Berne Broudy Archives - Adventure Cycling Association https://www.adventurecycling.org/blog/author/berne-broudy/ Discover What Awaits Tue, 13 May 2025 22:19:07 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.8.1 https://www.adventurecycling.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/cropped-web_2-color_icon-only-32x32.png Berne Broudy Archives - Adventure Cycling Association https://www.adventurecycling.org/blog/author/berne-broudy/ 32 32 The Mother Lode: A Long-term Review of the ENVE MOG https://www.adventurecycling.org/blog/long-term-test-enve-mog/ Wed, 26 Feb 2025 21:26:48 +0000 https://www.adventurecycling.org/?p=65947 This review originally appeared in the Nov/Dec 2024 issue of Adventure Cyclist magazine. Click here to learn more. After years of producing high-end carbon bike components, ENVE finally decided to […]

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This review originally appeared in the Nov/Dec 2024 issue of Adventure Cyclist magazine. Click here to learn more. After years of producing high-end carbon bike components, ENVE finally decided to try its hand at full bike builds in 2021. The result was the Custom Road, whose geometry, paint, and components are tailored to each rider. The Melee and all-road Fray soon followed, and last year the firm finally released a gravel rig: the MOG (Mother of Gravel) reviewed here. Although it’s only available as a chassis, meaning it’s sold as a frame plus the fork, headset, stem, spacers, handlebar, and seatpost, the MOG’s sleek design is a testament to ENVE’s rise as a bike builder. It’s also a joy to ride. Built on 700c wheels with clearance for tires up to 50mm, it’s comfortable and forgiving enough for long tours but still fast enough to race. “The average consumer doesn’t need a dedicated bikepacking bike and a separate dedicated race bike,” said Jake Pantone, ENVE’s vice president of product and consumer experience. “This is a bike that can do everything you want a gravel bike to do, and it can do it well.”
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To craft the MOG’s personality, ENVE fabricated a fleet of demos with different geometries ranging from slacked out and “mountain-bikey” to road-focused. Then they sent their staff out for test rides on the river-bottom singletrack and mountain roads that snake around their Ogden, Utah, office. The version they settled on is in the middle of those two extremes. It’s efficient on climbs and notably stable on descents. It does well on open roads, tracking straight and holding your line with minimal vibration, and when I turned the wheels toward my local mountain bike trails and forest tracks, it handled just as well. In fact, the slack headtube angle inspired so much confidence that I blasted down gravel hills faster than I ever have before. There are some interesting design choices. First, the frame is only made for 700c wheels with no option for swapping in 650b hoops, a growing trend in gravel design. Then there is the storage. Plenty of mountain bikes now have compartments built into their down tubes, but the MOG is one of the first gravel bikes to follow suit. It’s about time. As droppers become more prolific in the gravel space, seatbags have become less practical because they can abrade the posts’ slick, protective coatings or even hit your tire when your seat is down. In-tube storage not only doesn’t impact your bike, but it also gets gear out of your jersey pockets. With six liters of space, the cargo bay is large enough to stow a lightweight windbreaker as well as the two neoprene gear bags that come with the MOG. Better yet, the compartment provides quick access to the internal cable routing and an adjustable retention strap to prevent rattling. While ENVE opted for a standard seat tube to ensure the bike is compatible with most droppers, the rest of the frame is aero, and the wires and cables are routed through the bars and stem to keep the cockpit streamlined. The version I tested had the company’s Aero Integrated Stem. Its drop looks aggressive, but I found it comfortable thanks to the rise from the spacers. If you need more rise, though, ENVE also offers the In-Route Highrise Stem, and you could keep the fork’s steerer tube long and increase the stack height with either stem. Another notable part of my MOG’s build-out was its G-Series wheels, which came with ENVE’s Innerdrive Premium hubs. To protect the bearings from dirt and debris without slowing them down, the company paired a full-contact external seal with a fast-rolling, non-contact internal seal. They were the lowest-resistance wheels I’ve ever ridden, and I could coast forever while my riding companions had to pedal. I also loved the 40mm G-Series Dropper Post, which features an inverted design, meaning the sleeve is integrated into the saddle clamp instead of resting inside the seat tube. This not only allows you to attach a seatbag without wearing down the dropper’s coating, but you can also trim the dropper’s alloy post like a normal seatpost. The additional stability it gave me was noticeable, but the drop was small enough that I could still pedal effectively. Sometimes on steep climbs, I’d even lower it a skosh to maximize my traction. If this sounds like your kind of ride, you can find a dealer on ENVE’s website. Because it’s sold chassis-only, however, you may not be able to see and touch a fully built MOG, but the shop will help you build a bike to fit your body and suit your tastes. That starts by determining your frame size, then they’ll help you pick an ENVE headset, stem, seatpost, and handlebar — all of which are included. After that, it’s up to you and your shop to finish kitting out the bike à la carte. (ENVE won’t let you leave the dealer with only the chassis.) Just don’t set your sights on a Campagnolo groupset. While my tester came with the Italian brand’s 13-speed Ekar drivetrain, ENVE now only offers SRAM and Shimano. The in-frame storage aside, there’s something to be said of designing a high- end carbon frame while resisting the urge to overload it with “innovations.” There are no flip chips, no options for alternate wheel sizes, no disc brake fairings, and no suspension. Instead, the MOG is what a gravel bike should be: fast and comfortable. After a couple of months in the saddle, I’ve fallen in love with its lightweight, responsive handling, and best of all, its stability has redefined the speeds I am willing to ride.

