This looked absolutely amazing. Perfect example of rad folks coming together to make rad things happen! Really wish I was able to travel out to Portland for this event. Glad that I can live vicariously through Erik Kellar’s killer shots, photo-documenting the event! He did and amazing job all around. Captured some friendly faces that I need to see soon.
Go check out other things from PDX Invitational and Erik’s other photographical greatness. Cheers and Happy Friday!!
RIDE x CREATE
IT IS HERE!!!
“I spent a lot of my younger days camping in the woods near home, backpacking in the Appalachian Mountains and learning just what I needed for survival and even comfort. Countless hours spent geeking out about lightweight and ultralight camping equipment, reading blogs and sites. This heavily influenced the way I approach designing frames and even how I tackle a route” – Joshua Bryant
Go to Cycles J Bryant and read all the details on this bad ass NFD and how you can pre-order yours!! So much heart and soul put into this creation!! Such a RAD machine!!!
This is a must attend if you’re in the area.
RIDE x CREATE
Really love this idea for those folks looking to get out there for the first time but not really sure how to go about it… OR, you don’t have the luxory of time to plan your trip so you rely on the pros to assist. Either way… these premium supported tours look bad ass!! Take the Oregon Outback for example… that’s definitely on my list of things to accomplish in life but time always gets away from me to plan and attend outback rides like this. I believe Limberlost felt the pain of the people and decided to do something about it. IN. LOVE with this idea!
Press Release: Limberlost announce four guided adventures in Oregon for Summer 2015
“Limberlost is a new breed of guided bicycle adventures in Oregon. The company is offering four premium, fully supported tours, including two weekends of mountain biking in Oakridge, OR, a traverse of Oregon on remote back roads, and an epic point-to-point tour that connects endless singeltrack over four mountain passes.
Limberlost is proud to offer exquisite camp cuisine with ingredients sourced from our Willamette Valley farm and other local suppliers. We serve refreshing beer brewed on the Oregon Coast, our own wine, label, and cocktails crafted with Oregon spirits.
All four trips are based out of Portland, OR. They include complete support, including all meals, transportation, local knowledge, and mechanical assistance. Each trip is limited to six guests and is supported by three guides to provide a premium experience.”
Go book’em up!! Jah Blessed!!
I had the absolute pleasure of diving deep into the world of Gevenalle the weekend of the Cross Crusades PIR race. My goal was to truly understand what the company is all about and how Gevenalle creator Adam Clement lives his life to support cyclocross and improve the components used.
Based out of Portland, OR Gevenalle creates or modifies existing products to work better in the harsh cyclocross conditions. When I got to Gevenalle, Adam’s crew was building the BURD (Blatantly Upgraded Rebranded Derailleur) with his specific engineered modifications to make his derailleur’s stronger. This is to ensure each BURD will push through the mud and grime cross provides as you’re thrashing the course. I had the opportunity to ride Adam’s Rock Lobster Cross during the race; testing out every component Gevenalle makes. Not a single issue even with jam packed Portland mud in every crevice the Rock Lobster had. If there is one way to truly understand why Gevenalle kills the competition it would be race proven testing! And it nailed it!
This last shot really shows off the mud love that was going on. I raced CAT C’s with about 100 racers on the course. There was a slight rain that that turned the mud on the course to ICE!! Not because it was too cold, but because of the thin layer of mud on top of hard packed ground.
The Gevenalle tent was perfectly placed in the middle of the heckling pit where I had a few solid heckles thrown at me. It was frustrating, and encouraging, and hilarious all wrap into a 200 meter stretch! The switch backs were not horrible at all… mixed with the mud that covered them… HORRIBLE!! Lost all traction and was forced to run about half way through them.
My drive train was so packed down I had to stop 3 times to clear out the mud but there was no undoing what was done. It felt like I was peddling through sand even on the fast sections of the course. With that said, Gevenalle’s derailleur’s pushed right through each gear like a dream even with the packed in mud! Impressive!!
Anyways, you can find out all kinds of great write ups and Gevenalle gear review links on Gevenalle’s main page, I highly encourage you to do so. I want to talk about how Adam Clement is a one stop shop of cyclocross radery!!
Step one in Adam’s cyclocross support radness… COFFEE:
Adam got to the race around 7:00 a.m. to set up his portable coffee set up. His grinder filled with FREE beans provided by Stumptown Coffee (thanks Stumptown!!) and ready to caffeinate the field. No coffee requested was turned away. All were wide eyed and ready to race or heckle or both! That mixed in with the fact that we were neighbors to Trusty Switchblade (who Gevenalle has sponsored riders with) that provided VooDoo Donuts… everyone was happily coffee and sugar filled to get the race started!
Step two in Adam’s cyclocross support radness… NEUTRAL SUPPORT:
When I say support I really mean full mechanic on duty! Seriously… from blown tires to tune ups to full shifter replacement… Adam nailed it! and in a super timely manner. Folks flocked to him for quick quality repair needs pre/post race.
Step three in Adam’s cyclocross support radness… FIELD PHOTOGRAPHER:
In between everything listed above, Adam was all over the course capturing racers in the pain cave. One minute I look back and he is replacing a shifter, the next he’s across the course doing this! Solid!
Step four in Adam’s cyclocross support radness… SPONSORED RACERS:
Erika Miranda took 1st in her Athena category, Aunika Miranda took 11th in Womens A’s in her first race since moving up from B’s (she’s 13 and killing it), Peter Newlands team DEVO took first in the Cat B’s (he is 16), just to name a few. 
