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We’re back with another Radar Roundup where we take some of the news items to come across our inboxes into an easy-to-digest dump of sorts, culling down the clutter from our homepage and making it easier to stay on top of what’s going on in our little corner of the cycling industry. This will come particularly in handy when it comes to spring/summer product drops from our favorite brands.
Check out our Radar Roundup below with products, videos, and a Radavision entry…
Brian Vernor made this video featuring many of our friends for Cycling Tips. Head on over to see the photos from the story!
Big Pedal at the Trans Cascadia 2018
Words by Jeremy Dunn, photos from Chris Hornbecker, Daniel Sharp, Dylan VanWeelden, Joshua Lawton as noted.
Trans Cascadia starts off just how one might think. Like, any other bike race really. An unloading and loading up of vans. A makeshift parking lot or an empty field filled with characters and their bicycles. There is the usual building of bikes and swapping of tires all while eating gas station egg sandwiches and drinking the dregs of coffee on the go. From an uninitiated perspective everything seems to be going as planned, it is a controlled chaos sure, but everyone is working towards the same goal. Making it to camp. “That’s going to mean we’re going to need everyone to take their one bag and load up into the vans lined up alongside the road.” Alex Gardner is simultaneously pointing out vans for people to get into and handing out donuts from a stack of blue and yellow Heavenly Donuts boxes.
“These are the legit donuts in Portland, just FYI” Nick Gibson says to someone over his shoulder before grabbing two maple bars and helping someone load their bike into the back of a rental van. Nick and Alex are two thirds of the crew behind all this and they will be involved in nearly ever single thing that happens over the course of the weekend. From donut logistics to running point on a tricky medic situation on the mountain. Tommy rounds out the trio, but we’ll meet him, and his mom Becky a bit later.
This weekend is the Chris King Open House, an event open to the public for free. Coinciding with the open house are these two parties, beginning Friday night at the Chrome Hub, following up on Saturday is a party at the Athletic. See you there!
There’s something mystical, magical about riding in the summer. The long days, the heat, the early morning starts. This frenetic energy is the inspiration for the Athletic’s newest cycling collection, aptly named “Electric Cycling Collection.” Hand-drawn by Julie Krasniak, who likes the hand-drawn look, as it embodies that “Keep Moving” mantra. See the design as a kit, accessories, socks and more, for men and women and in stock now at the Athletic.
Photos by Jeremy Dunn
I always enjoy reading other’s stories from rides we’ve shared. In this case, it’s the Athletic’s recap from our Death Valley ride from last December.
“John laughed at that comment. “Yeah, we’re going down some more. Like 20 miles down.” But really down? We asked because, again, we’ve all done rides like this before and sometimes the descents are punctuated with some ups. “Yeah, really down.”
“I learned more from three Dead songs than from four years of college.” Bo said this to no one in particular and it caused a ripple of laughter to run through the group.”
Check out more at the Athletic!
Summon your own 1.21 gigawatts with the new Lightning Bolt Collection from the Athletic. Featuring caps, socks and jerseys, all featuring their newest pattern. Head to the Athletic to see more.
… know how to have fun!
Teaming up with Fairends, the Athletic has just released four wool caps, donning their two logos. These caps are made in the USA and in stock now at the Athletic’s webshop.
Printed on Jungmaven hemp shirts, these new Andrew DiStefano-illustrated Grinduro t-shirts are in stock now at the Athletic in both a men’s and a women’s cut.
Way back before Instagram, there was a cycling team in Austin called Team Wooly Mammoth. Known for their completely ridiculous web videos and loud cycling kits, this rag tag group of racers were rumored to even go to tanning beds in their kits to get the crispiest lines. They even donned an all-white kit, which upon placing the order, the apparel company warned of the finished product being “see-through.” To which the two founding members of Wooly Mammoth, Patrick @UltraTradition and Benedict @UltraRomance responded with “… annnnnd?”
Their sense of humor intact, Wooly Mammoth continued to race and look good, while making more videos. Six years ago, “I Am Romancer” struck the internet like lightening on a windmill in West Texas. While future Wooly videos would embrace black metal and nonsensical battle scenes, “I Am Romancer” spoke about the soul of a bicycle and the machismo surrounding the romanticism of the bicycle. Warning: some of those videos might be NSFW, depending on your work environment.
Fast forward to 2016. Ultra Romance is a cult-hero of bicycle nomads and Ultra Tradition has moved to Portland, Oregon, where he’s working with Jeremy and Julie Dunn of the Athletic to help grow Wooly Mammoth into not only a race team, but a brand. When the Athletic contacted VYNL Bikes to make a modern day Romancer ‘cross bike, painted to match the newest Wooly Mammoth designs, they jumped right on it. The completed bike, as shown here, brand spankin’ new, would be Jeremy’s Grinduro bike…
While it looks good all clean with its Zipp and SRAM parts, the bike looked much, much better, dusty and dirty on course. Oh and that North Street Bar Bag ain’t too shabby either!
Photos by Brenton Salo
The Athletic’s new National Collection doesn’t just celebrate the colors of the American flag, but 38 nations total. Head over to the Athletic’s Journal to read what inspired their new kit and check out their stock while you’re there.
For their newest collection, the Athletic teamed up with Australia’s Attaquer to do something bold and fun, resulting in a polka dot / camo cycling kit, complete with socks, caps, sweats and bottles, just in time for summer. Translating to “girl gang,” the new Bande De Filles collection from the Athletic is much more than just a kit, it’s a statement on the bond formed by women who ride together. Check out the full collection at the Athletic and don’t forget to read up on Bande De Filles!
“I’ve been around Jim and Rad Racing long enough now that the kids have grown up into adults. Many continue to race through secondary education and beyond with some even making it into the professional ranks. Rad Racing kids learn hard work and determination from Jim Brown, he learned it from his father.”
“It was his father’s passing in 2011 that prompted Jim to tattoo the nautical term HOLD FAST on his knuckles, a physical reminder to bear down and stay the course through any storm. The kids have never been a storm to Jim even though there’s a lot of them and they are kids after all. Working a race weekend is a hurricane of energy and emotion but the team ship, often weighted down with a treasure chest of trophies, always returns to port.”
Continue reading about Jim Brown at the Athletic and while you’re there, check out the Hold Fast gloves!
Ben from Argonaut Cycles has been wearing this kit since the 2015 Rouge Roubaix and it made a splash on social media. Now, the same kit is available as a collab with Portland’s the Athletic. Even if you don’t have the dough for the kit, you can order a pair of socks! See the full collection at the Athletic!
‘Cross is here (obvs) and the Athletic once again has teamed up with the Richard Sachs Cyclocross Team on a small capsule collection. This year however, they’ve expanded into two caps, while reducing the sock offerings to two designs. I really like the Belgian cap offering!
Head to the Athletic to see the full collection.
Ultra Romance and Ultra Tradition love their cycling mitts. So much that they worked on a design with Portland’s the Athletic to conceive of the most romantic mitts ever. $30 in sizes S – XL and in stock now. Check out more at the Athletic.
Cait’s first collaboration socks with the Athletic were a huge hit. For those unfamiliar with Cait, she’s a cancer survivor and a purveyor of stoke through a steady dose of encouragement and positivity. Much like her newest socks, she’s a bright and fun woman. Something the cycling industry always benefits from!
Check out more at the Athletic.
