(Newswire.net — April 28, 2014) Farmingdale, ME — The winter in Central Maine has been longer and colder than any in many years. This has caused all but the most diehard cyclists to seek alternate means to get their early season riding in.
The diehards have welcomed the cold and snow over staying its welcome since many of them now ride “fat bikes”. The fat bike has tires that are up to 5 inches wide and is designed to be ridden in the snow. Although fat bikes are gaining in popularity, at this point, there are still relatively few of them out on the trails.
Early season road cycling has been affected by the long winter as well. Unless you are one of the most committed riders the roads are not in the best condition for riding yet. There is still a lot of sand on the roads and the frost heaves are just now retreating for another year. This had caused many of the most popular roads to ride to be in terrible condition with broken pavement and potholes seemingly lurking around every corner.
For the Mountain Bikers the snow and frost has been slow to relinquish their grip in the woods and thankfully in Central Maine there is large group of riders who are good stewards of our trail systems and will not go out and ride until the trails are ready.
At a local Maine bike shop, Mathieu’s Cycle & Fitness in Farmingdale, Alan Cunningham stated “it’s been a late start to our tune-up season but things are picking up now because people are just sick of waiting and they’re going to get out and ride.”
Owner Jim Mathieu told us, “It’s still a great time to get your bikes tuned-up for the season. Our most popular servicing is a Full Tune which gets your bike cleaned including degreasing the drivetrain, the wheels are trued, all four bearing areas are adjusted as needed, the braking and shifting systems are adjusted, everything that needs it is lubricated, and a comprehensive safety check is done.” He also noted that if you’re not sure what work may be needed they do FREE estimates.
If you’re in Central Maine you can bring your bike to either of two Mathieu’s locations, Farmingdale or Oakland and get it ready to ride.