The Radavist

Empower People Of Every Race, Nationality, And Socioeconomic Strata To Rehabilitate And Maintain Their Own Bikes.

This 8,000 mile tour includes stops in twenty-five cities including mountain bike trail rides, advocacy talks, community cruises, and community wrench rehab events. The starting line is New York City and we’ll tour a southerly route via Fort Worth, Texas, to the West Coast, returning along a northerly route via Chicago, Illinois, to the finish line in New York. With a repurposed school bus as a mobile basecamp, we will journey from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and back, stopping in communities to ride our mountain bikes on some rad trails, advocate for BIPOC – all people! – to get on bikes to share in our journey, and to empower communities through hands-on wrench events, all while giving away over 1,200 bikes in the process.

Head to GoFundMe to donate if you can and to Smiles 4 Miles Tour to read more!

This video has all the vibes and our friends and we couldn’t be more happy to share it with y’all!

“The spirit of adventure runs deep in cycling. It also goes way back. In 1976, riders from across America, many of them women, took to the newly established TransAmerica Trail for the trip of a lifetime from coast to coast. Inspired by their journeys and designed to help you on yours, the limited edition Nomad collection is designed for discovery, helping to unlock the sense of freedom that only a bike ride can provide.”

Good job, Rapha! See the entire Nomad Collection on their website.

Salsa’s Gravel and Gratitude series continues, with Brooke Goudy starring in the latest video:

Cycling can take you on journeys, not all on the road or dirt. This summer, I will attempt to ride the entirety of the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route (GDMBR). It’s a ride that claims not to be technically difficult, but a battle of endurance and the mind. My goal is to rekindle the joy of my childhood while reckoning with the emotions, hardships, and toils of being an adult. It will be a journey of the soul.

My bike has been taking me on adventures since I was kid. I’m flooded with memories of getting off the school bus, rushing through my homework, and getting on my bike. I would cruise the sidewalks of my neighborhood and find people to visit and places to explore.

Check out the video here and pop on over to Salsa to see the full piece.

The second installment of Gravel and Gratitude has launched, featuring Leonardo Brasil:

“Freedom, adventure and self-sufficiency. This is why I ride bikes. In a world so dominated by motor vehicles and technology, my bicycle represents simplicity, a way to see the world powered by nothing more than my legs, imagination and loads of carbs. I am a Brazilian landscape and adventure photographer living in Colorado, who is passionate about storytelling, coffee and long days in the saddle.

I grew up riding a yellow 26’ aluminum hardtail mountain bike on hard packed gravel roads through farms and old villages with my dad in Brazil. I remember feeling a strong sense of freedom by being able to ride from one town to the next. In a lot of ways, my riding style has never really changed.”

Continue reading this story at Salsa Cycles!

Things are moving a bit slow over here this morning after I spent the weekend in Arizona with the Silver Stallion team riding trails with kids and documenting a very busy Sunday in Fort Defiance at the Silver Stallion mobile bike shop pop-up in the Navajo Nation. Being present while this team worked all day in the sun and wind on its community’s bikes was a wonderful thing to witness, so expect some Reportage coming up next week. For now, I just wanted to say thank you to the entire Silver Stallion team for being such great hosts.

Our friends at Swift Industries have continued their virtual Stoked Spoke Adventure Series in a pandemic period correct Zoom format. The latest episode features a panel of BIPOC guests with stories aplenty. Give this one a watch or play it in the background while you work at your desk…

Our friends at Giro have sponsored a new collective of athletes and brands that stand united in a common goal to introduce new audiences to cycling. Read the full press-release on this group below!

In its first year, Dead Man Gravel is the newest race to join the gravel racing circuit. Today, the DMG registration is open for women and BIPOC participants – and general registration opening on March 23rd for everyone else. The event is scheduled for July 31, 2021 in Nederland, Colorado. This unique event strives to be both inclusive – as organizers believe everyone should feel welcome, regardless of experience, race, gender, or sexual identity/orientation – and challenging – as very few other races have as much climbing, technical sections, and sustained elevation.

