News
Check out a sneak preview of some of the athletes who will be joining us for our Share the Stoke: Virtual Panel of Adaptive Athletes on October 18 from 1-3pm. Check the Registration Page for info on how to sign up!
Knobby Tire Ride and Roll Athletes hitting the trails!
What have you been doing the past several months??? Your favorite Knobby Tire Organizers (Ryan, Carrie, Zoe and Lauren) have been hard at work (on Zoom, of course) coming up with ways to help get you on the trails this fall! Today, we are announcing our plans for our Knobby Tire 2020 Virtual Edition! Here is our game-plan and hope that you can still “join” us in our mission to spread awareness, knowledge, and Knobby Tire stoke across the country!
“Due to the COVID-19 pandemic we will be switching gears this year. Join us October 10-18 for a week of outdoor FUNdraising and a webinar about getting on the trails with an expert panel of adaptive athletes. To continue with our mission of raising funds for Empower SCI, we are inviting you to register for a self report style Roll-A-Thon! After registering, go for a ride, take a picture/video talking about why you rode for Knobby Tire and the accessibility of the trails. Then, spread the word! Ask your friends, family, pets, delivery person to register and get out on the trails too. Use hashtag #KnobbyTireReport in your post. Make sure to keep October 18th, 1-3pm open for the Share the Stoke Webinar where you can learn more about universal trail access and the awesome equipment adaptive athletes are using to get out and shred!”
Just another day at the Knobby Tire Zoom Office…
Knobby Tire 2018 just wrapped up this past weekend at Great Brook Farm State Park, and it was a blast! Special thank you to this year’s Epic Headline Sponsor REQ! This is the first year we have had a Headline Sponsor and REQ is an amazing fit- a local equipment company, Kim and the REQ family focus on going above and beyond for their customers, and they see beyond the everyday chair, supplying equipment for outdoor recreation and sports, as well. This year REQ even brought the TrackZ power assist trail-ready chair to the event! Thanks REQ!
This year, we also had a Stellar Sponsor, Revolutionary Clinics, and 3 Droppin’ In Sponsors TerrainHopper USA, Mobile Insulation Co, and North Shore NEMBA. Thanks to all of our sponsors for seeing the value in what we bring to the community and being willing to support our cause!
We also need to thank our long list of volunteers, including our returning volunteers, Laila Soleimani, Jess Doonan, Jonathan Martel, Alexis Wruble, Cathy Tracy, Lisa and Sean Casey. You guys are the rock that Knobby Tire is built upon- thanks for coming back year after year and supporting our cause. Special thank you to Lee Hollenbeck for bringing the cheer, taking the pics, and supplying us this year with delicious ribs and rice and beans! And to Katie Lee- thanks for the cookies- they were delicious, but we still missed you! Thanks to Diane and Ronald DeRoche for taking on the raffle and auction table this year and doing an amazing job. And to our new volunteers, Newton Hausermann and Peter Hausermann (who set the intermediate loop course this year- thank you!), Beth Weaver, Becca Cave, Maria Evgeniadis, Joe Uzzo, Maggie Flynn, Will Greelish, Anna Hausermann, Leah Tinkham, Mikaela Corbett, Britt Light, Nicole Bartlebaugh, Alisa Bjorkman, Margaret Rowold, Victoria Lehr, Felice Mendez, and Brenna Bean - thank you so much for giving your time to make the day a success, and hope to see you back next year!
To our vendors- we wouldn’t have been able to pull it off without each of you there with the specialized trail equipment to get people on the trails and educate people on the adaptive equipment out there to make it possible! Crystal and Northeast Passage, thanks so much for being our staple this year and bringing such great trail equipment (and your kids!) to the event! Tyler and GRIT, thanks for squeezing Knobby into your busy schedule and letting people give the Freedom Chair a try on the trails- it was great to have you back! Maverick Square Adaptive Cyclery- you guys were such a great addition to the Knobby Event- we love your focus on adaptive equipment and your knowledge about adjustments and maintenance! Olivia from Spaulding Adaptive- so happy to have you as a part of Knobby Tire this year! Your passion for mountain-biking and adaptive mountain-biking is contagious and we were so lucky to have you a part of the day. Erik Kondo- thanks for bringing in your innovative creations to keep us on the cutting edge of new adaptive equipment. A special thank you to Steve Carlin from DCR and Laila Soleimani from DCR Universal Access- we love the space at Great Brook and love the energy that you bring to the day! And to Thom Parsons for taking the video throughout the day- thanks for taking part and can’t wait to see the results! Thanks to Jim Powers for taking most of the pics on this reel!
And to our long list of raffle contributors- make sure to go out and support these fantastic organizations and let them know that you appreciate their support of Knobby Tire and adaptive riding! Back Bay Bicycles, Landry’s, Flatbread Somerville, Crimson Bikes, Otto Pizza, Winter Hill Brewing Company, Nate Bibaud and Flat Earth Designs, Donna Laswell, and JRA Cycles. And to the individuals who donated to the raffle/auction, Tom Schneider, Ryan DeRoche, Susanna Callender, Tom and Kelly Spellman, Ronald and Diane DeRoche. You guys rock, and helped us to raise over $800 which will go towards supporting Empower Spinal Cord Injury’s Adaptive Sports program!
