LC Canna Article

LC Canna Article: It is always preferable to have the right tools for the job. Bicycle riding, particularly in its extreme incarnations, takes a lot of trinkets and tools of the trade. Clothing often gets forgotten when it comes to necessities, but it is as much of a tool as anything else in the box. Clothes provide comfort, protection from the environment, and hopefully the proper level of mobility for the task or activity being performed. They also speak of the individuality and lifestyle of the rider. Good clothing can and should be essential to the active cyclist. Retro Image Apparel Two provides just such a thing in a style so classy they need to be acknowledged, and a quality so high it’s tough to beat.

The St. Louis, Missouri based company makes bike jerseys that may just melt your mind. Retro has been working with beer breweries and wineries for years and they have a solid line of related apparel. They have a series of pop-culture gear as well that covers everything from Felix the Cat to Chat Noir and Rosie the Riveter. They offer flashy coat-of-arms designs in their “Knights of the Road” line. As epic as the commemorative vintage line and all of their others are, if you still can't find the perfect jersey to match your mojo, they do custom jobs. Take your own logo, or whatever you like and have them transfer that into a top-notch jersey. You can't go wrong here.

There is one collection in particular that brings Retro Two to these pages. “The High Road” is a series of bike jerseys that celebrates some of the more famous strains known to popular culture and the world of cannabis connoisseurs. With vivid, tricked out graphics and trippy colors as potent as the smoke they are representing, these are definitely riding clothes that make a statement. “The High Road” includes products that pay homage to strains including: Blue Dream, OG Kush, Purple Haze, Sour Diesel, Trainwreck and Strawberry Cough. The most difficult part of getting a jersey from these guys is picking one. Take a look at their catalog online and enjoy being awash in images of Alice in Wonderland, dogs playing poker, old-school trucks and trains and more... all in vibrant glory. I myself went for the doobie-smoking Cheshire Cat of Purple Haze.

Any company as accomplished and widely distributed as this usually comes with its fair share of history, and Retro Two is no exception. They were originally an Oregon-born endeavor called Retro Image Apparel Company. “Originally we were out of Portland. The founder of the company, Roger W. Mallette, started it out in his apartment doing T-shirts. He fell in love with early 20th century cycling poster art... things like Art Deco and Art Nouveau. .” Said John Schraibman, the Marketing Director of Retro Two.

Roger passed away back in December of 2012 and unfortunately his business partner at the time was not able to keep things going along smoothly. The business all but collapsed. Fortunately, Roger's sister Michele and brother-in-law took control of the assets, moved the company out to St. Louis and relaunched it as Retro Two, successfully carrying the torch that Roger had lit with Retro. Now located in Missouri, they are positioned to be easily distributed from coast to coast, and indeed across the globe. “We distribute worldwide. It's really nice being located where we are because we can ship to either coast and regular mail will usually get it to the customers in two days. While we do mostly wholesale business, we have been doing a lot more retail and custom orders lately thanks to our website.” Said Schraibman.

Having psychedelic images singing the praise of cannabis strains on the backs of cyclists nationwide, worldwide even, can only do good things for the cultural representation of cannabis and the people who cultivate it, consume it, and live alongside it. This is just one more step for progressive thinking.

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