FEB 2016 - FTP Directory Listing

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$6.95
FEB 2016
Vol.43 No.1
COLORADO IS
CALLING
10
A publication of ADVENTURE CYCLING ASSOCIATION
CYCLE
ADIRONDACKS
20
LONG LIVE
COLOMBIA
28
Ready to Ride
TOURS & EVENTS ISSUE
Discover Your Park
by Bicycle
on September 24
4OTH
ANNIVERSARY
Pedal Your Park
Make Bicycling Memories
Explore national parks, state parks, and other public lands in your backyard by
bike on September 24, 2016. Bring your friends and family and join the
celebration of the National Park Service's Centennial, Adventure Cycling's 40th,
and National Public Lands Day on this free entrance day in some parks. Visit our
website for resources, ambassadors in your area, and to register your ride!
#Bikeyourpark #findyourpark
ADVENTURECYCLING.ORG/bikeyourpark
4
CELEBRATING
YEARS
Letter
from the Editor
THE START OF SOMETHING BIG
Volume 43 kicks off 40 years of Adventure Cycling
CONTRIBUTORS
➺ You’re holding the first issue of 2016, which promises to
be a big year for Adventure Cycling as we celebrate our 40th
anniversary. You’ll be seeing plenty of 40th-related content this
year with some amazing stories from our past and present and a
look into the bright future.
On that topic, just days before you receive this (we hope!),
we’ll have sent our biggest-ever print project off to the presses
— a coffee-table book celebrating 40 years of the TransAmerica
Bicycle Trail as the backbone of long-distance bicycle touring in
North America. Created by Co-Founder Greg Siple and 40-year staffer Mac McCoy,
it represents a massive undertaking by those two and many others, and we’re
extremely excited to share the finished product in a few months.
In Adventure Cyclist, we’re kicking off the year with a big announcement of our
own as we welcome new technical editor Nick Legan to the magazine. Nick’s an
incredible addition and brings experience that includes stints as a professional
mechanic, bike shop owner, technical editor at VeloNews, and Tour Divide racer.
He’s got big shoes to fill — we’ve been privileged to print tech insight from giants
like John Schubert and Sheldon Brown — but we know he’s up to the task. Nick
will be writing Cyclesense columns in the magazine (page 44) and online, directing
technical coverage, and playing a huge role in April's Cyclists’ Travel Guide.
Last but certainly not least, you may have seen the launch of a new online story
platform for Adventure Cyclist back in early January. If you haven’t, head over to
adventurecycling.org/features to see what we think is a magazine-worthy online
reading experience and another channel to share incredible stories of bicycle
travel. We hope to be publishing these features regularly, and that you’ll mark them
as essential reading above and beyond the pages of the magazine.
Welcome to Volume 43.
Alex Strickland
Editor-in-Chief, Adventure Cyclist
[email protected]
Volume 43 Number 1
ADVENTURECYCLING.ORG
Nobody's ever
accused BERNE
BROUDY of being a
couch potato. After
riding Cycle Adirondacks
(page 20) last fall, she
left for mountain biking
adventures in Canada,
Nevada, and Colorado, before hopping a flight
to Chile for more riding and hiking. Then it
was briefly home to Vermont before jetting to
Nepal. "Now I am back in Vermont processing
pics and catching up on writing!" See more of
her work at authenticoutdoors.com.
LEAD DESIGNER
Cassie Nelson
COPY EDITOR
Phyllis Picklesimer
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Alex Strickland
[email protected]
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
Willie Weir Patrick O’Grady
Dan D’Ambrosio Jan Heine
June Siple Josh Tack
COPY COORDINATOR
Dan Meyer
ART DIRECTOR
Greg Siple
[email protected]
TECHNICAL EDITOR
Nick Legan
EXECUTIVE EDITOR
Michael Deme
[email protected]
FEBRUARY 2016
GAGE POORE might
be the most-read
(he's certainly the
most-bylined) writer
in Adventure Cyclist
as the man behind the
"Open Road Gallery"
each issue. Gage sits
down with Co-Founder Greg Siple once a
month to tell the stories of some of our most
memorable visitors. This, of course, when
he's not interacting with members in real life
as Adventure Cycling's Membership Database
Assistant. The result is a timeless collection
of vignettes showcasing the characters out
on the road — and the reason many readers
start at the back of each issue.
ADVERTISING DIRECTOR
Rick Bruner 509.493.4930
[email protected]
03
contents
VOLUME 43 ∞ NUMBER 1
FEBRUARY 2016
20
is America’s only magazine
dedicated to bicycle travel.
It is published nine times
each year by the Adventure
Cycling Association, a
nonprofit service organization
for recreational bicyclists.
Individual membership costs
$40 yearly to U.S. addresses
and includes a subscription to
Adventure Cyclist and discounts
on Adventure Cycling maps.
For more information about
Adventure Cycling Association
and Adventure Cyclist magazine,
visit adventurecycling.org or
call 800.755.2453.
SUBMISSIONS INFORMATION:
Adventure Cyclist accepts
stories, articles, and
photographs for publication
from various sources. We
publish stories about bicycle
travel and other recreational
cycling subjects but do not
cover competitive cycling. If you
are interested in submitting a
story or article to Adventure
Cyclist, please visit us online at
adventurecycling.org/submit
for further information and
guidelines.
CURRENT ISSUE NOTES:
“We begin each volume of Adventure
Cyclist with an issue focused on
supported tours and event rides from
around the globe. You’ll find plenty
of that here, but we could’ve just
as easily called this the Mountain
Issue. From the Rocky Mountains of
Colorado to Colombia's Cordillera de
los Andes, with a sprinkling of San
Juan Island hills and Adirondack
rollers, it seems our contributors
had climbing on the brain. Here's to
hard-earned descents and tailwinds
in 2016."
– Cassie Nelson
Lead Designer, Adventure Cyclist
OUR COVER:
Dwarfed by cliffs, the road through
the Lauterbrunnen Valley in
Switzerland offers the best of both
worlds: an easy ride and towering
Alps. Photo by Stephanie Ridenour
04
ADVENTURE CYCLIST
features
COLORADO IS CALLING 10 FERRY US ALONG 36
➺ Rediscovering the
mountains on Ride the
Rockies.
by Kristen Legan
CYCLE ADIRONDACKS 20
➺ The Wildlife
Conservation Fund’s
inaugural bike tour
surprises and delights.
by Berne Broudy
➺ A week in Washington's
San Juan Islands.
by Alex Strickland
A REASON TO RIDE 54
➺ New York’s Empire
State Ride offers stunning
scenery and a chance to
help the fight against
cancer.
by Dan D’Ambrosio
TO LIV 56
LONG LIVE COLOMBIA 28 RIDE
➺ Giant CFO committed to
➺ Think Colombia's not
safe for cyclists? Think
again.
by Simon Willis
f e b r u a r y 2 016
women’s cycling.
by Berne Broudy
36
10
This Month Online
➺ For more Adventure Cyclist-related
content, be sure to visit our website at
adventurecycling.org/adventure-cyclist.
28
DEPARTMENTS
LETTERS
COLUMNS
08 Waypoints
03 LETTER from the
Editor
44 Cyclesense
Nick Legan
06 LETTER from the
Director
45 Fine Tuned
Josh Tack
07 LETTERS from our
Readers
46 Road Test
Patrick O'Grady
Elephant National
Forest Explorer
18 Event Ride Table
42 The Final Mile
58 Donor Profile
60 Marketplace/Classifieds
66 C
ompanions Wanted
67 O
pen Road Gallery
NINER RLT
STEEL
Go fast, go far, or
do both.
$2,500
NEW ONLINE FEATURE STORIES
After many months of tinkering,
Adventure Cyclist launched a pair of
online feature stories in January. The
magazine-style experience looks great
on screens from mobile to tablet to
desktop. Visit adventurecycling.org/
features and let us know what you
think.
50 Road Test
Nick Legan
Niner RLT Steel
50
ID-WINTER GEAR
M
With temperatures all over the
place so far this winter, you might
be putting in big off-season miles
or curled up by the fire. Either way,
we've got gear for the season at
adventurecycling.org/0216-gear.
@xxxxxxxxxxxx:
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@Danbaileyphoto:
@advcyclingassoc
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Psyched to be featured
tk@advcyclingassoc
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tkthis
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month!
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triptk
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with
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@JoshSpiceAK.
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@RockyPumpkin: It's
tk tk tk tk tk tk tk tk
a fabulous day when a
tk tk tk tk tk tk tk @
package from these guys
advcyclingassoc. Tk tk tk
shows up!
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@advcyclingassoc
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#SantaAlert
05
Letter
from the Director
FEBRUARY 2016
Volume 43 Number 1
adventurecycling.org
MISSION
Adventure Cycling Association inspires and
empowers people to travel by bicycle.
CONNECTING
Meeting our members where you are
➺ Investor Warren Buffett once said,
“You will never see eye-to-eye if you
never meet face-to-face.” For Adventure
Cycling, I would paraphrase that to say,
“you will never understand your members
if you never meet face-to-face.”
That’s why, when I started this job 11
years ago, I instituted road-show–style
events that we call “Regional Gatherings.”
At these events, we invite members and
other folks interested in bike travel to
meet with me or other Adventure Cycling
staff — to mingle, to share what’s going
on with the organization, and to get
feedback. We’ve now done hundreds of
these all over the U.S. and Canada, and
it has been fantastic to meet with tens
of thousands of members and cycling
enthusiasts in a wide array of settings.
Going into 2016, we’ve really upped
the outreach for our 40th anniversary to
get people excited about all the events,
new routes and tours, and advocacy
campaigns taking place in this special
year. In the last three months alone,
we’ve hosted a dozen gatherings from St.
Louis, Des Moines, and the Twin Cities to
Burlington, Vermont, Irvine, California,
and Rockville, Maryland. More than 1,000
people attended these events, the most
recent being an anniversary kick-off party
in Manhattan, right near Herald Square,
sponsored in part by Raleigh Bicycles,
Gotham Bike Tours, and Brooklyn
Brewery. In fact I want to acknowledge
the critical role that businesses (like REI,
Park Tool, and Arriving by Bike and Velo
Cult in Oregon) and non-profits (like
Santa Monica Spoke, Local Motion in
Vermont, Potomac Pedalers, and St. Louis
Bicycle Works) play in supporting these
events.
I also want to salute the volunteers
who do much of the organizing.
Most recently, they include Susan
Yuen of Brooklyn (procuring food for
06
ADVENTURE CYCLIST
f e b r u a r y 2 016
AREAS OF FOCUS
Provide the premier tools and inspiration
for people to travel by bicycle. Expand
and integrate bike travel networks for North
America. Create the best possible conditions
for bicycle travel.
HOW TO REACH US
To join, change your address, or ask questions
about membership, visit us online
at adventurecycling.org or call
800.755.2453 or 406.721.1776.
EMAIL
[email protected]
SUBSCRIPTION ADDRESS
P.O. Box 8308
Missoula, MT 59807
HEADQUARTERS
150 E. Pine St.
Missoula, MT 59802
Stopping by the Old Spokes Home bicycle
museum on a trip to Burlington, Vermont, in
November — Museum founder Glenn Eames
(far right), Pierre Swick (life member, far left),
Christine Hill (museum outreach director, center)
and Jim (second from left).
150 people!), Becky Riley (fighting
bureaucratic thickets to get a venue in
Irvine), Cynthia Rose (organizing a cool
event in the Santa Monica Breeze bike
share warehouse), and Alice Charkes
(creating a warm, wonderful event at
an elementary school in Brattleboro,
Vermont). We couldn’t do it without these
dedicated people.
Above all, thanks to you and all
our members who come out for the
gatherings. It’s so nice to meet face-toface, get your greetings, and hear your
thoughts. And please keep coming. In
the next three months, we’ll continue
our outreach — in Indianapolis, Seattle
(at the Bike Expo), Northern California
(including at Sea Otter), Montana,
Oregon, and Tennessee. We look forward
to seeing you at a gathering, at an
anniversary event, or simply on the road.
Here’s to the rest of winter — and the
onset of spring!
Jim Sayer
Executive Director
[email protected]
STAFF
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Jim Sayer
[email protected]
CHIEF OPERATIONS OFFICER
Sheila Snyder, CPA
MEMBERSHIP & DEVELOPMENT
Julie Huck Annette Stahelin
Gage Poore Josh Tack
Brian Bonham April Cypher
DESIGN & MEDIA
Michael Deme Greg Siple
Michael McCoy Casey Greene Cassie Nelson
Alex Strickland Lisa McKinney
Brink Kuchenbrod Jim McTighe Dan Meyer
IT DEPARTMENT
John Sieber Richard Darne David Barth
TOURS
Arlen Hall Mandy Hale
Linda Baldwin Emma Wimmer
Whitney Ford-Terry
ROUTES AND MAPPING
Carla Majernik Jennifer Milyko
Nathan Taylor Melissa Thompson
Travis Switzer Jamie Robertson
SALES AND MARKETING
Teri Maloughney
TRAVEL INITIATIVES
Virginia Sullivan Saara Snow
Eva Dunn-Froebig
CYCLOSOURCE
Patrick Finley Brent Starnes
ADMINISTRATION
Geoff McMillion
OFFICE MANAGER
Beth Petersen
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
PRESIDENT
Wally Werner
VICE PRESIDENT
Donna O’Neal
SECRETARY
Andy Baur
TREASURER
Andy Huppert
BOARD MEMBERS
Todd Copley Jennifer Garst George Mendes
Jeff Miller Mike Dillon Jenny Park
Joyce Casey Bonnie O'Donnell
Letters
from our Readers
SUPPORT THE C&O
LET’S GO C&O
Thanks for writing about “The
Challenge of the C&O” in the
December/January Adventure Cyclist.
My wife and I are Canadians and
after cycling in various states and parks,
decided to ride the Great Allegheny and
C&O route from Pittsburgh to
Washington in June 2015 (with Bubba’s
Pampered Pedalers, a truly great group.)
We really enjoyed the scenery, history,
and people along the route. Sorry to say
not all of our holiday was such a great
experience. On Day Five in Maryland, we hit a
water-filled pot hole (one of many) on
the tow path and went down on our
recumbent tandem. Unfortunately, my
wife Elizabeth dislocated her ankle
and broke all the bones. That day was
spent in hospital and the next two days
getting back to our car in Pittsburgh,
and then home to Ontario where she
had surgery and various metal devices
implanted. The last five months have
been in physio and the gym, and all our
travel plans for the summer canceled.
We hope that your article will fall on
ears of the money givers — government
and private — to aid in improvements on
such a great and historic route.
Jerry Daminato | Guelph, Ontario
A great issue from Zeke Gerwein
to Ben Horan and Greg Siple, to Dan
D'Ambrosio's article on the C&O Canal.
No story about the canal would be
complete without reference to the late
Mr. Justice Douglas, who saved the canal
from the Three Sisters bridge proposal.
I think you will find, however, that
George Washington had little to do with
the C&O Canal. Rather, his Pawtowmack
Canal Company built five by-pass canals
around unnavigable falls; the remnants
of one can still be seen on the Virginia
side at Great Falls.
The C&O Canal Company, being
incorporated in Maryland, did not have
the power of eminent domain, and so
land acquisition delayed construction
of the canal. It is ironic that the same
day that John Quincy Adams turned the
first shovel-full in Georgetown, Charles
Carroll of Carrolton drove the first spike
on the B&O Railroad in Baltimore. The
Canal did not survive the flood of 1924,
but the railroad is still chugging along.
Bill Malone | New Canaan, Connecticut
Editor’s Note: You can read more about
Washington's involvement (or lack thereof)
at nps.gov/choh/learn/education/
georgewashingtonsinfluence.htm.
DISCLOSURE DISPLEASURE, PART II
I agree entirely with a recent letter
that authors of travel adventures
MUST indicate what they received
from the travel company (airfare, free
registration, honorarium, etc). The
magazine can say that no promises were
made to the company, but, without the
disclosure, your stand is contrary to the
trust of your readers.
One has to wonder if there was an
article that was submitted in which the
author had a negative experience and
was published. I doubt it, so there is a
suspected bias in the reporting of such
articles. Stanford Lamberg | Baltimore, Maryland
In the December/January edition
of Adventure Cyclist, member Phil
Blumenkrantz asked for a full
disclosure of sponsors in the articles
published by Adventure Cyclist. I felt
that your reply was less than adequate.
I retired after 36 years in the medical
profession. Every lecture and published
article had a disclosure statement and
if there was no disclosure the article
or lecture was questioned for validity.
It was part of the professional duty.
Adventure Cyclist needs to have the
same professional quality. I am tired of
reading articles in bicycling journals
that appear to be infomercials for
various products. Adventure Cycling
Association is the leader in this country
for bicycle travel, Adventure Cyclist
should be the leader in published
articles that we, the members, look to
for accurate, unbiased information for
our next adventures.
Louis Melini | Salt Lake City, Utah
Editor’s Note: Initiated by Mr.
Blumenkrantz’s letter a few months ago
and bolstered by many thoughtful responses
to it, we’re taking a closer look at how we
can change processes and presentation to
best serve our readers.
CORRECTIONS:
• A Victoria Cycles custom bike pictured on
page 35 of December/January’s “State of
the Art” rolls on 29” wheels, not 26” as the
article stated. We still want one very badly.
• The Boo bike on page 30 of that issue is a
custom Boo RS-M, made for Don Daly, also
a member of the Dirty Dogs long-distance
gravel racing group.
Your letters are welcome. We may edit letters for
length and clarity. If you do not want your comments
to be printed in Adventure Cyclist, please state so
clearly. Include your name and address with your
correspondence. Email your comments, questions,
or letters to [email protected] or mail to
Editor, Adventure Cyclist, P.O. Box 8308, Missoula,
MT 59807.
07
WayPoints
News you can use from around the world of bicycle travel edited by Alex Strickland & Dan Meyer
1866, Lallement rode
10 miles from Ansonia
to New Haven, where he
was recorded as the first
bicyclist in America.
The ICHC will retrace
Lallement’s original
bike rides, stopping at
historical locations and
holding demonstrations,
lectures, and exhibits,
all of which are free
and open to the public.
ICHC attendees will have
access to additional
lectures. For more
information, go to ichc.
biz.
The International
Cycling History
Conference (ICHC)
returns to the U.S. in
2016 to celebrate the
150th anniversary of
the first bicycle ride in
America. The annual
event takes place June
25-27, in New Haven,
Connecticut.
The venue celebrates
Frenchman Pierre
Lallement’s 1865 ride
on his two-wheeled
invention from Ansonia,
Connecticut, to Derby, a
short trip of about four
miles. In the spring of
300-MILE ONTARIO
GREENBELT ROUTE OPENS
Rural route around Toronto suits cyclists
➺ THOUGH its neighboring province, Quebec, gets many of the cycling
accolades north of the border, a new greenbelt route in Ontario offers
some intriguing cycling opportunities.
Since launching in 2015, the network of roads and trails in the Greater
Toronto area is well-signed (more than 1,000 signs have been placed) and
convenient to a number of the region's residents.
Though Toronto is home to more than 2.5 million people, the city
is ringed by open space and farmland of almost that many acres. This
Greenbelt protects valuable farmland in the province as well as limiting
the potential for urban sprawl around Canada’s largest city. That's a recipe
for excellent cycling just outside the bustling metropolis.
Adventure Cycling’s Lake Erie Connector and Underground Railroad
routes both pass within a few miles of the new Greenbelt Route. Learn
more at greenbelt.ca.
CONGRESS
AUTHORIZES
$4 BILLION FOR
BIKE/WALK
PROJECTS
08
ADVENTURE CYCLIST
In late December, the
U.S. Congress passed
the FAST Act (Fixing
America’s Surface
Transportation), a fiveyear reauthorization
of the federal surface
transportation program,
the first such long-term
transportation bill passed
by Congress in more than
10 years.
f e b r u a r y 2 016
The FAST Act is
the first long-term
transportation bill
approved by Congress
since 2004 and
passed the House of
Representatives by a vote
of 359-65 and the Senate
by a vote of 83-16.
The new law contains
$835 million annually for
the first two years, and
$850 million annually for
the last three years, for
bicycle and pedestrian
projects.
The FAST Act
reauthorizes the
principal program that
enables cities to plan
and build bike projects
and is a great victory
for the bicycle industry.
Nationwide, bicycling
generates $81 billion
for the U.S. economy
and supports more than
750,000 jobs. Across
the country, there are
4,800 bicycle retailers,
1,895 bicycle suppliers,
and thousands of bike
tourism-related operators
— all businesses that will
benefit from the passage
of this bill.
COURTESY FRIENDS OF THE GREENBELT FOUNDATION
GREG SIPLE
CONFERENCE BRINGS
OLD BIKES TO NEW HAVEN
‘CYCLE REVOLUTION’ IN LONDON
Bicycling exhibit takes over
London Design Museum
COURTESY BEN WILSON
➺ A new exhibition at the Design Museum
in London shows off the very coolest, lightest,
fastest, and best-looking products created for
cyclists from all walks of wheeled life.
Running until June 30, 2016, the exhibit
features plenty of race-focused rides from Eddy
Merckx’s 1972 Hour Record bike to Sir Bradley
Wiggins's 2014 World Championship time trial
bike. But if extreme carbon and aerodynamics
aren’t your thing, there’s plenty for the touring
cyclists to gawk at, including the first prototype
of a folding Brompton and products from
MAC MCCOY
ASPEN
ALLEY
ENTERING
ITS
AUTUMN
As the Great
Divide Mountain Bike
Route nears its 20th
anniversary in 2017
amid a huge boom in
bikepacking, one of its
most well-known — and
well-loved — icons
is nearing the end of
its run. Aspen Alley,
the massive grove of
Populus tremuloides
near Rawlins, Wyoming,
is dying.
“Aspen are mature
into their 80s. I’ve seen
trees that were 120, 130
years old on the forest,
but that’s really old for an
aspen here. A lot of our
west side stands, which
Aspen Alley would be,
are tending toward that
age, more than 100 years
old,” Christie Schneider,
U.S. Forest Service acting
assistant timber program
manager, told the
Rawlins Daily Times. “The
aspen in Aspen Alley
have been pretty full of
disease and pathogens,
rotting inside, for quite a
while and it’s now that we
are starting to see that
stand dying and falling
over.”
The good news is
that just because the old
trees in the existing stand
are nearing the end, the
added sunlight from a
thinning canopy could
jumpstart new growth
to rejuvenate the unique
forest.
“We hope it will grow
and have the beautiful
character in the canopy
arching. The amount of
aspen sprouting is not
incredible in there, but
we’re hoping for the
best as more trees fall,”
Schneider said. “We look
for a pretty significant
number of stems, maybe
more than 1,000, to
provide a good stand for
the future”
As the old trees start
Brooks England, which has been making saddles
and accessories since the middle of the 19th
century. Learn more at designmuseum.org/
exhibitions/cycle-revolution.
to come down, more
wind exposure should
make quick work of the
remaining rotted trees.
But it’s not all bad.
“The positive thing
is aspen is a very fast
growing tree,” Schneider
said. “It won’t take
long to get that mature
characteristic. I would say
in five years you could
expect trees over six feet
tall.”
ANNUAL
ADVENTURE
CYCLING
MEMBER
SURVEY OPEN
NOW
Each year, Adventure
Cycling offers an
online survey for its
members in an effort
to learn more about
your cycling interests
and preferences and
to receive feedback
regarding Adventure
Cycling’s services,
programs, and resources.
"The survey results
provide us with muchneeded insight from
members: how we are
meeting your needs,
what is working, and
what can be improved,"
said Adventure Cycling
Membership Coordinator
Brian Bonham.
