Hello friends and happy New Years. We had such a great year of bicycle fun with everyone, and we’ve got a lot of fun ideas for 2026.
First, we’ve updated our Vermont Bicycle Club Rider Waiver, you’ll need to fill this out if you want to participate in any of our happenings. Good news, you can do it right now! Head over and sign it at this link here:
Did you know that everything we do here at the shop is the product of our own hard work? Each graphic, every sign, every design and social media post, each piece of art. They are all done by us. No AI ever.
Why should you care about that? Why do we care about that? Well here’s the deal; we believe that people should be paid a fair wage for the good work they do.
AI is completely the opposite of that. From the foundations of how AI systems are built, to the implementation and results you are given when you use it, AI is the result of stolen materials and often those were your materials and information used without your permission! Art, knowledge, creations, all stolen from you and your neighbors, then sold back to you at a premium.
It’s like bringing your bicycle to a repair shop, and then that shop uses the parts of your bicycle to fix other people’s bicycles while still charging you for repairs on your bike that aren’t even repaired the right way.
In a time when everything seems to be leaning more and more into AI and skimming the surface we’re doubling down on our SOPWAMTOS attitude with everything we do here at the shop. We do this so you know that we’re interested in the integrity of our work, and to share our passion for working with our hands and building our working knowledge. To learn in the service of others so that we can create value for our community.
How are we doubling down on that idea? More community building adventures and fun, with results that we can feel, touch, and smell.
Things like this cool new challenge we’ll be launching in the next couple weeks:
The Vermont Bicycle Club Adventure Society of People Doing Cool S#!+ on Bicycles.
It will be a super fun challenge with a physical Vermont Bicycle Club Adventure Society Journal, custom stickers, and cool prizes. We’ll be running this challenge all year, culminating with an awards ceremony and prizes in the Fall.
You’ll see an email next week with more info, or if you are real excited stop by the shop and we will show you what we’re working on.
We will of course be holding our second Vermont Bicycle Club VMBA Trail Challenge next year as well and we have some big plans for who will be helping us with the 2026 version.
Don’t forget, tomorrow night is the Millstone Trails full moon hike!
6:00 PM, meet at the Millstone Trails Parking lot at 44 Brook St. in Websterville
Speaking of Millstone Trails we’ll be launching a new section to the site where we will post current trail conditions for Millstone Trails per our own Mark Martin!
Head on over and check out: MILLSTONE WATCH, with Mark Martin.
Please register at the link below so they can plan for snacks and such, otherwise if you don’t register, just bring some snacks for yourself and join us!
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSf1QNy0mB0DuluVB7Pi_p1iTzsTLTKytMfXyR2a-2pVlBbFxA/viewform
We’re grateful for being a part of your year, and it is wonderful to experience the joy of bicycles with all of you. We look forward to all the fun that 2026 will bring!
-Darren