We at SBC were very very excited to plan out and host the contest winners of Trek's Driven by Adventure Contest back in June. The contest was designed to help promote Trek's new line of Touring/adventure bikes. Bicycle Times wrote a nice piece on the bikes and the contest back in March. Trek is trying to reclaim its title as an American bicycle touring company. The Trek 520 appeared in the early 1980s and Vintage Trek claims that the bike "probably has made more trans-America crossings than any other bike model." The Trek 520 continues with the addition of disc brakes for 2015 but of biggest interest to us was the addition of the Trek 920 which looks very much like the Salsa Fargo. One of the caveats of the trip was that Trek had a professional film crew follow around the winners and create the video that you see above.
Photo credit goes to Jacob Seigel-Boettner
It must have been more than a coincidence that the Trek 920 caught my eye as soon as it was released only to then learn that the Trek Driven by Adventure contestant winners would ride the 920 through Virginia. I thought about applying to win the trip but you needed a pretty hefty resume with plenty of photos and a video to get into the running and I just didn't take the time. While I was thinking about applying we received a phone call from Trek asking if we were interested in helping plan out a route for the tour and launching the contest winners from SBC. I and the shop of course jumped at the opportunity and started working with our friends at Trek to plan out an incredible route to showcase our amazingly beautiful corner of the world.
Photo credit goes to Jacob Seigel-Boettner.
We interrupt this blog post for an official word from Trek: "Touring has been a definitive part of Trek since the company was founded in 1976. The all-new Touring & Adventure line continues Trek’s established legacy as a pioneer in the category, and affirms the company’s commitment to the adventure lifestyle.
Photo credit goes to Jacob Seigel-Boettner.
Now for the route. I wanted to make sure that they had a fun tour that was adventurous and still manageable. It was admittedly challenging to layout a tour for two people who I had never met and didn't know what they were capable of. I figured I would error on the side of caution for the first two days. Recognizing that they likely wouldn't leave the Burg until after lunch on day 1. Here is the route that I laid out: Trek Driven By Adventure: The Virginia Reel on Ride with GPS
They headed down to Douthat State Park for the second night and did some fly fishing in the lake. The hardest days of the trip were day 2 and 3 as I sent them to the top of Warm Springs Mountain across the highest airport east of the Mississippi, through the Nature Conservancy Warm Springs Mountain preserve and down to Williamsville Virgina. From there they would have to climb back over Shenandoah Mountain to reach the valley.
The Virginia Reel!
Here is how the days panned out:
Day 1: The Burg to Deerfield Valley via Stokesville
Jacob and Issac who won the trip turned out to be really fun guys who flew in from Oakland California for the trip, they beat out 500 other duo "teams" who entered. Probably in part because they have their own video production company called "Pedal Born Pictures" These guys are well versed at bicycle touring but much like myself, they said had only previously toured with BOB Trailers. For this trip they used the robust racks that come stock on the Trek 920. They even experimented with most of the weight on the front of the bike and low for more stable descending.
Photo credit goes to Jacob Seigel-Boettner.
The weight on the front and low ended up riding really well for them but did cost Issac a trip to the emergency room. On a bumpy dirt descent his front pannier flew off and somehow got caught up in the front wheel of the bike. I drove over to West Virginia to meet them for a car rescue. They were in good spirits and probably could have made it back just fine but I did save them a few hours at the emergency room. After a number of stitches, Issac was in good shape and we went to Jack Browns to top off their trip.
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