To strike a balance between challenging and inclusive, Dead Man Gravel will feature three courses: the 66 mile Tungsten loop, the 41 mile Gold loop, and the 25 mile Silver loop, providing three distinct experiences for riders of all levels. 

DMG is also partnering with Ride for Racial Justice and Shark Tooth Cycling, two non-profits doing incredible work in bringing new, and typically disadvantaged, athletes into the sport by helping to increase awareness and reduce barriers to entry.

Register today if you’re BIPOC, or female at Dead Man Gravel.

In the summer of 2017, Lael Wilcox rode all of the major roads in Alaska, totaling 4,500 miles on mixed pavement and gravel. Lael is fourth-generation Alaskan. This is where she began endurance riding and her goal to get to know her home state.

In 2020, Lael went back to Alaska with her girlfriend Rue, a photojournalist, to ride together and document her project of riding all of the roads.

This scholarship is intended to enable another woman to design and ride her own 1,000 mile Alaskan adventure in the summer of 2021. This scholarship is open to a woman (including femme, trans and non-binary) of any age with any level of bicycle touring experience. We are looking for positive energy and a strong desire to experience the remote roads of Alaska and have some fun.

The recipient of the scholarship will receive a Specialized Diverge bicycle, Revelate Designs bikepacking bags, PEARL iZUMi apparel, a premium subscription to Komoot, Easton wheels, a Wahoo ELEMNT ROAM GPS, Big Agnes camping equipment, Rene Herse tires, a year subscription to Bicycle Quarterly, Trail Butter, and a $1,500 travel stipend provided by Easton.

Prepare a digital application based upon the questions on the following page and send to Lael Wilcox and the selection team at laelridesalaska@gmail.com no later than February 6, 2021. Provide your responses as the text of an email. The recipient of the scholarship will be announced April 5, 2021.

The scholarship selection team includes Lael Wilcox, previous scholarship recipients Kailey Kornhauser and Brooke Larsen, Abigale Wilson from PEARL iZUMi, Cari Carmean from The Radavist, and Natsuko Hirose from Bicycle Quarterly.

Head to LaelWilcox.com to apply for this scholarship!

Kialani Hines knows while there is always space for a shreddy edit, focusing on her riding, she decided to take “Validation” in another direction:

“My goal with the short video is to share something I’ve been passionate about, help welcome all to something that has created a safe space for me, and to encourage new faces to fall in love with what makes them happy (hopefully that is mountain biking!). It’s been an incredible experience and privilege creating my vision with Heather Young and Grow Cycling Foundation. I hope that it inspires all to follow whatever path they envision for themselves.”

What a cool project from Giro and Vernor!

“The bike world is undeniably insular. It’s always been divided into categories, but as we add more subcategories, riders become more confined to fitting into their neat little boxes of road, cyclocross, gravel, XC, enduro, downhill, freeride, BMX, street. Riders pick a box and stick with it, rarely acknowledging that the others exist.

Andrew Jackson is out to break down those barriers.”

PEARL iZUMi‘s Go Connection series features stories from all over and this Dig Episode two takes us to the Eastern Band of the Cherokee in North Carolina:

“Cherokee, North Carolina, is home to the people of the Eastern Band of the Cherokee. The Tribe took advantage of their land’s beauty to generate an eco-tourism economy and improve their people’s health through an active lifestyle. They have created a network of trails to enjoy the beauty of their land while riding, hiking and running. The Fire Mountain Trails is a little over 10 miles of trail purpose-built by Trail Dynamics. With wooden features, berms and jumps, any rider of any ability can get out to get connected to their natural world.

These trails have opened the door to the world of mountain biking many only thought about or didn’t know. For some, riding Fire Mountain keeps them focused on progression and improvement not only on the trail tread but in their daily lives. These trails have been a catalyst for reconnecting to generations of stories and harmony with the land.”