Days Off Photo Dump

happy Monday

Happy Sunday

Beer Friday. Freedom 35 Trailer Park Boys Lager

Three days into days off and not one bike ride has taken place yet. Yes, sad but some health issues have come up so all I can do is deal with it. Nothing serious, let's just say a bike saddle would be the worst possible thing right now. To start these days off it would appear my all nighter Fort Mac sleep deprived body won and after countless hours of sleep I still don't feel well rested.

Maybe it's because I need a bike to help me fully relax...

Double Tree Brewing from Guelph, Ontario (I think) these guys do not own a brewery yet and rent it off Wellington Brewery. Navigating their website was a pain in the ass but seeing as they are new to the industry I gave them a pass. Yet, once they grow I hope they do something about the terrible website they have.

We are not sure if Double Tree is behind this one, of course their crappy website told us nothing about it.

Our Canadian heros, the Trailer Park Boys teamed up with Double Trouble (we think) to create Freedom 35. A lager with the face of ricky, Julian and Bubbles on the can. Freedom 35 was a plan in the show to grow dope clans which they would turn into hash and sell to the prison guards for large sums of money. In the end, they would retire. Of course things would not go as to plan and mass pants pissing hilarity ensues.

We poured and a large uncontrollable head formed on top of this one. Once the head pourer was fired and out the door we started. A grainy smell helped facilitate some sort of starting to this one but between the bad website and shitty pour. I was uninspired. It was the Trailer Park Boys but still...

The first sip was what I expected. A bland boring beer. Is this what Bubbles and the boys would have wanted? Crap beer? I think their expectation level would have been higher but sadly this follows the same story that lots of other shows and bands do. They put out a beer and it's crap.

If you can find it, the nostalgic can is the best part about this one.

This beer gets 1 sud out of 5

Not So Happy Thursday

Thanks for the music Mr Bennington.

Happy Wednesday

Damn shame on the poor showing of bike riding at home. Two weeks of music and beer reviews now...

July Gets Some Disrespect (Yet Again)

A ride from Kinseman to Terwillegar in hot and humid conditions. Now please keep in mind if you are someone in another part of the world reading this. Plus 30º with humidity may not seem much to certain parts of the world, keep in mind we are in northern/central Canada. Plus 30º does not come around too often. Mostly in the month of July where we may see it one or two times in the month.

When it does happen people usually hide from the heat.

Well ladies... Not this cowboy.

That's right, I'm a certified badass mountain biker.

I'll give you a few moments to cool down.

All good? Ya, I do have that effect on the ladies.

The plan was to ride the hills up and down and end up in Terwillegar. With the overbearing heat and humidity I resorted to plan B and stayed low and in the trees. A good plan.

Not a very exciting ride but still infinitely better than a trip to Costco. A bit of singletrack and fair amount of multi use was ridden. Flat Pete was hit both ways on the way in and out of Terwillegar. I rode Logarithmic for the first or second time. I think me and Jason rode it a few years ago before the bridge was even started and gave it a thumbs down.

The verdict today? Thumbs down yet again. The plus side is there are lots of log crossings which makes it a bit challenging but the trail doesn't have much flow.

The ride ended with a lot of heat issues. A headache had started in Hawerlak where I watered down. Once close to Kinseman I was done. The heat had done me in. Right now I miss winter riding. An odd thing to say in Mid July but hey... I've had enough of the heat.

July Gets Some Respect (Finally)

After a rather pathetic time at home in regards to riding bikes the winning slot machine finally hit. Thats right. I sat eagerly watching some old lady spend hundreds of dollars on the same machine, when she finally had to get up to change her diaper or get some more cigarettes I swooped in like Caitlin Jenner would at a ladies consignment store in west Hollywood when they got a fresh supply of dresses from all the divorced women wanting to change their lives. That's right, I sat right down at that machine and on my first pull I won the jackpot.

Did I lose you guys? That's a little bit how it felt today. Humid but not hot conditions met with a timeline to hurry up and finish the ride as I had an appointment were all cause for a terrible ride.

The terrible ride did not happen. In fact this could be another contender for top five best of the year.

The trails were in the best shape I have seen in a long time. Although the roots and ladder bridges were slippery which did cause some serious ass puckering action as I rolled over them like a super hero on a hard tailed titanium bike. All that was missing was my cape.

From Mill Creek to Emily Murphy where I crossed and climbed up behind the museum and paid a visit to a long lost girl by the name of Victoria. Ahhh. Victoria. What is your secret? Please tell...

So in a way, July has redeemed itself a bit. A post about July is possibly coming out next time I'm up in God's country. With hot temperatures mixed with mugginess it really isn't the epic month I always thought it would be.