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Adapt and Overcome https://www.adventurecycling.org/blog/adapt-and-overcome/ Mon, 09 Oct 2023 21:44:03 +0000 https://www.adventurecycling.org/adapt-and-overcome/ This article first appeared in the September/October 2023 issue of Adventure Cyclist magazine. In 2020, I went for a mountain bike group ride in one of Vermont’s town forests. Greg […]

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In 2020, I went for a mountain bike group ride in one of Vermont’s town forests. Greg Durso, an adaptive rider on a mountain trike, was on the ride. I didn’t know what that would mean; I had never ridden with an adaptive rider. Durso is paralyzed from the nipples down and as adventurous as anyone I know.

The group hammered from the parking lot, and it was immediately clear that if someone held up the group, it wouldn’t be Durso. We rode technical rocky terrain, steep climbs, and slippery descents. Durso kept pace easily … until we got to the first bridge. It was too narrow for Durso’s 29-inch-wide trike. We stopped, carried Durso and his bike across, and resumed riding until the next bridge. It was a raucous and fun afternoon that ended with high-fives and laughter in the parking lot. But I left that ride thinking how dumb it was that a bridge was the obstacle that interrupted the experience for Durso and for all of us, and how easy that would be to fix, and what other ways trails are or aren’t adaptive. When Richmond Mountain Trails (RMT), a grassroots nonprofit trail club I cofounded in 2017 that I am now president of, had the opportunity to build a new trail network on private land in Bolton, Vermont, the board made the bold commitment to make the entire network adaptive optimized.

What Adaptive Means

Adaptive means passable by a trail-ready trike. It doesn’t mean ADA-compliant, which is wheelchair accessible. Adaptive cycles let people with spinal cord injuries and other physical restrictions ride. “People get confused with the term adaptive-friendly,” said Durso. “They underestimate what that means. Adaptive trails don’t have to be dumbed down; they just need to be a little wider, without bermed turns on the climbs.” Equipment for adaptive athletes used to be much harder to access. Although most adaptive mountain bikes (aMTBs) are still custom ordered, these days adaptive sports organizations provide demos, instruction, and support, and adaptive-friendly trails are helping the sport of adaptive mountain biking thrive. One such organization, the Kelly Bush Foundation (KBF) has raised and granted over $6 million to adaptive athletes for sports equipment, from bikes to sit skis and more. “It’s a really cool time to be involved with adaptive riding,” said RMT Board Member and Level 2 adaptive mountain bike instructor Rob Galloway. “Adaptive mountain biking is really just hitting its stride. Bikes are more capable than they’ve ever been, and it’s really satisfying to be able to build trails to help adaptive mountain biking reach its potential.” “People are often really surprised by what our bikes can go down and what they can actually handle,” said Durso. “I’ve done trail assessments, and a lot of times trails work better than people realize. It’s often [only] small changes that need to be made to make a trail more inclusive.”
vermont's first adaptive mountain bike trail system
Greg Durso and Rob Galloway recently went to Oregon to teach an adaptive MTB clinic. Durso and Galloway are both Level 2 Adaptive MTB instructors. “It’s fun and rewarding for me to coach adaptive riders,” said Galloway. “The population is so driven and so thankful for the opportunities aMTB provides.”
Mark Clement

