Guest Contributor: Patrick McGrady Read Time: 3 mins It’s 5pm on the West Coast and my phone starts buzzing. It’s Adam Bratton … again. “McNasty! Hear me out on this one …” This is often where the idea for another HPM video idea begins. It's not every day I get a call that fires me up for new video projects, but talking to the Head Enabler of Human Powered Movement is always a great start. After probably 30 minutes of talking through the half-baked idea and off-topic jokes we hang up and let all that marinate for 24 hours. I love this time, because it's the start of a process, an adventure, a story that will inevitably inspire many. There are still many “what ifs” and questions that don’t have answers, but more importantly and most exciting … the ball is rolling. Hi there, my name is Patrick McGrady and I’m the owner of Pat McGrady Visuals, a freelancing content creation outfit with an ever-roaming HQ of San Francisco, North Carolina or my homeland of Austria. I seek out, desire for, and thrive on telling stories related to athletes, adventures, and the outdoors. To be honest, it’s too cool to be true!
Author: Adam Bratton Read Time: 3 mins In the basic terms, an Adventure Race (aka: “AR”) is a scavenger hunt style event where participants collecting as many “checkpoints” as they can in the shortest amount of time possible.
Adventure Races are very different than your typical neighborhood 5K or hometown marathon … it is a multisport endurance event that requires both physical and mental skills to navigate through varied terrain under your own human power … IE: Exactly what Human Powered Movement is all about. A few overly simplified examples give further context ... In your Easter Egg Hunting days, you’ll remember the zig-zagging scramble to find eggs faster than the other kiddos. Or maybe you remember the good ol’ days of treasure hunts with Pirate themed treasure maps. More recently, Mark Wahlberg’s latest movie entitled “Arthur The King” chronicles an AR team that is followed and help by an equally adventuresome dog. Below I've outlined additional AR info and laid out my top 8 reasons why you should give this Adventure Racing thing a try and how it might just change your outlook on endurance events. Author: Adam Bratton Read Time: 3 mins What’s the first thing that pops into your mind when you think of Northwest Arkansas?
Likely Wal-Mart, Univ. of Arkansas, the Quapaw & Caddo Native American Tribes, and for all you cycle seekers out there, you’ve most definitely heard of the massive mountain biking scene that has exploded over the past decade in Bentonville. What you might not know is that the Buffalo National River, the first designated “National River” in our country, weaves, and winds for 135 eastbound miles in Northwest Arkansas and it’s an absolute jaw dropper of a river. Last March, I was fortunate enough packraft this amazing ribbon of water with an adventure buddy, and Commercial Outdoor Photographer, Samuel Martin and the images bring me back to this magical place every single time I flip through them. Here’s some background on the Buffalo and a visual recap to get your own daydreams fired up. Guest Contributor: Patrick McGrady Read Time: 3 mins - Short Film: 5 mins When you surround yourself with people who do fun stuff … like a ride from NC to PA (“Why I Bikepacked 650+ Miles Through A Hurricane”), or are the videographer for a 100 mile race (“Belt Buckles & Beer or Cobwebs & Concussions: A 100 Mile Quest”) you get a certain itch to launch your own adventure. In June of 2023 I started formulating a plan to bike from San Diego to San Francisco and call this project “San to San”. Bikepacking up the California coast whilst filming the experience was the challenge, and completing a fulfilling project and making a film out of it was the goal. Every day certainly had its own physical and mental ups and downs, but looking back now, it was one hell of an adventure! It’s hard to sum it up into words, but here are the snippets from each day.
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Human Powered JournalWritings and musings of an active lifestyle
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Adam Bratton is the Founder and Head Enabler at Human Powered Movement. Guest Contributors are more compelling in written word and life in general. Categories
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