Bicycle Resources
I ride gravel, mountain, and dirt jumps, from laps at Eagle Rock to Pittsburgh's Dirty Dozen.
This is the stuff I keep coming back to. Films mostly, plus the books, riders, and sites worth your time.
Films
Lachlan and Gus Morton
Gus is the filmmaker brother. Thereabouts covers the whole body of work, first independently, then with Rapha, then with EF. Watch roughly in this order and you get the arc of Lachlan walking away from conventional pro racing and inventing the alternative calendar.
Thereabouts2014
The brothers ride from their childhood home in Port Macquarie to Uluru, about 2,500 km, after Lachlan burns out on pro racing. Directed by Scott Mitchell.
Thereabouts Reprise #22015
The second film. Confirmed on the Thereabouts channel under this title rather than the Thereabouts 2 the press used.
Thereabouts Colombia2017
Colombia's brutal climbs and cycling culture, plus the brothers returning to racing together.
Outskirts2018 to 2019
The second season of Thereabouts, made with Rapha. Three parts. Part 3, The Shadow of the East, is a 70 minute, seven country, 1,600 km ride from Montenegro to Turkey. The best of the set.
The Alt Tour2021
Every stage and every transfer of the 2021 Tour de France, solo and self supported. About 5,500 km in 23 days. He beat the peloton to Paris and raised money for World Bicycle Relief. 38 minutes.
EF Gone Racing2019 onward
Short films on the alt calendar rides: Badlands, GBDURO, Unbound, Munich to the Ukrainian border, and more.
The Divide2023 to 2024
His 2023 Tour Divide ride, Banff to Antelope Wells, in 12 days, 12 hours, 21 minutes. Not an official record because of course deviations and the film crew, which is part of the story. EF's first full length film.
The Great Southern Country2025
The 2024 lap of Australia, 14,200 km in 30 days, 9 hours, 59 minutes. Gus filmed it. Strong on the Outback, the support crew, and the Indigenous communities along the route.
Payson McElveen
Durango based pro, marathon MTB national champion, singlespeed world champion, Lifetime Grand Prix gravel racer, and host of The Adventure Stache. The Crossing films come from his own Stachehouse Productions.
Crossing Iceland2022
First single push, human powered crossing of Iceland, north to south, Akureyri to Vik. 257 miles of highland doubletrack and glacial rivers in 19 hours 45 minutes, carrying 7,000 calories with no resupply. 13 minutes, shot with Chris Burkard.
Crossing Tasmania2023
360 miles and about 34,000 feet of climbing, west coast to the Bay of Fires, in 32 hours. Deliberately slower, about letting go of the clock. Route built with local bikepacker Emma Flukes. Ends on the Blue Derby trails. About 21 minutes.
The history of mountain biking
Klunkerz: A Film About Mountain Bikes2006
Billy Savage's history of the Marin County klunker scene on Mount Tamalpais. Repack, Schwinn Excelsiors pulled from dumps, Gary Fisher, Joe Breeze, Charlie Kelly, Tom Ritchey, and the Crested Butte and Cupertino crews. 83 minutes.
Camera Corner2024
Wende Cragg was the only woman riding with the original Marin crew, and her Rolling Dinosaur Archive is close to the only photographic record of that era. Named for the switchback on the Repack course where she shot. The Radavist's first feature, directed by Josh Weinberg. Released free online in December 2024.
Everything else
A Sunday in Hell1976
Jorgen Leth on Paris to Roubaix. Road, not dirt, but the foundational cycling film.
Life Cycles2010
Cinematic mountain biking, more art than edit.
The Moment2016
The history of North Shore and freeride mountain biking.
The Ridge / Wee Day Out2014 / 2016
Danny MacAskill. Short, endlessly rewatchable, and the kids will love them.
Riders
- Lachlan MortonAlt calendar, ultra distance, and the human side of pro cycling.
- Gus MortonThe filmmaker brother. Thereabouts.
- Payson McElveenMountain and gravel racing, the Crossing films, and the podcast.
- Lael WilcoxUltra distance bikepacking. Tour Divide and the round the world record.
- Chris BurkardPhotographer and filmmaker. Shot Crossing Iceland.
- Rebecca RuschQueen of Pain. Endurance mountain and gravel.
- Ted KingEx pro turned gravel. Vermont. Unbound winner.
- Wende CraggA living link to the birth of the sport.
Creators and channels
Mountain biking
- Berm PeakSeth Alvo. Skills, builds, trail building. The trail building series is the one.
- BKXCPoint of view trail tours from all over North America. Good for trip ideas.
