(birds chirping)
(Si sighs)
(truck horn blares)
("The Star-Spangled Banner") - Jeremy?
- It's me, man, in an American truck, a Ford.
450 stallions underneath that hood.
You ready? - Is that yours?
- Uh-huh, no, it's not; I actually drive a Prius.
I borrowed this, but, you ready to go?
- Yeah, man.
- Put the bike in, let's hit it!
Get in the other side.
Come on, - It's not bad man,
- come on. - it's not bad.
- [Jeremy] Buckle up.
(energetic music)
A few months back I flew over to GCN's HQ
and I went for a bike ride in their backyard,
a little-known corner of the UK called Exmoor,
to sample some of the most English bike riding ever.
I actually have to say it was one
of my top five rides (empowering music)
I've ever done.
Now, however, I get to return the favor.
Si's over on this side of the Atlantic,
and I'm going to take him on a ride
in my home state of Massachusetts,
about 20 minutes drive of where I call home.
Now, as fantastic as the Exmoor ride was,
it was basically a mountain bike ride on gravel bikes.
So, I'm excited to show you
what an American gravel ride is all about,
starting and finishing in the historic city
of Greenfield, Massachusetts.
Check out the link in the description
for today's route on GCN's commute profile.
(chill music)
- Chocolate frosted, please.
And a maple frosted, please.
And then a vanilla frosted, please.
Oh, and a Boston cream as well, please.
Boston cream is like a local delicacy, apparently.
Six donuts, and one for the road.
- I don't know where he is, he said,
I told him to meet me in the green.
I don't know, as I am here--
- Jeremy, Jeremy! - Dude!
- Mate, I got, I got the stuff,
the donuts. - What the heck are you,
dude, I was joking about Dunkin'.
You didn't have-- - What?
- No, dude, I went to the nice coffee shop
here on the corner, Greenfield Coffee.
I got a delicious, organic,
locally-sourced almond milk cappuccino.
- [Si] I didn't think you guys had that kind of stuff.
- [Jeremy] Yeah, it's a (laughs).
- [Si] That one's a Boston one.
- Okay, yeah that one's del--
- So I'm told that was like a local delicacy.
- Well that was, yeah that was a joke that I told you to do.
I said get the Boston cream, okay.
- Okay, well we'll share it man, it's cool.
- All right.
(metal steps creaking)
So here we are in Greenfield, Massachusetts,
founded in 1686.
Ah, that's a few hundred or a thousand years
after your hometown of Bath. (Si laughs)
- Yeah, that doesn't matter mate.
- Yeah. - It's still nice.
- I feel like it's a little newer here.
- Yeah. - Yeah.
- It is a little bit.
- Yeah, I'm excited to take you on today's ride, man.
We're going to be going north, which is this direction.
We're going to be going through Leyden, Massachusetts,
down to the most southern tip of Vermont,
all along the Green River,
beautiful dirt roads,
some super steep climbs.
- [Si] Yeah, how steep we talkin'?
- Like, really steep.
Dude, I'm going to be hurting, and you're,
you're going to be doing really well with your double.
I'm a little jealous, I won't lie.
- That's what I like to hear, Jeremy.
- Mm-hm, yeah, we're going to hit lunch in Shelburne Falls,
do the Bridge of Flowers,
basically come back down, stop,
finally finish up here in Greenfield,
we're going to have a proper American brew,
and then we're going to finish it up with some pizza.
- Oh mate, that sounds good.
- You excited? - I'm buzzing.
- All right, let's do this.
- It's probably got nothing to do
with that vat of coffee
and the six donuts I've just eaten,
but I'm ready to roll. - Uh, no.
- You just, you did that to yourself.
(chill music)
- Jeremy, when I think America, I think big roads,
and these are not big, are they?
- No, they're uh, they're fine.
You know, these aren't the biggest roads
that we have, obviously,
but these are kind of nice town roads,
obviously well-traveled, but you know,
I think that's what the Europeans do so well.
You guys have a lot of respect.
It's like it's a privilege to drive over in Europe,
and I think here, it's more of a right (laughs).
- Well, fair enough.
It doesn't feel like that.
It feels like there's not many cars on these roads.
- No, there isn't, but the roads are quite a bit bigger,
and I'd say the Europeans do do a lot
with, like, a smaller space.