The Project

The Driving Range, the first fully-adaptive trail network in the East and one of the first in the U.S., is built on a 256-acre parcel of land shared with a maple sugaring operation. When it opens on August 3, 2023, it will be the first fully adaptive trail network in Vermont, the first in the East, and one of the few in the U.S. It’s being built by community volunteers who put more than 3,000 hours into the project so far. When complete, the seven miles of trails will have been built by professional trail builders and volunteers, some of whom have worked on this project weekly for two seasons. When it opens, riders will be able to climb a switchbacking, conversational-pace, fern-lined ascent two miles deep into the leafy hardwood forest, and descend loamy catch berms, bare schist slabs, through massive boulders and cliff faces, through the muted solitude of pine forest, and up and over bridges that are plenty wide. The hybrid machine- and hand-built flow trail descends to a landing where riders can take a break and watch people hit a sizeable rock gap jump, or drop immediately into a progressive tabletop jump trail, a hand-built technical trail that rolls and curves down and around rock faces that sparkle with shiny mica, or a third flow and jump trail being built by YouTube personality and former downhill pro rider, Phil “Skills with Phil” Kmetz. In fall 2024, the network will be complete. The terrain is steep and the trails are progressive, with green, blue, blue +, black, and double-black options. Every trail has an adaptive-rideable line, which is the main line. Some trails have optional non-adaptive features. Our goal was to build a new riding zone with the same rugged character and challenge as neighboring zones, one that’s adaptive-friendly and fun for everyone. We wanted to show that trails can be inclusive without compromise. If you’re not an adaptive rider, you’d probably never realize this network is designed for three-wheeled aMTBs piloted by differently abled thrill seekers unless you read the kiosk. The trails require skill and concentration. They’re fun on any type of bike. RMT’s all-volunteer board treated this project like a second job to get it done in record time. When we started this build, there was no manual for how to construct adaptive trails without a massive budget. The network came to life through the passion, curiosity, and stubbornness of RMT’s board. Before the first shovel of dirt was moved, we asked professional trail builders to scout with us and give us a quote for building. The first one said that the zone “didn’t go,” that it was too steep and loose to build there. So we figured it out ourselves, eventually hiring that builder to come back and make the trail. “Trail building satisfies a part of my brain, a problem-solving part,” said civil engineer and RMT board member Merrick Gillies. “Getting to tackle a new form, looking at the woods in a different way, has been super engaging and fulfilling. Having a new set of guidelines, while also incorporating old skills and habits, allows for a fun blend of sensibilities that works for all-wheel configuration. Working to integrate uphill corners into the landscape, progressing from having to constantly build and revise to being able to visualize those corners and how they should flow when we’re flagging before we start digging is a really satisfying feeling.” So many individuals, business, and foundations recognized the value of what we’re doing, from Vermont to Colorado and California. We’re a grassroots nonprofit with a $20,000 annual budget, not a ski resort or massive trails organization like Trailblazers in northwest Arkansas, which manages 500 miles of trails and is primarily funded by the Walmart Waltons. OnX, Yeti Cycles, Fox Shocks, Velocio, Suncommon, VMBA, Bivo, Burlington Beer Company, local foundations, other nonprofits, and many community partners and RMT members made this project possible. Now we have paid staff too: a director who works 10 hours a week and accomplishes herculean feats. She helped us raise more than $160,000 last year to pay for trails and a 53-car parking lot we built at the base of the network by request of the town and to be good neighbors. RMT’s executive director, Bec Wojtecki, says that the feeling of community and camaraderie of this project has changed her perspective on what’s possible. “I haven’t been part of a new trail build before,” said Wojtecki. “Because of the blur created by my own privilege, I didn’t recognize the absence of accessible trails. Now I do. And it’s floored me to be a part of this amazing project. The dedication, the heart, the soul that volunteers have invested is unlike anything I’ve seen before.” Durso agrees that community involvement is what makes the Driving Range project special. “There are other projects in the U.S. and Canada that are doing a good job and have really large nonprofit organizations backing them. That’s really different from Richmond, where every stakeholder engaged is really excited about this and wants it to succeed. For me, it’s indescribable to get to be with volunteers as they’re working. I always tell them thank you. I don’t think they realize that to feel so much support and so included is an experience that brings tears to my eyes. It inspires me to want to help make sure that this isn’t a singular trail network but a template for how things can be done. When I am here, I feel like this is my community, like these are my trails. I don’t feel like an outsider; I feel like I’m home.”
vermont's first adaptive mountain bike trail system
Mark Clement

Why It Matters

When you live in a place like Vermont, where mountain biking abounds and the sport is front and center in the outdoor recreation scene, it’s easy to take trail access for granted — unless you’re a mountain biker riding an adaptive bike and you can’t join your posse for the ride. There are more than a million people in the U.S. with injuries requiring adaptive sports equipment and more than 300,000 people with spinal cord injuries (SCIs). An SCI can happen to anyone in a blink. One second you’re blasting down a gravel road, slithering through tight trees at Stowe Mountain Resort, then you’re in a car accident, hurt on the job, you take a bad fall, or survive an act of violence and you can’t feel your legs anymore, and it’s permanent. “Mountain biking has been one of the fastest-growing sports in the country over the last five years,” said Durso. “But adaptive athletes have not had the ability to adventure. Adaptive bikes give us the physical ability to access the outdoors, but we need trails to use them on so that we can cover ground and travel through a landscape and have experiences we haven’t been able to have in the past. Being a part of a community that cares, a community that is psyched to build a trail network to support you — and everyone — is a feeling that I can’t really put into words. If you have a disability, you often feel excluded. So to feel included is very overwhelming in one of the best ways imaginable.” “Visibility is key,” said Bruce Downes, KBF’s senior director of marketing and digital programs. “It’s hugely important for people to see that people are out there making mountain biking work for them regardless of disability and that an inclusive/accessible/universal trail system isn’t boring. An adaptive network can be intense, highly technical terrain. To normalize building adaptive is possible, it’s doable, and it doesn’t detract from anyone’s experience.”

How-To

When it comes to building adaptive trails, we’re all still figuring it out. “RMT is creating a model project and showing that the model works,” said Downes. “More and more grassroots organizations want to do this, and they’re either scared it’s too expensive or that it will dumb down the experience. To show that this can be done, done right, and done efficiently will influence other places. A little network in Richmond, Vermont, could be the start of something massive.” Adaptive cycles are usually three-wheeled, so trails need to be 40 to 42 inches wide. Bridges need to be as wide as trails, or wider in zones with consequence. Trails shouldn’t have must-ride rocks, pinch points, or big features that will stop adaptive bikes from getting through. And trail builders need to keep an eye on the camber. If an adaptive rider tumbles down an embankment because a bridge was tilted toward the slope, or if they blow a berm, they can’t just climb out of the hole like an able-bodied rider. Trails that are too off-camber lead to adaptive bikes flipping or rolling, particularly on climbs. Bench cuts need to be wider to control camber. Corners need to be made more bulbous, and it’s helpful to build rest spots and pull-offs big enough to accommodate an adaptive bike’s long wheelbase plus one or two spotters. Trails aren’t the only thing you need to think about if you want to build adaptive. Riders need appropriate parking where they can exit a car into a wheelchair, assemble a bike, and then transition from wheelchair to bike. Consider having porta-potties and a changing area that can accommodate a wheelchair. And provide detailed trail descriptions and signage, both at the trailhead and on Trailforks. You should never claim a trail is adaptive until you’ve had a skilled adaptive rider vet it so modifications can be made before you open it to the public. Greg Durso came out for trail nights every week he could. He’d ride what we built, and we’d spray paint where a corner wasn’t wide enough, or where we needed to tweak an angle. After professional trail builders took their excavators home, we vetted again and had to rebuild bridges and change trail flow. The bridges were wide enough, but an entrance was blind, and one was too gnarly. Six of us spent 30 minutes with Durso just looking at a steep berm to figure out the sweeping exit in a limited real estate zone and if we could make it broad enough. If you want to build adaptive trails, you need patience, a willingness to learn, and an optimistic outlook. It takes time to relearn how to look at a trail. Two years in, we’re still students.
vermont's first adaptive mountain bike trail system
By building trails adaptive, aMTB riders gain not just trail access, but also community. Here Greg Durso enjoys a post-ride beverage at Vermont’s Driving Range.
Mark Clement

