The Radavist

It’s sad to see yet another Midwest velodrome need our support. The Chicago Velodrome is in desperate need of your help, as it requires a chunk of change for repairs. You can find out more at their Go Fund Me or pick up a South Chicago Velodrome Association shirt.

See more information at Tracko!

You’re damned if you do and damned if you don’t…

The last Yonder Journal Brovet in Austin was a clusterfuck of epic proportions. I planned the ride, which, in context was one of the best 300 mile loops in Texas Hill Country. That context though, is slightly mottled, since, you know, I live in Texas and these guys are from California and Oregon – which has some of the best riding in the country. Maybe they’re soft-skinned liberals and I’m ok with Texas being stuck in the 17th century, or maybe riding for 40 hours in the pissing – just above freezing – rain just leaves a bad taste in your mouth.

Context aside, I planned a 300 mile route, the weather was nice – 80 degrees and humid – hey, it’s Texas – and everyone arrived in Austin.

Cursed. We’re all cursed. Or maybe I’m cursed? For whatever reason, mother nature took a shit on us, then smeared it on the route. 300 miles got cut in half, we had to bail so people could catch their flights. Ty got drunk – after he and Kelli got engaged. Moi got drunk. Kyle threw up in my yard. Hahn got drunk and raided dirty laundry.

The story goes deeper than this over at Yonder Journal! Head over to read about the Curse and (Dis)Enchanted Rock. See a few more selections below and follow Yonder on Instagram as they’re in the middle of another Brovet down South!

Photos by Jacob Rader

This past weekend, I spent my time hanging out with some great people at what is best described as a “luxury cabin in the middle of nowhere”. Texas is like that: a thirty minute drive south and you’re surrounded by nothing. One of the people who spent the weekend with us, surrounded by cacti was Jacob Rader. He’s been a friend for a while but it’s not until you have nothing else to do but talk (and drink), that you really make a connection with someone. As someone who also can’t leave the house without a camera, I can appreciate his lovely work.

Follow his Flickr, for what it’s like to live and ride in Austin, Texas.

God, I fucking love this band. When I first found out about Blut Aus Nord in the mid 2000’s, something made them stick out from the rest of the more traditional black metal acts I was into at the time. Now, over a decade later, I’m no longer listening to the older bands and have been addicted to these French black metallers. I’ll even go out on a limb here and say that the 777 series is hands down the best thing to come to black metal in the past few years. Each of the chapters is unlike the last and yet, the symbols and songs somehow tie together.

Their latest release under the 777 guise is Cosmosophy and it plays larger than life. Huge, swooping riffs undulate before crashing against cymbals and percussions. This is not your Pure Norwegian Black Metal. It’s more intelligent, even more solitary and by all means less self-aware. The Epitome tracks arise from the darkness and pick off right where they left off, at “Epitome XIV”, before finishing at “Epitome XVIII”. And the only critique is the female vocals threw me off a bit. Pick up this record at your local shop. It’s well worth it. I only hope they release the entire 777 series in a box set.

Check out more Tuesday Teardown below!

Ever since 2006, I’ve been going to Trouble and Bass shows in Brooklyn and lemme tell ya, the guys have come a long way from packing it into Club Boogaloo on the South Side of Williamsburg. When people talk about music scenes blossoming, I can name a few bands but the label that’s blossomed before my eyes is T&B. From their early days of 4×4, dubstep and riddem beats, the guys have become a full-blown bass army. I caught up with them at this year’s SxSW Trouble and Bass showcase at Barcelona and tried to take as many photos as I could before the club got packed at 6pm.

Talk about a mind-melting experience. Walking out into the sun after spending three hours listening to bass-heavy music.

Check out more photos from the Trouble and Bass Showcase at Barcelona below.

Since their first self-titled release, through Dog Magic, Voice of Saturn and Matador, I’ve been a huge fan of Zoroaster. Regardless to what you might think, the South reigns fucking supreme over doom metal and Atlanta is one hotspot that is ready for battle. At the Thrasher Magazine Death Match Zoroaster showed how they wage war in the South. They fight with the right equipment, with massive, crushing riffs and vocals.

Check out more photos from the Thrasher Magazine Death Match performance of Zoroaster below.

When it comes to SxSW I don’t wanna wait in lines. I don’t give a shit about what hip hop dude is playing where or what indie rock band is gonna show up unannounced. All I wanna check out are the metal shows and if anyone’s got that on lock during this year’s showcase, it’s Thrasher Magazine’s Death Match at the Scoot Inn. Yesterday I hung out for a bit and shot photos of dudes shredding the gnar on the half-pipe and caught Dark Castle throw down a healthy dose of Southern doom.

Check out more photos from the Thrasher Magazine Death Match performance of Dark Castle below.

The story of Icarus is a sad one. In Greek mythology, Icarus, the son of Daedalus tried to escape Crete by flying with wings his father made from wax and feathers. Daedalus warned Icarus to not fly directly into the Sun’s light for the wax would melt. Icarus ignored his father and perished after falling from the sky. While Jon’s Icarus didn’t perish, it looked kinda sad laying in the road before we shot photos of it.

Here’s the bike in the middle of South Congress with its owner, Jon. I’ll tell you a little bit more about Jon and show you his bike in detail tomorrow. I just thought you’d appreciate these photos from my Recent Roll. There are photos from the shooting range, Sterling on his BMX, Kittencrusher and others. Check out the rest here.

The first time I got to see the work of Chris Kvale in person was during the Mid-West Mayhem last year. Mark Sirek let us stay with him in Milwaukee and lurking in his basement was a wonderland (scroll to 3/4s the way down the post) filled with Beautiful Bicycles. In the mix was his custom Chris Kvale road bike. I was amazed at the lugwork, particularly the seat tube cluster. It was so incredibly thin! So thin that they had to use the thinnest paint possible when coating it or the lugs would disappear.

Since posting the McLean earlier this week, I’ve had many correspondence with a group of gentlemen who own quite a few McLean road bikes. One of which is Neil “Gunnar” Berg who runs a blog called 1410 OakWood. Aside from calling this blog the “dark side“, Neil wrote a nice little piece about his thoughts on the McLean’s paint job. Originally being a skeptic of the paint’s color, Neil and I exchanged some emails with the last correspondence ending in a photo of this Chris Kvale seat tube cluster.

Have you ever seen a lug that thin? Amazing! Oh, I mean Minneapolis NICE! Thanks Neil!

No matter how much water you drank yesterday, the heat and humidity in the island of concrete and asphalt was too much. I’m not one to usually complain about heat, since I’m from the South but NYC’s a different kind of beast. With all the buses, cars cluttering the miles and miles of roads, it gets a bit sticky here. Yesterday Tom and Tony decided to come up to NYC and while Tom was busy being famous, Tony and I rode around.

Check out more photos below.