DRAFT Magazine

The Bike and Brew Tour Crew (from left) Anders, Sara, Tracy and Caroline at Pyramid Brewing

Last fall, Sara Morrisson and Tracy Montigny quit their jobs, recruited two others, and embarked on a cross country bike adventure from New York to Seattle to visit as many breweries as possible.

As documented on their excellent site bikeandbrewtour.com, the trip’s genesis went something like this:

Sara: I‘d like to bike across the country
Tracy: I’d like to check out all the breweries in the US

Enlightened moment: Let’s bike across the country and go to breweries!

In the Beer Runner’s first ever collective interview, Tracy and Sara explain the highlights and lowlights of visiting 50 breweries in 74 days, and what they’re up to now in Australia.

The Beer Runner: What motivated you to quit your jobs and bike from New York to Seattle?

Safety 1st: Tracy home brewing w/ helmet

Tracy and Sara: Both of us had been working in the New York photo industry for a few years and we were looking for a change of pace. Sara grew up in Seattle and had always dreamed of biking home when she left NYC. Tracy had already cycled across the country once, so when Sara needed advice about planning such a trip, she asked Tracy. Meanwhile, Tracy had been inspired (by Sara) to start home brewing, and had developed such a love of craft beer that she aspired to do a cross-country brewery tour. So when Sara started talking about cycling, Tracy said, “I’ll go with you if we can stop at as many breweries as possible along the way.”

BR: Were you nervous to quit your jobs and just head out across the country?

T&S: More than anything! But having such a great trip ahead made leaving New York a no-brainer.

BR: Who joined you for this ride?

T&S: The first was Tracy’s friend Caroline, who thought biking across country would be a great adventure despite the fact that she didn’t drink beer. She was already planning a trip to New Zealand, a break from New York, so Tracy convinced her to postpone her flight and bike with us first. Then, in the process of planning the trip, Sara met a guy named Anders. They started dating, which seemed like unfortunately timing, until Sara decided that he’d just have to come along. We were also lucky enough to have a few guest riders throughout the trip- ranging from friends and family to some awesome folks that were following our blog.

BR: What was the highlight of the trip?

T&S: In terms of biking, our favorite was up the Oregon coast on 101. It was a sort of idyllic beauty that is really best enjoyed on two wheels. In terms of breweries, it would be New Belgium in Ft. Collins, Colorado. We were incredibly impressed with the facility, their nearly completely sustainable practices, the employees and their love of their jobs, and the variety of beer. Before we went there, we had only had a few of their beers (maybe you’ve heard of Fat Tire? hehe), but at the brewery they had at least 30 different beers on tap, including some experimental beers that had been made by their brewer, guest home brewers, or as collaborations with other breweries. Plus, they are great bike-friendly brewery and they were very enthusiastic about our trip.

A bad weather day in La Crosse, Wisconsin

BR: How about the lowlight?

T&S: Our roughest day of riding was from Spring Green to La Crosse, Wisconsin. It was a 90-mile day that we’d started too late and the terrain was unexpectedly hilly - probably some of the steepest grade hills on our trip. As the day progressed the weather turned, pelting us with rain and gusting to the point where we were nearly blown off our bikes. We entered La Crosse exhausted, wet, and in complete darkness. As with all days though it ended well when we rolled into our destination and met our hosts for the night — four awesome college students (friends of Caroline’s friend’s girlfriend) — who gave us their living room for the night and made us pancakes in the morning!

BR: What was the most unexpected part of the journey?

T&S: Most unexpected was definitely the people all across the country who opened up their homes to us and gave us beds, food (…showers, laundry, Advil, bike shoes!) and general kindness in exchange for our stories. Oh, and also that Nevada is the most mountainous state after Alaska. Who knew?

Riding the Rockies

BR: Do you know how many miles you biked and beers you drank?

T&S: We know we biked just over 3,400 miles but number of beers is tough. We rarely had more than 2 beers on any given night (we were just too exhausted from riding) or we would often try the brewery sampler. We probably tried a couple hundred or so different beers at the 50 breweries we visited.

BR: What’s the biggest lesson you learned from this trip?

