Today’s Reportage shines a light on a movement that has been a ray of light in this tumultuous year. The LA Bike Academy is getting the youth of the greater Los Angeles area stoked on bikes, using our favorite two-wheeled transport as a vessel for learning real-life skills. We’re pleased beyond words to share the work of Alonso Tal (photos) and Michael Cedeño (video) today with you and to use this post to announce LABA’s partnership with Easton Cycling for 2021…
#Los-Angeles
tag
Radar
To Live and Ride in LA with Andrew Jackson
What a cool project from Giro and Vernor!
“The bike world is undeniably insular. It’s always been divided into categories, but as we add more subcategories, riders become more confined to fitting into their neat little boxes of road, cyclocross, gravel, XC, enduro, downhill, freeride, BMX, street. Riders pick a box and stick with it, rarely acknowledging that the others exist.
Andrew Jackson is out to break down those barriers.”
Radar
Team Dream: All Proceeds Product Launch and Pre-Order
Team Dream’s first drop since the pandemic hit is one that looks to raise money for LA Bicycle Academy to help fight systematic oppression for black cyclists. Their All Proceeds Product Launch bundle kit has sold out but they still have a pre-order live for these graphic t-shirts.
Team Dream will be donating a total of $27 from each T-shirt, $25 from each water bottle set and $62 from every bundle to support the work of the Los Angeles Bike Academy and The NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund.
Head to the Team Dream Journal to read more about their mission statement and their shop to pre-order a t-shirt.
Reportage
Lose Yourself with Andréane Lanthier Nadeau: One of the Fastest in the World!
While I was driving out to meet Andréane Lanthier Nadeau, all I could hear in my head was Eminem’s Lose Yourself, “If you had one shot or one opportunity to seize everything you ever wanted in one moment, would you capture it?” I know that’s a little dramatic, right? But maybe not…I knew Andréane and I would only have a few runs to shoot, and after hearing Nikki Smith speak at this year’s Frostbike, explaining how important it was to show real people, people of all walks of life, people of all different colors and genders doing their craft, not just standing with their bikes. I knew this was important. I also knew that ALN, short for Andréane Lanthier Nadeau would crush it, but I was skeptical of my talent behind the camera. I needed to nail what few photos I would be able to take because she was leaving for her home in Canada the next day and wouldn’t be back in Southern California for a year. So yes, I literally only had one opportunity to show y’all how ALN is one of the greatest mountain bikers I have ever ridden with and spoken to.
Radar
MORE Collection by Endo Customs Features Cam, Gucci, and Ghost
Hip hop icons don the newest capsule collection by Los Angeles based Endo Customs. These jerseys were designed by Alonso Tal from MORE Track Bike and feature icons of hip-hop. These jerseys come in a standard fitting Alameda silhoutte and a Ladera super tight race-fit. All jerseys are designed to pair with the iced-out Verdugo bibs. So head to Endo to see the full collection.
Radar
Legion of Los Angeles on the New Tarmac
Justin and Cory Williams from Legion of Los Angeles give the new Tarmac SL7 a rip.
Radar
Gravel Bike California: Mount Lowe Railway
One of the best gravel rides in SoCal gets some light shed on it in this video from Gravel Bike California. Mount Lowe used to be a railway, bringing visitors up to the top of the mountain. The remnants of this railway are still evident today…
Radar
Rapha and Geoff McFetridge Collection
Rapha and artist Geoff McFetridge have long admired each other and this week, they made their admiration formal with an entire capsule collection, complete with socks, jerseys, base layers, musettes, and more, designed by Geoff himself. As a skater kid, I personally have admired Geoff’s ability to document culture through his ambiguous figures, and in recent years, his work has popped up everywhere. This collection looks fantastic and is in stock now at Rapha.
