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September 24, 2007
Dale's Pale Ale, cans, and a Budweiser nod
Back in the early days of my beer snobbery, I looked at canned beer with disdain. You just can't appreciate the inner beauty of a beer when it's served in such a common container. A bottle or pint glass was the only acceptable delivery mechanism. Perhaps I've sold out, perhaps I've matured; regardless, all that now .
A while ago I discovered Dale's Pale Ale (DPA), brewed by the Oskar Blues Cajun Grill and Brewery in Lyons, CO, and as you intelligent (or sober) readers have guessed, it comes in a can. The can takes absolutely nothing away from the experience. I'm going to go so far as to say that the can actually enhances the experience. DPA is awesome, and very drinkable.
If I've lost any credibility, I'm about to lose more. My father in law drinks Budweiser, mostly in a bottle but often in a can. I've come to appreciate not only the beer, but especially the can. Perhaps because he's an ex-Marine (if there is such a thing as ex), and he owns a rifle (you're not allowed to say gun to a Marine trust me), but mostly because of it's drinkability. Perhaps I should defend myself. Budweiser does in fact taste like Budweiser. It's not as tasteless as some of my peeps would argue. It is a mass produced beer intended to appeal to, well, the whole world, so it's certainly pretty simple. However, I could pick Budweiser out of a hidden taste test every time, and have actually come to like it; It's really not that bad, and on certain occasions is perfect. Just don't get me started on 'light beers.' Moving on to the can -- I think it's easier to take a pull from a can. There, I've said it. It's easier to drink from a can. There's something satisfactorily innate in drinking beer out of a can, especially when it's good beer like DPA.
It used to be that the can imparted a metallic taste to it's inhabiter, but I think that chemistry and manufacturing have caught up with this one. Whatever it is that they are lining their cans with, just works. DPA tastes as good as if it came from a bottle. About the only danger is that it's so good and drinkable, they tend to go down fast. Actually, here's what the Oskar Blues folks say on their website with regard to the can's coating:
"But then we discovered that the belief that cans impart flavor to beer is a myth. The modern-day aluminum can and its lid are lined with a water-based coating, so the beer and the can never touch. Cans, we discovered, are actually good for beer. Cans keep beer especially fresh by fully protecting it from light and oxygen. Our cans also hold extremely low amounts of dissolved oxygen, so our beer stays especially fresh for longer. Cans are also easier to recycle and less fuel-consuming to ship."
I'm not really sure about the 'myth' part, since I cseem to recall metallic tasting beer, but it seems to work for them. Ummm, I guess that's it. Please forgive the glut of superlatives, they are complements of DPA ... hic!?
Posted by mark at 5:31 PM | Comments (2)
September 10, 2007
25th Annual Shenandoah Valley Century
At the risk of turning this blog into a one-trick pony, I'm going to post yet again about biking.
When I initially decide to ride in the Shenandoah Mountain 100, I noticed that the 25th annual Shenandoah Valley Century was happening the following weekend. I decided then that it would be cool to see if I could complete two 100 mile events back to back. I didn't want to commit to the road century until 1. I finished the first event, and 2. recovered enough to ride another 100 miles. Thankfully, I did manage to finish the mountain century, and by mid-week, I felt recovered enough to give it a shot.
My only goal for the day was to beat last year's time. I finished in 7 hours and averaged 16.8 mph (up from 15.1 mph last year). At the end of the race I felt a lot stronger than last year. I improved 20 minutes from last year's finish time. I thought I would have made up more than 20 minutes given the faster average speed, but I'm guessing I must have stayed a few minutes longer at each rest stop.
There were approximately 300 people racing that day. This picture was taken at the start of the race. As you can see, I managed to be the last guy to start on time. I'm sure there were some additional stragglers who started late. It was a lot of fun.
I did keep a sharp eye out for lightening bolts, as this was the second subsequent Sunday I've missed church to participate in a biking event.
Posted by mark at 12:33 PM | Comments (1)
September 5, 2007
Bye Bye MySpace
I finally decided to cancel my MySpace account. Call me a prude, but I got sick of being tempted to look at really stupid things just because they were titillating or offered some form of half-wit, low-brow humor. Here's the message I left for MySpace when they asked me why I was canceling my account:
"I'm switching to Facebook. Everywhere I look on MySpace there's trashy content. I expect a certain level of that sort of thing, but there's certainly more on MySpace. It's quickly becoming a 'red light district' on the web. If you don't allow a way for wholesome people to participate in the community without being exposed to so much crap, then you're eventually going to lose those people. For example, one of your advertisements that YOU got paid for had a semi-naked woman laying on her stomach pulling on her g-string with her stiletto heel. It's definitely sexy, but I don't NEED to see that, and I certainly don't want that content on the screen when I'm editing my profile with my family in close proximity."
I can handle a fair amount of bawdiness, and I understand that there are people out there who have lower standards. I was trying to use MySpace to manage a network of my friends to foster communication and to have some fun. It's now apparent that my network was in their space. They should rename the site to OurSpace.
