Black Friday

My family doesn't shop on Black Friday - we brewery hop. This year we started off in Cuyahoga Falls and then worked out way downtown Akron. I had the Tree Lighting Ceremony at Lock 3 to photograph so I missed out on a few of the stops this year. I didn't snap that many photos but here are a few good ones. I'll have a separate post for the Tree Lighting images.

Bent Ladder

Bent Ladder Cidery at Rittman Orchards is one of the best places around to hang out and watch a sunset. We started our day at the Yeti Ride with Dirty River Bicycle Works before riding down the Towpath and over to Kevin O'Bryans for lunch. We then took a country road route out to Bent Ladder. Another perfect Fall day in the saddle.

Connecticut by Bike

After Nutmeg Nor'easter the crew split up and went their separate ways. Ben and I took off on our bikes to tour CT for a few days. First we rode to Chester to see the castle, ride the ferry and have some lunch and then on to East Hartford where we had a little motel. The next morning we rode into Hartford for some breakfast and then on to my friend Pat's house up in Collinsville. We spent the day hanging out and hiking while Pat showed us his area. In the morning we rode down the whole state through a nor'easter to Bridgeport on Long Island Sound where we had an Air bnb. The next morning we cruised the coast and city a bit until Erin picked us up and we started heading toward Rochester, NY and then back home. Connecticut was beautiful and we had a blast riding the country roads and trails across the state.

Syracuse & Rochester

So we bookended our Connecticut trip with stops in New York State. On the way out we stopped in Syracuse and on the way back in Rochester. I already knew that I liked Rochester but Syracuse was new to me and it turned out to be pretty cool as well. We went to a bike shop that also had an amazing café for breakfast there. We also rode around their lake and hit a few breweries of course. In Rochester we met up with a friend and hit a couple breweries in the evening and coffee shops and bakeries in the morning. This was probably the second longest vacation I've taken since starting this business so it was a nice break. I'll have one more post from this trip which is me and Ben's bike tour of CT.

Nutmeg Nor'easter V

Nutmeg Nor'easter is a cycling event that takes place on Cold Spring Farm in Colchester, CT. The event is put on by Ronnie "Ultra Romance" and his partner Arya - they call it the "non-competitive alt cycling world championships"! The event started on Friday with camp setup, dinner & speakers then campfires. The next morning was breakfast and the opening ceremony followed by a number of ride options. There was dinner and more programing before a dance party and the event ended the next day with the Scorcher Single Speed Race. Everything about the event was pretty much perfect, the place, the routes, the food, the people and all the rad bikes. It was a super chill environment and the whole thing was put on with no corporate sponsors. I also scored a Ideale Saddle leather saddle at the swap meet. More on all of this in the photos and captions below.

Heck of the North

On Saturday morning I dragged myself out of bed and up to Cleveland for the Heck of the North cyclocross race hosted by Joy Machines Bike Shop. Whiskey Island is the perfect spot for a race with Lake Erie, Downtown Cleveland, and The Flats as the backdrops. The course was pretty rad too. ....and as you can see there are varying levels of seriousness of the riders - from all out trying to crush it to in costume drinking beers. It was a fun day up in Cleveland - I'm glad I went - maybe next year I enter?