Group to ride bikes from Rockford to East Hills via White Pine Trail

On Sunday June 1, gear up for a nearly 15 mile bike ride from Rockford Brewing Company to Brewery Vivant in East Hills. Fly to the Coq, an annual group bike ride in its second year will follow the White Pine Trail. The 92 mile linear trail is Michigan's longest state park, reaching from Cadillac to Ann Street in Grand Rapids. 

The event welcomes all experience levels and is free and open to all ages. Both Rockford Brewing and Brewery Vivant have brewed special beers for the event. The recipes are the same but the ingredients are sourced from two different Michigan Farms. Vivant is sourcing Chinook hops from Michigan Hop Alliance out of Traverse City. Rockford Brewing is sourcing their Chinook hops from Hopyards of Kent in Greenville.

The collaborative effort was born out of staff enjoyment of beer and bicycling. 

"Several staff from both breweries found enjoyment riding from one brewery to the other along the White Pine Trail. After enjoying some beers up at Rockford one day, the riders/brewers got to talking about a large group ride involving all experience levels and Fly to the Coq was born," says Kate Avery of Brewery Vivant. 

The ride begins at 1 p.m. outside Rockford Brewing Co. on the White Pine Trail. Rockford will be tapping its FLY2COQ at 11 a.m. before the ride begins. Vivant will tap its edition of FLY2COQ at 2 p.m. anticipating the cyclists arrival. 

Brewery Vivant has recently installed a permanent bicycle repair station in front of the building on Cherry Street. This is yet another effort in a long list of bicycling endorsed activities including sponsoring events such as Active Commute Week, Handle Bar Happy Hour and a bicycle generated flat screen television. 

This year's partners are the Greater Grand Rapids Bicycle Coalition and Spoke Folks.