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In celebration of the The 2014 Tour Divide mountain bike race, Ty is selling prints of some of his favorite 35mm photos from his 2013 run. He’s only selling five of each and doesn’t plan on selling them again. Head over to Tytanium Life to order.
If you’re interested in tracking the 2014 Tour Divide, do so at Trackleaders.
The above photo, entitled “First Day” is one of my personal favorites. See four others below.
Team Dream Extreme Volume 01: The Backboner
Photos and Words by Sean Talkington
Lyle from Acre recently moved to LA from SF and has been talking about “secret trails” near my home in Topanga for some time now. He kept saying that they were easily the best thing he had ridden in our area. I had skeptically tried to find the “secret trail-head” to the “secret trail” multiple times and always ended up lost. A few months ago I thought I had found said trail, so two buddies came with to rejoice in the new super secret discovery, only to end up trailblazing for 2 hours & schlepping bikes over loads of rock faces. I was bummed, my friends were bummed and I began to secretly hate these secret trails. ..
I’ve been a long fan of Cadence for some time now. Over the years, they’ve been huge supporters of PiNP and The Radavist, so when the new Flow kits dropped, I wanted to do something special to commemorate them. I knew from Cadence’s Instagram that they had just ridden from SF to LA and TCB Courier‘s John Daniel Reiss was trucking along taking photos, so I reached out to them to do a Reportage on the trip… Below you’ll see the ride unfold.
The Sequoia and Kings Canyon Loop
Photos by Sean Talkington and Ryan Wilson words by Sean Talkington, photo captions by Ryan Wilson.
About a month ago I received an email invite from Ryan Wilson to join in with a small group riding Kings Canyon Loop. I had never really ridden with Ryan and had no idea what Kings Canyon was, but seeing so many of his bitchin photos in the Western Sierra on Instagram was more then enough to lure me into a day of riding. What I didn’t know was that this guy goes out on some REALLY HUGE days to take these shots of scenic wonder and most of the time he does it alone.
You’re damned if you do and damned if you don’t…
The last Yonder Journal Brovet in Austin was a clusterfuck of epic proportions. I planned the ride, which, in context was one of the best 300 mile loops in Texas Hill Country. That context though, is slightly mottled, since, you know, I live in Texas and these guys are from California and Oregon – which has some of the best riding in the country. Maybe they’re soft-skinned liberals and I’m ok with Texas being stuck in the 17th century, or maybe riding for 40 hours in the pissing – just above freezing – rain just leaves a bad taste in your mouth.
Context aside, I planned a 300 mile route, the weather was nice – 80 degrees and humid – hey, it’s Texas – and everyone arrived in Austin.
Cursed. We’re all cursed. Or maybe I’m cursed? For whatever reason, mother nature took a shit on us, then smeared it on the route. 300 miles got cut in half, we had to bail so people could catch their flights. Ty got drunk – after he and Kelli got engaged. Moi got drunk. Kyle threw up in my yard. Hahn got drunk and raided dirty laundry.
The story goes deeper than this over at Yonder Journal! Head over to read about the Curse and (Dis)Enchanted Rock. See a few more selections below and follow Yonder on Instagram as they’re in the middle of another Brovet down South!
“Fun” on Mt Pinos – 1.5 hours north of Los Angeles
Words and Photos by Sean Talkington
The term “Mountain Biker” is used to describe a person who rides a bicycle in the dirt. This term, although correct is also very broad. For example, a RedBull drinking, flat bill hat-sporting, goggle-wearing downhill rider in futuristic board shorts has very little in common with a spandex toting, gram (and calorie) counting, leg shaving XC mountain biker. I personally find myself (way) more on the side of the calorie counter but can still find pleasure in watching my friends get “sick” or “pitted” while I “walk” or “slowly walk” across big gaps and technical drops.
The word “fun” is often used to describe bike trails by all parties of mtb’er who ride them but this word “fun” is subjective. I have grown to find that some of the trails I find “fun” are often refereed to as “miserable” or “way too much climbing” or “hella boring” when you ask certain friends. I have also found that these same friends call trails “super fun” that I find “super terrifying”. We all have our favorite rides, routes, trails etc. but it is rare that you find trails that make the whole of mountain biking happy.
