Remember those 'choose your own adventure' books? That's what life in Los Angeles is like when it comes to outdoor activities. The possibilities are virtually endless and with nearly 300 sunny days a year, there's ample opportunity to get out and explore. What follows is a list of some of our collective personal favorites when it comes to hikes and rides around Los Angeles. Whether you're local or planning an LA getaway, we thought you might enjoy seeing what we like to enjoy when it's time to go play.The Staircases of Los Angeles  Highlights from the Painted Stairways Tour. Staircases are hiding in plain (and not so plain) sight all over Los Angeles, many of which were built as neighborhood shortcuts around the...

When a top 10 Paris-Roubaix finisher checks on your well being, that's probably a good sign you may have bitten off a little more than you can chew. To properly set the scene, do you remember in the original Rocky how there was a neighborhood Doo-wop group that would spend their evenings on the streets of Philadelphia harmonizing tunes while gathered around a trash can fire? That was us this past Saturday at Grinduro! but instead of the streets of Philly, we were high up in the Sierra Nevada mountains huddled around a campfire and instead of singing some oldies, we were muttering to ourselves about the frigid situation we paid to put ourselves in. And the icing on our frozen avocado...

continued from Part 5 we woke up to an early morning overcast sky to find ourselves in an empty field on a hilltop with a view of the surrounding area, the sounds of birds and insects filling the air. soon we heard a motorcycle in the distance. we were a little worried that we had camped on someone's land without permission, so when it got closer and came over, we were a tad apprehensive. but, of course, he just wanted to ask if everything was well. we thanked him for his concern and took the opportunity to inquire how to get to the sanctuary. he told us to keep following the road we had taken and said we would soon be...

Continued from Part 4 we slept in that morning, recovering from the long and arduous day before. we awoke in the tranquility of the Kimana Camp for the second morning in a row, and as we slowly packed up and prepared to leave, we noticed Nelson dressed in his traditional garb, most likely waiting for us to rise. we waved and he came over, friendly and jovial as usual, and invited us to stop by his Masai village before we left. we loaded up the car and headed over, baboons shadowing us on the walk. we were very exited and deeply honored to be invited to enter the complex. as we arrived, we were greeted by chickens and cows engrossed in their...

continued from Part 3 The Mara Triangle!   The Mara Triangle is the North-Western part of the Maasai Mara National Reserve, Kenya, and is managed by the not-for-profit organization The Mara Conservancy on behalf of Trans-Mara County Council. Divided from the rest of the Maasai Mara National Reserve by the Mara River, the 510 square km Mara Triangle is less visited and less crowded, often with many more game animals grazing on the plains and between the volcanic hills that distinguish this corner of the Mara. The plan was to head north across the Triangle and exit at the Oloololo Gate, then cross the National Reserve in the north and head ESE across the Olorukoyi Plain back to our lodgings at Kimana Mara Tented Camp. It wasn't terribly far, about 25...

Continued from part 2 As we followed the map on our phone to our campsite, the Kimana Mara Tented Camp, it led us to a soccer field adjacent to a small town. We looked around for any signs of a camp, but found nothing. We had clearly been led astray by our electronic guide. We drove on and asked the first group of people we came across, they said to continue on the dirt road, and we followed their directions, though the dirt road wove and split and came back together at intervals, and we were never quite sure which split to take. Soon we came to a perilous river crossing, not dangerous so much because of the volume of water...

matt and muriel, our dear leaders, recently took a trip to Kenya and had an incredible adventure. the goal of the trip was to see some elephants in the wild and in order to do that we had to get a vehicle that can handle Kenya's B and C roads which are dirt and difficult. think washboard on the "beginner" side, giant ruts, water crossings, and washed-out roads on the "expert" side of the scale. with the aid of some friends (thanks Ian and Clair!) we found our beast: a Toyota Land Cruiser made for these conditions and kitted out to make the most of our trip. who knew you could rent such a beautiful beast of a machine? on our first...

Our friend and sponsored rider Ben Weaver took the time to write up a recap of his 2017 adventures for us. If you're a regular around these parts, Ben should be a familiar figure. If this is your first time hearing about him, then the first thing we'd say is to give him a listen. Ben is a terrific singer/songwriter who uses his gifts to advocate for water rights and if that wasn't enough, his concert tours are all bicycle powered. We're proud to have our apparel play a part of his adventures and the feedback we get after thousands of miles in the saddle has been invaluable to us. Take it away Ben...  Another year in SWRVE I recently read...

When we last heard from our intrepid travelers, they were en route from Dallas to Atlanta via Memphis. From this point on, it was radio silence on the email front (not at all unexpected) but we saw the trip was going well thanks to the 'gram and #MegaTour17. What follows is a city-by-city recap as told to us by Mick.  Memphis, TN  Our longest leg in a Megabus preceded our shortest pitstop. We were in Memphis for only a day. The rain was a good excuse to catch up on sleep after 30 non-stop hours but when the weather broke we were able to get out for a pedal and explore some the beautiful trails and bike paths before departing.  Atlanta, GA...

Thursday, June 15, 2017 1:30 AM: Our surprisingly peaceful sleep at the Lone Pine Best Western comes to an end as our alarms nudge us awake. It's not even last call at the local bars, but it's time wake up and take a walk up Mt. Whitney. Joining Matt and me on this trek is our friend Leilani, who came out from Philadelphia for the fun. While she didn't have big mountains to train on like Matt and me, she's an avid runner and got her conditioning in by adding a lot of uphill sprints to her regimen. Plus, she's one of the most accomplished people we know; if she can manage a full-time career and two little boys while getting in the...