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Reportage By: John Watson

Navigating the Old Ghost Road: New Zealand’s Longest Singletrack – Day 02

Waking up to unfamiliar sounds, namely from animals, is highly underrated. Like an alarm clock going off full tilt, your brain processes new audio notes with a different intensity. Maybe that’s why I sprung from my bunk in our hut at 6am that morning. Scratching my head, semisomna, asking myself “what the hell was that?”

We’re too far south for it to be a Bunyip – the Australian Yeti – and too high in elevation for it to be a chicken. There it is again, now multiple times, surrounding the cabin. I grabbed my coffee kit and headed out to the porch to see what the commotion was all about. Immediately, I began to witness these wingless birds chasing each other around, making this unique call.

The Weka had welcomed us to the Old Ghost Road. A flightless bird, a bit bigger than a kiwi, diurnal, and very vocal. At a certain point, the need for coffee and a few sunrise photos overtook the interestingness of a damn bird.

Pardon the brief nature geek moment, we’re here to talk about bikes.

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PiNP 2013: A Year in Photos

Where do I even begin with 2013? If I can say anything about PiNP, it’s that the site is ever-evolving, much like cycling and my own experiences with it. As my own habits change, so does the content. Looking back over the past twelve months, I still can’t wrap my head around how much I traveled. It was overwhelming at times, but in the end, worth it.

So where do we begin? How about with the first Photoset: a new camera.

Check out the PiNP 2013: A Year in Photos below!

Reportage By: John Watson

MelburnOut: Shifter Dan’s 40th Birthday Bush Bash – Day 01

“Aged many years in the wood”. How many years? Well, like everything in Straya, there’s a story for that. Daniel John Hale has seen his share of saddle time in the years he’s spent on Earth. An ex-pro mountain biker, owner of the Best Bike Shop in the World and one of the first solo riders to take on this particular area of Australian Bush, Dan’s no stranger to the wood.

Ten years ago, he did a similar ride to what we just completed this past weekend but instead of two days, it took him four. Rather than ride a mountain bike or a geared bike, he took his singlespeed Monster Cross. No GPS, no satellite phone and no idea where he was going, save for a map he bought on the side of the road. Later, he, Dave, Scooter and Andy began to tackle these rides annually. That’s 10 years in the wood of Upper Yarra, familiarizing themselves with the ‘bush, the many off-shooting tracks and trails.

Last year, a very similar ride changed me as a cyclist. It took the 215 pound me and slapped it around before spitting (i.e. shitting) it back out. I learned a lot in two long days, but left Melbourne wanting more. When I mentioned returning this year, Andy proposed me landing in for Dan’s 40th. As Andy put it, “we’ll do another ride”…

I’m now around 185 pounds and have been putting in serious saddle time, so the anxiety wasn’t as bad. Until he showed me the route. Day 01, 100 miles, 16,000′ of climbing. BUGGA!

A total of nine riders started, seven finished. Andy’s brother made it up the first climb before returning home and Scooter, one of the original badass couriers in Australia (and aforementioned Upper Yarra riders) only had time for Woods Point and back. That left Dan, Andy, Joe, Dave, Reuben, Mal and myself for the haul… Enclosed is the ride report for the first leg of this 26.6 MP/C* ride.

Check out a bunch of narrated photos in the Gallery!

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PiNP 2012: A Year in 55 Photos

In 2012, PiNP’s content was like a pinball machine. It seemed like every other month, I’d find myself in another city. Some familiar, some new, but I traveled everywhere with my bike and camera in hand, ready to see what was out there. Throughout these travels, I formed a lot of strong friendships with a lot of incredible people. Some of which have become my best of friends. We rode hard, we partied harder and somehow, I managed to keep the year in focus.

Here’s the PiNP 2012: A Year in 55 Photos…

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The Dueling Banjos: My Side of the Saddle – Day 01 Lilydale to Jamieson

All Photos by Andy White

Andy from Fyxomatosis and I did something a little different this time around. He’s posting my photos and dictating over them and I, his. We loosely are calling this the Dueling Banjos. So here’s my side of the saddle:

When I found out I would be returning to Australia, Andy asked if I wanted to go on one of he and Dan from Shifter Bike‘s “epic” rides out through Woods Point. I’ve been following Fyxomatosis, since forever, so I knew what that meant. This was a man’s ride. A no holds-barred, dirt and hurt ride. Since doing my tour, I have stayed in the saddle. I had the base miles underneath me but did I have the ability to keep up with Dan and Andy? Nervously, I accepted the invite and the day before we left, Dan took my Milwaukee Orange One into Shifter Bikes for a cleaning.

We left that morning and met Andy in Lilydale. We rode along the Warburton Rail Trail, through flea markets and eventually stopped in Warburton for breakfast. Canadian pancakes, a long black, fresh juice and some pastries. As we were leaving the cafe, I thanked Dan for cleaning my bike, to which he replied “thank me in 30 minutes”…

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SYD_01.26.2012

Today I had the unfortunate experience of having to spend the entire day indoors waiting on Qantas to deliver my luggage. I showed up in Sydney after our plane sat on the tarmac at LAX for four hours prior to departing, only to find that all my clothes and my bike was “lost”. What made matters worse was that it was Australia Day today and I had to mope around inside until 5pm.

Once they dropped off my bags, I headed out to walk around Surry Hills and Newtown, searching for classy bikes, cars and everything in between. Check out some more at my Flickr.

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Prolly is Not Probably’s Year in Review

Well, I hope you all had a great New Year. I’m assuming most of you are back to work now and probably have some time to kill today during your lunch break so I invite you to check out a year in review. 2011 brought about a lot of traveling for me and like the increase in frequent flier miles, the site’s content continues to rack up. International, cross-continental and bi-coastal travels brought me to shops, events and in front of Beautiful Bicycles.

Check out Prolly is Not Probably’s Year in Review below!

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Prolly is Not Probably’s Top 10 Beautiful Bicycles of 2011

This year, more so than years past, I got to document Beautiful Bicycles around the world. From Melbourne, to SF and NYC, track bikes, road bikes and even fixed freestyle bikes found their way to the other side of my lens. When I decided to make my top 10 list this year, I knew I had to find an unbiased way of judging from my posts. After looking at them all, I decided Facebook “likes”, Tweets and comments were the best way to judge. Each of these bikes were broken down on a spreadsheet and I can say with confidence, they’re by far some of my favorite bikes of the year.

Without further ado, here’s my Top 10 Beautiful Bicycles of 2011!

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Flat Out Teaser

“Flat Out” Teaser from FLAT OUT PRODUCTIONS on Vimeo.

Here’s a teaser for the forthcoming Flat Out film. Lookin good. I still have no idea how you guys rode in shorts and t-shirts! Must have been hellishly hot!

Information is below:

The Australian’s call it Walkabout, a chance to escape from the routine, heading into the empty wilderness to empty the body and soul of built up trash, we call it FLAT OUT.

Using the simplest and cleanest form of transport, a Track bike. Four cyclists, meet at the Sydney Opera House in Australia, to embark on a journey into extreme terrain during dangerous summer conditions, riding a massive 1200km of road in only ten days to the city of Melbourne.