beers 87-90

87.  Dry Dock Double IPA, from Dry Dock Brewing.  Last stop on the bikes on Friday before stealth camping in Cherry Creek State Park.

88.  Good Juju from Left Hand.  The last stop on our bikes on Saturday.

89.  Hop Oatin' IPA from Anderson Valley Brewing.  Drank this at a joint in Denver called the Bark Bar, which is now my second favorite bar in D-town.

90.  Swing Session IPA from Trinity.  Had to work late and stopped here on the way home.

March

Happy with the month.  36 hours on the bike, 32 hours running, 6.5 hours of hard hiking with the dog, and eleven lunch hour strength sessions (either the YMCA or CityRock).  This is about all the time I can squeeze out of the month and still keep a wife, so I'll look to add more quality to these numbers instead of increasing the number of hours.

Speaking of quality, Marc and I rode our bikes to the Rails and Ales beer fest at Left Hand over the weekend.  Report to follow, but it was an awesome time.  Plus, I stole a bunch of shit from Fuller's house since he was in Disneyland getting his ass kicked by earthquakes.  Look for that stuff on ebay soon.

beer #86

Mmmm....

Over the cold, but still used it as an excuse to sleep in this morning.  Easy walk with the dog around the block.  After work was an awesome run on the Garden trails.  Didn't wear gloves, and you know if I'm doing that it means Spring is here.

beer #85

Kircher's favorite brewery.  Originally from Salt Lake City, they recently opened another brewery in Denver.  OK brew, but if you're going to use the name Colorado in your IPA, you really should be knocking it out of the park, and this beer doesn't reach those heights.

Getting over a cold, so took it easy today.  Hour hike with the dog in Stratton Open Space over lunch, and an evening 30 minute run with the Colorado Running Company group.  It was the Huck memorial run.  Phil was tossing a ball to his dog Huck, which he's done millions of times before, and suddenly there's a freak spine injury and the dog is dead.  Awful.  I've rubbed my dog's belly at least a million times since I heard about it less than 48 hours ago.

Leadman

I'll be posting some thoughts during the Leadman attempt from time to time over at Pikes Peak Sports.  First one is up, you can check it out here.

beer #84

Someone left a growler of Elevation Kolsch in my fridge.  Lucky me!

Fighting a cold.  Easy hour run in the morning, easy hour ride in the evening.

beer #83

Drinking this as I catch up on the blog.  Pretty decent.  Three Skulls Ales Naked IPA from Northwest Brewing Company in Pacific, WA.

Nothing this morning save for a walk around the block with the dog.  Rough weekend with the cold weather, a visit from the mother-in-law, and the big birthday party.  Mediocre lunch break at CityRock (it's spring break so parents use the gym as a babysitter).  Did get in a good ten miles on the Garden Roads after work though.

Not sure if I mentioned my attempted bike ride to Salida last Friday.  The wind on HWY 115 was horrible and I battled it all damn day.  Took me 3.5 hours just to get to the intersection of 115 and 50.  So I knew I wasn't going to make it the whole way, but I ended up getting through Canon City and almost to the entrance of the Royal Gorge before $100 caught me in the car.  57 miles, my second longest ride ever.

Looking at another ridiculous failure this weekend as Marc and I are planning on leaving the Springs on Friday afternoon and biking to Left Hand Brewing in Schlongmont for the annual Hops and Handrails shindig.  Not a big fan of anything snow related but I do loves me some beer.

Speaking of beer, they announced the brewery lineup for Telluride Blues & Brews.  No Colorado Springs breweries.  I'd throw up a big fit about how we're always given the shaft on the Front Range brewing scene, but holy shit check out what I'll get to drink that weekend:

beer #82

Cusquena.  Kircher shoved this can up his ass and smuggled it back from Peru when he visited a few months ago.  Not bad.  Not good either, but I suppose this would be my PBR if I lived in Peru.

