Tangent: I’m embarrassed to say that I rode from the cheater lot (I didn’t know how my back would handle the milk run the The Beer Tree). I’m glad to report that, while still a bit tender, it felt OK and I am optimistic about Allegrippis ’14 which is just around the corner. Yes, two bike trips in one month. I am a lucky guy.

The Beer Tree flaunting her stuff in the warm evening sunlight

Dirty Penny Gets Nailed at The Beer Tree

This Friday’s FHHR menu included home-made beef jerky, one of Jesse’s vegan chocolate coconut masterpieces, and beer “samples” from the up and coming Boxcar Brewery.

The company, the weather, and the low evening sun reflecting off the lake made it kind of magical. Especially the company.

Chris

“You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose.”
     — Dr Seuss

Click me. Photo sequence capturing some sort of sacred shamanistic rite. Obviously.

The 2nd annual Cinco de Mayo Friday Happy Hour Ride was neither. It was Dos de Mayo and the “ride” was an express gravel grinder direct to The Beer Tree.

Well almost.

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We somehow managed to fit the skinny 70′ swamp bridge into our ride. This was particularly interesting for me personally with a large pinata bungy-corded to my handlebars. I could not see two feet in front of my front wheel. This made the bridge more interesting than usual (which is saying something). I suspect it was also interesting for Mike (with a teak coffee table strapped to his back) and Kirk (with 24 pounds of Modelo in his backpack). Yes, you had to be there.

Once to the hallowed grounds of The Beer Tree we wasted no time. Within minutes our favorite friday hangout was festooned with a wanted poster of the much feared El Cinamino, Mexican flags were flying, the (in)appropriately stereotypical el mariachi music was playing, and a pinata was swaying too and fro over the trail.

The crowd continued to grow. The guacamole and chips came out. The camp stove was fired up and the sweet smells of simmering hot dogs taco meat filled the air. Mustaches sprouted. A cactus took root and swelled to six feet in a matter of minutes. More bikes and more people.

The much ballyhooed CdMFHHR was finally ON.

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Of course fans of high caloric pursuits tend to enjoy food. CdMFHHR featured an innovative menu included including guacamole lovingly prepared by senorita Wegman and hot dog tacos with fresh cabbage, barbecue sauce, and organic sour cream prepared onsite by our favorite mountain biking cocinero.

A few banditos stumbled into our festivities. We successfully wooed one with promises of a Modelo and a ride on a fat bike. A couple TBR racers working on their Strava KOM ratings dodged the pinata (and the Modelo) much to the disappointment of the crowd. Boo. And a trail runner so stunned by a Cinco de Mayo celebration occurring 3 days early took a header in the dirt on his way through.

The pinata competition may have been the crowd favorite. I won’t attempt to describe it in words, instead I have cobbled together a short video that captures the unbridled spirit of this years competition.

I think I speak for everyone who was there when I say that the fun ended way too soon but thank God because of course we had to get ourselves home in one piece. Which we did.

Be sure to mark your 2014 calendar for Cinco de Mayo (on Uno de Mayo).

Chris

Scene of the crime, we will never be able to look at that spot the same way again.

February 19 was the Chinese New Year, celebrated with parades and fireworks. April 11 was the local Mountain Biking New Year, celebrated with bikes and beer and jocularity and just a pinch of debauchery.

There is nothing like that first FHHR of the year, tying a bow on the workweek, welcoming the weekend, and looking forward to the months of Fridays to come.

Chris

I’ve always thought it would be funny to start a Friday Happy Hour blog post with something like “there we were, standing in the middle of the woods after our ride laughing and drinking cold microbrews, when two beautiful bikini clad maidens appeared out of nowhere calling our names and bearing gifts of Red Devil Beet Vegan Bundt Cake and locally grown Asian pears.”

I mean, wouldn’t that be such an amazing and bizarre opening line for a blog post?

Well yes, obviously that would be an amazing opening line. The only problem would be, where would I go from there? What could I possibly use next week to capture the readers’ attention (all 3 of them)?

So I guess I’ll just end it there. But wouldn’t it be amazing?

Chris

“You guys are awesome.”
     – Hiker that we passed on our way home (we didn’t stop to argue).

Alchemy at work on the early arrivals.

That Friday Happy Hour alchemy was at work again, spinning straw into gold. Or in this case spinning partly cloudy skies, a lot of ringworm infested mud, eleven riders and their crude steel contraptions into that slightly magical and twinkly moment of respite between the long workweek and the busy weekend. It is more than the sum of it’s parts, but for the record here are some of the parts we had:

• A new bench-cut ribbon of singletrack (it’s a big hit, particularly the stretch through a wonderfully scented pine grove).
• Four pints Heady Topper (lovingly hand carried by Kirk from the Alchemist’s lair in Vermont) which was malty and piney and bursting with 8% goodness.
• A setting sun reflecting off the lake and making the trees behind us all twinkly.
• The people (eleven of them at the peak), because they really are the key ingredient and without them, you’d just be standing in the woods drinking a beer alone which I’m sure is one of the twelve signs of something not so magical.

You know the Alchemist is really cooking when it turns 6:00 and one or two people grab their helmets to make an honest attempt at getting home on time and an hour later they are still standing there, intoxicated by the Alchemist’s twinkly Friday brew.

Yum.

Chris

“Like dogs, bicycles are social catalysts that attract a superior category of people” 
     — Chip Brown

Right out my back yard. I am a lucky guy.

Saturday sunset ride. Right out my back yard, I am a lucky guy.

Speaking of wonders, the beer tree was another kind of wonder. Sure it was man-made and not as wondrous as a sunset over Marsh Creek Lake. But it was pretty wonderful.

A few weeks ago we took it down out of concern that some Muggles might not appreciate it like we did. We brought it into this world, and we would decide when it would leave. We owned it from cradle to grave.

Well it turns out that at least one Muggle did appreciate it. He was out hiking last Friday and he told us so. He was obviously a connoisseur since he even had a favorite can (the Fat Tire Ale). He thought it was wonderful too.

Chris

Four casualties of the culling

Trails today were pure perfection. Super buff with no gravy and no dust. I wish I could say the same for myself.

Sure I always expect some cobwebs after a long winter. Every spring is the same. I know intellectually I will have lost ground and will have work to do. But there is nothing quite like the feeling when you reach down deep for a steep climb. I think I am ready and I look forward to the familiar pain but…nothing really happens. No acceleration, and no pain. Just…nothing.

Yes, I’ve got work to do but with each ride there is a little progress. And that progress is energizing, and that energy makes me want to ride more. And that beautiful cycle of renewal begins.

The cycle of renewal was at work at The Beer Tree as well. Mike and I noticed a few repeats so we did some necessary culling (four if you are counting). To strengthen the heard and because “art must have integrity.” Jess joined us with another one of her vegan masterpieces, and we even had a ride through visit (no beers) from Jim, Tom, Martin, Jessica, and Martin’s young son.

This was Martin’s first ride since knee surgery. It seems that renewal is happening all around us.

Chris

“Art must have integrity”
     — Mike Riley