Man, I think it’s 90 degrees out there today! Friday saw the return of Spring and Gary and I took full advantage with a ride out at Colt’s Neck. It gave me a chance to try out the new Evolution setup in fixie mode for old times sake. Took a little getting used to, but once you go into flow mode it starts to come back. Lot’s of people out on the trails, several fathers with their children, which is always good to see! We hooked up with Bender at some point on the Lake Fairfax side. The trails were super dry, surprisingly enough! I managed to make my log again, but this time not so clean. I still have a long way to go before riding the fixie and doing technical features like logs becomes second nature. I actually have to worry about where my pedals are instead of just letting go and having my brain do the work on autopilot. Soon enough, soon enough.
Both Saturday and Sunday were outdoor days. So much to do and such nice weather, it just made for a great weekend. BBQ at Gary’s place Saturday night and we BBQ’d again for lunch on Sunday at our place with JK. Before lunch I got in another ride. Headed over to Wakefield to drop off the MORE trail work tools…last time I’ll have to do that. Decided to rip out a couple of laps and take in the new slalom course. Rich Edwards of IMBA hooked it up. And the Specialized Resolution took it all in strides. Gotta love a tire that only breaks loose one time on an entire ride and even though it broke loose it still caught again before I could or needed to correct.
One more ride tonight, hitting Wakefield with Steve-o and FattyBoomBatty to kick it one more time before flying out to do some work up in the Boston area for a couple of days. No bike, but plenty of homebrew!
DT
So my boy Jim decided that him and his wife needed to do some biking. It’s been a long time for both of them, so I was more than happy to help them look. After talking with them about the type of riding they planned on doing over a few beers and after doing some research and test drives, they finally decided. Hope they enjoy and use them a lot!
Also, as surprising as it will be to anybody who knows my bike maintenance schedule…I traded out my tires finally. My front tire wasn’t worn at all, it’s probably only got a dozen rides on it, but I hated how it rode. It had a high center profile and tended to roll way to easy. I’m now running a Specialized Resolution 2.3 (29″) that I picked up from the shop the other day on a whim. The test drive around the ride showed this to be a really full super grippy tire. Looking forward to putting it through the paces out on some dirt. I also pulled off my rear Chris King wheel and replaced it with an older Surly single speed wheel and put a WTB Weirwolf 2.1 (26″) on it. Now I just need to go through the shed again and find a wider bar, maybe a riser bar if I have one. Then a nice clean and lube job to the chain and she’ll be all ready for this season’s dirty punishment plan. Interesting side note…I just plugged in “2926″ into Google to see what kind of fun things would come up. Why, because some people call the bike a 69er, some a 96er, and some just call it dumb (I’m not naming any names, Graham). I figured there should be a better name for this and I think I found it…Evolution. So how the hell does 2926 = Evolution? Simple. “2926″ is the EText-No. of a certain book at Project Gutenburg and that book is none other than…”On the Origin of Species: or, the Causes of the Phenomena of Organic Nature“, in other words Evolution. Strangely fitting don’t you think?
Anyway, Evolution should be ready to go hit some dirt this weekend. It’s looking like weather in the 70’s, perfect for getting in some test rides. Get outside and enjoy the lack of rain!
DT
We had company in town this weekend, so I didn’t get to attend the entire BURP meeting this month, but I did manage to get my entry in for the “Extract” competition. One year ago I entered my first brewing competition, the BURP Extract competition of 2006, and I took home the blue ribbon for my Hop Dog IPA. Since then, I’ve moved on to all grain brewing, but I still make a few extract beers here and there. I’m still a firm believer that you can make great beer either way. Maybe in a future post I’ll do a writeup on brewing extract beer tips. Anyway, when I found out the extract competition would again be held in April, I decided to brew another Fat Boy special IPA. The recipe I designed called for a lot of hops, 7.5 ounces and three varieties to be exact. It’s a hophead’s dream, except it also has a really nice balance, which I contribute to the use of some honey malt. Anyway, back to the meeting. I received the ribbon for my 3rd place Scottish 80 from the Feb. Scottish ales competition and to my surprise, won the Best of Show (BOS) for this year’s extract competition. Go me! So if you like a good IPA, this is one you probably don’t want to miss. It might be gone before we are!