T&S: Be the twig. It was a lesson imparted on us by our first random-stranger hosts, Chris and Michelle. On the first night where we were without a plan or specific destination we flagged them down on the side of the road in rural New Hampshire to inquire about the nearest campground. It turned out they owned the bed and breakfast up the street and invited us to camp in their yard and have dinner with them! Basically, they just told us that their motto is to go with the flow and be the twig floating down the stream, not fighting the current. Subsequently, we had serendipitous things happen nearly every day of the trip. We took the twig idea so much to heart that at the end of the trip Tracy got a twig tattoo on her forearm as a reminder.

BR: You’ve written, “We are riding to promote a healthy and quality beer lifestyle.” Care to elaborate?

Caroline with a beer sampler

T&S: Basically, we are active, healthy people who enjoy high quality beer in moderation. After a long bike ride we want to drink beer that is made of fresh, high quality ingredients - sometimes local, sometimes organic -by independent companies that bring something new to the table. The bigger breweries have dominated the American market for such a long time now that many Americans have a generalized idea of “beer” as the bland, cold, fizzy stuff that makes you burp and gets you drunk. We want people to realize that they don’t have to settle- there is better beer out there! The craft brewers in this country (and all around the world) are providing tasty alternatives -from IPA’s to sours to barley wines - that incorporate ingredients as varied as chocoate from Belgium, pine nuts from Nevada, or cherries from Wisconsin. We were asked many times if there was a “cause” for our trip, to which we always answer “we are raising awareness about good beer.”

BR: What are you up to these days?

T&S: At the moment we are in Australia, having just finished a 2 ½ month jaunt in New Zealand– where we visited a number of breweries and even had the chance to work at a couple. After Australia, we’ll be spending some time back in Seattle and New York before deciding where to go next.

BR: Do you have any future bike/brewery tours planned?

T&S: We have a few trips we’d like to do depending on timing and funds. The first is a trip from Seattle to San Diego, to hit the many amazing west coast breweries that we missed on our trip. The next could be spending another winter down under to do Bike and Brew New Zealand, where the biking is beautiful and craft breweries are just starting to take off.

BR: Any tips for someone who’d like to plan a similar trip?

T&S: Never drink and ride. Also, don’t plan anything past 8pm, because chances are you will fall asleep!

Who needs milk and cookies when you have beer and bikes?

Oh, you better not cry. I’m telling you why.

This year 200-250 cyclists dressed as Santa stormed Milwaukee for the annual two-wheeled bar crawl known as the Santa Cycle Rampage.

Greg Smith of Schlick Cycles gives his account of the rampage.

BR: How far did you bike?

Greg Smith: My ride for the day was 18.75 miles, the actual route was approximately 13 miles the extra being travel back because the route did not end at the starting place. Other riders put in upwards of 30 miles. And while we were milling about at the post-ride party we met up with 3 guys who rode in from Chicago putting about 90 miles on that day!

Beer Runner: What bars did you go to?

GS: The 2009 edition of the Santa Cycle Rampage visited Cafe Hollander on Milwaukee’s Eastside, Lakefront Brewery along the Milwaukee River, Rehorst Distillery in the 5th Ward, Kochanski’s Concertina Bar where a live Polka Band and free food and the post-ride party at Cafe Centraal in Bay View.

There were also pre-ride meetups at Fuel Cafe in Riverwest, the ‘Tosa Cafe Hollander and Anodyne Coffee in Bay View where riders met to travel together to start at the Downer Ave Cafe Hollander. I know the Bike Federation of Wisconsin was a major sponsor. I don’t know all the others but South Shore Cyclery and Ben’s Cycle both gave raffle prizes.

BR: What were the highlights for you?

GS: Highlights from the event for me were the camaraderie of 250 Santa Cyclists. I started out with a core group of friends but found myself riding with other groups most of the day meeting people and making friends along the way. More highlights included free Fat Tire beer, the excellent weather that had us biking in sunny 35 degree conditions most of the day, the Polka Band at Kochanski’s, more beer, the raffle and the Police escort!

Santa loves to polka!

