Seven Cycles is located just down the street from us in Watertown. Seven is a company full of bike building professionals. It is the place where custom bikes come to life and many new innovations in bike building have been created.
RSC Alliance member and Super Domestique Henry van den Broek is treating us all to a series of holiday rides! If you are looking to end the year with great rides and good company, join us out on the road during the week of December 24 through the end of the year. We are riding some of our favorite routes with great food stops along the way. We are even bringing back last year's Snowflake Century - a one hundred-mile ride in the shape of a snowflake!
If you complete the whole series you will be rewarded with a grand total of 375 miles in an eight day span - an awesome way to finish your season. All rides will start and end at the Ride Studio Cafe in Lexington, MA. See below for mileage and GPS routes.
We're now offering a commemorative t-shirt to celebrate your riding at this time of year and to offer a bit of motivation this spring if you aren't feeling like riding. It'll remind you of the riding you've done on the shortest and coldest days of the year!
A few things to remember:
Make sure you are well-equipped for the cold and wintry conditions. At Ride Studio we have a great selection of new winter apparel from our friends at 45NRTH , Velocio, and Giordana that is sure to keep you warm and comfortable out on the road. We have great options for studded tires, a must-have for riding on icy roads.
We look forward to finishing 2016 with you in style! Have fun and ride safe.
Happy Holidays from all of us at Ride Studio Cafe!
We are opening our doors and the Cafe at 7:30am Thanksgiving Day, November 24, for riders. The ride has a RSC Super Domestique leading the way and it departs at 8:15am.
The route is ~44 miles in length on paved roads. Be prepared for a 17mph average pace. We'll split into two groups if we have more than 10-15 riders.
Note: the Studio will not be open at the end of the ride.
Join us for this festive, pre-feast ride!
Very Special Promotion: Seven Cycles RedSky BikeWe are offering you a full build with 30% off Shimano Dura-Ace 9000* components! This offer is over a $1,250 discount to getting you on this incredible Seven Cycles bike. The deadline to order a bike and take advantage of this offer is Thanksgiving.
Why the name? A "red sky" in the morning means there is a storm warning. Rather than be off the bike for the day, the RedSky looks for those days and relishes the ride. Harsh conditions require the right bike. RedSky is that bike.Our RedSky Offer to you is here. Note we will gladly make parts substitutions or offer you a quote for a different build you have in mind:
Special Included Service and Support:
MSRP Price of the RedSky S: $7,542
Seven Cycles is located just down the street from us in Watertown. Seven is a company full of bike building professionals. It is the place where custom bikes come to life and many new innovations in bike building have been created.
Seven has been making the finest bikes for 18+ years and their experience shines as they work. It's manufacturing at its best: handcrafted bikes are very carefully and perfectly built one at a time, yet the short lead times show efficiency, and a well-run business full of highly-skilled people who are passionate about what they do.
We're heading to Seven Monday, October 10. This is Columbus Day. The tour of Seven will begin promptly at 11:30am. Feel free to arrive 10 to 20 minutes early to check out their showroom prior to the tour. Please register by Sunday, October 9 by 5pm. An email will be sent to you with details and directions after you register. We hope you join us!
UPDATE: Appropriate-for-cyclocross rainy weather is predicted for Saturday. Therefore, we are CANCELING the road ride since a long day riding and then hours standing in the rain isn't the best mix. We will do this road ride event next year, so mark your calendars early! We *highly* recommend visiting the KMC Cross Fest this weekend, as it's going to be great racing and a lot of fun to participate as a spectator.
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The Cyclocross race scene is fun for everyone, no matter if you're a racer or spectator.
We are riding our road bikes down to the KMC Cross Fest taking place at the Thompson Speedway on Saturday, October 1.
The ride departs from here at 7:30am (we pushed the starting time by 1 hr since our original announcement). The route will be 92 miles in length (we'll email it to all who register the day before the ride) and we'll email the nitty gritty details too. Average pace is 16.5 mph.
The KMC Cross Fest is incorporating the Gran Fondo New England and Major Taylor Century on Sunday, October 2. Camping at the Thompson Speedway is an option. If you'd like to send down your camping things or anything else on the shuttle, we'll bring them down. You'll just need to find a way home on Sunday which will probably be fairly easy since there are many hundreds of Boston-area riders and spectators who will be driving back Sunday evening.
Registration for the shuttle is required by September 27. Registration for the road-ride-only option is required by 12pm Friday, September 31. Please fill out the form below.
