The Radavist

Some scenes evoke a certain resonance within our subconscious… ok, whatever, go out and find some dirt this weekend to rip around on.

Tools of the trade:
Yashica T4 / Pro400H

Over the years, some of these guys have become good friends of mine and I’ve enjoyed watching their lives change in the time that the Rapha Continental has been around. Since its inception, the Continental not only influenced the lives of the members, but undoubtably cycling as a whole.

Watching this video from the 2013 Pacific Northwest Rapha Continental ride, all I can think about is doing something similar with a group of close friends. The PNW really is gorgeous.

See more incredible photos at the Rapha Flickr and read Jeremy Dunn’s thoughts on the ride at Rapha.

It’s nice to see others taking on the Yonder spirit and organizing “Brovets”. Here’s 48×17‘s version:

“Brovet: Γύρος του Μωριά was a 3 day road cycling event organised by the shop at the last weekend of May 2013. The plan was to pass through some of the most beautiful and scenic routes of Peloponnesse, South Greece. There was a lot of climbing and lot of crazy fun riding, a bit of competitiveness, camp vibes by the sea and ancient temples. Apres-bike, the nicest memory was eating together at the end of each day as one big companionship.”

Photo by Kevin Edward Brown of Yonder Journal

I know I’ve already talked a lot about this bike, but I still can’t get over how much fun the State of Jefferson Brovet was last month. One of the reasons it was enjoyable was because of the equipment I used. There’s a lot to be said about the traditional randonneur events, all of which will not be discussed here. This is more a reflection on a ride that could have been hell for me, had I not planned accordingly.

After bonking and consequently pulling out of the second Brovet, due to a lack of adequate planning, I wasn’t going to let that happen on the latest ride. The stats were heavy. 250 ish miles and around 20,000′ in a day and a half was a big undertaking, especially with the weather fluctuations that you experience in California altitudes.

Check out more below.

This is the eighth layout of the 2013 PiNP Calendar, entitled “Live to Shred”. The camera, lens used and location are noted on the bottom left of the document.

The atavistic urge to play is inherent in all animals. From the porpoise, to the antelope and even your standard issue dirt rider, shredding is part of their daily routine. Sometimes, we just need a friendly reminder…

Right Click and Save Link As – 2013 PiNP Calendar: August

Cyclist Mike Cotty is about to embark on a personal journey. He’s planning on riding 666 kilometers of the French Alps from Evian Les Bains to Nice. In doing so, he must traverse 17 mountain passes. Yes, those passes: Télégraphe, Col de la Colombière, Galibier, Madeleine, Glandon, Croix de Fer, Vars, Izoard, Bonette and Madone. In doing so, he’ll have an elevation gain of 16,000 metres.

Yikes. But hey, that’s pretty fuckin’ metal. Talk about the Mountains of Madness…

Rapha‘s Strava challenges are always a lot of fun. Ever look to see what the competitors are riding? Personally, I always enjoy clicking on the leader’s stats and seeing where they rode and what kind of elevation they can hit on their home turf. For the Rapha Rising 2013, people came out of the woodwork:

“30,841 riders worldwide took to the hills and mountain roads as part of the eight-day Rapha Rising Challenge. The challenge, in conjunction with Strava, was to climb the combined height of the Alpe d’Huez, Peyresourde, Ventoux and Col de Sarenne. A total of 7, 235m was the target but, of course, many went above and beyond that figure.”

TCB gets into the dirt for a quick ride in some of San Francisco’s trails.

My childhood winters and summers were spent on the Canadian border in Vermont. To this day, a majority of my dad’s side of the family lives in the Green Mountains and their foothills (Vermont actually translates to green mountain in French).

After a 17 hour drive yesterday, my mom, Lauren and I arrived at my aunt’s house. She lives on the top a hill that as we were driving up it last night, all I could think about was bombing down it and consequently riding back up on my Geekhouse Mudville.

This morning, like an excited kid on Christmas, I kitted up and headed down to the main road before turning around and climbing back up. My plan was to do it four times, but neighboring hunting dogs kept me from more than two intervals.

These country roads are amazing. Most of which are closed during the winter months and are straight out of an “epic” ride video. Even though I’ve only got two days up here in the mountains, I’m planning on sneaking a ride in tomorrow morning before heading to Burlington on Friday for the JDRF ride with my mom and brother.

Remarkably, I’ve got wifi in the middle of nowhere, so I’ll do my best to update the site as events warrant.

As a side-note: I’m really digging the RX100!

Photo by Andy White

This Merckx Monday is brought to you by L’Eroica and Fyxomatosis. I love seeing Andy’s photos from this event. See more here!

I am very stoked on the Women’s 100 event that Rapha organized. Here’s the break-down on this successful event:

“Sunday 7th July was a big day in road cycling: the Tour was in the Pyrenees where Team Sky’s Christopher Froome was defending the yellow jersey for the first time. Simultaneously, thousands of women cyclists were riding their own ‘big loop’, participating in something called the Women’s 100. Rapha’s idea was to encourage as many female riders as possible to go out and bag 100 kilometres on the same day as the Etape du Tour, where a merry band of women cyclists, some new to the sport and some experienced, would ride the 130km from Annecy to Mt. Semnoz.

It was a roaring success and a great day for riders worldwide. We’d like to congratulate all the people involved, particularly those who had never achieved that distance before and the people who organized the rides, chapeau. And our message now is a simple one: keep on riding.

Additional photos can be found in the Stories section of rapha.cc 

Reports from rides across North America can be found on the Rapha blog here.”

Check out a few more infographics below.

If you’ve been following me on Instagram, you’ve probably figured out that we made it. It was tough, but fun. For such a large group to finish the ride without any major issues made it even more enjoyable.

The State of Jefferson, at least what we saw of it, truly is mythical. We ended up totaling 233 miles and over 17,000′. In true Brovet spirit, we stopped a lot, swam in rivers, streams, waterfalls and dirt napped when necessary. We flew down frontage roads, chattered our teeth on ruts, lost water bottles, found water bottles, avoided rattle snakes and drank lots of water…

More to come, but for now, catch up on some more photos on my Instagram, where I’ve linked to all the accounts who were also on the ride.