blast-from-the-past

Ed. Note: This piece was originally published in Dirt Rag 106 in March 2004.  For the uninitiated, a fixed gear bicycle is a singlespeed without a freewheel—if the wheels are rolling, the cranks are turning. Rudy Nadler is one of the many people who have learned the joy of off-road fixed gear cycling, and when ...

Ed. Note: This review of the Kona A, the first ever production full-suspension singlespeed, was originally published in Dirt Rag 102 in August 2003.  Rider: Philip Keyes Height: 6’2” Weight: 196lbs. Inseam: 34” Kona is one cool company. Case in point: these guys are offering the first-ever production dual suspension singlespeed. They had to know ...

Ed. Note: The following takes place between stage 7 and stage 10 of the Punk Bike Enduro in 2004. This story originally appeared in Dirt Rag 105.  Words by Joe Whitehair We leave the beer van behind and begin the uphill slog on a rough and gritty road, wet with snow dissolved from sparse traffic and salt, ...

Words and photos: Jeff Archer By 1994 it was becoming evident that full suspension was here to stay. Most major manufacturers had full-suspension bikes on the market, and the smaller makers were trying to keep up, with quite a few different designs coming out and varying degrees of success. Additionally, many suspension-fork makers were releasing ...

Editor’s note: In 2005, Philip Keyes interviewed Theodore Stroll for an article on the legal issues surrounding Wilderness access that ran in Dirt Rag Issue #112. Stroll is the author of the law review article: “Congress’s Intent in Banning Mechanical Transport in the Wilderness Act of 1964.” Theodore J. Stroll; Penn State Environmental Law Review (Volume ...

With hundreds of exhibitors at the Interbike trade show vying to attract attention, it’s no easy chore getting noticed. Back in 2000 and 2001 Dirt Rag managed to create a buzz by publishing a zine titled the “Dirtier Daily” that we distributed on the show floor. Each evening, after the show closed, our staff and ...

Editor’s note: Libra, written by Kevin MacGregor Scott, won the 2009 Dirt Rag literature contest and first appeared in Issue #145, published in October 2009. Original illustrations by John Hinderliter. I returned to my hometown a year from the date the last letter came from my brother Frank. The dispatches arrived in three week intervals ...

Editor’s note: In Issue #137, Jonathan Logan of Rochester, New York, wrote in and asked if we could publish a section of reader’s tattoos. We challenged our readers show us the ink. The response was impressive, and in Dirt Rag Issue #139 we ran a two-page spread that included the reader-submitted photos proudly displayed below. ...

The cover of Issue #1 featured the catchy name “Dirt Rag,” a liberal use of clip art and the immortal slogan “It’s A Big World—Ride on it!” But no official logo.   By Issue #2 we’d adopted the above logo that featured a unique, scrawling font (created by Steve Chaszeyka of wizardairbrushgraphics.com).   In October ...

Editor’s note: In the Readings section of Issue # 38, published in August 1994, Mark Tierney curated the following selection of music reviews under the headline: “Recomm Endo (Worthy Recordings).” While there was no long-range plan at the time, Mark’s idea would eventually morph into our semi-regular music/movie/book/etc. review column now known as Recommendo. Frank Zappa ...

Editor’s note: This vintage trio of reader letters reminds us that mountain bikers were adept at ranting long before the Internet made it all too easy to blow off some steam. Here’s some favorites we found in the archives. Rear suspension sucks! One thing in your last issue annoyed me. It was your claim that ...

I come from a long line of pack rats. Nothing gets thrown away, and family attics look like scenes from “American Pickers.” This genetic predisposition, combined with my long tenure at Dirt Rag, landed me the role of de-facto staff archivist and historian. Each week, I rummage through the magazine’s archives in search of “Blast ...

Editor’s note: This story first appeared in Dirt Rag #111, published in November 2004. Words by Karen Brooks. Photos by Brad Quartuccio. If you’re reading this, chances are you know the joys of gliding through the woods, the satisfaction of making it up that hill, and the release of elevating your heart rate. It makes ...

“What the proverbial fuck?” That’s pretty much what I thought the moment I was told that Fat City Cycles would be shuttering its Somerville, Massachusetts, doors and, in the process, laying everyone off. I had just spent the better part of a year of my life trying to get a job in the bike industry. ...

I had never seen much of society outside of the metro-suburban areas in and around New York City, where I lived most of my young life, and now as a seventh-grade kid in upstate New York, I was in a whole new world. The fringe was filled with rednecks, hippies, young punks and more rednecks. ...

Walking the expo at this spring’s Dirt Fest Pennsylvania, I couldn’t help but marvel at all the killer new bikes on display. As a fan of vintage bikes, a vast majority of my experience with frame construction materials is constrained to steel, aluminum and titanium. Carbon fiber, at least as we know it today, was ...