A Spoke in the Wheel

RMT is one of 29 chapters of the Vermont Mountain Bike Association (VMBA), which leads mountain bike advocacy statewide and provides administrative and financial support to chapters. VMBA has a focused initiative underway to enhance the quality and quantity of adaptive trails throughout the state. They’re partnering with chapters, KBF, and Vermont Adaptive to conduct adaptive assessments statewide. They’re working on universal signage and growing the resource for adaptive athletes. “We visit networks with the host chapters and take a ride to identify specific changes that need to be made, like improving space for turning radii or widening bridges, and we develop detailed trail descriptions so that adaptive athletes have a clear understanding of what they’re getting themselves into before they start rolling,” said Nick Bennette, VMBA’s executive director. VMBA is working toward an accessibility inventory of all 1,000-plus miles of Vermont singletrack trails so that they can help adaptive athletes understand the difficulty, and what goes. “The more information we can provide to everybody the better,” said Bennette. “We’re moving away from binary thinking of accessibility and recognizing the spectrum of what an accessible trail can be. Progression is important. We want to create opportunities for beginner, intermediate, and advanced riders and for folks to be able to move through those challenges and progress to harder trails if that’s what they desire. We strive to provide opportunities for all riders to challenge themselves, and to provide places where beginners can dip a toe into a new sport.” VMBA is positioning Vermont as a hub for adaptive riding. The state has a fair number of adaptive trails, but they’re not publicized as such. Bennette is also chair of the Vermont Trails and Greenways Council (VTGC), a collection of all trail associations in Vermont. Through VTGC, he’s working with state legislators to understand how Vermont can advance accessibility statewide. To help other grassroots clubs that want to build adaptive, I’m working with Bennette and VMBA to lay out guidelines and a summary of what RMT and other clubs in the VMBA network have learned doing adaptive assessments, retrofitting existing trails to be adaptive, and building new ones. The guidelines will be available to all at vmba.org by spring 2024.

Build It and They will Come

I’ve built a lot of trails, but I’ve never built a network from scratch. I’m nervous and a little emotional about the first ride. A posse of volunteers, board members, and Durso pedals to the top. The excitement is palpable. At the bottom, the grins and laughter and teary eyes, and the immediate departure to go do it again are everything I hoped for. Adaptive trails can feel like the chicken and the egg. I’m asked all the time how many adaptive riders there are in the U.S., and I don’t know. No one does. We’re not the first people building adaptive trails. The Driving Range is just one project that is happening right now. “The Driving Range project is ahead of the curve,” said Durso. “Other people are trying to do this in other states, but the trails are few and far between. Manufacturers have helped enable access with bikes that can handle technical terrain, organizations like KBF break down the financial barrier for people to get the equipment, but adaptive riders need groups like RMT to help build universal trails to drive the growth of adaptive riding.” People seem hungry for new riding opportunities, especially adaptive ones. KBF and Vermont Adaptive regularly sell out their adaptive trail clinics. “When we first started to post content on the finished trails showing test runs, the energy and response were outstanding,” said Aiken. “The volume of interest is a clear indication that this type of trail is desired and supported. It’s eye-opening to realize what you can do outside of your nine-to-five to achieve something this big. And it’s inspiring to work to bring a landowner’s property to life and give functional access to beautiful places for all.” It’s the right thing to do, yet it has still been been a surprisingly rewarding pursuit. “I ride all the time, and I have my choice of limitless combinations of trails,” said Gillies. “Adaptive riders don’t have that. They have a trail here and one there. Being able to provide choices and options for fun, which to me is a critical part of riding, we’re doing that for people on adaptive bikes. It’s awesome.” Durso, who travels around North America to teach adaptive riding, said that the Driving Range is what he talks about with trail builders in other states. “This is helping us build momentum nationally for adaptive trails. We can have the equipment for adaptive riding, but if there’s nowhere to go, what’s the point? Creating universal trails is a big deal.” I’m humbled to be part of building something great. The blisters, the long hours, the awkward asks for money — it’s worth it to me if it will make someone’s life better. And hopefully, this trail network does just that. I’m looking forward to seeing Durso tonight. Now that we have trails to ride and critique, he’s at trail night to test ride, give feedback, brainstorm, and hang out. I share the sentiment when he said, “To have a firsthand role in building trails — I mean, it really couldn’t be any better.”

