riding more and a new bike related beer

This last week has been a busy one both at the shop and on the bike. Several small/medium sized group rides as well as a few solo evening/night rides were had. The weather somehow cooperated enough for me to get out for 20-60 miles 5 days in the last week, sadly all were pavement oriented. Rain has been prevalent but mostly during the overnight hours, so days and evenings were gorgeous for riding, sunshine, warm but not hot temps, low to moderate wind. Hell yeah.

While I was busy riding, I was not busy taking pictures. So I have no photographic evidence of my recent increase in mileage. I did shoot a video of the new High Trestle Trail bridge at night, but have not done anything to/with it yet, but I plan to in the next week or so. Short version: super duper cool, go ride it after dark. Saturday a group of us rode from Ankeny to the bridge, got to the bridge right at dusk, saw the bridge in the dark, then rode home. Of course we stopped for liquid nourishment at the Take Down in Slater and the Flat Tire Lounge in Madrid. Both very nice places full of bike ridin' folks.

My beer drinking was not limited to bars near bike trails. I have been drinking at home. Bicycles and beer so well together many breweries name beers for bikes/bicycle stuff/trail/any bike related thing you can think of. As a lover of both things, these beer always attract me for better or worse I feel compelled to give them a shot. So, when I saw Lakefront's Fixed Gear, I had to pick it up. It was clearly not optional.

Quoth the labe:

Inspired by the energy and audacity of the fixed gear courier.

I hope they were inspired by actual messengers and not the fixed gear hipster, who while possibly possessing similar skills, is still a poser and has bought into a prepackaged identity. The beer inside probably was wrought with working messengers in mind as it is very good and acceptably strong. The color is much brighter red than my crummy photo shows, with a creamy white head and a fantastic floral nose, which sadly, my camera couldn't capture either. Reportedly only 34 IBUs but tastes like more with a strong malt back that lingers on the palette more than the hops, but they play very well together. The 22oz bottle packs a minor punch at 6;5% abv, more would probably become a distraction flavor wise, and less wouldn't match the bold flavors. If you see this beer, even if you're not a cyclist, give it a shot. If I remember correctly, it was only $5 maybe less, which is entirely worthwhile.

Confessions about the wind + homebrew

As I tweeted earlier today: I like the wind. I enjoy riding in it under most circumstances. Sure it is a pain in the ass on my commute, especially in the winter, but all it does is make you stronger. In Iowa we don't have long climbs, nor many especially steep ones. We've got tons of slight rolling hills, miles upon miles of rail trails, but nothing that can really be called a proper climb in the cycling sense of the word. Sure both "coasts" of Iowa boast some steep climbs that last about a mile, but nothing like a serious mountain climb that takes a couple hours to summit. What we have instead is the wind; rarely ceasing, constantly shifting, soul crushing wind. You can eventually summit a mountain pass of any length, nothing you can do other than waiting will shut the wind off.

When I've ridden bikes in other parts of the country, I get dropped on climbs pretty easily, but I can always hang if there's even a mild cross wind. People who aren't used to it have no idea what they're doing and bitch about it constantly. When I was in Morgan Hill, California a few years ago attending some classes at Specialized's HQ, we did a 30 mile ride in the rolling hills surrounding the town. There was a 15-ish mph breeze, and almost everyone was sketchy when it was a cross wind, complained constantly about the head wind and didn't enjoy the tail wind as much as they should have. On the other hand I was fine and held my lines (so did a few others from the midwest), I also provided significant shelter from the wind for many other people. You see, I'm 6'4 with fairly broad shoulders, so I punch a pretty large hole in the air when riding, a hole smaller people can take serious advantage of. This "favor" is one they cannot possibly repay because I get virtually no draft off of tiny people.

People think I'm a bit "off" for liking the wind, to them I say HTFU. A large part of training/riding is preparing mentally for a race/event. Sure the physical work out and condition of the body is crucial, but mental callousing is also crucial, especially if you're like me and enjoy events that are more about finishing than formally winning. A good wind (from any direction) does both. A headwind forces you to push harder and attempt to hold a more aero position for a longer amount of time. This makes you stronger physically and mentally. A cross wind makes you focus more on bike handling and teaches you how to deal with uneven conditions. Cross winds probably do the most for you in terms of being faster than other people in a race. If you can keep yourself on line and in a good place in a cross wind, you'll do well in a race. A tail wind not only makes the ride more fun (holy top speeds Batman), it can also provide a bit of a different work out. It can do this in two ways: first those high speed runs work on power and leg speed. I've spun out on flat-ish terrain with a really strong tailwind. Spinning a cross bike with a 42x11 high gear at 130 rpms and 35+ mph is a killer work out. Secondly a tailwind can allow you the confidence to ride harder into the wind, knowing the ride home will be cake.

