So as some of you might know, things in Waterbury have not been terribly rosy since our visit from Irene last summer. It effectively squashed the life out this little town, but what was fantastic and exciting to see was the community rallying to the aid of their neighbors. One year ago today I was sharing the bike shop with another business. It helped to share the burden of the lofty overhead while the town was rebuilding. Unfortunately, many of the people that used to work in town still haven’t come back. And it isn’t likely that the nearly 1500 employees of the State of VT will be back any time soon. Without the people, there was a huge hole in retail visits, a crippling blow to many of the small business in town, including mine.

While I managed to hold on through the summer, it was becoming increasingly more obvious that something had to be done. And unfortunately, that meant closing the bike shop. I started Five Hills Bikes almost 7 years ago, not knowing what would happen. I watching it grow out of it’s original space on Rt 100, and into Waterbury’s downtown where it has been for the last 5 years. I’ve spent every day working toward the success of the business. There were some bumps along the way, but also a lot of really good times. I’ve gotten to travel to some really cool places, meet some really fantastic people, and lets not forget all the awesome bikes I’ve owned along the way.

Bike 29 will keep on keeping on for the time being. The beauty of an online business, is that it isn’t 100% dependent on having a physical location. The current plan is to find a suitable spot to reopen the shop and keep doing the things I did well, but on a much smaller and more manageable scale. Until then though, I guess I’ll have to just ride my bike!

So that’s that. It was a great ride while it lasted. And I have to say that I have no regrets about any of it. It did feel pretty good to hand the keys back to my landlords today. But now I get to look forward to new adventures, which I will most likely share here. Having been at this for the last 7 years, I’ve developed somewhat of a writing habit, even though I’ve been pretty quiet lately. So with that, I’ll say see ya’ll down the trail.

 

assembling the roll out

Sunday marked the 5th annual running of the Gravel Grinder. Once again, we were lucky with the weather, in that it had poured hard all Saturday night, but let up for the day during the event. A big nasty weather system has moved into the region for the next few days. While it was far from sunny and warm, we did have a nice window of non rain. It was chilly, with a yucky north wind, but it was a good temp for cranking up steep hills on bikes!

flying up Perry Hill

We rolled about 150 riders this year, by the far the most we’ve had. It’s really encouraging to see folks brave the less than stellar riding conditions. I saw lots of familiar faces, all of them with smiles on them. This really was a fun event, and I don’t know if it was because we’ve been putting it on for all these years or what, but set up and take down went off like a well oiled machine.

tailgating

I ran the aid station once again this year, and this time even remembered water. The offerings this year were pretzels, bananas, gummie bears, twizzlers, 5 kinds of booze, meatbars, cheese, bread and bacon. Regular and boozy chocolate covered.
That’s how we roll.

mmmm bacon

The fast guys came cruising in about an hour after start, which is what I was expecting. I’m actually pretty happy with my course mapping time of 2:32, the fast guys, and they are seriously fast, got in at just over 2 hours. They of course did not stop for chocolate covered bacon and attitude adjustments, instead they flew by, but shortly thereafter more riders began trickling in, and before I knew it, we had a full blown party!

lead group

Most everyone had made it to the aid station after about 2 hours from start, so it was time to break it down and head back to base for tacos and beer. It was great to have so many folks this year, all of them stoked. And they should be, they rode a tough course in less than perfect weather, not to mention that this is the first ride that a lot of these folks have done this season. My hat is off to everyone that participated this year.

the place to be

There are some people who are integral to the machinery of this ride. We had a lot of additional help this year that made this the best Grinder to date. A big thank you has to go out to Ryan at MTBVT, who designed the art for this year’s shirt and made some sponsor connections for us. Cris at Factotum always does a killer job, and screening 150+ shirts to perfection is no easy task. Nat Fish is always there with the muscle to help move the heaviest tables in the universe, and the truck to haul everything around, and without his help, it would have taken Dough, Ginger and I a lot longer to mark the course in the rain the night prior. The post ride meal provided by Frida’s is clearly the highlight of everyone’s day. But the one person that makes this event what is, is Mandy. She gets it done. She’s the one that organizes everything and brings it all together. Without her, this event would be a comical farce. If you are reading this and appreciate all the work she has done this year, feel free to thank her in whiskey. She likes the really peaty stuff.