Helping Hands

“Local projects like the Driving Range are absolutely critical, but just as critical is getting the word out and connecting all the people that want to participate in them,” said Downes. That’s why KBF created the Active Project — the first online community by and for people with mobility restrictions who want to participate in adaptive sports. Friends, family, caregivers, and physical and occupational therapists are also welcome. In addition to being a place where adaptive sports participants can interact and learn from each other, it’s a portal for information on injury-specific gear compatibility. The site hosts an adaptive sports equipment marketplace and connects people seeking adaptive sports equipment with potential funding sources. The Active Project now has 1,200 users, and KBF is continuing to see that number go up! More than 50 adaptive sports programs are onboarding or have onboarded onto the platform, and KBF is working with United Spinal Association and others to increase adoption across the country. activeproject.kellybrushfoundation.org

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Henry Gold: Bike Tour Neoteric https://www.adventurecycling.org/blog/henry-gold-bike-tour-neoteric/ Mon, 01 Nov 2021 16:00:06 +0000 https://advcycle.wpenginepowered.com/blog/henry-gold-bike-tour-neoteric/ This article first appeared in the Oct./Nov. 2021 issue of Adventure Cyclist magazine.  In 2002, at the age of 50, Henry Gold, a Jewish Slovakian with Canadian citizenship who rode bikes to […]

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This article first appeared in the Oct./Nov. 2021 issue of Adventure Cyclist magazine. 

In 2002, at the age of 50, Henry Gold, a Jewish Slovakian with Canadian citizenship who rode bikes to run errands as a child — but who never toured, trained, or raced — wanted to have a great adventure.

A documentary filmmaker, bikes-not-cars evangelist, and founder of Canada-based, Africa-focused Canadian Physicians for Aid and Relief — a nongovernmental organization (NGO) that worked all over Africa — Gold’s harebrained idea was to organize a bike race from Cairo, Egypt, to Capetown, South Africa, across the African continent. It’s an idea he first came up with when he was trying to manufacture ultra-affordable bicycles for farmers in Ethiopia, a project that never reached fruition. Within six months, he had recruited 31 people to join him. Gold and his partner charged $6,000 for a four-month trip. Participants who paid six months in advance got a 25 percent discount.

“My friends said, ‘Henry, you’ve flipped. How are you taking people across Africa? It’s a war zone. There’s no infrastructure. The only transportation is convoys. It’s horrendous roads for days. How are you doing this?’ People thought I was insane,” said Gold.

Gold’s friends didn’t have faith, but after a decade in Africa with his NGO, Gold had the unique connections that allowed him to envision the audacious project of cycling across Africa in the early 2000s. By the time he ran a non-racing bike tour there, he had lots of local support from people in the government. For years before he ran the first trans-Africa tour, he was involved in conversations at the local level and he wrote a proposal for the International Monetary Fund on how tourism could help local African economies.

“Two or three days out of Nairobi, I lay in my tent thinking, ‘What is wrong with these people?’ We were hungry, thirsty, dirty like hell,” Gold said. “We spent every day in a tent, and some of the people on the trip had never spent time in nature. People weren’t sleeping well. Some days, nobody got washed. Most of them thought they were coming to die. People we met thought we were nuts, though most of them couldn’t really conceive of what we were doing. The riders whined, they were exhausted … and they were happy. One guy kept asking how we were doing financially. He wanted to go home but wouldn’t quit. He wanted us to quit.”

“We put ourselves on a limb,” said Gold. “We had no background in any of this.”

That didn’t keep Gold from approaching Guinness for the record of the fastest human-powered crossing of Africa, a proposal they accepted. Eight out of 31 people reached the end, riding “EFI,” or “every f#@king inch,” a term Gold’s company, Tour D’Afrique (now TDA), coined on that trip. Twenty-nine of the 31 participants finished the ride. In the final days of the trip, Gold was riding sweep as usual. Giddy with the immersive adventure of a long trip — the bonding, the struggle, the unexpected joy — a guest at the back of the pack asked, now that they’d made it, what’s next?

“My instant response was, ‘Silk Road.’” And TDA was born.

What Gold discovered on his first trans-African bike ride was the almost addictive appeal of checking out.

“With big, immersive bike trips, we are approaching a hunter-gatherer state of mind; we’re tapping into a part of the brain not used in modern society. I don’t know why these trips make us feel unique, how they touch us. But I know that’s something that deep down we’re hungry for,” Gold said. “Being a person who disconnects from modern society is harder and harder as the years go by. But when you do, as your day-to-day worry goes away, you cross from modern existence into caring less and less about what’s happening around the world. You’re dealing with your own safety, hunger, the joy of being in a group. It’s a very primitive and very appealing existence.”

Lucky for Gold, crossing from modern existence didn’t mean leaving behind modern amenities like medical services.

On a tour in India, Gold was riding at the back of the pack when an elephant and its calves crossed the road. There was no reason to be nervous. The elephant hadn’t flapped its ears.

As he was pedaling uphill to the point where the elephant had entered the bush, he heard something breaking through the trees. “The elephant was speeding at me. I tried to turn. I fell. I ran.”

Gold heard the elephant step on his bicycle. He felt something grab him by the ankle. He was in the air, then on the ground in a fetal position. His helmet cracked. The elephant had stepped on Gold’s head. He lost consciousness, but his helmet saved his life. When he came to, he was lying on his back and a bone was sticking out of his arm.

