Titanium Bike Rocket | Stoke-Ness
What a summer it’s been.
For the last 3 weeks I’ve been doing all I can to avoid work and have my first real vacation in 5+ years. I’m usually not a fan of vacations, but staying home while we vacationed meant I could restore a motorcycle, restore my wood fired hot tub and bike+hike+swim everyday. It’s been the best summer since I was a kid.
In this month’s issue I share a the bike I’ve been ripping, the music I’ve been jamming, and the techniques I’ve been learning.
Be stoked,
Isaac
Photo/Video Technique
Photo by Andrew Neel on Unsplash
How to Write Well
On the face of it How To Write Well is not a photography or video technique. Pressing record or the shutter button is not writing words and most of us like it that way. However, the more I’ve grown as a Photographer and a Filmmaker the more I’ve found the need to organize my thoughts, share them with clarity and leverage my thoughts to change peoples perspectives.
With writing you can do all that. And this is not about people reading your words, though if you learn to write well people will want to. It’s about making a cohesive thought into a persuasive photo essay or a magnetic film. Sure you might be able to make both without good writing, but it’s soooo much easier to write your thoughts first.
Here is a short and powerful guide on How To Write Well by Julian Shapiro. It’s of course an easy read (he’s a good writer after all) and you will get many times the effort you put in out of it.
Thanks for sharing this Alex Strohl.
See the article here
Gear
Bearclaw Beaux Jaxon
In my most recent YouTube video I rode a free, nearly 30 year old mountain bike up the steep and magnificent Going to the Sun road in Glacier National Park. It was both miserable and wonderful. Why did I choose to ride that bike? Well it was the only bike I had at the time and I like a stupid challenge.
But I also love the opposite end of the performance spectrum. I want to know not only the minimum bike that is possible to do a huge ride, but also the best bike I can ride to make any ride feel fun and fast.
That’s why this summer I am riding the Bearclaw Beaux Jaxon. It’s the Land Rover of bikes, fast and comfortable on pavement and gravel but able to offroad with mountain bikes. It’s a full titanium frame with a carbon fork, 29” wheels and a drop bar. The coolest looking bike I’ve seen by far.
So does it make huge rides all fun and no suffer? With no hesitation, YES. I rode 50 miles of rough dirt road and 3,000 vertical in just under 3.5 hrs. It’s so fast and comfortable that it opens up a whole new way to access remote areas of Montana I’ve never seen. If you’ve been thinking about getting into gravel biking, don’t hesitate. If you want the best gravel bike out there, then get the Beaux Jaxon.
See more here
Music I'm Diggin'
You’re Too Precious by James Blake
I like a lot of James Blake songs casually, but when I heard this tune I knew I’d be playing it non-stop. It has a nostalgic and whimsical feel that is perfectly complemented with the African style hand claps. The song doesn’t really even get past the intro until about a minute and twenty seconds in, but it doesn’t matter. If you never listen to the songs I recommend, give this one a try. It might be my most solid recco yet.
Listen to it on Spotify here
Videos, Movies, and TV
Riding a FREE bike up the Craziest Road in the USA
I made this video last month and it was one of the most fun I’ve made.
Watch it HERE
Reads
The Fish That Ate Whale
The story of an immigrant turned successful tycoon is rare but not original. The story of one man that took on one of the biggest multi national corporations in the world and ended up growing powerful enough to take it over and become its CEO is rarer. The story of selling leftover fruit with such dedication, hiring mercenaries to take over foreign governments, becoming the largest land owner in central America and getting the CIA to do your dirty work is unheard of.
The Fish That Ate The Whale is a wild story about the Banana King Samuel Zemurray and reads like a novel. Learn a whole new part of history through one man’s incredible life.
Get it Here
Be stoked and have a great month,
Isaac