I remember entering a couple houses in high-school and college for some random party or get together and knowing the instant I walked in that I needed to leave. The coffee table was the perfect litmus test. On these occasions, the table was covered with overflowing ash trays, a pipe, a bong, a bag of weed, numerous empty bottles or cans of beer, an empty pizza box, and possibly some porn (yes I threw that in to help the analogy). I'm not talking about some crazy party, but the sort of squalor that some people choose to live in on a daily basis. You know it when you see it. For me, MySpace has become that coffee table.
I choose to leave MySpace, and I'll choose to leave Facebook if the same conditions occur there. Let's be honest, the internet is cool and social sites have a certain appeal and usefulness, but at the end of the day we can live without them.
Posted by mark at 10:11 AM | Comments (6)
September 4, 2007
Shenandoah Mountain 100 Results
I finished! It took me 13.5 hours, but I finished.
The weather was absolutely perfect. We took off at dawn (6:30AM). There was a bit of a racer-bottleneck at some of the initial climbs, but it eventually stretched out. At approximately 57-65 miles, my calf muscles started cramping up, especially my right. Thankfully, that went away and never returned. I was eating the Margarita flavored Clif Shot Blocks like candy (that flavor contains extra sodium), so it's possible that it helped. There were a handful of riders who were dealing with muscle cramping much worse then me -- I can think of one guy who couldn't stand upright. All-considering, After mile 65 I felt really good. I'm guessing that the heat of the day was a cause for some of the bonking. Also, Tim Richardson, one of the owners of Shenandoah Bicycle Company who was helping out as a bike mechanic at aid station 3 (45 miles), recommended that I lose the Camelback. His advice couldn't have been better. I cooled off quicker, and I didn't have that extra weight on the bumps. I had two water bottle cages on the bike, so that was enough fluid. I went tool/pumpless for the last half of the race, but I had a tube in my jersey just in case; I figured I could bum a pump off another slumming rider if necessary. The next time I do this, I'll put my tools on the bike, food in my jersey, and ditch the Camelback. At the 5th aid station I picked up my light just in case. I finished at 8:07PM with barely enough daylight. I didn't make my sub-12 hour goal, but did manage to make my backup goal of finishing without the use of lights. You gotta love backup goals.
I've been riding a full-suspension Jamis Dakar for the past year. The two weeks before the race, I was in Colorado visiting family. While there, I rented a hard-tail with 29" tires. Most traditional mountain bikes have wheels with a 26" diameter. On my last ride before vacation, I bent my dérailleur beyond quick repair (needed to order a part), so upon returning I was in a bit of a bike quandary. Since my experience with the hard-tail 29er was so good, I decided to go a bit nuts and buy a new bike. I'm now the proud owner of a 2007 Gary Fisher Paragon.
On some of the downhills, I was bounced around a bit more than I could have hoped. Perhaps I went soft with my full-suspension and didn't try to find the best line. With the Jamis, I could just point and shoot and it would just fly through stuff. The sorest part of my whole body after the race are both hands, from holding on during the downhills. In fact, I got so tired that I stopped braking as much as possible and just let 'er rip -- terrifying but it gave my hands and forearms some needed relief. With the exception of the steep, rocky downhills, and rutted sections of the course, the 29" wheels really rolled and climbed great.
During the race, there were times when I was cursing myself for attempting such a stupid thing, but I'm certain that come this time next year, I'll be lining up at the start hoping to beat 13.5 hours. They haven't posted the results for the 'normal' people yet, but there's a great write-up in Cycling News. There are some great pictures beneath the article, if you're curious to see some of Floyd.
UPDATE: I should point out that a local Harrisonburg rider, Sue Haywood (Trek/Volkswagon), set a new course record for women by breaking her own previous record. She finished in 8:11 (12th overall) -- that's pretty cool. Floyd Landis finished in 7:23.
UPDATE: I stopped at the 6 rest stops for a total of 1:10, there's definitely some time to be made up there.
Posted by mark at 9:15 AM | Comments (2)
Floyd Landis in Harrisonburg
I was stoked when Floyd Landis announced his intention to ride in the Shenandoah Mountain 100, the same race I was training for. He showed up at my local bike shop, Shenandoah Bicycle Company, on Friday night to hang out and sign stuff. He wasn't selling anything or promoting his cause. It was very laid back, and great to meet him in such a casual atmosphere. While a part of me is glad that he wasn't selling anything, I was disappointed that I couldn't buy another copy of his book to get signed; I had given my copy to my dad to read. Instead, I bought two water bottles, and James and Emma both went up and asked 'Mr. Landis' to sign a bottle. He was very good with the kids. He then signed a magazine that I bought, I told him that it was nice to meet him and that I was looking forward to riding with him on Sunday, and wished him best of luck with his case. It was totally cool. I didn't have my camera, so a friend took some pictures. If I can get my hands on them, I'll post them here.
UPDATE: Here's the photo of us with Floyd Landis.
Posted by mark at 9:13 AM | Comments (0)