Super Bowl Weekend. It’s an excuse for people to drink, eat and yell at the television while a bunch of men in spandex chase a ball around a field. Personally, it’s not my thing and luckily, not my friends’ thing either. So rather than spend the weekend indoors, myself, some friends and Beat the Clock Cycling decided to take advantage of the vacant Texas parks and plan a ride.

Well, I planned the ride. 100 miles, over half of it was dirt. I did one of the roads on the last Yonder Journal Brovet and I wanted to explore the area even more. We’d leave from Inks Lake and take a series of back-country, private roads and kick in Willow City’s popular loop before heading back to camp. Water? Food? None. We had to pack it all in. Most rode cross bikes or light tourers, with bags for food. There was maybe one stop along the way.

Because I had to drop Lauren off at the airport that Friday morning, I drove with two others. The rest either drove out that night after work or rode the 75 miles from Austin, fully loaded.

Since we wanted to convey only the chillest of riding paces and as a protest to the Super Bowl, most of us left the lycra at home. Giro was kind enough to supply some New Road apparel, shoes and helmets. I brought the bourbon. Spencer brought a dull hatchet and we were all stoked.

Did I mention cliff jumps in January? Yeah… Check out more photos in the Gallery, all shot with my Mamiya 7ii and Portra 400 / Kodak TMAX 400. Many thanks to Giro for supplying equipment for this ride!

Photos by Glenn Charles

We’ve all read the various theories on tire and wheel size when it comes to long distance cycling or touring but surely, few consider to ride their fat bike for 500 miles on (mostly) sealed roads. The Lost Coast is a relatively untapped goldmine for road porn. It’s a route I want to do some day and Glenn Charles’ photos from a recent ride he did with some friends shows why.

Seriously, if you’re in the mood for some inspirational photos, check out this story on Glenn’s Website!

When you shoot a lot of film, you end with a few frames left over from time to time. Some of these photos are from my AWOL ride, others from MTB trails in Austin and a few randoms. None really mean much together but as individual frames, they tell their own story. Check out narrated photos in the Gallery!

While I’ve shown you photos of Cinelli’s new touring bike before, I don’t think I’ve given a proper introduction. The Bootleg Hobo was developed as a fully-loaded touring bike, spec’d with a triple crankset, front and rear racks, proper touring wheelbase and a mid-trail geometry. You can see more details at Cinelli and the Hobo is in stock and ready to ship to your local Cinelli dealer.

Previously:
Cinelli Bootleg Tour d’Afrique 2013 and the Hobo

The winter is the time of year to camp in Austin. Some of the Beat the Clock Cycling club guys and I will be spending the weekend camping and riding a nice loop I put together in the middle of hill country. While I doubt I’ll be maxed out in gearing like I was in this photo, there will be a lot of climbing and a lotta dirt. I can’t wait!

Regular posting will commence on Sunday but I’ll be posting to Instagram @JohnProlly all weekend!

Photos by Shannon Ayres

So… if Chris Bishop isn’t going to NAHBS this year, who’s going to win it? I’m partially joking but Chris’ latest work is mind-boggling. Ryan’s 650b Randonneur frame is absolutely stunning and I still can’t believe how many details are packed into this bike. Head over to the Bishop Flickr to see more!

The ever popular and sportier version of the Brooks Flyer, the Brooks Conquest is back. Meant for a touring, mountain, klunker or fatbike, these saddles are a bit longer, like a racing saddle, but offer a little more compliance for distance. Check out more information at Brooks!

Ever since Erik showed me the first sneak peek at his Specialized AWOL, I knew I’d have a blast photographing it one day. Little did I know, however, it’d be in San Francisco. By now, you’ve seen photos and video of this bike here on the site. How could you miss it? With the special Nickel PVD – Physical Vapor Desposition – coating, it pops!

Erik even referred to this bike as a “peacock” in the Transcontinental video. It’s almost so distracting that you fail to notice the Shimano Dura Ace Di2 Alfine 11 speed Gates carbon belt drive set up with hydraulic disc brakes. Or the wicked fat tire clearances.

Other nifty details are the Plug by Supernova, which charges electronic devices but one of my favorite frame details is the special bracket for mounting the rear Supernova light onto the non-drive rocker dropout. And of course, the Fällkniven F1 Swedish special forces-issued knife with its (purple) zip-tied sheath.

Trust me, during our ride in the Diablo Range, I was geeking out so hard on this bike.

Yeah, it’s pretty jamming and what better place to shoot it than Bernal Heights in SF, at sundown, as the sky itself put on a color-assault of its own. Countdown to full nuke… 3… 2… 1…

Photo by  Heather McGrath

The Brentwood is by no means a new offering from Geekhouse, well, not officially yet. Last year, they debuted this new porteur bike at NAHBS and soon enough, with the launch of their new site, the Brentwood will have its own page in the Geekhouse catalog.

For now, head over to see more photos of this clean and tidy bike at the Geekhouse blog!

Is it spring yet? Got your touring rig figured out? No matter how I feel about my rig, or the other offerings on the market, it’s always refreshing to see something as classic an classy as the Breadwinner Cycles Aufderheide tourer. Head over to Breadwinner for specs and their Flickr for some more photos.