Went out for a little "tune up" ride with Kyle on our mountain bikes that we're both planning on riding during different events in the 24 Hours of 7 Oaks. Minor tweaks here and there, and a bit or breaking in of cables and brakes and such. We've been virtually unable to ride our mountain bikes this season thanks to the terrible weather that made most/all the trail in the area into swampy messes.
This 30-ish miles on pavement was the longest I've ridden this bike all year. I learned a few things. Firstly, the seat is not so hot for longer efforts. WTB Silverado does not play nice with my butt, can't exactly pin point it, but holy hell do I need a different one. Seems a slightly shorter stem would help with longer events. Out of the box my Jamis 29er is an aggressive xc race machine, with a lower than I'd prefer front end, which is great for pure xc racing, not so hot for endurance events. So a little shorter stem should fix my problems.
Definitely shouldn't have waited this long for a break in/fit test ride, but whatever. I'm not in any kind of shape, have no serious goals, and expect to do between 6 and 10 laps, depending on the length and condition of the course.
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Friday, August 27, 2010
24 hours of 7 oaks in coming, plus i drink a new beer.
Next weekend to most folks is Labor Day Weekend, a time for final trips to the lake, big cook outs, lazy porch sittin'/drinkin', for central iowa (and beyond) endurance minded mountain bikers, it is the 8th annual 24 hours of 7 oaks near boone. Last year I didn't train, didn't really take the race seriously, planned to have fun and ride my bike all day, and nearly finished 3rd in the 12 hours solo race. In fact, I got passed on the last lap (my 9th) by a guy who also did 9, but he finished 10 mins ahead of me for the podium spot. So in 8 days, I get to try again. Same plan, just fun, but this time I might ask someone to let me know if I'm gonna podium or something.
Here's a write up I did after last year's race: http://kylesbikes.wordpress.com/2009/09/11/marks-race-report-from-the-24-hours-of-7-oaks/
Not too shabby if I must say so myself.
Now for the part most of you care more about: beer.
Peace Tree Brewing's Double IPA, from their Brewer's Special Release Series. It also claims to be a seasonal, but their website did not off any info on this beer. It is really really good. Hoppy, bitter (but not overly so), floral but not too citrus of a nose, overall top notch. It is also reportedly hard to find. I had never seen it in the wild, but my buddy Markk picked some up and saved me a bottle. If it really is a seasonal, watch for it next summer, or keep your eyes peeled now.
Here's a write up I did after last year's race: http://kylesbikes.wordpress.com/2009/09/11/marks-race-report-from-the-24-hours-of-7-oaks/
Not too shabby if I must say so myself.
Now for the part most of you care more about: beer.
Peace Tree Brewing's Double IPA, from their Brewer's Special Release Series. It also claims to be a seasonal, but their website did not off any info on this beer. It is really really good. Hoppy, bitter (but not overly so), floral but not too citrus of a nose, overall top notch. It is also reportedly hard to find. I had never seen it in the wild, but my buddy Markk picked some up and saved me a bottle. If it really is a seasonal, watch for it next summer, or keep your eyes peeled now.
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
New beers and quick rant against hy-vee's terrible bike parking.
There are more and more interesting beers making their way into Iowa, and I've been trying whatever I can. Check it:
Goose Island's Demolition, a pretty good golden ale, clean, smooth, easy drinking, with a fine Belgian style carbonation. Nothing amazing to say about it, but I've really been digging Goose Island's Belgian Style stuff recently, so I gave it a shot and was not disappointed.
Goose Island's Fleur, a Belgian ale made with hibiscus blossoms. This beer is super interesting, smooth, flowery(duh) but not overpoweringly so. There's a sweet but not cloying floral note especially in the finish that builds and lingers as you work through the bottle. Highly recommended if you have even the faintest thought that it sounds good. I'd have to do a side by side or back to back comparison to see if I like this better than Matilda, but it's close.
Shiner Smokehaus, beer made with smoked mesquite. ZOMG this beer tastes like bbq, but in the best possible way. Smokey, not as dark as you'd think, and pairs super great with just about any meat. Not terribly complex, but that's okay, it is still interesting and very very good. Pick some up for your Labor Day grilling needs.
McChouffe Brown ale, a Belgian take on a Scottish ale. Not a bad beer, a pretty straight up Scottish ale, but with the very fine Belgian carbonation which gives it a different mouthfeel that one would expect. I thought there should/could be more malt in it, and maybe some other flavors, but it was an okay beer. My biggest complaint is how much I paid for this thing, $18 at the Red Monk. I understand it's a bar, and this is a large quantity of hard to find imported beer, but it wasn't that great. I've paid that much, in that bar, and thought it was a bargain. I would not bother with this again, both myself and the friend who I shared it with were underwhelmed.
