Brewery Bikery 2026 ~ Drinking & Riding Annual Was Fun With Some Noobs 08Aug26

Steve rolled down from Eagles Nest; Jim and I headed down in the Crusher; Dave drove the Subie; Kize with Kyle & Evan straggled in in the Jeep. We convened at Angry James @ 10am, and would finish back there tonight. A few technical eBike issues thwarted the start but we finally got every thing started well at the top of the serpentine on the dam. The Brewery Bikery is a mostly annual ride to every brewery in Summit Co with a pint or so enjoyed at each one. This years run was an "out & back" as Swan Mtn is closed. The core plan was a 1st ~20mi leg to the far end of Breck, to Breckenridge Brewing when they open at 11am, and then to trundle back the same way hitting each brewery as we passed by. It worked and the weather held but for an increasing headwind from Breck to Highside. 

We were somewhat challenged up the serpentine path to the top of the dam but ultimately convened and bounced Yo's bike to 'fix' it and put more air in Kyle's tires. We rode pretty quickly through Frisco and on to Breck, with a few stops for water or Gatorade.

We enjoyed Breck, and folks were noticing our efforts and team jerseys, but soon headed down to Broken Compass, excellent brewery on the other side of Breck. We were joined by Kelly, Scott's friend, who'd done her own enduro ride before joining us. Soon enough we left for Highside in Frisco, unfortunately with a headwind... easier with eBikes, less so for the regular troops... I broke wind for a bit for Bro Brown.

With a bit a delayed start, and some lollygagging, we lost our main stud Sheldon at Highside. He headed back to Denver for a visit with his kid there at 4pm. Thanks for coming out buddy. After a beer and some nosh at Highside, accompanied by tunes from a troubadour (again with shout outs), we headed to ORB for some IPAs, if you know how to order here. I think Scott is providing a running total. Again a band to boot, and a visit from Evan's friends Cole & Tiara, who were cool, and had just done Chihuahua Lk. Evan and Cole were brothers in guns... I see why Evan didn't wanna wear the long sleeve event shirt... "sun's out; guns out." Good repping us PA natives. Thanks for meeting up with us, youngsters.

We headed next across the dam to our Steep stop at the Tiki Bar on the lake. It was packed as there was a concert at the amp and we got caught in the crosswind. We ultimately scored some brews and I was able to get an update from the Dillon Marina GM ~ they are not too impacted by the low lake levels as the other marina is shuddered and Dillon is a deepwater spot. Good for them but still glad I flipped Mon Ami. Tiki only had pints so Evan got screwed on his credit card... heh heh. We rolled easily down to Dillon Dam Brewery for another pop.

Scott's (and Evan's) still counting but he and his tribe left us for a ride back to Keystone... whatever will we do now without the finger show. Thanks for coming out my friend, and brining the noobs. The core team made it to Syndicate and then back at AJ's for some good beers and ultimately very good enchiladas in green at the Old Dillon Inn. Too, we had to guarantee Brown a ride up the hill to get him to stay for dinner. NP, we engineered a solution atop the Crusher for the "slow" ride up Wildernest.

BB26 was another excellent version of drinking and biking with friends at altitude. Thanks all being game for another year.

Mayflower Gulch & Gold Hill Trundle ~ Then Keen 1st Fri Festival In Silverthorne 07Aug26

Gold Hill... Jim, Steve, and I started the day driving past Copper toward Fremont Pass and grabbed a lucky, recently vacated, parking spot at the Mayflower Gulch TH. We hiked straight up the rocky road, oddly closed this season... it was our plan all along but odd. The cirque of the Pacific Crest and surrounding ridgeline is spectacular, and dotted with mining remnants. Yet, we had more in mind and headed up to acquire the Gold Hill ridgeline. We then looped back to the car across the ridge and through a couple of lesser known turns right to get us back to Mayflower Gulch. Yoho found an AirBnB along the route back. The weather and friends offered a great moderate hike. After the hike we hit Thirsty Pika for a second chance... hmmm.

1st Friday... we returned to Eagles Nest and rested in the afternoon some. Then we hit the monthly 1st Friday gathering in Silverthorne in late afternoon - and stayed all night. We wisely rode public transportation, which in Summit Co is excellent. This was the biggest 1st Friday event I'd every seen/heard. We saw 13 bands on 6 stages and drank discounted beers due to Brown bringing us reusable 1st Friday cups from prior outings. There were art booths all around us to boot. It was awesome. We found out what Cody, prior owner of Baker's Brewery, is doing ~ playing bass for Obnoxious Weeds! Our favored band, whom I blind picked to see from their name alone, was the Pinheads, a local SKA band. There were many alternative genres represented and most all the bands were locals ~ I didn't get every artist's pic clean but I did get quite a few. We capped the night at Angry James and had some food from Mountain Melt, along with a night cap. 

Remezcla ~ Latin vibes...

Obnoxious Weeds ~ metal...

Jeff Kingery ~ good voice, presence, and covers...

Chris Bauer Band ~ rock & blues; a bit thumpy in the alcove...

Beau Thomas ~ local prolific artist with sweet voice...

Frisco Funk Collective ~ uh, funk; very fun...