Like all of your town centers and everything, it's just,
it's more conducive to bike riding.
You guys have just tiny little roads, smaller cars,
but this is America, and it is uh, it is big.
- It's as big as my coffee was this morning.
- Yes, exactly.
So here we are at the first of a couple of covered bridges
that we're going to hit on today's route.
This one is the Eunice Williams Covered Bridge.
Kind of a sad tale actually, yeah.
The French and the British were fighting Queen Anne's war,
you may know about that
from your history classes. - No, when was it?
- It was in 1706.
- Okay.
- Unfortunately, Eunice was killed right here,
and, well, there is a tale
that this bridge is haunted by Eunice to this day.
- [Si] Whoa.
- Are you scared of, do you have like superstition
around ghosts and things like that?
- Nah. - Nah.
(mysterious music) - The cruel
and bloodthirsty savage who took her,
slew her with his hatchet in one stroke.
Reverend John Williams of Deerfield,
the redeemed captive, so wrote of his wife,
Misses Eunice Williams, who was killed at this place,
March the first, 1704.
Oh man, that is a sad story.
Where's Jeremy gone?
Must be ahead.
(Jeremy screams) Oh, Jesus, Jeremy!
(Jeremy laughs)
(upbeat music)
- [Jeremy] I can imagine the epic soundtrack to this.
- [Si] Yeah, (imitates banjo twanging).
(upbeat music)
- [Jeremy] Yahoo!
- Ah, check it out mate.
- I know.
- Look at this!
- [Jeremy] Isn't it amazing?
- [Si] Wow.
- [Jeremy] It's so pretty, man.
- [Si] Is this our swimming spot?
- [Jeremy] This is our swimming spot.
- [Si] Woo, hoo, hoo!
- [Jeremy] The fish ladder here,
you know that's how the fish get up.
- [Si] The what?
- [Jeremy] Yeah, the fish go up man.
- [Si] Nah, you're messing with me.
- [Jeremy] No, I'm not messing with you, it's true.
That's how the they get there,
it's a fish ladder. - A fish ladder?
- [Jeremy] Yes it is.
Look it up.
- [Si] That sounds like Tartan paint.
I'm not falling for that one. - I can't hear you;
there's this beautiful waterfall here.
(energetic music)
Do you see the fish over there?
Come on, man.
(laughing)
- Oh my God, that's cold.
- [Jeremy] It is so cold.
(Si screams)
- [Si] This is so impressive.
- Isn't it awesome? - When you're in there,
it's like, I don't know, so intricate.
- Yeah. - Fantastic.
- I know, all the lattice work and everything?
- Yeah. - Yeah,
this one was actually built, after I looked it all up,
1870 by a guy named Ithiel Town, I believe,
and he was widely regarded
as America's first civil engineer.
This was one of his first bridges.
Obviously over the years of storms
and hurricanes and things like that,
this has been torn down,
but now it's historically preserved,
and as you can tell it's in mint condition,
and is absolutely impeccable.
Just like, the blue sky, the red everything.
Honestly, it's just,
it feels like I'm in a painting right now, doesn't it?
- [Si] Yeah.
- [Jeremy] We're going to do some climbing now.
- Oh. - Are you ready?
- Yeah. - All right, let's do it.
- Is your shammy really wet, dude?
- [Jeremy] Yeah it is, actually.
(upbeat energetic music)
We're about a third of the way into our adventure,
on the first of three big climbs.
We've hit our most northerly point in Guilford, Vermont.
After a quick dip and a steep climb,
we'll descend back into the town of Colrain, Massachusetts,
where we'll hit the second big climb of today's ride.
Yeah man, now it's starting to get steep.
- Yeah. - And you can see up here,
we'll go around this turn,
and it was like muddy this year,
so they've got a lot of tons of loose gravel stone
that they throw down to try to kind of chunk it up,
but also they'll throw rock and then dirt down
to get a firmer base on this dirt so that it's,
they don't have to come out here
and pull cars out 'cause they're stuck in the mud.
Even if you've got a, like a Subaru or something up here,
it's just, yeah, it's going to be--
- [Si] You need a Ford.
- You need a big--
- An F-350, man.
- Exactly.
- With 450 American stallions.
