Mountain Flyer – June 2023

Welcome to Issue No. 77, where we explore the roots—physical and figurative—of East Coast riding and celebrate the rugged athletes shaping the sport we love. We salute Iron Cross, Pennsylvania’s legendary (and perhaps America’s first) drop bar gravel race and discover how the Lehigh Valley has turned from steelstacks to singletracks, revitalizing the region through biking after the decline of a once-robust steel industry. Then see how XC racing icon Lea Davison is chasing new adventures, embracing advocacy and finding joy in her recent retirement and hear from Brice Shirbach in his salute to the mountains close to his heart in “A Love Letter to Appalachia.” In Outlaws, we meet decorated endurance cyclist John Stamstad as he returns, after a “dark decade,” to the sport he pioneered; Jen See shows up to her bike race a week early—the best mistake she ever made—in Chain of Fools; and we meet Eleanor McDonough and her growing framebuilding venture Muskrat Bikes. In Tested we review the Spot Ryve 115, Norco Fluid and Yeti 135.