“I come from a screaming family,” laughed Gold. “I yelled and luckily another rider heard me.”

Gold doesn’t hold a grudge or fear wildlife. “Things happen in life, you deal with it,” said Gold. “I wrote a blog from my hospital bed. The irony is that I always tell guests not to worry about wild elephants, snakes, or terrorism, but to worry about drivers.”

It took Gold 18 months before he was back on his bike and back to bike touring as usual.

Now 69 years old, Gold is still going strong. He continues to ride around the world and to be an evangelist for cycling.

“I’m still a do-gooder in some way. I’m still trying to repair the world in small ways. These tours, which change how people see the world, give me meaning. They keep me in good shape, they stimulate me, they keep me going. These days, a lot of people are demanding more and more ‘adventure lite,’ soft experiences,” said Gold. “That’s not us.”

In June, Gold headed out to scout TDA’s newest itinerary: across the southern U.S. from Santa Monica, California, to Savannah, Georgia.

“Southern culture will be a revelation,” said Gold. “I think I am more apprehensive about this trip than many of the international trips we’ve run due to Southern U.S. gun culture. But as in other trips, I anticipate my preconceptions will change.”

After COVID closures and 18 months without tours, Gold said he just can’t wait to be back on the road.

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Green Mountain Gliding https://www.adventurecycling.org/blog/green-mountain-gliding/ Mon, 16 Aug 2021 14:33:41 +0000 https://advcycle.wpenginepowered.com/blog/green-mountain-gliding/ This article first appeared in the August/September 2021 issue of Adventure Cyclist magazine. A few years ago, while sipping post-ride beers in a parking lot, some friends involved in Vermont’s mountain bike […]

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This article first appeared in the August/September 2021 issue of Adventure Cyclist magazine.

A few years ago, while sipping post-ride beers in a parking lot, some friends involved in Vermont’s mountain bike community bantered about how to create bigger, longer singletrack rides in the Green Mountain State, and the seed for the Velomont Trail was planted.

Now that seed has sprouted. The Velomont Collective broke trail this summer on the proposed Velomont Trail, which, with a little luck and a lot of work, will be a multiuse Canada-to-Massachusetts trail composed mostly of singletrack and built for mountain biking, to be completed over the next seven years. The vision is to connect existing trail networks throughout the state in a continuous corridor that passes through more than 30 Vermont communities, with 30 to 45 backcountry huts along the way owned and managed by the Vermont Huts Association.

From Bennington to Montgomery, regional chapters of the Vermont Mountain Bike Association (VMBA) maintain twisty clusters of trails, but there’s little or no connectivity among them. A fully realized Velomont Trail will provide the opportunity for both Vermonters and visitors to do multiday rides or pedal the length of the state, all on trails.

“Velomont represents the physical connective tissue of Vermont mountain biking and VMBA,” said Nick Bennett, VMBA’s executive director. “With more than 20 of VMBA’s 27 mountain bike chapters involved, it puts Vermont mountain biking on the map, providing a European-style opportunity to ride from village to village. That’s not just a cool way to connect towns — the town-to-trail economic potential is huge.”

The Velomont Trail is the next hut to hut bike destination
Trail construction progress along the Velomont.
Tom Lepesqueur

Velomont is as much about creating more opportunities for immersive nature experiences, health and wellness, and contributing to Vermont’s economy as it is about becoming the East Coast’s most epic trail network.  

“By building Velomont, we’re connecting rural communities to trailheads,” said RJ Thompson, Vermont Huts’ executive director. “Velomont will weave in and out of the forest and Vermont communities, giving Vermonters direct access to the trail and the opportunity to eat, drink, and stay in a Vermont village, and to spend a night in a backcountry hut.”

More than 84 percent of land in Vermont is private. Thanks to landowner-friendly recreational use statutes — such as Act 250, Vermont’s land use and development law — landowners have been key partners in developing mountain bike and multiuse trail networks throughout the state. Velomont’s completion depends on the goodwill of private landowners as well as partnerships with state and federal foresters who manage Vermont’s public lands.

“Velomont is a bottom-up, not a top-down initiative,” said Angus McCusker, Velomont’s volunteer executive director. “The people who manage local trails know the local landowners. That makes our chance for success much greater. The collective’s biggest wins so far are the partnerships forming behind a statewide vision.”

The Velomont Trail is the next hut to hut bike destination.
Chittenden Brook Hut, an existing hut operated by Vermont Huts Association, located on USFS land south of Brandon Gap Road. This hut will be connected via the Velomont Trail in phase 1 of the project.
Vermont Huts Association

One of those partnerships is with the U.S. Forest Service (USFS). “As public land managers, it is our role to balance public demand, and the opportunity it presents to educate visitors and to foster future generations of land stewards, with the potential for natural resource and social impacts,” said Holly Knox, the USFS recreation program manager for the Green Mountain and Finger Lakes National Forests. “Through our partnerships and projects like Velomont, we can diversify what we offer and connect to a broader audience of people to share in this land stewardship ethic.”

Vermonters are excited. Trail builder Tom Lepesqueur, who is building the first section of Velomont-specific trail, seven miles of singletrack from Rochester to Pittsfield, said that digging the first section of trail is “surreal.”

“This has been in the works for a long time,” he said. “It’s going to be huge for any town it touches.”

