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A YEAR.

Far from the races

By Gruber Images

January 8^th, 2016

A YEAr in two shots.

2015 started with a surprise creek crossing and some bushwhacking in search of a road - and pretty much ended with the same thing. It seems to happen pretty regularly: dirt road turns to double track turns to grass and twigs and sticks and rocks then ends with a creek. It’s just that Thomas was wearing the same jersey. The weather was the same. The whole feel of it was the same. It was deja vu. I love it. These two images make me happy. They stand for everything that I love about Athens, everything that I love about riding bikes.

february.

We went to California to take some pictures with Strava. I didn’t want to go. I hate leaving Athens. We drop anchor in Athens around New Year’s and try not to leave until we absolutely have to around the middle/end of February. Erik Joule (now at Stinner Frameworks) talked me out of my Athens cave and got us to come to California. I’m so happy we did. A lot of great things came from that trip - eventually, Strava Stories…we got a few nice pictures too.

seven sisters.

I’ve seen images of Marin’s Seven Sisters for ages. It’s one of those roads I’ve dreamed of for years now. For you San Franciscans, it’s Normalville, but for me, it was just one giant wow. Pretty much everything about the San Francisco area blew me away.

that light.

I had only seen light like this in pictures before that trip to San Francisco. I don’t know if I’ve ever been more excited to take pictures. I choked up for a second, tears welled while I jumped around trying to catch all of it. I’ve never been so wowed by light. It was otherworldly. It seems fitting that there’s an inGamba jersey on Adriano’s back for this shot. :-)

my favorite race shot.

I don’t want this little post to be about professional racing, but I’d be wrong not to include my favorite race shot of the year. So the question is obviously: how does that even happen? Funny story. Elia Viviani flatted on the nasty, windswept section of dirt just outside of Lucignano d’Asso midway through the Strade Bianche. He held his wheel up high and waited for a spare. And waited. And waited. 200m down the road, there was carnage - bikes and bodies everywhere - so he waited some more. Eventually, frustration got the better of him, and he tossed his wheel down. Nothing violent, just the normal ughhhh moment of a race lost to bad luck. Unfortunately for Viviani and his wheel - when the wheel bounced up, the wind caught it, and it was off to the races. He didn‘t win. I assume the wheel is either still rolling or far, far down the field.

The other two images? That’s Calvin Watson giving an off the bike demonstration of just how windy it was that day.

nicer days.

Chianti has become one of our homes. Because of inGamba Tours, because of the amazing people in the village of Lecchi, because of these roads, because it feels like home, we keep coming back.

the day after roubaix.

Imagine going BACK to the Roubaix cobbles the day after the Queen of the Classics - that’s what Jack Bauer did. He raced Paris-Roubaix on Sunday, then was back, bright and early on Monday for some more. He joined Cannondale-Garmin’s Andrew Talansky for a recon of the Tour de France’s visit to the cobbles. Ashley was along for the ride that day - this image has stuck with me. I love it.

hardennes.

Pre-April 2015, I openly laughed about the idea of Rapha Travel’s Cent Cols Challenge. I’m ashamed to quote myself on this, but I think I said something along the lines of: what kind of idiot signs up for that? In short, it’s ten days, about 200k per day, and usually at least 4000m of climbing (with one day on the Cent Cols Cantabrico hitting the unbelievable number of 7000+ for a select few (not me)).

It was at the end of April when we stayed with the man behind the CCC - Phil Deeker - that I felt my thoughts shift slowly toward…the CCC could be pretty cool. We spent an amazing week with Phil and his wife, Claire, in the heart of the Ardennes. By the time we left, there was nothing else I could think about. Come September, there was nothing else I’d rather do than spend ten days with twenty or so other crazy people in Cantabrico. More on that in a bit.

Thank you, Phil, for exploding what I thought was a horizon, a limit.

may.

Normally, May means nothing but the Giro d’Italia, but in 2015, we came up with a better plan. Instead of shooting every single stage and hating the month of May, we chose eleven great days, and spent the rest of the Giro taking a closer look at the great days to come. We rode Campitello Matese (below), the Finestre, the Mortirolo, and the long Valdobbiadene TT.

colle delle finestre.

The Colle delle Finestre was one of my favorite memories of 2015. I‘ve been dreaming about riding the gorgeous climb ever since I saw Alessandro Federico’s images of it more than ten years ago, and those dreams piled on more and more with each Giro visit. This year, we finally got the chance to spend some time on it. We rode the Finestre twice and shot the Giro passing en route to Sestriere. I loved it. It‘s an amazing climb and an amazing stadium for a bike race.

the mortirolo. sort of.

As part of our preview journey ahead of the Giro, we rode the Mortirolo. Not too much to talk about there - it’s steep, and it’s not the prettiest climb in the world. BUT - just beyond the crest, maybe a couple k into the descent, there’s a small left-hand turn. That road ultimately dead ends, but it was one of my favorite dead end roads ever.

#YOLOMITES.

