For the past two years, a few guys from Beat the Clock Cycling have taken to the open roads the morning after Thanksgiving to escape Turkey-snacking and Black Friday madness. This time of year is when we get in our camping trips. It’s not 100º out and the only worrisome factors are the sudden cold fronts that blow in and yeah, the horrible headwinds that make trekking south-bound unbearable.

Still, knowing we might face rain and 30+ mph headwinds, a few of us loaded up our TT bikes (tent time bikes) and glanced over Nick’s route through Texas Hill Country. On the agenda: Pedernales State Park and Guadalupe River State park, the former of which, none of us had ever been to.

Our previous trip was such a success that we were all stoked to just get out and ride. John had missed us the first round – he was on his honeymoon – but brought along a whole bottle of Weller 12 year that was left over from his wedding. That and a bag of Flat Track Coffee…

(more…)

Products that are designed to work within a system, but also operate just fine on their own are crucial to a brand. What if I don’t want to use your company’s rack? No problem. Blackburn’s Barrier Panniers are meant to be integrated into their Interlock racks – a system that allows you to lock your panniers for security while running errands around town – yet they work with any rack, even low-riders.

I recently gave these Barrier Universal panniers a go on a three day bicycle camping tour and loved them. Check out more below.

(more…)

From Randolph Engineering, makers of metal frame eyewear, to Vanson Leathers, Revision Military, Horse Cycles and others, Doug D is traveling North America on his custom Brooklyn Machine Works touring bike, documenting goods that are still made in the USA. Right now, he’s updating his Instagram daily with portraits of workers and the companies that employ them.

Give Doug a follow on Instagram and check out his great photography.

a skid a day!

Well, we’re back! It was a fun, windy and sunny time but we made it home mostly in one piece. Expect updates to the site all day tomorrow and once I get my film developed, I’ll post up our route, as well as some selects.

’til then, check out our Instagram accounts: @johnprolly, @dwntwnbikr, @messengerofjustice and @jkneve

I hope you had a great weekend!

This is really, really last minute, but I missed out on posting this on Friday, so read up!

“In the summer of 1890, two young Americans William Sachtleben and Thomas Allen Jr. set off to circle the globe on new-fangled “safety” bicycles, prototypes of the modern bike. Over the next three years, they pedaled 18,000 miles across three continents and helped spark the great bicycle boom that transformed cycling into the wildly popular form of recreation and means of transportation we know today.

Using a new, compact Kodak camera, the young men captured 1,200 spontaneous snapshots on cellulose nitrate-based film negatives while crossing Europe and Asia. A third of these images survived and are held by UCLA Library Special Collections.

OUR VISION:
To celebrate the exhibition and the last century of cycling, the Fowler Museum at UCLA is collaborating with the Los Angeles Bicycle Coalition, Golden Saddle Cyclery, and on-campus partners UCLA Bike Shop, Bike UCLA, Bicycle Coalition at UCLA, and UCLA Transportation and Recreation to organize a fun-filled day of activities centered around the bicycle in March 2015. We hope to offer campus rides, bike repair tutorials, bike rodeos for tykes, bike decorating projects and lots more.

On January 11, 2015, the exhibition curator, author, and historian David V. Herlihy will be in Los Angeles for a lecture and reception to celebrate Round Trip.

To make this vision a reality, we are partnering with UCLA Spark to raise $7,500 by December 2!”

Help support this at UCLA!

Today we’re leaving on a three day camping trip to some state parks around Austin. I’ll be back on Sunday night. Enjoy your weekend!

Buying your first custom frame can be a daunting process, especially if you’re not 100% committed to a specific kind of bike, or intended function. I feel like this particular frame design, what I’m calling the cross tourer is a fairly common request for builders. It’s a cross bike with front rack braze-ons. While the front end’s trail isn’t ideal for a heavy load, the owner can put a light bag on the front and transform it to a S24 rig, or take the rack off and race cross on it just fine.

Jordan’s been drawn to the work of Taylor Sizemore for some time now, so when the time came to put a deposit down, he contacted Sizemore and put down a deposit. The end result is truly custom. Taylor takes the time to hand-paint various logos on each of his bikes, including his signature arrows on the head tube. As far as the geometry is concerned, the top tube is a bit longer than normal to eliminate toe overlap, resulting in a shorter stem, but same reach.

Fitted with Paul MiniMotos, White Industries cranks and hubs, this bike is as American as Smokey Bear… See more in the Gallery!

This is an old one, but it’s always good to see Ultra Romance, aka Benedict, aka Poppi’s Pizza, aka Jøtul, doing his thing.

This past weekend, some buddies and I went on a little camping trip. Some of us had to be back in town the following day, while others went on through Monday. The lucky bastards… One of the early returnees, along with me, was Jonathan. It was his first camping trip here in Austin, since recently relocating from Omaha, so we wanted it to be a good one.

There’s more to come on the ride itself (oh and it was a good one), but I thought I’d take a minute to feature his rather unique Surly Disc Trucker…

(more…)

Photo by Gideon Tsang

Sure, it’s not technically “bike wear” but I’ve still enjoyed wearing, riding in and camping in the new Topo Designs apparel. With a newly improved fit, the shorts feel better and the flannels are an amazing companion during fall camping trips.

This is all I wore for two days and couldn’t be happier. See more at Topo!