The Athens Divide is proof that you don’t have to lose a night of sleep to experience the full range of adventure racing. Billed as a “micro adventure,” this point-to-point race hosted by Donhou Bicycles takes riders over Athens’ urban ridgelines where, no matter the bike, everyone’s hiking somewhere. Read on for Tom Donhou’s recap of the first Athens Divide, with photos from Maliakos Nikos.
Events
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Reportage
The Rowdy and Irreverent Underworld of RodeoCross
A little weird, a lot welcoming RodeoCross is cyclocross…but only kind of. At the end of this year’s Sacramento season, Kate Rose pays tributes to this rowdy and irreverent subculture of cycling category. Read on for her entertaining recap and sound bytes from racers who try to explain this “disguise for a party on bikes,” along with photos from Sydney Lewis.
Reportage
Losing Our Heads at the Onguza Loskop Local Cycling Festival in Namibia
Held in Omaruru, Namibia this past July, the Onguza Loskop Local is a weekend festival with “great food, drinks & friends, with a wee bit of cycling thrown in for good measure.” After deciding the event looked really lekker Cape Town locals Stan Engelbrecht and Donnet Dumas made the trip out and each rode the event in divergent fashions—Donnet on a borrowed too-small Giant, and Stan on his ill-advised fixed-gear with skinny tires—and share a joint account of their adventure…
Reportage
Devil’s Cardigan: The 2023 Australian Gravel National Championships
Picture an island 42 degrees south of the equator deep in the middle of winter. Surrounded by great oceans, it is battered by cold rain, snow, and wind. The Roaring Forties haunt the island like the growls of a Devil. Born out of these challenging conditions, The Devils Cardigan seemed the only name fit to describe the Australian Gravel National Championships.
Read on for Scott Mattern’s recap of Tasmania’s annual off-road rite of passage and how he made it devilishly difficult by combing both the 50km and 100km distances…
Reportage
Bikes and More from the Chris King Open House 2023
With this year’s Chris King Open House coming right after the 2023 MADE Bike Show, the event decided to shift gears and focus on the Portland area’s outdoor brands. Chris King opened its doors to the public, unveiling the process that goes into machining bike parts in the USA, while inviting the broader outdoor industry to display their products. It was a full day of bikes and more! Check out our Reportage, sent in by Chris King and let us know your favorite bike in the comments!
Reportage
Turning Up The Heat: The Start of the 2023 Arizona Trail Race
Spencer Harding and Chris”Dirty” Reichel went down the southern border of Mexico and Arizona for the start of the 2023 Arizona Trail Race. The race taverse the whole of Arizona for racers who elect the 800 mile route or the abbreviated and nonetheless daunting 300-mile option. Summer hasn’t relinquished its grasp on Southern Arizona with temperatures in the 100s for the early days of the race…
Reportage
2023 Bespoked Handmade Bicycle Show Part 3: Avalanche, Ballern, Black Sheep, CMG, Fern, Huhn, Rheintritt, Rossman, Repete, and Timba
The 2023 Bespoked Handmade Bicycle Show just wrapped after three action-packed days of talks, parties, and drooling over the heaps of amazing craftsmanship on display. Josh was on the ground at the Dresden, Germany airport where this year’s event took place, and, below, shares his final gallery of bikes and a couple of interesting components. Let’s get right into it!
Reportage
2023 Bespoked Handmade Bicycle Show Part 2: Auguste, Actofive, Bididu, Manivelle, Quirk, Star Fish, Tim Tas+Rek, True Love, Posedla, Gramm, and Allygn
The 2023 Bespoked Handmade Bicycle Show just wrapped after three action-packed days of talks, parties, and drooling over heaps of amazing craftsmanship on display. Josh was on the ground at the Dresden, Germany airport where this year’s event took place, and, below, shares his second gallery of bikes and a couple of interesting components. Let’s get right into it!
Reportage
2023 Bespoked Handmade Bicycle Show Part 1: Atelier Pariah, Boucif Custom Bikes, Cicli Bonanno, Dlouhy, Drust, Meerglas, Sour, Ingrid Shifters, and Cyber Cycles Forks
The 2023 Bespoked Handmade Bicycle Show just wrapped after three action-packed days of talks, parties, and drooling over heaps of amazing craftsmanship on display. Josh was on the ground at the Dresden, Germany airport where this year’s event took place, and, below, shares his first gallery of bikes and a couple of very interesting components that will be launching soon. Let’s get right into it!
Reportage
Sharing Time: Riding the Komoot Slovenia Women’s Rally
I’m a sucker for movies like Love Actually and novels like Let the Great World Spin that seek to capture how, taken as a whole, the paths of individual lives become interwoven to create a meaningful story. During my time riding in Slovenia at a recent Komoot Women’s Rally and hearing snippets of different rider’s journeys to the start, it felt like I was living in one of these tapestry-like narratives in real time. The thing is though, we’re all doing this all the time but we just can’t always see it. Having the common thread of the bicycle and a shared destination to ride brought our collective overlap into sharp focus but this is a story that runs off the page in both directions—each woman in attendance has a rich history that predates these words and one that will surely continue long after. But, I felt grateful to experience a shared, if brief, chapter during our time in the saddle in Slovenia.