BLOS's birthday was Saturday night, and we closed down the Red Rock Lounge, so not much for me on Sunday.  Which was fine with me, since when I woke up at 7AM it was 21F.  Later on I did get the dog out for an hour hike in Red Rock Canyon.  Boom.

beer #81

Green Flash Saison Diego from my new favorite Californian brewery.  There were some tears added as I drank this while watching Florida slowly but surely pull away from my beloved Pitt Panthers.  I now owe Matt some Colorado beer as Pitt failed to advance as far as San Diego State.  A sixer of Coors Light is on it's way, buddy!

Took the dog up the Incline for #17 on the year early Saturday.  Have I ever mentioned on this blog how much I hate cold weather?  I really hate it when it happens in late March.

beer #80

Ass Kisser Double IPA from Ass Kisser Beverage Company in San Jose.  Official brew of those who make daily ass jokes about GZ.

Decent day outside on Friday.  Easy hour in Red Rock Canyon in the early AM, followed by a quick bike to work.  After work was an hour ride home via Bear Creek Park.

beer #79

beer #78

Last day of winter.  Thank fucking gawd.

AM - Easy seven on the Garden roads in 66 minutes.  Threw in a few three minute fartleks for good measure.

Lunch - Pretty intense 45 minutes at CityRock.

PM - I realized at Salida that I need to work on grinding up long hills (on top of the fact that I also need to work on not DNF'ing).  It's usually a strength of mine but I could tell that I hadn't done that kind of work in a while.  So after work I took the dog up to the Top of the W's.  Four miles in just under an hour.

Another Pero home brew, the Mush-Mouth Oatmeal Stout.  This is on par with any of the stouts I had during stout month.  Yes, I had a Pero stout in February but that was a different flavor.  I heard Blake Wood makes some pretty good brew, one of these years we'll have to put together a Hardrock home brew festival.

beer #77

Back to crappy weather, even though it's getting more and more rare.  Got out for an easy five in the morning and an easier five in the evening.

On my run  early this morning I came up to a car that was parked all jacked up.  I figured he had gone home drunk.  When I got to the right angle, I could see he had been hit.  Still car parts all over the road.  Probably a hit and run.  The car was sitting where I couldn't tell what house it belonged to, so I just moved along.  What a shitty way to start your day if you're the owner though.

Hit the gym over lunch.  A few seconds after I had crossed the intersection near my office I heard some squealing and a crash.  Some car t-boned another and a third car was hit, right where my path had taken me.  Had I done just an extra set on the bench I would have been right there.  Luckily, my pecs are so huge I don't need no third set.

Thanks to Steve Pero for the home brewed IPA this evening.  Delicious.  This stuff belongs in Chaffee County, not New Mexico.

Salida

Quick overview: I cut the course, informed the RD, and he DQ'd me.

Which is a bummer, because I was running really well.  Was on pace to finish in under 4:30 with a decent-but-not-balls-out effort.  Next thing I know I'm crossing the finish line in 4:10.  Watch had 24.3 miles on it.  Damnit!  Had been having a ton of fun out there all day, had finished two beers on the course, and I was letting my mind wander when I maybe should have been paying attention.  I'm sure the place I went awry, which was between mile 21 and mile 24, was well marked as I was one of only two runners in the entire field who couldn't follow the path.  This was my ninth time running the race, you'd think I'd know where to go by now.

I'm still pretty happy with the run though.  I was interested in seeing where my fitness would be with so few miles running and so many miles biking.  I'm still not sold on biking as exercise.  But after drinking late into the night on Thursday and Friday, and battling the wind for 5.5 hours on the bike on Friday morning/afternoon, the fact that I was on pace for a 4:30 at Salida, a solid time for me, gives me some confidence.

Once again a solid job by the great folks at the Chaffee County Running Club to put on the race.  As long as they keep putting on this race, I'll be there to run it.

