My name is Brodie. I’m a photographer, bike rider, skier, fisherman, and pretty much an “anything outdoor” person from the Southwest Colorado mountain town of Durango. I grew up riding, skiing, and photographing the incredible San Juan Mountains and just made the jump up to Bellingham, Washington in the summer of 2021. It was a tough choice leaving my home in the southwest, but I couldn't be more psyched to be exploring a new territory. Especially one with trails and a cycling community like Bellingham has. 

Some of my photos of friends from the Durango area. (Riley hiking near Silverton, CO / Ethan at Purgatory Bike Park / James on Coalbank Pass)

    Durango has a lot to offer. It’s a super cute historic mining town with access to miles of trail and awesome backcountry ski touring. However, being relatively small, Durango is pretty secluded, and the majority of the trails are multi-use, which means they are open to hikers, bikers and horses alike. Now, I'm all for sharing trails with other people and animals, but the down side to this is berms and jumps tend to be below a certain size and the majority of trails are multi directional. The soil in the Southwest also tends to be pretty dry, loose, and becomes nearly unrideable when it gets too wet. Most years, the riding season ends around late fall. This provides certain limitations if your main mode of exploration is on a mountain bike. Don’t get me wrong, trails in the San Juan mountains are SICK, gorgeous, and fun as heck to ride, but 25 years of playing in the same area got me wondering what else is out there. Mainly, I was very curious about the more playful, bike specific trails the PNW is known for, as well as a lengthened riding season. 

    In September 2020, I decided it was finally time to take action on these curiosities and built up a 2015 GMC Savana cargo van rough enough to live and travel in. A bed, sink, camp stove and place to stash my bike, skis, fishing rod, and camera gear is really all I needed to hit the road the next spring. Simple enough, right? (Wrong! Have you ever built out a van? It's not exactly easy, but it’s totally worth it!).

Parked near Whisky Run Beach, Oregon

A few photos from my trip up to Bellingham (Sunset over Lake Tahoe / Watson Falls, Umpqua National Forest, Oregon)

    From ski mountaineering in Colorado, hot-springs in California, to insanely good mountain biking in Oregon and Washington lead me to finally land in Bellingham, Washington and I just couldn't leave. The PNW offers everything I had been longing for that the Southwest was missing (wet, tacky trails, ENDLESS amounts of snow, and sweet, soft, diffused light) and has a golden cycling community to top it all off. Never have I felt so welcomed as a cyclist as I have in Bellingham.

Bellingham is pretty dang sweet! (Whatcom Falls Park / Waterfront Park / Table Mountain)

     Aside from a huge variety of trails, terrain, and awesome dirt to boot, the biking culture here, in my opinion, is impeccable. From trail building to community outreach. I’ve been thoroughly impressed by the efforts of bike and trail organizations such as, but not limited to, the WMBC (Whatcom Mountain Bike Coalition), Transition Bikes, and especially the local trail builders. Everyone seems to give back to the community in some way or another and it clearly shows in the quality of trails, events, and riders this place produces. Where else has dirt jumps and a pump track right next to a music venue and beer garden? It's so cool! I feel incredibly lucky to be a part of this community. Riding the trails, attending events, and now being a part of The Lost Co all still feels somewhat unreal to me. I guess sometimes you just get lucky!

Some photos of me riding in the Bellingham area. Photos by Toby Goldman. Thanks Toby!

"Never have I felt so welcomed as a cyclist as I have in Bellingham."

Got questions? Feel free to shoot us an email or give us a call!

360-306-8827

sales@thelostco.com