Joe Schwartz, our galavanting all-mountain man, recently sent us some highlight photos from his worldly 2009 travels. Iceland, Bolivia, Switzerland…not bad for a regular dude. Click “read more” to see the gallery.
Archive for the ‘Regular Joe’ Category
An Epic Season of Regular Joe
Tuesday, November 17th, 2009Regular Joe Nabs Photo of the Day
Wednesday, October 14th, 2009Schwartzy and his CoilAir set the table in Bolivia. Photo: Marco Toniolo http://marcotoniolo.com
Regular Joe Bombs Icelandic Peak
Sunday, September 6th, 2009On assignment for Bike Magazine, Kona’s Regular Joe Schwartz drops in off of Blue Mountain in the remote southern mountains of Iceland. What might be the peak’s first ever descent by mountain bike. The ride of choice? The all new Kona Abra Cadabra trail demon, a sub 30-pound light long travel beauty featuring our new Generation 2 Magic Link.
http://www.vimeo.com/6446511
Icelandic Lemonade
Wednesday, September 2nd, 2009Sometimes when life gives you lemons, you make lemonade. We made gallons of lemony goodness today in Iceland, overcoming adversity and challenges thrown at us from all directions. Our day started gloomy, with dark clouds and a steady rain turning the Icelandic landscape into a foreboding place. Looking forward to breakfast and coffee to shake the sleep off and lift our spirits, we arrived in the dining room of our backwoods Chateau Atco sleeping arrangements to find that the chef had chosen to sleep in, leaving the room dark, cold, and devoid of food. Some grub was eventually rustled up, and we packed up our junk show and hit the road.
Regular Joe Taps Into New Kona Magic
Tuesday, August 25th, 2009After putting my CoilAir through its paces last year in the Alps, riding 300,000 vertical feet in 33 days, I came to the conclusion that Switzerland is a great place to test bikes. The combination of epic downhills, all day adventure rides, and generally unforgiving alpine terrain demands everything from a bicycle, and really allows the rider to see and feel the strengths or weaknesses within the bike.
I picked up a brand new Abra Cadabra from the Kona Europe offices in Geneva a couple weeks ago, and was really excited to check out this sweet addition to the Kona lineup, on some of my favorite trails in the Swiss Alps. First off I was pretty blown away by the look of the bike. The linkage is tight and compact, with clean lines and a swanky polished frame to match. I almost hesitated at getting the bike dirty, it looked so good. That thought quickly passed as the urge to dice up some Swiss singletrack overtook me.
Regular Joe Slays Zermatt
Monday, August 24th, 2009Tenderized in the Swiss Alps
Friday, August 21st, 2009
“Ding, ding, ding”, the omnipresent sound of cowbells waft through the Swiss air. If there is one thing I relate directly to my travels in Switzerland, it is the sound of these large bells, attached to even larger bovines. Seriously, these cows make our North American hormone-infused versions look pretty puny. Must be something in the alpine grasses these happy-go lucky ungulates ingest by the kilos. The Swiss cow’s life is not always an easy one, however. Let me digress with a story.
Regular Joe Whistler Helmet Cam
Monday, July 27th, 2009Joe Schwartz Goes Back to Camp
Monday, July 27th, 2009
When summer camp is mentioned in conversation, most people tend to wax poetically about their long-past experiences. Stories of marshmallow roasts and campfire sing-a-longs abound. When they dig deep into the memory vaults, repressed recollections of bugs, weird counselors and food poisoning also surface. I have mixed emotions when I think of my camp experiences. My less than social young personality (ie: shy, introverted) may have had something to do with it, but more than that it was the fact I could be at home playing on my bike, instead of eating tainted camp food or playing war games in the woods. Read More
Regular Joe’s Summertime Report
Monday, July 13th, 2009Hi all,
I hope everyone’s summer is off to an amazing start! I was enjoying some great weather and riding in Vancouver and Whistler, it was nice to get some shred time at home in after my Bolivia trip. I got a bunch of north shore pedaling in, and some sweet DH days on the Shore and in the always fun Whistler Bike park.
I am pinned now for the rest of the summer, not much time at home for me now!
The Ride to Conquer Cancer
Friday, June 26th, 2009
The humming of 1701 rider’s tires on the smooth pavement filled the air as we left the cheesy inspirational music blasting through loudspeakers behind us and started out on the first kilometer of our 267 km journey to Seattle. There were people lining the streets, cheering on loved ones and helicopters buzzing overhead with cameras capturing the moment.
This spectacle was the start line of The Ride To Conquer Cancer, a two day bike ride from Vancouver to Seattle. My girlfriend, Rachel, and I had been training and fundraising for this event for the last couple months, and it was a great feeling to join all these other riders and begin our ride. Our fundraising went towards the BC Cancer Foundation. The money we raised will drive crucial cancer research and help develop new cancer treatments at the BC Cancer Agency, Canada’s only cancer control organization dedicated to both cancer research and patient care.
