The Ausable River Association and High Peaks Cyclery will be holding the 5th Annual Ride for the River on Sunday, July 31st at the Hungry Trout Resort. Ride for the River celebrates the Ausable River and the communities that call its watershed home. Proceeds from the event support AsRA’s work to protect and restore the clean waters of the Ausable River. The event began in response to the devastating flooding of Tropical Storm Irene to celebrate the resilience of local communities and raise funds to support AsRA’s stream restoration work.

New event partner High Peaks Cyclery (HPC) has developed an all new set of routes for this year’s ride. Route options include a metric century and metric half century, a short family tour through Wilmington, a mountain bike tour led by Barkeater Trails Alliance, and an all new gravel road tour. The gravel road tour will explore the back roads of the Ausable River watershed and will include instruction by the experience staff at HPC. Bike rentals for the gravel road tour are available, call HPC at (518) 523-3764 to reserve a spot.

Starting at 1 pm there will be a party at the Hungry Trout Resort with great food, live music, and local beer. The public is welcomed to join in the celebration of the Ausable River watershed. Local businesses and organizations will be at the event sharing information about the Ausable River and surrounding lakes. AsRA staff will be on hand to talk about science, restoration, and outreach efforts of the organization.

The day will wrap up with a raffle of various prizes. High Peaks Cyclery has graciously donated a Salsa Cycles Vaya Deore bike as the grand prize and the Hungry Trout Fly Shop is putting up a half-day guided fly fishing trip for two as a second prize. Tickets can be purchased at Ride for the River or in advance at High Peaks Cyclery or look for an AsRA table at local events and farmers markets.

This event has been made possible by the Ausable River Association’s many sponsors, including The Hungry Trout Resort, High Peaks Cyclery, High Falls Gorge, Patagonia, Blue Line Design and Apparel, Nancie Battaglia, The Mountaineer, and more.

You can learn more about this event here.

Photos courtesy of Nancie Battaglia.