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Last Autumn, I found myself wondering, “How do I pack for a bike ride through Narnia?”. I had just been asked to sample a small section of the wonderful Oregon Timber Trail by my friend Gabriel. I packed a grocery bag full of Voile straps, my foul weather gear, a laminated local mushroom-foraging pamphlet, and prepared to step through the magic wardrobe.
Should we join the crazy Everest fad? Zwift for 48 hours straight? What if we ride the entire Santa Monica Mountain Range? The route had to be gnarly enough to catch people’s attention, and then we could steer the gaze to the reason for the ride. To raise funds and awareness for grassroots organizations that fight racial injustices as a part of the Big Rides for a Big Cause platform.
Kittie Knox might not be a name you’re familiar with and that’s ok! Let’s learn about her today. She was a bike racer at the end of the 19th century, the first black person to be inducted into the League of American Wheelman, and pushed the paradigm at the time by wearing clothing only associated with males, like pants! Kittie fought for the rights of black Americans as cyclists, pushing for the ability for more to be allowed into the League of American Wheelman.
Head to Medium to read this great story.
When you’re done there, head to Bicycling.com for more stories by and about black cyclists.
The New Yorker recently released this documentary, featuring pro mountain bikers Andréane Lanthier Nadeau, Miranda Miller, plus pro rider and Olympic ski cross medallist Brittany Phelan, examining their relationship with crashing. Check out the full article at the New Yorker.
Bombtrack just posted their latest video, featuring Gaëlle, as she embarked on a massive loop around Europe, covering all it’s countries within.
Remember the Squid Bikes SO-EZ tracklocross frame our friend Cache painted in Los Angeles for a raffle to help raise money for the LA Regional Foodbank?
The journal entry following my first bike trip reads: “Why does recording life events feel so vital? Because memories can’t be trusted to stay in place. Because in their wake remains the shadowy outlines of phantom feelings—forms so great and vague that we long to recall the experiences that gave them flesh and weight. Okay. Bike trip.” On the next page I taped five sheets of 3×5 pages, carefully ripped from the pocket journal that I carried with me on the bike. I did this for the sake of chronology in my journaling, so that all of my day-to-day reflections remained bound together, in order, but in leafing through the past, I enjoy the three-dimensional quality that my inserted notes lend to the entry.
Lisa Congdon is an artist, who Velocio pinged to design a collection for them. Well, the whole project looks great but their interview and process images really bring it home. It’s always great to read about lesser-known artists in this industry.
There’s a natural connection between the process in cycling and in art. Can you speak about how one might inform the other? Related, you’ve built a successful business from being perseverant and thoughtful, hallmarks of any longtime rider. What drives you in your work?
I think the same drive, discipline and determination required for cycling and other sports are required for art making. I use a lot of sports analogies when I talk about the creative process, because there are so many similarities. You have to not only show up, but you also often have to move/create even when the conditions aren’t perfect or you feel like crap. Some days you feel in the flow, others are a struggle. Practice is at the heart of getting better. Athletics has taught me so much that has moved into my art practice. I get an enormous amount of personal, intrinsic satisfaction from making art, and I know that satisfaction is a result of a lot of hard work that was difficult. And that sense of personal satisfaction is where it begins for me. But there is another layer of sharing my work with an audience, and having other people engage with my work that is also hugely motivating to me.
Head to Velocio to see more!
Now in its eighth year, the Rapha Women’s 100 challenges riders around the world to share the road and ride 100 kilometers together on the same day. 2020 may be looking a little bit different from previous years and coming together can be complicated, but there is still a way… Watch this video for some familiar faces and check out the entire Womens 100 collection at Rapha.
In 2019 Gaëlle and her Bombtrack headed out for a staggering loop around Europe, covering all it’s countries within. From the heat of southern Spain to the frozen coast of Scandinavia, while traversing the Carpathians somewhere in the middle – home to brown bears and wolves…
We should all take the time to read this article by Ayesha McGowan on Outside Online if you haven’t…
“It’s been just over a month since George Floyd was murdered in the street by the police. After eight days of marches and protests all over the world, the four officers involved in Floyd’s death were arrested and charged. That glimmer of hope for justice is too little, too late. The Black community has endured centuries of witnessing Black death at the hands of the law enforcement officials who are supposed to protect us.”
Last weekend, Lael raced the Kenai 250, a two hundred fifty-seven mile self-supported mountain bike race in the Kenai Peninsula, the only area with an extensive network for singletrack trails in Alaska.
BMX twins Lizsurley and Queensaray prove to be ‘2 in a million’ as they work their way up from local freestylers to olympic hopefuls despite their lack of training infrastructure and resources.
The Kenai 250 is a 257-mile, self-supported mountain bike race in the Kenai peninsula, the only area in Alaska with a large network of singletrack trails maintained by the forest service. The race organizer, Michael Braun, stitched together a route that connects the trails with highway miles. It’s 60% singletrack and 40% pavement. The race has been going on since at least 2013. This year, with 36 starters, it’s a record setting year for participation. This will be my first time racing it. I grew up in Alaska. It’s amazing to have the opportunity to ride and race in my home state. A couple weeks ago, Rue and I went out to tour the trails– several of which I’d never ridden. In a single day, from my bike seat, I saw a moose cooling off in a pond and both a lynx and a grizzly bear crossed my path. Alaska is still very wild. I’m really looking forward to riding through the night and experiencing this full route in one go. It would make a great multi-day tour as well.
Two names in the outdoor industry with industry-leading apparel have joined forces to develop a special kit for women. Outdoor Voices and Rapha teamed up for a special riding kit and we think it looks great! See more from this collaboration at Rapha and see the full gallery from this photoshoot by Cait Oppermann below.
My dream was to ride all of the major roads in Alaska and I did in 2017. I’m fourth-generation Alaskan. It’s where I got into endurance riding on my mom’s Specialized Ruby in between bartending shifts in 2014. Examining the map and fitting in the biggest rides I could on my two days off led me to the goal of riding them all, imagining what the 2D map could look like in real life and why the roads existed in the first place. Three years later, I had a wide open summer and I was ready for an open-ended adventure. Four thousand five hundred miles took me past Wiseman to the north slope at Prudhoe Bay on the Arctic Ocean, through Chicken to Eagle on the Yukon River, to the three hot springs north of Fairbanks, into Denali National Park and across the Denali Highway to Paxson. I used The Milepost, the local guidebook that chronicles every mile of Alaskan road with conditions and services. If the road is listed in The Milepost, I had to ride it. About two-thirds were paved and a third, high-quality dirt.
Emily Batty takes to the trails with her pup Buddy as she works on her MTB skills…
The current worldwide situation has forced Kyle and I, along with everyone else, to rethink our spring activities. With mountain bike races cancelled and out-of-state trips a no-go, we were suddenly left with a lot of empty weekends and an excuse to explore more of New Mexico. We finally had the time and motivation to give this bikepacking thing a try, something that had been at the back of our minds for quite some time. Despite both of us having spent thousands of miles backpacking the Sierra Nevada, Cascade Mountains, and the canyons of Southeast Utah, we still were new to the world of bikepacking.
