I set out for my run on Monday afternoon to check out the network of trails that have been built right from the center of Bentonville. I wanted to start out by running by the Frank Lloyd Wright home and stumbled across the “Art Trail” about five minutes in. It took me right by the Frank Lloyd Wright house (I got to go inside and it was amazing) and that led me to a trail through an architectural display, Architecture at Home, then right to the entrance of the Crystal Bridges Art Museum.

Sam Noel came to work for Bivo at the tail end of his professional cyclocross career. His skills on the bike are remarkable and we take great joy at watching him show them off for special Instagram posts or as we try to chase him up hills on a mid-week ride. Sam is humble, but DAMN, is he good. He raced 5 World Championships (2017-20, 2022), so his advice shouldn’t be taken lightly! He wrote an article below about his transition to racing ‘cross with bottles, a change the industry has seen but many riders have yet to adopt. Sam has certainly taken his work ethic from riding bikes into helping us build Bivo – we feel very lucky to have him on our team.

Last week, our town of Richmond, along with several other small towns across the state of Vermont, flooded to historic levels and devastated the communities, homes, businesses and farms. Vermont is such a special place; the community is something all Vermonters cherish and it has been amazing to see the volunteers across the state help with cleanup in all the towns effected by the flood. Robby and I were away last week and have been watching from afar with sadness for our town and state.

The idea of Bivo was born when we were living in Portland, OR and the first time we showed our brand to the world was at the Cross Crusade series when we sponsored a bike wash station. My dad did cyclocross in New England while I was finishing up my ski career and he and my mom even had a cyclocross course on their property for the Northampton and JAM riders of Western Massachusetts to practice on. Cross holds a huge spot in Bivo's foundation and we think that cyclocross is going to be making a comeback this fall. 

Cycling has a cool way of creating community and friendships. When we first had the idea of Bivo, we came to do Rooted VT in what is now our hometown of Richmond. While walking up the stairs to the food area post-race, a fellow cyclist stopped us after seeing our Bivo hats and said “Hey!! I was your 100^th follower on Instagram!” That fellow cyclist is now a good friend, Jody Wilson. We owe a lot to Jody – he is an amazing photographer who gives us so many photos for our social content and website, has connected us with a variety of shops and key people in the industry and supports us as we grow. This past April, Jody did The Traka, a 360 km ride through Spain. Read his recap and see some of the scenery of the ride below. Thanks, Jody, for being such an amazing human.