New Commute TBD

This month I've ridden about 115 miles just on my work commute. For me, that's not bad, especially considering that includes three snowing commutes, riding on knobby/studded tires, 2700+ feet of elevation gain, and all on a bicycle weighing in at a whopping 45 lbs. However, just as I've gotten my bicycle commuting statistics up, there's a big change on the horizon. My employer, Crazy Horse Studio, is moving across town this week to 1718 Hydraulic Road.

My first thought is SHIT - there's no possible way to get over there on bike. Route 29N... omfg AHHHHH!

My second (or maybe third or fourth) thought... where there's a will, there's a way. After all, it's about time I move on from the comfort of my 6.6 miles daily commute to something a bit more challenging. Also, my body has gotten use to the exercise... I need something harder. Gotta get psyched up for it.

I've been considering potential routes for the new commute, and I've found MapMyRide.com to be a good resource to compare route distance & elevation changes. Unfortunately, I really have only two viable options for my new commute. (All stats are for round trip)

1) 7.5 miles / 180 feet of elevation gain / high traffic / technical urban riding near on-ramps & off-ramps

2) 10 miles / 243 feet of elevation gain / low traffic / hard climb on returning trip
 

All other routes I've been able to find add significant mileage or climbing. However, as I'm writing this I realize I might have another option - a combination of these two routes, going to work via option 2 and returning via option 1... which would look something like this:

3) 8.7 miles / 213 feet of elevation gain / low traffic morning / high traffic evening / reasonable climbs

And by sheer stats, it looks like I have a winner... I'll give it a go. There are still some technical details to work out, but at least I have a game plan of sorts. 1 - 2 - 3 - break!

Probleming the Solutions that We Create

Several nights ago I dreamed a peculiar dream. It was peculiar enough that I've been reflecting on it since.

I dreamed that I walked into a business establishment with a bright and open front room. It turned out to be a gym of sorts, except it was a gym with minimal equipment. Rather, this gym had plenty of floor space to do exercise. I remember thinking to myself, That's funny, I wonder why people would pay for this. I eventually dropped down and did some push-ups, and was subsequently billed for the calories I burned doing exercise. I wasn't too happy with that. I didn't use any of their equipment, received no personal instruction, and furthermore - I felt as if I could have done the same thing on my own. After being charged, the employee mentioned that he had a courtesy gift for me, and that I would have to exit through a different door to pick it up. The employee pointed me toward a doorway that led into a large, dimly-lit warehouse, filled with row after row of confectionery perfections. Any single dessert you could imagine was there. Imagine a sleek Willy Wonka factory. The desserts looked great, smelled amazing, and all were ready to eat. And I was privy to any one of them. Then I woke up.

The company enticed its customers to buy into a cyclical system. They rewarded people who worked out by giving them junk food that they would need to burn off at some point. That business existed, not to make a positive difference in its customers or community, but to make money. It literally skimmed the extra cash out of its customers' wallets without providing lasting benefits. Seems pretty ingenious for a business venture, even if it's a bit too overt to persuade most people from joining. Doesn't it sound silly?

Yes, it sure does.

But isn't that what we do? Don't we gorge ourselves with junk food at one place and then go and workout at another? Aren't we often guilty of creating the problems that we must solve later?

In a more metaphysical sense, why do we feel compelled to buy into the problems that we create?

I guess this is one reason I commute by bicycle. I believe that in my life, a bicycle solves much greater and more numerous problems than it creates.

DIY Wort Chiller, Belgian Tripel & Brew Day Beer

Rachel and I went out to Martin Hardware yesterday to pick up everything to create a DIY immersion wort chiller. The gentleman that helped us find everything said I should bring him a beer when I finish it... and I definitely plan to. Nice guy. Though I swear, that place is a mixed bag. Their customer service varies by day and employee, and their stock is completely hit or miss. However, yesterday I found everything I needed for the project and had good service... probably my best experience there. The other hardware stores around town aren't that great either. Meadowbrook has even worse Saturday hours and Lowe's is nowhere near bike-able.

I definitely had some frustration getting the wort chiller together last night. I think I was too tired to do it right. I decided to put it down and give it a another go this morning instead. Of course it went together much easier, and tested 100%. It work VERY nicely. It cooled wort from ~200F to ~70F in under 20 minutes. Here is a quick video of it in action. Unfortunately the lighting is poor.



Parts ~ $50 / Assembly time ~ 1 hour
-Copper tubing, intended for refrigerator ice makers ~$35
-Adapter coupling for kitchen faucet from 15/16"-27 to 3/4 hose (your faucet may have different threading, check first!)
-Garden hose tip that narrows almost to a point
-3/8" tubing, 5 ft
-3 small pipe clamps

And now I have a rad homebrewed wort chiller - thanks Rachel! We christened it on a Brewer's Best Belgian Tripel that we picked up from Charlottesville's Fifth Season yesterday. Now there's a place with consistently great service. They also give me free stickers and coozies.

