Classic New England Cycling

We love Rapha's video of the North-East Gentleman's race, which just utterly captures the camaraderie and spirit of riding up in these parts.

2012 Rapha NE Gentlemen's Race from RAPHA on Vimeo.

NEMO Favorite Rides and Trails, Part 1

Cyclists in the Southern Green Mountains of Vermont are very lucky. The ribbon of little-known forest roads that wind though the Green Mountain National Forest provide some of the most perfect road riding in the state—if you don’t mind a little dirt.

Three miles from our house in Peru, Vermont I can pick up the Danby/Mt. Tabor Road that climbs out of the quiet village of Landgrove to Danby. The dirt road out of the village narrows and the last farms give way to the open Forest Service gate.

In winter I’m here checking snow conditions for x-c skiing, today I’m happy to have a few hours to ride my favorite summer loop. Roundtrip it’s about 56 miles, much of it Colorado-style climbing, nearly half of it dirt. The gravel road quickly begins to climb along the Utley Brook, past the beaver meadows and maintained wildlife clearings. Bright blue Catamount Trail Signs mark familiar trail crossings and a few miles in I’m approaching the White Rocks National Recreation Area with the Big Branch and Peru Peaks Wilderness on either side of me. A big Western sky and huge billowy clouds provide a breathtaking backdrop. The roadside wildflowers are blooming white and yellow, purple and orange. My bike is perfect, my tires are fast. With Appalachian Trail and Long Trail trailheads along the way I wonder whom I might encounter, but it’s dead quiet this morning.

 Just a few strikingly orange Newt salamanders slowly making their way across the dappled grey road and some mischievous Crows up to no good. The dirt is fast and the perfect canopy of trees provide a tunnel of shade so the climbing and descending is cool. I almost forget that I haven’t seen a car in over an hour. I try to make it last, but before I know it I’ve descended the swooping turns into Danby, cross Route 7 and begin the long gradual climb up to Dorset Mtn. road – another stretch of Vermont cycling heaven.

Independent in the Seacoast

There is a certain hardiness about New Englanders that is readily apparent—it might be a result of the wildly variant weather, the shortened growing season, the endless wood stacking in the winter, the consistently inconsistent (at best) ski/surf/climbing conditions. And whatever that set of New England-y qualities is, it seamlessly transfers to the souls of the companies that inhabit this area.

We're proud to be a New England company; to be inspired and surrounded by like-minded outdoor companies is a huge bonus.

We recently had a chance to visit Independent Fabrication, a hop/skip/jump over from Dover to Newmarket. To call IF a bike company is like calling Apple a music player company. Gary Smith gave us the behind the scenes tour at their new(ish) digs.

Tubestock, racked and ready to go.

Much of their machining is done on post-war era lathes, CNC machines, etc. There's a lot of heavy metal going on in the back, just sayin'.

A titanium frame on the stand, ready to be finished welded in the morning.

Shiny and waiting their turn -- rack of forks. 

Some finished forks being shown off by Gary.

Independent's locker rooms. Fully customized, as expected.

Gotta love details like on this belt drive bike. 

Their in-house capabilities are impressive and inspiring. They've certainly elevated bicycle manufacturing to a level of artisan craft that doesn't necessarily exist in today's world anymore.

We're Impressed

Mike Hall is half-man, half-machine. We heard that he just arrived back in England after cycling around-the-world in 91 days, 18 hours. Unsupported.

He rode over 18,000 miles in three months. His feet got thinner, his lycra baggier. We were psyched to hear that his shelter and sleeping pad of choice was Gogo Elite and Zor. One thing to point out about Gogo Elite—it's not almost as light as a bivy bag. It IS lighter than a bivy.