The Radavist

Speed. It’s a motivation for many on the bike and while it’s not something we necessarily pursue over here at the Radavist, there’s a certain beauty found within documenting it. The desert has a long history with speed. From iconic Trophy Trucks, to the Baja 1000 and the salt flats at Bonneville, the desert offers an iconic backdrop for the pursuit of speed.

As you’ve noticed, much of my free time – in the shoulder seasons anyway – is spent in the Mojave, Sonoran and Colorado deserts, the three zones surrounding Los Angeles. One of those zones that has always resonated with me, in both a geological and photographic manner, is Searles Valley surrounding Trona, a small town with a large mineral mining operation. Trona is named after the mineral they mine there and is very much active. From the supersonic, bird-deterrent sound canons, to the trains leaving with full cargo cars, the industry surrounding Trona extends well beyond the bustling town limits.

Luckily, someone somewhere made the conscious decision to set aside a region that borders this mineral extraction site known as the Trona Pinnacles. These tufa spires were formed as gas exited an ancient lake bed 10,000 to 100,000 years ago. Roughly 500 of these spires litter the landscape, with some reaching as high as 140 feet. The resulting landscape is straight out of a Hollywood SciFi flick, which is why I’ve wanted to do a commercial cycling shoot there since first coming to this region a few years back.

Jake’s Pacific Northwest Do-All Trek 970
Photos and words by Morgan Taylor

While we can easily find ourselves lost in things shiny and new, there’s no denying the allure of a carefully curated classic being put to good use. Jake’s Trek 970 is just one of those bikes, with a build that takes advantage of classic mountain bike practicality to create a versatile and stylish bike for days long and short.

Jake’s no stranger to well-thought-out steel bikes, already having a number of sweet builds in the quiver before his 970 came together. He leans toward time-tested components, durability over flashiness, and comfort over outright speed. The 970 is Jake’s Pacific Northwest do-all bike, with wide tires, loads of carrying capacity, and inspiration taken from its home in Seattle.

Sven Nys’ SSCXWC Bike
Photos by Jeff Kennel / Justin Blumer and Sean Talkington, words by John Watson

Each year, SSCXWC lands in the lap of some innocent city, only to have its parks, streets, and bars invaded by hundreds of singlespeed-wielding maniacs in search for mud. This year the event found itself in Portland, Oregon, the bastion of debauchery when it comes to illicit bike races but I’m not even sure the organizers of the PDX event knew what was in store for them or their event. At some point, Trek felt that it would be a good idea to bring a recently-retired ‘cross world legend into the party. Yes, the one and only Sven Nys. For the guys at Trek and Sven, it would prove to be the perfect opportunity to create a special bike for the event and maybe up the ante for future SSCXWC races.

Justin Blumer from Trek described the design process as:

“Like most great ideas, the appearance began as a somewhat whimsical “what if we…” conversation amongst designers at Trek, who went on to make it happen and collaborated on the bike’s custom graphics. The scheme is a collage of tattoo-style art highlighting Sven’s career and celebrating the debacherous spirit of the event.”

As soon as the event unfolded, the internet was filled with “Jump the shark” memes, but isn’t that the role of events like this? Surprise the attendees, no matter how ridiculous and even if there is some shark jumping to unfold, it’ll most likely be in the mud pit.

Thanks to Sean from Team Dream and the boys at Trek for sending these images over! And to Sven for keeping the stoke high.

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Last summer, after Keith Bontrager spoke at Mission Workshop, I got to spend a few hours with him back in his home town of Santa Cruz, California. The intention was pretty simple, gather some ‘lifestyle’ photos for Trek and Bontrager to use in ads, magazines and their photo annual book.

The 2014 Trek CXC Cup Day 01
Words and photos by Kevin Sparrow

It’s not too often we get cross weather like this in Wisconsin. The sky cleared up and dried the course for the pro race. Its always a treat to have big names show up for races here and they didn’t disappoint.

The course was on the Trek Factory grounds in Waterloo, Just 15 miles outside of our state’s capitol. Riders from Chicago and Minneapolis were thick in attendance.
The big names in attendance were Powers, Johnson, Driscoll, Mcdonald, and Berden just to name a few.

From the get go Jeremy Powers had a pulled away, looking strong through the race as Tim Johnson and Shawn Milne battled for second. Most of the spectating was done on a super steep down and up section that many fell victim too. Powers held his lead and went on to win day one of the event.

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This is by no means a “secret”. Plenty of other sources have covered SRAM’s new prototype wireless shifting. All I’m doing here is showcasing a PRO bike that just happens to be using this new technology…

When a company goes through years of PR&D, in house testing and thorough engineering, the next phase is getting said product out on the bikes of PRO cyclists. This year at the Amgen Tour of California, SRAM unveiled a new piece of technology on the Trek Bissell Cycling Team: wireless shifting.

All I can do is show you Clement Chevrier’s Trek Madone team bike, you can make any assessments yourself. If, for example you wanted to guess what it’s like to ride it, go for it. If for example, you wanted to guess how it shifts or sets up, go for it. If for example, you think it’s “dumb” or “stupid”, by all means, you’re entitled to your opinion, but remember, you’re not PRO!

One thing I will say is that you’re in for a surprise… Thanks to Criag, the Bissell mechanic for hooking this one up!