Meet Your Maker is an ongoing series of rides hosted by the Northern California bike-making community and finally returned to Skyline Wilderness Park in Napa, CA this past May after a nearly eight-year hiatus. Always excited to document cycling culture, Erik Mathy loaded up his touring bike and headed to the event from his home in the Bay Area with his usual eclectic mix of handmade cameras and lenses in tow. Below, Erik shares reflections on a few aspects of the memorable weekend that resonated with him, in addition to a series of interviews, a gallery of uber-creative analog portraits, and scenes from the event.
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Reportage
100-Mile Love Song: The 2023 Lost & Found Gravel Festival
After an almost-decade long run, the Lost & Found Gravel Festival continues to provide adventurous-minded riders with dynamic and challenging terrain in northern California’s Lost Sierra Mountains. Registration for any of the event’s 100-mile, 60-mile and 35-mile courses goes directly to supporting the Sierra Buttes Trail Stewardship‘s Lost Sierra Route, a route that seeks to connect 15 mountain communities and foster economic prosperity through recreation. Billy Sinkford joined in for the mixed terrain fun this year and shares moments from the race along with photos of the Builders’ Bazaar.
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Not a Race, More Than a Ride: The 2023 Rapha Yomp Rally
The inaugural Rapha Yomp Rally took place in early May and saw nearly 100 riders embark on a 390-mile mixed-surface route, from Santa Barbara to Santa Monica, through the remote Los Padres region. Hailey Moore rode the route and provides a from-the-saddle recap alongside photos from Rugile Kaladyte, Sean Greene, Anton Krupicka, and a few of her own. Read on for reflections on the Yomp and non-competitive bikepacking rallies.
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It’s a Lifestyle, Not a Career: The Legend of Rob Roberson
Rob Roberson is an enigma in the handmade bicycle world. Some would consider him “the greatest known unknown bike fabricator” of the American frame building movement. His career, which spans nearly 50 years, puts him among a very small pedigree of builders that have both mass-production experience and have also built custom bikes under their own name without giving up the ghost. Yet, with such a significant trajectory, Rob has remained largely unknown. Over the next few weeks, we’ll be featuring bikes made by Rob and the stories about them. Today, however, Zach Small and Josh Weinberg are honored to introduce you to Rob Roberson.
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Inside / Out at Neuhaus Metalworks and a Look at the Hummingbird Steel Hardtail 29er
For a two-man operation, Nick Neuhaus and Daniel Yang have their systems dialed. Or, maybe the manpower limitations of being a small team have been the motivating force behind the duo’s streamlined Marin-based, framebuilding operation, Neuhaus Metalworks. Hailey Moore and John Watson spent some time talking shop with Nick and Daniel on their innovative 3D printed components and how these parts lead to higher efficiency in their US-made frames. Read on for a closer look at Neuhaus’ exciting approach to making steel and titanium mountain bikes.
Radar
The Radavist 2023 Calendar: April
“Spring in Marin” is the fourth layout of the Radavist 2023 Calendar. It was shot with a Sony A9ii and a Sony 70-200 lens in Marin County, California. Photographed by John Watson.
“California is out of its drought for the time being and the hillsides are blanketed with lush, green grass.”
For a high-res JPG, suitable for print and desktop wallpaper*, right-click and save link as – The Radavist 2023 – April. 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 lovely Spring ride in the Sonoran Desert. Click here to download April’s Mobile Wallpaper.
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The Histories We Traverse: Biking and Learning Across the Sierra Nevada
The trails we ride often have stories that long pre-date mountain biking. On a road trip from Los Angeles, to Mammoth, and finally Downieville, Eric Arce takes time to understand some of the troubled history behind these popular riding destinations in the Sierra Nevada.
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The Upside of Smaller Events: The 2022 Red Bull Bay Climb
The Red Bull Bay Climb is pure and simple: straight line it up three of San Francisco’s steepest blocks, rinse, repeat in a new heat. If you’re a finalist, you’ll be one of the lucky ones who gets to go through the process four times. Erik Mathy covered the event in his usual, stunning, photographic fashion. Check out his full photo gallery and event recap.
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Cub House Builds: Jared’s Beach Club Gravioli
Beach Club is the bicycle brand of Danny Heeley and Sean Talkington, who also run Team Dream Bicycling Team and The Cub House in San Marino, CA. Danny and Sean launched the brand with the Discless Road model earlier this year and followed up with a disc-equipped gravel bike called the Gravioli. While Josh was in town for Team Dream’s 10th-Anniversary Party, he pulled aside an objectively stellar Gravioli build that had just been completed for Jared, rode over to one of San Marino’s most photogenic alleyways, and documented it as you see here. There’s a lot to enjoy about this bike, so let’s check it out in detail below!
