The Radavist

It’s a Rapha week isn’t it?

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I consider Los Angeles my vacation city. When I come here, I rarely take photos and mostly just kick around GSC, waiting for either an after work or a pre-work ride. Yesterday Kyle and I took off to Griffith Park for some off-road, trail poaching. I’ve never taken this particular route and as the sun set over the hills, it proved to be quite the day-ender. It ended up being about 17 miles and 1,700′ of climbing with about 50% on dirt. Not bad. Oh and thanks to Ty for letting me ride his Hufnagel!

Don’t forget to follow @KyleBKelley on Instagram!

This is a great event and I dig the registration requirement for the Almanzo 100. Check out this video and if it proves anything, you can be sure that 100 miles of gravel is no easy feat. Thanks to Ty from GSC for sharing.

I get back to Austin tonight, after a great time in Portland, only to take right off for LA for a few days. When I travel this much, I really miss the riding Austin has to offer. That and the character of the roads. The things you see on the daily are so stereotypical Texan (and American) that it’s a never-ending source for amusement.

Once I gather my thoughts, more coverage from Portland will commence, partially mixed in with tons of LA photos (again).

Enjoy your life, friends and the weekend.

Nothing like climbing for miles only to open it up down a gravel road like this with Mt. Hood staring you down…

Photos by Jeremy Dunn

I’ve really come to admire photos that are taken while riding, much moreso than staged photo shoots. So it’s nice to see Jeremy’s photos and accompanying write-up of the 2012 Chris King Gourmet Century on the Rapha blog. That shot of Cindy is too good!

Look, believe it or not, I actually really love putting up posts to get you through the work day. That said, it’s hard for me to “play hooky” and go ride. While the site was silent for 24 hours, it was worth it… Yesterday, 5 of us headed out of Portland towards Mt. Hood. We took river paths, country roads, and fire roads, which eventually opened up to vistas like this. It was breathtaking. We totalled 111 miles and 7,700′. All this to visit a facility in Hood River where material for bikes are made.

More on this later. It’s gonna be good!

I think everyone can agree that this looks like a great time. Thanks for sharing Chris King!

When two great names work together on something, you know it’s going to be good: e r t z u i ° film and Rapha.

Didn’t get the chance to ride this morning? Well, there’s always this for motivation. Check out more at Rapha, including some amazing photography.

Here’s the full length from Deux North‘s first in a series of Hunts. It’s a bit long, but worth the watch if you’ve never spent time in upstate New York.

The 2012 Rapha NE Gentlemen’s Race was no joke. Over 120 miles and racking in over 13,000′ of elevation through the countryside of New Hampshire and Vermont. I don’t care, that shit looked fun.

Josh Hayes has a great gallery up on the European Touches Flickr. For a backstory on this ride, dubbed the Schwarzwald Giro, head to European Touches.

The northwest offers up some superb riding, best tackled via touring or credit card touring. The long, arduous days clear the mind and purge all weight that found itself on your shoulders. Sandy Carson, Taj Mihelich and Seth Holton have an excellent Photogallery up on Defgrip from their recent tour. You’ve gotta check it out! As a side note: Taj did this on his Weekender, a great 1×10 “light tourer”.

New blogs pop up every day but rarely do you see one start off with original content like this. The North Race is a new site coming from the UK and the landscapes captured in this video are amazing!

Now that the Tour is over, let’s reflect a bit, vis a via the newest video from the Rapha Continental series. Although it’s a bit long, what else do you have to do on this hot and humid Sunday?

“The latest film from the Rapha Continental North America documents a ride led by Alex Stieda, the first man from North America to wear the yellow jersey at the Tour de France. A tour of a different kind, the Continental riders rode with Stieda over three days amongst the dramatic mountains of Alberta, Canada.”

Rapha