Stevil Ride

The original artwork for the Zank SSCX hoodie by Stevil

In the eloquent words of Stevil Kinevil "Optimism is the new pessimism." 2015 as said early has been a rough one. Sure a few of you I am sure have had banner years, but for a whole bunch of us it has Le Sucked. I think that is how the French say I got nut punched by a giant wrecking ball called Two Thousand and F U…..But to turn this giant lemon into lemonade we are hosting a ride for Stevil. Let's just turn this shit show around and laugh in the face of death or what not. And by laughing in the face of death I of course mean let's meet at the Washington Square Tavern on Sunday, January 3rd for a ride and fundraiser to help our good friend Stevil out. Stevil would do this for anyone of us. And has done this for countless bikers who have found themselves in a jam. His blog and art are the inspiration for most of the hijinks I get myself into on a bike. 

Stevil's studio

Here are some details of what we will be throwing down.

Stevil Ride

What: A CXenduro ride. You could call it a Winter Ronde. Cx bikes, mtn bikes. I WOULD NOT RIDE A ROAD BIKE!!! Two tubes, pump, food, back up of anything you think you may destroy. The course is awesome. But has a shit ton of sticks, leaves etc hiding rocks and roots. You know the drill. Tires, tubes, deraillers. All are at risk. Be prepared. I can't believe I have to say this but its an unsupported ride. You are responsible for yourself and friends. No racing. This is for fun. Be safe. Be nice. We will be rolling on lots of mixed trails. Say hi to people. Announce yourself to dogs etc. You might even see a horse or two.

When: Sunday, January 3rd. Meet at the Washington Square Tavern. Roll out at 8 am.

Who: YOU! All are invited and welcomed. Depending on how many people show up we may put people in groups etc. Or you can do it Ronde style and form a group. I think ideal group size is 6-10. No more than 10. We will have a GPS file with two routes. Short and Long. Short will be around 25. Long around 40. We are asking all participants to donate $5 to the Stevil Fund. We will have a free keg of beer and a raffle at the end of the ride. We have some really cool stuff to raffle off. Including some original art work by Stevil!

Ok so you get the idea! On to the ride itself. It will be similar to some past Ronde's but will have a few new twists. We have some Cat 1 Trail Ninjas doing recon and fighting over what sectors to include. We will be riding in Newton, Wellesley, Needham, Dover, Brookline and the City. Think rad woods stuff meets urban shred fest. I am rolling on my Zank SSCX. Possibly in SSCX mode possibly as some robo Ben Berden 1x CX. It all depends on what shows up in my CXmas stocking. I have been loving the Specialized Terra tubeless set up in the woods right now. I would suggest 33 or bigger tires. 40 WTB Nanos are pretty sweet as well. A mtn bike would be a good option as well.

Please RSVP on the facebook page or email me at velocb@mac.com for more details or to submit a team for the ride. Again there will be no scoring and we are all winners just getting to ride our bikes in early January together in 50 degree weather. I want to give that little El Nino kid a wicked high five for making it Springter in New England.

I have my favorite sections of the route of course but I am really excited to show off the Needham Rail Trail. Its like they built it just for this ride! Last time I was through they had finalized a section and put down some crushed stone. It is super sweet. I will update the facebook page through the coming days and will get a detailed list of instructions. In the meantime, don't hang those CX bikes up just yet! Get a crew together or let me know if you need a crew to ride with. And get stoked for a really great day with the NECX!