So please forgive me if you are not on the following list, a lot of hands went into making this Grinder the awesome good time it was. Aaron, Tab, Barb and Carrie helped made set up and registration a breeze. Meg and Keller made the best cookies ever. Frida’s, VT Smoke and Cure, Cabot, Elmore Mountain Bread kept our bellies full, Green Mountain Distillers and Long Trail helped to wash it all down. KP let me set up the mobile party wagon in her front yard. The Pilgrim Partnership gave us the parking lot to make this happen, the Town of Waterbury did a bang up job of grooming the gravel portions of our ride. Thanks to Zack, who swept the course and pulled the course markings, BY BIKE!

Zackalicious

But most of all, thanks to all the hardy souls that braved the weather and came out and rode. We hope to see you all next year!

 

So only 1 question this week, but it was a good one, and comes from Team29 rider Chris Muddiman aka The Mutt. He asked:

Can you give us the history of how you ended up being a shop owner, and how that turned into Bike29? Not a real creative question, but I figured it would be a good story.

And he was right, it is a good story, for it all started about this time  6 years ago. I had been laid off from my last “job”. I wasn’t exactly surprised, as little input I put forth with the powers that be was ever actually acted upon, resulting in poor performance of the things I was in charge of. Basically I was slamming my head into a brick wall, and was not entirely bummed about about being let go.

It would take about 2 months of searching for another job in my field of expertise, which in VT was really hard. Nothing was coming up, and the supply of rocks to turn over and leads to follow were fast running out. Winter can be a cruel time of year here for the unemployed and unpurposed, and I had to come up with something. After much soul searching I finally came to the conclusion that I was not going to be satisfied working for others.

Over the course of the previous months, I had started riding my Surly Karate Monkey over my FS bike, and was beginning to get hooked on the 29″ wheel. At the time, no one was doing anything to support the big wheel platform, and the internet was a good and inexpensive way to sell to customers outside my zip code. However, big parts houses like QBP don’t sell to run-out-of-the-garage operations, which forced me into my next big decision. I decided to grab the bull by the horns and open an online and brick and mortar bike shop. Bike29 would be the online store, Five Hills Bikes would be the LBS.

I had no clue what I was doing, or even getting myself into, but it seemed like a good idea, and the only option at the time. I also launched this blog, which I have just spent about an hour peering through archived posts. I have literally built this whole thing up from nothing but tenacity, luck and the support of close friends and loved ones. The luck hasn’t always been good, but I have always managed to learn something valuable from the times when the odds weren’t in my favor. My perseverance has helped drive the ship through those tough times, and I’ve always managed to come out on the other side of the storm. And the business grew. It outgrew it’s original footprint in two quick years, and we ended up moving the shop into downtown Waterbury where it still lives today.



The good times are incomparable. I have had so many awesome experiences that I would not have had were I stuck in a cube someplace. There would be no Gravel Grinder. I would not have started what is now the VT Mountainbike Festival, I would not have met Fuzzy and Dejay, who have played a pivotal role in my life. I would not have gone to SSAZ, nor been talked into going to SSWC in Durango, no SSUSA, no riding amazing trails all over the southwest, southeast and Colorado. I wouldn’t have met all the really amazing people that I now call good friends.

Let’s not even get started on the bikes…

There would be no B29 Jersey, no Team29.

SSUSA would likely not be coming to VT in 2012.

These are all the things that I think about during the times when things are so rough I bitch and whine about wanting to get a job and work for someone else. There is no way I could have accomplished any of these things without the shop. I was going to say “stuck behind a computer”, but lets face it, I am sometimes stuck behind a computer. But at least it is a nice computer, that I own, one that I can take with me, and one that has allowed me to do what I do.

It isn’t an easy life, and it has certainly had it’s prices to be paid, but in the end I am in the driver’s seat. I am the master of my destiny. I don’t lament my decision to strike out on my own, and I would tell anyone that is considering making a break to chase their dream to just go for it. Life is too short to be stuck in a rut. I believe that nothing “worth it” is ever easy.