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Category Purgatory: Turning the YT Industries Szepter Into a Mountain Biker’s Gravel Bike
The Szepter is YT Industries‘ first foray into designing a gravel bike. But unlike other gravel frame designs that are subtly-tweaked road bikes, the Szepter shares more DNA with the German company’s line-up of trail bikes. After putting—and pushing—the Szepter through its paces on his local Los Angeles-area trails, below Travis Engel shares his review alongside some suggested adjustments to the stock build to get the most out of this gravity-focused gravel bike.
Radar
Chas Christiansen’s Custom OPEN Upper Frames for Beyond Aero
Chas Christiansen offers up a unique hand-drawn doodle style of emblazing bicycle components. Over the years, he’s drawn on many things, from shoes, to disc wheels, and frames. The latter inspired his local shop, Beyond Aero to commission Chas to doodle on an OPEN Upper frame. Every nook and crevice is covered on this carbon steed. Check out a brief intro to the project by Chas below with photos supplied by Beyond Aero…
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Mission Crit 7: The Return of the Classic
Like many events and people in recent times, the Mission Crit came back to life this year after a bit of time off. Call it what you will, a vacation, perhaps. Regardless, for the first time in two years Mission Crit founder/race director James Grady dusted off the bullhorn, timing equipment, cones and barriers to run a race that is currently one of a kind. Since the unfortunate folding of Brooklyn’s Red Hook Criterium in 2019, the Mission Crit has remained as the sole surviving high profile fixed gear criterium race in existence.
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Chris Corona’s MASH SF Rockbanger Hardtail MTB
Following the review of his MASH SF Steel All-Road from earlier this year, Chris Corona is back with yet another MASH bike review. This time, he’s built himself a steel “Rockbanger” 27.5 hardtail mountain bike and documents it in his stunning photographic style. Let’s check it out in detail below!
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Bike to Break: A Coastal California Cyclo-Surf Tour
It was in the back of my mind for about a year. Take a bicycle, load it up with camping gear and a surfboard, and tour every coastline around the world looking for waves. I figured it would be a trip of a lifetime. Get in shape, surf incredible waves, take photographs and pursue a dream I thought about every night before I went to sleep.
However, I had a problem. I knew nothing about bicycles. So I needed a warm-up trip. A trip to test my knowledge and see if I really wanted to pursue this idea.
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Chris Corona Reviews His MASH Steel All-Road
Classic road geometry has always had a nice visual appeal to me. The straight lines and minimalistic look are sleek and pure. When MASH launched their steel All Road frameset, I just had to try one.
Radar
Lost and Found 2022: A Triumphant Return
There’s more than 4,000 miles of graded dirt roads in Plumas National Forest connecting a dozen quaint and remote mountain communities across Plumas and Lassen County, California. The landscapes are stunning, from majestic mountain meadows bursting with wildflowers to craggy granite peaks and glacially carved mountain lakes. Hidden cabins and remnants of the Gold Rush can be found everywhere along the way. The only thing you don’t see much of in the backcountry of Plumas County is people, which is why this region is quickly becoming known as The Gravel Capital of the West.
Reportage
When the Gates Open: A 2022 Grinduro California Image Gallery
This year’s edition of Grinduro California had been delayed twice. Once in 2020 because of increasing COVID infection rates, and again last year due to the Northern California fire conditions. After this many-year delay, Giro’s Grinduro event emerged into a new, and very different, world.
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BTCHN’ Bikes Introduces “The Jerk” Handmade Steel Enduro Full Suspension
To much fanfare, last month we teased the beautiful steel full suspension enduro rig that Tyler of BTCHN’ Bikes was cruising around with at Sea Otter in our event coverage. Aptly named The JERK, it’s a true stunner with a 29/27.5 mullet setup, standard 24mm bottom bracket single pivot, custom integrated bar/stem, wild paint, and so many other intricate details. Today we’re stoked to announce that BTCHN’ is launching a small batch pre-order for eight of these frames in a size run (S, M, L) and two suspension configurations. The engineering for this bike was complex and took Tyler and team a looong time to dial in. Below, Tyler goes into lavish detail about his design process and philosophy, so continue reading about this beautiful machine, how it came to fruition, and how you can get your hands on one!