Chad's Oskar Blues Blog is Better Than Mine

Well, the brewer's sufferfest known has the Tour of BoulDurango has arrived. I've made it to Colorado's Front Range and there's all manner of good stuff happening today such as the World Cup finals, the Tour De France, the 1st Annual CO Beer and Cocktail Party at Denver's Star Bar, and Reel Big Fish is playing at the Odgen Theater, but all I can focus on is this silly ride, and how I, once again, have found myself committing to it.

We take off in the morning from Avery Brewing in Boulder with much of the same sweet crew as last year. Adam and six others from Avery, along with Dale, Chad, Dave, and Jeremy from Oskar Blues, a couple of the Grossman clan of Sierra Nevada fame, and Arlo (Barroom Hero), Sam (Accountant), Robin (Chemist), and myself, all from Ska.

The bottom line on internet coverage is this: Chad's Brews and Bikes blog from Oskar Blues is much better than this, with killer photos to boot! That being said, I'll try not to dissapoint--I'll be the Stats Man, keeping running statistics on the really important things such as mileage, mechanicals, crashes, and types and amounts of beers consumed, at least until I'm too happy or sad to care. We'll arrive back home at Ska, hopefully with everyone still in tact on Saturday 7/23. I'll do my best to keep this updated daily, so stay tuned!

I Kept Trying to Will One More Gear Into Existence But My Summons Fell Short

What a day! I thought I'd throw some summit photos up however and just mention that It's incredibly beautiful in Colorado at 12,000 ft! We were joined by the Brick Oven/Avery team as we hauled ourselves up and over Cottonwood Pass from Buena Vista to Crested Butte. Thanks for the hospitatlity at Brick Oven Pizza!

Loveland Pass, Elevation 11,990'

Hoosier Pass, Elvation 11,542'

The 20 mile climb up Cottonwood Pass ended with us crossing the Continental Divide once again,

Elevation  12,126'

The Brick Oven/Avery Brewing team made today's ride with us from Buena Vista to Crested Butte, obviously leading the charge

Here's us, we're what you'd call "Way Behind"

I'm Not Very Helpful and I Tend To Stifle Progress

No other way to put it, this ride is fucking fun!
Other possible headlines from today range from "I love birds, but hate RV's" to "bikes and roads were here long before cars or you". Anyhow, we made it to Buena Vista where we were treated to a number of delicious beers, at Eddy Line Brew Pub, including my favorite, CPA!
I had one of the more terrifying moments of my life going nearly 54 mph down the back side of Hoosier Pass today--speed wobbles as though my front wheel was coming off! I just kept praying that I'd slow down a bit more before I crashed. The road was freshly paved and we had it all to ourselves, and I don't know that I've ever gone that fast! Turns out I made it to the edge of the highway without wiping out my friends or myself. It also turns out that my headset was a bit loose! I've never thought of myself as all that religious, but I must say that I've been praying my ass off on this trip (maybe that's why it hurts so bad???). So, I opted for bed while the troops opted for Salida and more beer at Amica's, and unfortunately my camera is in the van! But never fear, great photos can be found at Chad Melis' Oskar Blues Brews and Bikes blog! Chad's so much faster, he's got the time to pull off, take photos, eat some food, go catch a movie, and still easily catch us on the next switchback. Cheers!

"Today was a record I hope to never break" --Matt "Truck" Thrall

130 miles today! Talk about a pain in the ass. Literally. Yesterday we made it over Cottonwood Pass after a grueling 20 mile climb and a somewhat unappreciated payoff in the way of a 15 mile dirt downhill, and eventually (after 76 total miles)wound our way into Crested Butte. Today, however, 130 miles. Did I mention the taint pain? I guess so. The picture is Matt, "Truck" Thrall after we found our way to Hutch's Ourayle House Brewery. The contrast between 100 degrees in angry-big-truck-Montrose, and the beautiful box canyon town of Ouray was that of apples and oranges. Make that worm-ridden apples, and fresh-picked oranges. I'm too tired to blog, but will add more about Crested Butte's Brick Oven Pizzeria, the beer selection, and their kick-ass bike team on the next post. Cheers!

Buena Vista to Crested Butte via Cottonwood Pass at 12,160 Feet

Enlightenment?

