The Radavist

We all know that a bicycle can do a lot – grocery runs, pick your kids up from school, group rides, casual commuting – and now we have the bicycle as a support vehicle. In 2019 Katie Visco ran across Australia (her second transcontinental run) with her husband Henley Phillips as support crew pedaling a Surly Troll+Ted trailer. Their route followed the rough Outback tracks from Darwin through the Tanami Desert, into Alice Springs, through South Australia on the infamous Oodnadatta Track, finally ending in Adelaide 4 months later. The two filmed the journey entirely on smartphones and cut together a short documentary with the help of Yellow Tent Nomads. 

Presented by: Bedrock Sandals.

Do you recall the video Going Without Knowing we posted a few weeks back? Well, Hyperlite Mountain Gear just posted a follow-up interview with artist Geoff McFetridge on their blog and I think you all will find it interesting:

What parallels can you draw between your artistic style and how you travel and engage in your preferred pastimes outside?

I think I get pretty deep into things. Deep and fringe-y. I first raced my bike as cyclocross, and I became more engaged with skiing when I learned to telemark. I didn’t get interested in fishing until I saw Tenkara. I don’t run road races, only trail runs. You can see a pattern here. I am not embarrassed to go directly into the deepest (trendiest?) zone of the margin—the single-speed of EVERYTHING.

Read more at Hyperlite!

Our friends Jon and Nadine’s cyclo-tourism company, Dzil Ta’ah Adventures, based in the Navajo Nation town of Kayenta made it to the travel segment of Condé Nast. We’ve done a few stories with Dzil Ta’ah Adventures over the years, so after you check this out, be sure to visit our archives in the Related footer below…

“It’s important for Navajo Nation to be in charge of this story, because more often than not, that story has been told for, not by, Navajo people,” says Navajo Nation member Donovan Hanley, a legislative staff assistant spearheading tourism development for Navajo Nation Council’s Office of the Speaker. “Jon’s push to tell stories on bikes, the push for adventure, responsible tourism, and sustainable tourism—it really aligns with the Navajo way of life.”

Read the full piece at Condé Nast Travel!

This year, the Swift Campout Video Challenge brought in dozens of submissions from all over the world but one stood out above the rest: Wira Samudra’s submission from Jakarta, Indonesia’s Psychloop. Give it a watch here!

“Kyrgyzstan” is the seventh layout of the Radavist 2021 Calendar. It was shot with a Sony A7RII and the Sony 70-300 lens in Kyrgyzstan.

“Ryan Wilson once again graces our monthly calendar with two photos from his travels to Kyrgyzstan.”

For a high-res JPG, suitable for print and desktop wallpaper*, right-click and save link as – The Radavist 2021 – July. Please, this photo is for personal use only!
(*set background to white and center for optimal coverage)

The mobile background this month is also from the same tour. Click here to download July’s Mobile Wallpaper.

This is quite the undertaking!

“La Grande Boucle is cycling’s ultimate challenge, with the biggest audience, the toughest parcours and the most prestigious prize. From the outside, the race is a constantly moving feast of sound, colour, effort and emotion but for the racers inside the bubble, life on Tour travelling from one hotel to the next can be somewhat sterile particularly in the midst of a pandemic.

This year, for a fresh perspective on what it takes to compete at the world’s greatest bike race, Lachlan Morton is taking on his own Alt Tour. In a challenge inspired by the inaugural edition of 1903, he’ll ride every stage and every transfer completely unsupported, covering a distance of 5,500km and climbing over 65,000 metres in just 23 days. Starting just before the first stage, he’ll ride nearly double the distance and make the equivalent of an extra thirteen ascents of the Tourmalet, all with the ultimate aim of beating the peloton to Paris.

As well as a fresh perspective, Lachlan will also be riding with a new purpose. To make every kilometre he covers really count, Rapha and Education First are each donating 500 bikes to World Bicycle Relief and, with your help, we can donate even more. If you’re inspired by Lachlan’s challenge and would like to support him, you too can donate to WBR and help provide even more young people with the bikes they need to access an education.

With no teammates to shelter behind, no mechanical assistance and no rest days, the Alt Tour is Lachlan’s greatest challenge yet. How many bikes can we donate? Will Lachlan make it to Paris? And will he arrive before the peloton? There’s only one way to find out…”

Follow Lachlan’s dot!

Remember that Finding Joy video we posted a little while ago that so many of you loved? Well, here’s a behind-the-scenes look at the making of that video… thanks for sending this in, Hannah!

Are you watching those dots move across the TDR map? Perhaps you’d like to take it on sometime? Well, Sarah Swallow meticulously researched and documented every single resource you could ever need along the GDMBR, and now we want to share all her hard work with you. Check out the full article at RideWithGPS!

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.

36 Hours in Kitsbow is a unique grassroots short film series highlighting stories of cycling adventure — especially stories that reunite all of us with our community, propel us into the unknown, and begin a journey from our doorstep.

Kitsbow’s 2021 premiere film features a reunion of friends from the Radical Adventure Riders, Atlanta Chapter; whose regular outings were halted abruptly during 2020. Now a year later, the friends roll from their city to reconnect for a long-overdue bikepacking adventure.

In the outdoor space, few companies provide products as resilient as they are good-lookin’ as Snow Peak. Their titanium cookware lasts forever and their compact camping solutions have proven to be excellent allies on bicycle tours so it makes sense that Rapha would pair up with Snow Peak on a capsule collection, live now at their site. Sure, if you already have this gear, you don’t need to be bothered but if you’re a fan of Rapha and are curious about Snow Peak’s legacy, this is for you. I’ve been using the new Kanpai bottle for hot and cold-brewed coffee and its worked a treat.

See the collection at Rapha.