There was excellent beer to be had at each venue with some favorites including, Fat Tire, Riverwest Stein, Fat Squirrel, Wheat Monkey, Zywiec (Polish) as well as some great Vodkas at Rehorst and even a tasting of Absinthe at the distillery.

BR: What did you hear others say about all the Santas?

GS: There was a tremendous outpouring of goodwill toward the Santas. Hundreds if not thousands of people shouted, cheered, whistled, followed, photographed and, in general, made the ride extra special. Being 250-plus strong the Santa procession often stretched over a city block. Motorists were, for the most part very courteous and allowed the procession to hold together. We did, on occasion split at a particularly busy intersection but usually caught up to the group and arrived at our destinations intact as a group. At the Rehorst Distillery stop we picked up a Police escort.

The pair of officers in the squad were just awesome! They looked out for the group, herded it together when it began to stretch out and blocked intersections, errant motorists and random ill-willers so that we could travel safely and as a group. They broadcast our Santa Radio station on their PA, cajoled and rankled with us at stops and, even though they were not drinking, joined us at the post-ride party. Goodwill from the cops was the unexpected pleasure of the ride!

BR: Will you do this next year?

GS: Absolutely! This was one of the biking event highlights of the year!

Look ma, one gear

Pete LaVerghetta used to just be a runner, until one day he picked up a copy of Runner’s World.

‘Buy a bike, cross-train, run better!’ the headline said.

So he did just that. 5ks. Marathons. Bikes. This went on for a couple of years.

Then fixed gear bikes won out.

“I love to work with my hands,” he said. “So bikes were perfect.”

That and beer, of course.

“I try to keep things in balance,” he said. “Beer was always a great re-hydration drink. We’d finish a run or ride and met back at the parking lot for a beer. Or I’ll open a bottle of beer and polish my bike during those long winter nights.”

Beer Runner: How did you get into fixed gear bikes?

Pete LaVerghetta: I joined a club when started riding pretty regularly in 1994 or so. There was a local racer who came out on B rides. He was trying to meet women. He was slumming it, so he rode a fixie on these rides, and I was just floored. It appealed to the tinkerer in me, and it was way cool. I’m lucky to live about 60 miles from T-Town, and so in 1996 I bought my first track bike at the swap meet there. It was a lugged steel Lotus from their rental fleet.

BR: Who do you like to read for info/inspiration about fixed gear bikes?

PV: When I got started the bike corners of the internet were just getting going. I found Sheldon Brown/Harris Cyclery right around ‘96 and that was just a goldmine of information. It was and still is all captured right there. Fixedgeargallery.com is great, and I might even have a couple of bikes there! It’s kind of mind boggling how huge the whole fixed gear thing is now. It went from something that racers did in the winter to messengers to the New York Times.

BR: What’s one of the best routes or rides you’ve ever biked?

PV: So many! My wife and I have ridden our tandem in a lot of great places. Along with 40 club mates we went from the Adirondacks to Quebec City in 1997. We’ve been to the Outer Banks, the Grand Canyon and the Blue Ridge Parkway. I rode a 200K brevet on my favorite fixed gear bike through Southern New Jersey that was just perfect.

Pete and his Hammer of Glory (HOG)

BR: Being from Philadelphia, what’s your favorite places to drink in and around Philly?

PV: The Grey Lodge, The Blue Ox Bistro, Standard Tap, Local 44…we are really lucky, this is the best beer drinking city in the USA. Earlier this year I had the opportunity to haul the Hammer of Glory (HOG) to Opening Tap. The HOG is a ceremonial hammer that is used to tap the first keg of Philly Beer Week. We did a relay, and I rode the first leg on a Bilenky cargo bike.

BR: Tell me about your bike commute. How long is it, how often do you ride it, and any other highlights.

PV: It’s pretty short. It’s about 2 miles from my front door to my desk. I go home for lunch! Total daily mileage is about 8. I do it in street clothes. I do it 3 days per week. I telework one day and I’m off on Fridays. For about 3 years, from 1996 - 99 it was ten miles each way. I rode my fixie back and forth to work, was in great shape, and had a couple of 7,500 mile years.