DT
We’ve had a turn in the weather here. Cold 40’s, windy, and just enough rain to keep us (well the “us” that have some respect) off the trails. I was able to get a nice ride in with big Gary the night before the storms rolled in. Good ride, conditions were super nice and the trail was running pretty fast. I even managed to goat Gary into taking the loop portion off the W&OD even when he thought he was done, ha. I also managed to clear a log that has plagued me for some time now. It’s not that the log is very big, but it sits up kind of high off the ground. Colt’s Neck is a pretty popular trail, so it’s not uncommon to end up riding with people you don’t know. Well not riding with, but more that whole back and forth thing. Some guys left the parking lot before us, but we ended up passing them, then them passing us, etc. Anyway, kind of near the end they were back on our tail and probably going to pass again. This time I just sucked it up, pulled hard and gave it what I could and cleared the log. I looked back to see everyone come to halt and climb over the log, ha. A little competition can be healthy for the skills I guess. Felt good to know I still got some skills left…even if in my own head, ha. But lately it’s been no biking and even no brewing.
In fact, I haven’t brewed since before we left for the UK! The IPA and the Strawberry Belgian Wit are in their kegs though and in the fridge. Don’t have enough spots on the CO2 manifold or enough picnic taps to dispense all the beer I have right now. Currently sitting at 6 kegs, but probably close to kicking 3 of those. I haven’t tasted the Strawberry yet, but the IPA is pretty kick ass. I actually can’t get it to drop clear, something I can usually do by sticking it in the fridge for a bit of time. But this beer used enough hops that I think it’s going to remain cloudy. It’s just your run of the mill 6.5% IPA, with a little of the kitchen sink method of choosing some steeping grains. I call it Hoptimus Prime, except it’s more evil than the Decepticons. With the full 7.5 ounces of hoppy goodness in it, I should have called it Energon. The bitterness is only mildly covered up by the punch in the face from the flavor and aroma. This is the first IPA of the year and if this is any indication…it’s going to be a good year for IPAs!
Oh yea, it looks like Fat Boy HQ is moving to New England…
DT
So Friday came and went. I rode my bike to work on what would be my last day on my current project. Luckily I was able to work in McLean instead of MD. After work a quick dash out to Colt’s Neck to ride a loop with the Pedalshop boys. They put it down in a fast loop and I hung on to the back of the group, making it back to the parking lot as darkness reigned. A couple of beers and it was back home. The trails were super dry, nice and fast. Managed to clear the concrete water crossing without slipping on the algae, which is always good.
Saturday morning, 7:00 AM, came all too quick. Up early, Kristin and I made the trek into DC to join our friends for the 1st annual 5k Walk for Epilepsy. We donned our special t-shirts they had made up - “Moss Mania: Epilepsy Sucks…We Rock!”, and then we walked. A good time was had by all. After the walk, we wandered over to the Belga Cafe. Not only do they have Rodenbach, they have it on tap! Belgian cuisine and true Belgian beer…very nice!
Sunday was another early start. I helped the new Colt’s Neck liaison (Chris) conduct the first trail work day at the park this year. We had 7 people show up to help with the work. Coffee, donuts, and bagels were consumed. Swag was given away. An amazing amount of work was completed and I think the trail is in much better shape. It’s supposed to be 78 degrees today, so a visit out to the park might be in order, ha.
After all that, I’m back at work, only today I’m on overhead. I’ve got a meeting with some folks on another project today. These particular folks are from the other office outside Boston, MA, where the project is located. More news as it develops…
DT
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