Hood River Double Cross pics

Just wanted to share a few pics from the Hood River Double Cross back on September 18th.  Beth and I were representing the 'mongers and Kim was out riding for Team S&M.

Lots of good single track on this course made for fun riding, but tough passing:

Beth getting prepped for the lady's race.  Sweet kit!

I need this mask:

Beth ripping it:

Beth and Kim following the women's race:

Hood River Harvest Ride was awesome!

Four Mongers headed out to the beautiful Hood River Valley on Saturday, September 24th for the annual Hood River Harvest Ride. In attendance were Paul Vanderford, Kelley Beamer, Alissa Lesperance and ole man TC. As is the case on most Saturday mornings, the night after an awesome Merle Haggard/Kris Kristofferson show, we got a later than planned start. But, not to worry as this was supposed to be a leisurely ride and the weather was looking really nice for the entire day.

We arrived at the Mt Hood Town Hall to pick up our packets and head out on our 27 miles ride through the pear and apple popping valley. The Parkdale loop took us north along country roads and then we cut back across Hwy. 35 to head south along the west side of the valley. There were some nice hill climbs and smooth downhills. We stopped at the Mt View Orchard to pick-up some ripe fruit and a few gallons (Paul/Kelley) of cider. The only let down was the fact that the Eliot Glacier brewpub is closed in Parkdale. It would have been a great day for a pint on the back deck with majestic views of Mt Hood. Aside from that let down the ride was very well organized, the weather perfect, and the Mongers in effect.

BmCCers enjoy any event that requires cycling/biking and we will certainly participate in more fun rides that help raise money and awareness for good causes in the future. The Hood River Harvest Ride provides much needed support to the Hood River Valley Residence Committee which continues to protect this agriculturally rich valley from out-of-control developers.

Scavenger hunt! New jerseys! And 2010 Rider of the Year!!

I woke up on Saturday, September 17, 2011 with several Timbers’ Army chants still rattling around in my brain and a touch dehydrated from last night’s game winning IPAs. To my surprise I heard the pitter-patter of rain coming down outside and thought, “Oh well, I guess this year we will have to get wet to win the 2^nd Annual Beermongers Scavenger Hunt.” Alissa and I rode down to the Mongers to meet up with our teammates, Bill and Steph. Together we were going to be known as the BATS or STABistas. Competing teams arrived and around 11:15am, after a quick pint, we grabbed our bag of clues and dashed out into the rain to devise our strategy.

Some teams rode off within a few minutes and we thought it was vital for us to get moving too. We managed to snatch-up the first couple of clues pretty quickly but upon leaving Hopwerks Urban Brewery (SE Powell) the front tire of Bill’s bike simply came off. Sheesh! We used an Allen wrench to fit it back on. While we were there several other teams came by and after exchanging some pleasantries we all headed south. As the hunt continued teams hauled ass around PDX, obeying all traffic signs, signals and laws, while collecting clues. The organizers had devised an excellent set of clues that required us to think, be timely, and ride like the Pineapple Express!

Our team stood out in front of Jeld-Wen field for a photo acknowledging our future victory with a snort from Bill’s bike flask. We had kept ahead of the competition and we had some easy clues to pick up on the way back to SE Division. Finding out the ‘barrel aged beer of the day’ at the Hair of the Dog proved to be an obstacle. We were out front at 1:15pm but they do not open until 2pm. Even after several phone calls they never answered the phone and our chances slipped away. I will not patronize this pub for a while as they blew our chances for 1^st place. On our return to the Beermongers I sprung a flat and as my back tire slide out I came crashing down to the ground. Ouch! We limped into the Beermongers first but that position was not guaranteed, due to the employees at Hair of the Dog.

Over the next hour other teams returned and the organizers started tally the scores. Around 5:30pm the final awards were given out and the Fears for Beers team had snatched up the Nick Wagner designed and etched trophy. Plus, they rolled out with a wheel-barrel full of beers. The BANKsters, last year’s champs, came in second which left the other three teams saying, “We got this next year for sure.” Congrats to Fears for Beers, the BANKsters and everyone who participated. It was lots of fun!!!

The fun did not stop there. Following the Scavenger Hunt award ceremony the Beermongers Cycle Club (BmCC) presented the 2010 Rider of the Year Award to Kim Matheson for here superb racing during the 2010 cross season. This award was quite overdue but as my mom always said, “Its better late than never.” Congrats Kim!!! The award will be given out every year and a picture of the winner will be framed on the wall of the Beermongers for eternity.