Reportage
Doing the 2023 Durango Derby
The Durango Derby brought racers from all over to experience the mountain bike pedigree of Durango and its surrounding mountains. We sent Reportage affiliate Kyle von Hoetzendorff out for the weekend to report back on its vibe and he delivered a stellar piece, including an interview with the event’s co-founder, Dylan Stucki, and exceptional photos by Alex Roszko, so read on to check it out!
Reportage
‘Cross is Coming, is Here, and Always Has Been: CX Practice in New York City
In the heart of New York City, where towering skyscrapers cast their imposing shadows, a hidden haven of summer grass, plastic cones, makeshift barriers, and camaraderie emerges every Wednesday evening from late August to early November. Randall’s Island, a patch of green in the midst of New York City’s concrete jungle, becomes an unlikely sanctuary for cyclists of all kinds seeking the ever-so-special and thankfully still alive-and-well discipline called cyclocross.
Continue reading Angelo Calilap‘s account of NYC’s longstanding ‘cross practice hosted by King Kog accompanied by a wonderful image gallery from Andres Cevallos…
Reportage
2023 Single Speed USA Event Recap: Kansas City Edition
You know those weekends whose arrival you count down for months, to clock out of work, load up your bike, road trip 1,200 miles, and then readily acquiesce to stunts that question your health insurance coverage? Welcome to Single Speed USA.
Two common ingredients create this one-of-a-kind recipe; bicycles with only one gear, and a guaranteed let-loose atmosphere. This year, Kansas City hosted the annual gathering and it was a surprise to no one that that the weekend proved to be for the books (if you could even remember it, that is).
Registration: optional. Length of course: unknown. Number plates or organized timing: none. Prizes: gold placard bricks. Trophies this year included: “DFL thanks for making us wait,” “Well that was both brave and stupid,” “Never Stood a Chance,” “First to finish? Well f*ck you!,” “Captain No Fun” and “The highlight of SSKC was the sewer I fell in.” This is where the fun begins.
Radar
Radar Roundup: Panorama Torngat Ti, Donhou Utility Completes, SCOR 2030, MADE Musettes, Grassroots Gravel, Big Dumb Loop, Why Randonneuring?
Our Radar Roundup compiles products and videos from the ‘net in an easy-to-digest format. Read on below for today’s findings…
Reportage
Returning to Cuenca Los Ojos: Sarah Swallow’s Otso Voytek and Ruta del Jefe Updates
Ruta del Jefe has officially announced the dates and the new venue – March 21-24, 2024 in Cuenca Los Ojos, Mexico – for the next edition of this adventure, education, community, and advocacy event. Cuenca Los Ojos is a protected natural area in the Sky Islands of the Mexican state of Sonora, southeast of Agua Prieta/Douglas, Arizona. Daniel Zaid and Karla Robles recently linked up with, organizer Sarah Swallow and, below, document her new new Otso Voytek, which she has been using for scouting the 2024 Ruta Del Jefe route. Additionally, Daniel and Karla share an update on the work Cuenca Los Ojos has been doing to provide the best platform for Ruta del Jefe in advance of the event’s first season south of the border…
Reportage
2023 MADE Bike Show Coverage: Part 7 – Ahearne, Blaze, Jeffrey Bock, MADE Moots, Montenegro Manufacturing, Pine, Simple, and Singular
Well, the time has come. This is our seventh and final 2023 MADE Bike Show gallery. We busted our tails to bring you the best coverage from the show. Josh and John scoured the halls of the show for bikes to document, and this last gallery is full of stunning bikes. Check out our selects below!
Thanks to 1-Up USA for sponsoring our continued 2023 MADE Bike Show coverage!
Reportage
2023 MADE Bike Show People and Products
Entering the 2023 MADE show presents an abrupt dichotomy. The Portland, Oregon venue in the Zidell Barge Building is nestled in an old ship manufacturing yard and is evidence of a bygone era. Cranes and mechanical armatures tower overhead and huge steel joists span across the space, with years of dust and grime clinging to each rivet and bolt. Underfoot, the concrete floor is stained from a century of industry and the bright sun barely penetrates the skylights, yellowed from age.
Reportage
2023 MADE Bike Showdown: ALUMIWARS – Beach Club Al Dente Gravel Bike Vs. Ron’s Bikes AluMAX Grav Grav Bike
We interrupt our ongoing MADE coverage with an important announcement!
When carbon bicycle frames were first introduced, the evil carbon fiber bike industry did all it could to bad-mouth aluminum bikes. It took decades, but we’re seeing an abrupt re-emergence of aluminum frames, particularly from smaller cottage industry brands like Beach Club and Ron’s Bikes.
Growing up in the 1990s, it was common for publications like Mountain Bike Action to do “shootouts” between two aluminum bikes. So, we at The Radavist thought it’d be fun to pit two of our favorite companies against each other in a democratic voting process. Check out our ALUMIWARS Shootout Special featuring sneak peeks at the forthcoming Beach Club Al Dente aluminum gravel bike and the Ron’s Bikes AluMAX grav grav daddy bike…