Wednesday, October 29, 2014

beer 302


I was reminded today that I need to get my ass back up to the Fort for a visit, so this was a good beer-of-the-day.

Ran the first Team RWB 5K at Red Leg tonight.  Never know who you'll run into at Red Leg.


beer 301

Bristol has become the Dave Matthews Band of local breweries, with everyone suddenly thinking it's cool to make fun of them.  But I'll always be a homer for these guys, mostly because of their Laughing Lab.  And lets not forget, year in and year out, the second best pumpkin beer in Colorado Springs is always laughingly far behind the Venetucci Pumpkin Ale.

Cold weather is starting to creep in.  Will have to enact my 30F rule soon.  Had some frost on the ground the last two mornings.  Tried to ride the bike last night but it was just too damn cold for me.  Did get in a nice seven mile run in the Garden this morning though.

Tuesday, October 28, 2014

PGH Zoo

We had some time to kill before heading to the airport on our last day in Pittsburgh, so $100 and I headed to the zoo.  Great joint, but I still haven't been to a zoo better than our very own Cheyenne Mountain Zoo.









Found this pic on my phone, one of the many bar bathrooms I visited on the trip.  I'm sure the folks at Red Leg are super impressed with the plug.


beer 300

Shake Chocolate Porter from Boulder Brewing.  Post Red Mountain beers at the Keg.  Nice jog up one of our smaller hills last night with a great crew - $100, Peter, Carson, Jeff M, Trimboli, Amanda, Meesha, and the dog.  All this talk on what Carpenter has done for the local running scene, it must make him cry pissed off to see the crew that is taking advantage of his work.

Monday, October 27, 2014

Pearl Jam

This was my view from the Pepsi Center (Denver) last Wednesday for the Pearl Jam show:


We were way up there.  In fact, we couldn't have gone up anymore, we were in the very top row of the place.  But hey, I know what Pearl Jam looks like.  The important thing - the sound - was great.  Last time I saw PJ I was a freshman at Pitt.  Let's be kind and just say that was a few albums ago.  So I was pretty stoked for the show and the boys from Seattle delivered.

JP and I will probably come to blows at the upcoming IPA festival over the set list, but I thought it was awesome.

Set 1:
Release
Low Light
Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town
Last Exit
Why Go
Lightning Bolt
Mind Your Manners
Setting Forth
Leatherman
My Father's Son
Even Flow
Ghost
Present Tense
Do The Evolution
Eruption
Of The Earth
Given To Fly
Sirens
Don't Gimme No Lip
Lukin
Porch

Encore 1:
Future Days
Sleight Of Hand
Imagine
Mother
Last Kiss
Breath
Leash
Rearviewmirror

Encore 2:
Once
Black
State Of Love And Trust
Better Man
Wasted Reprise
Life Wasted
Alive
Baba O'Riley
Yellow Ledbetter

Sunday, October 26, 2014

beer 299

Great day to be outside.  Took advantage of the weather to do my half marathon loop, about half of which is on the Sante Fe trail.  Was pretty sure the entire population of the Springs was either out running or biking or walking their dog.  Until I got to mile ten of my run, down near America The Beautiful Park, when I realized the entire population was dressed up as Waldo running a 5K.




Got to enjoy this up near the campus of Colorado College:


And of course I got to stare at our big mountain the entire loop.



Weather was too nice to stay inside, so after my run I took the mountain bike out.  Red Rock Canyon, White Acres, Gold Camp Road, Buckhorn, Cap't Jacks, and then back.  18+ miles.  Life is good.


Shortly after the ride, $100 went over to Red Leg for some brews to end the weekend.  They had a special beer on tap, the Brett Noire.


beer 298

Great day all around on Saturday.  $100 and I were up early to for the Creepy Crawl, part of our local YMCA 5K race series.  It had been a long time since I raced a 5K, and it showed as I could only muster a 19:39.  Hit the first mile in 5:53 (downhill) but things quickly went to shit after that.  Hope to get that down to the mid-18s for the next race on turkey day.  Photos courtesy of Pikes Peak Sports.



Disappointing race but at least I was able to grab a few mascot pictures afterwards.


Had to bolt right after the race.  Did grab lunch at one of my favorite local burger joints, Cy's.  The joint is less than a mile from my house.  Bacon cheeseburgers and fries really hit the spot.


Then it was off to the Emma Crawford Coffin Races in Manitou.  Bunch of friends met at our house, then we biked over and proceeded to drink a shit ton of beer and booze.  Awesome time as usual.  Caught Joe Johnson at Kinfolk's, then went on a pub crawl.  Last  bar of the day was Manitou Brewing, where I had the Gourd Hoarder's Pumpkin.



beer 297

There's a new brewery in town!  And this one is walking distance from my house!

Fossil Brewing (finally) opened it's doors on Friday.  I was lucky enough to get to visit a few times before the official grand opening, and I'm pretty impressed with their brews.  This is going to be a great place to end runs/rides from Red Rock Canyon.

Brew of the day was the Sabertooth Imperial IPA.


After hanging at Fossil for a bit, a bunch of us went downtown to catch Nick Swardson.  A bit short, but it was good to laugh my ass off.  And since it was short, we had lots of time to hit Benny's for more beers.




beer 295 & 296



295 was the Drunken Pumpkin from Wynkoop Brewing.  A little pre-game for the Pearl Jam show with JP and Timko.

296 was a big bottle of Pumpkin Patch Ale from Rogue Farms.

Yes, pumpkin beer season is definitely here!

Friday, October 24, 2014

Miss June

My dog made the 2015 calender for the Mile High Weim Rescue!  Thanks to all those who threw down some ducats to vote for her, the money went to a great cause.

Thursday, October 23, 2014

beer 294

Canyon Cream Ale from Crow Peak Brewing Company.  Obviously one of my buddies just took a trip to South Dakota.

Tuesday, October 21, 2014

more bus stuff

Group shot from a transit rally at City Hall that was held yesterday.  I'm actually not the guy giving the middle finger for once.  Gazette article can be seen here.

Don't worry, later on that evening at the DIM hash I returned to my finger giving ways.


Monday, October 20, 2014

beer 293


Pile-O-Dirt Porter from Crow Peak Brewing in Spearfish, SD.  Not too shabby.

Ran ten miles through Red Rock Canyon on Saturday.  First double digit mileage since Leadville.

Not my best day at Fall Series II, but not too terrible considering the long Pittsburgh break and drinking pretty heavily the night before.  Fought hard and I was pleased with the effort, the body just wasn't responding due to the hangover.

Pics courtesy of Pikes Peak Sports.




beer 290, 291, & 292



On Friday night our newest brewery had a soft opening.  After months and months of waiting, Fossil Brewing didn't disappoint.  Really solid brews over there.  And "over there" is only a half mile from my front door!

Saturday was Neil & Amy's wedding.  It's a horrible picture, but that's me and Peter doing our best to drain the keg of Upslope Pale Ale.

Sunday found me trying to drain my collection of Texas beers.  Rio Blanco Pale Ale from Real Ale Brewing in Blanco, Tejas.

Good times Saturday at the wedding.  Even got to drink some G&T's with Mr. Nolans himself.





Telluride

Photo dump from the Telluride Blues & Brews weekend.  Such a fantastic time, helped out by the best weather $100 and I have had for that festival.  Can't wait for '15!