Remembering why I love this...

Over the weekend, I got to spend some time out in the woods riding some dry, dusty dirt around the Tri-State. I started out early Saturday morning with a ride at Hueston Woods State Park. I got to the trailhead, geared up, and took off like a bat out of hell. Quickly, I was wondering why exactly?!? This is NOT training! I slowed my pace down, stopped, looked around a little, took some pictures, and thoroughly enjoyed the trail system. With all the training I've been doing lately for the upcoming cyclocross season, I almost forgot why I love cycling in the first place.

Time to time I think everyone who gets into a serious race mode with a season approaching, needs to get out and ride for the love of riding. Remember why you love doing this so much. Shut down your "Strava KOM mentality" and just go enjoy the scenery. I rediscovered the fun of riding a real mountain bike trail while at HW. As fellow Rogue member Butch Farrell said about Hueston Woods last year during the race, "Who put this mountain bike trail in the middle of a mountain bike race?!?". Lots of fall line trail, overgrown "red" trails that haven't been ridden in a while, and TONS of co-webs were part of my morning at HW. I finished up the ride by throwing on my Camelbak and riding the Main Loop on my mountain bike. There are some pretty testing climbs in that Main Loop but the scenery around me was fantastic and made me forget about my legs that were screaming at me.

Day two of my riding weekend found me out at Muscatatuk Park in North Vernon, Indiana with Trek member, Matt Cunningham. We started out from the trailhead and quickly realized that neither of us had any clue where we were going. I vaguely remembered the trail from riding there 2-3 years ago. HMBA has done amazing things to that trail since my last visit. The trail, as HW was, was dry and dusty but nice and flowy. If you haven't been to Muscatatuk in a while, I highly recommend you get out there soon!

We finished up at Muscatatuk and drove back east on Route 50 to Versailles State Park. The parking lot was surprisingly empty for a Sunday afternoon but we still ran into a bunch of folks we knew out on the trail. Matt and I had a blast riding around what has became my favorite trail system in recent years. We got to the top of Grandview, took a quick break and continued through the system. Again, spiders must move quickly because we got a face full of cobwebs out on Center Loop. This was no more that 3 minutes after passing some guys going the opposite direction!

So long blog short, I had an amazing time reconnecting with my mountain bike and trail this past weekend. I urge everyone to get out on their favporite bike, turn off the Strava thoughts, and just go have fun. I've recently been getting into a funk with all the training exercises, practices, and intervals on the trainer in the basement. This weekend has re-energized me and I look forward to doing this again soon!

"Need a Name" IPA

Alright, I'm currently fermenting a new American Style IPA and I need fun and creative name ideas. If you would like to try your hand at home brewing this IPA, here's the recipe:

5 gallons of filtered water
8 pounds Canadian Malt Syrup
1 pound 60L Crystal Malt
1.5 oz Nugget (bittering hops added at beginning of boil)
1.0 oz Cascade (flavoring hops added at 30 minutes into boil)
1.0 oz Cascade (aroma hops added when 60 minute boil is complete)
0.5 oz Centennial (aroma hops added when 60 minute boil is complete)
1.0 teaspoons of Irish Moss
0.5 oz Cascade (dry hop)
0.5 oz Centennial (dry hop)
White Labs Yeast: California Ale Yeast WLP051, made by Anchor Brewry

Process:
Place Crystal Malt into muslin bag, tie shut, and add to 2-3 gallons of water to boil kettle. Heat water to 150 degrees. Once at 150, steep grains for 30 minutes. DO NOT let temperature get above 165, your brew will be ruined if so. After 30 minutes of steeping, remove grain bag and bring to boil. Once at boil, remove from heat and add the Malt Syrup. Additionally, place Nugget hops into a muslin bag, tie shut, and add to the mixture at this time. Return to heat and boil for 30 minutes. At the 30 minute mark, place Cascade flavoring hops into a muslin bag and add to boil. 15 minutes later, add the Irish Moss. 15 minutes after this, turn off heat and add both the Cascade and Centennial aroma hops directly to the mixture. Let mixture steep for 10-15 minutes while cooling. Remove the 2 muslin bags filled with hops. Cool the mixture (aka - the wort) to 100 degrees. Once at 100 degrees, place the wort into fermentation bucket and add remaining water to 5 gallon line. Check the wort's temperature. If the temperature is between 70-80 degrees, add your yeast and violently whip to aerate. Place on lid and water air lock.

Now this is all the further I am at this point. However, you are still not done. Here are my future plans:

After 1 week of fermenting the wort, siphon the wort into a secondary fermentation bucket. Add both the Cascade and Centennial dry hops directly to this mixture. Let ferment for 1-2 additional weeks. Once airlock stop bubbling, move to bottling.

This will be a pretty hoppy IPA. If you would like to get a taste, show up to a cyclocross event in September and October! If you can't make it out, let me know and I'll set one aside for you. Cheers!

New Style of Homebrew...

So enough of this biking stuff…let’s chitchat about home brew. I’ve tried my hand at several fashions of home brewed beer (Pale Ales, Cream Ale, Imperial IPAs, Stouts, and the list continues…). Even my 5-year old son Elliott tried his hand at home brewed Root Beer…not so successful but we’ll try again. Yet, I had an innovative style of “home brew” over the weekend that I am now infatuated with. Home brewed bottled iced coffee. That’s right, iced coffee in what looks like a beer bottle!

The family and I went to the Hyde Park Farmer’s Market on Sunday afternoon and we noticed a bunch, of what we thought were lushes, walking around the market with beer bottle in hand. Becky spotted her favorite local artisan coffee (La Terza) had a booth setup. We stepped up to the counter only to find these folks were the culprits of making everyone swig beer at 11am. I finally asked the owner what was with all the beer bottles. He snickered and indicated that they were the “first and best bottled iced coffee in Cincinnati”. Now for those of you that are familiar with Coffee Emporium, they are currently promoting their bottled iced coffee as the “second best in Cincinnati”. I thought that was pretty cool of Tony (owner of CE) to state that. Long story short, Becky and I decided to look like lushes as well and we ordered two bottles. Now to the amusing part…I take my coffee with cream and sugar. The lady in the booth disclosed the proper technique of adding the extras to the bottled coffee while utilizing a Dixie Cup. She added the two ingredients for me and advised me to “pull a Corona”. Now Becky and I are snickering because I am horrid at this process. The advantage of bottled iced coffee and pulling a Corona…no carbonation to shower the masses! Instantly Becky and I determined this is something we need to try at home. So today after work, I feel a stop at Listerman’s Brewery Supplies is forthcoming. Explore La Terza’s website to locate them around town so you too can become addicted to this new style of “home brew”!