FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date: August 1, 2023
Contact: Audrey Schwartzberg, ANCA Communications Officer, aschwartzberg@adirondack.org, 518.891.6200
ANCA and Bike Adirondacks Announce Bike the Barns Route and Farm Stops
Farm-by-bike tour will feature farms and views in Keeseville and Peru
KEESEVILLE, N.Y. — The Adirondack North Country Association (ANCA) and Bike Adirondacks have announced the route and farm stops for this year’s Bike the Barns — a half-day bicycle tour that engages participants with North Country farms and the region’s local food movement. The 25-mile road cycling route will take riders to farms and other agricultural points of interest in the Ausable and Champlain Valleys of northern New York State.
Set during the height of the region’s fall foliage season on Saturday, October 7, 2023, the morning ride will begin at Ausable Brewing Company in Keeseville, N.Y., continue to the Babbie Rural Farm and Learning Museum and Northern Orchard in Peru, N.Y. and cross over the scenic Ausable Chasm to stops at Mace Chasm Farm and North Country Creamery in Keeseville. The ride will end back at the brewery with a celebration of live music, local food and drink and more.
“Last year, Bike the Barns visited small Champlain Valley farms that were established within the last 15 years,” said ANCA Local Food System Director Adam Dewbury. “This year riders will stop at a third-generation orchard and a museum devoted to teaching about farming in the 19th and early 20th centuries. This ride will highlight some of our region’s deep roots in agriculture.”
ANCA established Bike the Barns in 2016 to increase awareness about local food issues and engagement with the small farms and businesses that are instrumental to the health and vitality of local economies, farmlands and communities.
“This year’s Bike the Barns route is truly something special,” said Doug Haney, owner of Bike Adirondacks, a Saranac Lake-based company that specializes in regional bicycle tours and events. “Not only does it feature low-traffic rural roads with sweeping farm views of the Lake Champlain and Ausable River valleys, but it also includes a roll through historic downtown Keeseville and an unparalleled view of the natural wonder of Ausable Chasm. All of which is highlighted by educational farm stops where riders can learn more about the rich agricultural story of this area.”
The ride will start and finish at Ausable Brewing Company, a nanobrewery owned and operated by brothers Dan and Dylan Badger. Located on 140 acres of farmland along rural Mace Chasm Road, the brewery serves a variety of ales, lagers and house sodas in a relaxed and scenic atmosphere.
Babbie Rural Farm and Learning Museum is a non-profit educational institution dedicated to preserving the region’s historical and agricultural way of life. Bike the Barns riders will learn about New York’s rural and farm life through interactive demonstrations and displays of horse-drawn implements, gas engines, early tractors and other agricultural tools.
Established in 1903 and operated by second- and third-generation growers, Northern Orchard Co. is a grower, packer, and wholesale shipper of premium quality apples. The farm produces many varieties of apples including McIntosh, Cortland, Honeycrisp, Fuji, Red Delicious, Gala, Macoun, Cameo, Snapdragon, RubyFrost, Fortune, Paula Red, Zestar, Gingergold and dozens of other favorites and sells other fresh produce and value-added products at its farmstand.
Owned and operated by first-generation farmers Ashlee Kleinhammer and Steven Googin, North Country Creamery is a 115-acre dairy farm and home of a herd of grass-fed Shorthorn and Jersey milking cows. The small-scale dairy produces farmstead cheese, milk, and yogurt. At the farm’s Clover Mead Cafe & Farmstore, shoppers can also enjoy fresh produce, baked goods and other local products.
Half a mile down the road, Mace Chasm Farm grazes cattle, poultry and pigs and produces grafted tree nursery stock on about 120 acres of land. Riders will be able to purchase delicious sausages, cuts, grinds, broths, smoked meats, salami, pate, and cooking fats produced at the farm’s butcher shop.
This is the sixth year ANCA has hosted Bike the Barns since the inaugural ride in 2016. Proceeds from Bike the Barns support ANCA’s Local Food System Program which works closely with North Country farmers, regional institutions and nonprofit partners on projects that strengthen farms and food businesses and increase local food access. Current projects include ANCA’s SOIL Loan Fund, which provides flexible financing for small farm projects, and a new agroforestry project, funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resource Conservation Service, that will help farmers implement practices that sequester carbon and improve land, water and air quality across the region.
The $99 registration fee for Bike the Barns includes a clearly marked route, mechanical support, farm stops, additional points of interest, and a finish line celebration with local food, beverages and live music. Interested participants are encouraged to register soon as spots are filling fast. Learn more and register at www.adirondack.org/btb.
ANCA is an independent, nonprofit corporation with a transformational approach to building prosperity across northern New York. Using innovative strategies for food systems, clean energy, small businesses, and equity and inclusion, ANCA delivers targeted interventions that create and sustain wealth and value in local communities.
Photos courtesy of ANCA:
Photo 1: A 2022 Bike the Barns rider enjoys agricultural landscapes and farm stops along the route.
Photo 2: Dylan Badger of Ausable Brewing Co. in Keeseville, N.Y. serves his company’s beer at the 2022 Bike the Barns at The Hub on the Hill in Essex, N.Y. The local microbrewery is the host venue for the 2023 event.
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