Just Riding Along... Day 30.

Hard to believe that this month is coming to a close. With the holidays behind us, now the year is about to move on to the next. This has been a great way to round out the year of 2011, hopefully I can continue this momentum into the new year. I really wonder however, how much I would have ridden this month if we would have had a more "typical" Ohio winter? Would I have ridden as much as I did? Not 100% sure on that one, but this has been a great month for cycling. For tomorrow, it will be a quick morning ride before work.

Spent the afternoon riding into and around Indian Hill. As you can see from the picture above, I was dodging rain with every corner. Today, the planet bike fenders earned their keep on the T500, without them I would have been completely soaked from the wet roadways. It is nice to stay dry while riding the bike. A couple quick downpours during the route, but nothing that my Mountain Hardwear jacket couldn't handle. In the unseasonably warm temperatures, the rain was a little pleasant. I am starting to like riding in the rain, which makes me look forward to this spring. Maybe I will do another month of biking then?

Beer:30...Yuengling Lager.

When you think of a lager, what do you think of? Here in Southern Ohio, I would assume that you think of Budweiser. Hopefully, starting this month, you will now start to think about what Budweiser strives to be. Enter Yuengling:

Yuengling has roots. Deep, deep roots. The oldest brewery here in the USA, Yuengling has figured out how to brew a lager. Normally lagers do not get me all excited, but this beer is a little bit different.

For starters, you could not get it in Ohio. When I first tasted Yuengling, it was a rare treat from the East. Now, you can find it everywhere here in Ohio. At first this gave me some mixed feelings. I assumed that the quality would be less due to producing more to satisfy demand. But after having both canned and from the tap, I can assure you that this is the beer that you know of from other lands. As I stated above, this is the beer that Budweiser wishes it could make. And who knows, it probably was until they discovered rice.

For the taste of this beer, it is a classic lager. Nice colored amber beer, with a subtle sweetness to it, and a clean, nice smooth finish. This is what a lager should be. Since it is available here in Ohio now, this is my go to garage or summer time beer.

Anyway, welcome to Ohio Yuengling. Thanks for coming, and enjoy your stay!

Cheers!

Beer:30... Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout.

When the weather starts to turn chilly here in Ohio, a change also starts in my beer preferences. The IPAs, pale ales, and other hoppy styles of brew start to take a backseat to the more malty, darker, heavier ales that will warm the soul in the cool fall air. For some reason, this is just a normal shift of life. Anyway, a beer that has always been on my list for this time of year, but never ended up on my palate was this:

Enter North Coast Brewing Company's Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout. This is a mammoth of a beer, just the way I like it: Dark, heavy on the alcohol content, and a pleasure on the taste buds. At 9% alcohol, this is not your grandfather's Guinness. Not that there is anything wrong with Guinness, it is a fine brew, but Old Raspy is a whole new ballgame. At double the alcohol content, there are flavors that you will taste that you would never dream of in a normal stout. Hints of chocolate, alcohol and roasted coffee all blend together nicely and also add a nice warming sensation. Such a delightful beer is meant to be taken in slowly. In my opinion, it makes for a great fire pit beer.

This is a style of beer that was made for the long voyage from England to Russia in the 18th century. With such a great taste to this beer, you can tell the folks over at North Coast really know what they are doing, and that they really have an appreciation for history. Especially beer history. This one is a classic.

Milford Sunflower Classic...

This past weekend was the Milford Sunflower Festival. Main street is shut off from traffic, vendors line the strip, and this year two separate stages were set up for live, local music. It is a festival that I look forward to every year. Before the vendors, live bands, and beer truck, there is first a bicycle race: The Sunflower Classic. It is so nice to see local bicycle racing going through this small town, and even better to see local residents cheering on all of the cyclists. This year was top notch, both the bicycle race and the festival. Congrats and thank you goes out to all of the organizers and volunteers that make this special event happen! Here are some pictures and a quick video of the classic:

For some reason I really like this shot, sure it is blurry, but it just looks neat to me.

And finally, the quick video that I shot. Final race of the evening, 4th place rider hits the pace/support motorcycle. Too bad, the guy was riding well.

Off roading in Dayton...

Last week I spent some time in the Dayton area with my brother in law to hit up a couple different trails. This was the first time that I have been on singletrack in about a year, and thankfully my bro-in-law had an extra bike. First up for us was MoMBA. This is a very interesting trail that winds, twists and turns all over 100 acres or so. Very smooth, very twisty, and very enjoyable. One surprising section called the Hawk's Lair was very uncharacteristic for Ohio, with lots and lots of rocks. At times it felt you were somewhere else. Very nice to have something a little more technical than usual. We hit every inch of trail, with the exception of the Upper Stealth, which we were okay with not riding it. All in all, around 50 minutes of riding time, around 6 or 7 miles total.

My grade for the trail: B-
Don't get me wrong, it is a great trail. But is it worth driving to? Not really. Maybe it's worth it if you ride MoMBA and the next trail...

After MoMBA, we drove the 20 minute drive to Yellow Springs to ride the John Bryan Singletrack. This trail is very smooth. Smooth as in you could probably get away with riding a road bike on it as long as you pick the right lines. Very little elevation change, and twisty and tight. We rode the entire loop which came in at almost 11 miles and around an hour of riding time.

My grade for John Bryan: B-
Another great trail for the area, but not really worth a long drive.

So these two trails get a B-, but when combined together, it makes a great day of riding, and that deserves an A+.

VenturePax!

If you have not already, check out the site Venturepax. They are an outdoor social media type site based out of Cincinnati. Very, very cool site, such a good way to check out some outdoor pursuits in your local area. Check it out, and while you are there, check out the little blog posting that I wrote up for their blog: Click here...

Can't wait to really dig into this website, and really start to contribute to some great outdoor adventures!