There are some extremely cool things lined up for B29 that I hope to be able to start talking about as soon as next week. And let us not forget, as a result of the things this shop has allowed me to do, SSUSA2012 is going to be in my back yard.

Literally.

So hopefully this sheds a little light on to what/how/why B29 is and how it came to be. Keep the questions coming!

 

Gravel Grinder registration is open! Sunday April 10th is the day.

Do you like riding your bike? Do you want to be in shape for the upcoming summer?

Do you like to meet new people? Do you love awesome Mexican food?

The 4th annual Gravel Grinder will not disappoint.

Around 30 miles of riding on some of Central Vermont’s most picturesque  gravel roads will challenge you, and a fabulous post ride feast provided by Frida’s Taqueria will reward you. This is a great ride for most ability levels, and all the proceeds directly support the Perry Hill Trail System.

The course features some tough climbs, speedy descents, and is a mixture of paved and gravel roads. There is a mile or so on busy Route 100, but for the most part, the course is away from the main roads. For the more adventurous rider, an optional “bonus loop” will be available, conditions depending. In years past it has been clear of ice and mud, on others, buried in snow, so that will be announced as the we get closer to the big day.

While we have increased the number of participants once again, we still manage to over sell the event, so don’t be a slacker, sign up today!

Wow, so many great names to choose from, but I will say, that the best name for a bike I have EVER heard, is the dunderchee…

You will find out what I’m talking about if you go here.

I shut it all down tonight, so lets keep those names coming!!!

In other bike news, tomorrow is a tax holiday in VT. I’ve been furiously buffing out the shop, making sure that all the bikes on the floor are ready to go. I have a bunch of the leftover 2009 bikes on super duper sale, so folks looking for that deal they can’t refuse should make the trip to our showroom. I’ll be open from 9-5.

Sunday, there is an open house at one of my distributors. I’ll be making the trip to Maine to see some of the new products they are carrying, and see what sort of 29er products they’ll have. It’s a long drive, but sometimes a quick change of scenery is good thing.

The weather is supposed to be awesome this weekend, so get out and ride your bike if you can

The most important thing to report on, is that Niner has requested all dealers to halt all sales of the Jet 9, due to an issue with the upper rocker links. In some instances there have been failures, IE breakage of these links. They are quickly determining a solution to this problem, but in the meantime, for liabilities sake, they have asked that Jet owners keep their bikes grounded for the time being. Not one of the breakages have occurred from a bike sold from Bike 29.

Anyone that would like to know more specific details about the Jet 9, should contact me directly.

I haven’t been able to ride my Jet in a while anyway, my work schedule and the rainy weather has kept me off the bike, up until early this week, when it was being horrendously sick that kept me on the sidelines. I don’t often get sick, but when I do, I come down hard. I’m still trying to peer though the fog as I write this.

And on a positive note, the shop got it’s new sign. It is absolutely killer. More details about the install can be found on the Five Hills Bikes webpage. It’s water jet cut aluminum over a painted plywood background. The light is from an LED rope light that is mounted to the back of the aluminum. It looks awesome. A big thank you goes to Dr. Jones is on order for making the sign everything it is.

I hope to get out on the bike soon, I’m starting to get stir crazy!

Not by choice either.
So much of the work I do goes on after store hours, and since the internet has decided not to work at my home, I’m forced to reduce my work load slightly. Apparently, I’ll be waiting until they can get a technician over to sort it out. What is even more annoying, is that my Crackberry has also decided to stop receiving emails, so I am in true radio silence.
Stupid technology…

So the Gravel Grinder was a huge success, we have a great post on the Five Hills Bikes blog with pictures, and a video of the descent down Loomis Hill that someone was brave enough to film one handed. Next year, we’ll have more room. We had to turn away a bunch of folks, which was a huge shame, but we had planned for a certain number. A huge thanks goes out to all of our sponsors.

I’ve been building Jets and shipping them out furiously. What an amesome bike. I should be able to get mine dirty this weekend, if I can ever get caught up in here!

We plan on having a fully armed and operational battle station within the next 2 weeks.
We are just about there right now, but it all comes down to having a few things happen. These things are rather large and important things, but the picture above is a pretty good metaphor for where we are at. Notice the giant super laser. The business end of this thing is all there.