If you made me pick a place to live in Europe, the choice would be easy at this point: I would pick the Dolomites. Each year, we fall more and more in love with the area, and a HUGE part of that is thanks to our good friend, Igor Tavella, the Ustaria Posta, and Holimites. We adore Igor and his whole family. Igor has single-handedly grabbed our hearts and buried them in Badia.

As for the #yolomites - that started as a big joke from our friend, Jonathan Atwell. It caught on though, and what I originally laughed AT, I’m now infected with. I can’t help but think yolomites now. I’m ruined for life. And I love it.

A week to remember.

It was a crazy idea - six huge days in the mountains - with a few of our friends. We always lament the fact that we never get to share our Euro world with our friends from back home. It’s always - oh man, you should have SEEN this road, it was crazy! They always listen and smile, but words can’t manage the full scope, neither can a tiny Instagram pic on a phone. We daydreamed about the idea of somehow getting our friends over for a crazy week of riding, but the logistics were daunting. We needed some kind of support, some kind of help.

In stepped Joao Correia of inGamba Tours. Joao is family at this point, and we have the battle scars to prove what it’s like to be a part of a Portuguese family, and we love him all the more for it. Same with Nate and Colli and Jim and absolutely everyone at inGamba. Joao gets wind of our idea and offers to support it - suddenly, this la la land dream is real. Ashley gets on hotels and ironing out the little things, and then, on a bright, warm morning in August, we left Cluses (just outside of Geneva) - we’d roll into Nice, six days later - and THAT was the most fun thing I’ve ever been a part of.

THANK YOU - Thomas, Pat, Ryan, Jonathan, Colli, Lentine, Nate, Xico, and Raul. THANK YOU.

my favorite image of 2015.

I know it’s nothing too crazy, but this shot makes me happy. It’s the base of my favorite climb ever (Colle Fauniera - see below), it’s Ashley, it’s an amazing tunnel/gallery, and it was one of my favorite days on a bike. So, yes, we took better pictures this year, but there isn’t a picture that makes me feel more - just right - than this one.

my all-time favorite climb.

The Colle Fauniera is my favorite climb, followed by Monte Grappa. The Colle Fauniera is everything that I love in a climb: the road is tiny, absolutely no one uses it (at least the day we rode it), it’s gorgeous. The climb is so great, that despite its enormous length and notable difficulty, it passes by so quickly. I was sad to get to the top. I was sad to leave the mountain. I want to go back.

The idea for the ‘Secret Handshake Ride’ (as it came to be jokingly known) was built off of this climb. I’ve been dreaming about it for years - raving about this tiny road on a gigantic mountain in far western Italy to anyone who cared (or didn’t care to listen) for far too long. This year, thanks to Joao and inGamba, I finally got to meet one of my true road loves.

heaven.

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wales.

Really not sure how this happened. We were sitting in a room at our Belgian base, The ChainStay. I somehow stumbled on to Guy Townsend’s blog about a long weekend trip to Wales for a mini-camp ahead of a Cent Cols Challenge. The pictures blew my mind, and in about an hour period, I had a rough plan worked out. I woke Ashley up and told her we were going to Wales…would that be ok?

We announced the trip on Yarak and Twitter - and people actually came out to ride bikes with us. It was amazing, and I’ll write more about it soon. Promise.

favorite road of 2015.

Since the Fauniera is my all-time favorite climb, I feel like it’s not fair to call it my favorite road of 2015. It was already my all-time favorite before I even rode it.

My favorite road of 2015 goes to a tiny road in Wales, just outside the village of Arthog. I never would have seen it if it were not for Jack Brown’s suggestion. I’m so happy he mentioned it, because the steep, twisting climb through forest and open, rocky fields took me to a special place in my soul.

I’m still working on what it is exactly, but the moorland expanses and the tiny lanes of the UK are my dearest loves when it comes to riding bikes. If I had to choose one place to go ride bikes - I’d go to the UK.

mon(S)te(R) zoncolan

From that crazy trip in Wales, we drove straight to northeastern Italy for a fun few days with Jason and Mary of Velo Veneto. We met Jason in the EARLY days of when we first went to Europe, and we’ve been friends ever since. It was great to spend some time riding bikes and taking pictures in Friuli with he and Mary.

So, I said Friuli…that means… I finally had the chance to ride the Zoncolan all the way up this year. It’s not my favorite climb in the world by any means, but I do love the tunnels at the top.

We also rode Monte Crostis that day - and WOW - that one was every bit the climb I had dreamed it would be. Unfortunately, I messed up the timing on that ride in a major way, and we arrived to the top in pretty much pitch black night. Flushes with embarrassment.

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mangart.

After the Zoncolan, we pressed eastward into the three country corner of Austria-Italy-Slovenia for one of my other favorite climbs: Mangart. I first rode it back in 2004, and I’m still loving that dead end road in a BIG way. Plus, I really like riding bikes with Jason, so that’s a plus.

portugal.

