rental and headed for the mountains. We’re not on a bikepacking mission from A to B, but instead using bikepacking as a trick to get the most out of our 14 days in California.
Reportage
The 2016 Length of Sweden Sverigetempot: Part 03
Practice makes perfect. After a string of late starts, mishaps and consequently even later evenings, our group pushed through the sleepless nights, finally hitting the road before 8am. It took a while, but so it goes in brevets like this. 2100km in 177 hours is no walk in the park, yet it doesn’t have to be a panicked sprint either. There’s a balance to be achieved and oftentimes, it takes a bit of on-the-bike rehearsal.
Reportage
The 2016 Length of Sweden Sverigetempot: Part 01
In the world of brevets, or randonneuring, Paris Brest Paris is probably the most infamous, with its total length of 1200km and massive rider roster. However, if you travel further north in Europe, something more sinister awaits. The Sverigetempot is a ten year old, officially-sanctioned brevet, totaling 2100 kilometers. It begins on the Sweden and Norway border, in a small town called Riksgränsen, which can barely be categorized as a town, it’s more of an outpost. From there, a small group of riders have either 144 hours or 177 hours to make it to the southernmost point of the country, Smygehamn. Along the way, there are checkpoints, or control points, at which point the riders will have to have their brevet cards time-stamped at designated places as proof of their mileage. There are other rules, such as there is no roadside assistance allowed and the riders are to be self-supported. While the organizers will transport a bag from the start, to the finish, every entrant must carry their clothing, food and water on their bikes. The countryside offers many hotels and hostels for shelter, so luckily, no camping equipment was necessary, allowing for lightly-packed bikes, with one thing in mind: efficiency.
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Summer Sunsets are the Best
When work is busy, the late afternoon is the only time I can ride and even then, I usually have to stay local. My go-to sunset loop is a mixed terrain ride, that takes me from one park to another, offering various vistas to the neighboring mountains. Sometimes I bring a camera, more than often I do not, but when I do, I’m always glad I did.
Catching the summer sunset and the rapid change in light, is always worth the extra wait and yes, weight…
Radar
High Above Los Angeles
My favorite way to avoid the summer heat here in LA is to ride with the setting sun. A fortunate by-product is the resulting views! Last night I took two Norwegian tourists, Hans Petter and Thomas, out for a dirt ride in the Verdugo mountains. It did not disappoint on all accounts!
Radar
The Gourmet Century Asuke Was Rad!
… and I’ll tell you all about it tomorrow! I hope your weekend has been filled with smiles and miles.
Reportage
Getting Dirty with Kyle’s Campy Athena Mr. Pink Chubby Road on Dirt Mulholland
You’d be surprised how big of a tire you can squeeze into some of the older road bikes. My Merckx fits a plumb 28mm tire with ease and those Campagnolo NR mid-reach brakes can wrap their arms around, reaching the braking surface. Now what happened between the 1980’s and modern bike design is up to anyone to debate. Clearances got tighter, more aero, stiffer and a mentality that a smaller tire is faster took over the pro peloton. Like it always has, the trickle down effect hit store shelves and consumers did what they do best: consume. I know this is a bleak picture of tire clearance on road bikes, but it’s mostly unexaggerated. Mostly…
It seems that now with the whole “adventure / gravel grind / blah blah” trend, companies are designing bikes that fit big tires with the aid of disc brakes. Now we’ve got “all road, road plus” and various other terms to describe these machines, designed for riding off-road.
But what about the classic steel race bikes from back “in the day?”
Enter the All-City Mr. Pink. We’ve reviewed one before here on the site and while I stuck with a moderate 28mm tire, I could clearly see this bike was made for more rubber. With a caveat though. Putting bigger tires on the Mr. Pink means you’ve gotta go for a mid-reach brake, like the Paul Racer, or in this case, the Velo Orange Grand Cru long reach brakes. With those, you can fit a 30mm tire, with ease, making this one capable chubby road bike.