The 2016 Annual
Member Survey can
be taken online from
February 1 to March 1.
The information
gained from this
survey is one of the
most important tools
for Adventure Cycling
departments and staff
when we are planning
future activities and
programs, so please take
15 minutes of your time
to let us know about your
experience as a member.
To participate
in the 2016 Annual
Membership Survey, visit
adventurecycling.org/
annualsurvey.
09
COLORADO
I S C A L L I NG
Rediscovering the Mountains on Ride the Rockies
STORY BY KRISTEN LEGAN
O
PHOTOGRAPHS COURTESY THE DENVER POST RIDE THE ROCKIES
ne more switchback,
just a few more
minutes, and I’ll be
at the top of this
stunning mountain
climb. It’s not too
far, just take a deep
breath, slowly exhale, breathe again, look
around — this is beautiful. How have I
not ridden this road before?
These thoughts trickled through my
oxygen-deprived brain as I pedaled
toward the summit of Cottonwood Pass
during Ride the Rockies last summer.
Celebrating its 30th anniversary in
2015, Ride the Rockies presented us
with a challenging and hilly 463-mile
course with unpredictable weather and
spectacular views in every direction.
Having grown up in Colorado, and
because I was also celebrating my 30th
birthday, it was finally my chance to
experience Ride the Rockies, a tour that
I had grown up watching and following
along with each summer on the nightly
9News updates.
The days would be long and the hills
steep, but with 2,000 other cyclists
encouraging each other along the way,
I knew this would be an unforgettable
week on two wheels.
Day One: Tour of the Moon, Colorado
National Monument | 46 miles, 2,992’
elevation gain
Kicking off in Grand Junction, Day
One of Ride the Rockies took us on a
throwback journey to the famous Tour
of the Moon course regularly featured
in the iconic 1980s Coors Classic stage
race. Traveling through the otherworldly
terrain of the Colorado National
Monument, Rim Rock Drive circles
the park’s steep red cliffs and towering
monoliths that were made famous in the
classic cycling film American Flyers.
While steadily pedaling my way up
the first real climb of our weeklong tour,
a pack of neon-clad cyclists zipped by,
embodying the retro character of the day.
Just as they were passing, I noticed that
one of the riders tucked away within the
group was none other than Ron Kiefel,
a legendary American cyclist from the
infamous 7-Eleven cycling team in the
1980s.
While riding for 7-Eleven, Kiefel and
his teammates dominated the U.S. racing
circuit, including the Coors Classic.
Kiefel, who was nicknamed “Wookie,”
now owns Wheat Ridge Cyclery, a
standout bike shop located just west of
Denver, and he is a longtime participant
in Ride the Rockies, 2015 being his
21st consecutive year. This time, Kiefel
brought family members along to enjoy
the experience as well.
Kiefel’s lanky nephew, Levi Stafford,
was excited to share this week on two
wheels with his family before heading
off to his freshman year at Cal Poly in
the fall. “We wanted to do a big family
adventure before I left for school,” he
said. “I’ve never done a tour like this
before. It’s cool how the event does
everything for you.” And Stafford was
right. Ride the Rockies really takes care
of its participants. From transporting our
luggage each day, providing indoor and
outdoor camping options, hot showers,
and reasonably priced meals with the
evening entertainment, this kind of
touring is downright luxurious.
Day Two: Grand Junction – Hotchkiss |
96 miles, 7,631’ elevation gain
Rising early, we were quickly into our
first day of big miles and serious elevation
changes. Climbing out of Grand Junction,
we pedaled our way up the Grand Mesa,
a visually and physically breathtaking
20-mile climb that strained our legs with
over 5,500 feet in elevation gain. It was
a hot and grueling climb with the sun
beating down on our backs and what
seemed like endless switchbacks ahead.
Despite our often remote riding
locations, Ride the Rockies did an
excellent job of providing food and
water along the way. Aid stations were
strategically placed every 10 to 15 miles,
providing plenty of opportunities to
resupply and stock up for the ride
ahead. Each aid station included
standard ride treats like animal
crackers, pretzels, and an assortment
of fresh fruit such as orange slices,
bananas, and grapes. For fluids water
was supplied, of course, but the real
winner for me was the unlimited
Skratch Labs hydration drink. This is
something I regularly use in my weekly
training, and I appreciate the subtle
taste that is gentle on the stomach for
longer events like this one. Not once
throughout the week did I get a cramp
or feel like I was bonking, thanks to
these stocked smorgasbord stations.
Day Two was one of the longest of
the week with a total of 96 miles. And
12
ADVENTURE CYCLIST
f e b r u a r y 2 016
Above: How does it feel to finish a big day in
Colorado? Pretty darn good. Opposite: Enjoying
some of Western Colorado's unique mix of
desert and mountain scenery.
despite the aid stations, finishing in
100-degree heat after more than five
hours on the road had me struggling
into the finish town of Hotchkiss that
afternoon. It was a relief to have my bag
waiting for me when I finally reached
town.
Upon arrival at each day’s finish,
riders would swap their bikes for
luggage and then set out to find a
camping spot. Most nights, we were
based out of a local high school or
middle school and slept on the football
or soccer fields. Indoor “camping” in the
school gymnasiums was also offered to
riders less inclined to battle the nightly
elements. I opted for the outdoor
camping because what’s better than a
night under the Rocky Mountain stars?
After setting up camp each day but
before settling in for the afternoon and
evening, a much-needed shower was in
order.
Although most of the schools where
we camped offered indoor showers,
Ride the Rockies also provided mobile
RIDE THE ROCKIES
showers out of two semi trucks that
came along with our traveling circus.
Clean, consistently warm, and easy-touse showers were a welcome perk each
day, and the thought of them regularly
got me through the last few miles on
our long days. For a camper who is used
to going multiple days without a real
running-water shower, the rolling water
oasis was a luxury I could really get
used to.
Day Three: Hotchkiss – Gunnison
Camping in such close proximity to
other riders meant being awakened each
day with the zip, zip, zipping of tents
and sleeping bags at the crack of dawn.
For a late sleeper who relishes a lazy
morning filled with coffee and breakfast
before even thinking about heading out
on the road, I could probably be heard
grumbling from my tent about the
unwelcome wakeup call. However, with
a full day of riding bikes in a beautiful
place ahead, it wasn’t that hard to get up,
get motivated, and get rolling before the
sun was fully visible.
Day Three of Ride the Rockies would
be a challenging ride of 79 miles from
Hotchkiss to Gunnison, especially with
the unpredictable Colorado weather.
Minutes after we set out, raindrops
started falling. Going from 100-degree
heat the day before to riding in wet,
nearly freezing temperatures was a
tough transition. But despite the cloudy
and dreary day, riding up into the
steep cliffs of the Black Canyon of the
Gunnison was anything but dismal.
A winding ascent into the Curecanti
National Recreational Area led to a
sweeping, fast, and thrilling descent back
down to the Blue Mesa Reservoir. In true
Colorado fashion, by midday the sun was
shining down on us, just in time for a
leisurely lunch looking out onto the deep
blue waters of the reservoir.
Besides the bountiful provisions
supplied at each aid station, several stops
throughout the day were a bit more
comprehensive and included food trucks
and hot meals for purchase. On the longmileage days, a full meal to fuel our way
to the finish was also a welcomed time
to sit, relax, and enjoy the surroundings.
Once again, Skratch Labs was a big
winner for me, offering sweet and savory
rice bowls and decadent cookies. The
savory bowl with a poached egg on top
along with a Coke and a cookie was
my go-to lunch-stop meal, and it never
failed to get me to the finish town feeling
strong.
Finishing Day Three in Gunnison,
I set up camp, headed to the I Bar
for entertainment and food, and then
ended the evening a little early due to
some dark clouds rolling in over the
mountains. That night, lying awake
and staring at the ceiling of my tent
with tired legs and a sore body, I
listened to the slow rumble of a distant
thunderstorm building. Creeping closer
and closer with each rumble, flashes
of lightning started to accompany the
thunder, and the flashes quickly got
brighter and more frequent. Having
grown up in Colorado, I knew that
mountain storms are nothing to mess
with, but I also knew we’d be safe in our
tents as long as the storm didn’t roll in
directly on top of us.
Waiting for the storm to eventually
13
Day Five delivered the highest point of the trip at the 12,126-foot Cottonwood Pass — a tough climb on a 102-mile day.
turn and start moving farther away, the
In Crested Butte, the town had
challenging climb of the week. If we
lightning just kept getting brighter, and
shut down its main street, Elk Avenue,
could get over Cottonwood Pass, the
the thunder’s gentle rumble quickly
for the night’s lively festivities that
rest of the week would be cake, or at
turned to a cracking boom that shook the
included local musicians, arts and crafts
least that’s what we hoped.
ground. By now, it was too late to make a
tents, and an assortment of affordable
Climbing, climbing, reaching up into
mad dash into the school for protection
food vendors. It was at these nightly
the sky, Cottonwood Pass tops out at
from the storm. Lighting was crashing
gatherings that the Ride the Rockies
12,126 feet and crosses the Continental
every 45 seconds — I
Divide. The
counted the time to
altitude
distract myself from
challenged our
WITH A FULL DAY OF RIDING BIKES IN A
my nerves. "Too close,
lungs and a few
BEAUTIFUL PLACE AHEAD, IT WASN’T
too close," I thought to
steep sections
THAT HARD TO GET UP, GET MOTIVATED,
myself with little to do
made for some
AND GET ROLLING BEFORE THE SUN WAS
but sit and wait. Finally,
short crossthe storm’s symphony
eyed moments,
FULLY VISIBLE.
grew a bit softer, the
but the view
booms coming less
from atop the
frequently. Then, just as quickly
treeless summit
as it had rolled in, the storm was gone,
Community Foundation Grant Program
was worth every moment of suffering.
leaving me with a crisp and starry night to would present a grant of $5,000 to a
Looking out at the vastness of the
appreciate with every breath of relief as I
local charity group from each town. Ride
Rocky Mountains can sure put things
finally drifted off to sleep.
the Rockies is put on by the Denver
into perspective.
Post Community Foundation, and all of
After taking in the views and
Day Four: Gunnison – Crested Butte |
the entry fees and sponsorship dollars
scarfing a quick lunch before getting
go to support non-profits like the Boys
too cold — even in summer, crusty
After a wild night of lightning and
and Girls Club, local libraries, and
snow lines the roadways — I finished
thunder, Ride the Rockies’ shortest and
community conservation centers.
a Coke and then quickly dove into the
easiest day was a welcome rest with lots
ripping descent past Mount Princeton
of time off the bike. The gentle 27-mile
Day Five: Crested Butte – Salida |
Hot Springs and into the town of
ride from Gunnison to Crested Butte
Buena Vista. From there, it was a long,
flew by despite my pedestrian pace and
The day had finally arrived — the
hot slog into our finishing town of
constant stops to take photos along the
big one — the queen stage. Day Five of
Salida.
way. With an afternoon free and a quaint
Ride the Rockies was the one everyone
Many of the towns we visited
mountain town to explore, I headed
whispered about at night, partly out of
throughout the week were new to me,
down the main drag to check out the
fear, partly out of anticipation for what
but I know Salida well and was excited
local eats and sip a few afternoon beers.
was considered the most beautiful and
to be spending the afternoon in one of
14
ADVENTURE CYCLIST
f e b r u a r y 2 016
my favorite places in the state. After
quickly showering and setting up my
tent for the night, I headed into town
to visit the best little coffee shop in all
of Colorado, Cafe Dawn, located in the
heart of Salida.
Owners Phillip Benningfield and
Dawn Heigele not only brew a mean
cup of joe, they’re avid cyclists and
support the local cycling community
and passersby. Salida is well known
to bikepackers because the Great
Divide Mountain Bike Route and the
Colorado Trail both pass through town
and offer riders a place to rest up and
resupply. My afternoon was happily
spent sipping an iced coffee while
watching kayakers play in the rippling
currents of the Arkansas River that
runs through town.
Day Six: Salida – Cañon City |
With just two days of riding left, Day
Six went whizzing by. We rode downhill
out of Salida with a fabulous tailwind
for nearly half the day. This provided
a much-appreciated rest for the legs
after the previous day’s century ride
over the mountains. These easy miles
ticked away quickly and gave several
of the riders I met, Aaron Mauck and
Elizabeth Norris and their friends, the
opportunity to stop along the route,
put their feet up, and enjoy a salty
margarita. During their break from the
bike, the group of friends was talked
into a quick whitewater rafting trip
down the Arkansas River. Knowing
they could spare a few hours and still
make the final cutoff time for the day,
they locked their bikes, suited up with
life jackets and paddles, and took a trip
downriver for a wild morning of rapids
and thrills.
The rest of us geared down for “The
Wall,” a notoriously steep section of
road leading up to the top of the Royal
Gorge. We experienced sweltering heat
again, and I took advantage of the aid
stations. I even stopped at the Royal
Gorge Bridge Visitors Center to cool off
and watch other visitors zipline across
the world’s tallest suspension bridge.
Finishing off the day in Cañon City,
fresh smoothies and cold drinks awaited
our arrival and helped us cool down
from the blisteringly hot day of riding.
15
Kristen Legan is a Colorado native who lives for
two-wheel adventures the world over. She was one of
six women to ride the entire Tour de France in 2012
as part of the women’s Rêve Tour team. Besides riding
and writing about bikes, Legan also coaches with
APEX Coaching out of Boulder, Colorado.
16
ADVENTURE CYCLIST
f e b r u a r y 2 016
KRISTEN LEGAN
Day Seven: Cañon City – Westcliffe |
With the week passing by too quickly,
I packed up my tent and repacked my
suitcase one last morning. It was a
bittersweet sunrise with sore arms, legs,
and neck reminding me of the many
miles I’d already traveled. Climbing out
of Cañon City, we pedaled up our final
hill of the week — Hardscrabble Pass.
I stopped to look down on the week’s
finish line in Westcliffe with a smile on
my face.
Cruising down a fast descent straight
into Westcliffe, we were welcomed by an
exuberant community excited to show
off the town’s shops and restaurants
to the hoards of hungry cyclists and
supporters. We ate, drank, danced, and
partied the afternoon away, all while
looking out onto the spectacular Sangre
de Cristo Mountains that jut up sharply
from the valley below.
In the end, participating in Ride
the Rockies was more than a weeklong vacation aboard my bike. The
scenic landscape captivated my sense
of exploration and reminded me just
how lucky I am to call this state my
home. It inspired me to stop looking to
foreign countries and exotic locations
for adventure. Instead I planned to
appreciate what is waiting just out my
front door.
NUTS & BOLTS Ride the Rockies
MILEAGE
The six-to-seven-day route
changes each year, and daily
mileage can range from 45
to 100 miles. Generally, daily mileage works out to be
roughly 65-75 miles a day.
ACCOMMODATIONS
Self-setup and break-down
tent camping and indoor
camping are included in
the entry fee. For additional
cost, Sherpa Packer Too
(720.331.2401) provides
tents, sets them up, breaks
them down, and transports
them from town to town.
Alpine Cycle Connect
(cyclewithalpine.com) can
also book hotels, motels,
and B&Bs in the host towns
for nearby indoor lodging.
FOOD AND DRINK
Basic aid-station snacks are
provided as part of the event
fee. Food trucks provide
lunch along the route and
typically cost $5-$10 for a
full, warm meal. Dinner at
the entertainment site is
provided by local restaurants and costs $10-$15.
You can also go into town
for additional restaurant
options.
GETTING THERE
Alpine Cycle Connect provides travel packages that
transport riders and bikes
from Denver, Colorado,
(including the airport) to
the start town. Alpine then
picks up riders in the finish
town and drops them back
off in Denver.
PRICE
The registration fee for 2015
was $495 per person. This
includes camping, showers,
transportation of one bag
for the entire week, entertainment in host communities, aid stations, bike tech,
and many other amenities.
EVENT LOTTERY
Ride the Rockies entry slots
are decided by a lottery system. Applicants can apply
starting in February and will
be notified if selected by
early March.
MORE INFORMATION
ridetherockies.com
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miles
+
NYC to Niagara falls
A fully supported seven-day ride to end cancer.
Ride. See New York. Raise money. And change the state of cancer research for good.
get 20% off registration with code: ACA1
july 30-august 6, 2016 • empirestateride.com
Who says cycling is a low-impact sport?
Title Sponsor:
17
2016 Bicycle Events
ALABAMA: Alabama’s
Magnificent Bicycling
Adventure May 21-27,
amba1.com
ARKANSAS: Ouachita
Challenge April 2-3,
ouachitachallenge.com
ARIZONA: Luna Lake
Overnight Tour May 28-30,
bikegaba.org SonoitaBisbeee Overnight Tour
March 21-22, bikegaba.
org Southern Arizona
Road Adventure March
12-18, adventurecycling.org/
guided-tours/fully-support
ed-tours, 800.755.2453
Tucson Bicycle Classic
March 18-20, tucsonbicycle
classic.com El Tour de
Tucson Ride to Cure
Diabetes Nov 17-20,
www2.jdrf.org Trail of the
Mountain Spirits Sept 3-5,
bikegaba.org
CALIFORNIA: Aids/
LifeCycle Ride 545 June
5-11, aidslifecycle.org,
866.245.3424 California
Coast Classic Sept 24Oct 1, ccc16.kintera.org,
310.804.7047 Climate Ride
California North Coast
May 22-26, climateride.org,
406.493.6315 Death Valley
Ride to Cure Diabetes
Oct 13-16, www2.jdrf.org
Breathe Bike Trek Sept
16-18, sacbreathe.org/trek.
html, 916.444.5900x209
Great Western Bicycle Rally
May 27-30, greatwesternbi
cyclerally.com, 917.355.1317
HI-USA Christmas Bike Trip
Dec 26-31, sandiegohostels.
org/christmas-bike-ride.
php, 619.525.1531 Tour
de Tahoe Ride to Cure
Diabetes Sept 9-12, www2.
jdrf.org NorCal AIDS Cycle
May 12-15, norcalaidscycle.
org, 916.572.1113 Pablove
Across America Dates TBD
(typically in Oct), pablove.
org/pablove-across-america,
323.657.5557 Sierra
Sampler Sept 10-17,
ed-tours, 800.755.2453
Sierra to the Sea Tour June
18-25, sierratothesea.org
Solvang Spring Tour March
21-27, planetultra.com/
portfolio/solvang-spring-tour
COLORADO: Bicycle Tour
of Colorado June 19-25,
bicycletourcolorado.com,
18
ADVENTURE CYCLIST
303.985.1180 Colorado
Rocky Mountain Bike
Tour July 31-Aug 6, crmbt.
com, 303.635.6977 Denver
Post Pedal the Plains Sept
16-18, pedaltheplains.com,
303.954.6701 Denver Post
Ride the Rockies June
11-17, ridetherockies.com,
303.954.6700 Triple Bypass
Ride July 9-10, triplebypass.
org, 303.800.7613
CONNECTICUT: AngelRide
May 28-29, angelride.org
CT Challenge July 29-30,
bike.ctchallenge.org,
203.292.8104
FLORIDA: BubbaFest
Florida Keys Nov 5-12, bub
baspamperedpedalers.com/
bubba-fest, 321.759.3433
Surf and Turf April 9-15,
bikeflorida.org, 352.224.8602
Florida Bicycle Safari April
16-21, floridabicyclesafari.
com Palatka Bicycle
Festival April 9-10, put
nambluewaysandtrails.org
STIHL Tour des Trees Oct
9-15, stihltourdestrees.org,
757.340.7425 Suwannee
Bicycle Association:
IDIDARIDE XXII Jan 23;
Suwannee Sweetheart Feb
20-21; Spring Pedal and
Paddle Festival April 28May 1; Suwannee Fat Tire
Festival Oct 21-23; suwan
neebike.org, 386.243.0115
GEORGIA: BRAG Spring
Tune Up April 15-17; Bicycle
Ride Across Georgia
(BRAG) June 4-10; Georgia
Bike Fest Oct 7-9; Winter
Ride Feb 23-27, brag.org,
404.382.7747
IDAHO: Idaho Trails
Relaxed July 10-15, adventu
recycling.org/guided-tours/
fully-supported-tours,
800.755.2453 Ride Idaho
Aug 6-13, rideidaho.org,
208.830.9564
ILLINOIS: Grand Illinois
Trail & Parks (GITAP) June
12-17, rideillinois.org/events/
gitap, 630.978.0583
Bicycle Illinois July
9-16, bicycleillinois.com,
877.868.7455
INDIANA: Cover Indiana
Bicycle Tour May 8-14,
hfhcoverindiana.org,
765.404.8413 Amishland
and Lakes July 30, amish
landlakes.com, 574.387.6449
f e b r u a r y 2 016
Your definition of what constitutes an event ride may be different from ours.
At times the line can be quite blurry. Another good resource for these kinds
of rides is the Bicycle Tour Network: bicycletournetwork.com.
