Minnesota is stuck – stuck in a nasty weather pattern that is not friendly for outdoor activity, let alone hardcore cycling. Of course, I’m not really “hardcore”, but I do try to ride hard given the opportunity.
It’s quite difficult to “ride hard” when the temperatures are in the 90s and the humidity is high. Sure, I am starting to sound like a broken record when describing the environment for riding, but it truly is miserable.
Fortunately, some steady riding over the last few days has resulted in my body really longing for a ride. I’ve become conditioned to these temperature extremes and am able to withstand some of the punishment while still turning the pedals with some vigor. Monday’s after-work ride had all the things working against me, but I was fairly happy with the results and was able to cover nearly 25 miles before rolling back into my driveway.
Here at the stats, if you are interested in that sort of thing.
When the temperatures sore past the 90s, the road starts to change and react to the conditions. Many of the roads around Plymouth have been treated with a seal-coating process that involves laying down a sticky tar surface and back-filling with crushed stone. After a few days, this becomes fairly stable and easy to ride over. But, high temperatures transform this road surface into a sticky mess that attaches itself to everything near it. When I ride over these roads with my bike, my tires inevitably become speckled with assorted rocks, causing all sorts of trouble for me.
I dug out the ugly jersey today because it was clean and light enough to survive the warm weather
Since I am currently have a running total of six flats for this cycling season (due to an assortment of unlucky reasons), I’m a little gun-shy when things attach themselves to my tires. This means I am constantly monitoring my tires and running my gloved hand over the surface to ensure things are as clean as possible. Monday’s ride had me constantly checking my tires as the road was a steady path of stickiness.
While out on the ride, I encountered several examples of Minnesota’s wildlife.
I got a chuckle out of a group of Canadian Geese that appeared to be practicing their formations. You could tell that the older adults where showing the new generation of young geese how it is done and the best way to form up. It was like the first day of school for geese – with a rather dis-organized formation that was closer to the letter “S” than the expected “V”.
Modern brakes have solved a lot of the continual troubles I experienced with my older bikes
I also spotted a deer approaching the road just a few yards ahead of me. At this time of year, the local whitetail are very red in color with their summer coat. She looked ready to jump in front of me, but thought differently and decided to head back into the woods alongside the road. As she bounded away, I could see a single fawn – spots and all – joining her. As deer usually have twins, I didn’t see a second young one which, sadly, indicates that the second deer probably didn’t survive the spring. But, deer are still plentiful and I was glad to see that she chose to avoid the road.
Upon returning home, I was wet from head to toe and looking forward to some refreshment. Having exhausted my case of Sam Adams Summer Ale earlier last week, I resorted to opening up my single bottle of Chimay Premeire Red Ale. I bought this bottle earlier in the summer with some hopes to drink what is considered the epitome of beer. It is a classic Belgian-style ale made by some monks in the Belgium countryside. It has a lot of hype online, so I was eager to give it a try.
This beer is part of their Red series and has a wonderful caramel color with a fruity nose
It has all of the characteristics that are described online – with a fruity noise that reminded me of apricots. It was an incredibly smooth beer and had a nutty taste that is found in most Belgian brews. In all honesty, I was hoping to be “wowed” by this beer, but it ended up to be only great – and not incredible or life-changing. The flavor reminded me of a Fat Tire – but with much more subtle hops. It was a good beer and would rank in the top five that I have ever tasted. But, it’s $12 price tag didn’t justify (to me, anyway) the quality of the drink.
I probably failed at pairing this beer with strong flavors of pizza and wings but they were definitely desirable after the day’s ride
Also, the beer comes in a 750ml bottle. This means that one beer is like drinking an entire bottle of wine. That’s OK when you are with another person or a group, but on my own it becomes a lot of beer. At 7% alcohol, it also packs a punch. But, I spread it out over several hours and was able to enjoy the whole bottle (the sacrifices I will make for trying new things). Also, it was fun to crack open as it is packed with a champagne-style cork that popped off with a “pop”. It clearly is a great beer – but I find that I can achieve similar enjoyment by something else (ala Surly Brewing) at half the price.