Few pics left on my phone after the weekend:

beers 72-76

Little struggle with beer #72.  Had a Hop Rising Double IPA from Squatters in Salt Lake City.  Marc quickly reminded me that I had already had this one in '14.  So then I had a Stone Go To IPA for the save.  But I forgot to take a picture.  First error in a weekend full of them.

Beer #73 was the Moonlight White IPA.

Beer #74 was a boot of the Moonlight Amber.

Beer #75 was the First Cast IPA from Elevation.  Hot damn they have some good beer in Chaffee County!

Numbero 76 was on the way home after a morning of hiking with $100 and the dog.  One of my favorites, Crank Yanker IPA from Eddyline in Buena Vista.

beer 71

20F on Wednesday morning so I skipped the run and went to the Y for some weights instead.  Also got a good half hour at CityRock at lunch.

Incline #16 with the dog on Wednesday evening.  The loop is completely free of snow/ice.

Tried the new burger place downtown, the Skirted Heifer.  Don't bother.  Burger/fries cost the same as the Chef, but you don't get nearly as much food and it doesn't taste anywhere as good.  The Heifer is in trouble in a few weeks when Bingo Burger opens next door.

Dropped by Red Leg for their beer of the week.  Frost Bite Brown.  Has raspberries in it.  Thankfully it's only on tap for a week.

beers 68, 69, & 70

Sunday was a good day.  Made the most of the great weather with my 15th trip of the year up the Incline, then hopped on the Surly for an easy 40 miles.  When I say "easy" on the bike I mean slow.

Monday was all bike.  Quick 20 minute commute in the morning, then 25 miles with Andy on the Santa Fe trail after work, enjoying the extra hour of daylight.

Tuesday morning I tried to get the dog out, but she wasn't having it.  At some points we were running sub six minute miles, followed by other times where we were standing still for long periods of time so she could sniff various stuff around the neighborhood.  Solid half hour at CityRock over lunch, and the dog was psyched for an hour in Red Rock Canyon after work.  Dog is much better off leash, that's for sure.

I never thought GZ would top his post about blowing his nose into his hat while at work.  But this just might do it.

)

Finally tried the Runoff Red IPA.  Beer #68 on the year.  Really good stuff, as is expected from Odell.

Picked up beer 69 from Vine Street while up in Denver.  Due to taste and prior experiences drinking mass quantities of this brew, the Fuck Yeah IPA from Southern Sun is one of my Colorado favorites.

IPA mood tonight.  Got a buddy coming in from San Fran for Salida weekend, so I went with the IPA from Speakeasy Ales & Lagers.

beers 65, 66, & 67

Still drinking.  And hitting breweries, as I visited my 96th and 97th Colorado breweries on Saturday with Bull & Bush and Great Divide.

Beer #65 was the Wyld Extra Pale Ale from Uinta Brewing in Salt Lake City:

Beer #66 was the Green Flash Hop Head Red IPA which is on tap at Manitou Brewing.  This is currently my favorite beer in the world:

And beer #67 was The Justice IPA from Bull & Bush:

Still getting outside as well.  Solid week with 11.5 hours of running and just under ten hours of biking.

beer #64

Good day today.  Easy six miles in Red Rock Canyon this morning.  Saw Carson on my way back, he said I looked like Slow Aaron when I wore my glasses.  I hit him over the head with a rock and left him there for the coyotes.

Another bike commute to/from work.  Had some homeless action on the way home today.  Along the Midland trail, which road bikers avoid so they can fight traffic on Colorado Ave, near 18th street, I saw a body.  It was lying in an un-natural position and I thought for sure he was dead.  So I stopped and yelled at him.  No response.  I got off the bike and went closer, and I thought for sure he was gone.  But when I asked him once again if he was OK I heard him groan back.  I'll check again tomorrow on my way to work.

Had planned a ten miler on the Garden roads after work, but the weather was too nice to stay off the trails.  Did the awesome 7.5 mile loop around the perimeter of the Garden.  This has to be one of the best short trail loops in the USA.  So happy I can run it from my front porch.  O'Day, my neighbor, can't run it from his porch, but maybe he'll get there one day.

