Thanks Joey

 

Seriously heartbroken after hearing of the passing of Joey Moss...

Bar none, best Edmontonian ever. 

Rest in peace Joey. #madrespect

A Mill Creek Ripper

A very impromptu ride today as a small window of opportunity was there for a bike ride. Well... I mean I could stay at home and build some plastic models and all in the nice heated den with Mrs Lonebiker most likely serving me hot chocolate and giving me foot rubs. Now wouldn't that be swell?

I chose the cold. I chose a fancy hardtail. I chose more fun.

And it was more fun that I had.

The old school parking lot in MillCreek was used for a startup and I rolled through all the usual trails one would when the singletrack is good to go. Everything was quite great. Same as Thursday's ride with the odd slip here and there but the traction I had was impressive. The steep sections where normally there would be fat bike ruts in the Winter looked a tad sketchy covered in hard packed snow. It was hard to tell if there was ice but my tires dug in and took me up (or down) promptly with no braking issues. 

I escaped MillCreek via Blue man and took Dirty Mattress down into a cavernous treed wonderland. Seriously guys, hate beating a dead horse here but fuck me that valley has its amaze moments. I took the short Wreckless Abandon trail out to Old Timers and rode the high side trail named "Too Much" I believe. 

Why does there have to be so many different trail names? Like really? 

Sorry... I'm starting to get old and the world is a bit Too Much for me lately. 

Bah ha ha!

The paved Pyramid climb was taken up and it was Mill Creek's famed The Trap trail starting my march towards home in the chilled October air.  A run into Jason and Gord with Jasons new titanium hardtailed ride in all of its glory. We need to do a photo shoot and post on here soon and I promise to get on that right away. 

The ride ended with a big smile. Things are quite swell right now. Get out there.

Beer Friday. Banded Peak Brewing, Mount Crushmore

 

As another week off rolls by with hardly any riding its time to reflect... What good does riding bikes in the woods do for you? Surely it does nothing but plug up the roads some car enthusiasts and dumb fuck rednecks would probably think. When one gets into an argument with one of these noble people I enjoy shutting them up when I let them know I pay taxes which pays for the roads which shuts their registration theory up quite quick. 

Seriously... How dumb are these people? 

Whoa! Am I in a mood tonight! You see first hand what happens when I don't ride my bike. A great one was had Thursday and now may have to wait till Tuesday as things are happening in the family at a furious pace. 

Yes Tuesday... A day before the day before work! A week off and maybe I'll get rides in. That is unacceptable especially after a one ride showing last set off. Are the wheels falling off the Lonebiker train? I'm pretty sure we will be fine. Once this week blows over I should be fine... Should I?

*opens phone camera, looks at self, asks self "will I be fine?'

*fingers crossed. 

We poured this fine Calgarian Pilsner into a testing mug and enjoyed a magnificently mastered pour showed off it's attributes. A two and one quartered head stood proudly and soon dissipated into whiffs of lacing making any proper beer connoisseurs loins tingle. 

 A quick sniff gave me hints of what any sort of decent pilsner would smell like. Which were earthly grassy hops and hints of dried corn. The first mouth swirl was pleasant. A definite concoction of  a light blonde ale kept me thinking on the first few sips. It was a very pleasant beer as any good pilsner should be, this one has slight corn and earthy hops. 

Why do I see farmfields when I drink this? I just think these things when drinking this one..

This beer gets 4 suds out of 5.

The Day the Moots Conquered the Light Snow

A cold weather ride, first one of this late year as it looks like Winter will soon have his hands snugged tightly on our balls for the unforeseeable future. That's right... You expecting nice fast zippy singletrack that you can haul ass through on your racing hardtail? Well, you are probably going to have to wait five or six months or more. 

It is a bit too early to declare it full on Winter but the Winter mood is definitely here. It would be pretty sweet if things melted and we had a couple weeks of fun late Fall singletrack. 

The ride today from up top of The End of The World took me into the chilly valley where I rode multi use and crossed the pedestrian bridge and found a trail I don't think I ever rode before. It was really not that special and does not warrant me talking about it much on here. Soon I was at the boardwalk and I felt a certain brethren members disdain as I rode the easy way up to the top. 

