On the Road – Page 16

Off Road with Mike Bybee

Like most of our favorite riders, Mike Bybee brings an enthusiasm to cycling that makes other people want to ride bikes, too. So beyond the fact that he’s an accomplished bike packer, travel photographer and all around outdoors dude, he was a pleasure to collaborate with, and we think the bike we built him came out all the better for it.

Although he plans to ride his Seven on all Seven continents (yes, including Antarctica), we checked in with him for an early review only a few weeks after he had taken delivery.

Seven: Why this bike?

Mike: The Seven Sola SL is a great compromise between ultra-butted and straight tube frames. The craftsmanship is absolutely top-notch, and I knew that working with the designers and builders personally would insure that the bike would be tailored to me, not simply cobbled together to reduce discomfort.

With a goal of singletrack bike based travel and setting wheels on all seven continents, compromises have to be made. Seven Cycles did a great job at making sure the bike was as light and nimble as any dedicated dedicated all-mountain bike while still giving me the comfort, durability and carrying capacity to spend weeks on the bike without resupply.

Seven: How does it measure up to your expectations?

Mike: Seven Cycles has blown me away entirely. The bike weighs barely more than the standard spec, despite being built for exceptional ruggedness. The innovative design of the rear rack means that I’m able to carry a full load without it interfering with the brakes or relying on a convoluted series of adapters. The welds and craftsmanship are top notch, and the bike is the most agile 29er I’ve ever used – far better than the competition. It handles better than any bike I’ve ridden in its price-range, and with a fit and form that blow them all away.

Seven: Where are you going to take it?

Mike: Immediate term, it’s making its way across Arizona. Early 2015 it’ll be in Utah and New Mexico, and preparations are underway for a tour of Norway’s remote bike trails as well. Travel is being arranged for Iceland, Europe, and Australia in the coming years, with a trip to a research base in Antarctica already in the works.

Evergreening Sedona – In Pictures

Our first two attempts to communicate about this trip (here and here) contained entirely too many words.

Sedona, and its environs, are a visual experience, so here, without comment, are some of the visuals.

On the Road: Evergreening Sedona – The Bike in Detail

Bike riding is fun, and exploring the world by bike is another order of fun, however…when you’re taking on desert terrain, bike packing, being prepared is a serious business. For our week in and around Sedona, we outfitted our Evergreen SLs with a slew of specialized componentry and accessories. The double-butted Ti frames themselves are ideal for this kind of trip, super-durable but also comfortably compliant, so they serve as the perfect platform for this kind of trip.

1. S&S Couplers – The frame’s S&S couplers allow it to be broken down and packed into a travel case that does not incur additional baggage handling fees from the major commercial airlines.

2. Mechanical disc brakes – The mechanical (i.e. cable actuated) disc brakes can incorporate cable splitters, which make packing and re-assembly easier.

3 . Prototype light mount at fork race w/ Schmidt Edelux II generator headlight.

4. Light and Motion Gobe bar mount lights (x2) – More light = better. And they’re 100% waterproof.

5. Third water bottle – More water = better…especially in the desert.

6. Porcelain Rocket saddle bag – Expanding saddle storage for tools and parts. You never know what you’ll need, except that sometimes you do.

7. Drivetrain – 44/26 front chainrings coupled to 12/32 rear cassette for long days climbing technical terrain.

8. Son 28 generator disc hub – For battery-free lighting.

9. Clement MSO X’Plor 40mm tires – Big for comfort and traction.

10. Camera, Garmin 1000 & Garmin 810 – Hands free movies and pictures, plus navigation, plus back up navigation.

11. Prototype rear compression rack w/ compression bags – This versatile rack is collapsible for easy packing, and features a Ti “web” ideal for strapping bags and other equipment to. Not yet available for purchase, this is the first iteration in what we foresee being a long design cycle. Sea to Summit Compression Bag (x2) – Adaptable storage for all your desert exploration needs.

12. Ortlieb handlebar bag – Food and other necessaries, at your fingertips.

Email us to learn more about the Sedona Evergreens and Seven’s other travel bike options.

On the Road: Block Island

Every year, just after the high season ends, we make a pilgrimage to Block Island with some friends. The friends surf, if there are waves, and they fish in every other waking hour, which leaves us full days to ride our bikes and explore the Island’s not quite ten square miles.

Block Island is located off the coast of Rhode Island, the state that claims it, and almost equidistant from Montauk Point on Long Island. Both are visible on clear days.

There is not much paved road on the island. You can cover it all in short order if you’re motivated to do so, but things get really interesting once you leave the pavement in search of adventure.

