As I sit here looking through the rolls of film shot at this year’s Cyclocross Nationals in Chicago, IL, the feeling is bittersweet. Traditionally, Nationals marks the end of the domestic racing season, but as I wandered through the parking lot catching up with old friends, it felt more like the beginning of something. After two years of canceled events, postponements, and isolation, gathering in Chicago for this year’s race almost felt “normal.”
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Radar
The Grounded Nebraska Gravel Race is Coming June 25th, 2022
Photos by @snowymountainphotography
Grounded Nebraska, a gravel race set in the backdrop of a day-long festival, is coming next year on Saturday, June 25, 2022, in Roca, Nebraska. Presented as a gravel festival, it embraces the community culture of gravel racing. But, the event is made to be enjoyable for non-riders and riders alike with amusement park-like attractions, live music, clinics, local food, and on-site camping.
Reportage
The Inaugural Colorado North South: My Initiation to Bikepacking Racing
Earlier this year, Hailey Moore set out with a small group of riders in the first North South Colorado Bikepacking Race, a self-supported race event on mixed terrain – from Fort Collins to Alamosa – through the Rocky Mountains. Continue reading for Hailey’s immersive trip report and photos from along the route.
Radar
EF Gone Racing at the Cape Epic
Welcome to the world’s toughest mountain bike race. Over seven stages and a prologue, on sinuous single track and dusty farm roads, under glaring South African sun and the odd sudden downpour, the Cape Epic always crowns a worthy winner. Two, in fact, since riders race in pairs. But we know all this… We’ve been here before, and 18 months after the pandemic put paid to our first appearance at the Cape Epic, Rapha Gone Racing returns for a second attempt. But so much has changed since last time. For a start, none of Lachlan Morton’s regular teammates could make it to this race so the team has reached out for reinforcements. And in Kenya’s Kenneth Karaya, they’ve uncovered a gem. This will be the biggest race of his life so far but in Lachlan Morton, he has the perfect partner for keeping things in perspective. After all, racing is never all about results. Tune into Rapha Gone Racing from the Cape Epic to find out how they fared.
Radar
MAIDEN RACE: Mark Beaumont’s tale of GBDURO
An extraordinary race with a bizarre twist in the final stage gives GBDURO victory to the Around-the-World record holder in his first-ever race…
Despite a career of world-firsts in endurance cycling expeditions, Mark Beaumont, the current round-the-world record holder, had never competed in anything other than what amounts to very extreme solo time trials. This summer though, for the first time in his career, he entered a race. And not just any race, arguably the toughest endurance race in the UK, GBDURO. The drama was captured in a new Shimano video called MAIDEN RACE. Watch it above…
Radar
Ruta Del Jefe Returns March 4-6, 2022 and Has a New Website!
Our favorite gravel event, the Ruta Del Jefe, is returning in 2022 with registration opening up November 21-24th. This event takes place in Southern Arizona, in and out of Patagonia’s surrounding mountains and dirt roads. It’s an amazing weekend and hopefully you can make it to the 2022 event! That said, there’s a lot to digest about how you can enter, where the RDJ is being held, who is a part of the event, and what the event’s intent is, so for those unfamiliar with the Ruta del Jefe, read the full press-release from Sarah Swallow below and check out our event Reportage in the Related Archives. Holler in the comments with any questions and we hope to see you there!
Radar
All Bodies on Bikes Teams Up with SBT GRVL To Bring Body Inclusivity Programming to Gravel Racing
Marley Blonsky is using her platform, All Bodies On Bikes, to bring awareness and accessibility to one of America’s most famous gravel events, SBT GRVL. Read on below for a full press release about how you can enter for a chance to win one of fifteen spots for non-traditional athletes…
Reportage
A First Timer’s Take on Sea Otter
There’s dust, cold, chaos, and bikes. Bikes everywhere. Almost more bike tracks than footprints in the thick dirt of the Laguna Seca Raceway paddock, where rows of tents and more flags than the eye can count have taken over for the weekend – this is The Sea Otter Classic. It’s my first time not only to Sea Otter but to a bike expo- having gotten seriously into cycling during the quarantine this first wave of events post- pandemic is also my first wave of cycling events- period. I did my first bike race two months prior, and while there was an expo there it nowhere near compares to this ocean of logos. Being a photographer in the cycling world this weekend is a chance to connect with clients I haven’t seen in a while, touch base with connections I have prior only talked to through emails and DM’s, and hug the bejeezus out of the rad gravel ladies I photographed for ‘The Leaders of Gravel’, a series here on The Radavist.
Reportage
The Trans Cascadia 2021 Race Report from the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest
Trans Cascadia explored a new region this year in the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest. This land is the traditional indigenous territory of the Wenatchi and Syilx people. As a blind enduro, racers are given each day’s map the night before, with no chance to explore the trail prior. Race Director Nick Gibson was excited to get started. “I’m stoked to get people on course after a year’s delay. We’re excited to show people this area, this is the first-ever bike race on these trails.”
