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.

A Ride, A Rip, Some Rock, And Rations ~ Alliterate Front Range Events 02Oct25-07Oct25

Kala and I have been in alt locations but today we got to ride bikes downtown again. Great weather and a nice ride...

I caught up again with Matt and his mates for a rip around the Mount Evans/Blue Sky area. We didn't have to do much leaf peeper leaping despite the timing. It was still pretty. I rocked on back out to Summit and stopped at ORB to conclude.

Jim & I hit Red Rocks on my way back to COS for a concert at Red Rocks. As often, I was there to see the opening act of three, Jade Bird. She delivered a good 45min show with hits sung of challenging life moments. She's back to a strong one woman show after a keen stint as front-woman with her ex in a full band. Both are great. Sound at RR as always, was excellent.

We also saw Saint Motel (my first time), who were good. Jazzy band with solid lead vocals and fervent fans singing all the songs ~ mostly shouting the many chorus lines. I didn't stay for the headliners, Young The Giant, I've seen them before and wanted to get home and sated; Jim said they were good.

Kala took me to a restaurant she enjoyed earlier ~ but we couldn't find it. Yet, we had a nice evening at 503 West where Korean-inspired food was very good, but the tap list was wanting.

Random Front Range Stuff ~ Boxster PPF, Rare Trout, Urban Animal, Black Magic, A Ride Downtown, Visiting With Court, & OTA Play In DEN 06Aug25-12Aug25

Kala & I rode early to avoid the heat. We didn't even stop for long even given same. Still plenty of folks on the trails.

We had a nice visit with Courtney over dinner at Blodgett with Scooter's wine choice. Fun eve' but no pics. My Apple BT mouse died and so I bought another but got the cool Black Magic mouse to match my desktop.

I got out with BobR for a short rip and an Urban Animal beer, as well as nice items at Sushi Row, before he heads to WI for the rest of the summer...

While prepping for the blog I found and enjoyed Rare Trout (had to do it), a new tasty EPA from Cerebral...

We don't know if it was me or someone else but the Ceramic Pro PPF on the Boxster saved the day. No paint damage! Here are the before and after...

My sister bought a place in Denver and she needn't be required to buy cable or over-the-top streamed local TV channels to get ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, PBS, or CW IMO. However, despite good wiring throughout her unit, an antenna connection to the "feed" delivered naught ~ it was a cable company connect. She already has Internet from bonded twisted pair via the phone company. I studied the issue (via DTV & AntennaWeb resources), understood she'd skirt the downtown buildings to the transmitters and would do well with a moderately sized UHF/VHF directional for full over-the-air (OTA) coverage. We could have installed in the attic but the run to the nearest COAX connection would've been kind of ugly. We chose the 2nd best spot in the upstairs guest bedroom and placed the excellent ClearStream 2V antenna in the upper corner properly oriented. Verifications of COAX runs through the house (using a COAX end-point toner) and signal strength on antenna locations (using a tiny TV I could tote around easily) were done throughout the install. COAX wiring in the unit is good but needed to be terminated properly in locations we wanted to receive OTA) at TVs. The family room required a jump from one COAX to another to get to the TV. At the end of the day she now receives over 70 channels where nothing was on... however, hiding most of these to get the "big 6" in solid 1080p with 5.1 audio will let her see the published NFL games in Colorado "for free."

Now she just has to deal with whether to get ESPN ala carte and how their purchase of the NFL channel will impact pricing and services... 'cause who doesn't want the college games and Peyton & Eli on Mon nights?

Summit Co Brewery Bikery 2024 ~ A Hoot & A Half 20Jul24

While the day started sketchy, the 46mi/2600ft quasi-annual Brewery Bikery was excellent for 5 friends and me around Summit. A fire in Clear Ck Co closed I70 through the tunnel and routed the front range attendees over Loveland Pass for starters, making them late. Then Bob's car fob crapped out on our move to the starting point; we ultimately got the right battery and were down at AJs almost on time, while Bro Brown waited for us all. The Brewery Bikery is a bike ride among all of the breweries in Summit County with enjoyment of a 1/2 pint at each brewery. We start @ 10:30am at Angry James and head clockwise first to Outer Range in Frisco (with an 11 clock opening). We were a little late in starting but completed the ride before dark. I even added team event jerseys this year. The weather and energy was great. Yep, Scott's ebike is a station wagon in disguise and Jason is riding my Magic Carpet Ride.

After attacking the serpentine climb up the dam (we didn't lose anyone) we reassembled. Our 1st stop was at ORB. The founder/owner (of my fav of the Summit breweries) was pleased with the effort and "advertising" and comped us all snifters of their triple IPA... so that started things quickly as we also had the 1/2 pint pours we bought.

We wrestled back onto the bikes and out for the quick jaunt to Highside and then onward all the way up to south Breck for the original Breckenridge brewery. We actually had a quick lunch there too and took a pic with patron Shannon, who was in an eerily similar shirt.

We rode back through Breck on the main road rather than on the heavily trafficked (walkers & bikers) bike path ~ much easier. We hit the excellent Broken Compass brewery next, in north Breck.

The next section is the toughest as we complete the ride from Breck to Keystone by riding Swan Mtn and then wending to the far end of Keystone at the bottom of the Keystone ski resort. Challenging. I caught a sign advertising our bike event! Not really, the Copper Triangle is also be raced this weekend on some of the roads & paths we were riding. Kize was KOM up Swan, using significant battery power on the assent. The unaided bikers rode strong and Kize ushered in our friend Jason like on Le Tour. On the Keystone side of Swan we used the windy downhill bike path and I caught the team individually cross a bridge. Damn it, Jim wouldn't wave.

We'd been lingering a bit at some stops and made our visit to Steep a smidge more brief.

The next section was again long but taking us to the last four breweries fairly closely clustered in Dillon and Silverthorne back on the other side of the lake. On to Pug Ryans (no pic), Dillon Dam, and, the newest brewer in the county, Syndicate.

It may not look it from my pose but despite the consumption we are buoyed by the riding and none too buzzed. The final stop is at Angry James, our starting spot and where the cars stand ready with racks.

My moving time was 3:45 so my 4 hour estimate initially to the team was pretty close... except our longer stops made the whole ride more like 7hrs. We bid farewell to Jim who headed back to Denver and lit out in cars up to the Nest for some tasty nosh, nightcaps, jokes, and tunes. A fine capper on a great day with friends; thanks everybody for coming out!

It's notable that prior to the Bikery Bob, Steve, and I took a sail in great then very rough weather. We just made it to dock in very high winds before the skies unleashed with water. Good effort all around but too short.