Radar
Readers’ Rides: Carson’s 2018 Funk La Ruta+ Ti Soft-tail
This bike is a real stunner and one that I was hoping to document before I left Los Angles for Santa Fe but never got around to it. It was one of those “I’ll document it the next time it’s in the shop” moments. Carson‘s Funk La Ruta+ is a real gem of a bike and the dude puts in work on it, maintaining trails for the Mount Wilson Bicycling Association. Let’s check it out with Carson’s own words describing this idiosyncratic steed…
Radar
L39ION of Los Angeles: Pride of the People – Raised Over $50k to Help Bring Diversity to Cycling
We’ve been reading, watching, and listening, as the world’s largest push for civil rights has unfolded in front of us this week and in that time, fundraisers have smashed expectations, surpassing their goals. L39ION, a road racing team, based in Los Angeles, and founded by Justin Williams has raised over $50k to help bring diversity to cycling in LA and beyond. This fundraiser is still going, so let’s do our best to keep pushing it! Donate to their GoFundMe if you have the means and give the team a follow on Instagram!
Reportage
Learning from Los Angeles: Into the Verdugo Mountains with SRAM
I was an architect in my previous life. Before I began documenting cycling culture. One of my favorite architectural theorists is a fella named Rem Koolhaas. In his book, Delirious New York, he claims that “A city is a plane of tarmac with some red hot spots of urban intensity”. While the book is an examination of New York City, many have applied this observation to the sprawling city of Los Angeles.
Radar
Spreading Stoke with the Radavist
Before we packed up and moved out of Los Angeles, Light and Motion came out to check out our “operations” and go on a sunset ride with me on my then-new-to-me Starling Murmur. I’m rarely in front of the camera but if you’ve ever wondered how this website came to be and what our office looked like in LA, then check out this video!
Thanks to Josh for doing such a kick-ass job with this video!
Radar
During COVID-19, These Los Angeles Bike Shops Are a Lifeline to Their Communities
Photo by Damon Casarez
There has been a rumbling online. A debate. The conversation centers around whether or not bike shops should be “essential.” Some very outspoken individuals claim cycling is a rich white man’s sport and that the shops which remain open are catering only to that demographic. While we can’t deny that might be the case in some shops, Bicycling Magazine contributor Peter Flax presents a different side of this debate.
“It is the first Friday of April, 15 days after California Governor Gavin Newsom announced a statewide shelter-in-place order. In Los Angeles, San Francisco, and other large cities in California—as well as in many other states—bike shops have been classified as essential businesses, a move that has been celebrated by some and derided by others. Some critics have argued that bike shops primarily cater to privileged fitness-oriented hobbyists and that putting shop staff in harm’s way (and risking community spread of disease) to serve recreational riders is unwise. But that assumption renders invisible the thousands of neighborhood shops in cities across the country that serve customers who mostly rely on bicycles to facilitate their livelihoods, customers from some of the most economically vulnerable communities in the U.S.”
Continue reading at Bicycling.
Radar
Endo Customs: Quarantine Collection
Endo Customs, the makers of our very own jerseys, has released a “Quarantine Vibes” pack featuring a very real message, “Six Feet Please.” While their face mask three-pack has sold out, the neck gaiters, road and mountain jerseys are still for sale (jerseys ship in 3-4 weeks). Head on over to Endo to check them out.
Radar
Hermanas
With Hermanas, Machines for Freedom shines a light on two women who have found their strength through cycling and seek to inspire others to do the same.
Radar
A Look Inside Endurance PDX’s Mobile Fit Studio
Before you go out and buy a new bike due to discomfort, have you considered a proper bike fit? Portland’s Endurance Bike Fit Studio has taken its operations on the road thanks to Wahoo Fitness and VANDOIT. During Analisa’s pop up at Golden Saddle Cyclery last Sunday, I hopped on board to check it out. Read on below!
Radar
TokyoBike is Auctioning this Mini Basket Velo for RadShare
To coincide with a story that Kyle wrote for TokyoBike’s blog, the MiniVelo featured is being auctioned off today through February 16th with all the proceeds going to RadShare, an organization that aims to bring cycling accessibility and safety to kids. This is a great bike, being auctioned off for a great cause, so spend a few minutes soaking this one in!
Radar
Path Less Pedaled Visits the Cub House
Apologies for the double-dip of Los Angeles bike shop goodness but Path Less Pedaled also visited the Cub House in San Marino during their stay in LA and I had to share it!