Native Vermonter, family doctor, and Burlington resident Alex Graham is equally excited. “As a nature lover and a recreational mountain biker who started as a bicycle tourist and road rider, I am thrilled by the opportunity to see more of my home state from the seat of a bike,” said Graham. “As a family physician, I can confirm that the healthiest kids are those who ride bikes. To more deeply ingrain mountain biking into the culture will only improve our health as a state.”

Lindsay DesLauriers, president of Bolton Valley Resort, which offers lift-served mountain biking in the summer, said she’s excited to partner with Velomont.

“The connectivity will be awesome,” said DesLauriers. “It was risky for Bolton to be a winter-only resort. Mountain biking shores up our business and gives us security, and the idea of being a bike park stop in a state-wide network is appealing.”

Trail connectivity also creates opportunities for conservation, as did Vermont’s other two cross-state trails, the Long Trail (hiking) and the Catamount Trail (Nordic skiing).

The Velomont Trail is the next hut to hut bike destination
This site of a future hut at South Pond in Chittenden is an acquisition by Trust for Public Land that is being transferred to the USFS. The hut will be built and managed by the Vermont Huts Association in 2023 or 2024 and will be connected via the Velomont Trail during phase 1 of the project. There are amazing views of Chittenden Reservoir from the site.
Vermont Huts Association

Kate Wanner, senior project manager for the Trust for Public Land, confirmed. “Our efforts to permanently conserve the largest private inholding in Green Mountain National Forest will be leveraged by the new proposed hut and trail infrastructure,” she said. “Throughout Vermont, we’ve seen how public trail networks contribute to healthy and vibrant communities and improve quality of life for all who use them.”

The Collective is taking a measured approach, crossing t’s and dotting i’s, working through permitting and adhering to the Act 250 law.

“We’re doing our due diligence planning the trail to be sensitive to natural resources, wildlife, ecology, and communities,” said Caitrin Maloney, Velomont Collective’s board president. “We’re working with communities to make sure the trail meets their vision. We want Velomont to recognize community, conservation, and ecological priorities to minimize the trails’ impacts and maximize its benefits.”

Building an end-to-end trail in a state with so much private land is ambitious. So is constructing 30 to 45 huts along the way. But, as McCusker said, “This harebrained idea is happening.”

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Road Test: Niner MCR 9 RDO https://www.adventurecycling.org/blog/road-test-niner-mcr-9-rdo/ Tue, 25 Feb 2020 02:25:00 +0000 https://advcycle.wpenginepowered.com/blog/road-test-niner-mcr-9-rdo/ This review originally appeared in the March 2020 issue of Adventure Cyclist magazine.  As a touring cyclist, you hope for a bike that disappears beneath you, allowing you to focus […]

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This review originally appeared in the March 2020 issue of Adventure Cyclist magazine. 

As a touring cyclist, you hope for a bike that disappears beneath you, allowing you to focus solely on the experience. Niner’s new MCR 9 RDO is the first tunable full-suspension gravel bike, giving riders 40mm of suspension in the front and 50mm in the rear for confidence, comfort, and control on off-road excursions and roads of questionable quality. It’s the Magic Carpet Ride (hence the acronym) for gravel cyclists and bikepackers. 

I first rode the MCR on gravel roads and green and blue mountain bike trails in Vermont and Colorado. Then I loaded it up, swapped out the 700c wheels for 650b, and rode the length of the country of Jordan, a 13-day, 450-mile tour with over 60,000 feet of climbing and grades up to 24 percent both up and down. The surface included everything from miniature baby-head rocks in sand to broken pavement, chunky gravel, and blacktop so new it was still steaming. I was carrying personal and repair gear, up to four liters of water, and some food.

I can’t think of a bike I would have rather been riding on this tour. 

I’ve heard many gravel riders ask, “Do I need suspension?” If you’re sticking to paved roads or dirt so smooth that it seems paved, you don’t. But if you’re an adventure rider game to embark on a tour with minimal info, or a rider who can’t pass up an opportunity to turn off on a side road or trail, you should consider it. By adding full suspension to a dedicated gravel platform, Niner gives riders the control of a cross-country race mountain bike with the efficiency, fit, and responsive handling of a road bike to make gravel riding more fun.

In front, Niner uses a Fox Step-Cast 32 AX fork with 40mm of travel. The rear X-Fusion shock is tucked behind the heavily shaped seat tube and surrounded above and below by linkages in Niner’s Constantly Varying Arc (CVA) suspension layout, a version of which the brand uses on its full-suspension mountain bikes. 

Designing such short suspension travel is an evolving science, and Niner did a good job with their first foray tuning suspension that absorbs vibration and small bumps. With only 50mm on tap, Niner opted for a more linear suspension curve with the notion that a seated rider should be able to take advantage of all the travel. 

Without bags, I put more pressure in the shock and fork than Niner recommended and still had the smooth and stable ride I wanted. However, when loaded up with 13 days’ worth of gear, I wasn’t able to get that smooth, never-bouncy suspension feel dialed in as precisely. 

Niner’s Zach Vestal confirmed that the company’s pressure guidelines were biased toward riders using all the travel, and that in a “loaded touring application or smoother than typical road surfaces, our suggested setup might feel too soft.”

