Obed x TEREN: Partnership and Gear Built on Adventure
Kyle Jones, a sustainability expert here in Chattanooga, went fly fishing with his buddy Cody one day in 2020. The pair parked on the side of the road in Blue Ridge, Georgia, biked to a remote fishing spot, and after a few casts, they decided to poke around some old ghost town ruins they’d heard about in the woods. Along the way, they discovered a massive hemlock tree. It stopped Jones in his tracks because it was so shockingly huge.
Kyle Jones couldn't stop thinking about that massive hemlock tree.
Hemlocks in that region have been under serious threat from the woolly adelgid, an invasive insect that's been wiping them out. But this tree had survived long enough to reach a size large enough that it might be an undiscovered “State Champion,” one of the largest of its kind in Georgia. The memory of this enormous tree stuck with Kyle over the next five years. He just couldn't stop thinking about it! So last October, he led a small crew, all kitted out with Obed bikes and TEREN apparel, plus an old Land Rover for support, back into the wilderness to find that tree, measure it, and see if it was worth officially submitting as a State Champion.
Embracing the Spirit of Adventure in Ai, Georgia
The route begins in Ai, an unincorporated community in Gilmer County, Georgia, and like all good adventures, things didn't go entirely to plan. Early on, road conditions forced the crew to reroute onto singletrack, which meant the Land Rover Defender they brought along as a support vehicle had to peel off. Almost immediately, the team was alone and in for a bigger effort than anyone had budgeted for.
Fortunately, they could still rely on their Obed MMR and Boundary adventure bikes and TEREN apparel to get them where they needed to go. They trekked deep into the wilderness and managed to find a great campsite near the tree Jones had spent the last 5 years dreaming about. The next morning, an arborist on the crew climbed the tree to finally take the official measurements he'd been waiting for.
No spoilers yet! The whole trip was captured on camera, and a short film documenting the ride, the tree, and the search for answers about whether it can be saved is currently in the works. So keep an eye on our social channels, because when it drops, you'll want to watch it!
The Obed x TEREN Partnership
Great partnerships usually start with a good story, and while this one is about Jones’ quest to measure a special hemlock tree, it’s also about how Obed and TEREN came together to make this trip possible. Every rider on the trip was on an Obed bike and kept comfortable in TEREN apparel.
This is a new partnership that's been a long time coming, and TEREN apparel is now available on the Obed site! If you've spent any time in our world, you know we don't just build bikes for riding. We build them to explore unknown roads and trails in faraway places. We build them for the adventures that riders like Kyle Jones undertake, the ones where you have to carry only what you need and figure out everything else along the way.
Fortunately, TEREN shorts dry quickly!
TEREN gets that too, and it shows in everything they make. It isn't just an outdoor apparel brand. Its gear is all designed around “adventure travel,” the kind where you're carrying everything you own on your back or your bike. Here, every ounce and every wash cycle matters. TEREN gear is designed to provide lightweight comfort for long days in the saddle, and genuine durability, including antimicrobial properties that let you wear a piece multiple days in a row. The result is less stuff in your bag, and more days adventuring on the bike.
You can now shop TEREN's lineup directly through the Obed site, starting with a few select pieces, with more to come as we roll the partnership out further. If you're the kind of rider who's already thinking about what you'll wear on your next multi-day gravel mission, this is the best place to start.