Aunika Miranda
The fifth and potentially the most important step in Adam obtaining full cyclocross support radness… POST RACE BEERS!!:
I couldn’t be more pleased after racing to show up to the Gevenalle tent with warm amazing food and solid Portland beer!! It was a perfect race ender and prepped me to heckle/shoot photos the rest of the day!
Adam is seriously one hard ass working dude for the soul purpose of making cyclocross better!! His passion is intoxicating!! His sponsored racers regular step on the podium and range from pro level elite to enthusiastic juniors!! This fact alone speaks for Gevenalle and the solid strong products they have!!
If you haven’t looked into Gevenalle before this write up I highly encourage you to do so now. What you will find is a very affordable, strong, and nearly indestructible cyclocross components that will last you season after season; and if you do just so happen to get too rad and break a Gevenalle part… send it back to Gevenalle to be repaired at minimal cost! That’s pretty great!!
Low cost, high strength, solid mud thrashing… nailed it on all levels Adam!!
RIDE x CREATE
The Velo Cult Cap is pretty rad. Handmade by Double Darn in Portland, OR. You can’t find them on the Velo Cult Store page but I bet if you give’em a ring you could nab one up; or if yer local just pop on in and grab one. Love the simple varsity lettering!
If there is one company taking the Nation by storm it would be The Athletic. I had the pleasure of popping into the shop, hanging out with Jeremy, and picking his brain a bit. It’s always a pleasure to meet folks you’ve had an internet connection with in person. Following each others work, getting amped, then to share stories over a beverage couldn’t be more appropriate.
The shop displays its hours via Instagram at random depending on what works best for Jeremy and Julie’s schedule. It’s a bitchin’ way to do business if you ask me. I’d say that model wouldn’t work for most folks, but that just further defines why The Athletic is sweeping the nation… they just have it.
Below are a few shots I took of the shop and Jeremy racing in the second to last Cross Crusades race. I hope you enjoy.
Go to The Athletic and check out all the radness therein. I promise you won’t be disappointed. 
Photo by Jake Szymanski
“We may not have mountains in our backyard here in Portland, but if you’re riding close to the city you’re going to be doing some climbing.”
And beautiful climbing you shall have. I’ve loved following along with Jake’s photographical goodness and now all you fine folks can check out several solid shots by Jake on No Life Like This Life WITH good words by Alex Dickinson.
Go to NLLTL and check this out. I promise you won’t be disappointed.
Photo by Joshua Bryant
“I’ve sat down several times to write about my experiences during the Oregon Outback and every time, I feel like words have fallen short of the experience.”
I love reading about Joshua’s experience with the Oregon Outback. As I’m on the cusp of having my FaTRoB built up, reading statements like this, “I rode my FaTRoB prototype during the Outback and I loved it. Every time I get on the bike, I can’t help but smile at how much fun it is, how it handles and how I love the build”, gets me super amped to thrash on this #getradmachine!
I hope you’ll go check out the full story over on Joshua’s site. Really great insite and photos to go along with it. Cheers!
RIDE x CREATE
**Go to our Web Shop to find out more about pre-ordering your FOLLY x BRYANT Edition FaTRoB.
We are very proud to release the FOLLY x BRYANT edition FatRob for your preorder pleasure.
There are three different models for you to choose from, FatRob Steve, FatRob Dixie, and L’iL FatRob. They range from a 700c, 650b, and 26″ wheel base to fit the kind of riding your going to do on this #GETRADMACHINE! I personally went with the FatRob Steve and am in the process of hooking up my 700c thrashing machine! So many great memories will be made on this one of kind hand-made/American made bicicleta! That… and Co-Founder/best bud Kyle Steed designed the logo…. NAILING IT!!
“You remember that feeling you had as a kid when you swung a leg over your bike and blasted off towards your friend’s house linking cul-de-sacs and unfenced yards and dirt trails to get there? Or how you felt that first day you rode 10, 20, 50 or 100 miles? I wanted to design a road bike that reunited me with those feelings of freedom and exploration starting from the ground up. I came to the drawing board (literally) with no preconceived notions on what this type of bike should look like, but I thought about how I want the bike to respond to the riding that I grew up doing and find myself gravitating towards again. Kind of like if you took a CX bike, Randonneur, and go-fast Road bike and ran them over with a steam roller. Take that hunk of iron and produce one bike that could do it all. An adventure bike without equal. A Fat Tired Road Bike, or FaTRoB as I like to call it. All the necessary features and nothing you don’t. A feeling of youth you could grab in bike form for just $1950 frame and fork.” – Joshua Bryant (Cycles J Bryant)
Photo by Chris Bebout
Photo by Chris Bebout
Definitely make sure to head over to Cycles J Bryant and check out the back story on each FatRob model. If the stories don’t make you laugh just a little then this frame/fork combo might not be what you’re looking for. When we labeled it as a #GETRADMACHINE we meant just that! Ride everywhere with the serious and light hearted alike in the terrain of their choosing, if need be, but never neglecting that dark and mysterious dirt road no one else is willing to conquer!
Go check out more info at our shop. The preorder is limited to 15 frame and forks and will last until the end of August with a delivery date of late Fall. Feel free to email ( createfolly@gmail.com ) with any questions you may have. Thank you for your support!
Cheers! RIDE x CREATE