Chris Kostman's Rough Riders Blog: Any Bike, Anywhere / Classic Cyclist

One of my most prized bicycles is for sale. It's an incredible piece of history and an amazing performer. Includes a Letter of Authenticity from yours truly, too. Click here to check it out...

http://www.xo-1.org/2023/10/my-1993-bridgestone-rb-1-piece-of.html

I am honored to be a guest on Vinnie Tortorich's "America's Angriest Trainer" podcast this week, talking cycling, Silver State 508, Badwater 135, the NSNG lifestyle, Rough Riding and my belov...

http://www.xo-1.org/2014/08/taling-rough-riding-on-vinnie-tortorich.html

Let's kick off the New Year in style, doing what we love! Please join me on a road ride around and over the Santa Monica Mountains on Wednesday, January 1, 2014! There are three possible startin...

http://www.xo-1.org/2013/12/new-years-day-ride-all-are-invited.html

1993 24 Hours of Canaan (Rhymes with Insane) By Chris Kostman Originally published in Bicycle Guide in 1993, although they basically ruined it when they edited it. This is what I really wrote. ...

http://www.xo-1.org/2013/12/1993-24-hours-of-canaan-rhymes-with.html

I wrote "Mountain Bikes: Who Needs Them " over twenty years ago now: it was originally published in the February 1993 issue of Bicycle Guide, then the coolest bike magazine in the USA. That ar...

http://www.xo-1.org/2013/12/mountain-bikers-still-confused.html

I was just riding along recently, descending Stunt Road in the Santa Monica Mountains, when I started to detect a slight hopping in my rear wheel. As I was on a fast descent with curves, I didn'...

http://www.xo-1.org/2013/12/first-time-for-everything-tyres-grow.html

 Above: The host of this blog on the right, Chris Kostman, with 1986 RAAM champion Elaine Mariolle at Tilden Park in the Berkeley hills in 1991. A SPECIAL GUEST POST TODAY BY ONE OF AMERIC...

http://www.xo-1.org/2013/11/whats-mainly-wrong-with-society-today.html

Please join me this Saturday for a 67-mile road ride in the mountains north of Los Angeles which features the Ridge Rouge, 3 Points Road, and Lake Hughes Road. It's a clock-wise loop which will ...

http://www.xo-1.org/2013/03/ridge-route-ride-on-saturday-you-are.html

Let's kick off the New Year in style, doing what we love! Please join me on a road ride around and over the Santa Monica Mountains this Tuesday, January 1, 2013! There are three possible startin...

http://www.xo-1.org/2012/12/new-years-day-all-are-invited.html

Above: That's me on GMR in 2001. The road was snowed over that year, so a few of us just pushed our bikes and kept on going, and had a fantastic adventure! But this Sunday I am hoping and pla...

http://www.xo-1.org/2012/12/mount-baldy-ride-this-sunday-all-are.html

Rough Riding Mt. Diablo with Sean Virnig of Rawland Cycles , a set on Flickr. This was multi-surface cycling at it best, in the backyard playground of two of cycli...

http://www.xo-1.org/2012/05/rough-riding-mt-diablo-with-sean-virnig.html

YOU'RE INVITED: MULTI-SURFACE SEMI-EPIC RIDE IN THE SANTA MONICA MOUNTAINS ON SUNDAY, MAY 27 I'M PLANNING TO STRING TOGETHER A BUNCH OF TRAILS, FIRE ROADS, AND PAVED ROADS IN THE SANTA MONICA...

http://www.xo-1.org/2012/05/youre-invited-multi-surface-semi-epic.html

The author with his mascot, Gumby, during the 1987 Race Across America. What could be more fun than having my sister-in-law crawl inside my inflatable 6" tall Gumby to surprise me? It astoun...

http://www.xo-1.org/2012/04/keeping-it-light.html

Above: A giant painting called "Picture Without Words" by Edward Ruscha , as currently on display at the Getty Center, the inspiration for this post. This photo of the painting is by the author....

http://www.xo-1.org/2012/04/racing-to-light.html

This is a crazy, hectic time lately with so much going on, not the least of which is that we we leave shortly to host CORPScamp Death Valley and Hell's Gate Hundred . Fortunately we actually ge...

http://www.xo-1.org/2012/03/calm-in-eye-of-storm.html

For the majority of my cycling career, I have longed for just one bike that would do anything and work in nearly any circumstance or setting. My slogan is "any bike, anywhere," and I live by th...

http://www.xo-1.org/2012/03/my-rawland-rsogn-one-bike-to-rule-them.html

Out exploring yesterday, we came up on this sign. Of course, this was after coming back down the private road behind the sign that we'd accessed via a long, uphill, and unmarked trail. When we h...

http://www.xo-1.org/2012/03/pay-attention-gps-units-can-get-you.html

"10,000 Thanks to AdventureCORPS for Sponsoring the Jim Swarzman Memorial Membership Drive." (Re-post from the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition Blog ) Last summer and fall, our friend Chri...

http://www.xo-1.org/2012/03/jim-swarzman-memorial-membership-drive.html

I signed up an account with Strava.com so that I can log my rides, at least some of them, online and share the results with others, and even compare my times. It seems pretty neat and I have som...

http://www.xo-1.org/2012/02/riding-with-strava.html

I bought this in 1995 because I had been sponsored by the Rivendell founder, Grant Petersen, when he ran Bridgestone Cycles USA and I wanted to show my support for his new enterprise, Rive...

http://www.xo-1.org/2011/11/for-sale-rivendell-all-rounder-1995.html

Minutes before the start, the four racers in the 1982 Great American Bike Race eagerly awaited the biggest challenge of their lives (photo above). They didn't know what to expect. No one did....

http://www.xo-1.org/2011/10/back-to-future-founding-fathers-of.html

Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition and AdventureCORPS Announce the Jim Swarzman Memorial Membership Drive Join, renew, or donate and LACBC (click! ) will receive twice the amount you give vi...

http://www.xo-1.org/2011/09/jim-swarzman-memorial-membership-drive.html

The trial for the hit-and-run driver who killed Furnace Creek 508 veteran and close friend Jim Swarzman starts Tuesday, July 12 in Vista, CA and should last until the end of that week. It is ...

http://www.xo-1.org/2011/07/jim-swarzman-trial-starts-july-12.html

Above: Self-portrait of the author with Jim Swarzman during the San Diego 200km Brevet, January, 2011 The Classic Cyclist, Part Four BY CHRIS KOSTMAN CLICK HERE FOR PART ONE , CLICK HERE FO...

http://www.xo-1.org/2011/06/classic-cyclist-part-four.html

Above: Jim Swarzman and Nicole Honda at the 2009 Furnace Creek 508 finish line, and then Jim a year later in 2010 with his "classic bike" of choice (which will appear as a full-page in the n...

http://www.xo-1.org/2011/04/jim-swarzman-my-kind-of-guy-and-cyclist.html