In season, snaking along the paths that hug high clay bluffs overlooking the ocean might not be such a good idea, such is the density of population, and riding bikes on these trails is mostly discouraged. In the off-season, the place is deserted, and we take our smooth 25mm tires anywhere our hearts desire.

Native Americans were on Block Island more than 3000 years ago, and the deer population, not to mention the fishing, suggest they lived a good life. You get the distinct sense of plenty everywhere you look, and the island’s size increases on your sight line, contiguous as it is with so much rolling ocean.

Riding to the north end the first day, we took a meandering dirt road to its end, where we picked up a trail that snaked onward to the water, where we turned south and ribboned along the high dunes, in and out of postcard views, all to the metronomic crashing of waves. That trail eventually spat us out just above the main beach area, where we sat and had a drink and watched seagulls wheel and dive in the wind.

40% of Block Island is conservation land, and though houses cluster along most of the roads, it’s a place where nature holds sway. You get the sense that every dwelling stands at the mercy of the wind and water.

The next day we explored the south end of the Island, another dirt road ending in a trail, this one zig-zagging against the high cliffs and occasionally darting down toward the water, sweeping around the southwest point, it turned back through a low glade, the insects still thrumming as if it were high summer. Finally, we came back out by this gate and were struck by a pang of guilt, which quickly subsided as we’d not seen a single walker on our way.

We made our way gradually down the west side, poking our noses out at each beach access, until we had beauty fatigue. Then we rode hard to the northern point to meet the surfers who’d had good luck with a hurricane swell. We raced them back to town for lunch, just a couple of the restaurants still open, though the day was warm and the sun was bright.

The Point Judith ferry that connects Naragansett to Block Island is roughly 90 minutes from the back door at Seven. From there it’s an hour over the water to the harbor. If we get up early and catch the 7:30am boat, we can ride a full day of wide-eyed beautiful road and trail, and be back in Watertown by evening. Maybe, just maybe, we should be doing that more than once a year.

On the Road: Evergreening Sedona

Looking Down on Sedona

As New Englanders who had ridden in the desert Southwest only a few times, I can confess that none of the plans we made prior to flying into Flagstaff were going to happen. You hit the ground in Arizona and quickly realize that nothing books or the internet could tell you would be sufficient prep for the reality of the landscape, the beauty and the wildness of the place.

Cactus Spines & Tires, Natural Enemies

For example, we thought the 65 miles from Flagstaff to Sedona would be a relatively easy roll, the prelude to a much larger adventure, but the pasture land that stretches between was hard going, rough and rutted, each step the cattle had taken in the drought parched soil was baked solid, and we wondered at the firmness of our fillings before we’d made any progress at all. Given the ground we’d hoped to cover over our week there, we approached Sedona a little discouraged and over-awed. Then came the descent into town. We came around a wide bend, our heads down, churning away at the pedals, just trying to get there, and then suddenly, there it was, Sedona. We almost cried. This is what we came to see.

A Bit Lost

Back at Seven, in the office, we had thought through this trip, a chance to field test our Evergreens, to see how the bikes worked as a platforms for bike packing, and to ride terrain we would never encounter in New England. And in as much as we took our bikes and packed supplies and traveled through the landscape it was a good experiment. But none of that was in our heads once we’d arrived in Sedona and begun working our way through the rideable trails spider webbing out from town.

We just couldn’t look in any direction and not find beauty. Towering red stone spires and hulking sedimentary plateaus vaulted skyward in every direction. At some point, we gave up on stopping to take pictures, we just took pictures when we stopped instead. The trails made for some great technical riding. Our Evergreens clung to the packed sand and clay. It was, as hoped, like nothing we’d ridden before and nothing we could hope to get to back home.

Coyote-less Camping is Good Camping

The camping brought us into contact with wildlife we didn’t expect, but probably should have. We had not seen mule deer before, great lumbering animals, twice the size of our white-tailed deer back home. Though docile enough, the sheer size of the mule deer made them intimidating. We also encountered a small pack of coyote, which we normally only see alone in New England. These were bigger than ours, too. Luckily, they didn’t come into camp, and eating and sleeping was good under the stars. We’ve been riding bikes a long time, all kinds of bikes, in all sorts of places, and we’ve seen some dramatic landscapes, but it’s safe to say Sedona and its surroundings completely blew our minds. The trip was one of those eye-opening, fall-in-love-with-the-world sort of experiences that made us particularly grateful we’ve been able to make a life for ourselves that includes cycling through deserts as part of our “jobs.”