On Cyclocross

There are very few sports in which a person who loves fitness as much as they love beer can participate. Beer league softball certainly puts a focus on beer - it's in the name, after all - but ever the most dedicated beer leaguer would have a hard time making an argument that playing the game does much to help keep competitors fit.


I attempted to be fit once, and bicycling was my method. Before Hoosier Beer Geek, I filled my summer evenings with lonely bike rides all over the south side of Indianapolis, getting to know the areas around the city I hardly knew. The art of getting lost was great motivation, and kept things interesting. But as the roads grew more familiar, I lost something in that love of cycling. My motivation for miles was replaced with beer, and the fitness went away, a pound at a time. I found myself at 30 pounds past my best weight, and looking for a way to rekindle my cycling romance.


And then I learned about cyclocross.


Cyclocross is a different kind of bicycle racing, combining road racing-like bicycles with courses that combine roads, grass, trails, hills, and obstacles. But more importantly, cross looked extremely fun, and included beer.

There are many stories about the origins of cyclo-cross. One is that European road racers in the early 1900s would race each other to the next town over from them and that they were allowed to cut through farmer's fields, over fences or take any other shortcuts in order to make it to the next town first. This was sometimes called steeple chase as the only visible landmark in the next town was often the steeple. This was a way for them to stay in shape during the winter months and put a twist on road racing. In addition, riding off road in more difficult conditions than smooth pavement increased the intensity at which the cyclists were riding and improved their on-the-road bike handling abilities. Forced running sections, or portage, were incorporated to help deliver warm blood to the feet and toes, as well as exercise other groups of muscles. (source: wikipedia)

You may have noticed that beer wasn't mentioned in the wikipedia article. But I had seen pictures, and read stories. With that in mind, I bought an expensive bicycle, and promptly started not riding it very much.


But the idea of cyclocross was still in my head, and as the season kicked into gear, I started tweeting about it. It wasn't long until some local cyclocross racers caught on to my tweets, and called my bluff. Would I like to do a little practice? I guess I would. That I crashed on my first go around might have been a sign, but after that initial practice I felt pretty good about it - nervous and clueless, but I figured at worst I'd finish last, comfortable and happy that I'd made it through my first race.


About a month later I had finally registered for that race, with no fitness base apart from evening on an elliptical machine at my gym. I hadn't been on a bicycle since that previous month's practice, and my seat time prior to that outing consisted of random 23 mile round trips to and from work. I was unprepared, but not worried. I was just going to enjoy myself, and then enjoy the beer rewards afterwards - a perfect introduction to the answer to all my fitness and beer related problems.

It didn't work out that way.


On race day I woke up early. Multiple times. I had drank the night before (it was a weekend, after all), but I'd kept everything in check. I had bowl of cereal despite the fact that I don't normally eat breakfast. My stomach was unhappy, a combination of nerves and Captain Crunch. I sat on the couch and waited. I got impatient and headed to the race.


In bike racing there are multiple categories, sort of like JV and varsity, but with even more classes. My race would be the last of the day, with the largest field, and the slowest competitors. I had time to kill. I was three hours early and had already pinned on my number. I started to warm up. I checked out the course between the other races. The course was fairly flat. Muddy. That should be fun. I was surprised at how much just warming up wore me out, but I put it down to nerves. I had no illusions of finishing anywhere but last - I had even told friends that last was exactly where I expected to finish - so there was no pressure.


While it may not look like it, this beer was consumed in-race.
Because I had registered early, I started ahead of a few folks. It didn't take long for me to fall through to the back, but I was OK with that. My first race was to be a learning experience. I was measuring my effort. The first lap was harder than I had expected, but there were still a few people behind me.

But as the race went on, I just got passed. And passed. I passed no one. I couldn't put up a fight, as I could barely breath. There was nowhere to hide, and nowhere to recover. While the course was flat, the fact that it was muddy everywhere meant there was nowhere where any form of coasting was an option. And since I was barely moving to begin with, anything less that a full effort meant I would have been completely stopped.