- Skills with PhilTechnique coaching.
- PinkbikeEspecially Ben Cathro's How to Bike series.
- GMBNGlobal Mountain Bike Network. The big all rounder.
- FluidrideInstruction library.
- Matt Jones and Brendan FaircloughFreeride and slopestyle entertainment.
Gravel and bikepacking
- Bikepacking.comVideos and the Plog film roundups.
- The RadavistFilms, reportage, and Camera Corner.
- Dylan JohnsonEvidence based gravel training.
- Path Less PedaledRuss Roca and Laura Crawford. Touring and bikepacking.
- Chris HallUK ultra distance and gravel adventures.
Dirt jump and trials
- Danny MacAskill
- Harry Main
- Martin Soderstrom
Wrenching
- Park ToolThe YouTube channel and the repair help site.
- Sheldon BrownThe late Sheldon Brown's technical archive. Still the reference.
Books
Bicycle DiariesDavid Byrne, 2009
The Talking Heads frontman rides a folding bike through cities on tour and thinks about urbanism, art, and music.
Fat Tire FlyerCharlie Kelly, 2014
Repack and the birth of mountain biking, told by one of the founders. Pairs with Klunkerz and Camera Corner.
Bicycle: The HistoryDavid V. Herlihy, 2004
The definitive history of the machine.
The Lost CyclistDavid V. Herlihy, 2010
Frank Lenz's 1890s round the world ride, and his disappearance.
Wheels of ChangeSue Macy, 2011
How women rode the bicycle to freedom. Context for the Susan B. Anthony line below.
Roads Were Not Built for CarsCarlton Reid, 2014
Cyclists, not motorists, pushed for paved roads.
The RiderTim Krabbe, 1978
A single amateur race told from inside the rider's head. The cult classic.
Full TiltDervla Murphy, 1965
Ireland to India by bicycle. Solo, through Iran and Afghanistan, in 1963.
Miles from NowhereBarbara Savage, 1983
A two year, 25 country round the world tour.
Just RideGrant Petersen, 2012
Rivendell's founder against racer culture. The unracer manifesto.
Need for the BikePaul Fournel, 2001
Short lyrical essays. Good source for pull quotes.
The Wheels of ChanceH. G. Wells, 1896
A Victorian cycling holiday comedy. Public domain.
Bike SnobEben Weiss, 2010
New York cycling humor.
Zinn and the Art of Mountain Bike MaintenanceLennard Zinn, many editions
The shop manual.
Websites and forums
Read
- Bikepacking.comRoutes, gear, films. The single best gravel and bikepacking resource.
- The RadavistPhoto heavy reportage, culture, history.
- Escape CollectiveIndependent road and gravel journalism.
- PinkbikeMountain bike news and reviews.
- Vital MTBReviews and race coverage.
- SingletracksTrail reviews.
- Adventure Cycling AssociationLong distance routes. Relevant for New Jersey to Maine.
- Rene HerseJan Heine on tires, gravel, and randonneuring.
Maps and trails
- TrailforksTrail maps and conditions.
- MTB ProjectTrail maps and conditions.
- JORBAJersey Off Road Bicycle Association. The local trail advocacy group.
Forums
- r/MTB
- r/gravelcycling
- r/bikepacking
- r/Dirtjumping
- r/bikewrench
- r/xbikingThe vibe bike and Rivendell crowd.
Quotes
Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving.
Albert Einstein, letter to his son Eduard, 1930
Let me tell you what I think of bicycling. I think it has done more to emancipate women than anything else in the world.
Susan B. Anthony, interviewed by Nellie Bly, New York World, 1896
Get a bicycle. You will not regret it, if you live.
Mark Twain, Taming the Bicycle
It is by riding a bicycle that you learn the contours of a country best, since you have to sweat up the hills and coast down them.
Ernest Hemingway, Fathers and Sons, 1933
The bicycle is the most civilized conveyance known to man. Other forms of transport grow daily more nightmarish. Only the bicycle remains pure in heart.
Iris Murdoch, The Red and the Green, 1965
Cycle tracks will abound in Utopia.
H. G. Wells, A Modern Utopia, 1905
Ride as much or as little, or as long or as short as you feel. But ride.
Eddy Merckx
It never gets easier, you just go faster.
Greg LeMond
The one everybody posts, about not despairing for the future of the human race when you see an adult on a bicycle, is not H. G. Wells. Quote Investigator traced the earliest appearance to a 1988 letter in Bicycle USA, forty two years after Wells died, and nothing in his writing matches. The Utopia line above is the real one. Quote Investigator →