The Radavist

Ever have one of those rides where a crazed redneck kicks you off “his mountain” and you end up somewhat lost, having to re-route yourself? Yeah. This was one of those rides. Not that I’m complaining. If Santa Cruz is dirt heaven, then surely the roads are worth a mention.

During the ATOC this year, a few of us got together and rode from Santa Cruz to San Jose. Leading the way was Garrett Chow on his FEA Venge. He promised a big climb, some poaching, a little dirt and heat, heat, heat. All of which were delivered. Then our route was truncated short by the above-mentioned, real king of the mountain…

60 miles and 4,000′ later and we were in San Jose, just in time to watch the last TT and drink a few beers. It’s a bummer we missed the stage, but so it goes. Check out some narrated photos in the Gallery!

Tools of the trade:
Yashica T4
Fuji Pro400H

If #NatureIsMetal, then Gibraltar is a barrage of blast beats. This iconic climb is located in Santa Barbara, California. Just the word, Gibraltar, carries a certain mystique. As a cyclist, there are a few climbs that carry connotations of pain. For me, I think of Diablo, Cloud Burst and Gibralter.

Depending on how you start, you can climb from sea level to 3,600′ in just 12 miles. The road itself, up to the summit is about 7 miles. What makes Gibralter so magnificent though is the weather. One minute, you’re riding in the scorching morning sun and the next, a weather system will move over the crest and down the roads, creating an eerie and really fuckin’ metal vignette.

A group of us during the ATOC got in a quick ride before rushing to the start at Santa Barbara’s stage. We climbed fast and because of the ominous fog, took the descent slowly. The whole time I was descending, I felt like I was entering some lost world… It was brutally epic! See for yourself in the Gallery!

Tools of the trade:
Yashica T4 / Pro 400H

Sometimes, good coffee is more than enough motivation to do a quick ride through Golden Gate Park in SF. If you don’t have time for the San Bruno loop, there’s a quicker way. The first time I made it out to Trouble Coffee was with Chas, back in May when I was in town for the ATOC. This time, the sandwich board spoke its words of wisdom with one simple phrase: Live to Shred. We rolled back through the park, bumped into Marc and swung by the De Young museum, one of my all-time favorite HdM projects.

I can’t say I shredded much riding home, filled with toast and coffee but it did make for some excellent photos of the #lightbro through GGP… See more in the gallery!

San Francisco has many great coffee shops but one in particular has become sort of a tradition in the past few times I’ve visited the city. Trouble Coffee is by no means a local’s secret, but it’s worth the jaunt over if you have the time. Especially if you can meander a bit, say, up San Bruno.

Chas took me on a great 28 mile loop around SF one of the last days I was in town. We started in the Mission, headed south up San Bruno, took a dead-end but scenic road and then headed west to Trouble coffee before splitting GGP on the way home. All in all, it was a great little ride and it goes to show that you really can get in a lot of climbing (2,000′) on an easy ride like this.

Check out the route on my Strava and maybe give it a try yourself. See more shots from the road (and dirt) in the Gallery!

When I travel, I always have a camera on me and lately, it’s been a toss up between the Mamiya and the Leica. The only time I really carry my digital camera with me is if I am going to shoot a bike, or a shop, but in general, all my travel photos have been film. Which creates an overflow of randomness from each city I visit. Most of which don’t merit a post just by themselves. See some narrated photos of faces and places in the Gallery! Hey, if I don’t post them, they’ll sit on my hoard drive…

If you enjoy riding up and down ranges in the ‘wood, or tearing down fire roads, then Santa Cruz is heaven. There’s even great road riding but this trip, we stuck to the trails. USCSC has a ton of trails on its campus, all of which cross, zig zag, ascend and descend around neighboring systems. When I initially headed down from SF with Brian Vernor, my cross bike was in the car, which would have been a fine vehicle for the day but I made a few phone calls and ended up demo’ing an Ibis Ripley instead. Let’s just say the day was probably a lot more enjoyable (hopefully I’ll be able to review that bike extensively in the future).

Garrett from Strawfoot, Vernor and I did a series of loops, ranging from relatively technical, loose and sandy descents to wide-open, no fucks given blast-fests down through Wilder. None of us had a Garmin on our bikes, so I have no idea how long we were out there, or how far we traveled, but my legs told me around 30 ish miles and in trails, that’s a long afternoon, especially when Santa Cruz was spiking into the 90’s and no, that’s not a reference to the vernacular style of the town.

Santa Cruz was heaven for those few hours and people often ask why I don’t shoot photos of the more technical, beautiful singletrack when I ride MTB. It’s because we’re going too fast and no one wants to stop! Except when someone wrecks…

My extended family grows every time I visit San Francisco. They’re always there to party, ride and pause for photos (usually I actually have to chase them for photos). The day I got into SF during my last stay, I met up with a group of fit fellas for a little road and a lotta dirt, right over the Golden Gate Bridge. Hawk Hill is the staple ride for many cyclists in SF. There are trails, singletrack and roads literally snaking all the way up to the top. Most of us were on cross bikes and a few were on road bikes. We all had fun, regardless! Check out more photos in the Gallery.

Tools of the trade:
Yashica T4
Fuji Pro400h