Editor’s note: This story by Karl Rosengarth first appeared in Dirt Rag Issue #76, published in December 1999. It’s all about fun. I ride my mountain bike in search of maximum smiles per hour, and I’m not shy about spreading this philosophy. Occasionally, my riding crew loses their perspective, and I feel like I’m riding ...

Editor’s note: “Zap” Espinoza is a Mountain Bike Hall of Famer who got his start with Hi-Torque Publications’ Mountain Bike Action magazine in 1987. He moved on to Mountain Bike magazine in 1993, where he filled the editor’s chair until taking the reigns as Trek’s mountain bike brand manager in 2004. In 2006 Zap returned ...

Editor’s note: This story first appeared in Dirt Rag Issue #120, published in April 2006. Words by James Flynn. Photography by Ian Merritt. Let me tell you about the time I made my tallbike. Shortly after I moved to Chicago, my friend Mike showed up to my place to sit on the stoop. He rolled ...

Editor’s note: This “Last Chance for Gas” story by Amy Szczepanik first appeared in Dirt Rag Issue #116, published in August 2005. Art by Olivia Edith. My athletic life is divided into two eras: before him and after him. Before him, I was an all-around athlete participating in mainly team sports: basketball, softball and volleyball. ...

Editor’s note: This story by Jason Hyatt first appeared in Dirt Rag Issue #108, published in July 2004. This photo shows one of two brothers who run a pedal-powered blade sharpening business in Rome, Italy. According to my mother-in-law, they visit a certain part of the city each week and have done so for many ...

Editor’s Note: This story first appeared in Dirt Rag Issue #131, published in October 2007. By Steinar Smith, with photos courtesy of the author. There was a New Mexico Off Road Series (NMORS) race down in Silver City called the Signal Peak Challenge on Aug. 19. When Barin Beard of Mimbres Man (a Silver City ...

Editor’s note: Machine Soul first appeared in Dirt Rag Issue #21, published in February 1992. Words by John Gurklis. Dirt Rag #21 cover art by Mark Tierney. This is defined as the ethereal component of the machine, in this context a bike. Machine soul is acquired as the rider’s mental energy becomes infused into the ...

Editor’s note: The poem “Pain” by Philip Walter—with art by Jim Harris—originally appeared in Dirt Rag Issue #121, published in May 2006.   I’m racing down through unknown track and, I’ll admit, a bit too fast. The air is dry, the soil loose. Naught on my mind but rocks and roots. When suddenly the turn gets ...

Editor’s note: This story first appeared in Dirt Rag Issue #8, published in April 1990. Words and drawings by Mark Tierney One of the most notorious of mountain biking maneuvers is a feat referred to as the faceplant. This action is one in which a bicycle rider is thrown forward over his or her handlebars, ...

Canine co-habitation has long been a part of the casual atmosphere that prevails at Dirt Rag headquarters. From rides to relaxation, they are a constant companion. Some are gone, some are still with us, but they all warm our heart – and our toes under our desk. With the assistance of the respective poochies’ partners, ...

Editor’s Note: This feature first appeared in issue 205 of our print edition of Dirt Rag Magazine. Like what you see? Subscribe today so you don’t miss issue 213, the last issue of the year. Be sure to stop by your local bike shop to pick up a copy of issue 212, out now. by ...

Editor’s Note: This feature first appeared in issue 210 of our print edition of Dirt Rag Magazine. Like what you see? Subscribe today to catch issue 212, in production now and soon to set sail. Be Kind Rewind 1990 Doug Bradbury Manitou Mountain biking is a unique sport in several ways, different in its culture ...

This story first appeared in December 2016. We are gearing up for Dirt Fest PA 2019 as we speak and it always nice to look back and remember how this all got started, Planning on attending Dirt Fest? Be sure to register here and we will see you at the Lake! The first edition of ...

Editor’s note: This article originally appeared in issue 209 of Dirt Rag Magazine, as part of an ongoing column by Martin Kozaczek called Be Kind Rewind. Like what you see? Subscribe now at dirtragmag.com/subscribe to catch issue 211, coming real soon.  by Martin Kozaczek Much like Preston Tucker and the Studebaker brothers, the legacy of ...

Editor’s note: This article originally appeared in Dirt Rag Issue #142, published in May 2009. Words by David Alden-St. Pierre, MS, PA-C. Medical illustrations by Molly Thompson of Thompson Medical Illustrations. There’s nothing like an epic day in the saddle: a few hours of riding, burning lungs, tired muscles, and for some riders, an aching ...

Friend of Dirt Rag Michael Hermann of Purple Lizard Maps was also one of the original mountain bikers in Central Pennsylvania. In this installment of Blast from the Past, we go back to 1990 in State College, PA. Mike Hermann and Randy Moore tell the story of the Bombers.  This piece was originally published in Dirt ...

By Captain Dondo Like the 25th anniversary of that drunken wedding you had in Las Vegas that seemed like a good idea at the time (but knew deep down had no chance of going the distance), Dirt Rag is still here. The 25th anniversary passed a while back and recently we celebrated the 200th issue, ...