Here’s a little something I wrote when we launched Eskapee Anthology 2. Eskapee is, if you don’t know, an Australian-run site full of stories and good (and bad) times about and by mountain bikers. It’s inspirational.

Check out the book in our Bookstore and give us a shout if you’d like a copy. We have a few left.

– James

FULLY BOOKED

There is nothing quite like the physical world into which we are immersed by mountain bikes.

Through valleys we glide. Up mountains we struggle. Within forests we hide.

Rocks spraying. Dirt flying. Tree bark grating.

Fresh air gulped copiously. Water quaffed excitedly. Smiles earned manually.

The outdoors is our sensory library, two wheels guiding us through its chapters.

We ride. We experience. We are revived.

To me, Eskapee describes and depicts everything that is mountain biking.

Its beautiful images and considered writing provides much-needed respite from the barrage of hastily thrown-together features and diminishing editorial values elsewhere online.

Eskapee cares about the story above all. About making change. A new outlook. Altering moods. Showing us how great the world is. The world of bikes. The world beyond bikes.

A physical Eskapee product wasn’t a logical step. It was more than that. It was clearly meant to be. Fate, if I may.

For the storytelling of Eskapee deserves even more than its online home. It should be held, cherished, glanced at, pored over, left on the side to come back to later. It should be a real window that opens onto the culture Eskapee stands for. Not just the ride, but everything that goes before it, after it, perhaps isn’t really anything to do with it.

To describe the work and sacrifice that goes into a book like Anthology 2 would be a futile endeavour. Let’s just say, well, we worked our asses off (the contributors, Eskapee, and the production team of which I was a part).

The book, like Eskapee in the bigger picture, is all about the story. And also the feel. (And it’s definitely not about making any money.)

Anthology 2 is, I hope, something that provides an off-switch at a time you can’t get out on a bike. A tangible version of Eskapee.com. Stories to fall into and places to dream about. Community and culture at your fingertips.

Through its pages, dirt will fly, mountains will be climbed (beers will be consumed).

The story. The experience. The ride.