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What a Weekend!
Weekends this time of year require special planning. As the temperatures rise, the National and local parks will be littered with people, making escapism difficult and privacy impossible. Luckily for us in Southern California, there are enough spots within a couple hours, both by bike and by car, where you can partake in a little R&R, without being overly crowded.
Reportage
We Welcomed the Tour of California to Town with a Mountaintop Party
When Sean from Team Dream found out what the route was for this year’s Tour of California stop in LA, he began scheming about how we could welcome the race with a KOM party… The thing about partying on top of a mountain is it takes a bit of planning. Sure, you could pull a grill, a cooler and food up a 5,500′ climb in a Bob Trailer but you’d end up being too pooped to party at the end of it. This left Sean with a decent plan: he’d shuttle his VW van, dubbed “the Brick” up to the top of Upper Big T at HWY 2, filled with all the necessary goods to throw down one hell of a hangout on the course. We’d wait for the peloton, grill hot dogs, drink beer and when the race came through, erupt with unrivaled support for the racers. Sounds like a good time, right?
As I was herding people from Golden Saddle, Sean was shuttling his van up to the KOM, barely arriving back to South Pasadena in time to begin the group ride. We went up Highway 2, one of the most scenic road rides in California. All 40 of us. With bikepacking bags loaded with food, water and camera equipment, I took off with the group on my rigid 29’r and sneakers. Believe me, doing a “road ride” on a loaded down MTB isn’t all that fun, but I was stoked to see Adam doing the same… and yeah, it made for some playful jibs along the way.
Check out the story in the Gallery!
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Come Ride Up to Highway 2 and Watch the ATOC with Team Dream, GSC and the Radavist Tomorrow Morning!
Tomorrow morning, I’ll be leading a group ride from Golden Saddle Cyclery (1618 Lucile Ave) to the Cub House in South Pas (1412 El Centro St) at 8am. We’ll roll out and meet up with the group ride leaving the Cub House at 9:30, so be on time! From there, we’ll all ride at a chill pace up Highway 2 to Upper Big T where Sean’s VW Van is parked, loaded with goodies as we watch the Amgen Tour of California race past!
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2016 Irreverent Road Ride
… are you irreverent? Have I got an event for you!
Radar
Search and State Introduces the Search Brigade
Wanna ride across the country and then ride back? Well, Search and State is making it easy easier for you. For more information, head over to Search and State. This looks like a lot of fun!
Reportage
Riding With Ringtail and Stinner Frameworks on Mt. Lukens – Kyle Kelley
Riding With Ringtail and Stinner Frameworks on Mt. Lukens
Photos and words by Kyle Kelley
A while back the boys at Stinner asked Sean from Team Dream / Ringtail if he’d host a ride beginning at Los Angeles’ hub for the discerning cyclist, The Cub House. For those of you who don’t know, The Cub House is the Team Dream Team and Ringtail headquarters. It is located just below Mt. Lukens, the highest point in the city of Los Angeles. With an elevation of 5,075 feet it makes Los Angeles the largest city with the highest and lowest elevations in North America. So, why not take everyone up there? Well… maybe because it has a steep, rocky and rutted 7 mile fire road climb with a 4.5 mile single track descent back down to Highway 2. And this was supposed to be a road ride after all. No matter, good sense shouldn’t get in the way of a good time.
We gathered at The Cub House at 8:30am and filled up on Nitro Cold Brew. Everyone was there, from racers to randos. Tires ranged from 25c to 40c. Some people bought vests and jackets because it looked cold up in the mountains, but I just stole a patch for a photo at the top!
Radar
We Hid a Search and State Camo Jersey This Morning For You!
Yeah, it’s a $165 jersey and it’s camo, but if you’re in Los Angeles, we’ve got one hidden for you to win but you better pay attention…
So the rules are simple: Use the following photos to figure out where we hid this jersey.
UPDATE! It’s been found. Call off the search!