Thus ends my defense of liking the wind. Now on to what most of you probably care about: beer.
This is a beer I brewed a while ago, a Belgian style tripel. It has taken 5-6 weeks (I've legitimately forgotten) to properly bottle condition/carbonate. Not entirely sure why, possibly it was too cool after bottling, maybe there wasn't enough yeast in the bottles, but for whatever reason, this was my fourth test bottle, and the first on that feels right. The flavor is about the same as the others, but the carbonation is perfect and it enhances the flavor in just the right way. Hiccups like this are things that make me think about investing in a stir plate for yeast starters, and also a kegging set up, as bottling is a pain in the ass. Oh well, maybe once I find some money I don't want to spend on bikes...

Finally got a longer ride on the new mtb

As astute readers will remember, I mentioned my new mountain bike (Stumpy comp 29) a while ago, and just recently have I gotten a chance to spend much time on it. This past Sunday I made the trip down to the Center Trails after work for a bit of a ride. The trail was in killer shape, my bike was awesome, riding with my coworker Bret was great, overall one helluva night. I neglected to take any photos of the ride, or nay new photos of my bike, but other than the grips(now Ergons), it is bone stock. The bike rode really really well. It's light, snappy, stiff, and very quick handling. It is better in almost every way than my uber fancy Jamis I had last year. The parts are nothing exceptional, Reba fork, Elixir brakes, SRAM X-7 and X-9 shifting bits, all good workhorse component choices. The DT Swiss wheels are pretty light and roll really well, especially at this price point, the durability is a bit suspect. I'm not terribly hard on things, I'm usually pretty smooth, but I've already had to touch up the true on these things a couple times, and I've hardly ridden them. Here's hoping they weren't built as well as they could have been and they're okay now.

One part of the build I was unsure of is the tires. New model from Specialized, S-Works Renegade. At a listed 1.95 inches wide, and with a ton of tiny knobs, I wasn't sure they'd be the right tire for anywhere, let alone my locale. Having put some miles on these, I gotta say I love them. Perfect for hardpacked trails with occasional damp spots, loose bits, and general trail obstacles. At 430 claimed grams for a 29 inch version, they're super light, and the sidewalls and understandably thin, so they're not going to hold up anywhere there's a bunch of rocks. The 1.95 width is probably closer to a 2.05 or bigger in reality, and set up tubeless they roll really well, and grip like crazy. i've only had minor issues with them is greasy corners and super loose dry climbs, but in both those situations almost nothing was going to work well. Another big plus is that they set up tubeless as easy as any tire I've ever used.

I'm a big-ish guy who really likes 29er hardtails, and this is one of the quickest handling and tightest turning bikes I've ever ridden. The chainstays are really short, a scant 435 mm, which in only 11 mm longer than the 26in version. This helps the bike accelerate like crazy and makes lofting the front end easy, and keeps the wheel base tight for sharper handling. Compared to the Jamis, this thing is 100% more race ready, fits me better, and with a modicum of tweaking/adjusting is super comfortable. If the weather would cooperate I'd have tons of miles on this. More updates (and pics) as I ride more.

Quick note about gin

Summer is here, and with it, in the midwest at least, is oppressive humidity and surprisingly variable temperatures. Also along for the ride are gin and tonics, which in my mind are the most refreshing non-beer beverage when the weather is hot. Hell, they're a lot more refreshing than a lot of beers, but that's neither here nor there. My second update in as many days is to spread the love for a new and highly affordable gin that's perfect for gin and tonics: New Amsterdam.

While not exactly complex, this stuff mixes well, has a bright citrus note, not a huge amount of juniper, but still recognizable as a gin, albeit a sweeter/more fruity one. For $13 or so, this stuff is perfect. Much better than cheaper $10-13 gins like Seagram's or similar, but not as complex nor as good quality as Beefeater, Bombay, or others in the $20 ball park.

I'd never make a martini with New Amsterdam, but a cocktail that doesn't require awesome gin? Hell yes. Gin and tonic, tom collins, velvet crush, etc etc? Absolutely.

That's all, just drinking one and wanted to make sure more people knew about it. Even if you hate it, you're only out $13, I've spent more on a 750ml of beer.

I'm back on the intertubes

I am finally back online, and a host of computer issues that were ultimately resolved by my friend Markk, I now have a functioning computer for the first time in about 3 weeks. I used my smartphone to do most webstuff, but blogging from it, or any longer form writing period was a horrible hassle, so I didn't do any. But now I'm back with some great news: Hy-Vee in Ankeny finally has reasonable bike parking. This is best explained visually:

Old rack. That van is nearly always there, and it has clearly hit the rack at least once. Not only is that thing not secure, I'm not terribly sure on how to lock anything to it. I usually just leaned my bike up against the building and locked the front wheel to the frame and tried to be quick inside. Ankeny has basically zero bike theft, so this was never a problem, but still isn't a good way to do things.

New racks. Four kinked, inverted U/staple style racks. Huge improvement. These are actually secure, and while they only provide a maximum of 8 spots, they are a big leap forward. I am actually pretty excited they finally got these things installed. When I took these pics (earlier this week) it must have been the first day because there was still concrete dust covering the mounting hardware.

That's all for now, I'll try to get back to regular updates in the coming days.