TRIRI: RAINSTORM July
11-16, September
Escapade Sept 11-16, triri.
org, 812.333.8176
IOWA: Register’s Annual
Great Bike Ride Across
Iowa (RAGBRAI) July 24-30,
ragbrai.org, 515.284.8341
KANSAS: Biking Across
Kansas June 4-11, bak.org,
913.735.3035 Cottonwood
200 May 28-30,
cottonwood200.org
KENTUCKY: Old
Kentucky Home Tour
Sept 10-11, okht.org Bike
Trek to Shakertown Sept
17-19, action.lung.org/site/
TR?fr_id=9700&pg=entry,
502.363.2652
LOUISIANA: Cycle Zydeco
March 30-April 3,
cyclezydeco.com,
337.781.9416 Ragin’ Cajun
Country Oct 8-14, adventu
800.755.2453
MAINE: BikeMaine Sept
10-17, ride.bikemaine.org,
207.623.4511 Maine Lobster
Ride July 24, mainelobster
ride.com, 207.623.4511
Trek Across Maine June
17-19, action.lung.org/site/
TR?fr_id=12920&pg=entry,
207.624.0312
MARYLAND: Kent County
Spring Fling May 27-30,
baltobikeclub.org
MASSACHUSETTS:
Autumn Escape Bike Trek
Sept 23-25, action.lung.
org/site/TR?fr_id=13912&p
g=entry, 800.499.5864
x5172 Berkshires to Boston
Sept 14-18, berkshirestob
oston.com, 413.824.2041
State Bike Tour July
30-Aug 5, cyclema.com,
617.710.1832 Pan Mass
Challenge Aug 6-7, pmc.
org, 781.449.5300 North
Shore Cycling Tour June
19-24, bikenewen gland.
com/2015/06/01/northshore-multisport-cyclingtour/ Yankee Roundabout
Sept 20-27, yankeeroundabout.com
MICHIGAN: DALMAC
Aug 31-Sep 4, dalmac.org
Michigander Bike Tour
July 16-23, michigantrails.
org/michigander-bike-tour,
517.485.6022 Sunrise
Bicycle Tour June 16-19;
Michigan’s Upper
Peninsula (MUP) Bicycle
Tour July 10-16; Shoreline
West Bicycle Tour Aug 6-13;
Pedal & Paddle Sept 16-18,
lmb.org, 517.334.9100 Pedal
Around Lake Michigan
(PALM) June 18-24,
palmbiketour.org,
734.669.0172 Wish-AMile Bicycle Tour July
28-31, michigan.wish.org/
news-and-events/signature
-events, 800.622.9474
MINNESOTA: Bicycling
Around Minnesota (BAM)
Aug 13-16, bambiketour.
org, 651.335.6505 Bike
MS: TRAM Ride 2016
July 20-24; C.H. Robinson
Worldwide MS 150 Ride
June 10-12, nationalms
society.org, 855.372.1331
Red Ribbon Ride July
21-24, redribbonride.org,
612.822.2110 Habitat 500
July 10-16, habitat500.org,
612.331.4439x4
MISSOURI: Big BAM June
11-16, bigbamride.com Bike
the Katy Trail Sept 11-17,
bubbaspamperedpedalers.
com/katy-trail, 321.759.3433
Katy Trail Ride June 20-24,
mostateparks.com/
2016KTRide
MONTANA: Tour of the
Swan River Valley West
(TOSRV) June 4-5,
missoulabike.org/tosrvwest
Cycle Montana-Missoula
June 18-25, adventure
cycling.org/guided-tours/
800.755.2453 Cycle Divide
Montana July 9-15, adventu
800.755.2453 Park-2-Park
Montana Sept 2016 (dates
TBD), park2parkmontana.
org, 406.443.2448
NEBRASKA: Bicycle Ride
Across Nebraska (BRAN)
June 5-11, bran-inc.org,
402.397.9785 NE United
Methodists Bike Ride for
Hunger (NUMB) June 25-29,
numbride.org Tour de
Nebraska June 22-26,
tourdenebraska.com,
402.440.3227
NEVADA: One Awesome
Tour Bike Ride Across
Nevada (OATBRAN) Sept
25-Oct 1, bikethewest.com,
800.565.2704
NEW HAMPSHIRE: Trans
New Hampshire Bike Ride
June 24-26, transnhbikeride.
org
NEW YORK: Bon Ton
Roulet July 23-30, bonton
roulet.com, 315.253.5304
Cycle Adirondacks Aug
20-27, cycleadirondacks.
com, 315.525.9554 Cycling
the Erie Canal July 10-17,
ptny.org/events/annu
al-bike-tour, 518.434.1583
Empire State Ride July
30-Aug 6, empirestateride.
com Five Boro Bike Tour
May 1, bikenewyork.org,
212.870.2080 Five Hundred
Miles Across New York
(FANY) Ride July 24-30,
fanyride.com, 518.461.7646
Hazon New York Ride &
Retreat Sept 2-5, hazon.org/
bike-rides/new-york-ride,
212.644.2332x328
NORTH CAROLINA: Blue
Ridge Bliss June 4-10,
ed-tours, 800.755.2453
Cycle North Carolina
Coastal Ride April 22-24;
Mountain Ride Dates TBD;
Mountains to Coast Dates
TBD, cnc.ncsports.org,
919.361.1133
NORTH DAKOTA: CANDISC
Aug 6-13, candisc.net,
800.799.4242 Bike the
Border June 17-19, bikethe
border.com
OHIO: Across Ohio
Bicycle Adventure (XOBA)
July 23-30, Ride-XOBA.
org, 330.333.9622 Great
Ohio Bicycle Adventure
(GOBA) June 18-25, goba.
com, 614.273.0811 Pan
Ohio Hope Ride July
21-24, panohiohoperide.
org, 888.227.6446x1222
Southern Ohio Relaxed
July 9-15, adventurecycling.
org/guided-tours/fully-sup
ported-tours, 800.755.2453
Sweet Corn Challenge July
24, sweetcornride.com
55th Annual Tour of
the Scioto River Valley
(TOSRV) May 7-8, tosrv.org,
614.442.7901
OREGON: People’s Coast
Arthritis Bike Classic Sept
17-24, peoplescoastclassic.
org Cycle Oregon Sept 1017, Cycle Oregon Weekend
Ride July 8-10, cycleoregon.
com, 800.292.5367 Oregon
Bicycle Ride July 30-Aug
6, bicycleridesnw.org/2016/
current-rides, 541.382.2633
Oregon Coast Loop Aug
13-19, adventurecycling.
org/guided-tours/fully-sup
ported-tours, 800.755.2453
Oregon Gravel Adventure
Sep 3-5, bicycleridesnw.
org/2016/current-rides,
541.382.2633
SOUTH CAROLINA:
FestiVELO Nov 9-14,
festivelo.org, 843.303.3334
Hincapie Gran Fondo
Ride to Cure Diabetes Oct
20-23, www2.jdrf.org/site/
TR/Ride/JDRFNationalRide?pg=entry&fr_id=5202,
800.533.2873
SOUTH DAKOTA: Black
Hills Aug 27-Sept 2,
ed-tours, 800.755.2453
Mickelson Trail Trek Sept
16-18, gfp.sd.gov/stateparks/directory/
mickelson-trail/trail-trek.
aspx, 605.584.3896 Ride
Across South Dakota
(RASDAK) June 4-11,
rasdak.com
TENNESSEE: Bike Ride
Across Tennessee (BRAT)
Dates TBD, thebrat.org,
731.358.9724
TEXAS: Bike Out Hunger
Texas May 16-23, outhunger.
org/event/bike-out-hungertexas-2016/ BP MS 150
Houston Tour April 16-17,
biketxh.nationalmssociety.
org Chihuahuan Desert
Bike Fest Feb 11-13,
desertsportstx.com/
mountain-bike-event Heart
of Texas Recumbent
Rally & Rodeo Feb 26-28,
heartoftexasrecumbentrally.
wordpress.com Texas Hill
Country April 2-8, adventu
fully-support ed-tours,
800.755.2453
UTAH: Cycle Utah June
4-10, adventurecycling.
org/guided-tours/ful
ly-supported-tours,
800.755.2453 Moab
Skinny Tire Festival March
12-15, skinnytireevents.
com, 435.260.8889 Tour of
Southern Utah Sept 4-10,
planetultra.com/portfolio/
tour-of-southern-utah
VERMONT: Burlington
Ride to Cure Diabetes July
7-10, www2.jdrf.org/site/
TR/Ride/JDRFNationalRides?pg=entry&fr_id=3426,
800.533.2873 Tour de
Kingdom June Tour June
8-12; Double Century
Challenge Sept 24-25;
Fall Foliage Tour Sept
23-25, tourdekingdom.org,
802.249.9100
Vermont Challenge Aug
11-14, vtchallenge.com
Corn is king on the Register's
Annual Great Bike Ride
Across Iowa (RAGBRAI). This
year's event starts July 24.
DENNIS COELLO
OKLAHOMA:
Oklahoma Freewheel June
19-25, okfreewheel.com,
918.344.5987
WYOMING: Tour de
Wyoming July 17-22, cycle
wyoming.org, 307.742.3506
Cycle Greater Yellowstone
Aug 13-20, cyclegreater
yellowstone.com
Cycle America: Coast to
Coast July 18-Aug 20; Cross
State (9 segments during
June, July, Aug),
cycleamerica.com,
800.245.3263
NATIONAL & REGIONAL:
America By Bicycle Various
cross-state, cross-country,
and regional bike events,
abbike.com, 888.797.7057
Fight for Air Ride - Lake
Tour Bike Trek (Illinois/
Wisconsin) June 10-12,
action.lung.org/site/TR?
fr_id=13023&pg=entry
WASHINGTON: Courage
Classic Aug 6-8, minisites.
multicare.org/home/cour
age-classic, 253.403.4374
Northwest Tandem Rally
July 1-4, nwtr.org Obliteride
Aug 7-9, obliteride.org,
206.667.7433 RedSpoke
July 12-14, redspoke.org
Ride Around Washington
(RAW) July 30-Aug 6,
cascade.org, 206.522.3222
Washington Bicycle Ride
July 16-23, bicycleridesnw.
org/2016/current-rides,
541.382.2633
Bicycle Tour Network:
Online listing of major bike
tours and events,
bicycletournetwork.com
Fuller Center Bicycle
Adventures: Spring Ride
(Natchez Trace) April 8-17;
Coast to Coast (CA to ME)
June 10-Aug 14. Rides can
be broken into segments.
fullercenter.org/bikeadven
ture, 229.924.2900
WISCONSIN: ACT 14:
Wisconsin AIDS Ride
July 28-31, actride.org,
608.316.8619 Flavors of
Wisconsin July 17-23;
Northern Woods & Waters
Aug 9-15, aroundwis
bike.com Great Annual
Bicycle Adventure Along
the Wisconsin River
(GRABAAWR) June 18-25;
Bike Northwoods July 9-15;
Schramm’s Annual Great
Bicycle Ride Across
Wisconsin (SAGBRAW)
July 30-Aug 5, bikewisconsin.com, 608.843.8412
La Crosse Ride to Cure
Diabetes Aug 11-14, www2.
jdrf.org/site/TR/Ride/JDRF
NationalRides?pg=entry&
fr_id=3428, 800.533.2873
Charlottesville, VA to
Washington, DC AIDS
Vaccine Ride Sept 27-30,
charitytreks.org
VIRGINIA: Bike Virginia
June 24-29, bikevirginia.org,
757.645.1861 Blue Ridge
Bliss June 11-18, adventu
800.755.2453 Tour de
Chesapeake May 21,
tourdechesapeake.org,
804.725.9685
Big Ride Across America
June 14-Aug 1, action.lung.
org/site/TR/Bike/ALAMP_
Mountain_Pacific?
pg=entry&fr_id=9544,
800.732.9339
Bike MS Hosts many largegroup event rides throughout
the U.S., myMSbike.org,
800.582.5296
Climate Ride: New York
City to Washington, DC Sept
17-21; Bar Harbor to Boston
Sept 8-12, plus other rides
around the country, clima
teride.org, 406.552.0708
C&O Canal/Gap Sept 1724, adventurecycling.org/
ed-tours, 800.755.2453
Columbia River Gorge June
11-18, adventurecycling.org/
ed-tours, 800.755.2453
Crossroads Cycling: Cross
Country Tour May 7-June
24, crossroadscycling.com
Group Health Seattle to
Portland Bicycle Classic
(STP) July 16-17, cascade.
org/ride-major-rides/grouphealth-seattle-portland-stp,
206.522.3222
Minnesota-Wisconsin
Rivers & Trails June 1118, adventurecycling.org/
ed-tours, 800.755.2453
New England Classic
150 and 550 July 9-15
(2-day option July 9-10),
main.diabetes.org/site/TR/
TourdeCure/TourAdmin
?fr_id=11024&pg=entry,
617.482.4580x3456
Pampered Coast 2 Coast
March 4-April 25,
bubbaspamperedpedal
ers.com/coast-2-coast,
321.759.3433
Race Across America
(RAAM) Multiple start
dates beginning June 14,
raceacrossamerica.org
Ride from Seattle to
Vancouver (RSVP) Aug
12-13 and 13-14, cascade.
org/ride-major-rides/rsvp,
206.522.3222
Ride the Fault Line
(Mississippi Valley) June
12-18, ridethefault.com,
573.380.7875
Tour du Rouge: Houston
to New Orleans May 1-6,
redcross.org/tourdurouge,
713.313.1668
Tri-State Trek: The Ride to
End ALS June 24-26,
tst.als.net
WaCanId Bike Ride
(Washington, Canada,
Idaho) Sept 12-16, wacanid.
org, 208.267.0822
CANADA: Grand Tour
Desjardines Aug 6-12
(weekend only also), explore
bybike.com/destination-bikeadventure-the-grand-tour,
514.521.8356
Go Bike Montréal Festival
May 29-June 3, includes
Metropolitan Challenge,
Operation Bike-to-Work, Tour
la Nuit, and Le Tour de l’Île
de Montréal, veloquebec.
info/en, 800.567.8356
Ride to Conquer Cancer:
Ontario June 11-12; Québec
July 9-10; Alberta Aug
6-7; British Columbia Aug
27-28, conquercancer.ca,
888.771.2453
ISRAEL: Arava Institute &
Hazon Israel Ride Nov 8-15,
hazon.org/bike-rides/over
view, 212.644.2332
19
CYCLE
ADIRONDACK
20
ADVENTURE CYCLIST
f e b r u a r y 2 016
KS
STORY BY BERNE BROUDY
PHOTOGRAPHS BY L.E. BASKOW
21
I
t was mile 47 of a 78-mile ride,
and I was sprawled on the grass
next to a picnic table devouring
a massive sandwich of ham and
New York cheddar on fresh ciabatta. A
few yards away on the rambling porch of
an old farmhouse here in Osceola, New
York, half a dozen old-timers from greater
Camden, members of the Fiddler’s Hall
of Fame, picked, plucked, and strummed
bluegrass tunes.
As I tapped my foot to the twangy
tunes, I looked around — I was one of 160
riders on the inaugural Cycle Adirondacks
ride filtering through this lunch spot. It’s
a four- or seven-day bike tour through
New York’s six million-acre Adirondack
Park and its environs and a fundraiser
for Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS),
a nonprofit that does scientific research
and supports communities in and around
the park and around the world. Riders
came from across the U.S. and Canada to
ride the Adirondacks’ quiet, winding, and
dipping roads, and to experience the communities within the park and along the
perimeter of the Blue Line — the park’s
boundary.
It was hard to drag myself away from
food and music to finish the ride. Between
tunes, I got into a deep conversation with
author, ecologist, and WCS’s staff naturalist, Jerry Jenkins, who ran me through
the mill-town history of the region, and
22
ADVENTURE CYCLIST
f e b r u a r y 2 016
educated me about the headwaters of
the Mohawk River, which we rode past
before lunch. That river valley, just a few
miles away, is one of three lowland routes
through the Appalachians that literally
formed the geography of a significant portion of the U.S. and directed this country’s
settlement by flora, fauna, and humans.
Eventually, I dragged myself away from
the music, and soon three Amish children
driving a horse and buggy passed me. It’s a
joy to pedal here — perfect temperatures,
swaying fields waiting for the last haying
of the season, and millions of acres of
forest. Adirondack Park was the quietest
public park I’ve been to anywhere in the
U.S., and in three days of riding, I’d rarely
seen a car except when we pedaled short
stretches of main road — a rare occurrence on the carefully curated route.
The ride from Osceola to Camden
might have been the quietest stretch
yet — and among the most fun. Massive
rollers rise and fall nearly the whole way,
and if I powered down the hill at full
force, I could almost get to the top of the
next one without pedaling. I hopped on
a pace line, my quads burning for a short
stint, and then fell back to a more mellow
pace that better let me take in the sights
and sounds. I was riding with new friends
Rollin Richman and Mike Dunn, two
lightning-fast, Moots-riding 60-something
guys from Michigan, friends who had
ridden together for decades yet welcomed
me to tag along. I came to Cycle Adirondacks solo but rarely rode alone from
the moment I arrived. Rollin, Mike, and
I chatted into Camden, stopping for ice
cream at Byrne Dairy, before the final
stretch into downtown.
On paper Cycle Adirondacks looks
like many other group rides. The days
started at 6:00am when the breakfast tent
opened — though you could get lattés and
mochas starting half an hour earlier from
Green Goddess Natural Foods, a Saranac
Lake-based espresso and juice bar that
followed the ride from town to town.
In the food tent, cheery locals spooned
freshly scrambled eggs, crispy bacon,
fresh fruit, and baked goods onto your
plate while their friends and neighbors
ferried luggage to the truck so it could be
transported to the next camp. Riders left
camp from 7:00 am on, pedaling through
farms and forests and reconvening at rest
stops. The route directions not only told
riders where to turn but indicated points
of interest along the route, as well as rest
stops where churches and civic groups
gathered musette bags of extra gear and
dispensed bananas, fluffernutter sandwiches (marshmallow fluff and peanut
butter on white bread), and water to
riders. The daily mileage ranged from 46
to 78 miles. After a lunch stop where fruit,
sandwiches, and baked goods were served,
it was more pedaling to the night’s camp.
Each night riders rolled in to find luggage
waiting as well as your tent — or a shuttle
to a nearby hotel. There are showers and
bathrooms and, once riders settle in, free
yoga, massages, and a beer garden.
The third night we camped on Camden’s town green, a little tighter quarters
than the school playing fields where we’d
set up the previous few nights, but it had
a homey feel. As I tucked my tent into
the sea of ripstop nylon, a fife and drum
band marched through. On the other side
of the green, Camden businesses set up
their own village of local crafts and artisan foods, information, and a local club
raffling off a rifle.
As a ride, Cycle Adirondacks is familiar
… but different. It was modeled after Cycle
Greater Yellowstone (CGY), a fundraiser
ride for the Greater Yellowstone Coalition
(see the February 2014 Adventure Cyclist).
A WCS board member who participated
in that ride recognized the potential for
something similar in the Adirondacks.
WCS hired Jim Moore, who helped run
CGY, as event director to make sure the
first year of Cycle Adirondacks was as
good as CGY and not a typical seat-of-thepants first-year ride.
“This ride is about bringing people
to a place you want to protect so that
they can ride for a week and develop a
personal relationship with that place,”
Moore said. “Most of the riders here
didn’t come because they’re big supporters of WCS but because they’re looking
for a great ride in a new place, and that’s
what we have a reputation for providing.”
Everything that’s best about the tour
is place-based. An evening concert series
— open to the pubic — featured excepEverglades national parks combined,
tional local acts. The food was sourced
with around 130,000 full-time residents.
with Taste New York, a state initiative to
It’s a unique model — people living with
promote homegrown food. It was local
wildlife inside a conservation area. In
whenever possible, from the veggies in
fact, Adirondack Park is often described
the pasta primavera to the barbecue bris- as a great conservation experiment, one
ket, blackened catfish, couscous-stuffed
that WCS strives to support.
fire-roasted peppers, corn salad, corn
As we rode into camp in Boonville,
bread, and apple and blueberry cobbler
one of the cyclists I was riding with
— and each night there are Adirondacks
remarked that he was surprised that we
microbrews to sample.
The staff was local too.
At each camp, a Boy
Scout troop, hospital
volunteers, or the children’s choir was serving
dinner, busing tables,
welcoming riders, and
more. In Star Lake, we
got lei’d (with Hawaiian flower necklaces)
after being cheered in
by locals grilling and
drinking beer in the
driveway of the local
fire department. Its
tower truck ladder was
fully extended with a
flag majestically draped
from its peak in salute
as we rode into town.
The region is as
unique as the ride. Adirondack Park is home
to hundreds of small
rural communities
surrounded by proTop: The ride began in Saranac Lake, one of the many charming
tected wildlands. At six
small towns dotting the massive Adirondack Park.
million acres, it’s larger
Bottom: A familiar end-of-day sight in camp.
than Yellowstone, Grand Opposite: The forest along quiet upstate roads occasionally opens
Canyon, Glacier, and the to display historic buildings.
23
were leaving the park.
“We call the park perimeter the Blue
Line,” said Zoe Smith, WCS’s Adirondacks
Landscape Coordinator and Cycle Adirondacks Director. “But it’s not like there’s a
gate. The success and health of the park
is directly related to the communities that
surround it. ”
For example Tug Hill isn’t in the park,
but it is in a priority wildlife corridor
that’s part of a larger northeastern Adirondacks and Canada initiative. WCS is
actively involved with Tug Hill landowners on issues of open space protection.
“Often it’s more important to get involved
in communities outside the park where
there is unchecked development than
communities inside,” Smith said.
WCS is working with the residents of
Old Forge on human-wildlife conflict —
teaching locals why it’s important to keep
black bears around, and best practices
for coexisting with them. In Long Lake,
where tourism has waned in the past
decades, WCS is promoting the unique
habitat. In Saranac Lake, where WCS
is based, it’s working on loon conserva-
CYCLE ADIRONDACKS
The 2016 event takes place August
20-27, and costs $1,495 per rider.
Travel to the area is easiest from
nearby Burlington, Vermont, just 60
miles east. New York City is roughly
300 miles south. For more information visit cycleadirondacks.com.
tion — surveying more than 200 lakes
and ponds in and around town. And in
Camden, the biggest city in the area and a
wildlife corridor itself, WCS is running a
“Make Home for Wildlife” campaign.
In Fort Drum, WCS is working with a
grant from the U.S. Department of Defense to educate troops on illegal wildlife
products. They’ve created an app for soldiers to record and report illegal wildlife
trade they see when they’re in Afghanistan and Iraq, where wildlife products are
being smuggled along with guns. “The
idea is to curtail illegal activity abroad
through an organization at home — to
bring global conservation back to our
area,” said Heidi Kretser, who conceived
and spearheads the project.
“If community values coincide with
wildlife, people will take action,” said
Smith. “We’re conducting science, and
people are using it. We use community to solve conservation issues. A lot of
decisions are made purely by emotion or
as a result of political opinion. We need
science to help our communities make
good decisions.”
And that’s part of why WCS routed us
through these towns. Grow wildlife-and
recreation-based tourism here and it will
incentivize communities to protect the
park. “I want the Adirondacks to have
caché,” Smith said. “We want to contribute to its renaissance as a region, as a
destination. There are 100 communities
inside the park — and countless more
around its edges. The Adirondacks is not
a preserve.”
Most of the cities and towns around
the Blue Line have seen better days. In
the late 1800s, artists, writers, and adventurers paraded to upstate New York, as
did those seeking clean air and relief from
ailments like tuberculosis. A hundred
Wildlife, wildland, and uncrowded roads hemmed
in by thick forests and shrouded in morning fog
are common sights throughout Adirondack Park.
The six-million-acre park has more than 100,000
residents, but open space isn't hard to find.
24
ADVENTURE CYCLIST
f e b r u a r y 2 016
years ago, the region was teeming with
sawmills and paper mills fueled by the
local forestlands that were the backbone
of local economy. The mills are gone, and
modern travel means New Yorkers now go
to Arizona or the Caribbean more often
than they go upstate.
Saranac Lake, where we started our
ride, is a good example of how things can
turn around. It’s seen an influx of young
people, new energy, and new businesses
centered on arts and recreation. There’s a
community-owned store — the town has
kept Walmart out (twice) — and a dynamic jeans-clad mayor, Clyde Rabideau, who
sees the opportunity tourism brings to
the region. Rabideau created the Saranac
Lake Sixers, a target list for hikers of six
peaks around Saranac Lake, and a play
off the Adirondack 46ers, the Holy Grail
of hiking for many enthusiasts. Complete
the Saranac Lake Sixers, a much more
manageable task than the 46ers, and you
get an “Ultra Sixer” patch and certificate.
Rabideau gets the significance of the
Cycle Adirondacks ride. “We have people
from 29 states and two Canadian provinces on this ride,” he said. “There are
60 million people within a day’s drive of
this route — but 80 percent of the Cycle
Adirondacks riders have never been to the
region. I'm glad we’re changing that.”
The ride is bringing possible return
visitors to the area and generating media
inside and outside the region. But it’s also
leaving cash in communities. In each
town where riders camp, local nonprofits are getting cash grants in return for
the hard work of volunteers. In the end,
it totaled $45,000 spread among 30
nonprofits. And entrepreneurial groups
like the Senior Citizens Club of Star Lake
Who needs a boat when you've got a boat dock? Star Lake residents' unique motorized docks bypass
the boat part altogether and give a new twist to the term "party barge."
aren’t shy about taking advantage of the
influx of visitors to do their own fundraising. At dinner on the second night
of the ride, a cheery octogenarian with
a handful of raffle tickets cornered me
between mouthfuls of dessert. I gave her
$10 to buy raffle tickets for a hand-woven
basket of Adirondack goodies from wine
to maple syrup. The money will go to rent
a bus for the club’s next casino trip.
In Star Lake, after I set up my tent and
showered off the day's sweat, Rollin, Mike,
and I shuttled five minutes to the shore
and boarded one of Star Lake’s locally
famous motorized docks. Vido and Pam
Testone were our hosts — we boarded
their outboard-powered dock and Vido
fired up the 9.8-horsepower motor for a
tour of Star Lake.