Today though. July won. It was perfect.

Legs of July

You can tell that this one was a bit of a loser fest hence the title. Oh wait a minute... can you?

I call this phenomenon 'July Legs.' It happens every time there is hot humid weather. Quite sad really. There is literally no energy to be spent on the pedalling part of riding bikes (some might say an important part.) When like this, my body wants no part of riding bikes and wants to sit in a hammock in the back yard and drink daiquiris all day.

I forced myself to go and made it (I believe) 16 more or less kilometres after my legs shut down after the 5 km mark. It was rough but I carried on through the thick lower Ewok river trail where I was slapped with wet grass and branches from a previous nights rain. It was honestly a bit aggravating.

The route you ask? Old School Mill Creek Parking spot to Lower Ewok, a climb up where I giggled at myself for considering upper Ewok on the return back and chose the midway.

The ride was shitty. Yet as always it was still infinitely better than hanging out at Costco.

I hate Costco.

Three Days In, A Bike Ride

A rough start to another stint at home which resulted in three days of no rides where today the seal was finally cracked and I rolled around on a fine hardtail bike I'm sure with a rather dumbfounded look on my face.

July may not be the best month to ride, yet it always has had a special place in my heart as it is the month where the weather is in it's most Summer of moods. With the deep Summer in Edmonton we get the classic Edmonton trails of overgrown grass that spills onto the trail brushing your shins as you roll past. Something that happened today on the little singletrack that was ridden.

Yes the ride from Mill Creek to Hawerlak and back through Mackinnon gave little singletrack but I didn't give two shits.

Today's ride made me feel like I just resurfaced from a deep lake where I almost drowned.

I needed it.

archaeologists in mill creek, show some respect kids

skyline continues it's plunge downward

to think people are building million dollar homes meters away, tee he he... 

Beer Friday. Phillips, Zoes Benefit Brew, Cascade Dark Ale

Greetings on my most favourite Beer Friday post of the shift rotation. The last night. Home in the morning which will be stellar, just like a Lonebiker beer review.

Phillips brewing from Victoria, British Columbia. A brewer that has been on here a few times and has always been up there in the ratings. This one is a bit more special than the rest as Phillips sponsored Zoes animal rescue society. A charity that helps animals primarily for first nations mostly in the Enoch region. The services include vets which will spay and neuter animals as well as giving them check ups helping instill a long life. Lonebiker brethren member Gord fosters dogs for SCARS, aka Second Chance Animal Rescue Society. So if you are a good person and want a dog that was well taken care of thanks to Gord and his family and other great people like them contact us here at the blog. Or much better yet, contact Scars. Or whom this beer is dedicated to. Zoes. 

Cause dogs are pretty awesome.

The pour gave us a smart dark looking sexy beast of a beer. A good two fingered head laid down on top like a sultry Playboy model from the seventies lying down on top of a vibrating heart shaped bed. Ohh la la! Am I right? The smell is of roasted caramel and crushed (not ground) coffee beans.

The first few sips were quite incredible and overcome with the spirit of helping dogs I ripped off my shirt and ran through the streets of Beaumont looking and yelling for animals to rescue. Sadly I only saw one rabbit whom I could not catch. After a few more sips things come back down to earth. The taste is of dark coffee beans with an old Rolo chocolate bar that was in the freezer. Pine needles seem to be in the mix as well.

A pretty good beer for an even better cause.

This beer gets 4 suds out of 5.

Happy Sunday

Happy Canada Day

Beer Friday. Collective Arts Brewing, State of Mind IPA

Oh shit, is it Friday already? Say it ain't so! After what I'm assuming a hectic week of work things may be winding down now as the 'going home' countdown is officially on. Some guys start counting down right when they get there and to me that right there is crazy talk. You just gotta turn that part of the brain off and focus on work and camp life till you are left with four days to go.

Collective Arts Brewing who are located in Hamilton, Ontario have been around since two thousand and thirteen. Their focus is to work with artists and have the most beer labels by far in the beer industry. Their intent is to promote artists and raise creative conscious through the sociability of craft beer. Their labels change consistently so when you buy one beer one day, the next purchase the beer will be the same but the labels will be completely different. Kinda cool.

The pour on this one was a bit of a challenge but our head pourer came through and poured a beauty! A good two fingered head stood atop and crowned a rather nice looking India Pale Ale. Lemon and hops ruled out the smell of this one. The first taste gave us a full blow IPA smackdown. At first thought this was a true India Pale Ale. We continued on with the tasting and the IPA taste was there and it was pleasant. Malt bread and pine needles add to this one. A whiff of citrus round this fine one out.

Find it and go barbecue kids.

This beer gets 4 suds out of 5

Happy Thursday