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Whether you are lounging waterside or holed up in a tent waiting out a summer storm, a good book is always a welcome companion. Hailey Moore puts her own spin on a summer reading list with nine book recommendations that span the outdoor and adventure genre. Don’t see your favorite? Drop into the comments and share!
Grant Petersen from Rivendell finished his Bicycle Sentences book and it’s in stock now for $20. It features 177 sentences about riding bicycles and bikes themselves; stuff you may know or might not know, may believe or might not. It’s not a Rule Book, not a Holy Book.
“I believe them all, they’re all true for me/Grant, and some may be true for you or worth experimenting with, and who knows what else?”
Check it out at Rivendell.
We brake for great cycling books. Cycling journalist Peter Flax pinged the Grubers, John, and others to submit photos for his new book, LIVE TO RIDE. We got our hands on a few extra copies of this beautifully written and laid-out book, so we’re going to give two away!
Live to Ride: Finding Joy and Meaning on a Bicycle is a new book by journalist Peter Flax. This book has something for every type of rider—from commuters and mountain bikers to racer types and utility riders. Live to Ride is a visual almanac of the beauty and thrill of bicycle culture.
Live to Ride is an inclusive celebration of all the different aspects of the biking community.
John has photos in the book, alongside Ashley and Jered Gruber and others, so rest assured it will be one of the most visually striking cycling books on the market!
You can order Live to Ride, by Artisan Books, anywhere books are sold on March, 19th, 2024.
On the heels of his Bike Hack about carrying a pair of prism reading glasses while bikepacking, Travis Engel now suggests bringing your books from the tent to the trail. His short treatise on the merits of audiobooks on all-day rides might inspire you to revisit a classic, or seek out the source material behind your favorite movie to find out if the book is actually any better.
One helpful tip for getting a good night’s sleep while bike touring is to mimic your home sleeping experience as closely as possible. Cotton pillowcases or fleece sleeping bag liners can ease your mind by tricking your body. But you should apply that logic to your entire pre-sleep ritual. Have some dessert, brush your teeth, and once you’re all tucked in, do some light reading. Travis Engel is here with a bike hack that may make that last part a little easier to do in the wild.
When you review bike products, sometimes they arrive with some swag. T-shirt, stickers, sure. But sometimes there’s a cool memento, like an Abbey Tool laser-etched by whatever brand has partnered up with them for the launch. Or an artifact from the product’s manufacturing and development, like a piece of the innovative raw material that made it possible. But what came with my GX Transmission kit is by far the most moving party favor I’ve ever received.
If you’ve ever been on a bike tour, you know that sometimes the most challenging part isn’t necessarily the actual riding. Emma Jones finds answers for overcoming obstacles of bikepacking in Robert M. Pirsig’s classic, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, while taking on a two month trans-Europe tour. Beware of the Gumption Traps!
Our Radar Roundup compiles products and videos from the ‘net in an easy-to-digest format. Read on below for today’s findings…
Our Radar Roundup compiles products and videos from the ‘net in an easy-to-digest format. Read on below for today’s findings…
If you’re looking for something different this year for your holiday purchases and gifts, consider the second volume from Rough Stuff Fellowship, Further Adventures in Rough Stuff. The second volume of photos and stories from the archive of the oldest off-road cycling club in the world. The original members of the RSF, founded in 1955, were the godfathers and godmothers of off-road cycling as we know it today – mountain bikes, gravel, and cylotourists all follow in their tire tracks…
Available in a limited-edition hardcover and a regular softcover version at Isolapress.