My lap times were remarkably. Remarkable in that I was down 3 minutes to the leader in that first trip around. Remarkable in that I was dropping about 30 seconds per lap. I had certainly found my groove, and it was slow.

But there was redemption. I did accept two beer hand-ups.


The beer hand-up might be my favorite part of cyclocross. While riding the course it's not unusual to be heckled by spectators.

"Welcome to the race! Unfortunately it passed here five minutes ago!"
"Your plan to solo off the back is working brilliantly!"

But those same spectators are usually accompanied by friends holding beer. Beer they want you to drink while you're racing. Beer isn't the only hand-up. Sometimes it's cash. Sometimes it's bacon. Sometimes it's babies. Ok, it's never babies, but who'd want a baby anyway.

I finished a lap down. Second-to-last in class, and considering that the other guy's bike broke, that put me way down the list. Of hundreds of competitors, I was very close to the worst. (I did finish ahead of some guys in the 45+ age group.) By the race's end, I thought I might actually die. It was really, really hard.

In the week that followed my thoughts on cross ranged from "that's crazy" to "that wasn't so bad" to "I should do that again soon." I didn't participate the following week, instead visiting the race to drink and take photos. While it wasn't the same kind of rewarding, there was still a sense of happiness around the thing, as I'd found a reasonable excuse to get a little drunk on a Saturday afternoon.


What I'm saying is that I'm not advising that you go out and try cyclocross. It's not for everyone. I'm pretty sure it's not for me. But what I am saying is that if you're into honest efforts, beer, heckling, and the outdoors, then cyclocross is worth checking out. Grab (or bring) a beer. Wander around the course. And maybe the next time you'll find yourself out there, wondering how the hell it all happened.


The final cyclocross race of the 2011 season takes place on Saturday, December 31st, at Trader's Point. The race will also be accompanied by a mountain bike race, if you're into that sort of thing. More info here.

The Drinking Tour of Flanders

Good beer and bicycling go hand in hand. In America, there's nowhere that serves as better evidence than cycling/craft beer capital of Portland, Oregon. Portland not only has the most breweries/brewpubs per capita in the United States, it is also well known as a cycling mecca, and despite 55 days with measurable precipitation a year is ranked first in bicycle commuting among the 30 largest cities in the United States.


If you were to imagine Portland as a country, perhaps your best choice would be Belgium. Bad weather, bicycling and fantastic beer are all part of the Belgian identity. Once a year Belgians gather to celebrate the combination of those elements in the Ronde van Vlaanderen (or Tour of Flanders) spring classic bike race.


The Ronde (along with Ghent-Wevelgem and Parix-Roubaix) is perhaps most famous for its route on the cobbled backroads of southern Belgium. These brutal cobbled sections break men and bicycles alike, leaving only the hardest of hard men at the front in battle for the title of Ronde van Vlaanderen champion. Perhaps it is fitting that this year's Tour of Flanders will be held on Easter (5pm ET, Versus):

"Only those who are in top condition can say that the Ronde is not hard. For everyone else, it's the Way of the Cross." -Andrea Tafi

We are not professional cyclists. We are fans and drinkers. Drinking along with the Tour of Flanders route is our own way of the cross.

Beer 1) The route starts just outside of Brugge, namesake of Indiana's Brugge Brasserie, so perhaps a bottle of Brugge White, Black, or Tripel might make for a fitting introduction.


Beer 2) Route continues through Hooglede, just 17 kilometers from Esen, home of De Dolle Brouwers.

Beer 3) The route passes through Lendelede, just 6 or so kilometers south of Ingelmunster, home of Brouwerij Van Honsebrouck, makers of Kasteel Rouge.


Beer 4) Route passes through the region Wallonne and heads north at Russeignies, about 26 kilometers north of Pipaix, home of Brasserie Dubuisson Frères, makers of the Scaldis lineup of beers.

Beer 5) Route passes through Brakel, just 32 or so kilometers south of Melle, where the Brouwerij Huyghe produces Delirium Tremens and Delirium Nocturnum.