If you'd like to ride your bike back to RSC, please let us know on your registration so we can provide you with the shortest-possible route back. We will also let you know if others are choosing this option.
We hope you join us!
On the heels of the recent upgrade to our drip coffee program, it's time to welcome our next guest roaster, Flight Coffee Co. Flight hails from just north of here in Bedford, New Hampshire. Started in 2012 as CQ Coffee by Claudia Barrett (aka CQ) they've quickly established themselves, producing several coffees rated in the 90s in Coffee Review. They’re almost single handedly raising the bar on coffee in New Hampshire and we’ve been really impressed by their ability to find unique coffees and really nail the roast.
Case in point is the Toba Batak Peaberry from Sumatra, Indonesia. Sumatran coffees are famous (infamous, to some) for their pronounced earthy, spicy tones which take well to darker roasts, making them a relative rarity among specialty coffee roasters and drinkers who prefer more balanced coffees with sweeter flavors that really shine through light roasts. This Sumatran has a wonderful fruit flavor (“I’m leaning towards pineapple” Claudia told us) on top of root beer and subtle tobacco notes. It’s absolutely delicious and a real treat for us- a rare specimen of a fruity Sumatran that begs to be drank black. It’s on our shelves now!
Outstanding Drip Coffe Without A Wait
Last month we made some upgrades to our drip coffee program. Each morning, and all day on weekends, our new house drip coffee, George Howell’s Matalapa - a Cup of Excellence winning El Salvadorian - is available in 2 sizes, without a wait! Our old friend Sal, now head of training at George Howell, delivered our new FETCO batch brewer and helped us dial in the grind and brew parameters. We chose Matalapa for its remarkable balance and medium body, with notes of peach that sparkle when you drink it black, and maple syrup body that marries well with dairy. Always fresh, we brew a new pot every 30 minutes.
Raising The Bar On Our Pourover Coffees
"The best La Minita since the early 1990’s”. Who else but George Howell is qualified to make such a claim? People think of specialty coffee as something started by hipsters in Seattle or Brooklyn (or Somerville) just recently but George Howell has been procuring and serving world class coffees to Greater Boston since the 1980s, including a cafe right here in Lexington Center (now Starbucks) that opened back in 1986! With the introduction of our house drip coffee, we’re now able to try some unique and exclusive beans on pourover and are excited to start with La Minita. In George’s words:
'This is a grand cru estate coffee. We've found La Minita to be one of the most consistent, perfectly crafted estate coffees in the world, year after year. Consumers first became acquainted with La Minita in 1988 when George introduced it in The Coffee Connection. It became one of The Coffee Connection’s most in-demand coffees despite being, at that time, one of its most expensive.
La Minita is the applied to the green coffee sorting process. While many farm’s “first” (best quality) constitute 60% or more of their production after milling, La Minita selects slightly over 20%, eliminating all – or as close as you can get to all - defects which might blemish your cup.'
Our second new pourover is from Ethiopia. While George Howell's outstanding Borboya - long the best selling bean at the Studio - is from Ethiopia’s relatively famous Yirgacheffe region, Yukro is form lesser known Agaro. While Yirgacheffes are known for lemony, floral flavors and tea-like bodies, this Agaro has stone fruit notes (e.g. peach) and a fuller body (though still delicate) anchored in maraschino cherry. A great example of the diversity of great coffees found in Ethiopia, the birthplace of Coffee Arabica.
We're excited to share these coffees with everyone and looking forward to many more loving cups!
The Pan-Mass Challenge is coming up and we want you to have the ride of your life out there. Having a new bike for this event is a capstone of the summer - and this will help keep you riding well into the fall, too. What does a new Seven bike mean to your riding and your PMC enjoyment? A lot.
Here are three great options. As always, if there is something else you want, we're happy to spec it for you. Just tell us! The prices listed below don't include pedals or tax. Email us at connect@ridestudiocafe.com for more information.
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Ask us for more information about any of these options or if you have something else in mind.
The options are limitless where it comes to Seven and the bikes they build for each person. No two are the same because no two riders are the same!
The Honey 101 is coming up July 31 and the Honey 100 is happening August 13. We want you to have a new bike that's perfectly suited to having the most fun ever on one or both of these rides! The Honey 100 and 101 are mixed-terrain rides that include adventuring onto little-known side roads, dirt trails, single track trails, back alleyways, through places not obvious to ride.
A bike that is perfect for the Honey 100 is one that is perfect for any mixed-terrain ride, long days on dirt roads, studded tire winter riding and so much more.
Here are two great options...
