No Roads. No Masters

bikes, gear, rides, and routes.

Palouse To Cascades Trail. Day 1. Cedar Falls (*Technically Easton) to Ellensburg

It’s amazing how much the reality of an experience differs from the expectation, especially when you’ve been planning something for a decade.

A decade? Yes. That’s how long I’ve been planning this ride. That seems ridiculous now that I’ve typed it out, because while it sounds impossibly long, it doesn’t feel like it now that it’s finally done.

by joeski

New Bike Day / Rodeo Labs Flaanimal 5

At this point in my life as a cyclist and a bike mechanic, there are very few bikes that truly catch my attention anymore. It’s really got to be something special, and even then, there’s usually at least one feature that bugs me or that I find missing from the design. Enter the Flaanimal.

by joeski

Fill Your Fork! (with the Wolf Tooth Double Bottle Adapter)

Not all of us are lucky enough to have the triple anything mounts on our forks. Some of us are stuck with regular old double bosses on our fork blades, giving us space for one lowly water bottle cage on each side.So, how do you make the most of your space and carry all of the things that you want without resorting to using an entire roll of electrical tape and a bunch of zip ties?

by joeski

Palouse To Cascades Trail: Rock Lake

Rock Lake is an enigma of the Palouse To Cascades Trail. It is by far one of the most scenic sections of the entire trail, and yet information about it remains elusive. The trail requires a detour around the lake, making it difficult to get to, but it’s totally worth it.

by joeski

Rene Herse Tires

Of all the component options that you can put on a gravel bike, tires are the thing that causes the most stress and the most debate. What size, tread pattern, and pressure you choose can completely change how your bike handles in different conditions, and your tire choice can definitely make or break a given ride.

by joeski

The Renslow Trestle

The last time a train rumbled over the Renslow Trestle was in 1980. Today, this bridge is part of the Palouse to Cascades Trail, and up until today, this span was one of the few major barriers left on the west side of the Columbia River. It is now open to the public.

by joeski

Family Friendly Gravel

If you’ve read my writeup on the Palouse To Cascades Trail, then you know that the stretch between Cle Elum and Thorp is one of my favorites. It’s a great experience for riders of all ages and skill levels, as long as they have a bike that is capable for the surface and you prepare them ahead of time for what to expect.

by joeski
look fast ride slow

Look Fast Ride Slow!

Stickers! Look Fast, Ride Slow is an ethos. How slow should you ride? It’s relative, and it’s entirely up to you. Can you ride fast sometimes? Yeah! It’s fun. But stop trying to race everybody all the time.

by joeski
giant revolt

Let’s Get Low (gearing)

I want it all. I want the ability to ride miles of pavement at road speed, and then climb an 18% forest road while carrying all of the necessary supplies for an overnight trip. And I want to do all of this on the same bike.

by joeski
roads like these

The Love of the Ride. or: Cycling is for Everyone

There are a lot of people in the cycling world who want you to believe that if you just had that new component, shoe, or bike, all of your rides would be absolutely awesome and you’d always be happy. The industry as a whole has an awful lot to come to terms with. Cycling should be accessible and welcoming to all folks.

by joeski
nishiki pueblo

Project Party Bike

Get rad! 90’s rigid mountain bikes tend to make the best party bikes. They typically have massive tire clearance, they can be built with basically any components you want, and they’re pretty much indestructible. Plus, they’re cheap, easy to find, and usually come in some fun color schemes. 26 isn’t dead.

by joeski
1000 acre wood

The 1000 Acre Wood

The 1000 Acre Wood is a large swath of privately owned timberland perched atop the eastern edge of Crescent Valley, just north of Gig Harbor. It contains a surprisingly large network of gravel forest roads, wide dirt trails, single track, and tight hiking trails

by joeski
giant revolt

The Dark and Slow of Winter

As the beautiful colors of fall give way to the dark and cold days of winter, it’s difficult to stay motivated and want to go outside; The daylight hours are short, the temperatures drop, and the weather can become a larger obstacle than any hill you may encounter.  Winter riding requires a mental shift, asContinue reading “The Dark and Slow of Winter”

by joeski
roads like these

(Don’t) Feel the Vibrations

Riding on gravel can take a serious toll on your body. You have to work harder to pedal through it, and your bike is probably heavier than a dedicated go-fast road bike. Even on flat-ish rail trails, you can’t really stop pedaling because you will almost immediately come to a stop.

by joeski
miyata 912

1987 Miyata 912 Rebuild

There just aren’t that many nice vintage bikes left out there. Thousands of them were turned into single speeds and fixies between 2005 and 2010. Braze-ons were ground off, frames were spray-painted, and many were crashed and destroyed. Finding a nice one nowadays is rare, and the odds of finding one that’s barely been ridden is even more rare.

by joeski
wtb nano 40

Learning to Love the Path Less Paved

When I was a kid, you could ride on pavement to the outskirts of town and then go ride up into the forest, hit a few trails, and bomb a fire road back into town… and you could do all of this on the same bike… and that’s all that gravel bikes are. Riding gravel isn’t new, and technically, neither are gravel bikes.

by joeski

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