Finally got my first tix of the year for Red Rocks.  Railroad Earth is hands down the best thing to ever come out of New Jersey.



As much as I make fun of Utah beer, this stuff is one of my favorites:

beer #63

AM - Quarters.  Eight of 'em.  First one was a ninety-fucking-seven!  And the f-bomb and exclamation point aren't because I was happy.  As the weather improves I'll try to get back to the track a bit more regularly.  The good news is that things can only improve.

Followed up the track workout with a quick ride to work.  Had to drop by the Old Colorado City library to return a book.  Next thing I know, two homeless women are over in Bancroft Park yelling and screaming at each other.  The situation escalated so quickly I was sure someone was going to get stabbed.  I started digging into my backpack to find my phone to call an ambulance, but just as quickly as the fight started the two ladies just walked away from each other.  Pretty exciting stuff for OCC at 7:30AM on a Tuesday.

Lunch - Thirty minutes at CityRock, then another ten on the slackline.  The only sport I'm worse at than climbing is slacklining.  That's not going to stop me from setting one up at the Salida post-marathon party.

PM - Had to work a bit late, so an hour on the bike was all I could squeeze in.

I miss New Orleans.  In honor of Fat Tuesday:

beer #62

AM - Easy hour run in Red Rock Canyon followed by a dog walk followed by a ride to work.  About the most I can fit into a morning without getting up before 5AM.

PM - Rode home via Cheyenne Canon.  57:20 to the upper parking lot, first time I've broke an hour from the office.  Definitely had to work for it.

Colorado Springs was named a top ten mountain biking town.

In other news, I'm not sure I want to visit Australia anymore.

Is there a happy hour spot for the Saturday showing of Fast Eddy's movie?

Beer for today was the Hop Dam Triple IPA from Hoppin' Frog Brewery in Akron.  Like most things from Ohio, a bit of a disappointment.

beer #61

Sunday AM - My 15th consecutive week with the Incline Club.  Despite a temp of -400F, I went and ground out a trip up the Incline.

Sunday PM - Hot yoga.  I'm sick of this cold.  Pretty sure anyone within 15 feet of me caught a buzz from all the Manitou fumes streaming out of my pores.

Quick stop by Red Leg on the way home for their AHAB's Stout.

beer #60

Manitou Mardi Gras.  One of the best days of the year!  Made even better this year by the late breaking news that the long awaited opening of Manitou Brewing was going down.  After Friday night at Green Man I was pretty skeptical of any so-called "soft" openings, but MBC nailed it.  Great beer (though they only have two of their own on tap right now, more is coming soon), great bar.  Definitely check the place out next time you visit Manitou.  They have some great guest taps, but the beer for today was their Manitou Pale Ale.

In other Manitou drinking news, there is now a sign at Kinfolk's that says they will be back soon.  Hopefully that's the case, Kinfolk's is a great place to finish up a long workout on the Peak.  And it's the only bar in Manitou I can take my dog to.

There is also a new  bar coming to the space formerly occupied by the Dulcimer Shop.  Pikes Peak Pub.  One of our favorite Manitou bartenders, Jason, is in charge of that show, so expect great things.

beer #59

Easy bike ride to work on Friday.  Ended up getting 22 hours on the bike in February.  Not as much as I wanted, but with the crappy weather I'll take it.  Definitely the most I've ever ridden in one month.  Also got 32 hours running in.  I'll be shooting to get 32 hours of each activity in March.  If the weather holds I'm going to bike down to Salida for the marathon, and that might take me 32 hours right there.

Green Man Taproom has finally opened their doors.  Definitely mixed reviews on the place.  They should have definitely waited another week or two before letting folks in.  But I had some New Belgium Firkin as the beer of the day, and they had quite a few Colorado IPAs on tap, once they finally got the taps flowing.  Place definitely has potential, hopefully they can live up to it.  Rumor has it that Marc got so drunk he tried to sleep in the front yard.