The Radavist

Buck Macho and Chet Bearclaw’s Adventure Cycling Team
Photos by Ty Hathaway and Jesse Scarantino, words by Buck Macho

Buck Macho checking in. You won’t find any pictures of me here, because one of the conditions of me bringing outsiders to Central Texas was no photographs of me on bike websites. I was there, though, and I’m probably in the best position to tell the story, since it’s obvious my guests– Jason, Ty and Jesse – have a hard time handling their liquor.
Jason, Ty and Jesse are members of “Chet Bearclaw’s Adventure Cycling Team”, and I’m a longtime friend of the team’s owner/founder, Chet Bearclaw. My friendship with Chet started in 1998, when he crash-landed his hot air balloon in a field of my ranch. He had intended to circumnavigate the globe, but that’s a story for another time.

From what I was told, the last time Jason, Ty and Jesse had ridden bikes together was on Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, in the winter. Seemed like a dumb as dog shit idea to me, but to each their own. It’s not that I don’t like winter, but if I’m gonna be freezing my dick off, I’d rather be on a snowmobile going 75mph.

Big Bender
Words by Ty Hathaway, photos by Ty Hathaway and Jesse Scarantino.

Jesse and I had spoken of this trip before but never really had a set date or year or season or route, just thought it would be cool to do. So when he said, “I think I am going to go next week,” not only was I in the position to say yes, it is also sort of against my best interest to say no to Jesse- every trip we do, no matter how big or small, is always pure gold. You don’t just say no to that kind of stuff. It’s not too often I get along with people so well that we can do basically any trip and come out on the other side still psyched to be around one another. I decided it would be easier logistically for me to just say fuck it and drive to Big Bend State Park rather than fly to Austin, build a bike, and still have to drive to Big Bend. The idea of driving all that way on my own was very attractive at the moment- all that freedom, all that time to myself- but damn, I could really use this.