North Country Brewery Tour
Epic 75-mile bike tour of the North Country's great breweries. Tour may make sudden stops.
Supporting Adaptive Sports Partners of the North Country
Hello and happy summer to all! Hopefully, this finds everyone doing well in this most absurd of COVID-altered times, and finally able to get out and start to enjoy some nice weather!
For those that do not know: my name is Jeff Stevens and I’ve been a long-time distance athlete - running, riding, triathlon - that sort of thing. I’ve also been a long-time volunteer for Adaptive Sports Partners of the North Country, and this is where these two passions of mine have usually converged over the last several years: the White Mountains Triathlon.
Hosted by NH’s own Millennium Running, the White Mountains Triathlon is generally held toward the latter part of June, and ASPNC has been the partner and primary charity beneficiary. And for the last seven years, I have been proud to be a part of the WMT in one capacity or another, either as a volunteer or a participant.
But of course this year, unfortunately, WMT has had to be canceled. And while that is an obvious disappointment to all of the athletes - myself included - it hurts even more as a volunteer, as I recognize that ASPNC will also be losing out on the charitable donation that Millennium Running provides from the WMT.
So I got to thinking: here I sit with a bunch of fitness from training for races that just aren’t going to happen - how can I parlay that into something that could benefit others, including ASPNC? And it came to me: I’ve been wanting to make a destination ride through the North Country, traversing some of the most scenic roads from Colebrook to Franconia, while hitting all of the local breweries.
Thus, the North Country Brewery Tour was born: 75 miles, 4600’ of climbing, and one great afternoon to enjoy the North Country, some great friends, and some amazing food and beer along the way.
The plan? Start in Colebrook - my family has a camp on Route 26 just below Dixville Notch - and ride down into town to Coos Brewing. From there, down Route 3 to Lancaster and The Copper Pig. The next stop would be in Littleton and the Schilling Beer Company. Then a quick jump over to Franconia to Iron Furnace Brewing, before culminating in Bethlehem at Rek’lis Brewing.
But how does that benefit anyone, you may be asking? Well, I plan to pledge $10 per mile, and while that certainly won’t replace what ASPNC would have got from the WMT, it will certainly help. We’re also hoping to get some community participation, be it another rider or two, or just local friends that would want to come out and support not just us on the ride, but each brewery as well (Lord knows that I’m sure they could use all the business they can get after this lockdown!).
And that’s also why we decided to start this donation page, as well: if you care to help, that would be great! But it also provides a great opportunity to explain what it is we’re doing and why.
So that’s it in a nutshell: Saturday, June 27th, ‘round about noon-time in Colebrook, leave on my trusty velocipede, and begin a fun and beneficial trek south, enjoying friends, food, and beer along the way, and ending in Bethlehem about 7:30, just in time for dinner (and a tasty Rek’lis burrito bowl… and another beer or two…)!
Interested? Please reach out to either myself or Thomas Shovlin, ASPNC’s Executive Director. I hope to see everyone at some point along the route! Thank you much and take care!
Sincerely,
Jeff Stevens
ASPNC volunteer since 2013
Here is the route Jeff will be riding. 75 miles. 4,600 feet of elevation.
Supporting life-enriching sports, recreation, and wellness programs for people with disabilities.
Click here to see the route on Google Maps
Please note that this is not an ASPNC sanctioned event. This is a private bike ride event to raise funds for ASPNC. | 