Clinics! We have to extend a very heart-felt thank you to Karen Eagan who started up our clinic option last year, and continued this year with a Beginner’s Basics Mountain Bike Clinic, free to all who attended the ride. Thanks for your passion, your energy behind helping Knobby Tire, and your amazing skills that you pass along to other riders- that’s what it is all about- spreading the love. And thanks to Andrea Jones and her Greater Boston NEMBA Kids crew for putting on a Kid’s Ride this year with 4 children in attendance- another great addition and we hope to have you back next year!
One of the greatest parts of the day was the joy of having Zoe Norcross, one of our original Knobby Tire organizers, who is home from Ghana where she is a part of the Peace Corps, at the event last weekend! She was part of the vision of Knobby Tire and we were so happy to have her a part of the team again at our 2018 Knobby Tire!
We missed some of our long-time volunteers, but had you in our thoughts throughout the day- Amy Fleischer, Katie Lee, Jerry Garcia, Ed Amo, and the guys from Bike-On, Chris, Dan, Bizzle and Kyle - hope to see you all soon! And to Zach and the Roderick family- missed you, but hope you all are doing well and on the mend in beautiful Florida!
To the event coordinators, for putting in countless hours of preparation, food prep, phone calls, and meetings to make this event a reality. Ryan, it has been such an adventure helping to find your way back on the trails, and I love having the opportunity to work with you on bringing that adventure to others. Kelly, I’ve had the chance to see your transition into the mountain biking world, watched your love for the sport grow, enjoyed being your riding buddy and spending countless hours with you on the trails, and love working together to bring more people into this mountain biking world that we’ve found ourselves in. And Lauren, you have been such an integral and valuable new addition to the organizing team! I’m so happy that you stepped up to the challenge and responsibilities of becoming a lead organizer at Knobby- hope we didn’t scare you away:).
And as we close the chapter on our 4th Knobby Tire Ride and Roll, we are so proud of the Knobby Tire Family that has grown over the years. This year’s Knobby Tire Ride brought in over $5000, which will go towards Empower Spinal Cord Injury’s adaptive sports program as we launch the 2nd site of our residential summer program. If you enjoyed yourself at the ride, make sure to tell your friends, neighbors, and acquaintances about it, so we can get more people on the trails, and more people inspired about adaptive mountain biking!
Thank you all for giving a little bit of yourself to help others find their passion.
Until next year-
Carrie
This year, we welcome equipment from Northeast Passage (like the Lasher Sport seen below), Grit Freedom Chairs, Icon Wheelchairs, Waypoint Adventures, HASE cycles from Cycle Loft, a TrackMaster chair courtesy of our Stellar Sponsor REQ, and of course Ry and his BOMA 7 will be onsite and ready to roll on the trails of Great Brook Farm State Park! If you’re looking to get out on the trails, we’ll have hand-cycles, recumbents, powered devices, and more! Hope to see you there!
Knobby Tire 2018 is in the works, and in the books! We have settled on the date of Sunday October 7th, 2018 at Great Brook Farm State Park (for the third year in a row!).
We are looking forward to a great year and hope that you will be able to join us!
-Ry, Carrie, Amy, and Kel (and Oliver!)
Knobby Organizers 2017!
Group Ride Knobby Tire 2017
Knobby Tire 2017 was a hit, and it was a hot one- literally and figuratively:). With temperatures pushing 90 degrees in late September, we were a bit surprised, but definitely excited to have a sun-filled day on the trails. Our 2017 Knobby Tire event met our goal, and with the help of our sponsors, we were able to raise over $5000 towards Empower Spinal Cord Injury! Huge thank you to our sponsors and partners (www.knobby-tire.squarespace.com/partners) and all of our dedicated volunteers, including our photographer and chili-extrodinaire, Lee Hollenbeck, and our absolutely fantastic Knobby Tire Committee members: Amy Fleischer, Kelly Spellman, Kirsten Prue (and Hannah Koch!), and Ryan DeRoche.
We had a great day out on the trails, and were so pumped to have Karen Eagan host a Ride Like a Girl Clinic with over 15 women learning how to tear it up on the trails. Bike-On, Northeast Passage, and GRIT were there with equipment and knowledge to help our adaptive riders get out on the trails. And with over 50 participants this year, our 2017 Knobby Tire was our biggest event yet! We can't wait to get started with our plans for our 2018 Knobby Tire Ride- hope to see you there!!
Ride Like a Girl Clinic
So excited to have some female experts out there leading a clinic as a part of our Knobby Tire Ride. All proceeds from the clinic went towards the Knobby Tire Ride and Roll!
Knobby Tire Team
Our Fantastic 2017 Knobby Tire Team soaking up some sun after a very busy event!
Happy Thanksgiving!
Check out this blog post, from our Knobby Tire Leader, Ryan DeRoche, with some nice perspectives during this time of gratitude. Happy Thanksgiving to all!
http://www.ryanderoche.com/blog/
