Better weather, new beers, assorted thoughts.

Last Wednesday (so, yesterday) I got out on the mountain bike. It was everything I wanted it to be, fun, fast, great trail conditions, a good work out, damn near perfect. So far, since the weather has broken, this spring has been fairly mild and not as wet and horrible as it's supposed to be. I mean, as I write this it's cold and rainy out there, but overall we're doing great. This is a shot from Sycamore's north side. Conditions are as good as ever, and there's rumor of the possibility of new sections of trail down there. Awesome, if the river doesn't come up and over everything like it has a tendency to.


Following my ride I did as many mountain bikers are want to do, and cracked open a beer. This time it was Sierra Nevada's Ovila Dubbel. Part of their new line of abbey style beers that they're making in collaboration with actual monks. Pretty neat idea, plus the beer is good too. Complex but light, there's a ton of subtle flavors at play, from citrus to black pepper, if you see any of he beers in this line, give them a try. I bet you'll like it.

Earlier in the week, it was well above 80F in the Des Moines metro. As such, I broke out the shorts and clipless sandals.

Sharp eyed readers will notice that my footwear is in fact a pair of the old school Shimano two strap style sandals. I love these things, and the new ones just aren't the same, and while my shop totally kills it with Keen bike sandals, they don't work for my feet, and I don't like the closed toe. I guess I'm gonna have to punt when these finally fall apart, which could be any day now.

A beer I had recently that I have to share: Brau Brothers Hundred Yard Dash Fresh Hop Ale. I am so in love with this beer. After drinking an incredible amount of citrusy IPAs in Oregon, this was a crazy change.

It smells of dirty pine with an herbal note or two floating around. This beer's aroma is a killer example of the "dirty" smell people love to add to IPA descriptions, ie, dirty pine, dirty citrus, dirty tea. It literally has a freshly turned soil smell. It's good, earthy, piny, and amazing. If you're in the upper midwest, you can probably find this beer, and probably should.