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Speaking from a lifetime of bikepacking experience, Joe Cruz is coming to Ride Studio Cafe May 26 at 7pm to share what he has seen and done with us. He comes from a broad perspective of world-wide riding adventures and bringing many photos from his travels. Joe lives in western Massachusetts so is familiar with the amazing bikepacking in our own backyard here in New England and across the United States. Much of his talk will focus on bikepacking that is approachable to those newer to it. He will address the fears of new bikepackers and offer his approach to managing fear. As he says, it's more about the way in which we create our own barriers that need not exist.
Joe is one of the bikepacking originals starting his bikepacking adventures in 1988 and spending significant time each year to trips that most people wouldn't think to attempt. In his work-life, Joe is a professor of philosophy, and he brings a philosophical and practical approach to the sport.
His talk will be inspiring, motivational, and educational--and someone you shouldn't miss.
Not only will Joe treat us with his images and stories from bikepacking, but he'll also be bringing his fully-loaded, ready-to-bikepack Seven Treeline for all to see.
Read Joe's blog and check out his bikepacking images on Instagram.
Please RSVP early for Joe's presentation (scroll down) - there are very limited numbers of seats. We will provide appetizers and drinks throughout the evening.
Seven Cycles is located just down the street from us in Watertown. Seven is a company full of bike building professionals. It is the place where custom bikes come to life and many new innovations in bike building have been created.
Seven has been making the finest bikes for 18+ years and their experience shines as they work. It's manufacturing at its best: handcrafted bikes are very carefully and perfectly built one at a time, yet the short lead times show efficiency, and a well-run business full of highly-skilled people who are passionate about what they do.
We're heading to Seven Friday, May 20. Hopefully you have some time to join us then. The tour of Seven will begin promptly at 11:30am. Feel free to arrive 10 to 20 minutes early to check out their showroom prior to the tour. Please register by Thursday, May 19, so we can give Seven enough notice of how many people to expect. An email will be sent to you with details and directions after you register. We hope you join us!
The Conjure Series begins Saturday, February 27, kicking off nine days and two full weekends of road rides from Ride Studio Cafe. The Studio is your group riding home base, providing good food and drink to fuel you for base mile riding to conjure the sunny spring.
We are riding at various times of day, in all directions, seeking out warm spots with good friends, old and new. The roads may still be cold, but our minds are set on warm, sunny days with flowers in bloom and leaves budding on trees. Think bunnies and tulips, shorts, and iced mochas.
We have a lot planned to keep you riding and smiling. Each day will offer a new route and good food either before or after the ride. Examples are pre-ride waffles, weekday post-ride lunches, and plenty of hot drinks to keep you warm. Will you join us in conjuring spring?
Complete ride series details, route details, and times can be found on the Conjure Ride Page. The routes will be posted at least 24 hours in advance of the ride start time. Due to weather uncertainties, we need will post the route when we're nearly certain we won't need to change it.
Registration is free, rides are happening at all times to allow for everyone to join in, and provides you free, great food, and special vouchers that help you stock up on all of the spring necessities. The more you ride, the higher the value of the voucher you'll receive. There is even an Instagram contest to join in on. Check out the Ride Page for complete details & to register.
We hope you join us for this road ride series to conjure up a lovely spring!
Ride Studio Cafe is incredibly excited to welcome Cafe Grumpy as our new guest roaster. Grumpy is a small-batch roaster out of Brooklyn, NY. Starting as a cafe in 2006, founder Caroline Bell has noted that roasting was naturally the next step for her passionate team to make. Already a local favorite in New York, Cafe Grumpy became renowned throughout the coffee industry for their expertly roasted coffee, orange color scheme, and trademark grumpy face logo. We are especially pleased to have them in the cafe since they were one of the first guest roasters that RSC ever hosted years ago, and their coffee is just as great as we remember!
Lauren Rothman from FoodandWine.com writes that Grumpy is "one of the first coffee companies to bring serious, thoughtfully produced joe to Brooklyn." This is the ultimate goal of Grumpy; to educate and involve their customers in the world of quality coffee. The coffee buyers and roasters at Grumpy, who all started out as baristas, are thoughtful in both the creation of their product and in the sourcing of their beans. They maintain close relationships with farmers in many different countries around the world, and want their consumers to know the farm that their coffee came from as intimately as the roasters do.
