Dash Bicycle

Happy Holidays, friends! See ya in the bike lane!!

In the northeast, it’s felt a little like winter caught us by surprise weeks ago. But, December 20th is the last day of autumn, in 2025, and we’re looking forward to the growing hours of daylight ahead. The future is bright and warm. ✨

We all have a pre-ride routine, and experience reminds us that the longer and more intense the ride is, the more critical it is that we start with the right amount of nutrients and fuel. We need to balance carbs that release quickly with those that digest and release a little more slowly with sources of salt, magnesium, potassium, protein, and, of course, hydration. What you see here is a starter for a 60-100mi ride, so it’s likely that you’ll need less.

It’s even easier if you prep your breakfast the night before, so you don’t feel rushed in the morning. This is 1/4c of oatmeal w/ chia and h**p seeds, plus a proper dash of salt, all sweetened with maple syrup. Add a little bit of protein like a dollop of yogurt and/or a hard boiled egg for protein, and you’ve got a good base. We try to eat our meal about two hours before the ride, and then eat a banana just before rolling out the door.

Something to keep in mind is that smaller riders may benefit from a smaller meal, and that you’ll probably need even less of a base if you’re doing long training rides indoors. But, the holidays are bananas so don’t skimp on the candy canes.

Winter can make everything mucky, and we just finished freshening up this classy townie bike for a friend of the shop with a rustbuster chain and some hammered fenders from to get ahead of the seasonal gloom and grime. If you’re ready to keep your feet free from road spray and stave off some of that exposure to salt and sand through the winter, your friendly neighborhood bike shop is always down to spruce that thing up. Come say hi!

We cooked up some new green things, just in time for the holidays. Maybe it’s giving grinchy? Or, maybe it says “I am the tree.” Or, maybe you can wear it every day between now and St Paddy’s Day just to stay safe from pinching leprechauns. There’s also a tonal black option and a tonal red version, but you’re gonna have to swing by to see those for yourselves.

Hey friends — the end of the year is coming up fast, and we wanted to take a moment to thank everyone who has showed up to ride with us, trusted us to keep your bikes running, or just popped by for that last-minute tire top-off and ride fuel. You all keep us inspired and keep the lights on at this little independent local bike shop. We hope you’ll join us for one more no-drop group ride on Sunday December 14th (weather permitting). We’ll roll out from Dash at 10am, with an improvised route based on the classic Rehoboth loop (30mi, maybe?), and we’ll do our best to keep the group together in the 15-16mph zone before ending where our no-drop rides started with a round of carbs from

We know that the all-type poster is not exactly social media’s preferred communication format, but this is a reminder that we’re still collecting canned goods, non-perishables, and personal care items to support the community pantry at thru December 19th. We also understand that some folks prefer to support directly, and we would direct you to local organizations like and and who are always just a few clicks away.

If the bike shop is closed (Sundays and Mondays) our collection box is just inside the doorway connecting between and Dash Bicycle.

Temps in Providence have hit the low teens multiple times in the last week, and it’s not even officially winter yet. Today, it feels a little like all we can do is hope for an early spring. But, because we’re daydreaming about warmer days, we remembered that the Big Blue Bottle is easily one of our favorite personal hydration devices ever. Don’t tell us we’re buggin!

You local bike shop may not exactly qualify as a third space, but we do think of ourselves as a unique and vital point of connection between the community and an active lifestyle, all year round. We know it’s getting cold outside, and most folks will be riding less. But, we’ll still be here, five days a week, at least all the way through the spring equinox. Want to know what’s new, or interesting, or fun, or practical? And, what’s a venndiagram of all of those factors? Where the carbs at? Want to get there fast, or get there slow? That’s where we wanna go, too. Whether you want to talk about riding up grades or buying upgrades, or just need to schedule that mid-winter tuneup, come say hi.

It’s easy to take bike parts for granted, but things do wear out. We expect that our cars and motorcycles get an oil change every 3K-5k miles and we still frequently forget about bike maintenance. An educated guess is that this bottom bracket made it nearly 6000mi. It was ridden reasonably hard in rainy conditions and on salted winter roads, on pavement and gravel, through city potholes and unavoidable puddles of muddy water of unclear provenance. It finally gave out close to home, and it’s already been replaced. Here in coastal southern New England, winter is imminent. Some friends just a bunny hop and a skipped chain to the north and west of Providence have already seen snow and salted roads. As winter rapidly approaches, let us keep you running smoothly, all year long.