Specs:
-270 x 210 mm
-Hardcover with flush-cut boards or softcover options
-208pp
-Matches Volume 1
Bikerafting is when you incorporate a bike onto a packraft like an Alpacka Raft. While navigating rivers and other bodies of water shouldn’t be taken with a grain of salt and if you don’t have whitewater experience, you should seek out proper training before embarking on a packraft or bikerafting trip. Once you’ve done that, buy this book for inspiration. The Bikeraft Guide is a 325 page book, packed with stories, instructional how-tos, illustrations, and more. It was compiled by Lizzy and Doom of Four Corners Guides and is a great companion for those bikeraft curious. Let’s take a quick look below…
Black Champions in Cycling is a book that explores and analyzes in detail the rich and often overlooked history of Black cyclists. A world expert in the history and life of Black cycling champions, former elite racer and academic, Dr Marlon Moncrieffe, combines his own elite racing experience with that of several other contributors. The first book of its kind, this collection of stories, personal reflections and interviews with historical icons of sport and current agents of change, addresses the essential questions of access, diversity, inclusion and of representation. Exploring how figures such as Major Taylor and Maurice Burton discovered cycling, the book sheds light on the mentors who encouraged them to pursue their ambitions as well as the explicit and implicit forms of discrimination they faced. From the first non-white rider to compete in the Tour de France in 1914 to the Black cyclists who push the boundaries today, discover how the determination to succeed despite discrimination defined the careers of these great athletes.
Includes interviews with:
Major Taylor, Kittie Knox, David Weller, Maurice Burton, Russell Williams, Nelson Vails, Justin and Cory Williams, Gregory Bauge, Rashaan Bahati, Kevin Reza, Tre Whyte, Shanaze Reade, David Clarke, Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado, Nicholas Dlamini, between others.
In stock now at Rapha.
Last year in May 2019 Dan and I left Santa Monica, CA on a cold rainy day to start pedaling to New York. Dan had this goal of riding across the country a few years ago after we had done some shorter bike touring trips together. I didn’t want to do this ride at all when he initially brought it up.
For those looking for different holiday gifts, while supporting small, independent publishers and authors look no further. The latest from BMX legend Taj Mihelich is a book of doodles and stories:
“This book is 164 pages of my cartoons and doodles. There is a bunch of bicycle comics (including a number from Sunday Comics with Taj series on Pinkbike), lots of low- brow humor, dad jokes, questionable puns, and some things that are probably only funny to me. There’s a few things I’m actually serious about, but hopefully you can’t tell, and even a few essays. I call it a collection of not-too-artsy-fartsy work I’ve done over the last few years (though, there are a few fart jokes).”
Please note, this is not a children’s book! Head to Taj’s shop to pre-order.
Of Crank & Chain: Cyclocross is a 240 page photographic and written expression of domestic cyclocross in 2019. Both black and white and color images captured locally in the Pacific Northwest as well as at UCI events around the nation, the book is not organized by the events themselves, but rather by parts of a race day from the events spanning the season, blended together and presented as one continuous event. None of the images contain captions of the who and the where, because, in a way, a season is a singular event and also features images of amateurs and professionals and doesn’t draw a distinction between them. In the U.S., we are all just ‘cross racers suffering on the same track. In that respect, American cyclocross paints amateurs and pros with essentially the same brush. More than anything the book is about what it is to race cyclocross and what goes into it, as opposed to a year in review.
Writer Molly Hurford is pleased to announce the second book in her Shred Girls series titled “Ali’s Rocky Ride”, illustrated by Violet Lemay. Here’s a synopsis of this second book in the series:
“In the follow-up to LINDSAY’S JOYRIDE, the Shred Girls reunite at Ali’s home for a mountain-biking training trip that builds up to an elite competition! Even though Ali grew up on the mountain biking with her professional-biker older brothers, she’s anxious. Her brothers always make her feel like she’s not talented enough. Could they be right? She’ll just have to find out.”
If you, or a friend, or a daughter is looking for some riding inspiration, check out this series! You can now pre-order Ali’s Rocky Ride at the Outdoor Edit.
Our buddy and California Golde videographer Sandy Carson has released a photo book funding campaign on Indie Go Go. The book is entitled “I’ve Always Been a Cowboy In My Heart” and it dives into the humor and absurdities of the great American road trip landscape. Check it out on Indie Go Go if you dig this video!