Road biking is new to me, and honestly, descriptors such as "sane," "beer-swilling," and in particular, "fun" have always seemed far more than 6 degrees separated from the sport. Mountain biking has always fit that mold, and for that matter my lifestyle, far better. But I had never gone down Loveland pass at 45+ miles per hour on a road bike--what a Fu!#ing blast!
Climbing up Loveland Pass from the ski area was less than easy. In fact it was the vision in my mind when I woke up every night at 3:00am for the last month that kept me from falling back to sleep. A steady rhythm and hearty Ipod mix of Neko Case, Slade, Minor Threat, and Madness made it come and go, and the only thing that could top the downhill payoff was our arrival at the Breckenridge Brewpub. Good friends and Breck Marketing Masters Tebo and Sara (see above photo) arrived just as we did, and pitchers of Ska Modus Hoperandi, Avery White Rascal, and Breckenridge Summerbright were waiting with a feast that couldn't have been better. In fact, John the Brit (also pictured) said the fish and chips were the best he had ever had in the U.S! The speed, the beer, and the good friends must be what's really going on behind the full factory kit (road-biker outfit) scene!

We're Not Crazy--You're the One That's Crazy

Riding from Boulder to Idaho Springs on Sunday was beautiful, and fortunately, uneventful! We rode over Lookout Mountain, past Coors, AKA 'Brewery #2'and after paying our respects at Buffalo Bill's Grave we ran into these two lunatics. They took off, straight down, on their skateboards--as they hit the first corner it appeared as though the nitrous kicked in. Good luck boys.

Community Cycles--Folks that Deserve Emulation

We kicked off the ride with a wonderful party at Avery last night with some great beer, a fantastic carbo-load pasta feast,and a top notch raffle with some high end donations from the Garmin/Slipstream team, The Kitchen Upstairs, The Sink, Deuter packs, and the Boulder Rock Club among others.

The beneficiary, however, was the highlight, and that was Boulder's Community Cycles. Your Boulder hippie-type/bike culture sort of dude, Peter, was on hand to tall us a bit: Community Cycles provides re-cycled bikes and a welcoming space to learn about bicycle repair, maintenance and operation through outreach and advocacy activities. They serve a wide range of people in the Boulder community, but focus on at-risk youth, low-income individuals and work release program inmates from the county jail as well as college students and others who are interested in commuting via bicycle. In addition, Community Cycles supports schools, businesses or other organizations interested in establishing a bike fleet program. The Earn-a-Bike program lets kids volunteer at the shop for 10 hours and they walk away with a bike of their own.

These are folks that deserve emulation.

Adam's Dumb Idea (and my dumber response)

The phone rang at Ska and it was Adam Avery of Avery Brewing in Boulder, Colorado.

"We had this crazy idea that we should ride our bikes from our brewery to yours and we're hoping you could do a fundraiser and maybe tap a special keg when we arrive," Avery said.

We always open our home to our fellow brewers, and I was about to reply that 'of course, we'd love to' when something ridiculous spewed out of my mouth instead. "We want to ride, too."

That was a couple of months ago, and honestly, I thought that by the time the third week of July rolled around, I would be in shape, or better yet, the idea would simply have faded away. Well, the idea didn't fade away, and now the portentous day is here. Although I'm in better shape than I was, I can't stop thinking that we're about to ride 426 miles over 9 of Colorado's high mountain passes, and I'm a fatty. Somehow, with few words, my friend Jon Bailey at the Durango Cyclery put a much better spin on it. "Dude, you're riding your bike all day and then drinking beer."

Adam's dumb idea evolved into a collaborative beer, the Wheelsucker Wheat Mountainous 7.2%. Bavarian-style Hefeweizen, and a charity fundraiser at a different Colorado brewery each night of the ride. The beauty here is the beer part, the beast is of course, the bike. If we were doing a ride like this with non-brewing road bikers at least we would have a professionally hung-over leg up on them. Not the case, the Avery boys are good. Note the photo above--this was taken July 1st when they came down to Ska to brew the Wheelsucker. Ska Head Brewer Thomas Larsen simply dilly dally's while the Avery crew (Adam, Orli, and Breeze) work their asses off.

So with that Arlo Grammatica (Ska's Barroom Hero) and I are off to spend the week picking up all manner of road bike guy fashion tips from the Avery boys, and maybe a couple of brewing tips as well...