The Radavist

Wednesday, February 3rd is National Girls & Women in Sports Day. As a woman-founded and run company, Robert Axle Project wanted to give a voice to the riders on a women’s road team they sponsor and hopefully give a boost of encouragement to other girls and women out there. Below and attached are a few words from the RAP founder, Katy Bryce. Enjoy this youtube video with five of the riders on the team giving words of encouragement to other cyclists!

Rapha is growing their support for women and not just professional cyclists. Today the brand announced its sponsorship of two charismatic personalities, Sarah Sturm and Lael Wilcox. Both of these women are great representatives of the gravel/adventure/touring market and we couldn’t be more stoked for them. Rapha also launched a women’s Instagram, so keep an eye on that for more updates as events warrant.

This week’s Readers’ Rides comes from Katherine in Colorado with her do-it-all Orbea hardtail. Check out more details and the history of this unique submission below…

To compliment today’s Reportage from Sami, here’s the full-length video project, “Finding Myself.”

This is the first layout of the Radavist 2021 Calendar, entitled “Snow Way, Santa Fe” shot with a Sony A9ii and a Tamron 28-200mm f/2.8-5.6 di iii rxd lens in the Santa Fe National Forest, NM.

“Living in a mountain town means when the snow hits, the ski hill is packed but the trails will be wide open for fun…”

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

The mobile background this month is from a Chihuahuan Desert canyon road Click here to download January’s Mobile Wallpaper.

In the summer of 2017, Lael Wilcox rode all of the major roads in Alaska, totaling 4,500 miles on mixed pavement and gravel. Lael is fourth-generation Alaskan. This is where she began endurance riding and her goal to get to know her home state.

In 2020, Lael went back to Alaska with her girlfriend Rue, a photojournalist, to ride together and document her project of riding all of the roads.

This scholarship is intended to enable another woman to design and ride her own 1,000 mile Alaskan adventure in the summer of 2021. This scholarship is open to a woman (including femme, trans and non-binary) of any age with any level of bicycle touring experience. We are looking for positive energy and a strong desire to experience the remote roads of Alaska and have some fun.

The recipient of the scholarship will receive a Specialized Diverge bicycle, Revelate Designs bikepacking bags, PEARL iZUMi apparel, a premium subscription to Komoot, Easton wheels, a Wahoo ELEMNT ROAM GPS, Big Agnes camping equipment, Rene Herse tires, a year subscription to Bicycle Quarterly, Trail Butter, and a $1,500 travel stipend provided by Easton.

Prepare a digital application based upon the questions on the following page and send to Lael Wilcox and the selection team at laelridesalaska@gmail.com no later than February 6, 2021. Provide your responses as the text of an email. The recipient of the scholarship will be announced April 5, 2021.

The scholarship selection team includes Lael Wilcox, previous scholarship recipients Kailey Kornhauser and Brooke Larsen, Abigale Wilson from PEARL iZUMi, Cari Carmean from The Radavist, and Natsuko Hirose from Bicycle Quarterly.

Head to LaelWilcox.com to apply for this scholarship!

After we featured various Lael Rides Alaska stories last year, PEARL iZUMi has sponsored this wonderful video project by Rue!

Lael Wilcox is a 4th generation Alaskan and an ultra-distance cyclist. In 2014, she began pushing her limits in her home state and dreamed that one day, she’d ride all of the major roads in Alaska– connecting the dots and traveling under her own steam to places she’d heard of but never seen. In 2017, after her first year running Anchorage GRIT, Lael spent the summer riding all of the roads, some 4,500 miles. She had the time of her life but rode mostly solo, and that experience was all her own. In reflection, she wanted to share more–to show people the beauty and truth of Alaska and inspire more people to ride there. The global pandemic of 2020 provided a unique opportunity to revisit this project–ride from home, spend time with her family, bring them along, and encourage others to pursue their own adventures.

This project is in support of the Anchorage GRIT project and the “Lael Ride Alaska Women’s Scholarship Program.”

Kialani Hines knows while there is always space for a shreddy edit, focusing on her riding, she decided to take “Validation” in another direction:

“My goal with the short video is to share something I’ve been passionate about, help welcome all to something that has created a safe space for me, and to encourage new faces to fall in love with what makes them happy (hopefully that is mountain biking!). It’s been an incredible experience and privilege creating my vision with Heather Young and Grow Cycling Foundation. I hope that it inspires all to follow whatever path they envision for themselves.”

One of the riders on the TransIceland trip Reportage we hosted with Chris Burkard was pro cyclist Emily Batty. In this video series, she documents the journey across Iceland from her perspective. Episode one is the setup and episode two covers the beginning of this harrowing ride…

Cheech, founder of Casa Verde and partner with Matt at Crust Bikes reflects where she’s going in her life…

Its time for another episode of Wahoo Frontiers this time with Durango based Sarah Sturm, read on below for the full story from Wahoo.

If you’ve seen a Beautiful Bicycle here on the Radavist with a crazy paint or powder coat from Mosaic or other brands, there’s a good chance it came from this shop, Spectrum Paint & Powder Works:

“Typically this time of year, many in the bike industry are (would be thanks to the pandemic) be priming for the Chris King Open House in Portland, Oregon. It’s an event that highlights amazing unique bike builds from a small selected group in the bike industry. One of those chosen for this year is Arthaya Nootecharas of Spectrum Paint and Powder Works. She also works for the sister company Mosaic Cycles.

Arthaya’s concept reflects her art outside of spraying frames or designing the next dream build, incorporating her style of drawings and sketches of the world. The bike is full of simple yet organic lines, laden with little details. “It’s not chaos. It’s just a lot of lines, but it’s organized,” she says. Come along and learn more about Arthaya’s craftwork and passion for cycling art.”

Nice one, PEARL iZUMi!

In February, legendary ultra-endurance cyclist Lael Wilcox, Joe Cruz, and the filmmaker Rugile Kaladyte traveled to the Colombian capital of Bogota, in partnership with Conservation International, Wahoo, and Bikepacking.com, to launch the Bikepacking for Conservation Program. The project was designed to explore and scout a bikepacking route that would connect the bustling metropolis of Bogota with rural communities and the Chingaza National Park. The resulting route — Ruta Chingaza — will help cyclists connect to nature and better understand the ecosystems upon which life and livelihoods in this area depend.

Film shot and edited by Rugile Kaladyte

From the makers of the Grilled Cheese Project comes Woodland Wonder, a short flick featuring Stephanie riding the trails of Alberta, Canada.