Seven – Page 102 – Seven Cycles

Seven at the Kearsarge Klassic

In addition to Quad Cross Team Seven Cycles was also to be found at this weekend’s Kearsarge Klassic Dirt Road Randonnee. Here is Seveneer Jake Bridge’s report on what is becoming another classic New England event.

Ever the sucker for long rides on dirt roads, I drove up to New London, New Hampshire for the inaugural Kearsarge Klassic Dirt Road Randonee, a benefit for the Ausbon Sargent Land Preservation Trust. The New Hampshire Cycling Club did not disappoint me. The route was pure New England wild goodness: stone walls, covered bridges, wild turkeys, brutal climbs, and exhilarating descents.

In the first few miles I met up with (read: was passed by) team member Jason DeVarennes, as well as Seven tandem pilots and local superheros, John Bayley and Pamela Blalock. We rode the rest of the route together as an impromptu Seven team.

And the support! There are times on a long road when nothing much is better than an ice cold coke. Or, sometimes, a freshly picked New England apple. Or a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Or a chocolate covered McVities biscuit. Or potato chips. Or homemade chili. Or a brownie. The amazing volunteers at the Kearsarge Klassic had all this covered.

Good roads, good company, good food, good cause. See you next year at K2R2!

-Jake B.

Quad Cross

Quad Cross is one of those races, shop-sponsored, very local, that signifies the beginning of cross season. Though small and perhaps insignificant in the larger scheme of things, Quad Cross is huge for the devoted dirt racers in our area. For most, it’s the first test of legs and lungs. It’s where you find out how good/bad your summer was, and where you learn what you need to work on for the coming races. Oh, and it’s fun as hell.

Team Seven Cycles rider Mo Bruno Roy (Bob’s Red Mill p/b Seven Cycles) found out she’s in pretty good shape, taking the women’s Pro 1/2/3 race by a wide margin on her freshly refinished Mudhoney PRO.

Our shipping/receiving dynamo, Nick Maggiore came through 39th in the Cat 3 Men’s heat, while Seven’s newest addition back in the shop, Dan Cariolo, was 20th in the Cat 4 Men’s race.

Joe Wignall took an exceptionally strong 5th in the Men’s Cat 4 35+ race. Can you say “podium hopeful?” And Team Seven Cycles’ Jason Devarrenes was 13th in the Single Speed Men’s.

It was a warm, sunny day for racing, perfect conditions for going fast. The course was dry and perfectly tacky, so not the mud-fest some were anticipating. There were fast flat sections, technical bits for the mountain bikers, a couple short, punchy climbs and a hard right-hander into the finish that rewarded riders with something left in the tank.

As always Quad put on a well-organized event, and the local cross community certainly rode away satisfied. Cross season is on.

Current Work – Mudhoney Pro – Custom Blue

Our Mudhoney PRO in a custom blue, painted to match a ’72 Chrysler Baracuda

Shop Ride – The Wheelie King

Matt popping a wheelie while Dan rides next to him — Dan V. and Matt O. (the Wheelie King) on this morning’s shop ride.

Seven at D2R2 2012

D2R2, or the Deerfield Dirt Road Randonee, is an annual event on the Seven calendar. Not only does the ride support the Franklin Land Trust, an excellent cause, but it also takes in some of the sweetest back roads and sweeping vistas in New England. It is both brutally hard and magically compelling. For some of us, it is the most difficult thing we’ll do all year, but we sign up over and over. It’s that good.

This year we had Seveneers riding the 100k (Matt and Susi on their Ti tandem), the 115k (Mike Salvatore), the 150k (John Lewis on his Axiom SL) and the 180k (Jake Bridge) routes, and of course we saw more Seven riders on each of the courses, some on road bikes, some on cross bikes.

As a randonee, D2R2 is not a race. It’s a challenging group ride. It requires cooperation, camaraderie, resource planning, group navigation and a lot of hard work. It is not unlike running a bike company.

And of course it’s all smiles and tall tales back in the food tent after the ride. All the descents were gnarlier and the climbs were longer and we came that much closer to crashing, as pulled pork and mac n’ cheese and Rice Krispy treats disappear in the feeding frenzy.

Jake, who did the long route, has the best story. Two miles into the ride his rear derailleur came apart. The lower pulley and its bolt flying free across the road. Only able to locate the bolt, he road back to the start area, cased the parking lot for any charitable soul with a spare pulley, FOUND ONE, installed it, and hammered back out onto the course, doing the entire 180k of dirt and mayhem on a cobbled together drive train.

Matt and Susi cut two hours off their 100k time from last year. Susi says it’s because they stopped to chat less. Matt believes they still stopped to chat too much.

An event like D2R2 can sustain you for a year. It will leave you with much to think about, climbs you could have handled better, gearing choices that seemed right at the time, and it will send you searching for long stretches of dirt road to conquer, if only to recapture that feeling of being out in the middle of no where, on your bike and flying.