Beer 6) Race finishes at Meerbeke, a 21 kilometer straight shot from Brussels' Sint-Jans-Molenbeek neighborhood, home of Brasserie Belle-Vue (which I could have sworn I've seen in local liquor stores). But since we can't get that here in Indiana, we'll look north (still only 52 kilometers from the finish) to Breendonk and Brouwerij Duvel Moortgat, makers of Duvel.

If you've kept up with the race, hopefully you'll be with me in celebrating a win by Cervelo Test Team. And if you've kept up with the beer, there's a good chance you passed out and didn't make it to the end of the race. No need to worry, Paris-Roubaix (the king of the classics) is only a week away.

Having never been to Belgium, I can't say this is entirely accurate. I definitely appreciate any comments or corrections. In this case I stuck to beers and breweries with beer available in the United States (Indiana in particular).

Beer: The Pedal Pusher's Potion

You don't have to be a cyclist to be familiar with the Tour de France, the three-week road race that features the best cyclists in the world competing for the Maillot Jaune (or yellow jersey). Cycling as of late has become as well known for its use of performance enhancing drugs as for its competitions, but one drug has an even longer and more public history with cycling: alcohol.

The Tour de France, along with the Giro d'Italia, and the Vuelta a España form the triple crown of cycling. But not so long ago America had its own grand cycling competition: The Coors International Bicycle Classic. Although the Coors Classic went away after 1988, the Red leader's jersey is still popular among cyclists, and is still available for purchase at many cycling stores.

But the Coors jersey is just the tip of the iceberg as far as beer-based cycling jerseys go. The list of microbreweries with their own jerseys is growing exponentially, giving the biking beer geek a vast and almost overwhelming selection to choose from. A recent online search turned up jerseys from Dogfish Head, Ommegang, Stone Brewing Company, New Belgium, Smuttynose Brewing Company, Sierra Nevada Brewing Company, Boulder Beer Company, Harpoon Brewery, Breckenridge Brewery, Troegs Craft Brewery, Avery Brewing, Bell's Brewery, Lancaster Brewing, Full Sail Brewing, Deschutes Brewery, Leinenkugel, Redhook, Guinness, Fuller's, Brooklyn Brewery, and Left Hand Brewing.

The connection between beer and bicycling jerseys starts with customers, jersey suppliers, and brewery employees. Frederick Mazzeo, Dogfish Head's Merchandise Manager/Community Relations & Licensee Liaison, designed the Dogfish Head jersey himself. When asked why Dogfish got into cycling jerseys, he wrote "Customers began asking." In the case of Boulder Beer's jerseys, Brewmaster David Zucker informed me that the process worked a little differently. "We got involved with cycling jerseys when the guys at Primal Wear contacted us after drinking our beers. They liked the beers, and the graphics, and then they contacted us about whether we would be interested in having them produce the jerseys."

For Chris Lennert, the jerseys actually served as a sort of gateway into working for Left Hand Brewing. "Before I started working at Left Hand, I worked for a company that did a few cycling jerseys, and I approached Left Hand (my favorite brewery) to do a few jerseys with them. We wound up doing a Sawtooth and Milk Stout jersey, both of which are sold out. Based on the response that we had, a few months after I started working at Left Hand, we decided to do another one."

At Smuttynose, demand for the jerseys started with company president Peter Egelston and his partner, Joanne. "Joanne and I have been avid cyclists for a long time. When we expanded our brewpub ten years ago, adding a retail shop, we were looking to expand our product line beyond the usual lineup of tee-shirts and logo glasses. Since many of our friends ride, as well, we'd gotten inquiries about cycling jerseys, so Joanne, who designs all of our graphics, got in touch with Louis Garneau, based in nearby Vermont, about custom jerseys." There was a similar sort of in-house demand at Harpoon Brewery, says Liz Melby. "We have always had a very active crew that has worked at the brewery, including many passionate cyclist. Because of that, there was a demand for Harpoon cycling jerseys." According to Chris Cochran at Stone Brewery, the demand came from everywhere. "We had been thinking about doing them for awhile, some of the Stone Staff requested we make some, and there are LOTS of people in SoCal that ride, and we were contacted by Canari to make them so it all came together."