BR: What’s the last great beer that you had?

PV: The last great beer I had was cask conditioned Bear Republic Racer 5 IPA on the beer engine at my favorite local bar, the Grey Lodge Pub. Tiny bubbles that lasted until the last sip, great grapefruit and pine notes. It was just the perfect pint

BR: Did you dress up as anything for Halloween?

PV: No, I’m lazy. We had friends over for dinner. We cook a lot, try to eat healthy. Beers and baseball!

BR: Are the Phillies going to win it all?

PV: I think they will.

BR: Anything else to add?

PV: Keep spinning.

Photo from bikesnbrew.com

Biking 100 miles is tough. Biking 100 miles with 8,600 feet of elevation gain while making four stops for beer is juuust a bit harder.

But that’s the challenge for riders of the Bikes ‘n’ Brew Century next Saturday (July 18). The “unofficial group ride” — so as not to cross any authorities — will climb 26 miles, conquer Mt. Hood and stop at four local beer spots en route to one epic 102-mile day.

According to BikePortland.org:

The ride is the the idea of Dan Tochen, a self-described “beer geek” who told us that “beer and cycling have always gone hand in hand with me and my friends.” He says that one inspiration was New Belgium’s Tour de Fat (coming to Portland on 8/15) . That event gave him the idea, but after attending it one year he thought, “Out of state beer and a 2-mile ride? This is Oregon, we can do better than that.”

The tour is scheduled to stop at the Hair of the Dog Brewing (tentatively), Mt. Hood Brewing Co., Elliott Glacier Public House and Double Mountain.

And you thought the Tour de France was a challenge.

Via BikePortland.org

I can’t say I ever thought about tricking out my bike with “handlebar alloy end caps.”

I barely even know what they are, and they may not exactly be a necessity.

But I just *might* be willing to plunk down 6 bucks for a beer stein on my handlebars. If I’ve had a few beers first.

Sold by the good people of Milwaukee Bicycle Co., the 22.2 mm end caps show off an engraved beer mug on your bike. I could see this being a hit with bike customization cultures.

They’re also sold individually, according to the company, in case you wanted to mix and match with MKE Bicycle Co bar ends.

"Those little things are hard as hell to ride."

Joe Stephenson — one of our past Beer Runner spotlights — unexpectedly found  himself the homepage model for New Belgium’s Urban Assault Ride.

“Do I get a lifetime supply of free Fat Tire for unexpectedly being a @newbelgium UAR poster guy?” he asked on Twitter.

The 10-city unorthodox scavenger hunt — infamous for obstacles, mystery check-points, mini bikes, and beer — kicks off this Sunday in Tucson before hitting the road and going cross-country.

“We’re excited to bring our crazy celebration of beer, bikes, and big wheels to the land of cactus, burritos, and desert single track,” reads the Tucson event page.

Meanwhile, New Belgium makes its long awaited arrival in Wisconsin in early May.

Joe, myself and other New Belgium fans are planning a meet-up for May 5th at 7 p.m. at Blatz Liquor in Milwaukee to celebrate. Stop by if you’re in town!

What’s the best beer for cyclists? None Of The Above.

That’s from a highly scientific poll from the About.com Bicycle Blogger’s question about beer and bikes. Last I checked, voters preferred their own choice of beer over PBR, High Life, Busch, and Whatever’s On Sale.

NOTA even beat out a beer and a company (New Belgium’s Fat Tire) that’s about as bike friendly as it gets.

These findings seem to mesh with the highly scientific research of the Beer Runner. Take a look at some of the favorite brews of past Beer Cyclists:

Joe (Chouffe Houblon), Denny (Viking Brewery Hot Chocolate), Bone (a 9.Something ABV Russian beer), and Ernesto (New Glarus “Angry Squirrel, or Spotted Squirrel, or whatever their other beer is”).

The only thing these beers have in common is they have virtually nothing in common.

This makes total sense. Most cyclists tend to have a highly developed independent, non-conformist streak. You’re never going to get a roomful of cyclists to agree on damn near anything.

But one thing you can get almost all cyclists to bond over? They universally like anything with two wheels or an ABV.