I’ve been able to process Bike 29 orders in a pretty timely fashion, thanks to the flexibility to do business wherever I have an internet connection. I’ve been able to ship in stock items very quickly, and things I have to build, like wheels, have not taken any extra time than they normally would have. Sometimes, I amaze even myself…

Here are a couple of updates for folks that may be waiting for stuff. If I haven’t addressed you individually, please excuse me.

Wheels
Building them like mad, 3 sets built today to ship tomorrow. Will be continuing building wheelsets throughout the week. I expect no further interruptions here, pending availability of King hubs. They are a little shy of certain colors.

Jet 9
Niner is experiencing a production delay. Current projections are an end of March ship date, but we’ll have to see. If you haven’t ordered one, now might be a good time, as I only have a few sizes and colors left that aren’t spoken for.

Five Hills Bikes
It’s coming, bigger and badder than ever. Obviously.
But, what you may not know, is that I have a growing demo fleet. When the trails dry out, you will be riding distance from finding out why bikes like the Bandersnatch and RIP9 are so awesome. I even have a couple of Superfly’s on the way for the new digs.

The best part about it, no Bothans were harmed!

Winter still has a firm grip here. This picture is a squall rolling over Camel’s Hump at sunset. Beautiful.

Still, I am getting very fired up to ride my bike. In preparing myself for warmer climes, I looked at my calendar for this coming year, and I was left scratching my head as to how I was going to get it all done. I mean, we have some pretty LARGE events we plan on being a big part of…
Well, none of it is completely out of reach, but if we don’t aim high, we may never make the mark.

There are many things that have not yet been finalized, but I can tell you about a very important one, the first event of 2008.

The Five Hills Ride -Gravel Grinder Spring Classic
25.5 miles, 2900 vertical feet of climbing, up and down the 5 hills of Waterbury. It goes off rain or shine on April 20th, leaving downtown Waterbury at 9:00am. The ride will take you on some paved, but mostly unpaved roads, with some serious climbing, but also some serious descending.

April can be extraordinarily unpredictable, so it could be really calm, really cold, raining, snowing, or 70° and sunny or all of the above. Price of admission is $23, you get a super cool T-shirt, fed, supported along the way, and anything left goes to the Stowe Mountain Bike Club, to help raise funds for the work that still needs to be done on Perry Hill. I can usually do this ride on my single speed in about 3 1/2 hours, and I’m not particularly fit. There will be a sag wagon at various points along the way, as well as water, snacks and “recovery” drinks.

Sign up through Active.com.

If you are coming in from out of town, please let us know, and we can help you find a good rate at a local B&B. This is MUD season after all, and rates will most likely be attractive.
I really hope to see you there… if you think you can hack it!

There are going to be some exciting things happening in the next 2 months.
First of all, we’ve been sneaking a new look on our website, little by little.
One of the problems about “doing it yourself” sometimes, is that you run out of time to effectively “do it”. This was a problem with the webstore. Since the site was set up, component models changed, parts were redesignated, prices have changed etc. It was a lot to juggle. We now have a little help on the back end of things, and we’ll be streamlining the catalog as we go.
We’re going to be staying pretty 29er-centric on B29, but we’ll still be offering the parts and gizmos we use and love. Think of it as January Thaw Cleaning. Same great stuff we always sell, but without the fluff.

Five Hills Bikes is going to become a bigger part of the picture. Besides being the mothership for B29, it is a shop that services the cycling needs of local community and beyond. We’re making some pretty significant changes in it’s operation too. Still can’t divulge the whole picture yet, but let’s just say this, it will be a very big deal.

We are planning a spring kick off ride in April that I will announce this comming week.

I write this in the middle of a nasty bought of weather, that has pretty much brought the entire northeast to a standstill with freezing rain and high winds. It seems as if the precipitation has remained mostly frozen up here, which will make for some good turns in the morning!

Owning your own business is full of ups and downs, especially a seasonal business such as mine. It’s important to take the good with the bad. While I’m enjoying winter to the fullest, with lots of days on snow already (and many more to come) I look forward to warmer weather, wearing shorts, and cooking outside comfortably. I especially look forward to throwing a leg over the ole’ two wheeler again.