Each dock is different, and the lake
has 50 registered craft. Some are dou-
ble-decker, others are outfitted with grills
and coolers. Ours had an umbrella, bar
stools, and lounge chairs. After circumnavigating the lake, we motored to “the
sandbar” and beached alongside other
docks whose captains were critiquing
Vido’s driving. Docks were lined up so you
could walk between them — and soon we
were invited to another raft for a beer. A
game of Frisbee started up in the shallow
water, and I plopped down in a partially
submerged plastic chair and cooled my
feet while munching on carrot sticks and
cheese curd, hors d’oeuvres courtesy of
Pam. We were welcomed like old friends
and stayed for hours before finally motoring back for dinner at camp.
“We know the scenery is great in the
park,” said Smith. “We’re confident the
organization of the ride is good. But the
magic happens in the communities. We
25
live in a place where people do things
from the heart. Driving through this region in a car, you just won’t have the same
experience as you will on this ride.”
I can’t argue. On Day One, I had
planned to blast past a snack stop, but
two teenagers waved me in. Adirondack
Community Church in Newton Falls had
set up what looked like a bake sale with
cookies, brownies, banana bread, and
a solid spread of gluten-free treats, all
compliments of the church. Congregation
members had set up a display table with
160 wooden ornaments they had cut and
decorated — gifts from the community
to the riders. The pastor picked one out
for me with a black loon on a blue lake
and an orange and yellow sunset behind
it. “We didn’t know they were doing this,”
said Moore. “But it’s good neighbor stuff,
a win-win.”
I later learned from naturalist Jenkins
that the church occupies the former
paper mill offices. In 2000, the mill closed
and the finance company that owned it
couldn’t find a buyer. For six years, locals
snuck into the mill to lube machines and
turn the drums so the machinery would
be in top working condition for new buyers when they finally came. Eventually, a
Canadian company bought the mill and
employed 100 locals for four more years
before it closed for good in 2012. It’s a
hard-luck story that’s part of the fabric of
this region, but one that shows the town’s
mettle and its residents’ big hearts.
This year, the route passed through
Newton Falls and Star Lake, but in 2016
it might not. WCS plans to move the
ride each year to spread the love among
as many communities as they can. “We
have a six-million–acre park,” Smith said.
“Why would you do the same ride again?”
That will also give riders a reason to make
Cycle Adirondacks an annual event. “We’ll
choose communities based on the relationships we have, the story we want to
tell, the variety of habitats, and the energy
the communities are putting into promoting themselves,” she said.
Although organizers had originally
hoped for 350 riders, having 160 on the
inaugural ride allowed Cycle Adirondacks
to work out the kinks, though there were
few visible to participants. WCS plans to
grow the ride in order to create a community fund that will give back to the people
of the region, but they recognize that they
26
ADVENTURE CYCLIST
f e b r u a r y 2 016
COURTESY CYCLE ADIRONDACKS
need to do it smartly and sustainably. “We
want this to be thought of as the best-run
tour in America,” said Moore.
It’s certainly off on the right foot thanks
to details like the Cycle Adirondacks Field
Guide, a 14-page book of maps and route
highlights I picked up at a water stop. It
has elevation profiles and mileages, and
notes points of interest and water stops.
It also gives history, context, and tidbits
of information that grounded me in my
surroundings. I knew Jenkins had written
it because I could hear his dry sense of
humor and enjoyment of irony in the copy.
I loved Jenkins’s editorializing — it was
another highlight of my ride. Conservation is a personal passion, but other riders
are just psyched about the quiet, rolling
roads. They love to ride, and they appreciate being able to do it with a group, fully
immersed, with every need taken care
of. There are Cycle Greater Yellowstone
veterans who came for that quality of ride
in a new location, and many who have ridden the cross-Iowa RAGBRAI. I rode with
a trio of New Apostolic Church ministers:
Eric Haase, Peter Wagner, and Randy
Bauer. They’ve been friends since they
were 16 — more than 30 years. This was
their first big bike tour and “man-cation.”
For them the ride is about time together,
and the conservation angle isn’t first and
foremost. “We love and respect God’s
creation,” says Haase. “But we skipped the
conservation stops,” he confessed. In the
next breath, all three were raving about
their experiences in the communities
along the route.
Smith smiled when she heard this,
pointing out that in this region, conserva-
tion and community are one and the same.
“Our goal was to give guests the opportunity to discover the Adirondack Park,”
said Smith. “We want to inspire people to
visit and appreciate the region. We know
that conservation can’t be effective without local residents and leaders. Bringing
hundreds of cyclists to our region for a
week of pedaling through this spectacular
landscape is one example of how WCS
provides opportunities for communities
to benefit from their surrounding natural
assets. This event provides an economic
boost to our partner towns and helps
showcase this spectacular landscape.”
I can pedal through the Adirondacks
anytime — the park is just a couple of
hours from my home — but I’ll make it a
priority to ride Cycle Adirondacks again
next year, for the community, for conservation, and for the camaraderie, concerts,
and cocktails wherever they’re served by
the citizens of the Adirondacks.
Berne Broudy is a Vermont-based writer and
photographer. Find her on twitter @berneab and on
instagram @bernebroudy.
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ADVENTURE CYCLIST
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Y
OU’D HAVE TO BE INSANE
to cycle Colombia. At least, that’s
what I was led to believe.
The scent of sweet orange infused my
gasping lungs as I scaled the final section
of a two-mile climb. Spindly palm trees
shot up from rows of dark green coffee
bushes, embroidered onto the surrounding mountainsides. Harvest would start
next week here in Quindío. Hordes of
sombrero-wearing fieldworkers would
scale these treacherous slopes collecting
crimson Arabica beans.
“These hills are perfect for riding,” our
group’s mechanic and professional racer
Jonathan Rodriguez said as he cruised up
the arduous ascent without any sign of
struggle.
“Listen.” Rodriguez stood up on his
pedals and cupped his ear. “Silence. No
other cyclists and no cars.” He smiled
underneath his slick shades. “Now, vamos
Simon; we have a surprise at the top.”
Our group of 10 were road testing tour
operator Exodus’s new two-week tour in
the kaleidoscope scenery of the central
Cordillera de los Andes, a mountain range
bursting through the west of Colombia.
A UNESCO heritage site, Zona Cafetera
(coffee-growing region) shimmers with a
million gradations of green, from bright
emerald to the darkest olive.
After living in Medellín for three years
and traveling by foot, bus, car, and horse,
I had decided to slip into some revealing
Lycra and explore this cycling-crazed
country on two wheels. Historically, cycling companies have swerved away from
“dangerous” Colombia, playing it safe
with Cuba, Costa Rica, and Nicaragua.
Now, with improved security and a peace
agreement between the government and
the leftist Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC), adventure
specialists like Exodus are realizing
Colombia might be worth a try.
Rodriguez formed part of the local
team leading our group of seasoned riders. Though the other three guides rode
with aplomb, the clean-shaven 24-yearold from Bogotá has competed in the
country’s premier race, Vuelta a Colombia
(Tour of Colombia).
Eventually, we scrunched onto the
Left: The group lined up for the crossing of the Cauca River. Right: Dramatic valley views accompany cyclists for the journey.
30
ADVENTURE CYCLIST
f e b r u a r y 2 016
white gravel yard of San Alberto — a
coffee farm teetering above the town of
Buenavista. Passing a bunch of hybrid
mountain bikes leaning against a rusting
iron gate, we crab-walked down to a basketball-court–sized terrace etched into
the thickly vegetated mountainside.
Some of the group, which ranged from
the competitive Brits to a swim enthusiast from Chicago, lounged in garden
chairs. Some made hand gestures to each
other, illustrating the steepness of the
ride like sea-crazed fishermen exaggerating the size of their catches. Others
stood at the terrace’s edge, panning their
cameras slowly across the intertwining
mountains caressed by wispy clouds. Eric
Farnworth — a 65-year–old, slim, young
Sean Connery lookalike — scratched his
grey beard, preoccupied by the familiar
panpipe tune floating from the speakers.
According to our leaders, San Alberto stands a level above the hundreds of
coffee farms in Quindío. Seeking only the
finest Arabica beans, tireless workers sift
through batches five times, tossing aside
those that don’t meet the high standards.
These select few are then dried and
roasted in precisely defined conditions.
The significance of this escaped me, and
I asked the barista for a cappuccino. Tied
in a maroon apron, the young woman
gasped, clutched her chest, and stumbled
backwards. Silence fell on the patio. Even
the panpipes lost their gusto. Everyone
stared at me, mouthing: “Take it back.
Take it back.”
The barista took a deep breath and
composed herself. She politely reminded
me, “Milk would only spoil the wonderful
flavor, sir.”
I guess she was right. It would have
Jeeps transport locals and visitors around the Coffee Zone's winding roads.
been like strolling into a Russian oligarch’s reception and pouring Red Bull
into the vodka. Not cool. I therefore
resisted the temptation to order a tall
vanilla latté with extra cream and sugar,
and settled for a tinto (black coffee).
“Simon and Garfunkel!” Farnworth
suddenly shouted, finally deciphering the
dulcet melody of “The Sound of Silence.”
He sat down and grinned like a schoolboy
who’s correctly answered a math question.
Sliding into my wicker chair, I sipped
the chestnut-brown liquid silk. A gentle
caffeine hit radiated through my weary
limbs, I swayed along to the high-pitched
gliding notes, and watched orange butterflies float into the yellow cayena flowers,
then flutter out again. Call me loco, but
this could be heaven.
I turned to our leader, Oscar Hernando
Cañón González, and demanded to know
why this region didn’t teem with tourists.
“Colombia is not what it seems,”
González said. “People think this is a
violent, dangerous country. But what
you read in the newspaper and see on
television is not true Colombia.” He
leaned forward, his rounded shoulders
twitching like someone was pulling them
from a string above. “We want people to
look upon our country with a smile and
cycle around the varied land with great
pleasure.”
Although tourism here continues to
soar, the number of adventure trips — in
particular, those heading out of major
cities — lags behind. González believes
the blame rests with Colombia’s outdated
reputation.
Surely, apprehension comes naturally
for someone heading to a country entangled in a 52-year armed conflict? But
violence has plummeted since the turn
of the millennium. Indeed, 2014 showed
the lowest homicide rate in almost two
decades — 26.1 murders per 100,000 people. This sits below six major U.S. cities,
31
including Detroit at 45. And the conflict
between the government and FARC
should end soon. President Juan Manuel
Santos and the country’s largest left-wing
guerrilla group will stop shooting one
another this March, officially at least.
“It’ll turn the tourism light from red to
green,” González said. “When people see
we are finally at peace, they’ll come here
and love it.”
With Colombia named third cheeriest
country in the 2014 Happy Planet Index,
and friendly locals offering a wave and
a “buenos días” to us at every turn, his
theory had legs.
Unfortunately, another cliché smears
this country’s image, but the drug discussion will have to wait. Our coffee cups
had run dry. González, as he often does,
stood up, waited for the chatter to cease,
opened his mouth a couple of times, and
then smiled. “Okay, ready for the next
climb?”
With coffee plantations sewn onto
mountainsides between 4,600 and 5,900
feet (the optimal altitude for growing Arabica beans), our days involved
chest-pounding climbs and, to my body’s
relief, joyous descents. We brushed under
snowboard-sized banana leaves. We
passed men in neckerchiefs chopping
lemon trees with silver machetes and
wheeled alongside vast fields of sugarcane bursting from the beige earth like
crowns of giant sunken pineapples. We
rode behind swooping turquoise hummingbirds, and pink petals floated down
from the Guayacán rosado trees. To refuel
we indulged in sweet grape juice and
platters of guava, star fruit, and succulent
papaya.
In the evenings, we staggered into
jazzy purple and red hotels, or, my
personal favorite, colonial fincas. These
country houses blend typical Spanish
architecture with that of the Antioquian
post-colonization period here in the
mid-19th century. The sloping terracotta–tiled roofs signify the 55-percent–
grade mountainsides where los cafeteros
(coffee pickers) have collected beans
tirelessly for over 150 years. The mud
and guadua bamboo walls, at first glance
indistinguishable from brick, derive
from a pre-Columbian process known
as Bahareque, which was adopted by
the Spanish. Locals have continued
tweaking this technique to resist earth-
32
ADVENTURE CYCLIST
f e b r u a r y 2 016
quakes, among other things.
Feeling the full magnitude of cycling
hunger, we scarfed plates of chargrilled
chicken with rice before sipping saltyrimmed, lemon-tinged micheladas. In one
flutter of indulgence, I paid 50,000 pesos
for a massage — $17 dollars well spent
despite discovering, halfway through,
that the sneezing masseuse was allergic
to the oil she rubbed on me. After rattling
my wooden bed frame with 10 hours of
snoring — nothing beats cycling sleep — I
hit the road.
Colombia’s working class often relies
on the bicycle as a form of exercise and
transport. In countryside towns, middle-aged men trundled along potholed
streets, clutching curtains, plastic piping,
and the occasional Virgin Mary figurine.
Bare-chested teenage boys on rusting
bikes raced Rodriguez over the Cauca
River. In Rio Frio, an 82-year–old man
in a grey open-collared shirt showed off
a rusty contraption he had purchased
when he was eight for five pesos (about
$1). To demonstrate its capability, he
drifted twice around the plaza, grinning
widely.
Riding in cities is popular too. Every
Sunday, masses of amateur cyclists
squeeze themselves into Colombia-emblazoned Lycra and roll through
cordoned-off streets. In 1974, Bogotá
introduced the world to car-free days
for urban cyclists, and the capital still
holds the longest overall route at 75
miles. Even today, a whopping 1.4 million
people attend the Ciclovia event — imagine the entire population of Phoenix
saddling up at once!
My guide, Rodriguez, caught the
freewheeling bug when his father gave
him his first bike at the age of eight.
NUTS & BOLTS Colombia
Tour operator Exodus, in conjunction with Pure Colombia, offers a 13-day trip around the
Coffee Zone with accommodation, breakfasts, and dinners for $2,983 (excluding flights).
The tour includes 10 cycling days at a “challenging” level, vehicle support, and bike rental if
needed. exodus.co.uk/colombia-holidays.
OTHER GUIDED TOURS
Few guided tours exist but
adventure specialists Pure
Colombia (pure-colombia.
com)offer various tours with
English-speaking guides.
ACCOMMODATIONS
Hotels and homestay
fincas (country houses) are
commonly used throughout
the country, especially in the
Coffee Region.
BEST TIME TO VISIT
September to December
is the main coffee harvest
in Zona Cafetera. June to
August and December to
February are the driest
months and the weather is
mild throughout the year.
GETTING THERE
Many airlines offer direct
routes from U.S. cities to
Bogotá. I traveled with
Avianca, who fly from
Fort Lauderdale, Miami,
Los Angeles, New York
JFK, and Washington, DC.
Having already competed in the Vuelta a
Colombia, he’ll race in this year’s Cuban
tour and then who knows? Europe, maybe. To photograph our future star and
the group in action, I sporadically zipped
ahead, jumped off, and began snapping
away. We were heading toward Anserma,
Avianca flights are available
between most Colombian
cities. avianca.com/es-co
READING MATERIAL
Kings of the Mountains by
Matt Rendell;
Enrique's Colombia, Adventure Cyclist, September
2008, by Willie Weir
(adventurecycling.org/
default/assets/resourc
es/200809_
Enriques_Colombia_Weir.
pdf)
a town in the Caldas region. I stopped in
a skinny, silent valley sunken between
thick foliage and plantain leaves. As I
waited, I heard only the crack of dry pea
pods falling onto the sizzling tarmac.
Opposite, a man's head suddenly popped
up from a tiny house window, three feet
33
.
MTNS
Anserma
Chinchiná
Pereira Los Nevados
a
National Park
M a g d al
ena
Cauc
S
Rio
Colombia
South
America
Author’s Route
0
0
50
25
100 km.
50 mi.
Cycling from the small town of Salento is tough but rewarding.
above the thirsting grass.
He shouted: “Vienen las ciclistas?” (Are
the cyclists coming?)
I nodded. Two seconds later, the clank
from a metal door pierced the still heat,
causing a flock of black birds to erupt out
of a palm tree. The old man, holding a
threadbare sombrero to his head, scampered from behind his pumpkin-colored
house and skidded to a cartoon-like stop
on the roadside.
As the dust settled, this heavily wrinkled fellow turned to the brow of the hill
and stretched out a Colombian flag. His
big toes twitched in his sandals like he
was waiting for his bride at the altar.
I pointed my camera to the crest of
the hill, then realized what I’d done.
The Vuelta a Colombia was happening
right then — but somewhere else. Not,
as I’d just led this poor chap to believe,
here. Before I could warn him, two
silhouettes emerged on the heat-hazed
horizon.
The old man bounced his flag a few
34
ADVENTURE CYCLIST
f e b r u a r y 2 016
times, almost jumping on the spot. I
couldn’t watch. He had obviously expected a peloton of slick, lean cyclists to whir
past in a flash of colors and adrenaline.
Slowly, the shadows formed the shapes
of Adam and Tatiana — two of our group
members meandering along, chatting
and laughing as if they were riding
through a summer meadow. The man’s
head followed the crawling pair, and he
looked back up the deserted road, then at
me. As his flag drooped onto the ground,
all I could do was shrug and ride off.
Misunderstandings have plagued
Colombia over the past two decades.
Mention to someone that I live here and
I’ll either receive a concerned frown or
a wink and a cheeky smile. In London a
cabbie asked one of Exodus’s riders to
bring back a bag of “special produce.”
Family and friends of other cyclists
shrieked at the news of their trip: “Colombia! You have insurance, right? Well,
take this bulletproof vest just in case.”
Hollywood may profit from images
of coca plantations guarded by mustachioed narcos fingering machine guns,
but nowadays Colombia has cleaned
itself up. With drug routes concentrated
on certain coastal regions and borders,
areas such as the Coffee Region flourish
without flying bullets and cartel bosses.
Yet, for our group, Colombia’s misconstrued image worked beautifully.
We journeyed for 10 days and 310 miles;
climbing to 7,217 feet and flying down to
3,280 feet. We were welcomed like champions in colonial towns and coffee-scented villages. Best of all, we hadn’t seen
one other foreign soul. We explored a
land that, for various reasons, few people
have wanted to ride. With a white dove
set to be released over Colombia and
tour companies finally offering viable
routes here, now’s the time to cruise this
unspoiled land.
Simon Willis is a travel journalist specializing in
Latin America. For more about Willis and Colombia,
see simonwillistravels.wordpress.com and
morecolombia.com.
JAMIE ROBERTSON
Panama
Area
Enlarged
Rio Verde
Bogotá
DE
Rio
Buga
Cali
Boquia
AN
Roldanillo
Bicycle Tour Operators/Advertisers
Adventure Cycling
Association Charleston
Bicycle Tours
Fold n’ Visit
America By Bicycle Classic Adventures Freewheeling
Adventures
Around Wisconsin
Bicycle Tours
CrossRoads
Girolibero
foldnvisit.com
adventurecycling.org/tours charlestonbicycletours.com 351.220997106
800.755.2453
800.408.1830
abbike.com, 888.797.7057
aroundwisbike.com
920.427.6086
Beer & Bike Tours
beerandbiketours.com
970.201.1085
Big Dream Bike Tours
bigdreambiketours.com
844.379.2453
Bike-Dreams
bike-dreams.com
31.0475311047
Bike the Gap
bike-the-gap.com
412.303.0566
Bubba’s Pampered Pedalers bubbaspamperedpedalers.
com, 321.759.3433
classicadventures.com
800.777.8090
crossroadscycling.com
800.971.2453
Cycle America cycleamerica.com
800.245.3263
Cycle of Life
cycleoflifeadventures.com
303.945.9886
Cycling 101
cycling101.net
928.200.0211
Cyclomundo
cyclomundo.com
646.233.1354
Experience Plus!
experienceplus.com
800.685.4565
freewheeling.ca
800.672.0775
girolibero.com
39.0444330724
Great Freedom
Adventures
greatfreedomadventures.
com, 877.545.1864
Holland Bike Tours
hollandbiketours.com
31.306364677
Independent Tourist
independenttourist.com
866.269.9913
Iron Donkey
irondonkey.com
011.44.2920891650
Italia Outdoors
Italiaoutdoorsfoodandwine.
com, 978.270.5774
Lizard Head
Cycling Guides
Lizardheadcyclingguides.
com, 970.728.5891
Maupin Tour
maupintour.com
800.225.4266
Mountainside
Bike Tours
mountainsidebiketours.us
301.722.4887
OK Cycle &
Adventure Tours
okcycletours.com
613.230.2100x5209
PAC Tour
pactour.com
262.736.2453
Listed below are the bicycle tour companies
that advertise in Adventure Cyclist. Besides
supporting this magazine and Adventure
Cycling Association with advertising dollars,
they’re willing to invest money to be seen by
Adventure Cyclist readers.
We can’t necessarily vouch for them, but
we think their support makes them worthy
of highlighting here.
Real Travel France
TDA Global Cycling
Santa Fe Biking Tours
Timberline Adventures
Senior Cycling Tours
TradNatura Sport
Sockeye Cycle Co. Vacation Bicycling
realtravelfrance.com
011.33.622013734
santafebikingtours.com
505.690.0626
seniorcycling.com
540.668.6307
cyclealaska.com
Pedal Across Wisconsin
877.292.4154 pedalacrosswisconsin.com
847.707.6888
Southeast Cycling
secyclingtours.com
Pedal & Sea Adventures
770.375.0010
pedalandseaadventures.
com, 877.777.5699
Symbiosis Custom
tdaglobalcycling.com
416.364.8255
timbertours.com
800.417.2453
cycling-tours-in-hungary.
com, 36.12758490
vacationbicycling.com
706.363.0341
Woman Tours
womantours.com
800.249.1444
Travel symbiosis-travel.com 44.08451232844
35
Fer
STORY BY ALEX STRICKLAND
36
ADVENTURE CYCLIST
f e b r u a r y 2 016
ALE X STRICKL AND
rry Us Along
A Week in Washington's
San Juan Islands
Day Two had not gone according to plan. What had promised to be the queen stage
of Adventure Cycling's San Juan Islands tour
had turned in the wee hours when my wife,
Keriann, woke suddenly to run to the bathroom. “The fish,” she whimpered, “I think I
might've gotten a bad piece.”
This didn't seem right. After all I'd been
the one rolling the dice with consecutive
meals of oysters and beer followed by more
miles on the bike than an ankle injury had
allowed all summer long. But life's not fair
(and oysters are delicious). Dawn broke over
Port Townsend, Washington, to reveal a
grim scene: Keriann was sick and our group
of a baker's dozen was set to board a small
whale-watching boat for a three-hour crossing to Friday Harbor on San Juan Island. “I can do it,” she squeaked, and dutifully
saddled up for the short ride to the docks.
A good choice, since it was the only one
available.
Adventure Cycling's small but mighty
tours department has grown to operate more
than 100 departures each year leaving from
all over North America. And among the
nonprofit's staff, few are more popular than
the inn-to-inn jaunt around the San Juan
Islands, just nine hours west of Missoula. No
futzing with shipping bikes, and the promise
of indoor accommodations and world-class
riding had drawn Keriann and me to the coast
for what would be her first-ever bike tour and
my first with my employer. Pulling into the meeting point in the
island town of Anacortes, two things were
immediately clear: one was that we should
have taken a few more shakedown rides
since Keriann had, as of the night before our
departure, never ridden with panniers. And
two — we had been given a key to the wrong
room.
