The Rodeo Journal - Rodeo Adventure Labs, LLC

The Trail That Was

The more I go to events in the gravel world, the more I realize how serpentine the paths are to the start lines. Nowhere is that more the case than the Oregon Trail Gravel Grinder. Or at least, nowhere is it more apparent, since you have five days of mingling to share your life with former and future strangers.

On the Trail, there were olympians, world champions, graphic designers, architecture students, chefs, and wind energy executives. There were tech bros, soccer moms, emergency room doctors, and inflatable hot tub owners. There were snowboarders, triathletes, moto drivers, photographers and vloggers. All waking up in tents every morning – or in the middle of the night to drops of wayward sprinklers – to drag their tired, half cleaned bodies across one of the most spectacular ranges in the country. It is glorious, it’s weird, it is Oregon.

4000+ miles on Campagnolo Levante Gravel wheels

If you were on the internet on Friday (April 29, 2022) or in the days since you may have experienced the hyper coordinated, very polished, well executed Campagnolo Levante wheel launch. Some websites had initial reviews, other websites only managed to regurgitate the press release and supplied launch imagery in typical cycling media fashion. Here at Rodeo we didn’t need to read those reviews to get a sense of the wheels, because we’ve been riding them almost non stop for six months now…

campagnolo ekar levante Rodeo Labs

The Rodeo Podcast: Scotti Lechuga on Ultra-endurance Racing

What do you do when someone tells you that you are not mentally tough enough? Scotti’s answer was to sign up for the 2019 Silk Road Mountain Race as a pair with my husband Ernie, and take home the win. Since then she has set multiple FKT at Arkansas High Country, has unfinished business with the Atlas Mountain Race and it hot of a new FKT for Stagecoach 400.

Flaanimal Racing Stagecoach400 ultra-endurance

Spring Surfing: The Mid South and Croatan Buck-Fifty

By Logan Jones-Wilkins

The last couple weeks I have been surfing. You know, the proper radical stuff. You know, getting stoked.

“You just drop in, smack the lip… Waapah! Just drop down… Swoopah! And then after that, you just drop in, ride the barrel, and get pitted, so pitted.” – Surfer Guy, 2012

That’s it — that has been me. Minus the ocean, and the water, and the surfboard, and the crazy Californian energy. Nonetheless, there have been waves, I have been riding, and I have been getting pitted. So pitted.

Croatan Mid South

Rodeo Adventure Diaries: Strade Bianche

Logan Jones-Wilkins

Over my spring break I had $1,000 dollars of flight credit to use, built up from four postponed trips. After so many false starts, it was time to go again – and go I have. First up, Siena for the Strade Bianche. For the trip, I put away my Instagram and my updates and I turned to my journal. Over dinners and downtime, I wrote down my sensations. These are the moments that captured the trip for me, and I hope you enjoy the “crudo” distillation of my week in Tuscany!

March 3, 2022 — Firenze Centrale, Florence, Tuscany

People seem to flow here. In scarfs, overcoats, down puffers, and other regal regalia built for temperatures colder than now, the Italian masses move with effortless intention. In twos, and threes, and four, and sometimes ones but nearly never fives, people would come, and people would go in a swirl of the sing-song language of the land.

French Winter Gravel

Why did I say yes in the first place?

In January my buddy and I rode Gravelman Paris – a 350 km gravel race around Paris with start and finish close to l’Arc de Triomphe. They call it a race but that’s not really what it is. Riders can start from Thursday 5.30 am and have until Sunday 11 am to finish. A little 200 km is gravel, the other 150 km is asphalt. One rider actually approached it as a race, and finished within 25 hours, including 4 ‘inactive’ hours. He rode an average of 16.8 km/hr.

Cycling France Gravel Bike Randonneur

What’s Working Podcast w Cam Marston

Radio host and podcaster Cam Marston recently invited Rodeo founder Stephen Fitzgerald onto his show to talk about the behind the scenes of Rodeo, how it came into existence, and what it was like transitioning out of a more traditional career and into running a bike company and community. Check it out via the embed here or search for What’s Working With Cam Marston on your favorite podcasting platform:

entrepreneur history Podcast

2021 Wrapped: Logan’s Rodeo Playlist

Spotify’s marketing team, take a bow.

Once again, you’ve done it, you mastered viral marketing. Now, December is marked by the bombardment of Spotify branded music tastes. As much as I try to be the grinch, I like it. I like it a lot.

Alas, my contrarian flare persists, and I have journals to write. So instead of a simple Instagram story share and per a budding tradition, here is my 2021 playlist. Five of my favorite songs from 2021 paired with my top five rides. I highly encourage you to listen as you go! Each passage was written while the tunes played on loop. My apologize to my roommates. Enjoy!

Armenia: The Final Dispatch

Evan and Bo have wrapped up their final dispatch from their two month ride across, around, through, and into Armenia. It’s been so inspiring to follow along on this journey with them through words and photos. It seems that Rodeo and Armenia have been woven together through our experiences there, and we can’t wait to see where inspiration takes us next. In the meantime, enjoy this final post.

Adventure Cycling Gravel Bike Mountain Biking Rodeo Labs

Riding East With Tom

Tom and I are not alike.

He’s into obscure Welsh rock. I’m into hip hop, I think. He went to law school. I was done after high school. He leans to the left, I lean to the right of whatever left means. I don’t think he’s religious at all. If I didn’t have faith I think I’d be dead. Tom likes a very tall riding position with an absurd stem because ergonomics. I like a low, sleek position, because vanity. Tom was a pipe smoker once upon a time. I’ve literally never smoked anything, ever, not even the tires on my car.

Colorado Cycling Gravel Gravel Bike Greenland Rodeo Labs traildonkey