Skip to main content.
Bikes. Parts. Chaos.
Safety
Begin typing to search, use arrow keys to navigate, click or press Enter to select an item.

We felt it was time to visit Tri-City Bicycles in Rochester NH and throw down with all of the Surly hooligans lurking in those New England woods. We're not supposed to play favorites when it comes to our dealers but I've got a soft spot in my heart for Tri-City Bikes and in particular for the owner Mark Traeger. Mark is a huge Surly champion and has brought a lot of his customers over to the dark side. Mark is the kind of guy that calls sometimes just to shoot the shit and brainstorm. Those calls are never short and you never know where they may lead you. All I know is that I'm always in a better place when I get off of the phone with him. 

 

Front head shot of a person with their mouth wide open and eyes looking up, with papers posted on a board behind

Monday morning Traeger

 

A demo was in order and as luck would have it Trevor would be out on the East coast with the Demo van packed with bikes, beer and black metal. Plans were made and ideas were hatched. Mark decided to open his beautiful house to us and put us up in the "Cthulhu room" as he calls it. That's where I found Trevor, asleep in a pile of H.P. Lovecraft zines at 4:00 AM. Mark had picked me up at the Boston airport at around midnight, drove me back to his place and introduced me to a fridgerator packed full of some of the best beer I've ever seen. Needless to say we had a couple before calling it a night. Friday "morning" came all too quick. We stubmbled downstairs to the kitchen to find a nice breakfast spread laid out for us and a note saying "see you at the shop", or something like that. A shower was in order.

 

We grabbed a couple of bikes out of the demo van and headed out to the shop. Mark, with his neighbors permission, built some great single track that went all the way into town. My favorite part was that it was literally all down hill. I was pretty surprised that Trevor actually remembered how to get there. 

 

Front view of a person sitting at a desk with a computer in front of them, and a wall with bike parts behind them

Mark was way too chipper Friday "morning"

 

Inside Tri-City Bicycles

A New Hampshire license plate the shows, FATTIRE

Framed posted of a front view of cyclist Lance Armstrong, riding a bike

A collection of bike parts, posters and random items, on a shelf and mounted to walls

Downward view of a counter covered in various stickers, bike parts inside the glass case

The end of a countertop with a collection of posters and stickers

A person behind a service counter, folding t-shirts, with a wall of packaged bike parts behind them

Trevor is a nice guy. Really.

 

Tri-City has a great vibe. To me, this is what a bike shop should be.Throughout the day Friday people were showing up at the shop to talk bikes, have a beer and listen to death metal. I finally got to meet some of the people I've been speaking to and emailing the last couple of years. I'm sure I disappointed them all. Everyone was pretty excited for the bonfire that was happening at Mark's house that evening so when closing time came around people scattered to take of family things and promised to see us later.

 

We had a fire.

 

I remember very little from the bonfire. It might of had to do with the lack of sleep combined with a staggering amount of beer or soemthing like that. I do remember thinking that's a shit load of pallets and Christmas trees.

 

Saturday morning it was off to Bear Brook State Park for the Surly demo and a chance to hit some rocky and rooty NH single track. The weather was perfect and the people were even better. The Krampus seemed to shine here and the Instigator's were constantly checked out. The Karate Monkey was a huge hit as well and a lot of people showed up just to give that a try. Good times were had by everyone.

 

Wide-frame front view of a group of people posing, side by side, with a Surly canopy and trees in the background

Dave Mustaine in the house. No, not really.

Left side view of a yellowish brown Surly Instigator bike, on a repair stand, with 2 people standing behind it

Mark worked his ass off.

A group of cyclists on their bikes, lined up side by side, on a grass field, with a Surly canopy and trees in background

Tilted view of 3 people standing around a table with an open tool box, with cyclists and bikes in the background

Rambo approves.

Right side view of a blue Surly bike, parked in a field of tall, yellowish brown grass

Cool dog.

Downward view of 3 people sitting around a cooler on grass, with a Surly fat laying down and weeds in the background

I'd never seen anyone playing cribbage between rides before.

Front view of a person posing, wearing a Misfit Cycles t-shirt, holding a silver cooler in front of them

Clark Brothers Racing showed up with a cooler full of

Moat Mountain beer. We drank it. Then we filled it back up with 

some Surly Brewing beer. Everyone was happy.

 

Sunday rolled around a bit too early but we were excited to get going because we were in for a special treat. Cat from Ace Wheel Works in MA was coming up to see us and we going to shoot some guns! Kevin, one of the fore mentioned Surly hooligans, invited us over to his place for a BBQ and fun with firearms. Now, if for some reason firearms upset you it might be time to go because we got a chance to shoot some serious weapons. It's time to get some freedom on!

 

Distorted, downward view of a table with firearms on it

I was shaking with anticipation.

 

Trevor blows some shit up.

 

I Show how it's done.

 

Downward view of a fixed blade knife and sheath, laying on grass

Downward view of open boxes with firearm ammunition in them, set on grass

 

 

After cleaning ourselves up we took the Traegers out for dinner to say thank you.

Right side view of a person sitting at a bar top, drinking a cocktail in a restaurant

Sissy drink.

Right side view of a person sliding an oyster into their mouth from the shell, with people sitting behind them watching

Manly oysters.

Four people sitting at a table, posing with plates of lobsters in front of them

Mark and his lovely bride Jenny show us how to eat lobster.

 

All in all I think it was a great trip and I can't wait to see everyone again. We're doing more of these types of trips so if you're a Surly dealer and you have an idea for a event please let us know. We'll need to know about it at least six months in advance. A huge thank you to the Traegers for putting us up. They opened their house to us and we couldn't have asked for a nicer place to stay. Also I'd like to thank Surly Brewing for sending us on our way with a staggering amount of beer. 

 

Keep the rubber side down,

 

BoB