The Radavist

Photo by Kyle Kelley

I just left some of the most beautiful roads in Australia and yet a photo like this makes me want to hop on a flight to Los Angeles as soon as I’m Stateside.

Nice one Tracko!

… to be fair, I was sprinting ahead to shoot a photo. Nice video Andy. It really captures the serenity of that stretch of road.

Happy Friday.

Photos by Andy White

Many years ago, Andy had his first love affair with the ‘Wood. You can read about it here (seriously, do it). I remember the first time I read that ride report. My mind was blown. “Those Aussies are insane”. This year was the first time a large group went on the ride and it won’t be the last time. Before you read about some brand claiming the roads are their own, go out and do it yourself. These roads are yours for the taking.

If you need any more motivation, head over to FYXO for the full checklist of how to get into the ‘Wood as well as more incredible photos.

Great photos Andy. Let’s do it again in October.

Cloud Burst is one of my favorite rides I’ve ever done and was greatly responsible for my changed opinion on riding in Los Angeles. To this day, I still talk about it nonstop. If this daunting ride is too much for you to take on solo, the guys at Mudfoot are organizing the Hump Hundo, a group pedal up to Cloud Burst on May 5th.

See more details at ALightThatNeverGoesOut.

“Like” Mudfoot on Facebook

See my photos from Cloud Burst here and here’s my Strava route from last year.

Via Tracko

Well, we’re all back from Shifter Dan’s 40th Birthday Bush Bash. After two days, 180 miles and over 31′,000 of climbing, we’re all a little sore. That said, if there was an HC for stokedness, we’d all be there. More to come, but for now, here’s Dan finding his inner spirit animal while climbing into the birthplace of the Necronomicog.

Cycling apparel is one thing, when its on a model, in a catalog, but when its out in the real world, on real riders, that’s when you can see its true merits. When I was first contacted by Giro to be a part of the New Road in Northern California weekend, I couldn’t see myself as a “cycling model”.

After arriving at the ranch, I realized that the people who were involved are cyclists and a good representation of who would wear the apparel. For me, that’s credible just like Giro’s products. We’re all just regular riders. Except for Ty, he’s a real model. Check out some photos and bios of the people who were in NorCal for tis video here at Giro.

Man. It feels great to be back in Melbourne. After a hellish flight out of China, I got picked up by Andy from FYXO. Less than an hour later, we were out on a ride up frontage roads less than 3 miles from his home. Talk about detox! Steep dirt climbs, fast gravel descents and even a dead snake.

Melb’in is heaven. See a few more random shots below and don’t worry there will tons of radness on the way.

Photo by Hou Jue

Photos by Jeff Liu

In recent months, I’ve started to find myself in front of a lens almost as much as behind it, especially on this recent tour. Riding through China was overwhelming  from a photography standpoint. Everything was rich in texture and as a foreigner, the everyday was visually engaging. When I could, I’d stop and shoot, or ask one of the riders to pause for a portrait.

Just about everything was natural and that’s something James from Adventure Refugee tried to capture in his video pieces for Mission Workshop. We’d leave with no plans, or script and would point out shots, or spaces when we came across them. In a land like China, nothing is predictable, you’ve just got to go with your instincts.  That applies to the subject and the subjected.

We all woke up this morning knowing that we only had 70k to go on our trip and most of it was downhill from the bamboo forest. I really wanted to mob some trails on the Geekhouse Mudville, so James and I headed into the bamboo forest to shoot some video. When we got back to the lodge, we ate lunch, packed and headed out.

The ride today was hellish. Even though it was downhill for the first 15 miles, the wind was blowing hard. Then, when we got on the main road, it was filled with potholes and giant trucks spitting exhaust into our faces. Hangzhou was our final destination so we just put our heads down and pushed forward.

Finally, we were in the outskirts, but had to go through four tunnels to make it to the hostel where we were staying. Four tunnels that were so disgusting that the sissy Americans nearly puked after passing through them (myself included). To give you an estimate, the AQI in the tunnels were over 1000 and I forgot my mask.