“May I help you?” asked Bruce, a physician with the Centers for Disease Control
who would turn out to be the class clown on
37
ATTRACTIONS
Climbing Mount Constitution
on Orcas Island was a highlight of the trip, though with
the Northwest’s famously
finicky weather there’s no
guarantee of big views off
the top. On San Juan Island,
American Camp and English
Camp are a pair of small
National Park Service-run
sites offering a fascinating
— and extremely odd — slice
of American history. Lime
Kiln State Park on the west
side of San Juan Island is
well-known for Orca sightings just off shore, though
we weren’t so lucky.
WHAT TO EAT
Whidbey Island’s famous
Penn Cove is known for its
mussels, and the San Juans
have oyster farms abounding, so if you’re a fan of
shellfish, this trip is nirvana.
Other sea food is abundant
as well, and everything from
fish and chips to grilled
squid is on
the menu.
Area
Thanks to the
Enlarged CANADA
high tourist
USA
traffic there
Bellingham
are restaurant
East
options to
Mt.
Sound
Constitution
satisfy nearly
Orcas Island
Roche
Harbor
any taste,
y
San
and grocery
Juan I.
Anacortes
Vancouver
Friday
stores were
Lopez
Island
Harbor Lopez
Deception
available and
Pass
Island
Victoria,
well-stocked
B.C.
Whidbey
on each
ca
Island
e Fu
d
n
a
island we
of Ju
t
i
a
Coupeville
r
t
S
visited.
a
Ferry
0
5
10
15
20 mi.
Port Townsend
JAMIE ROBERTSON
ACCOMMODATIONS
We enjoyed excellent accommodations throughout
the trip, though the islands'
tourism economy means
that there’s no shortage of
options and price ranges. A
few favorites were the Discovery Inn (discoveryinn.
com) in the town of Friday
Harbor on San Juan Island,
the Lodge on Orcas Island
(thelodgeonorcasisland.
com) near Eastsound, and
the Lopez Islander Resort
(lopezfun.com). San Juan
County Parks offer camping
opportunities around the
islands and an online reservation system at sanjuanco.
com/parks/camping.aspx.
mB
f e b r u a r y 2 016
GETTING THERE
Catching a flight to Seattle-Tacoma International
is the easy part, but if you
don’t want to rent a car for
the 90-mile trip north to
Anacortes, Bellair (airport
er.com) runs shuttles from
the airport. Bikes must be
boxed and require a $10
fee. Once on the islands,
ferries are free for cyclists,
and regular service runs
between San Juan, Orcas,
Lopez, and Shaw islands.
The whale watching trip we
took from Port Townsend to
Friday Harbor (puget
soundexpress.com) was
gorgeous, and the crew’s
knowledge of the area
(and the area whales) was
incredible.
B e l li n g h a
ADVENTURE CYCLIST
Adventure Cycling’s San Juan Islands Inn-to-Inn tour was one of many organized tour groups
riding on the islands during our trip, but putting together a self-supported or credit-card tour
on the San Juans wouldn’t be tough thanks to relatively short total distances, an abundance
of lodging and camping, and free ferries.
rait
o St
Har
38
NUTS & BOLTS San Juan Islands
c Ocean
Pacifi
this trip when he wasn't telling stories of
working to contain ebola in West Africa, but was, at that moment, a shirtless
stranger answering the door.
Thank goodness we knocked first.
The first map meeting revealed Bruce
— clothed — and his wife, Maggi, along
with a cast of characters from around the
country with cycling resumés that put
ours to shame. Centuries, cross-country
tours, weekly group rides. Oh, crap. Well,
we'd rely on youth and foolishness to
make up the difference and hope that our
group leader, subbing in after our scheduled leader fell victim to an injury, lived
up to her name. Happi, the youngest and smallest of the
13, was at the helm, and if that name was
a cross to bear she never let on, bringing
relentless cheer, organization, and daily
lunches and snacks to keep the group fueled. As we left the next morning through
the only rain we'd see in eight days, she
waited to take up the sweep position even
as the past and present Southerners of the
group (a pair of Atlantans aboard brand
new Bike Fridays, and me) huddled under
eaves until well into the mid-morning
hoping the drizzle would cease. A break in the weather never arrived,
but after knocking out 30 or so miles over
the spectacular Deception Pass and down
to Whidbey Island's charming town of
Coupeville, Day One did offer up a happy
hour menu before hopping aboard a massive ferry — cost: $3.75 — to take us across
the water to the Olympic Peninsula, Port
Townsend, and one bad piece of fish.
Harkening back to the days of Captain
George Vancouver, who named it, the
funky seaside town's Victorian buildings,
obsession with wooden boats, and colorful
One of the many perks of an inn-to-inn trip is a light load on the days you're carrying bags at all.
overnights in the same spot. A half dozen
of us left the hotel in something like a
pace line en route to the upscale development of Roche Harbor on the northwest
corner of the island. Alpaca farms and
photo opportunities splintered the group
until I found myself riding alongside
Bryce, a Texan who had sidled into our
opening meeting an hour late after arriving from a week-long fishing trip sounding like a chilled-out Matthew
McConaughey. After our tour, he was
headed for a sailing school in an effort to
squeeze the most out of his time in the
Northwest. Bryce and I pulled into Roche Harbor
next to the tiny grass airfield just as the
field's keeper pedaled up on a mountain
bike headed for a shack on the other side. “You guys looking for a nice ride?” he
beamed, before pointing us away from the
harbor full of yachts onto a one-lane road
that dipped down toward the water on the
back side of town. We took his advice and
were rewarded when we came across the
San Juan Island Distillery with hooch for
tasting and a local duo strumming folk
tunes out front. That night at dinner, flying solo with
Keriann still on the road to recovery, I
sat with the group in a local Thai restaurant as Bruce guided us on how to order
39
ALE X STRICKL AND
locals are best summed up by the oft-seen
bumper sticker “We're all here because
we're not all here.” We were just there for
a night before hopping on a small boat
bound for the San Juans with high hopes
for Orcas and clear skies.
We met at the docks, and as we handed
bikes up to the crew for safe keeping in
the boat's rooftop racks, Keriann stared
down the gangplank at a nightmare
situation for anyone feeling under the
weather: a small, 70-seat boat (with just
one bathroom) about to cast off for a
30-mile open-water crossing. But the rain
had ceased, and the skies and seas were a
lovely blue, even if she was looking a little
green.
Though the cycling on the San Juan
Islands is sublime, the ferries steal the
show. Free for cyclists and pedestrians
once you're on the islands, the short hops
between ports courtesy of the Washington
Department of Transportation blew my
landlocked mind every time, providing incredible views, a respite for tired legs, and
a chance for the group to chat in a setting
that enamored everyone with the novelty
of boat travel. The whale-watching passage didn't
deliver Orcas, though we caught a brief
glimpse of a pair of humpbacks in the
wide Straight of San Juan de Fuca along
with plenty of sea lions and cormorants.
Keriann even made it up from belowdecks
to see the whales and get a whiff of the
ferry's famous baked Blueberry Buckle
cake before darting back down to the
boat's lone bathroom.
Back on dry land in Friday Harbor, we
set out for what would be the first of a few
day rides sans bags thanks to back-to-back
BRUCE BERNARD
A Washington State ferry pulls up to the dock in Friday Harbor on San Juan Island.
to make the most of a family-style feast.
Conversation turned from cycling to life
to kids and, despite my best efforts, eventually toward the question of age.
Diane, a retired California teacher,
spin instructor and possibly the strongest
rider in the group, turned and leveled the
question I'd been hoping to avoid. “How old are you?” she asked. “Wait!
How old are your parents?!”
Youth might've covered the sins of
insufficient training, but there was no
escaping the obvious demographics. If
bohemian college kids are the popular
vision of bicycle touring, the reality is a
little more ... seasoned. And there was no
denying that the people around the table
were indeed closer to my parents' age
than my own.
The truth out in the open and requisite
grousing undertaken — not to mention
promises of monthly mock-irate letters to
the editor for as long as I'm at Adventure
Cyclist — we decamped to the hotel in
preparation for another day of riding unloaded on the biggest and most-populated
of islands.
We took in the southern half of San
Juan the next day — all of us hoping to
catch a glimpse of Orcas cruising up the
Haro Straight with Vancouver Island and
the outskirts of Victoria visible across
the water — and then hopped another
ferry bound for Orcas Island, home of
the highest point in the chain, Mount
Constitution. After riding up the western arm of the
horseshoe-shaped island and settling into
accommodations at a large house converted into a lodge, we walked to dinner at a
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ADVENTURE CYCLIST
f e b r u a r y 2 016
local Mexican joint (this, a stone's throw
from Canada) before calling it a night.
We awoke to perfect weather, unloaded
bikes, and 30 miles of riding, including the
2,300-foot climb to the summit of Mount
Constitution, complete with a massive
stone observation tower built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s.
The road up Constitution proved to be
the most beautiful of the trip — almost
five miles of smooth, one-lane blacktop
winding through a dense forest that
opened up just often enough to give
glimpses south and west across the flanks
of Orcas Island with San Juan and Lopez
in the distance. The big reveal, though,
didn't come until the top, when the view
opened to the east with 10,781-foot Mount
Baker looming over the blue waters of
Bellingham Bay. A few members of the group begged
off the big climb — Isabel, an Adventure
Cycling life member and tour leader, had
been to the top a few years prior and
Sabine, a German-born, Portland-based
psychiatrist, was following through on her
promised distaste for hills — but the rest
of us posed for pictures, ate lunch, and
lingered long in the sun as other tourists,
some also on bikes, swirled around taking
in the views. A rocket descent followed by
some surprisingly tough mileage down
the island's eastern arm eventually wound
us back to the lodge to pack for an early
morning ride to the ferry terminal for our
penultimate crossing.
While San Juan was the most varied
and enjoyed the most amenities thanks
to Friday Harbor's relative size (population 2,100), and Orcas provided the most
spectacular scenery, it was little Lopez
Island, our last of the trip, that had us
all glancing at real estate ads. The small,
sparsely populated, and extremely friendly island offered low traffic and long
stretches of road along the water. Plus,
the one-block downtown held a fantastic
bike shop and even better bakery, only
lacking a microbrewery to achieve the
holy trinity of cycling amenities.
We looped the island after dropping
bags at a small resort that for some reason reminded me of something out of the
Catskills, despite the fact that I've never
been there. Most days we'd ridden in
larger groups than our own small parties,
smatterings of three or five glomming
on for a morning and perhaps connecting with others at the obvious lunch
spots, but on Lopez we rode in a bunch,
chatting side-by-side as miles rolled by
without ever seeing a car. We hiked out to
the coast at Shark Reef Sanctuary, sliding
over roots in our SPD shoes and staring
out at the flat water hoping to catch sight
of a fin. That night — our last as a full group
since a few folks were headed out in the
pre-dawn hours to catch the early ferry
back to Anacortes — we toasted the trip
as the sun sank over the bay outside, and
promises were made to call or crash in
spare bedrooms should travels ever take
us to Texas, Ohio, or beyond. By morning, the remaining seven or eight of us
headed for the final ferry ride (still free)
back to Anacortes, where the terminal
was within shouting distance of our
first night's accommodation and parked
vehicles. As the ferry pulled up to the dock and
we prepared, ironically, to walk our bikes
the final few hundred yards of the trip,
I looked at our remaining crew, aged
late 20s to late 60s, and recalled Sabine's
introduction a week earlier. “I do not like
hills,” she said. “My lowest gear is my
feet.” It was just modesty, of course, as
she ground up the islands' rolling roads
with the rest of us. But I couldn't help but
notice that on the bicycle, a great democratizer of age, ability, courage, and just
about everything else, age makes nearly
no difference — life on two wheels means
you never have to downshift at all.
Alex Strickland is the editor-in-chief of Adventure
Cyclist. ADVENTURECYCLING.ORG
41
Final Mile
Plagued on the Seven Summits
THE HORSE FLY SHUFFLE ON
MOUNT KOSCIUSZKO
BY DAMIAN ANTONIO
➺ After a four-year layoff from bicycle
touring, I decided to revive my passion
by doing something extraordinary.
Something epic. I decided to cycle to
one of the Seven Summits. That is, the
highest summit on each of the seven
continents. The only question was
which one.
They were all so tempting. Obviously
Everest was not an option because I
didn’t have room in my panniers for
the required oxygen tanks. Aconcagua
in the Andes and Denali in Alaska have
both recorded summer temperatures
of -30°C (-23°F), which is far too cold
for this summer-loving Australian. As
a sufferer of ifestiophobia (the fear
of volcanoes), Kilimanjaro was not
an option. Mount Elbrus is in Russia,
and I can never go back there due
to an unfortunate misunderstanding
involving a Ukranian mail-order bride,
the Russian mafia, and an incorrect
translation of “How much is the train
to St Petersburg?” And I didn’t have a
spare $50,000 to mount an Antarctic
expedition to Mount Vinson.
So that left Mount Kosciuszko
in Australia. I guess it was just good
fortune that at 2,228 meters above sea
level, Kosciuszko is less than half the
height of the second smallest mountain
on the list, and is a mere six-hour drive
from my home in Sydney.
Regardless of its modest stature,
cycling to the roof of Australia in the
middle of summer comes with its own
challenges. They may not involve
altitude sickness, hypothermia, or
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ADVENTURE CYCLIST
f e b r u a r y 2 016
gale-force winds that can blow you off
the side of a mountain, but they are
challenges nonetheless. (Actually, most
of the challenges were the direct result
of planning, packing, and departing for
the trip on January 1, after an all-night
New Years Eve party on Bondi Beach.)
I arrived late in the day in Jindabyne
— the launch pad for the Snowy
Mountains. I looked in the boot of
my car at the mish-mash of camping
equipment, cycling gear, and food that
had been haphazardly stacked around
and on top of my bicycle in a sleepdeprived stupor earlier that day.
Following some rearranging and
culling, I set off at 5:00 pm with the sun
still high in the sky and oppressively
hot. Flat to begin with, the road
became progressively steeper and the
surrounding bush thicker. I briefly
wondered about the wisdom of cycling
into dense bushland during a very dry
summer, with forecast temperatures of
mid-30s (about 95°F), at the height of
bushfire season.
Far more immediately concerning
than being burned alive, though, was
the fear of having every last drop of
blood sucked from my body by the
local horse flies. Using the hypodermic
needles attached to their faces, their
Bruce-Lee–like nimbleness, and their
Wolverine invincibility, they turned
what was supposed to be a relaxing
mountain ride into a never-ending
mobile acupuncture session.
I took comfort in the thought that
these critters might abate in the cooler
air at higher altitudes — my logic being
that since they obviously spawned in
the fires of hell, they wouldn’t like the
cold. At the campground that evening,
however, a hiker seemed to take
pleasure in assuring me they would
only get worse, “Up there, they’re big
enough to pick you up and carry you
away,” he said.
The following morning, the climb
to the highest point in Australia began
in earnest. With one hand steering
and the other swatting, 8 kph was
just slow enough for the flies to keep
pace — taunting and tormenting me,
putting me on the fast track to the
loony bin. Exhausted, I yearned for a
break, but my “rest stops” were spent
practicing the Horse Fly Shuffle — an
ungraceful and tiring combination of
wriggles, swats, and kicks.
Not for the first time in my bicycletouring career, I envied the Lycra-clad
racers who were taking advantage of
the smooth roads, long climbs, and
sparse traffic. They effortlessly glided
past me on their un-laden, sevenkilogram speed machines, seemingly
oblivious to the plight of the slow.
Even if the horse flies didn’t, the
dense bushland gradually thinned out
and was replaced with a lush carpet of
green grass, woody low-lying shrubs,
and the pale-gray, tangled snow
gums that are unique to this part of
the world. Long, snaking rivers and
streams flowed from the tops of the
surrounding mountains, their banks
lined with ashen granite boulders.
SOPHIE KIT TREDGE
With such spectacular backdrops to
spur me on, patiently and persistently
I reached the end of the road at
Charlotte’s Pass (1,900 meters/6,234
feet). From this point, summiteers
are required to walk or cycle the
remaining eight kilometers along a
meandering dirt track.
As with most of the Seven
Summits, the average age of
Kosciuszko summiteers is somewhere
between 30 and 40. Although in
this case, it’s not so much because
it requires a young, fit body with
an experienced mind, but rather
because there are as many children
as septuagenarians, skipping and
hobbling to the top. It was only the
magnificent views that distinguished
the summit from a typical family
picnic in the park.
In the foreground were green
mountains (read: hills) displaying a
patchwork of various shades of green
and dotted with pockets of untouched
snow. Looking farther, the mountains
continued to the horizon, though with
the distinctive Australian blue haze
that is a result of the eucalyptus oil
that hangs in the air.
That night after setting up camp,
30 very fast and very fun kilometers
below Kosciuszko, I plunged into the
crystal clear Snowy River to wash the
sweat from my body. Immersed in the
icy cold waters, this was exactly what I
had visualized when setting out on this
adventure: bathing in the Snowy River,
satisfyingly exhausted, alone in the
wilderness. It was a perfect moment.
Then I broke the surface and was
attacked by a thousand horse flies.
Damian Antonio is an ex-engineer who threw in the
nine-to-five life to become a freelance adventuretravel writer. He spent two years cycling from
Malaysia to Turkey and continues to cycle, kayak,
trek, and camp throughout his home in Australia.
43
Cyclesense
Return of the Tech Column
'GENTLING' YOUR BIKE
BY NICK LEGAN
➺ If you haven’t seen the
documentary Buck, give it a watch. It’s
a touching and nuanced film, and for
the sake of this column, I’ll paraphrase.
Historically, horse trainers would “break”
horses, bending them to man’s will
through brute force and often violence.
Instead, Buck Brannaman, the film’s
protagonist and archetype for “The Horse
Whisperer,” employs kinder means to “gentle”
a horse by building trust and understanding a
horse’s natural tendencies and personal history.
Now take a little time to think about your
relationship with your steed, a bicycle in this
case. While the interaction is different with an
inanimate object, understanding its nature and
history is no less important.
Do you know your bike well? Can you recall important
moments in the bike’s history, be they traumas or periods of
regular maintenance? Do you care for your bike or fix it only
when something prevents your next ride?
In my days as a bike mechanic, both in shops and working
for professional racing teams, I was routinely surprised to
discover how little avid riders and racers understood about
the mechanical workings of their machines. To be clear, I’m
mechanically inclined, and what I didn’t understand I was
encouraged to take apart and figure out. I realize that not all
riders have that same experience, but all riders can take steps to
better understand the bikes they ride.
Here’s an example. Carbon fiber bikes, with large, hollow,
sounding-board tubes, always make a certain sound when
bouncing over a rough road. An aluminum bike has a different
sound, just as do those made of titanium and steel. I encourage
you to pay attention to the sounds of your bicycle, especially
44
ADVENTURE CYCLIST
f e b r u a r y 2 016
GREG SIPLE
Editor's Note: After a five-year hiatus, Cyclesense is back, this
time with Nick Legan at the helm. A former pro mechanic and
tech editor at VeloNews, he continues a tradition of technical
coverage in Adventure Cyclist that was anchored for many years
by reader favorite John Schubert. In a nod to that tradition, the
accompanying illustration was originally published in 2002
alongside a column by the late, great Sheldon Brown.
after a tune-up when the bike should be running well. When
new noises pop up, note them, explore them. While you pedal
happily, take a short break from enjoying the scenery to note
the little grinding noises, the creaks of your bike.
Here are a few more questions to ask yourself. Is your bike
slower to turn in than it used to be? Perhaps your tires are a
bit underinflated or your headset is too tight. Is your shifting
sluggish? Maybe you have to push on your shifter twice before
it changes gear. Dirty cables or a bent derailer hanger are likely
culprits.
Remember that some of these things occur slowly, so they
are easy to miss during normal day-to-day riding. If you ride
a friend’s new bike and marvel at the crispness of its shifting,
don’t throw in the towel and decide that you need a new bike
(or do, but good luck with that on the home front). Instead try
CONTINUED ON PAGE 65
Garmin Varia Smart Lights
Fine Tuned
THE FUTURE IS BRIGHT
BY JOSH TACK
➺ It’s always impressive to me how many consumers Garmin
is able to reach — automotive, aviation, marine, outdoor, and
fitness industries are all covered by their products. In a way,
they’ve done with GPS technology what 3M has done with tape.
If you’re a person that moves from point A to point B by just
about any means necessary, they’re likely to have a product for
you.
Garmin’s range of cycling paraphernalia is but a niche within
their sports and recreation department, but that’s not stopping
them from innovating in our corner of their universe. They’ve
spent years polishing up their Edge series bike computers and
are now turning their attention to rider safety with their new
lineup of Varia smart cycling devices. Found under this new
category are the Garmin Varia smart lights.
The smart bike lights can be purchased in a few
configurations — you can buy a headlight only, taillight only, or a
combo. I tested front and rear, and out of the box this gets you a
Varia headlight, taillight, remote switch with handlebar mount,
Garmin’s universal out-front handlebar mount, various taillight
mounts, microUSB charging cable, and user manual.
The first thing I noticed was how well everything was built.
Because of that, there’s definitely some heft to the headlight,
but the out-front mount is also beefed upped to handle the extra
load. The light affixes to the underside of the mount, and there’s
a quarter-turn attachment point on the top for any Garmin
Edge series GPS you want to toss up there. This means you can
double up a headlight and GPS unit on the same mount, which
helps declutter the handlebars. The rear light is not quite as
overbuilt but still feels sturdy and attaches securely to either the
seatpost or seatstays.
Out of the box and on their own, these lights aren’t too unlike
anything else you’ve ever dabbled with. They have high, low,
and flashing settings available with a quick toggle. No big
surprises there, although one handy feature is that you can
pair the lights to the included remote switch, which can be
attached to your handlebars for easy access. This is a great
way to flip through various settings while keeping your
hands on the bars.
If you want to take advantage of the smart features that
these lights offer — a big reason you’d pay for these in the first
place — you’ll need a compatible Garmin GPS device, such
as the Edge 1000. There are some really cool things you can
do once you have your lights synced with your GPS unit, first
of which is beam adjustment based on your speed. As you ride
faster, the headlight will register your pace and throw a brighter
beam farther down the road. If you slow down, the front beam
pulls in to illuminate the road closer to you and changes the
blinking pattern of the rear light to alert anyone behind you
that you’re slowing or coming to a stop.
Another nifty feature is the light’s ability to automatically
brighten or dim based on surrounding light conditions, though a
light-sensing Edge 1000 is required, which is a little unfortunate
since we’re seeing some lights out there that can do this on their
own (such as the Blackburn Central Smart Front Light).
Both the front and rear lights have internal batteries
charged using a microUSB cable. When you go to charge up
your lights for the first time, be sure to download Garmin
Express to register your lights and check for the latest software
updates. Within Garmin Express, you can also customize a
few automated settings on your lights and download product
manuals.
Moving away from the smart features and diving into the
usual specs, the headlight can push out 600 lumens at its
brightest and 150 lumens at the dimmest setting, with 400- and
250-lumen outputs in between. If you’re running this full
blast, you can expect about two-and-a-half hours of
runtime on a full charge. Behind you, the
45
Road Test
ELEPHANT NATIONAL
FOREST EXPLORER
BY PATRICK O'GRADY
➺ NEW MEXICO'S Sandia Mountains
are not the Alps, and I am definitely not
Hannibal.
But I did spend part of late spring and
early summer herding an elephant along
our local mountain trails — an Elephant
Bikes National Forest Explorer (NFE), to
be precise — and if we never made it to
Rome, well, neither did Hannibal.