- You need some clearance under those wheels.
So, that was the top of the second climb.
How do the legs feel?
- I've been pretty beaten up, actually,
like we've not got that many k's on the clock,
but we've worked for 'em, haven't we,
and those climbs are hard, man.
- [Jeremy] I know, they're steep.
- [Si] Yeah.
- And I'm leaking oil everywhere.
This is a beautiful descent, though.
- Yeah? - Yeah.
- All right. - Yeah.
- Let's do it.
(energetic music)
(imitating cow and sheep noises)
(men laughing)
Bridge.
- Yes, this is our last one, the third one of the day.
The Arthur A. Smith Bridge was made in 1869.
- [Si] Nice, hey nice lights man.
- [Jeremy] Yeah, really pretty inside, isn't it?
- [Si] Whoa.
- [Jeremy] Different design than the others.
- [Si] Yeah.
(upbeat rock music)
- [Jeremy] We finished up the second climb,
which was almost four and a half miles long,
and now we're going to descend
into the small village of Shelburne Falls.
(Si sighs)
- [Jeremy] Yeah, dude.
- Oh mate.
How good is this?
- I know, here we are,
in the little village of Shelburne Falls,
It is super pretty.
- Yeah. - McCusker's on the corner;
we're going to grab a snack.
- We need one. - (mumbles), anyway.
- [Si] That one's called The West End Pub.
- Uh-huh. - We're not?
- It's like 15 more miles,
- Okay. - and another kind
of hard climb, actually.
- Okay, all right, we'll go that way.
- We're going to, yeah, we're going to get there.
And yeah, we got the Bridge of Flowers.
It's really pretty.
- I need a snack, man.
- I know, I'm sure you're hurting.
And actually, my legs are a little jello myself,
I'm not going to lie.
- Good. - Yeah.
(Si laughs)
Let's do it, man.
(relaxing harmonica music)
Oh yeah, I'm toasted.
Like really, I'm pretty tired.
- Yeah.
Yeah, my legs, like I said,
they're hurting a little bit, but I'm doing okay.
It's beautiful here, you know.
That's why we needed a little cheese stop.
I mean, this isn't France or even the U.K.
with the tea stop like we did with you, it's--
- It's very civilized.
I don't think I've ever stopped
for cheese and crackers mid-ride before, if I'm honest.
I like it.
- You've never been to Shelburne Falls before.
- No.
What I'm not entirely sure about is root beer.
Which-- - Your first time?
- [Si] It is actually, yeah.
- [Jeremy] And?
- [Si] (grunts) Well, it's maybe an acquired taste, huh?
- Okay. - Anyway, cheers.
- Yeah, cheers. - Here's to Shelburne Falls.
- Ah, hey, cheers to the root beer.
- And an amazing ride, well yeah.
- [Jeremy] We've got like, I don't know,
45 minutes is what I'm going to pin it at.
- Yeah? - Yeah, about 45 minutes.
It's going to be about 15 or more minutes of climbing,
and then just beautiful vistas
back into the town of Greenfield.
We're going to have a beer at Seymour Pub.
- Yeah? - Yeah, It's cool.
And then we're going to get some pizzas at Magpie.
- Magpie? - Mm-hmm.
- Yes, Seymour Pub and Magpie, sounds great.
- So we're not going to fill up on cheese and crackers yet.
I'm going to definitely, I feel like I'm going to get
these cheese and crackers back on the climb.
(Si laughs)
These are going to remind me.
- Extra value.
Yeah, I'm going to eat this cheese twice.
("America the Beautiful")
So how come this is called the Bridge of Flowers, Jeremy?
- [Jeremy] This is the Bridge of Flowers.
This is an old, thank you,
this is an old railway bridge
that used to connect the townspeople.
It used to ship over apples and cotton and different things,
yeah, way, way back in the day.
Yeah, it kind of went out of business, and they went bankrupt.
One of the local conservations bought it,
thank you, and now we have a beautiful bridge of flowers.
Someone had an idea for the bankrupt bridge,
and that was to put flowers all over it,
and as you can see, - It's a good idea, that.
- it's become, yeah.
- [Si] I feel really sorry
for the bridge of iron just next door.
- Yeah, well, that's not the Bridge of Flowers.
