After The Ride

When we finished riding at Rocky Knob, the little lady and I decided that we needed to stick around the mountains and get into some shit. For some reason I wanted to shop for western wear, so she went for another ride.

I didn't pick up any fancy duds, but I did find this sweet bottle-opener/belt buckle.

After that short stop,we headed over to the nearby Appalachian Mountain Brewery for some post-ride refreshments. We bellied up to the bar and I went right at it.

It was sampling of their finest brews, although I didn't care for all of them. This one in particular had a name that's well past its prime.

Seriously? Stop using that. No one gives a shit about the Honey Badger anymore.

I drank it anyway, and the rest of them of course.

My favorite out of the bunch was the 71 IPA, which was plenty hoppy and made me feel quite special. This was, dare I say, the perfect IPA. Plenty of bite and super bitter (not to mention high in alcohol), and I couldn't get enough of it. Although they do sell growlers of their beer to take home, they didn't have any of the 71 available that day. Instead, I had to settle for the Little Red IPA . Not as high in alcohol, but plenty hoppy nonetheless.


I was happy to take something home at least.

You know me. I love beer.


They brew their own right there on site, which makes this place a must-visit if you're ever up in Boone.

They have something for everyone, including beer snobs like me. The IPAs (my favorite) were great, but I even enjoyed the stout and the porter they had. It's a shame that they aren't a little closer to me, but that just means that a few more trips up to the hills are in order.



My bike wants to go back anyway.

One More Ride

I can’t believe that I’m still going on about my vacation.  Somehow I still have things to talk about I guess.  Although no ride will come close to topping SSUSA for quite some time, I did get out on the bike when I got back to New York State.  We visited a local favorite, Sprague Brook Park.

Since I’ve never been there before (and Little Miss Sunshine hadn’t been there in years), we had trouble finding the entrance to the trail.  We eventually did, and discovered that it was quite rooty.

Since the little lady had been riding on the farm and with her mom on the local roads, she realized that her tire pressure was way too high for such a rough trail.

After about a half mile or so, we found what appeared to be the trailhead.  The kiosk in the middle of the woods gave it away.

The actual trail didn’t differ much from the “trail to the trail”, and it was actually kinda fun.  Long, sustained climbs coupled with fast descents kept things interesting.  Since we were out for a fun ride, I stopped to take photos every so often.

They made good use of the land, and even though we weren’t in the mountains there were plenty of fun things to do.

Little Miss Sunshine seemed to enjoy it.

There were several gulleys all around the trails, which kept us on our toes.  One wrong turn and you would fall to your death (or at least have a painful hospital visit.)

With only about ten miles of trail, it should have been a short, yet fun ride.  However, towards the end we started to get a little bored and it seemed like it would never stop.  That may have been because I was getting hungry, and I hadn’t had a beer in a while.  Since I was having withdrawals, we headed to the local beer store so I could stock up.

I picked up a few local brews, but the crown jewel of my search was a beer that has eluded me for several years now.

The Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA.  At $14.99 a bottle, it’s really pricey.  But, it’s the best $14.99 I’ve ever spent.  Super hoppy (duh), but it tastes freaking awesome.  In fact, dare I say it’s more flavorful than the 90 minute version (which is way more plentiful and cheaper.)  I was surprised to find it in Buffalo, but I guess they had plenty because everyone there drinks shitty Canadian beer.  More for me.

Since that was my last day there, we crammed as much shit as possible into a small amount of time.  After spending a good amount of time with my brother in law and my nieces and nephew, the little lady and I headed to some giant waterfall up the river a ways.

We stayed on the American side.  I was afraid to cross the border for fear of Peter asking me to smuggle some more shitty Canadian beer into the U.S. of A.  I think he was watching me from high above.

We headed back to Buffalo late that night, and capped off our day with a few beers and a good meal.  The next day we hit the road back to Charlotte.  It was a great trip, and I didn’t want any of it to end. 

Especially since we stopped at brew pub in Pittsburgh on the way home.

I guess we should get out of town more often.