Actually, if Hannibal had started his
expedition with 650b-wheeled Elephants
instead of the four-legged variety, he might
have made better time crossing the Alps
and had a shot at seizing the Eternal City.
The National Forest Explorer is intended
for traveling light and fast, whether you’re
commuting from home to work, doing a
long out-and-back on your local dirt roads,
or bikepacking into the high country to see
if there’s any prime real estate on the other
side.
“Think long, unsupported days in the
saddle,” said John Speare of Elephant
Bikes, where Glen Copus puts his 25 years
of experience to work building bikes in
small batches in the South Perry district of
Spokane, Washington.
The Forest Service-green NFE starts
out as a double-butted True Temper front
triangle mated to a 4130 chromoly rear
triangle, with a lugged crown and low-trail
fork drilled for internal wiring in case you’d
like to rock a dynamo hub up front. Three
sizes are available — small, medium, and
large — and my large NFE frame was said
to hit 4.5 lbs., with the fork adding another
2.25 lbs.
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ADVENTURE CYCLIST
f e b r u a r y 2 016
SPECIFICATIONS
ELEPHANT BIKES NATIONAL
FOREST EXPLORER
3. Head tube angle: 73°
Price: $1,385 (frame and fork
only)
6. Standover height: 835mm
Sizes available: Small, Medium,
Large
8. Fork rake: 65mm
Size tested: Large
10. Wheelbase: 1056mm
Weight: 25.1 lbs. without pedals;
frame weight, 4.5 lbs.; fork
weight, 2.25 lbs. (with 290mm
steerer)
11. Frame: Double-butted True
TEST BIKE MEASUREMENTS
1. Seat tube: 58cm (center of
spindle to top of seatpost
clamp)
2. Top tube: 57cm (actual, center
to center; 58cm effective)
4. Seat tube angle: 73°
5. Chainstays: 435mm
7. Bottom bracket drop: 70mm
9. Fork trail: 45mm
Temper front triangle with
4130 chromoly butted rear
triangle. Guides and stops for
fully housed cables to brakes
and rear derailer; three sets
of bottle mounts; rear rack/
fender mounts
12. Color: National Forest green
(RAL 6021)
13. Fork: Nova brazed and lugged
crown, drilled for internal
dynamo-hub wiring. Disc tab,
low-rider/fender mounts, Nitto
Mini mounts
14. Handlebar: 42cm Ritchey Comp
Curve, 73mm reach, 128mm
drop
15. Stem: Ritchey Pro 4 Axis,
100mm, four-bolt clamp, +84/6°
16. Shift/brake levers: Gevenalle
GX
17. Brakes: Avid BB7 Road
mechanical discs
18. Rotors: Avid, 140mm rear,
160mm front
19. Front derailer: Shimano CX70
20. Rear derailer: Shimano Deore
Shadow 10-speed
21. Crankset: Shimano 105,
175mm, 50/34T
22. Cassette: Shimano 10-speed,
12-36, 12-13-15-17-19-21-2428-32-36T
23. Bottom bracket: SM-BBR60
24. Seatpost: Ritchey WCS,
27.2mm, 400mm
25. Saddle: XLC Comp 100
Series
26. Headset: Ritchey Comp
27. Chain: SRAM PC-1051,
10-speed
28. Hubs: Shimano Deore, 32h
29. Rims: WTB i23 Frequency
30. Tires Schwalbe Thunder
GEARING IN INCHES
3450
11
76.5 112.5
13
70.6 103.8
15
61.2 90.0
17
54.0 79.4
19
48.3 71.0
21
43.7 64.3
24
38.2 56.2
28
32.8 48.2
32
28.7 42.2
36
25.5 37.5
Burt, 650b x 2.1
Contact: Elephant Bikes,
2001 E 17th Ave. Spokane,
Washington 99203,
elephantbikes.com.
Built up and ready to ride, with a pair
of Shimano PD-M540 pedals, my NFE
weighed 25.9 pounds. It’s something
of a pygmy pachyderm, even with the
signature biplane fork crown and wishbone
seatstay that the press kit says “makes the
bike an Elephant.”
It certainly got a lot of attention down
at The Bike Coop, where a customer
hollered, “Wow! Cool bike!” and everybody
wanted to know where I was riding it.
Somewhere and soon, I thought, catching
the forest-green fever.
Without any extra weight that wasn’t
attached to me, the NFE was rarin’ to go —
so much so that I had to keep a close eye
on it during a shakedown cruise on some
rolling, swoopy New Mexican singletrack
peppered with sharp stones and cacti.
Some stodgier bikes will correct your
errors, or at least resist them, but not this
one. If you want to get into trouble, the
NFE will be happy to oblige. Not that it’s
scary or sketchy — it just has more jump to
it than your typical 29er.
The bike’s geometry and 650b wheel
size have their roots in randonneuring,
according to Speare. The 73-degree
head-tube angle with 65mm of fork rake
anticipate a small load carried over the
front wheel — less than 15 lbs. — while the
high-volume, supple 650b tires available
from companies like Compass and
Schwalbe suit the type of riding Speare
said an Elephant customer has in mind,
especially if he or she rides a small or
medium.
“The load slows down the steering a
bit,” Speare said. “Pretty much all of our
customers run it with a front rack. Without
the load, it’s super lively and requires a
lot of attention to steering input, which, if
you’ve been riding mostly 29ers lately, will
feel pretty foreign, I imagine.”
It was definitely a change of pace. If a
29er sometimes feels like a road bike with
fat tires, the 650b-wheeled NFE feels more
like a mountain bike with drop bars. Just
for fun, I took my old 26-inch hardtail
out on the same circuit and felt many
similarities, right down to overcooking
47
some of the same corners.
Speaking of cooking, my NFE
arrived spec’d out like a meal at a Pacific
Northwest restaurant specializing
in regional foods. Speare included a
matching green porteur rack from
Haulin’ Colin (Seattle); an Ozette XL
rando bag and Jr. Ranger panniers from
Swift Industries (also Seattle); a Pika seat
bag from Revelate Designs (Anchorage),
and Gevenalle GX brake/shift levers
(Portland, Oregon).
This marked my first outing with
the Gevenalle levers, and I found them
an impressive alternative to the usual
integrated shifters. Like bar ends, they let
you mix and match Shimano’s 10-speed
road and mountain components, but with
the advantage of being able to switch
gears while riding on the hoods. They
don’t look as elegant as STI or SRAM’s
DoubleTap and take a bit of getting used
to, but you can quickly hit the 34x36
without having to reach for the drops,
leaving you free to focus on cleaning that
S-shaped rock garden that just appeared
dead ahead.
With everything attached, I put five
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ADVENTURE CYCLIST
f e b r u a r y 2 016
lbs. in the rando bag, added 10 lbs. to
the panniers, and stuffed my 2.6-lb. Fly
Creek UL2 into the seat bag. Then I set
about climbing some of the neighborhood
singletrack.
As Speare said, putting weight over
the front end settled the NFE down a bit.
But the handling remained responsive —
cornering at speed and in close quarters
was a breeze, and I was even able to
trackstand while searching for the best
line through a rock-studded section of
trail.
“Yeah, once you get a feel for the
handling, you can pull a U-turn on
most trails,” said Speare. “This is not a
traditional touring bike — it’s more geared
for endurance/long days, dirt-road, selfsupported, minimalist bike camping.”
Indeed, four NFE customers finished
the grueling 2015 Oregon Outback, a 365mile, self-supported tour of that state’s
dirt-road boonies. Bikeportland.org
publisher Jonathan Maus wrote about his
experience with the Outback, and it made
Hannibal’s alpine expedition look like
one of the National Lampoon “Vacation”
movies.
“That’s a good illustration of the
scenarios this bike was designed for
— super-long, hard days with lots of
climbing,” said Speare. “Minimalist
packing is essential to optimize the
comfort of where you’re spending your
time — in the saddle.”
Frankly, I didn’t spend nearly enough
time in the NFE’s saddle. After reading
Maus’s account of his odyssey, I felt even
less like Hannibal (and nothing at all like
Odysseus). My outings were confined to
the greater Albuquerque metropolitan
area, my meals were slightly elaborate
affairs cooked on a five-burner gas stove,
and I slept in my own bed instead of
under the stars.
What can I tell you? I’m a sluggard
who enjoys his comforts. But if I were
just a little more adventurous, you
might catch a glimpse of me herding an
Elephant over the mountain to see what I
could see.
Patrick O’Grady has written and cartooned about
cycling since 1989 for VeloNews, Bicycle Retailer &
Industry News, and a variety of other publications.
To read more from Patrick, visit maddogmedia.
wordpress.com.
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49
Road Test
SPECIFICATIONS
NINER RLT STEEL W/ 2-STAR
105 BUILD
Price: $2,500 (as reviewed)
Sizes available: 47cm, 50cm,
53cm, 56cm, 59cm, 62cm
myself, ignoring the fact that the
effort was warming me in the freezing
temperatures. The shaded, dirt shelf road
curved its way up the pass that served as
the opening volley in the 2015 Rebecca’s
Private Idaho gravel event. While there
was a number on the front of my Niner
RLT Steel test bike, I was there for new
roads and old friends, not heated sparring
with fellow cyclists, and to put Niner’s
latest offering through its paces.
Whether labeled gravel, adventure
road, all-road, or something similar, bikes
like Niner’s RLT (Road Less Traveled)
Steel continue to offer new, versatile
options for drop-bar riders who like to
mix it up. Sharing geometry and key
features with Niner’s original RLT Alloy,
the steel version easily clears 40mm
tires, offers the reliable stopping power
of disc brakes, a Pressfit 30 bottom
bracket (with the option of using Niner’s
eccentric bottom bracket for tensioning
a singlespeed or internal-gear hub
chain), and full compatibility with both
mechanical and electronic groupsets. Its
balanced, low (but not too low) bottom
bracket and long (but not too long)
chainstays make for a sure-footed bike
that changes direction when asked.
Niner says the RLT Steel is a bike
designed with gravel, dirt, and paved
roads in mind, whether its rider goes
fast and light or slowly and methodically.
While many users will keep the RLT in
a stripped-down form, its frame does
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ADVENTURE CYCLIST
f e b r u a r y 2 016
9. Wheelbase: 1038mm
10. Standover height: 819mm
Weight: 22.74 lbs. (without
pedals)
12. Fork: Niner Full Carbon Fork,
top)
➺ “DOES this climb ever end?” I asked
above ground: 285mm
8. Fork offset: 45mm
11. Frame: Niner RLT Steel w/
1. Seat tube: 56cm (center to
BY NICK LEGAN
7. Crank spindle height
Size tested: 56cm
TEST BIKE MEASUREMENTS
NINER RLT STEEL
6. Bottom bracket drop: 65mm
2. Top tube: 56.5cm (effective)
3. Head tube angle: 71.5°
4. Seat tube angle: 73.0°
5. Chainstays: 430mm
(horizontal)
Reynolds 853
QR 9mm (new model uses
thru-axle)
13. Rims: Niner alloy
14. Hubs: Niner Alloy, QR 9mm
front, 142x12mm thru axle
rear (new model uses thruaxle front)
15. Tires: Schwalbe G-One
Performance 700x35mm,
folding bead
16. Bottom bracket: FSA
GEARING IN INCHES
17. Crankset: FSA Energy,
172.5mm, 46/36T
18. Cassette: 11-speed Shimano
105 11-32T
19. Brake levers: Shimano 105
ST-5800 black
20. Shift levers: Shimano 105 ST-
5800 black
21. Brake calipers: Avid BB5
mechanical disc brake
3646
1188.9 113.6
1281.5 104.2
1375.2 96.1
1469.9 89.3
1661.1 78.1
1854.3 69.4
2048.9 62.5
2244.5 56.8
22. Pedals: N/A
2539.1 50.0
23. Seatpost: Niner alloy, 400mm
2834.9 44.6
24. Stem: Niner alloy, 100mm
3230.6 39.1
25. Handlebar: Niner Drop Top
Alloy, 44cm
26. Headset: Cane Creek
26. Saddle: Niner w/ Cr-Mo rails
Contact: Niner Bicycles, 1611
South College, Unit 202, Fort
Collins, Colorado, ninerbikes.
com.
feature rack and fender mounts both front
and rear. In fact with the updated fork
that Niner unveiled in October 2015, the
company offers the industry’s few carbon
fiber forks with mid-blade rack mounts
(the Specialized Diverge is another).
Rebecca’s Private Idaho was a worthy
test with 93 miles of prime Ketchum-area
dirt roads. With well-stocked, regular rest
stops, I didn’t need to take advantage of
the RLT’s third water-bottle-cage mount.
On the other hand, I did make use of the
Niner’s ample tire clearance by installing a
pair of Clement’s excellent 40mm X’Plor
MSO tires.
While the 56cm bike was a bit harsh for
my 155-lb. frame (although bigger riders
enthusiastically endorsed the bike’s ride
quality) with its stock 35mm Schwalbe
tires, the Clements went a long way to
smooth out the rough ride of dirt roads.
They also gave the bike a more surefooted feel that led me to explore several
singletrack connectors while riding at
home.
When I asked Niner’s Associate Brand
Manager Brad Cole about that perceived
rigidity, he mentioned that with Niner’s
background in mountain bikes, the
RLT frame and fork are built to surpass
Europe’s strict EN off-road specifications
required of mountain bikes sold on the
continent. “As a result, the frame and fork
ends up a bit stiffer, but stronger and more
durable.” he said. For this tester, that peace
of mind really did go a long way when I
considered taking the road less traveled. It
also means that the frame will carry a load
well when in touring mode.
When exploring the limits of the
Niner RLT on mountain bike trails, the
lack of a granny gear became apparent.
While the FSA Energy crankset is a fine,
value-oriented piece, the stock 46-36T
chainrings and 11-32 cassette limited where
my mortal legs and lungs could propel
the bike. In fairness, this isn’t a mountain
bike, and the fact that I was able to use
singletrack connectors on dirt-road rides
put a smile on my face.
To help a bit on long inclines, prior
51
to Rebecca’s Private Idaho, I installed a
34T chainring that I had in my parts box,
which helped limit my suffering. A triple or
a mountain bike rear cassette would have
opened even more possibilities for the
bike as an explorer and for loaded touring.
Thankfully, if you’d like to entertain that
option, Niner sells the RLT Steel as a
frameset ($1,500).
The basic layout of Rebecca’s Private
Idaho is a lollipop. And because the route
begins with a long climb out of Ketchum
that turns to dirt, the ride ends with a
well-earned descent back into town. While
Shimano 105 shifters, derailers, chain,
and cassette all performed just as you’d
expect from Shimano’s third-tier group,
featuring reliable accuracy that is a bit
heavier than its more expensive siblings.
Like most original equipment, replacing
the cables for slicker, more expensive
options would have improved both the
shifting and braking, but that’s a wear item
and nothing of concern.
Those wide 44cm bars mentioned
earlier are a Niner house brand model, as
are the zero-setback seatpost, saddle, stem
(with nifty beer-cap headset cap that you
INSTALL LIGHTS AND A REAR RACK TO CARRY
YOUR WORK ESSENTIALS AND SPICE UP THE
RIDE HOME BY HITTING A DIRT SECTION.
the Niner was wonderfully sure-footed
throughout the day’s ride, it was on this
descent, after 80 hard miles, that the
handling and intelligent spec on the RLT
Steel really shined. An ear-to-ear grin
installed itself on my dusty face as I did
my best John Tomac impression on the
rough dirt descent. The wide 44cm bars,
low bottom bracket, and long (think gravelbike long, not loaded-touring–bike long)
wheelbase gave me the confidence to let
it all hang out on bumpy corners where
overshooting the edge of the road had dire
consequences.
Avid’s budget BB5 mechanical disc
brakes did a fine job offering modulation
and power and the Niner wheels were true
after all my off-road escapades.
52
ADVENTURE CYCLIST
f e b r u a r y 2 016
can decorate with your favorite brew’s lid)
and wheels. While serviceable, these items
help to keep the cost down but are not the
lightest in category.
And that heft does add up a bit, with
the tested 56cm bike weighing in at 22.74
lbs. without pedals. For a bicycle with a
tough steel frame and a budget-oriented
specification, this is totally respectable.
I always encourage friends to focus on
the fit of a bike and refine it with nice
touchpoints and tires. Many bikes in this
weight category ride lighter than a scale
would indicate. With the Clement MSO
tires and my preferred saddle installed, I
never found myself cursing the bike’s extra
weight, but I did appreciate the stability
that accompanied its heft when flying
down dirt descents. So, like many things,
weight is a double-edged sword.
Beyond gravel and dirt road
exploring, Niner also pitches the bike as
a bikepacking or light touring bike. As
such it features rear rack mounts, and the
new fork offers a front thru-axle as well
as low-rider rack mounts. A road-touring
cyclist could fit robust, road-width tires and
fenders for cruising comfort, but the tall
gearing limits the heft of the load a Niner
RLT-mounted explorer might consider
if using a stock build. If you are fit and
seasoned in packing light, though, the RLT
will make a fine touring steed.
That versatility also makes the
RLT Steel a worthy weekend warrior
while serving double duty as a weekday
commuter. Install lights and a rear rack to
carry your work essentials and spice up the
ride home by hitting a dirt section.
The Niner RLT lives up to its name.
With a robust frame, disc brakes, and
healthy tires, the Niner encouraged me to
take overgrown doubletracks, singletrack
connectors, and the longer option on
several occasions. At $2,500, the Shimano
105-equipped model I tested is a great
value for a very versatile bike. My only
minor qualm is the gearing, but stronger
legs won’t mind, especially if the bike is
only used with light luggage. Unless you
have an ample parts collection at home,
the complete bike is a value compared
to the frameset option. As the basis of a
personalized world explorer, Niner’s RLT
Steel frame and fork would serve as a
wonderful foundation.
Nick Legan is the technical editor of Adventure
Cyclist.
Scenes From the Saddle
Top of the TransAm
PHOTOGRAPHS BY RON MCCLURE (TOP) AND ROGER GAITHER
➺ COLORADO’S HOOSIER PASS, looming high above already high Breckenridge (elevation 9,600 feet), crowns the
TransAmerica Bicycle Trail. Getting there is no easy task, thus the sign at the top is a popular spot for cross-country cyclists
looking for a keepsake from the highest spot along the route.
These two shots show that while Hoosier Pass may always be in the same location, it’s not always in the same place as
terms of the experience it dishes out. The top image, taken on a cold, snowy day in June 1976, is a far cry from the bottom
shot, taken in the summer of 2015 in shirtsleeves under blue skies. Of course any location on the trail can seem like a
different place from year to year — even day to day.
But perhaps the pass has moved! According to the new sign, Hoosier Pass is three feet lower than it was in 1976. Maybe
that’s another reason for the modern-day grins — they had to a climb a whole yard less than Bikecentennial riders did.
This story and hundreds more are featured in a new coffee-table–book celebrating the TransAm Trail. Watch for more details in
the March issue of Adventure Cyclist.
53
A REASON TO RIDE
COURTESY EMPIRE STATE RIDE
New York's Empire State Ride offers stunning scenery and a chance to help the fight against cancer
The Empire State Ride might begin in Manhattan, but the scenery en route to Niagara Falls is a far cry from the Big Apple.
BY DAN D’AMBROSIO
T
he first annual Empire State Ride
left Manhattan last August bound
for Niagara Falls with 10 riders
who raised $55,000 to support the fight
against cancer at Roswell Park Cancer
Institute in Buffalo, New York. Roswell
Park, founded in 1892 by Dr. Roswell
Park, was the first comprehensive cancer
center in the nation, now one of 41 such
centers in the country. Roswell Park
Alliance Foundation is the fundraising
arm of the cancer institute.
Jay Josker, ride director and senior
special events coordinator for the
foundation, explained that to earn the
“comprehensive care” designation,
Roswell Park meets four standards from
the National Cancer Institute.
“The four pillars are: we treat patients,
we do research and education, we have
partnerships with the University of
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ADVENTURE CYCLIST
f e b r u a r y 2 016
Buffalo and other schools, and then
prevention,” Josker said. “We run the
New York State smoker quit line through
Roswell Park.”
Roswell Park also has one of the best
data bank repositories in the country.
“Basically, we cryogenically freeze
cell tissues from cancer patients we
treat here,” Josker said. “It’s coded: for
example, a 35-year-old Hispanic male
with lung cancer.”
Cancer researchers from across the
nation rely on Roswell Park for cell
tissues to study as the search for new
treatments, and ultimately a cure, for
cancer continues.
Roswell Park treats about 30,000
cancer patients annually, primarily from
New York State, but also from other
states and even other countries. One of
the Roswell Park doctors is currently
helping set up a new cancer treatment
center in Nigeria, which previously
didn’t have any such facility.
“Also, our CEO, Dr. Candace Johnson,
was one of a select group that traveled
to Cuba with the government of New
York where they entered into a research
partnership with an agency in Cuba,”
Josker said. “The Cubans do some really
great research. You wouldn’t think they
would have been able to because of
the embargo but they have isolated a
gene that could have great potential for
specific cancer research.”
The foundation Josker works for
raised $20 million for cancer research
at Roswell Park this year through
grants, personal donations, and events.
The money was used to fund “Phase 1”
research for new ways to treat cancer.
“Twenty million dollars sounds like
a lot, but unfortunately, it’s not,” Josker
said. “We get hundreds of applications
every year and we only pick the best ones
that we think have the best possibilities.”
A big, hairy, ambitious goal
The Roswell Park Alliance Foundation
was already running a one-day ride to
raise money for cancer research. The
Ride for Roswell, now in its 20th year,
raised $4.6 million with 8,000 riders
in 2015, the single largest one-day
fundraising bike ride in North America,
according to Josker.
“We have a volunteer advisory
committee,” Josker said. “We did some
team-building exercises, and one of
the questions they posed to us was, ‘If
you could do one thing — a big, hairy,
ambitious goal — what would it be?’”
The answer that came back from two
Alliance Foundation employees: “We’d
love to do a bike ride across New York
State.”
That was in December 2013.
“That’s how it started, at a retreat,”
Josker remembered. “We started building
a business plan early in 2014 and had it
completed by February.”
The inaugural ride last August was
small by design, just 10 riders, to work
out the kinks before opening the ride to a
larger audience. Josker, however, said he
would have taken as many as 50 riders for
that initial event.
“Ten was fine with us, we had 10 really
good people,” Josker said. “They hit a
good cross-section of what we think the
larger group is going to look like.”
Looking for a challenge
One of those 10 inaugural riders was
Anne-Fleur Andrle, 30, originally from
France but now living in Cambridge,
Massachusetts, where her American
husband convinced her to move.
“I was looking with a friend of mine
for a sports challenge for the summer,”
Andrle said. “I heard about the Empire
State Ride, which sounded beautiful. It
was for a great cause, so the combination
convinced us.”
Andrle, a business development
manager in Cambridge, was not an
experienced rider.
“To be very honest with you, I came
up to the ride with a mountain bike, with
mountain tires,” she said. “That was very
challenging. It was really bad. I did half
the ride on it before we switched to road
bikes.”
Despite the challenges of riding 518
miles in seven days, partially on an illequipped mountain bike, Andrle soon
found herself lost both in the beauty of
New York State and the friendliness and
curiosity of its people.
“That was pretty amazing,” Andrle
said. “New York is a beautiful state.
We saw everything — New York City,
mountains, beautiful rivers. It’s really
gorgeous.
“The hills were challenging, but
that’s not what I want to remember.
The people we met along the ride, kids
with a lemonade stand on the side of the
road, everybody was happy to see us and
proud to show us their region. That was
cool.”
