Forget about the waves and the sand, the bluefish and the beach umbrellas. There is another Vineyard, an inner network that is largely hidden, usually shady, and rarely paved. Most know a few pieces of it: maybe a trail from their house to the beach, or a familiar path they take their house guests to visit on misty days when the beach is out of the question. Dedicated
walkers, birders, and horse folks know a wider slice.

There is one local tribe, however, to whom the entire Island Wide Web is as familiar as the lines on their palms. With their fat and flat-proof slime tires, their Lyme-be-damned attitude toward ticks and cat briars, and their absolutely strict respect for property lines, they are the veritable beasts of the Vineyard wild. It’s no surprise, therefore, that one of the most influential trail bike engineers in the world lives in Edgartown. Or that the most successful husband and wife team in competitive mountain biking lives just up the road in Chilmark. (Not that any of them – or any of their friends – would think of using the road to get between the two places.)

We asked our intrepid man-in-padded-loincloth Bill Eville to strap on his bike helmet and track them down in their natural habitat...