I didn't think singletrack would be very good today and I was wrong. Mackinnons Root Canal and Backbreaker and the tires held up quite well. I did stop to take a picture on Backbreaker where the switchback is and had zero footing on the trail in my Sidi's. 

The Bontrager XR2's did quite well as I rode up lots of sections of trail I couldn't even stand on as the ride progressed. Yes there were a couple ass puckering slips but no more than an average studded fat bke rid. The snow did not envelop the trails but the off cambered and steeper climbing sections that were covered with snow were ridden up with no issues. 

The ride took me past Groat road bridge cause you know... That area is a dumpster fire. I crossed the mighty Menzies and looped back and rode up Silver Fox. A trail that is easily winning my heart over every time I visit. 

I made it up to the top of RayGun in sometimes medium snowfall and it was quite incredible. Easily one of the best moments in the last month. 

Paved took me home to the Jeep. 

 

Happy Sunday Eve

 This a repeat? Who cares... It's Lana baby!

A Dipstick Rides in Goldstick

A very short and uninspired ride in the Refinery district hoping for a little fresh air topped off with some cancer cause you know.... refineries. Goldstick Park was the start and soon I smuggled my way onto Hustler and rode the sweet singletrack out to the multi use trails. Confusion set in quickly as to where to go and I crossed the Ainswworth Dyer and turned back not knowing where to go. 

Quickly I decided to go back to the trails and rode GoldDigger and was quite annoyed at the high number of users on the trail. Middle aged soccer Mom chicks are now a common theme on the trails and it is great. No, it really is. That is one of the more fascinating things of these times as the 90's had very little middle aged women on the trails. I would guess that they brought their husbands as  they are heavy in numbers as well as of late. 

More Dads at the end (myself included) of Golddigger before crossing the road and deciding to just pack the ride in after a quick coffee break at Capilano. 

I intended to ride the trails back but an absolute lack of spunk had me cross the river and ride residential roads back to Rundle where I found my way back. 

Beer Friday. Beer Friday. Russell Brewing, Coffee Table Beer

 We return after a few weeks of non beer related activity. The interns are on holidays in Spain last set off. That's right, myself and the management decided now would be a perfect time to travel as the travel industry is in shambles right now all thanks to Covid. Ain't it great!? A year ago I would have been paying an insane price to send my staff on a nice holiday but with covid booming again it was a mere 3 for 1 on the tickets so I knew I was a fool not to send them!

From what I heard they are confined to their hotel rooms and were not allowed to leave for two weeks. So two weeks in the same hotel room with Netflix and endless internet to roam!

Lucky!

Russell Brewing who are located in Surrey, British Columbia have quite a few beers in their lineup and started business I believe in 1995. Is Surrey to Vancouver the same as Sherwood Park is to Edmonton? I do know a quick map check will answer the question but I'd just sooner as you guys...

So.....?

*intern leans in. "Seriously... sir?"

"What!?" I bellowed... "Oh yes." Quickly realizing my folly. That intern was quickly fired and escorted to his vehicle.

Much akin to surprisingly many of these beers it could not be found on their website which is a tad frustrating. I don't get why these breweries put out beers and have nothing online. Hold on... Am I looking at the wrong Russell Brewing? Is there another out there? Nope. Well, I don't know. Lets pour.

The Hardcore Bikes mug took this one and we poured a dirty golden coloured beer that did turn up the interest. From what I found on the interwebs is this is a light easy drinking beer. Smells of.... Well shit. I can't smell anything. Maybe I should go for a covid test? Damn... 

I'm kidding, this one has light smells of bread with a very light coffee smell. Coffee? I like it, it goes well with the theme of the coffee table beer. It tastes what it advertises (well there was nothing on their website so this is based off other opinions on the internet) it tastes like a very easy drinking light beer. This one is easy to consume quickly. Notes of light coffee oddly with some sort of mix of chocolate? It is like it got sone sort of Nestle Quick treatment but the chocolate is much better. Like a beer commercial from the early nineties. It's nice and smooth as it goes down!Some lacing stays on the side of the glass as it goes down as any good beer should. 

This beer gets 3.5 suds out of 5.