Immediately after finishing up with Jason in Friuli, we drove to Bilbao, Spain. That’s a long drive. From there, we flew to Portugal to play with inGamba for a week. When that was done, we flew back to Bilbao and continued our whirlwind bike riding tour with the Cent Cols Cantabrico. It was a lot of bike riding in a very short amount of time. It was extreme - 125 hours, 67,000m of climbing.

One part of September was not crazy though. One part of September was an absolute joy - seven days in Portugal with inGamba. It was every bit the exact opposite of the Cent Cols that would follow. There couldn’t be two more opposite experiences, and I love them both. inGamba uses the bicycle as a vehicle for unquestioned good times, a vehicle to enjoy the day, get back, and do something else fun. The Cent Cols? The bicycle changes roles by the hour - sometimes it’s a chariot sent from heaven, other times, it’s your guide straight to hell. The Cent Cols is a crucible. The Cent Cols is a soul-searching expedition, a way to shatter whatever it was you previously thought was possible and replace it with a simple truth: you really can do anything if you’re willing to hurt for long, long periods of time (with some fitness). inGamba (thankfully) doesn’t venture to those desperate lands - it’s a rolling party.

scenes from portugal.

The week we spent in Portugal highlighted one thing: we need to go back. Lisbon was amazing - one of the most visually stimulating cities I’ve ever seen, and the rest of the country - the same. It doesn’t look like we’ll wait too long: we’re going to shoot inGamba’s next big Portuguese adventure - the Tour of Portugal. The plan is to ride the entire route of the Volta a Portugal a few hours ahead of the race…all ten stages plus a prologue. I’ve driven so many race routes and wondered what it would be like to ride the course the day of the race - I’m really excited to get that feeling, and from what I’ve heard, it doesn’t get much better than the Tour of Portugal in terms of roadside energy.

going down!

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Rapha Travel's cent cols cantabrico.

And here we are, the crux of our year. The hardest thing I’ve ever done. That which I said I’d never, ever do again - the Cent Cols Challenge. I think I’ve changed my mind though - I want in, I want to do another one. I think it’s going to be the Pyrenees.

As for this blurry photo - this was our true introduction to the Cent Cols on Day 1: the Collado Espina. 9k, 700m of climbing - that includes going downhill. This section tipped the scales at around 30%. That’s at least what my Garmin said before it stopped reading due to an excess of slow. It was murderous, but…if I ever had the chance, I’d do it again. It was a beautiful stretch of road.

some road, somewhere.

No idea where this is anymore. Only problem with the Cent Cols? You cover SO much ground in such a short period of time, it’s hard to keep everything straight. That’s an issue for me, because I take deep gloating pride in remembering ALL of the roads. In fact, I’m probably going to go hunting to try to figure out where this was, just because I said I couldn’t. Excellent logical pathway there.

acebo!

I remember this one. Day 4 of Cantabrico. It was a big one (but not as big as the next day), a long one, a hard one. It started in freezing cold temperatures on the monster Gamoniteiro, and it finished with us trying to outrun the rain on top of a perfect climb, El Acebo.

scenes from a ccc.

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gotthard.

We didn’t ride the Gotthard, but we did look at it. Just looking at it made me happy.

quick trip to switzerland.

In our final days in Europe this year, we had some shooting to do - so we went to Switzerland. Safe bet for jaw-dropping.

grosse scheidegg.

One of my absolute favorite climbs (top five, for sure) gets even better if you keep going up at the top. Grosse Scheidegg is widely acclaimed as an unmissable gem, so take my advice and keep going. It gets even better on the dirt.

one last trip to badia.

When I say Badia and the Ustaria Posta feel like home, I mean that in more than just the spiritual way - it’s also a place for us to leave things. Igor’s family has a gigantic barn, which serves as a great safe haven for a lot of our junk. Unfortunately, this means we have to back to Badia before heading back to the US. Really disappointing. Hate it. haha.

It was on this last quick trip to Badia that we did my favorite loop (more on that soon), but instead of it just being my normal favorite loop, it became the super special, unbelievable, oh wow favorite loop. It was a special day - and we almost didn’t ride at all.

My moral of this story: always ride. Who knows what I might be missing! :-)

stoney pass.

In a year full of crazy rides, I think the Rodeo Labs Rally: Stoney Pass might just have trumped all of them, if trumping means my first bonk in over a decade. It was only supposed to be a couple hours of riding - instead, we were out for over seven hours, with a ride time right on six. There was snow, lots and lots of snow, and there was walking, and there was me going over my handlebars in the deep snow at least five times. There were fun times - lots of them - and then there was that one not so fun part when I fell to pieces, and it took me 45 minutes to go five miles. Verdict? AWESOME. I don’t need rides like that in my life very often, but I’ll be the first to jump in whenever the chance arises.

flying j ranch.

Favorite singletrack of the year? The open space park right down the road from my parents: Flying J Ranch. It was a blast in the freezing cold and snow. I want to do more of that.

excited for 2016.

Thanks so much for all of your support over the last year and more. We’re here because of people like you - people who see a link, people who follow us on Instagram, people who speak kindly of us. THANK YOU for being awesome.