The staff at Cafe Grumpy are undoubtedly passionate about their product, but the quality of the coffee is not their sole focus. They also boast a great reputation for humanitarianism and social responsibility. They work closely with farms in many impoverished areas, and so they do their part to help the citizens of the countries where the coffee is grown. Most recently, they have formed a partnership with Action Against Hunger. Action Against Hunger is a nonprofit organization that provides aid to impoverished areas in need of safe water and good nutrition. Cafe Grumpy donates $1 from every bag of their Los Santos Guatemalan coffee to Action Against Hunger, in order to help those in need in the region that the coffee is grown along with many other areas in need.
Here in the Cafe, we are kicking things off with Grumpy on the pourover bar this weekend. Selections include Las Flores from Honduras and Kiamabara from Kenya. The Las Flores is a full-bodied coffee with notes of golden raisin, praline, brown sugar, apricot, and plum. The Kiamabara is a delicious Kenyan with notes of cranberry, vanilla, bergamot, and graham cracker. Both selections are available on Kalita, Chemex, and Aeropress.
To celebrate the arrival of Cafe Grumpy coffee on our shelves, we are offering a limited time promotion: if you buy two bags of Grumpy coffee, then you receive an orange Grumpy logo mug free of charge! The shelves are fully stocked with a great variety of offerings from Grumpy, so come in any time and bring home a taste of Brooklyn.
Seven Cycles is located just down the street from us in Watertown. Seven is a company full of bike building professionals. It is the place where custom bikes come to life and many new innovations in bike building have been created.
Seven has been making the finest bikes for 18+ years and their experience shines as they work. It's manufacturing at its best: handcrafted bikes are very carefully and perfectly built one at a time, yet the short lead times show efficiency, and a well-run business full of highly-skilled people who are passionate about what they do.
We're heading to Seven Monday, January 18. This is MLK Day - a school holiday; hopefully you have some time to join us then. The tour of Seven will begin promptly at 11:30am. Feel free to arrive 5 to 20 minutes early to check out their showroom prior to the tour. We hope you join us! Please register by Sunday, January 17, so we can give Seven enough notice of how many people to expect. An email will be sent to you with details and directions after you register. We hope you join us!
One of our favorite pastimes is riding in snowfall. You can hear the snow crunching under your tires. It’s such a quiet time; all sound is suppressed by the snowfall. No one is out on the roads and trails. The world feels primitive.
The moment of the first snowfall is THE time to ride. We are leading a ride when this first snow hits!
Monday, December 28 Update: Twitter has the latest news concerning when we're rolling out in the first snow; snow is forecast to hit soon! We will likely be riding in the wee early hours Tuesday, December 29.
We are ready. Are you?
Ride Synopsis
Here’s How We Plan for the First Snow
Knowing When the Snowfall Ride Moment Arrives
We’re using Twitter and Instagram to keep people informed of when the ride moment is happening. We’ll "Twinstagram" intermittently as the weather changes. We’ll do our best to inform riders as the moment gets nearer. The final Twinstagram will be 60-minutes before the ride begins. That’s your klaxon to get your butt and bike over to the Studio for a very memorable ride.
If you don’t use either Instagram or Twitter, you’re going to have a challenging time joining us. We will be posting some information on Facebook but we’re not using it as the go time alert. Watch the hashtag:
o Apply steady horsepower to the pedals. This is a lot more difficult than it appears. If you’re riding at 70 hp on a snowy trail, a change of 10%, or 7 hp, is a lot – and can be the different between maintaining your line and losing traction entirely. Practice steady horsepower output.
o Keep your bike upright, even while turning. The more you lean into a corner, the less traction you have. Most tires have less tread and fewer studs toward the sides of the tire. Don’t lean your bike too much. Riding upright keeps you upright.
o Tire pressure: Lower tire pressure provides better traction. Of course, you want to balance this with the possibility of getting a flat. We find that riding on an inch of snow is deceptive, in that you feel like the trail is really smooth, when in reality, all the obstacles are still there – and just as sharp – you just can’t see them, so your chance of getting a flat probably increases slightly.
o Tires and treads: Studs are best. Wider is better than narrower. Treads are better than slicks.
Likely Weather Conditions
It can’t snow if it’s too cold so it’s likely to be somewhere between 28 and 36 degrees. Also, you’re likely to get a bit wet as the snow melts on you; gear that leans toward rain protection can be useful.
Always Be Prepared: Snow Essentials Duffel Have your Snow Essentials Duffel in your car – if that’s your mode of work transport – so you’re always ready to roll. In that bag, we recommend:
For the Diehard Riders That Are 100% Committed
The Studio Is Here To Help
We have just about anything you could need for winter riding, including:
We hope to see you in the first snow!
More about the prizes, party, and Overall Results are found on the Fall Five page.