Reese Kempter | Breckenridge, Colorado, USA 🇺🇸

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Tell us a little bit about yourself:

I’m currently living right in town in Breckenridge Colorado. I’ve been out here for about 3 years now, and it's a genuinely interesting transition from city life. On one hand, there’s really no group rides or alleycats, and you get a lot of stares from freds if you’re on a track bike. On the other hand, we have some of the best biking in the country right out my front door.

Can you tell us a little bit about how you come to photography?

I genuinely don’t know where the photo thing came from. I’ve always had a camera on me it seems; there's this photo of me at like 6 years old holding two disposable cameras that's pretty rad. Over time I finally got a DSLR, but backtracked to film shortly after. I think we all inherently want to capture moments we can look back on.

Tell us a little about the cycling culture in Colorado

The cycling culture out here is impossible to encapsulate in its entirety, which has been very humbling. Denver has these fixed gear dudes that go by Sunday Strong, and they are on another plain of existence when it comes to riding track bikes. We can all dodge cars, but can you climb a mountain mid 60 mile ride on a track bike? These dudes can. And of course, there's the freds that put in centuries on a daily basis, the MTB pros that all grew up here, and the 70 year old couples that still climb mountain passes somehow. Any kind of bike you ride, there will be thousands of people here better than you at it, including a lot of 12 year olds. Humble up.

Where would be your dream destination for cycling and why?

I’m not sure where my ‘Dream” cycling destination would be, because so far I just go to wherever that may be. I actually dropped out of college to come out to the mountains and ride my bike in the most beautiful place I could imagine. My current problem is trying to find anywhere in the country that could possible be better for a cyclist.

What do you love about cycling culture?

Every culture has some nuances, but for the most part the purity of the cycling community has really shown through. We do it because we love it. There’s not much cool to the outside world of riding a bike, therefor most of our media and the direction of cycling is controlled and pushed by us. Somehow bikes have been around longer than almost any other ‘sport’ and yet our community only exists within our own walls. Some people probably have a lot of problems with that, but lets respect the benefits of self sufficiency.

Best photo/cycling moment so far?

I moved from Richmond Virginia to a cabin on a fourteener. While living there, my idea of what’s possible on a bike was absolutely destroyed. I borrowed a friend’s road bike since I had never owned one, and finally managed to bike up Mount Evans, which is the highest paved road in North America. The first few attempts I turned back because of snow and hail, even though it was July. Finally, I gave in and just kept going up despite the freezing temperature and the non stop hail. I don’t think I’ve ever pushed myself so hard, in such shitty conditions. I got slight hypothermia, and honestly was a bit terrified I wouldn’t be able to make it off the mountain, but I ended up being fine. Halfway up, I stopped at summit lake and got my only chance to leave the storm. Somehow this couple hundred foot trail led to a clearing, so I snagged these two pictures before being eaten back up by the storm.

Life-Motto:

Bike Fast Eat Ass

Favorite two photos you have taken recently and why?

This photo of boreas pass is one of my favorites, simply because boreas pass is my favorite place to ride a bike. I’ve ridden this road at least a hundred times, it starts literally 2 blocks from my driveway. From there, it's 10 miles to the top over 2000 ft of gain, on gravel and dirt. A perfect, mellow, climb.

I like this one because it was an easy, beautiful ride. I have some health issues, so I really don’t get to bike nearly as much or as hard as I want to. Sometimes you just gotta do an easy ride, and that's ok.

What makes you stop and take a photo?

Anything that I feel like could capture the atmosphere of real life. A lot of really good photography is still just so stale. Just because it's crisp and framed well, doesn’t mean it's not boring. I just don’t want to take boring shit.

Our readers can find out more about you:

I finally made a new Instagram since my old one has a lot of not-so-marketable posts, so check out @Reese_Kempter. I guess you can also look at my website http://www.reese-kempter.com/

Additional,  anything else you'd like to tell us?

Ride your bike for yourself more. I didn’t get any better until I started challenging what I thought was possible for me. Oh and give your friends your old bikes if you can. That way you have more people to bike with.

And don’t take your health for granted. I’d love to be able to ride as much as you.