The Radavist

I know a lot of you live in LA but have you camped up on Mt Lowe? Now’s your chance…

“On June 20th Golden Saddle Cyclery and Errin from Frontage Roads will be hosting a Swift Campout!!!

The ride to historic Mt Lowe is no cakewalk(About 5,000 feet elevation gain), there will be two routes(one paved/one dirty) heading up to camp. This is BYOEverything!!! Pack food and water for the ride and night! It’s going to be a scorcher!!!

If you have any questions about this Saturday please call the shop and ask for David or Kyle.”

You should definitely do this!

… and I’ll be out of technology’s reach for a few days. Fear not, I’ve got some really great content scheduled, so enjoy.

Lauren and I have done plenty of camping and she’s done her share of cycling around town, but we’ve never gone on a bicycle camping trip together. Yesterday morning, I was surprised to hear her ask if I wanted to get in some tent time before I headed out on the road again on Friday.

So last night, I packed up some bags, a tent, my trusty Lodge cast iron skillet and food for two meals. We headed out to the closest state park in the area: McKinney Falls. The route there is pretty easy, even loaded down with a bunch of gourmet food, wine, a hatchet and a skillet. I took it slow and coached Lauren through the climbs, we stopped for photos and tried our best to ignore the impatient rush-hour traffic zipping past. The weather looked nice, with bright blue sunny skies. It didn’t rain this go-round, but it was still quite enjoyable…

I didn’t think this mandated a whole gallery, so check out a scrolling story below.

Swift Industries hopes to encourage all of you to organize a campout on Soltice weekend, June 20th and the 21st. Find out all the details and what you could win at Swift Industries!

Niner has really nailed this one. With the success of their RLT, they’ve just issued a steel version, marketed towards bike packing, camping and light touring. While it’s not a full blown touring bike, you can strap a few bags to it, as well as a rear rack and take off into the wilderness.

With a geometry dialed in for gravel, cross racing, all-road conditions and even some singletrack shredding, the RLT 9 steel presents itself as a new platform for those who want to get the most out of their bike.

Made from Reynolds 853, with thru-axles, fender / rack mounts and PF BB30, the RLT 9 Steel utilizes modern tech with the feel of steel. Am I excited about these bikes? Yep. We’ll be riding them in the forthcoming weeks…

Available as a complete with multiple build kits, or a frameset in two color combinations. Check out more photos below and see pricing and sizing information at Niner.

It seems the guys at Everything Will Be Noble took heed of our Black Friday camping trip route. After the Cross Nats dust settled in Austin, they left for a 200 mile route we planned back in December. It’s great seeing local routes getting some fresh eyes and photos.

Check out Everything Will Be Noble for a great tale!

If you haven’t seen this, it’s worth the watch.

“For one week, the whole crew stayed at the Casa Maccaroni, in Lajares, which is located in the middle of a desert pierced by only a few little volcanoes, in the north part of the island. From there they would cycle to spots on a average 45 km a day. Going to cities and villages, skating, coming back.

With no training, this trip turned out to be pretty tough for the skaters, but made them realize skate tours can be more than just sitting in a van to get to spots. A memorable experience for most of them.”

People have asked me this more than just about anything else when it comes to bicycle camping: tent or hammock? Before we dive right in, I want to clarify that those aren’t the only options. You can also use a bivy or just a sleeping bag on a tarp. I’ve done it all and over the years, I’ve dialed in what I would consider a great system for selecting which will work for you.

Benedict, aka Ultra Romance knows how to keep warm during the cold winter months in the Northeast and there’s a new blog on Tumblr showcasing the majestic landscapes and shredscapes of this region.

Nutmeg Country is worth the click-through, just be prepared for tons of epic bërm blåsting and dudes, don’t let your lady see these photos or she’ll be boarding a plane…

a skid a day!

Well, we’re back! It was a fun, windy and sunny time but we made it home mostly in one piece. Expect updates to the site all day tomorrow and once I get my film developed, I’ll post up our route, as well as some selects.

’til then, check out our Instagram accounts: @johnprolly, @dwntwnbikr, @messengerofjustice and @jkneve

I hope you had a great weekend!

Today we’re leaving on a three day camping trip to some state parks around Austin. I’ll be back on Sunday night. Enjoy your weekend!

This is the eleventh layout of the Radavist 2014 Calendar, entitled “Take the High Road”. The camera and location are noted on the bottom left of the document.

After all the manure, cattle grates, and potential stampeding you on your ride, cows are good for at least one thing: making ribbon-like singletrack along the sides of country roads. Fun to ride on any bike. Apologies for this one being late!

For a high-res JPG, suitable for print and desktop wallpaper*, right click and save link as – The Radavist 2014 Calendar – November. Please, this photo is for personal use only!

(*set background to white and center for optimal coverage)

This Rubber Side Up is brought to you by Dylan and my friends at the Great Escape. I miss Diablo, camping and Erik aka Hellhommus. I can’t wait to get back on the road with that dude.

I wish more of my weeks ended like this… and yes, I have to shoot that bike. I’ve just been waiting for the right time.

Tools of the trade:
Leica M7 / Zeiss 28mm
Portra 400