Thoughts on the week that was, plus a new to me brew from the desolate state of nebraska

Since my nearly triumphant self induced mauling at the 12 hour race, I've been less than excited to ride a lot. I've been doing the usual back and forth to work, and I attempted 'cross practice on Wednesday, but otherwise I've been sitting around. Work has predictably gotta slower, which I must admit is an okay change in my book. Summer was a bit too hectic, a bit too often for my tastes, but we made it through and had a great season. The only way we know this fall is slower than last fall, is that our computer system compares daily and monthly total sales with last years figures, and this year we're up, but for September we're down. After the summer we had I think we've earned a bit of a relaxing/regrouping fall. Cyclocross practices are Wednesdays this year, which totally messed up my schedule, but whatever, they're fun as all hell and I'm not gonna miss them if I can help it.

On Wednesday I was at the shop changing tires on the Jamis touring bike, as my new Specialized Crux frame set had not arrived yet(I'm getting the pink one), and Scott Sumpter walks in to hang out for a bit/talk about something or other, and mentions that he's planning on riding down in a bit, which was exactly my plan, so we rode down from Ankeny into the heart of Des Moines, chatting about new regulations for the 2010 cross season, and about the best way to get to the park. Once there, Rob put us to work flagging out a course, which was surprisingly fun. Practice itself was pretty fun too. The different position, especially hand position, as compared to my mountain bike, gave me no issues. The super intense effort didn't either, for about 30 minutes. I pushed on and rode for about 45 minutes, but on man, those last few laps weren't super fast, and my knees/thighs/shoulders were starting to act up. I thought I was pretty well recovered from the 12 hour race, turns out I didn't know what I was talking about. Hell, here it is Sunday night, and I know I'm not back to 100% yet.

Post practice we rode(most drove, but some of us rode) down to El Bait Shop for beers and food. I was fully prepared to ride all the way back to Ankeny, but someone offered a ride and I gladly accepted.

Randomly, this morning I got on the scale and found that despite eating worse than I normally do, and drinking as much or a little more than normal, I'm down a little over 3 pounds since the race. Weird. Not too concerned. I worry if I crest the 200 lbs mark, otherwise I hardly pay attention.

Now on to the beer. Saw this particular brew in Ames the other night, so I grabbed a sixer. Empyerean Brewing's Burning Skye Scottish Style:

It is a good quality, smooth, malty Scottish Style ale with a lingering sweetness that is quite enjoyable. A friend of mine from Omaha gasses on about this brewery and it seems that now we can get some of their offerings in Iowa. Go us. Given the strength of this offering, I'm definitely going to try more of their stuff. Even though most of Nebraska is a boring drive through/fly over state, it seems they've got at least a few folks in Lincoln that can brew a good beer.