This is the Bridge of Flowers.
That's good, American creativity, Si.
Something that's gone out,
and they needed to figure it out,
and so they decided "You know what?
"We're going to put flowers all over it."
And look at how pretty it is.
- [Si] It is beautiful, I'd say.
- [Jeremy] Isn't it?
- [Si] Yeah, I'll give 'em their dues.
- Yeah, I mean this is just, like, it's really pretty.
- It is really pretty. - It'd be a nice place
to hang out.
All right Si, last climb, let's do it.
- [Si] Yeah, last one!
- [Jeremy] Pizza and beer, here we come.
(Si laughs)
(upbeat country music)
(Jeremy shouts)
- [Si] We just wanted to take a moment at the top
of the final climb of the day,
'cause isn't it just incredible?
Like, I mean it's all been beautiful,
but now we got this kind of evening sunlight,
oh man, this is a special place, Jeremy.
- Thanks, yeah.
It's very, really pretty, yeah.
We've done a heck of a lot of climbing.
It, my legs, my body, I feel like, yeah, I'm ready.
I'm ready to be done. (Si laughs)
And how about you?
You're also a little jet-lagged, so--
- Yeah, yeah, it's currently one o'clock in the morning.
(Jeremy laughs) This is the midnight sun.
Ah, no, I mean you can't fall asleep can you,
when you're riding your bike on beautiful gravel roads,
but what we got in store is just one descent to go?
- That's right, one very pretty descent.
Lots, where you're just here, on top of the world again,
kind of coming down into Greenfield,
where we're going to finish this thing up.
Let's do it. - Boom.
- [Jeremy] All right.
- Show me the beer.
Here we go?
- [Jeremy] Yeah, man.
- Ah, cheers.
Mate, that was fantastic.
- Yes. - That was a ride and a half.
- Oh, that was a hard day though, I'm not going to lie.
That was (mumbles), I don't feel like I was in over my head,
but that was a hard day,
and I'm definitely, are you ready for a drink?
- [Si] I'm definitely ready for a drink.
- Yeah man, yeah. - Drink and pizza.
But yeah, thanks man, that was like,
it's part of the world I probably never would've seen
unless you'd invited us out here.
- [Jeremy] Yeah.
- [Si] But I'm so glad,
because that's just some fantastic riding.
Just like, just one of the most mellow days ever.
Like those beautiful deciduous woods, fantastic rivers,
beautiful houses dotted around the place,
those little meadows,
just what an amazing place to ride a push-bike.
- I know, I know.
I thank you for coming, and it was awesome.
It was such a pretty, yeah such a pretty day too.
Like, the weather was absolutely perfect.
- Cheers, brodie.
- Cheers man, thank you.
- Come to another continent, still drinking cider.
I'm not going to lie, I think this might have the edge.
- Yeah?
Over the, what is it,
vat? - Over West Country cider,
yeah. - Yeah, okay.
It was good, but yeah.
Absolutely fantastic day.
- [Si] Yeah, it was.
- [Jeremy] Yeah, yeah.
Just even for me, only being 30 minutes south of here,
just being able to come up here and do the dirt roads,
along the, yeah, all along the river there,
and taking a swim.
Those climbs, yeah, the views.
It's not that we have such high elevation,
it's just that the views when you're on top,
it's like you're on top of the world.
It's a small world here in western Massachusetts,
but I don't know.
I have to say, it's definitely way,
way different than the U.K.,
- Yeah. - and way more different
than Exmoor.
- Yeah. - But,
it is pretty cool in its own right,
I think. - Oh, it's fantastic.
- [Jeremy] Yeah.
- And well, you guys can expect a lot of videos
coming from this neck of the woods,
now that Jeremy has obviously come on board.
So yeah, can't wait to see
what else you show us from around here.
- Okay. - If you want
to check out the previous video,
where Jeremy came over to the U.K.
and we tried to sample some U.K. gravel riding,
which was very different to here, isn't it?
- [Jeremy] That was close to mountain biking.
- [Si] Yeah, basically we just went mountain biking
- [Jeremy] Which was super fun,
- on soft dirt road bikes. - and one of my top five rides
of all time.
- [Si] Ah ha, well there we go, cool.
Anyway, if you want to see that one,
click on the screen now.
Cheers.