Like most of the riders on the
Empire State Ride, Andrle had someone
suffering from cancer in mind as she
rode the backroads of New York. An
elderly woman in France whom she calls
her grandma, even though they’re not
related by blood.
“She always had the role of my
grandma,” Andrle said. “She died three
weeks ago, in France. Unfortunately I
was not able to see her before she died.”
While on the ride, Andrle learned that
her 30-year-old cousin in France also
has cancer. Her cousin’s cancer began as
breast cancer but has spread.
“I was really impressed,” Andrle said.
“She’s in a tough condition, but she
wants to come and ride one day with
us next year. This is really great, great
motivation for us. Sadly, everbody can
relate to this ride.”
A very determined young man
Kara Easton-Weaver, another of
the 10 inaugural riders, is Roswell
Park’s Executive Director of Patient
Experience. She collaborates with
everyone from operations staff to
facilities staff to offer more comfort to
patients. That includes how the patient
is admitted to what the building layout
looks like.
“Everything is patient-centered,”
Easton-Weaver said.
Easton-Weaver began her career
as a patient advocate for her own
husband, who suffered from a rare aortic
dissection 15 years ago, a condition in
which a tear in the outer wall of the
aorta causes blood to flow between the
layers of the wall of the aorta, forcing the
layers apart.
When her husband’s aorta dissected,
his right arm and leg became paralyzed
because of blood loss, followed by his
left leg. The couple were engaged to be
married at the time.
“He was a very determined young
man, he was a firefighter,” Easton-Weaver
said. “He went back to school, and was
able to drive this past year with the help
of technology and prosthetics. He has
been my motivation in my career and
everything I do.”
Easton-Weaver, 39, decided to do the
Empire State Ride for several reasons.
“I’m not a big cyclist, but I like to get
out on my bike for meditation,” she said.
“As an executive at Roswell Park I felt I
needed to do more for my patients and
families. On a personal note, I wanted
to push myself physically. It seemed like
such a challenge. It was one of those
moments when you say, ‘Why not? It’s
a great cause.’ Every one of us has been
touched by cancer.”
Still, Easton-Weaver was “incredibly
anxious” about the ride.
All of Easton-Weaver’s fears were
allayed when she got to New York City
and met her fellow riders.
“It was this incredible connection,”
she said. “All of us had a personal story, a
professional story. All had the same fears,
even those with more cycling under their
belts.”
“I have to say personally the ride was
one of the most gratifying things I’ve
done in my life. The 10 of us bonded
immediately. I don’t think I’d laughed
that hard in many years. We supported
each other. If one person needed to stop,
55
Ride to Liv
Giant CFO committed to women's cycling
I
n 2007, then-57-year–old Bonnie
Tu signed up for the Formosa 900
(also called the Tour of Taiwan).
Tu, who is the Chief Financial
Officer of Giant Bicycles, hadn’t ridden
since she was a kid. In preparation, she
went to her local shop to kit up.
“I couldn’t find the proper apparel,
bike, or accessory,” Tu said. “So I had
to wear extra small men’s apparel and I
had to ride a men’s bike.”
She rode portions of the tour that
year, and returned in 2008 to complete
the trip in 15 days. “The tour was
excellent,” she said, “but the apparel
annoyed me. We females should be
entitled to have our own bikes and
apparel and accessories so we can look
good on the bike, so we can enjoy the
ride. During that experience, I decided
that the bicycle industry didn’t treat
females fairly, so we (Giant) should do
something.”
So she did — she created a sister
brand, Liv.
Tu got into the cycling industry as
an investor. As a university student
majoring in literature and art at
Taiwan’s Tamkang University, cycling
captured Tu’s imagination. She wasn’t
a rider, but in 1972 she read about the
health benefits of cycling, and she
bought stock in fledgling Giant Bicycle
Company, becoming one of its first
shareholders.
“In Taiwan people used the bicycle
as a transportation tool,” Tu said. “I
56
ADVENTURE CYCLIST
f e b r u a r y 2 016
read in a magazine from the U.S. that
people were using it for sport, and
that cycling is good for cardiac health.
Sport for health seemed to me like a
good investment.”
By 2007, when Tu first participated
in the Formosa 900, Giant had been
trying unsuccessfully to break into
the women’s market for years. Posttour, when Tu approached senior
management, distraught that she
couldn’t find a women’s bike and
apparel, Giant gained new perspective
on how to approach the women’s
market. “Women’s needs are so
different from men’s,” Tu said. “The
Giant management group finally
understood that bikes weren’t all that
was needed, but apparel, accessories
and also a shopping experience to
meet the female consumer’s needs.”
Tu and her colleagues at Giant
launched Liv in Taiwan in 2008
through their Giant dealers. They
also launched a Liv concept shop
so the brand could learn how to sell
to women. Since then, the brand
split from Giant and has launched
concept stores worldwide — including
countries that aren’t always thought
of as hotbeds of women’s cycling like
Dubai.
That’s because Tu’s mission isn’t
just to make bikes and gear that
appeal to women, but to turn cycling
into a mainstream sport for women
worldwide.
“In Taiwan and everywhere, we try
to propose to women that cycling is a
very good sport for you — especially
for runners. In Asia we have a lot of
women that run marathons. We’re
trying to educate those women that
cycling is a good alternative because
it’s a low-impact sport.”
The fitness benefits of cycling are
the first point that Tu wants to drive
home. She also sees cycling as an
entrée for empty nesters — a way for
women to get back into “the stream
of society.” And she understands how
cycling can boost a woman’s selfesteem, making her strong mentally
and physically. “The more you ride
the better you get,” Tu said. “It’s very
easy for women to feel free on a bike
and to build their confidence and selfesteem.”
So Tu has taken her brand and
her mission to countries where the
community of female riders is small
or non-existent, and even countries
COURTESY LIV
BY BERNE BROUDY
where cycling is considered taboo.
Liv is a sponsor of the Afghanistan
women’s cycling team, as well as Iran’s
national women’s team. After opening
a Liv store in Dubai, Tu was inspired
to develop cycling apparel for Muslim
women. “We need to provide product
that fits women’s lifestyles,” says Tu.
“Wherever you live, if you’re a woman
and you want to ride a bike, we need
to provide you a decent outfit.”
Tackling women’s needs worldwide
is a big task, but one that Tu, who is
often referred to as the Godmother
of Cycling, is up to. What she’s
found: “Men are concerned more
with tech and performance. Females
take technology for granted — it’s
important, and they assume that they
are getting the best. But as women, we
believe we are entitled to something
chic, beautiful, and distinctive. We
believe design should be better. We
care about the total look.”
Worldwide, however, tastes vary.
What women want from a high-end
performance bike is similar from
country to country. But women’s taste
in commuting and “shopping” bikes
is radically different from country to
country, particularly when it comes
to color and graphics. American and
European women prefer what Tu calls
“sober, mature, low-profile” colors
and graphics, while Asian markets go
for bright colors and patterns.
“Even though we spend a lot
of time thinking about color and
graphics, and even though our
apparel is very fashionable, we are not
a Barbie brand — we don’t exist just
for looks,” Tu said. “We base Liv bikes
on women’s geometry, so they don’t
just look good but they feel good.
When we come up with a product, I
sit all my team members down and
ask them 'do you want to buy it?’ If I
hear them say this is for another kind
of woman, not me, we don’t produce
it. Only when everyone sitting around
the table wants that product badly do
we make it. It’s our heart and sweat
and blood that we’re selling under the
Liv brand.”
Tu keeps her team of designers
hard at work. And she’s grown Liv
into 10 percent of Giant’s revenues
over the past eight years by focusing
on what syncs with women’s lifestyles
country by country. In the U.S.,
she has established an ambassador
program with professional, semiprofessional, and amateur racers and
riders. “They all have such a passion
to promote cycling to females,”
she said. At home in Taiwan, Tu is
working with the city of Taipei to run
a citywide bike-share program.
And she pedals regularly — 30
miles at least twice a week and loves
climbs. Tu has ridden up the highest
mountain in Taiwan, as well as
Japan’s Mount Fuji. She’s led groups
of Taiwanese bike dealers to Japan to
ride, and she’s ridden in China, the
U.S., and Europe. “And when I go on
holiday, I make sure that the hotel
will provide a decent bike,” she said.
Tu has now completed the Tour of
Taiwan five times, the latest just days
after our interview, when she took
a group of female Taiwanese bike
dealers.
It seems very matter-of-fact when
Tu describes it. It’s step-by-step
advocacy, but she sees the results. In
the U.S. last July, she met Liv dealers
and ambassadors who thanked her
for her work and shared their stories
of how Liv had impacted their lives.
“This touched me very deeply, and
made me very proud,” said Tu.
And it gave her even more reason to
continue her efforts full force.
“It’s still in the very beginning,” Tu
said. “I do not think Liv is already a
success and that we can rest. I am on
a crusade. I am naïve and full of ideas
and passion — I am trying to create a
better world.”
Berne Broudy is a Vermont-based writer and
photographer.
57
Donor Profile
Donor Profile: Kathy Schubert
BY APRIL CYPHER
➺ It didn’t take Kathy Schubert long
“EVERYONE WHO RIDES
A BIKE SHOULD WEAR
A HELMET. DOGS
INCLUDED.”
58
ADVENTURE CYCLIST
f e b r u a r y 2 016
to go from learning to ride a bike to
riding a loaded bike. As a young girl in
Chicago’s Albany Park neighborhood,
Kathy started traveling back and forth
from the library, her bike basket piled
with books, as soon as the training
wheels came off. The thrill of loading
up her bike hasn’t worn over time. She
has navigated the Windy City with a
30-pound electric water heater, pulled
a rented carpet shampooing machine,
and regularly packs her panniers for
multiday tours. But her favorite cargo
is her 18-pound Miniature Schnauzer,
Suzy.
Before signing Suzy’s adoption
papers at the shelter, there was one
thing Kathy needed to know. She set
Suzy in the bike basket and watched.
“If she didn’t like it, I knew it wouldn’t
work out.” Now, Suzy is Kathy’s most
consistent cycling partner. After 16
RAGBRAI rides — 10 with her previous
Mini Schnauzer Joey, and six with
Suzy — Kathy has made a name for
herself as the lady with the dog.
Traveling by bike with a dog poses
challenges, like finding dog-friendly
lodging, but Kathy finds the benefits of
taking Suzy far outweigh any difficulty.
When last year’s RAGBRAI route was
announced, Kathy called veterinarians
in small Iowa towns to inquire about
who might host the pair for a night.
She quickly found places to stay with
some vets offering their own homes.
Over the years, Kathy has gathered
enough anecdotes about riding
RAGBRAI with Joey and Suzy that
she’s turned it into a stand-up comedy
routine.
What sets Kathy and Suzy apart
from most other people riding with
their dogs are the costumes and
matching helmets.
“Everyone who rides a bike
should wear a helmet,” said Kathy.
“Dogs included.” Three companies
manufacture dog helmets, but by
making them herself Kathy finds she
can get the perfect fit and customize
them to match her themed helmets.
Their current count for matching sets?
Fourteen.
At home, Kathy is best known
throughout Chicago’s cycling
community for her advocacy work,
garnering awards from both the city’s
Department of Transportation and
Critical Mass Chicago. After she fell
while riding her bike on a notoriously
dangerous grated bridge in 2002,
she started a petition by handing out
postcards that urged the city to make
the bridge more bike-friendly. Kathy
knows she can’t claim all the credit for
metal plates that were later installed to
make it safer for cyclists, but she has
more than one friend who refers to the
plates as “Kathy plates.”
Though much of her work is
focused on making Chicago a better
place to ride, her dedication to the
COURTESY K ATHY SCHUBERT
Chicago cyclist has dog, will travel
TransAmerica Bicycle Trail created by
Adventure Cycling Co-Founder Greg
Siple and editor Mac McCoy.
If you’re one of the 8,500-plus
riders cycling across Iowa during 2016
RAGBRAI, keep an eye out for Kathy
and Suzy. With their matching jerseys,
the iconic duo shouldn’t be hard to
spot. As Kathy said of Suzy, “she is the
RAGBRAI dog.”
April Cypher is Adventure Cycling’s Development
Coordinator. She was disappointed to learn there is no
known recording of Kathy’s comedy routine.
DAN BURDEN
cycling community extends far beyond
the Midwest. A longtime supporter
and member of Adventure Cycling
Association, Kathy became a Life
Member in 2001. More recently, she
helped fund a large-format book
celebrating the 40th anniversary of the
Riding the final miles of
the TransAmerica Bicycle
Trail in Virginia in 1976.
SUPPORT ADVENTURE CYCLING
Change lives through the power of bicycle travel.
Your support to Adventure Cycling helps
to inspire and empower people to travel
by bicycle. Bike travel is a life-defining
experience and without the tools and
encouragement provided by Adventure
Cycling, many would-be travelers would
never be able to make their dreams of bicycle
adventure a reality.
You can support Adventure Cycling by
donating to our Annual Fund, Young Adult
Scholarship Fund, U.S. Bicycle Route System
campaign, sponsoring miles along the
Adventure Cycling Route Network, putting
Adventure Cycling in your will, and more!
Find out more at adventurecycling.org/
support.
Thanks to the following sponsors of the upcoming book chronicling the history of the
TransAmerica Bicycle Trail, who jumped at the chance to help bring the vibrant story of the
TransAm Trail to life through their generous support.
• Ben & Lindsay Banks
• Harry Lammot Belin
• Peter L. Bower
• Matthew Cohn & Mary Ellen Holverson
• Don Dolben with daughters Kate & Tory
• Arlen Hall & Shawn Decareaux
• Jim & Wendy Homerosky
• Diane Houslanger
• Dinni Jain
• Kathleen McNamara
• Mike Morency
• Charlie Pace
• Frank Schipper
• Kathy Schubert
• Joe Golden: To honor my fellow 2009
TransAm riders: Alice, Andy, Cammie,
Dave P, David R, Frank, Judie, Ralph, and
Tom. Also, to the memory of Ollie.
59
RATE: Marketplace ads start at $195 per
issue. For rate information, please contact
Rick Bruner. Phone/fax: 509.493.4930, Email:
[email protected].
Market Place
Small Groups . SAG
Hotels . Meals
www.aroundwisbike.com
BIKE TOURS OF VERMONT
• Peace of Mind Guaranteed •
60
ADVENTURE CYCLIST
f e b r u a r y 2 016
www.pomgbike.com
888-635-BIKE
DYNAMO USB CHARGERS
Revolution R E A C T O R
www.sinewavecycles.com
Designed in Cambridge, MA | Made in the USA
61
Classified Ads
ACCOMMODATIONS
WHITEFISH BIKE RETREAT Hostel-Style
Lodging located in Whitefish, Montana, on the
Great Divide, Northern Tier, and Great Parks
Adventure Cycling Routes. Lodging options
starting at $45/night. Camping Available. Shuttles
Available. A Place Created For Cyclists By Cyclists!
406-260-0274, www.whitefishbikeretreat.com.
KALISPELL HOSTEL On route to Glacier
National Park, the Continental Divide Trail
and 6 minutes to the Rails to Trails bike path.
Located above Wheaton’s Bicycle Shop, est. 1918
in Historic Downtown Kalispell. Direct access
to shopping, restaurants and pubs. (406) 2701653, www.kalispellhostel.com.
BOOKS
THE POWER OF PEDALING After logging
more than 150,000 miles by bicycle, Janet Cady
Zebrack and Jerry Zebrack sat down to write “The
Power of Positive Pedaling: A Couple’s Stories
and Lessons Learned from Three Decades of
Cycling the World.” The authors began bicycle
touring in 1981 as a way to have fun with their
two young sons. Now, 34 years later, they’re still
touring the world. The pair is donating all profits
from the book to Adventure Cycling Association.
Brimming with details about their adventures and
photographs taken along the way, the paperback
is available for $18.95 through Cyclosource: http://
ow.ly/QqFpz and eBook version for $2.99 on
Amazon: http://ow.ly/QhXnw.
BICYCLE TOURING GEAR
THETOURINGSTORE.COM Expedition
Quality Panniers, Racks, & Bicycle Touring
Gear. See Ortlieb, Tubus, Lone Peak, and
more! Questions? Call Wayne at Toll-Free 800-7470588. Email Wayne at wayne@thetouringstore.
com, or visit us at www.TheTouringStore.com.
Mention this classified ad and receive 10% off of
your next order — now through March 31, 2016.
BIKE SHOPS
TANDEM EXPO 2016 April 2nd & 3rd. Pittsgrove
Twp Middle School. Over 80 tandems in stock,
seminars, free food, admission and raffle. A great
place to buy a tandem. Over 12 different brands on
display Tandemseast.com Tandemseast@gmail.
com 856.451.5104.
INTERNATIONAL TOURS
REAL TRAVEL FRANCE — BIKE TOURS
THAT NOURISH Farm to Table meets Travel by
Bike on organic food, wine and cycling tours in
the southernmost region of France. Taste and
discover French Catalonia where the Pyrenees
drop dramatically into the Mediterranean with
resident Franco-American tour leaders. www.
realtravelfrance.com.
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ADVENTURE CYCLIST
f e b r u a r y 2 016
RATE: $115 for the first 30 words, $2 for each additional word.
For more information, please contact Rick Bruner at phone/fax:
509.493.4930, email: [email protected].
CYCLOMUNDO Plan your trip with local experts.
Explore France, Italy, Spain, and Switzerland.
More than 80 Guided and self-guided trips by
France-based company. Leisurely to challenging.
Tailored itineraries for groups. Check us out
at www.cyclomundo.com.
HOLLAND — DISCOVER THE HIDDEN GEMS
Scenic and safe biking in the cyclist’s paradise!
Local expertise for routes and accommodation.
Excellent equipment. Recreational, road and
e-bike tours. Varied tour program and tailor-made
options. www.hollandbiketours.com.
OK CYCLE & ADVENTURE TOURS Follow Your
Dreams. Since 1995, fabulous cycling and vacations
worldwide (including bike/barge and trekking
too), guided and self-guided, for all levels of
abilities. Exclusive and custom tours also available.
Share the passion! www.okcycletours.com.
PEDAL AND SEA ADVENTURES We’re a
personable travel company offering creative
cycling and multi-sport adventures in many of
the world’s best places, including Nova Scotia,
Newfoundland, P.E.I., Croatia, Italy, and Ireland.
Guided and self-guided. Van-supported. Friendly
guides. Charming inns. Custom groups anytime.
Over 70% return clientele since 2005! Toll Free
Phone: 877-777-5699. Please email us at info@
pedalandseaadventures.com or visit our website:
www.pedalandseaadventures.com.
MADAGASCAR — THE 8TH CONTINENT
Lemurs, giraffe-necked weevils, beautiful baobab
trees, and much more. Madagascar is one of the
least explored places by cycle tourists — time
to change that! tdaglobalcycling.com/8thcontinent or (416) 364-8255.
LUXURY BIKE TOURS IN HUNGARY & AUSTRIA
Unique castle & family hotels, gourmet & wine
experiences, nicest routes & sights, superb
bikes, small groups, fully guided & supported
rides personally with the owners. www.
tradnaturasport.hu [email protected].
CROATIA BY BIKE AND BOAT This is absolutely
the only way to find the heart of this diverse and
poetic country. We will tour through the towns
of Split, Hvar, Stari Grad, and Korcula — towns
that include two UNESCO World Heritage Sites,
so named for their impeccable preservation,
historic value, and stunning beauty. Each evening
we make our way back to our private boat, which
is outfitted with all the necessary comforts,
and begin our journey to the next stunning
vista, perhaps stopping enroute for a dip in the
sparkling clear water. Contact our office for more
details. Toll free phone: 877-777-5699. Email us
at [email protected], or visit our
website: www.pedalandseaadventures.com.
CONNECTING QUEBEC CITY AND NEW
ORLEANS French Connection celebrates
two great French enclaves. We’ll cycle the
Appalachians, visit New York, Washington,
experience Memphis, Nashville, and enter
‘NOLA’ along the Mississippi. (416) 364-8255 or
tdaglobalcycling.com/french-connection
CLASSIC ADVENTURES Bicycling Vacations
since 1979. Full route support, experienced
guides, gourmet cuisine. Austria, France, Greece/
Crete, Germany, Lake Constance, Quebec,
Vermont, Mississippi-Natchez Trace, Texas Hill
Country, NY Finger Lakes, Historic Erie Canal,
Coast to Coast. Free Catalog (800) 777-8090
www.classicadventures.com.
HELP WANTED
JOIN THE CYCLE AMERICA® SUMMER STAFF Spend an adventuresome summer traveling
while sharing ride and work responsibilities.
Positions include: Tour Support Volunteers,
Bike Mechanics, Massage Therapists, Picnic
and Route Coordinators. 800-716-4426. www.
CycleAmerica.com.
NORTH AMERICAN TOURS & EVENTS
AMERICA BY BICYCLE, INC. Your full service
bicycle touring leader. Choose from 38 tours
ranging from 5 to 52 days. Let us take you on your
dream ride Coast to Coast! abbike.com. 888-7977057 FREE CATALOG.
AROUND WISCONSIN BICYCLE TOURS Beer,
cheese, lakes, woods — Wisconsin! We offer
affordable fully supported 7-day tours featuring
hotel and resort lodging with restaurant meals.
Flavors of Wisconsin, July 17 -23, 2016. Northern
Woods and Waters, August 7 - 13, 2016. www.
aroundwisbike.com 920-427-6086.
BEER & BIKE TOURS We offer small group
cycling tours throughout the United States,
Europe and Japan. Spend the day cycling
and sampling local Craft Beer. Cheers! www.
beerandbiketours.com or 970-201-1085.
CROSSROADS CYCLING ADVENTURES 20th
Anniversary! Los Angeles to Boston or anyplace in
between. Come ride with Tracy Leiner — owner,
cyclist, and tour director. Tracy travels with every
group, everyday! Small groups, personal attention,
business-class hotels and meals. Luggage delivered
to your hotel room and A/C turned on before
you arrive! Extensive pre-trip support including
training plan, weekly newsletters, rider/staff
email introductions and telephone consultations.
Rider references available (800) 971-2453
crossroadscycling.com.
COAST 2 COAST Hassle-free closely following
Southern Tier averaging 63 miles per day. Fully
supported including freshly-prepared great
tasting meals, and a mechanic. You dip your rear
wheel into the Pacific and your front wheel into
the Atlantic, we will do everything in between. We
even do your dirty laundry! March 4 - April 25,
2016. Details from BubbasPamperedPedalers.
com or [email protected].
BIG DREAM BIKE TOURS Newport Beach,
CA, to Pleasure Bay Beach, Boston, MA, or any
section. GARMIN, hotels, meals, SAG provided.
Family owned to focus on your fun, safety and
adventure. www.bigdreambiketours.com 844379-2453.
CYCLE MASSACHUSETTS July 30 - August 5,
2016. Not just a ride, it’s a Celebration of Cycling
in Massachusetts. For 2016, we ride in 4 states
with quaint towns, spectacular routes, food and
local culture. 2, 4, 5 and 7 day options. Find out
why we’re “The Friendliest Ride the East.” www.
CycleMA.com or 617 710-1832.
BIKE GAPCO Great Alleghany Passage/ C & O Canal
Pittsburgh to DC. June 26–July 2, 2016. Bicycle
through American History on this totally traffic-free
tour while staying in B&Bs and hotels. Breakfasts and
dinners included as well as lodging. Daily mileage
options on this fully supported which includes
route sheets and SAG stops. This tour will start just
outside Pittsburgh where you will be returned upon
completion. It’s your vacation PAMPER yourself.
Details from BubbasPamperedPedalers.com or
[email protected].
