KEESEVILLE — Bike the Barns, a half-day bicycle tour centered around farms and the region’s local food movement, is set for Saturday, Sept. 21.

The tour, co-hosted by the Adirondack North Country Association and Bike Adirondacks, features a 22-mile road cycling route that will take riders to farms and other agricultural points of interest in the AuSable and Champlain valleys. The event is currently full at 200 riders, but community members are still invited to register to be added to the waitlist.

The seventh Bike the Barns ride will begin at Ausable Brewing Company in Keeseville, continue to the Babbie Rural Farm and Learning Museum and Northern Orchard in Peru and cross over the scenic Ausable Chasm to stops at Mace Chasm Farm and North Country Creamery in Keeseville. Riders will end back at the brewery for a celebration of live music and local food and drink.

“We look forward to bringing Bike the Barns back to the AuSable Valley and highlighting some of the small farms along this beautiful route,” said ANCA Executive Director Elizabeth Cooper. “We’re excited to share the rich agricultural history of this area and introduce riders to some of the hard-working farmers and food entrepreneurs who are continuing that legacy today.”

ANCA established Bike the Barns in 2016 to increase awareness about local food issues and engagement with the small farms and businesses that are instrumental to the health and vitality of local economies, farmlands and communities. Now in its seventh year, the 2024 ride will follow the same route as last year’s tour.

Doug Haney, owner of Bike Adirondacks, a Saranac Lake-based company that specializes in regional bicycle events, noted that inclement weather affected the overall experience last year.

“We heard from so many people after that rainy day that they wanted to experience the same route and farm stops in better weather,” he said. “Rain or shine, this really is a special route, with views of Lake Champlain and the Adirondack Mountains, through Keeseville’s historic downtown and over the Ausable Chasm. I’m glad we get to share the experience with new and returning riders this year.”

The event will be based at Ausable Brewing Company, a nanobrewery owned and operated by brothers Dan and Dylan Badger. Babbie Rural Farm and Learning Museum is a non-profit educational institution dedicated to preserving the region’s historical and agricultural way of life. Established in 1903 and operated by second- and third-generation growers, Northern Orchard Co. is a grower, packer, and wholesale shipper of apples. Owned and operated by first-generation farmers Ashlee Kleinhammer and Steven Googin, North Country Creamery is a 115-acre dairy farm and home of a herd of grass-fed Shorthorn and Jersey milking cows. Mace Chasm Farm grazes cattle, poultry and pigs and produces grafted tree nursery stock on about 120 acres of land.

Proceeds from Bike the Barns support ANCA’s Local Food System Program, which aims to strengthen North Country farms and food businesses while increasing access to local food.

The $99 registration fee for Bike the Barns includes a clearly marked route, mechanical support, farm stops, additional points of interest and a finish line celebration with local food, beverages and live music.

Members of the public are invited to register to be added to the waitlist for the sold out event. Learn more at www.adirondack.org/btb.