Earl Clairmont & The Pinheads ~ SKA; excellent tunes & good show...

Pluck Norris ~ string band sounds...

Old Herman ~ indeed & we loved his covers...

Hangin' In Summit With Brantleys ~ Hiking And Keystone Bluegrass & Beer Fest 31July26-02Aug26

Summit Co ~ Kala and I headed to Summit for some time out of the non-air conditioned Blodgett spot and to enjoy some events with Scott & Peg. We arrived early and prepped the Nest for their arrival. We also did a recon hike around the tarn in the backyard, just 3mi & 400ft, and stopped at ORB for July's pickup ~ a tasty 4 pack of Corduroy.

Hiking The White River NF ~ Brantleys arrived Fri afternoon and we had a quick lunch with a Sextant cab and then hit the trail around the tarn again. It was warm but a nice hike in the woods with our friends. There are still some wildflowers about, despite the heat. We dined along the Blue River at Sauce that evening and then hit ORB for a nightcap. I introduced the team to Brit Marling, a stellar sci fi screenwriter and cool actor. IMO; we started them with Another Earth.

Keystone Bluegrass & Beer Festival ~ Rest was easy overnight and we had a big day at the Keystone B&B festival. I started us with a new egg dish variant which was received well. We laid around for the AM, and caught the stirring national news and fabricated pretzel necklaces to stay sated for drinking. At 11am it was off to Keystone; this'd be my 10th year. We got our RFID wrtisbands and 4oz glasses for unlimited beer tasting and 3 food servings each, the Buddy Pass, solid choice for couples. Beer & Bluegrass, what's not to like?

Mighty Holler ~ The lineup was good for Saturday and we began, beer-less to Scott's chagrin, at the Montezuma (smaller) stage with the fun Mighty Holler band from Boulder. They are a pair of couples with primary voicing from the women, an alto and a soprano. My teammates took shade and I listened acutely from center stage.

Old Dangerfield ~ We moved into River Run to see Old Dangerfield on the main stage. Good Colo Spgs band with an older southern style, not classic bluegrass. The team was antsy for the brewers to begin pouring but we started with Argento's excellent empanadas while OD played. The young guy had a good voice and they had some harmonies.

Beer! And Drunken Hearted String Band ~ The beers started flowing and we jumped from Argento's into the nearest beer booth from ORB. This is one of the first times I've seen them at this festival; unfortunately while they are just 10 miles away, they served from cans. Sheesh. We continued to sample beers at many of the stations. And we made it back to Montezuma for the excellent Drunken Hearted String Band (aka Drunken Hearts). Again Keystone features Colorado talent and we are steeped in it. For many of us this was the best band of the day. This variant of Drunken Hearts still had the original alt-country/outlaw-country tunes from the bandleader but stayed true to the strings format while they crushed many covers too. The band was very tight with mad skills and despite being on the smaller stage (where voices were a bit lighter in the mix), they crushed. I loved their rendition of "I Know You Rider," one of my fav songs ever.

Second Gear, Peculiar Smooth 62 III & Tribonacci On Tertiary Stage ~ We kept drinking and eating stuff and made our way past the main stage to hear the excellent 6 piece bluegrass band Second Gear; all the great strings and of course they are from Denver, CO. We ultimately made it toward the edge of the festival again and rested. I got the 1st glass of Peculiar's Smooth 62 III and alerted the team. This 10% ABV hazy IPA from Fort Collins would ultimately be our top beer of the festival. They poured from unlabled cans to our dismay and they ran out of the Smooth 62 while we were in line for re-ups. Oh well ~ better to have tasted than to have never tasted at all. We caught the small 3rd stage featuring Tribonocci while there. The team selfie is a bit fuzzy but was that the beer or my f-stop setting?

Larry Keel & Sweetwater ~ We drank and walked to the enclave/buffalo area anchored by Sweetwater and Deschutes and, while we did not try it, the hard seltzer team at Party Bomb was killing it with the youngsters. Atlanta's Sweetwater's hazy IPA was #2 at the show (drawn by fun employees and featuring trout taphandles) and ORB's classic In The Steep hazy IPA was #3. I'd not had Sweetwater before but I know their keen vibe from music video's hosted at their brewery back east and meeting their team was a treat. San Luis Valley's chili beer was honorable mention. Back to Montezuma for the Larry Keel Experience featuring a flat-picker from Virginia, with keen voice and good accompaniment.

Headliners Brothers Comotose ~ We got back to the main River Run stage for the Brothers Comatose show. I stood as the crowds rolled into the mosh pit for them, a strong California multi-genre country and alt-everything band with 4 part harmonies. I thought it was great. I love their YouTube drops of collaborations too with many top female vocalists. We tasted ribs and pizza and cheesesteaks but Argento's empanadas were the best and we tapped out our food cards taking some home.

Deck Vibe & Tunes ~ We capped the eve with great deck vibe in Summit Co below Peak One of the Ten Mile Range, and nosh prepped from the "ladies." And then, ORBs and tunes on the NestMT. Great weekend, spectacular festival of music and tastes, made all the better with our great friends ~ thanks for coming out.