Tomorrow, we have a day off before heading back to Shanghai, via a bullet train. We’re all nice and tipsy from post-ride beer and are about to head out into town… May the Necronomicog have mercy on our souls.

Keep an eye on Mission Workshop’s (@MissionWorkshop), Factory 5 (@Factory5) and my Instagram (@JohnProlly) during the day for updates.

There are some mornings when you just vibe with your bike. It’s like you’re one unit, working together. Your legs are loose and you can just go. We all had that moment this morning. After a late start, we all hit our course and just cranked away. Our destination was the bamboo forests, in Moganshan. You can check out more below…

Rolling out of Suzhou was a lot easier than rolling out of Shanhai. Still, the AQI was much higher than the day before but even then, within 10 miles, we were in relatively rural areas. Surprisingly, industry still had a grip on the outer-lying cities. Before too long, we hit lake Taihu. The locals will tell you that it’s one of the more beautiful areas but visibility was very poor when we arrived. With not much to actually see, we had lunch and came out to find the sun shining and a wind had blown the smog out from the hills.

Wanting to mix it up a bit, we headed to the highest point on the “big island”, Piaosha Road. At a whopping 300m, it’s not much of a climb, but when you’ve been hammering on perfectly flat roads for a week, any elevation is welcome. This road is very scenic and parts spiked up over 20%, so I knew the guys on track bikes would have a problem. After making it past the pitches on 48×15 gearing, they were fine and I got some great photos of the dudes, smiling ear to ear down the switchbacks. It was also surprising to be told that no one rides bikes up into the hills here.

That one climb provided most of our elevation for the day, save for a few of the bridges and after regrouping at the base of the hill range, we rode inland into a horrendous headwind. I’m not used to riding flat terrain, so after blasting 25 mph all day, hitting a wind like this really tore my legs apart. Everyone was beat and it’s almost laughable to be tired after a 60 mile, 1400′ ride, but we’re all cooked. We made it to the base of the Qizi Mountain, where we treated ourselves to some hot tub time and herbal recovery potion.

Like the last riding day, I shot all film, but I managed to get this shot with my iPhone. For more frequent updates, keep an eye on Mission Workshop’s (@MissionWorkshop), Factory 5 (@Factory5) and my Instagram (@JohnProlly) during the day.

There was nothing pleasant about today, aside for the company. The things I saw on the road will forever change the way I view the world and globalization. Without going too much into the politics of it all, I’ll just say that I’m glad to have gotten the first leg of our ride out of the way. On paper, the route looks easy. 100k door to door, and about 90 meters of climbing.

These numbers are almost laughable, compared to other rides we’ve all completed, but those weren’t in an AQI of 350+ and through a toxic wasteland. To give you some perspective, Los Angeles has the highest AQI in the United States and today, it’s at 70. I’ve never experienced anything like this before.

The morning began early, as we checked out of our hotel and headed to Factory 5 to ready our bikes. At 10:30am, we put on masks (literally) and rode alongside a highway out of town. You’d think the air would be worse in the center city, but it was the opposite. Soon, it was like we were riding into a fog, rolling into San Francisco but there were no mountains, no iconic bridges or architecture, just smoke stacks and automotive factories.

Your face began to burn, eyes water and all you wanted to do was take off your mask to get some “fresh air”. Upon doing so, the smell of burnt plastic almost made you gag. It was literally hell and I can’t fathom the reality that people live in it everyday. The striking dichotomies were everywhere: a brand new VW dealership, next to a vacant lot with a pond, that was completely red with bacteria, or the canals and waterways turned black from factory waste next to a parking lot filled with brand new Buicks.

60 miles felt like 120. My lungs burn and my face is windburnt. I don’t think I’ve ever felt so hungover from a ride. There’s no gallery, since I shot all film today, but will leave you with the photo above to just say that I’m glad to be indoors for once. For more frequent updates, keep an eye on Mission Workshop’s (@MissionWorkshop) and my Instagram (@JohnProlly) during the day.