Lastly with more BmCCers now in the room we handed out the 2011 gear. Folks were excited about the jersey design, thanks Jason Miranda and Jason Halsey, and I am sure we will all ride with pride during 2011. Many thanks to our sponsors: Adapt Training, Sustainable NW Woods, Nathan Poole Chiropractic, and GreenHammer. We cannot do all this without your support, thanks!

As the evening went on we proudly wore our new gear, drank some beers and talked about the upcoming season with much anticipation.

Bikes, beers and bad weather!

Cool blog post about bikes in general

http://surlybikes.com/blog/2514/

Disclaimer - I stole this from the Green Submarine's blog.

"Bike racing teams sponsored by beer stores - rad.  Bike racing teams sponsored by record companies - awesome."

Announcements from TC:

The Beermongers Bike Scavenger Hunt is an event that sets teams (of 4) against each other to figure out clues, retrieve items, and prove they have been to specifc locations around inner PDX. No drinking during the hunt is required but you may be thirsty after and the Mongers staff will have some special Anderson Valley brews to wet your whistle. The hunt will take place beteewn 11-3 pm on Saturday, Sept. 17th. Meet in front of the Beermongers (Se 12th and Division) around 10:30 am to do final registration and get your packet. Registration fees will go towards post-hunt drinks tickets and raffeled gifts. The winning team will be rewarded with a wheelbarrel of unique beers from Bend, OR breweries. I have attahced a registration form so please get organiuzed and let the folks at the Beermongers know you want to participate. It is obviously cool to circulate this to friends and share my email with them if they have questions.

The Beermongers Cycle Club (BmCC) jersey handout party - Following the Bike Scavneger Hunt (or around 5pm) we will strat the gear handout event. I have confirmation from our gear company that our box of goodies will arrive via UPS in PDX next Wednesday. So if you can't make the Scavenger Hunt please come by around 5pm to get the your stuff and raise a glass to the new gear/season.

Wednesday (9/14) 6pm ride/training - With the first Blind Date at the Diary only a few weeks away I thought it would be good to have a little dismount/remount practice in a park so that folks who are new to cross can get themselves ready. Let's meet at the Beermongers at 6pm and we will go for a shorter ride to a park to practice.

Pain and Sufferin

Pain and Suffering was an appropriate name for a cross race on this 94 degree day.  Frankly though, the temperature doesn't matter all that much...most every cross race on any day in any weather is bound to bring on pain and suffering.  Today, it was in the form of dry, dusty, choke-your-esophagus heat.  Welcome to early season cross, I guess.  But this was my first experience doing any hot/dry cross races.  I didn't ride my first-ever cross race until the rain started in mid-October last year, so this was all new to me.

Unless I'm mistaken, I think today was the first cyclocross race in 2011 for any of the BMCC riders (please correct me if I'm wrong, and give us a post/pics). Bill and Abram joined, also sporting last year's jerseys:

Looking forward to those snazzy new ones in a week!  We all raced in the Cat C men's category.  Since completing most of last season in the beginners-cat we all agreed that we should probably "cat-up" to C's for this season.

Abram and I got a good starting position on the front line and jumped out to lead the field of 14 CatC riders.

After 45 minutes of choking agony...well, I was in the lead.  My first ever podium:

Bill finished solidly at 10th, and, unfortunately, Abram had to drop due to some athletic(/dust/heat)-induced asthma, but he looked great before his lungs failed to cooperate:

I must say that going out and racing has to be the best way to train for racing.  And it's a hell of a lot more fun than training on the roads or Leif.

Any other BMCC riders get out for the pre-crusade races?  Any plans? 

The Church Key

The first blog post on the new BeerMongers CycleClub website -- let this post be the much-needed tool that let's the fun begin -- like the door latch on a Subaru, the worn edge of a campground pic-nic table, or the stranger with a scratched up lighter and a quick wrist.  It's just what you've been waiting for, but instead of releasing the brewed goodness locked beneath a sealed cap, this will open up a world of bicycling, blogging, and BeerMongering that you never new existed.

Welcome, step right in.  Share your thoughts on biking, whether it's competitive or commuting, share your thoughts on beer, share your thoughts on just about anything.  I'll get it started with some photos and some links, and then let the chain reaction begin.

You can create an account and "follow" this blog.  There should be a way to subscribe to email updates, or a digest of sorts, but I'm new to the world of blogs, so I haven't figured it out yet.

More updates to come soon.

Welcome to the BMCC, and the new blog.

Cheers,
-Nick