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Cycling in Kuwait: It’s Not the Heat That’s the Challenge

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Cycling in Kuwait: It’s Not the Heat That’s the Challenge

Kuwait was the last place Abe Alkhamees expected to find a cycling community. After an extended vacation to all the best cycling destinations in Europe, he traveled to his home country to explore the cycling there. His Meet The Rider project aims at putting a face to Arab cyclists, sharing their stories, and bridging the gap between these riders and the rest of the cycling world.

Our Town Makes ONGUZA: Bicycles Made in Namibia

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Our Town Makes ONGUZA: Bicycles Made in Namibia

What do you picture when you hear “African bikes”? There’s a good chance you’re not thinking of a luxury, world-class bike. And you’re not alone. We need to change the way people think about goods made in Namibia – and from Africa as a whole. Name a luxury brand from the African continent…? Yeah, we have our work cut out for us. Onguza is making handbuilt steel frames in Omaruru and helping to put Namibia on the map of international frame builders.  Continue reading below as Dan Craven gives us a look into starting the brand and his motivations.

2022 Cyclocross Nationals on Film: Patience Through the Chaos

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2022 Cyclocross Nationals on Film: Patience Through the Chaos

With my camera bag loaded with several boxes of 120 film and a brick of Ilford HP5, I pulled out of the driveway bound for Hartford, CT; I paused, wondering how I arrived at this moment. All of the little moves and influences resulted in me lugging two cameras with a combined age of some 75 years to shoot the season’s most crucial cyclocross race. There is a “Butterfly Effect” moment in our lives that leads us to our current state, and somewhere amongst the mud, dust, and thousands of shutter actuation is mine.

A Tale of Two (Colorado) Trails: Lachlan Morton’s MTB Progression

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A Tale of Two (Colorado) Trails: Lachlan Morton’s MTB Progression

“I wasn’t going back because I wanted to go dramatically faster but because I wanted to put myself in the same situations I was in three years before and be more comfortable. I knew that the only way to do that was to try to do it fast because that requires you to push yourself to a place where you are kind of on the edge of your capability. And every time I reached that limit this time, I was comfortable, in a way. I wasn’t stressed whereas every time I’d reach that point three years before I’d just crumble.”

In 2019, Lachlan Morton rode the Colorado Trail for the first time, starting in Durango and finishing three days and 22 hours later in Denver. He went back this summer, riding the trail in the opposite direction in three days and ten hours, and chopping nine hours off any other recorded time. However, after sitting down with the EF Education Easy-post athlete, it seems that speed was a byproduct of the feat, not the primary focus. Read on for a more detailed look behind the clock, from my conversation with Lachlan about how he went from surviving the CT in 2019 to establishing a new level on this iconic route this year. 

Beyond Camaraderie, Between Athletes, Behind the Tape: Cyclocross’ Unsung Hereoes

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Beyond Camaraderie, Between Athletes, Behind the Tape: Cyclocross’ Unsung Hereoes

Amidst the fray of cyclocross athletes regularly pushing themselves to the limit, the unsung heroes of this discipline are churning away behind the scenes. From mechanics and photographers to directors and coaches, the lesser-known faces that keep this crazy sport going are all unique people with their own stories, but not ones you’ll likely hear about in race coverage. So enjoy a glimpse into the world of the people on the outside of the tape – we hope it inspires you to take a walk through the paddock at the next race you attend and look a little closer.

Radar

Rapha Gone Racing – The Alt Tour Video

The latest installment of Rapha Gone Racing just landed on our Youtube front page and features Lachlan’s Alt Tour. The beauty of this project lies in both the physical challenges Lachlan faced but also in the immense fundraising this effort achieved. Rapha and EF Education First donated 1000 bikes to World Bicycle Relief before inviting those following Lachlan to support the cause. With help from fans around the world, Lachlan managed to raise over £500,000 and counting…

Hit play to spend 40 minutes of your Monday experiencing the details of this achievement.

Expectations on the Black Canyon Trail

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Expectations on the Black Canyon Trail

Expectations are an interesting thing. In a way, dreaming about something is often what motivates us to do it. We dream of what we can achieve, or of a potential adventure, and the belief that it could happen excites us enough to go out and prepare in the hope of making it a reality.

I’m a professional cyclocross racer, and those dreams and expectations I have for myself guide my everyday decisions and allow me to push myself above what I think is possible. Just thinking about what I want to achieve gets me excited, but also a little bit nervous. I want to live up to my own expectations, and I so badly want to make those dreams a reality. Yet, those expectations allow me to set a standard for myself; a standard of excellence that I need to bring to each training session, making me inherently better than if I did not have those high expectations.

But there can also be a darker side to expectations: when an unrealistic picture you paint in your mind ends up being shattered by a much more difficult reality than the one you had planned.

Radar

Wahoo’s Breakfast with Boz: Molly Cameron

Wahoo’s podcast, Breakfast with Boz, recently sat down with Molly Cameron, a professional cyclocross racer and transgender athlete with a mission to improve the trans experience and make the cycling community a welcoming and more informed space. Give this one a listen for more insight into the recent anti-trans legislation passing across the country and how it affects athletes.

Vintage Bicycles: Norm Alvis’ 1992 Team Motorola MXL Eddy Merckx with Dura Ace 7400

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Vintage Bicycles: Norm Alvis’ 1992 Team Motorola MXL Eddy Merckx with Dura Ace 7400

Longtime readers of this website will recall our weekly “Merckx Mondays” posts that began back in 2008. Well, let me just get this out of the way and say don’t get your hopes up for its return, but I am very excited to share this Eddy Merckx with you, on a Monday, as a part of a little sub-category of Vintage Bicycles we’ll be doing at the Radavist over the next few months…

InternationElles’ Fundraiser for Equal Payout for the Women’s Peloton

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InternationElles’ Fundraiser for Equal Payout for the Women’s Peloton

It’s 2021 and women’s cycling is still fighting for their equal piece of the pie, as illustrated here by artist Thomas Slater. The InternationElles have had enough. These ten female cyclists and three crews from across the globe, are united in the fight for equality. Their hope is through activism, that they can boost women’s cycling. Right now, they have a GoFundMe to raise €5,000 as equal prize money to the top 5 women’s podium for the upcoming 2021 Strade Bianche. The above illustration might seem like an exaggeration but the payout at the recent Omloop Het Nieuwsblad paints a clear and concise picture…

Hopefully, the UCI, USAC, and other organizations will get with the times.

Radar

Riding Fixed, Up Mountains, with Pros: Ep. 13: Echo Lake with Alex Howes

For State Bicycle’s latest episode of Riding Fixed, Up Mountains, With Pros, they take Alex Howes up a 3,600-foot climb on Colorado Highway 103 to Echo Lake.

Over the course of 32 miles up and down the mountain, listen in on a wide-ranging and inciteful interview including these tidbits:
-Would you guess that Alex is a science geek?
-Why does Lachlan Morton, the Australian Pro, have his brake levers reversed?
-Did you know that “undorkifying” is a word?
-Fashion commentary: US men versus Europeans. (Who believes cargo pants never go out of style?)
-Alex Howes quote of the day: “In every Pro, there’s an average Joe.”