With a full volunteer staff, spending countless hours in preparation, racers shuttled into Foggy Dew Campsite, their home for the next 5 days. A remote backcountry experience with all the amenities save cell service, racers are treated to a camp that feels more like a living village. After Covid testing and orientation, participants devoured a stunning southern-inspired meal prepared by Hannah Carlos of The Bayou Catfish under the stars…
Reportage
Josh Uhl’s 2019 Triple Crown Attempt: A Personal Journey
The beauty of bikes is in the people who ride them—and how they all have a story. I have little doubt that everyone—serious riders, aeroed and grimaced, and carefree cruisers alike—have experienced that epiphanous fresh-air feeling of freedom that accompanies spinning your legs astride two wheels. Sometimes we just enjoy it at the moment—letting the short-lived wave of release and clarity wash over us during a weeknight burrito run, or a trip to the coffee shop. Other times we chase that feeling down with the hope that, somehow, it might change our life.
What first intrigued me about Josh Uhl was, however, not his history with bikes but his podcast Here For Now, which he started in February of 2021. Josh uses this platform to have intentional and intimate conversations with his guests about motivation, struggle, and the big whys of life. Listening to an early episode with Peter Hogan, where the recovering addict asserts that “Bikes aren’t God,” and to a later episode where the writer Zoe Röm reflects on the delusion of “authenticity” on social media, I found myself frequently nodding along. Yes, exactly.
Reportage
A Look Back: Rider Portraits from the Inaugural Race on the Oregon Timber Trail
Last month, bikepackers from all over the country gathered in the southernmost Oregon Timber Trail Gateway Community of Lakeview for the inaugural OTT700 Race. Lakeview’s mayor, Ray Turner, set up his famous BBQ station the evening before in the city park and treated the racers and their families to a final warm dinner before days of eating ramen and snickers bars. It was great to see the camaraderie already building between riders and proved the value of bringing the rider community together around an event like this.
Reportage
FAIL 4: No Word for Stranger at the Migration Gravel Race
“Expect the Unexpected”
The MGR is a 650 km gravel route, 4 stages, about 8000 meters of elevation,
some like to call it a disguised mountain bike race with a bit of gravel,
some will argue that this is the spirit of gravel, a limitless exploration of where the bike can take you.
Radar
Rapha Gone Racing: Lael Wilcox at the Unbound Gravel XL
Rapha just posted its Unbound Gravel XL video, showcasing Lael Wilcox’s efforts along the 350-mile course. Check back here on Monday for Lael’s Unbound report!
Radar
FAIL 3
The Volta As Aldeias Historicas is a 450 km route in Portugal with 8000 meters of elevation.
It links up 12 medieval villages and their castles.
Our contributor Ryan Le Garrec went to tackle it for his “Fail” video series,
alongside friends Sjors Mahler and Tiago Cacao,
It seems Ryan got bored of castles and failed at reaching them all.
“Those things are nice but they’re all at the top of a village already perched up a hill,
and the road to each is ridiculously steep,
I love villages and I love Portugal
but somehow castles just make me think of Middle Age wars,
I don’t really dig that,
I skipped a few and the guys did too!”
Reportage
Four Gravel Stages in the Masai Mara Wildlife Reserve: the 2021 Migration Gravel Race Recap
A week ago, 61 contestants battled it out over 4 stages through the Masai Mara wildlife reserve, during the inaugural Migration Gravel Race in Kenya. While an epic adventure in itself, there’s more to this race than meets the eye. The MGR is one of the prongs of the Amani project, aimed at creating more race opportunities for East African cyclists to measure themselves with the best on an international level.
What better way to do so than to bring in the very best? With the attendance of 2021 Unbound-winner Ian Boswell and runner-up Laurens ten Dam (who claimed the victory at MGR), the bar has been set for future editions. Sule Kangangi, Kenyan pro cyclist and coordinator of Amani’s activities in Kenya, and 2021 Unbound winner Ian Boswell share their thoughts on this unique first edition.
Reportage
The 2021 ENVE Builder Round Up Open House and Grodeo Photos
After 2020, I wasn’t sure when I’d be back at events documenting bikes, races, and places. So far in 2021, things seem to be picking up steam and this weekend I found myself in Ogden, Utah at the ENVE Builder Round Up Open House and Grodeo gravel race…
Radar
Flashpoint MVMNT Turning the Pedals Together
The Flashpoint MVMNT, a gravel team made up of Kathy Pruitt, Nehemiah Brown, Amanda Schaper, and Andrew Jackson, finally got a chance to get together in person, share some thoughts about what makes them turn the pedals, and best of all, play on some new terrain. It was hot, dusty, and a ton of fun – the smiles tell the story. Check out what inspires this new crew of riders working to change the face of cycling…
Don’t miss our profile of Kathy Pruit in the Related stories below!
Radar
Wahoo Frontiers: Ian Boswell Unbound Gravel
Wahoo‘s newest Frontiers video features Ian Boswell and his win at Unbound Gravel.
“In December of 2019, Ian Boswell announced his retirement from road cycling and his shift in focus to gravel racing. Ian set his route to all things adventure. Riding is fun. Racing should be fun. But it’s hard to remember that when focusing on wins and watts, podiums, and purses. He transitioned away from the status quo to experience the joy of racing again. With a pandemic and training solo, Ian is back into racing with the rest of the world.
In this episode of Frontiers, Ian Boswell shares his story of racing gravel post-pandemic, being back with a group of riders, and experiencing both the comradery and competition once more to become the Unbound King of Gravel…”