CHARLESTON BICYCLE TOURS Come enjoy
along with the owners two of the South’s best rides:
Charleston-Savannah and Asheville-Blue Ridge
Mountains. Van supported tours, luxury inns,
gourmet meals and small fun groups. 800-4081830. www.charlestonbicycletours.com.
VACATION BICYCLING Treat yourself to a fun,
beautiful and unforgettable 7-day bicycle tour!
Mississippi River Trail & New Orleans $1599;
The Florida Keys & Key West $1599; Charleston
& Savannah $1599; Jackson Hole $1599; Outer
Banks $1299; and Maui $1699. Come join us!
Trips are fully supported including hotels, food
& SAG. Celebrating our 10th year Anniversary.
706-363-0341 or 800-490-2173 or www.
VacationBicycling.com.
GREAT FREEDOM ADVENTURES Inspired bike
tours and multi-sport vacations with regional
experts. Fine lodging, top chefs, stellar routes,
high-end bikes and awesome guides. Group,
private and custom tours. Corporate teambuilding and charity events. Call today: 877-5451864 www.greatfreedomadventures.com.
CYCLE OF LIFE ADVENTURES New for 2016 —
“Route 66,” “The Appalachian Trail,” and "EPIC
Colorado.” All-Inclusive, Fully supported bicycling
vacations. Scenery, History, Outstanding Hotels,
Upscale Dining. Rider references available! ·Tours
of varying difficulty throughout the U.S. Original,
challenging, adventurous routes. Small groups
— 12 or less, personal attention. Ride with the
owner every trip. Phone: 303-945-9886 CHECK
US OUT: www.cycleoflifeadventures.com email:
[email protected].
CYCLE NORTH CAROLINA COASTAL RIDE
(April 22-24, 2016) Edenton, NC — Enjoy
unique waterfront camping and cycling on
scenic country roads in Coastal North Carolina.
Register for 1, 2, or 3 days. Various mileage
options for all skill levels from easy family to
challenging century. Additional lodging options
are available. Fully supported with SAG support
and rest stops. [email protected] www.
ncsports.org.
CYCLE AMERICA Enjoy a Fully Supported
Cycling Vacation this Summer. Ride Seattle to
Boston on an epic Coast-to-Coast tour or explore
America’s treasures on our series of National Park
trips. First-Rate Support, Great Routes and Good
Friends! Let Us Help You Plan Your Next Fun
and Affordable Adventure. 800-245-3263. www.
CycleAmerica.com.
CYCLING THE ERIE CANAL — July 10-17,
2016 — Learn from canal historians about the
people, places and things that made the canal so
important. Visit museums, take a boat tour on the
canal and enjoy miles of beautiful rural scenery.
The 400-mile route from Buffalo to Albany, NY,
is 70 percent canal path and 30 percent adjacent
roads. Most meals, SAG, refreshment stops,
luggage transport, maps & cue sheets, evening
entertainment, campsites at schools and colleges.
www.ptny.org/canaltour or 518.434-1583.
FLORIDA KEYS HOTEL TRIP Fully supported,
outstanding hotel accommodations, DoubleTree
by Hilton, Holiday Inn Express, Hampton Inn.
6-day trip December 5-10, 2016. Key Largo to
Key West & back. Stunning beach scenery, great
meals, 2 layover days in Key West. Only $950.00.
www.floridakeysbikeride.com, 847-309-4740,
[email protected].
WOMEN ONLY BIKE TOURS For all ages and
abilities. Fully supported, inn-to-inn, bike path
& road tours. Cross-country, National Parks,
Europe & more. Bicycle workshops, wine tasting,
yoga. Call for free catalog. 800-247-1444, www.
womantours.com.
SOCKEYE CYCLE CO. Alaska Bicycle Tours,
Rentals, Sales, Service. Established in 1988, we
specialize in guided bicycle tours of Alaska’s
Southeast panhandle and remote areas of
Canada’s Northwest British Columbia and the
Yukon Territory. Whether you take a day tour
or one of our extended trips, our experienced
guide staff will escort you on an unforgettable
adventure through the northern wilderness. POB
829, 24 Portage St. Haines, AK 99827-0829, TF
877-292-4154, 907-766-2869, Fax 907-766-2851, 381
Fifth Ave. Skagway, AK (May - Sept) 907-983-2851.
www.cyclealaska.com.
CYCLE NORTH CAROLINA 18th Annual
"Mountains to Coast" (October 1 - October 8)
— Cycle 450 plus miles while experiencing the
North Carolina countryside on scenic back roads
amidst beautiful fall colors. Explore quaint towns,
visit famous State Parks, Historic Sites, wineries,
and more. Fully supported with SAG Support and
rest stops. Various registration options available.
[email protected] www.ncsports.org.
TIMBERLINE ADVENTURES Fully supported
bicycling & hiking adventure vacations with an
organization whose sole focus for 32 years is
extraordinary adventure throughout western
U.S. & Canada. Website: www.timbertours.com,
Email: [email protected], Phone: 800-417-2453.
SANTA FE TRAIL BICYCLE TRIP 2016 22nd
Year. Sept. 11 - 30, Non-Profit, Camping, Fully
Supported www.SantaFeTrailBicycleTrek.com.
CYCLE THE SELKIRKS Six-day, 350+ mile, fully
supported Rotary ride September 12th to the 17th
on the International Selkirk Loop. A spectacular
scenic-byway through Washington, Canada and
Idaho. Beautiful scenery, small communities and
a challenging ride with superior SAG support for
riders. www.WaCanId.org or 1-888-823-2626.
MICHIGAN TRAILS Named one of the "Top
10 Multi-Day Rides in America" by Bicycling
Magazine, The Michigander is a 2/6/8 day is an
affordable bicycling vacation every July featuring
paved and crushed surface trails, Great Lakes
beaches, forests, rivers, and a healthy serving of
brewpubs. It's the perfect Pure Michigan route.
www.michigander.bike.
TWO NATION VACATION Bike the International
Selkirk Loop, North America’s only two-nation
Scenic Byway through Washington, Idaho
and Canada. Pick your pace for 270+ miles of
incredible self-supported riding! Cyclists guide
including elevation maps, itinerary and alternate
routes available at www.selkirkloop.org or 1-888823-2626.
63
Classified Ads
continued
THE GREAT ALLEGHENY PASSAGE AND C&O
CANAL 334.5 continuous trail miles from Pittsburgh
to DC; custom or group tours; includes B&Bs, inns,
excellent meals, luggage shuttle, full SAG support,
vehicle or people and gear shuttle; attractions
including Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater,
Antietam battlefield, plus so much more ... Call
Trail Gail at 301-722-4887 240-7277039 or www.
mountainsidebiketours.us “You Pedal, We Pamper."
RIDE THE FAULT LINE 4
states in 1 week! June
12-18. 400 mostly flat miles along the New
Madrid fault line through Missouri, Arkansas,
Tennessee, Kentucky. Unique history, river
crossings, bald eagles, agriculture, southern
hospitality! Register now www.ridethefault.com.
OREGON COAST ADVENTURE Join us for a
fully supported bike tour. We have openings for
14-day trips in June and July 2016. Learn more
on Facebook @ CYCLING 101 LLC or www.
cycling101.net or call Troy @ 928-200-0211.
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 55
D'AMBROSIO: EMPIRE
there was always support. People helped
each other, encouraged each other up
those long climbs. We had an almost
spiritual experience.”
Nothing compared to chemo
Easton-Weaver also had a lot of time
and mileage to clear her head and think
about her life.
“When we stopped in different
towns, people see your jersey and ask
what you’re doing,” she remembered.
“You hear wonderful stories about
people fighting cancer across the state. I
felt very proud.”
As the ride progressed, sometimes
on very hot days with temperatures
of more than 100 degrees on the
pavement, Easton-Weaver felt strong,
despite the aches and pains.
“When we were feeling rough, we
thought, ‘This is nothing compared to
chemo or radiation treatment, or people
who have lost loved ones to cancer,’” she
said. “We can do this. We are doing this
for people in the fight, or people who
have lost the fight.”
On August 19, three days into the
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f e b r u a r y 2 016
NATCHEZ TRACE TOURS Enjoy a van supported
Inn-Inn tour of the Natchez Trace. From North
to South on Spring tour/South to north in the fall,
starting with the Great MS River Balloon Race.
Also van supported weekend tours of the Silver
Comet/Chief Ladiga Trails from GA to AL. Dates
and rates on our website. www.secyclingtours.
com.
KATY TRAIL BICYCLE TOUR September 11 - 17,
2016 Following Lewis and Clark’s route, this
flat and totally traffic-free tour is on America’s
longest Rails to Trails. This fully supported
tour, which includes daily route sheets and SAG
stops, overnights in B&Bs and Historic Hotels.
All breakfasts and dinners as well as lodging
included. Tour starts just outside of St. Louis
where you will be returned upon completion of
the tour. You deserve to be PAMPERED! Details
from BubbasPamperedPedalers.com or
[email protected].
seven-day ride in Albany, EastonWeaver received a call at 5:30 in the
morning, telling her that her husband
had lost consciousness. His heart was
always expected to give out. EastonWeaver’s husband had lived 10 years
longer than expected.
“My parents were with him,” EastonWeaver said. “They called me. I was able
to be with him when he passed.”
“What’s unique about the whole
thing coming off that ride and
dealing with the loss, I have forged
relationships and friendships with
these riders I will have the rest of my
life,” Easton-Weaver said. “They were
incredibly supportive. I have stayed in
touch with them and they have helped
me cope with my husband’s death.”
For the greater good
Easton-Weaver said she “absolutely”
is going to ride again this year.
“I plan to do it every year,” she said.
“I have to finish the ride. You know
what was amazing, sometimes New
York gets a bad rap. The landscape
and what you’re able to see on a bike,
there is no replacement for that. It was
absolutely stunning.”
FLORIDA KEYS The ultimate Bicycle Vacation.
Bike the entire key system, down and back.
Fully-supported including breakfasts and most
dinners. Beautiful sunsets. Swim with the
dolphins. Snorkel. Dive. The Seven Mile Bridge
just might be the most beautiful seven miles you
will ever bike. November 5th-12th 2016. Details
from BubbasPamperedPedalers.com or
[email protected].
PAC TOUR Riding Across America Fast since
1981. Cross country and regional tours for elite
riders. Northern Transcontinental in July,
Eastern Mountains in September, across Peru
in October. Full support, hotels, training and
coaching. www.pactour.com 262-736-2453
WISCONSIN BACKROADS HOTEL TOURS
Fully supported affordable 5-7 day bicycling
vacations. $590 includes HOTELS w/indoor
pools-whirlpools, buffet dinners, food stops,
& emergency support. Quiet, scenic, all paved
back roads. NORTHWOODS, DOOR COUNTY,
Spring Green, New Glarus, & more. Celebrating
our 31st year. www.pedalacrosswisconsin.
com, 847-707-6888, 847-309-4740, drjpedal@
sbcglobal.net.
Josker said he’s shooting for 200
riders in 2016. He’s hoping to figure
out a way for riders to dip their tires
in the Hudson River at the beginning
of the ride and in the Niagara River at
the end.
Josker also plans to add day rides
for people who don’t feel like they can
devote an entire week to the ride, but
still want to be part of the event (but
still raise the $3,500 required of each
rider).
“We understand that’s a big
commitment,” Josker said. “One of
the things I loved was stepping back
and watching the riders bond with
each other. It’s not just about getting
on your bike and riding. It’s about
doing something for the cause, for the
greater good, and having this great
experience. If we can just show people
what a life-changing experience this is,
we’ve got something here.”
For more information, go to
EmpireStateRide.com. Registration for
the 2016 ride is now open.
Dan D'Ambrosio is a contributing writer for
Adventure Cyclist magazine.
LEGAN: CYCLESENSE
to recollect the last time that you had
new cables and a chain installed. If you
can’t remember, it’s probably time to
do so. You might also need a cassette,
and if you’ve really neglected your bike,
chainrings may be in order as well.
Although there are few things better
in life than a bicycle ride, there are
also few things more frustrating than
encountering a roadside problem that
could have been easily avoided. So go
out to your garage and create a rapport
with your bike. And when you get
home after a ride, put your bike first.
Figure out the cause of those audible
complaints before you even shower.
Jot them down and call your bike
mechanic at the very least. Otherwise
you’ll quickly rediscover that the noise
is there when you mount up for your
next ride.
Take time to inspect your machine
once a week. Give the poor thing a bath
if it hasn’t received one for some time.
(You bathe yourself every day, I hope. Is
once a month too much to ask for your
beautiful bike?)
Here are some other pro tips:
• Pick your bike up three inches off
the ground. Drop it (on its tires) and
be sure to catch it before it falls over.
Did you hear any rattles beyond normal
chain slap? If so, investigate. Check the
headset, your hubs, and continue until
you find the culprit.
• Lube your chain after a ride. Do
so sparingly. Why after? Oil needs time
to soak into the rollers of your chain.
If you oil the chain right before a ride,
your furious pedaling can fling that oil
away from the chain, making a mess of
your bike and negating your efforts to
preserve your drivetrain.
• Check your tires often. This is
especially easy to forget on bikes with
fenders.
• Overhaul your bike, or pay a
professional to do it, once a year. Taking
your bike down to a bare frame is the
best way to inspect for cracks, replace
worn bearings, cables, brake pads,
and bar tape, and it’s a great way to
rejuvenate your trusty steed for another
year of adventures.
• Be gentle. Be kind to your bike.
Love it and it will love you back. If
you are so inclined, name your rig.
Personification can lead to increased
care.
If you have questions of a technical
or personal nature about your bike,
please don’t hesitate to reach out to
me. Feel free to think of me as your
bicycling counselor. I’m here to listen.
I’m here to help. You can reach me at
[email protected] or via
twitter @NickLegan.
Nick Legan is Adventure Cyclist's technical editor.
TACK: FINE TUNED
taillight boasts seven LEDs that will give
you four hours of runtime in high steady
mode, or 14 hours when flashing.
It does take a fair amount of time to
charge these two lights up. The front
needs a solid six hours of charging from
empty to full, while the taillight will
require about two hours. Out on a tour,
this might be a bit excessive, depending
on how much you use your lights. For
local riding, it’s probably best to set up a
little charging station.
The bundled set of front and rear
lights comes in at $299. At first glance,
that seemed a little on the spendy side,
but it’s hard to find anything else quite
like this to compare them to. If you’ve
already got a compatible Garmin Edge
device to pair these with, this is certainly
worth your consideration. Regardless of
price, I’m excited to see Garmin putting
some resources behind rider safety.
Josh Tack is Adventure Cycling’s membership
manager. If you have any questions or comments
about this article, your membership, or bicycle travel
in general, Josh is always happy to hear from you at
[email protected].
65
Companions Wanted
BICYCLE RIDE AROUND ARKANSAS (BRAA)
Annual self-supported ride, March 20-25, 2016,
through various parts of Arkansas. This ride is
tentatively from Texarkana to Lake Village for 5-6
days. We usually have about 10-12 riders. We will
camp or stay at colleges or motels in bad weather.
Free registration at arkansasbicycleclub.org to get
updates. [email protected]
WASHINGTON TO FLORIDA TO BENEFIT
MAKE-A-WISH I’m a 54-year-old disabled
hand-cycle athlete from the Seattle area. I’m
looking for a travel companion(s) on an epic
journey across the U.S. to benefit the Make A
Wish Foundation from the U.S./Canadian border
at Blaine, Washington, to Key West, Florida, on
my 27-speed Top End XLT Pro hand cycle via the
Pacific Coast, Southern Tier, and Atlantic Coast
routes, beginning in early April 2016 and arriving
in Key West by June 1, 2016. I plan to average
about 100 miles per day, six days per week with a
day of rest per week and spending the nights in
motels with comfortable beds and hot showers.
Let's experience this challenging adventure
together! [email protected]
BIKECENTENNIAL 40+ IN 2016 I’m going and
looking for company. I always go on RAGBRAI
(last full week in July) so timing is somewhat
important. I plan on starting in Astoria on May
15 with the goal of finishing in two months. 4,200
miles in 60 days? That’s about 70 per day. Not a
fan of total rest days, better to keep moving. I am
willing to do short days. May 15 is a bit early so I
will be trying to limit my riding the first couple
of weeks so I don’t burn out. Big-mile days can be
had in the mid-section of the country. A mix of
camping, motels, and Warmshowers.org. Eating
in restaurants and grocery stores as much as
possible, I don’t want to haul cooking gear too.
[email protected]
66
ADVENTURE CYCLIST
f e b r u a r y 2 016
Providing partners for tours, domestic and abroad, since 1978
ROUTE 66 Small group looking for others to
join us for all or part. We will have a luggage van
carrying our stuff and will be staying in motels/
lodges. Average 55 to 65 miles per day (according
to availability of lodging and terrain) with a day
off each week. Luggage van will have all supplies
plus a couple of coolers! Starting in September
2016 in Chicago. You can join for the whole
shebang or just for a week or three!
[email protected]
IDAHO HOT SPRINGS, JUNE/JULY 2016
Looking for one or two or a few folks to do the
Idaho Hot Springs Route. 500+ miles, 10-14 days.
Possibly do some singletrack options. There are
two or three of us right now. Mid 30s, one guy,
one gal, tour buddies. [email protected]
JACKSONVILLE TO SEATTLE, APRIL TO
JUNE 2016 I plan to go self-supported from
Jacksonville, Florida, mid-April 2016, northwest
across Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, and
Kentucky toward the Mississippi River Trail.
Then will leave MRT in St. Paul, mostly follow the
Northern Tier Route to Seattle (plan to deviate
south and cross Cascades on Iron Horse trail)
and arrive about June 2016. Plan to stay with
friends, Warmshowers hosts and cheap motels.
(No camping). Usually 80 miles per day. I am a
54-year-old guy with a family and this is a present
to myself when I retire from the Navy. I would
enjoy some company. [email protected]
ALASKA TO ARGENTINA, SOLSTICE TO
SOLSTICE The plan is to celebrate summer
solstice 2016 in Deadhorse, Alaska, and spend
18 months cycling south to reach Ushuaia,
Argentina, during summer solstice. Experienced
53-year-old male cycle tourist looking for
adventurers to join in all or part of the ride.
[email protected]
SPAIN PERIMETER RIDE I am a 14-year-old (I’ll
be 15 when I do this tour) semi-experienced bike
tourist looking for two adult riding companions
who speak Spanish for a 2-month ride JuneAugust 2016, around the perimeter of the
Iberian Peninsula. This ride will not be a race,
there is no fixed route, and we do not have to
make it all the way around the perimeter. I am
fairly proficient in Spanish, though my accent is
terrible. I have done three long tours before: one
3,000-kilometer, 1-month ride from San Diego
to Seattle; one 5,000-kilometer, 2-month ride on
the Sierra Cascades/Pacific Coast Route, and one
7,000-kilometer, 2.5 month ride across the U.S. I
will be raising money for the Sierra Club during
this ride. [email protected]
NEW ENGLAND, NEW BRUNSWICK, QUEBEC
I’m in early planning for a “Tour de New
England — and Canada,” a loop starting/ending
in Portland, Maine, going up the Maine coast to
New Brunswick. Then across to the St. Lawrence,
stopping in the Laurentians, then Quebec City,
then a stop in Burlington, Vermont, a cruise
through the White Mountains and on to Portland.
About 1,200 miles, 32,000-feet of elevation gain.
50 miles/day, mostly camping, 27 or 28 days total.
Self-contained or van-supported, depending on
preferences of the riders. Dates flexible. I am
68, male, with 45 years touring experience and
Adventure Cycling leader training. Two more
potentially on board now.
[email protected]
Adventure Cycling Association assumes, but cannot verify, that the persons above are truthfully
representing themselves. Ads are free to Adventure
Cycling members. You can see more ads and post
them at adventurecycling.org/adventure-cyclist/
companions-wanted or send them to Adventure
Cyclist, P.O. Box 8308, Missoula, MT 59807.
Open Road Gallery
No.
4738
Becky's group,
from left to right:
Courtney Dolan,
Corrine Garrett,
David Owsley,
Becky Ojeda,
Joseph Ojeda
Seven, the hard way
PHOTOGRAPH BY GREG SIPLE STORY BY GAGE POORE
➺ “INTERESTING FACT: I’m so not a cyclist,” Becky Ojeda wrote during her visit to Adventure Cycling
Headquarters while riding with her husband and three friends to Yorktown, Virginia, from Pacific City,
Oregon. “It doesn’t come easy for me. I’m enjoying it more the longer we are on our trip, but I find myself
wishing I was more relaxed and this whole thing came easier for me.”
After reaching Yorktown, Becky later wrote, “My whole life I have been someone who is notorious for
not finishing. I’ve started so many diet programs, exercise routines, creative journeys … and I never get past
a certain point. As soon as it stops being exciting, I tend to forget about it and lose my motivation.” Days
before they reached Missoula, Becky lost her motivation on Day Seven of her journey. “Day Seven was in the
middle of an intense heat wave in the heart of the Oregon Desert," she wrote. "Riding up mountain passes in
105 degrees was likely the hardest thing I had done in my life up until that point and we still had two more
months of riding to go.” But she pedaled on. “Each morning I would wake up knowing I likely had some
grueling hours of riding in front of me.”
Putting in the hours, day after day, the ride became easier over time. “The real turning point was when
I was climbing the last steep grade of our tour, right outside of Vesuvius, Virginia. I found that I had gotten
in a rhythm going up mountains. I told myself to keep pedaling — slow, rhythmic movements. Eventually
you’ll be at the top.” Soon, she was at the top, and beyond that they rode the Blue Ridge Parkway, which she
described as one of the most beautiful sights of the tour. That’s when the lesson of her touring experience
clicked. “Life is about doing hard things. Not just for the sake of doing something hard, but because of the
reward at the end. After every grueling climb, there was a spectacular view, a wonderful person to meet, or
a new town to explore. But internally there was the joy of having accomplished something that you never
thought you could.”
Back home in Salem, Oregon, Becky says that she can’t shake the new perspective that her cross-country
tour has given her. “Doing hard things changes the very core of who you are and blesses you with amazing
gifts that you just can’t get from living an easy life.”
Visit us online at
adventurecycling.
org/gspg
From Adventure Cycling’s National Bicycle Touring Portrait Collection. © 2016 Adventure Cycling Association.
67
Non-profit
U.S. POSTAGE
PAID
P.O. Box 8308
Missoula, Montana 59807-8308
Adventure Cycling
Association
America’s Bicycle Travel Experts
·
·
·
maps tours gear resources
Questions? 800.755.2453
www.adventurecycling.org
P L AY.
E X P L O R E .
B O N D .
Our Family Fun Tours
A cycling vacation is one of the best
bonding activities that family members
can experience together. Choose from
tours that offer all of the amenities found on our fully
supported trips, or try self-contained family touring!
Our Family Fun fully supported trips feature:
Self-Contained
Great Allegheny Passage | 7/9 - 7/16 | Location: PA
Fully Supported
Idaho Trails | 7/17 - 7/22 | Location: ID
Colorado | 7/30 - 8/4 | Location: CO
Minnesota - Paul Bunyan Trail | 8/7 - 8/12 | Location: MN
• Scenic and FUN pre-planned easy-to-ride routes.
• Hiking and historic site exploration.
4
CELEBRATING
best tour
e
h
t
r
o
f
s
“Thank
r done!”
we’ve eve Tour Participant
2014
YEARS
Details and registration at: adventurecycling.org/toursinfo, or call 800.755.2453

FEB 2016 - FTP Directory Listing

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