The production of jerseys may also come from brewery sponsorship of bicycling teams. Todd Thibault of Breckenridge Brewery, said they got into the business of cycling when a cycling shop in Breckenridge contacted them to sponsor their cycling team. Because Great Adventure Sports was already creating jerseys for the team, it was only natural that the brewery would offer them for sale to the general public. The brewery also supports smaller cycling teams through what Todd calls "beer support". As he says, "What more could a rider need?"

The graphics used on many craft brewery labels are a natural choice for use in cycling jerseys, which often feature designs that run the gamut from classy to garish. But is there a deeper link between beer and bicycling? Why do so many cyclists choose to wear brewery based jerseys? Left Hand's Lennert thinks it's about the passion. "Cyclists and breweries are both very passionate about what they do, and they take pride in who they partner with."

Breckenridge's Thibualt sees the connection as a continuation of tradition. "Beer and cycling is an old tradition, we even have some framed photos in our pub in Denver dated to the early 1900's that show cyclists on the side of the road drinking beer...well, OK they're just big bottles...we assume it's beer." Smuttynose's Egelston says it's a lifestyle choice. "The big guys have NASCAR, we have cycling. People who ride seriously are not likely to choose mass-marketed beer because they are not making mass-market choices in other areas of their lives." For Dogfish's Mazzeo, the answer is a bit more simple. "The carbs, man."

Perhaps it is just the carbs. It shouldn't be surprising that companies that sell cycling jerseys also promote cycling and wellness through in-house programs and sponsorship of cycling teams. The folks at Dogfish promote a healthier lifestyle through securing gym memberships for employees, and on site Bocce courts. At Breckenridge Brewery, wellness is explained in simple terms. "We're all from Colorado; the out-of-doors is how we roll." The folks at Boulder seem to have a similar philosophy. "We have a lot of staff who are bikers. Boulder is an exceptionally bike friendly community, so biking comes naturally to many of us. With the athletic inclination of Coloradans, we have a very fit group of people. Aside from biking, we have people play ultimate, disk golf, baseball, softball, hike, rock climb, ski, board, water ski." The folks at Harpoon see cycling as an extention of the company motto. "Our brewery's motto is 'Love Beer. Love Life' and we encourage living the motto to both our employees and our drinkers," said Melby. "We host and sponsor several cycling events each year, including the Harpoon Brewery to Brewery Ride and the Harpoon Point to Point." So perhaps it's only natural that these breweries are selling jerseys. They're also out there wearing them.

So if brewing and cycling really do go hand in hand, shouldn't a beer make a perfect post-ride reward? Which beers do the brewers themselves prefer? Each brewer had their own opinion, though Smuttynose's Egelston may have the most sound advice. "Obviously, the best post-ride cooldown is plain water. After re-hydration, I'd recommend a nice hoppy pale ale or IPA." Chris Cochran at Stone Brewery says you've got to consider circumstances: "If you are looking to cool down and carb up with a lower alcohol beer, I would say Stone Levitation Ale or Stone Pale Ale. However, if you just worked your ass off on a ride, and want to “reward” yourself, I’d say go with a Stone IPA or Arrogant Bastard Ale!"

Todd Thibault at Breckenridge recommends their Avalanche Amber Ale. "It matches the jersey. It's all about a balance." Frederick Mazzeo at Dogfish Head says he enjoys a postride 60 minute IPA followed by a 90 minute IPA. Chris Lennert at Left Hand isn't picky. "Any of them! It depends on what time of year you’re riding – do you want a good thirst quencher or a good winter warmer??" Harpoon's Melby recommends any of their beers for a cool down, but adds "IPA is always a great choice because it will cut through the salt of the sweat." David Zuckerman at Boulder Beer has his own very solid advice. "Whichever of our beers satisfies you, is good enough for us. It's kind of like the question that I get a lot about what is my favorite beer. My answer is always, the one that's in front of me."

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Thanks to those of you who provided links to more jerseys in the comments section. They've been added into the article and hopefully will provide as a valuable resource for cyclists looking to support their favorite brewery.