My rider weight, which in this case included my weight plus frame, seat, and handlebar bags of gear, fluctuated by up to nine pounds a day, depending on how much water I was carrying. I set the shock and fork to my weight plus a guestimate of how much my gear weighed, and then I added a whole lot more pressure at different intervals throughout the trip. I got it to where it felt good on technical terrain, but I kept the rear locked out for climbs and sections where I was hammering on flats. Suspension made stretches of trail that would have been heinous or unrideable on a rigid bike manageable, if sometimes spicy. 

The X-Fusion shock isn’t as precisely tunable as those from other brands, and homing in on the perfect setup with such minimal travel is as much an art as a science. The bike’s suspension enhanced my riding experience, but instead of leaving it open all the time, I used the handlebar-mounted lockout and the twist knob on the top of the right fork leg to give me more or less shock absorption depending on the surface. Open, the Fox AX gave me what I expected from a suspension fork — no-bounce vibration absorption and small-bump compliance, and once I got the rebound dialed in via a knob at the bottom of the left fork leg, I left it open except when I was on pavement. The rear shock was harder to dial in, and I opened and closed the lockout lever many times throughout the day.

I tested the MCR spec’d with Niner’s 4-star Shimano GRX 800 2x build, and I was impressed with the components. The biggest difference was in the textured hood covers, which feature exaggerated knobs and made moving my hands around on the bars stable and secure. Angled lever blades felt natural with the bike’s flared bars, and the whole setup made swapping between hoods and drops seamless even on steep, technical descents. 

For the Jordan trip, I swapped the 700c Stans NoTubes Grail S1 wheels for 650b NEXT carbon wheels with Project 321 hubs and 47mm WTB tires. I also swapped the Ultegra 11–34T cassette for a GRX 11–40T rear cassette to give me a better chance of pedaling up Jordan’s viciously steep grades. It rode perfectly unless I cross-chained, in which case the drivetrain locked. So I tried not to cross-chain. Shimano’s claimed range maxes out at 34T, but adding a few links to the chain would’ve likely solved the issue.

Other touches on the carbon frame include an integrated rear fender to protect the rear shock, full-sleeve internal cable guides, a port for a dropper post if you decide to add one, and 11 fixed mounting points to hold framebags, bottles, and more. There is clearance for whatever rim and tire combo you want to ride, up to 700c x 50mm or 650b x 2.0in.

As Niner gets more riders on this bike, they’ll refine their suspension pressure charts, making it even better than it is. Hopefully, they will also design alternate mounts for the rear shock lockout. With the ultralight handlebar bag I prefer, which wraps and clips around the bar, I couldn’t reach the rear lockout lever. A bag with a frame would have solved the problem, but I had to angle the lever awkwardly to make it work. 

Despite its imperfections (I rode the first MCR available in the U.S.), I had an exceptional experience on this bike. It let me ride more of the Jordan Trail at a more efficient pace possible than I would have on any other bike, and helped me keep a smile on my face on the most grueling days. 

“Fun is the glorious side effect of this bike,” said George Parry, the Niner designer who led the project. “When mountain biking first started, it was just guys out in regular shorts, ripping fire roads. Now cross-country riding is super serious, with everyone kitted out in Lycra. People find a way to split off when it gets too serious. For me, that’s what this bike is about — exploring, and doing it with comfort and efficiency.”

If you’re looking for a gravel race bike, this probably isn’t it. But if you want a bike that gives you something a hardtail mountain bike or full-suspension XC bike can’t — more hand positions, touring bike geometry, braze-ons galore, higher speeds on pavement — the answer is a hard yes.  

Niner MCR 9 RDO

Price: $5,900
Sizes available: 53cm, 56cm, 59cm
Size tested: 53cm
Weight: 25.3 lbs. (without pedals)

Test Bike Measurements

Stack: 575mm
Reach: 382mm
Head tube length: 133mm
Head tube angle: 71.0°
Seat tube length: 490mm
Seat tube angle: 73.8°
Top tube: 545mm
Chainstays: 440mm (actual) 
Bottom bracket drop:
62mm
Fork Offset: 44mm
Trail: 76mm
Wheelbase: 1041mm
Standover height: 764mm

Specifications

Frame: Niner RDO carbon fiber, CVA suspension, internal cable routing, integrated fender, bottle, and bag mounts
Fork: Fox 32 Step-Cast Float AX Performance Elite, 40mm travel
Shock: X-Fusion Microlite RL, 50mm travel
Handlebar: Easton EA50 AX
Stem: Niner RDO 
Brake/shift levers:
Shimano GRX800
Rear Derailer: Shimano GRX800
Front Derailer: Shimano Ultegra
Brakes: Shimano GRX rear, Shimano SLX front, hydraulic disc
Rotors: Shimano, 160mm
Crankset: Easton EA90, 47/32T 
Cassette: Shimano Ultegra 11spd, 11–34T
Chain: Shimano HG601
Bottom bracket: Easton PF30
Seatpost: Niner Carbon
Saddle: Niner, titanium rails 
Headset: Niner integrated
Hubs: Stans NoTubes Neo, 100 x 15mm front, 142 x 12mm rear, thru-axles
Rims: Stans NoTubes Grail S1, 32h, tubeless ready
Tires: Schwalbe G-One Evo SS 700c x 40mm, tubeless ready

Gear Inches

47

32

11

118.0

80.4

13

100.1

68.0

15

86.5

58.9

17

76.3

52.0

19

68.5

46.4

21

61.9

42.0

23

56.4

38.4

25

52.0

35.4

27

48.1

32.9

30

43.4

29.6

34

38.1

26.0

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