As we continue our “Hot Boyz of Cycling” series – that’s what I’m calling it anyway – I caught up with “Dominican Crihs” in Los Angeles en route to a local unsanctioned cross race. Which he lost to Hern if I recall. His Legor is one of my favorite singlespeed cross bikes I’ve had the chance to photograph. Crihs is a good friend of mine and one who is always quick to call me out on whatever he so pleases, so I put him on a spot a bit.
If you’ve ever ridden with Eric Brunt aka Skullcrusher then you’re well aware of this dude’s strength on a bicycle. A recent transplant to Los Angeles, Eric spends his weekends doing insane rides (like going up Cloudburst, TWICE in one day) and soaking in the San Gabriel mountains.
The last time I was visiting Los Angeles, I shot some photos of Eric at GSC, working on his Ibis cross bike. Check out a ride along interview below!
Photo by Sean Talkington
I love photos like this from bike rides and I can’t wait to see that kit go into production. Thanks for making me miss Los Angeles and the Mountain Otter even more, Sean!
Photo by Kyle Kelley
I love this 35mm black and white photo Kyle shot at the Panty Raid How to Fix a Flat video shoot!
Photo by John Daniel Reiss
I love JDR’s portraits and this one of Jake is so good! Head over to John’s Tumblr for more.
I know what I’m spending $10 on this morning! JDR documented the Dirty Hundo for Cadence and put together a zine. Races / rides like this are giving cycling the much-needed sense of fun in communities all over. Makes me wanna do something like this in Austin!
Scoop up a Dirty Hundo Zine at Cadence or get one free with $100 purchase.
The homies at Full Frame Collective visited SF’s Falconer Cycles, a ‘locals secret’… Check out more at FFC!
Utah is a strange place, coming from someone that lives in Texas, but there are so many incredible places to shred there. During my recent trip to Moab, I opted for my Yashica T4 one afternoon, instead of my bulky 5Dmkiii. When I found out we were going to be riding singletrack all day on the RS-1 fork, I wanted to see how it felt without a backpack on, so I threw my point and shoot in a fanny pack and smashed onward.
We began in Grand Junction, ColoRADo and headed to Fruita for pizza at the Hot Tomato – from there, it was off to Utah and the SRAM Trail House.
Look, Moab is awesome. The trails are incredible and even super easy singletrack blew my mind. Oh and dinosaurs.
Tools of the trade:
Yashica T4
Porta 160
Hanson Little has become a pretty great friend over the past few years. If you’ve followed BMX at all, then his name might be familiar, having ridden for Mutiny and T-1.
While his days of “being pro” are behind him, he now spends his free time on a road bike, BMX or MTB, shredding trails, hips, ditches and the steep hills here in Austin to get his kicks.
Photo by Kyle Kelley
Design fads come and go in cycling, but one thing’s for sure: camo ain’t going anywhere.
Hans lives in Los Angeles and last year his wife bought him a Rock Lobster cross bike with a few added braze-ons. Hans and I spoke a lot about brake and tire options and it seems like he’s finally got his setup dialed in. One morning, as we were finishing up a MTB ride on Brown in LA, Hans went rolling by on his bike. I yelled “HANSSSSSSSS!” and he came scooting by, so I shot some photos with my Mamiya 7ii and earlier this week, I finally got them developed, prompting me to interview him with a few simple questions. Check them out below!
Santa Cruz is a city that never disappoints. No matter what the occasion, I have a blast riding my bike. So when Giro invited me along to their Santa Cruz Effect media event, I gladly accepted.
Even though we were on a pretty tight schedule, we had two days of riding bikes in the woods and coastal roads of NorCal to look forward to. That meant we were to expect a lot of temperature fluctuations throughout the day, the perfect climate for merino wool.
The group included men and women, from all over the world, all of which were related to the cycling industry in some way. We had some locals with us, including Todd from Black Cat, Jeff Traugott, Jake from Steel Wül, along with a few Giro employees. Those dudes put on one hell of a ride, taking us through some great roads and down some incredibly fun (i.e. sketchy) descents.
Here’s our Strava from Day 1 and Day 2 for those interested in a route. I highly suggest doing this as a one-day loop. We were taking it chill…
Check out some narrated photos in the Gallery!
Tools of the trade:
Yashica T4 / Porta 160