Now on to something that's just about as near and dear to me as fancy beers: bicycles. This is the start/brain vomit/opening tirade of a bigger write up I'm working on for WeBikeEugene, Seager's excellent bike commuting oriented site for Eugene, Oregon. Without further ado, here goes: Ankeny's bike parking sucks. It's not a surprise to anyone who rides a bike to just about any business. Some have a couple staple/inverted U type racks, most have nothing. Sure there's little bike theft to worry about, but having basically nowhere to lock up doesn't exactly encourage cycling. The closest grocery store to me is Hy-Vee, it's also my preferred store, so that's a bonus, and it isn't terribly hard to get to via bicycle, a little in town MUP and neighborhood streets.
Here is their terrible excuse for a bike rack :
Seriously Hy-Vee? I'm not even sure how to use that. Plus that catering van is there most of the time. The kitchen manager is one of our better customers and he agrees that it sucks, but the higher ups don't see a good place for a rack, nor a good reason to install one. He also enlightened me as to the van, seems it has to stay there so it's out of the way for car traffic and isn't taking up parking close to the store. Again, not his call, but his boss's. It's very weird to me that a company that puts on a giant triathlon, encourages employees to live healthier lifestyles, including incentives for bike commuting (at least during bike to work week), would have some of the shoddiest bike parking ever. In fact, I rarely even both using it, I generally lock my front wheel to my frame and lean the bike on the side of the building. My bike would vanish in many other towns, but in Ankeny it hasn't been a problem.
In a longer/more complete versionI'll talk about what Eugene does right, what Ankeny does right, what else can be done and why, plus more photos, and maybe some actual counts of racks/bike parking from other popular area businesses.
Goose Island's Demolition, a pretty good golden ale, clean, smooth, easy drinking, with a fine Belgian style carbonation. Nothing amazing to say about it, but I've really been digging Goose Island's Belgian Style stuff recently, so I gave it a shot and was not disappointed.
Goose Island's Fleur, a Belgian ale made with hibiscus blossoms. This beer is super interesting, smooth, flowery(duh) but not overpoweringly so. There's a sweet but not cloying floral note especially in the finish that builds and lingers as you work through the bottle. Highly recommended if you have even the faintest thought that it sounds good. I'd have to do a side by side or back to back comparison to see if I like this better than Matilda, but it's close.
Shiner Smokehaus, beer made with smoked mesquite. ZOMG this beer tastes like bbq, but in the best possible way. Smokey, not as dark as you'd think, and pairs super great with just about any meat. Not terribly complex, but that's okay, it is still interesting and very very good. Pick some up for your Labor Day grilling needs.
McChouffe Brown ale, a Belgian take on a Scottish ale. Not a bad beer, a pretty straight up Scottish ale, but with the very fine Belgian carbonation which gives it a different mouthfeel that one would expect. I thought there should/could be more malt in it, and maybe some other flavors, but it was an okay beer. My biggest complaint is how much I paid for this thing, $18 at the Red Monk. I understand it's a bar, and this is a large quantity of hard to find imported beer, but it wasn't that great. I've paid that much, in that bar, and thought it was a bargain. I would not bother with this again, both myself and the friend who I shared it with were underwhelmed.Now on to something that's just about as near and dear to me as fancy beers: bicycles. This is the start/brain vomit/opening tirade of a bigger write up I'm working on for WeBikeEugene, Seager's excellent bike commuting oriented site for Eugene, Oregon. Without further ado, here goes: Ankeny's bike parking sucks. It's not a surprise to anyone who rides a bike to just about any business. Some have a couple staple/inverted U type racks, most have nothing. Sure there's little bike theft to worry about, but having basically nowhere to lock up doesn't exactly encourage cycling. The closest grocery store to me is Hy-Vee, it's also my preferred store, so that's a bonus, and it isn't terribly hard to get to via bicycle, a little in town MUP and neighborhood streets.
Here is their terrible excuse for a bike rack :
Seriously Hy-Vee? I'm not even sure how to use that. Plus that catering van is there most of the time. The kitchen manager is one of our better customers and he agrees that it sucks, but the higher ups don't see a good place for a rack, nor a good reason to install one. He also enlightened me as to the van, seems it has to stay there so it's out of the way for car traffic and isn't taking up parking close to the store. Again, not his call, but his boss's. It's very weird to me that a company that puts on a giant triathlon, encourages employees to live healthier lifestyles, including incentives for bike commuting (at least during bike to work week), would have some of the shoddiest bike parking ever. In fact, I rarely even both using it, I generally lock my front wheel to my frame and lean the bike on the side of the building. My bike would vanish in many other towns, but in Ankeny it hasn't been a problem.In a longer/more complete versionI'll talk about what Eugene does right, what Ankeny does right, what else can be done and why, plus more photos, and maybe some actual counts of racks/bike parking from other popular area businesses.
Saturday, August 14, 2010
Back from the promised land
No updates for a long ass time, my bad. Post RAGBRAI I took a trip (with my wife) to visit some friends in Eugene, Oregon. For my people (bike geeks and beer nerds), it is an awesome place. It was not unlike visiting a freaky parallel world where bikes were treated almost the same as automobiles and drinking fancy beers was something to be celebrated instead of derided as unmanly or a waste of time. I will do a bigger better write up in the near future, and probably a write up on Seager's excellent site WeBikeEugene as an outsider on how awesome Eugene is compared to most places.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)