The Belgian Tripel is my third and most-easily-brewed beer to date. Only one small mistake, due to equipment failure. I'll be keeping my eye out for a good thermometer. Regardless, I've gotten to the point where I'm fairly confident in the extract brewing process. My next goal is to find a good extract recipe and see if I can successfully gather and brew all the ingredients, then I'll begin concocting my own recipes.

I rather like my outdoor brewing setup:



And now I have two beers fermenting. I was beginning to think my bottle saving was in vain, but now I'm glad I started early. I'll transfer the Tripel to secondary next weekend, immediately after I bottle the Dortmunder.

Brew Day Beer:
It's Highland Brewing Company's Oatmeal Porter. A very fine beer from Asheville, NC. Found in a 6 pack at Kroger for $9. I've enjoyed three of these babies today! This time, I had appropriate glassware. Doesn't this photo make you thirsty?

Definitely Homebrewed

Helmets off to a great homebrewed bike clip. No comprehension of Spanish necessary.

Work Commutes

I'm quite ashamed of my bike-related performance this week, so I've put off writing this post. There's no use beating around the bush, so let me just get down to it. Rachel commuted to work by bike more frequently than I did this past week... and yes... I have some sob story about how shitty my day at work was on Wednesday, and how I got a flat from my homemade studded tires Wednesday night, not 100 feet from our place after that long & shitty day. I keep telling myself, Rule #5 dude.

But to be honest, commuting 3 days a week to work on bike is probably around par for me this time of year. The last time I did a full 5-day week was back in mid October. Rachel beating me with 4 this week is more of a testament of her renewed bike-commuting commitment than much of a change in my routine.

We've both been tracking our alternative transit trips with a new program out there called NuRide. For every trip you take & record with non-traditional transit, you earn points to be redeemed at local and online retailers. It's a good incentive program, but I like it more for a calendar off the days I've commuted by bike. NuRide allows you to organize carpools with neighbors and can even calculate the money you're saving on gas and amount of wear & tear on your vehicle. We've redeemed two free pounds of pasta at Mona Lisa Pasta and used a $5 coupon at Rebecca's Natural Food in Charlottesville, VA. The only drawback is that in order to use the system, your employer, university, or city must register for NuRide. That's pretty NuRude if you ask me...

Finally got my free DrunkCyclist.com stickers in the mail yesterday. Will have to get them up around town. Gotta keep it rude...

Over a year of beer caps.

Can you find a Spaten Optimator cap?

A New Year's Realization for Bikes & Beer

Please read this post: Something has been weighing heavily on my mind for the past several weeks and as we've entered a new year. The more bicycle grease that I wipe on my shirt and the more my breath smells like hops, the more I realize that there is something askew with bicycle and beer geeks. This thing that's askew... it's something that's always been there, but I've begun to notice its prevalence with the more blogs I'm following, the more beer documentaries I watch, and the more I bust my ass to ride to and from work in this winter's cold & snow.

I fear that as bike and beer enthusiasts, we often forget the simple happiness that first sparked our geekeries. We're sometimes so caught up calculating gear ratios and measuring IBUs that we completely miss the simple and unifying pleasures of bicycles and of beer. These two things exist as the pinnacle of the good lives to which many of us are privileged. Please, let me explain:

I have a co-worker who often commutes via bike about 3.5 miles each way. The other day he mentioned that riding his bike to work is a "means to an end" - namely, just getting to work. And while I can appreciate the idea that a bicycle is great transportation tool, I wholeheartedly reject that over-simplification of its place in life. I believe that riding a bicycle is the greatest manifestation of a simple, yet profound, happiness. We forget that riding a bike is, in itself, a great source of joy. For those bike-commuters out there, we must see our jobs as a means to an end - namely, having the personal wealth and a somewhat legitimate reason to ride a bicycle across town every day. Even if we have to fight every car and granny-gear up every hill (with a headwind the whole way), it's always an adventure truly worthy living.

And to you beer geeks out there, don't forget to get drunk. Yes, there I said it. Sure, talk about flavor profile all you want, but don't forget that beer is brewed to create alcohol, you know... that stuff that gives you a warm fuzzy feeling, loosens you up in social situations, and makes you laugh a bit louder! We know there is good beer and bad beer out there, but that doesn't mean we need to be snobs and obsessive over it. Drink up and enjoy the simple pleasure of sharing the inherent merriment of beer with friends and family.

There's a quote that may have come across, that, with a little personal revision, sums up my little rant.

Nothing compares to the simple pleasure(s) of a bike ride (and drinking beer).

~John F. Kennedy & Thomas