NeverLost X Acme

You may have never heard of Katonah, NY. I wouldn’t be surprised. It’s one of dozens of small towns within 60 miles North of New York City, in the vicinity of the Hudson River, known to New Yorkers as “upstate New York.” Each town is quaint, unique and quiet. The towns have names like Cold Spring, Peekskill, Croton-on-Hudson, Mt. Kisco and my favorite Sleepy Hollow. NeverLost made a weekend visit to host some rides with Acme and Rapha and find out what all the fuss is about.

If you happen to find yourself living and working in New York City, as I did beginning in 2007 (especially if you’re not a native New Yorker), there will come a time when you take a stab at hatching a plan to move just far enough out of “the city” to still be able to work there but not have to actually live there. Some choose to search across the river in New Jersey. Some choose Long Island, basically you drive through Brooklyn or Queens and just keep going. Ever heard of the Hamptons? It’s at the end of Long Island. However, many choose to take refuge in upstate New York. And that’s what my friend Colin did a few years ago. Enter Katonah and Acme Bicycle Co.

Colin is one of my best friends and has been since we met in 2009. Colin was working at a bike shop in Park Slope, I was a very new road cyclist and had joined my first road racing team. There’s an incredible road cycling community in NYC thanks in large part to CRCA, the Century Road Club Association which was founded in 1898! They organize a series of road races each season in Central Park and Prospect Park. These races are the foundation of the vibrant, diverse road cycling community in the city. That’s where Colin and I cut our teeth.  So we met at the shop one day and the next thing you know I had him joining the team with me. 

Fast forward many years and we’ve both grown up into somewhat actual adults. He fled North out of the city to Katonah and I fled South to Atlanta. In addition to still be a very talented rider Colin is now co-owner of a pair of bike shops called Acme Bicycle Co. where he and his partner Jonathan Blyer are especially known for being some of the best bike fitters in the industry. So when Spencer and I had the idea of doing these little NeverLost weekender events I knew we had to collaborate with Acme. We’ve done this in Atlanta of course and in Austin with Breakfast Club and for our collaboration rides with Acme we teamed up with Rapha as well who provided support for the entire weekend. These events are free, there’s always a bunch of swag from our sponsors and good times are guaranteed. 

The weekend started with a banger of a ride on Friday evening. The weather was crisp, the roads were dry and we explored a short mix of gravel around the Katonah area. We started with a gravel climb on Maple Ave. by the Cross River Reservoir. Then we headed South to Bedford and finally ending with the Wood Rd. climb just before returning to Katonah. Apparently we rode by a large property owned by Martha Stewart too. Who knew!? 

We planned and promoted the Saturday ride to be longer, harder and faster. Colin did not disappoint in coercing the watt-gifted locals to come out. This ride was a relentless race-pace effort with mixed terrain, a singletrack section and a brutal super chunky downhill gravel descent. We left Katonah and passed through Bedford then Ward Pound Ridge before making our way North to the 1.6 mile climb of Rippowan Road and crossing into Connecticut. The hammering continued into Mountain Lakes Park which is a wonderfully difficult multi-mile gravel climb ending with a super chunky and bone rattling descent. We even saw a black bear in Ward Pound Ridge Reservation. Yes, a bear.

As we got to North Salem we made a little loop and crossed into Connecticut again. More hammering, more gravel, more uncomfortable through clearing and coughing from the pack as Jonathan, Andy and Colin continued to drive a ripping pace. Finally we began to make our way back South towards Katonah, crossing the Cross River Reservoir just before rolling back into town. Upon completion we celebrated and drank merrily and thanks to our sponsors Topo Chico and Maxxis Tires free stuff was given away.

Sunday was exactly what we all needed with a leisurely stroll out of town and up to Croton Falls where we were treated with a cider tasting at Folkways Wines. I honestly had no idea cider could taste so good! If you didn’t know already, New York is a huge apple producer. It’s the second largest in the country. Sip sip cider and then back in the saddle. We kept a very comfortable Sunday pace for the remainder of the ride where we again crossed briefly into Connecticut and then made our way all of the way around Titicus Reservoir before ending up back in beautiful Katonah.

Thank you immensely to everyone who came out and shared the weekend with us. Thanks most of all to Colin, Jonathan and Laura of Acme for hosting and helping to plan the rides. And to our sponsors Topo Chico and Maxxis Tires for their continued support. See you on the road.

-Let the winding road free your mind.