This weekend Julie is in NYC for a class on Oncology and Cancer Care Support with Traditional Chinese Medicine expert Dr. Frank Butler.
Nick, in Brooklyn for an internship with Alliance Bernstein, joined Julie for a walk around Wall Street (lobster rolls at Luke's Lobster) and Chinatown (xiao long tang bao, a Shanghai delicacy). In the evening, Nick went to the OAR concert at Coney Island.
Alexa, in Manhattan for an internship with Unilever, wasn't able to join Julie and Nick, even with the enticement of lobster and soup dumplings. Instead, Alexa spent the day at Monmouth Park, cheering Shannon Ushke to victory on Belle of Bowdoin. Sunday evening, Alexa and Jordan are going to the OAR concert on the Jersey shore.
Michael is in San Francisco, working on Meraki's cloud managed communications. He and Becca spent Saturday rafting class 4 rapids. "Fun trip, but not too intense," he reports.
Phillip was in southeast Vermont for the Mt Equinox Uphill Bike Race (5th place!). For a cool down, I did a 50-mile bike ride to visit 5 breweries in central Massachusetts. Spending Friday night in an AirBnb tent (who knew such a thing even existed), saved me enough to load my bike bag down with the best brews from my brewery tour.
Lobster Ravioli from Jonathon's Table the night before the race.
Carbo loading?
Otter Creek Over Easy is a highly crushable ale; it says so right on the bottle.
My lodging for the night, $20 on AirBnB.
The view outside my window.
Chiselville Bridge: "One dollar fine for driving faster than a walk on this bridge."
According to a nearby plaque, Chiselville was "Named for the fine quality chisels and edge tools manufactured on site." I didn't find a plaque explaining the name of Hoe Shop Road in Gill, Mass.
Hurricane Irene upended the previous AirBnB.
It rained during warm-up, was hot and humid at the start, but cool and breezy at the finish.
I'm just off the front of the photo. Photo credit: Josh Williams via drone
The view from the top of Mt Equinox scenic Skyline Drive.
I finished 5th in my age group (16th overall).
My friend Trish Karter finished 3rd female overall.
After the race, I drove to Greenfield, MA to pre-ride the Hop Yard 60. The Pedal 2 Pints ride next weekend is "A fun ride touring and sampling at the breweries of the Pioneer Valley. Ride along with the brewers and owners while chatting about beer, bikes and life." Since I will be in Maine next weekend, I rode it without the company of of like minded cyclists.
My first stop was supposed to be Lefty's Brewing Company, just 1 mile into the ride. By the time I realized I blew right past it, I was 3 miles down the road and decided to visit at the end of my 50-mile loop. Bad decision, since I finished at 7:30pm and Lefty's closed at 6pm.
Honest Weight Artisan Beer was my first stop. I sampled their 4 offerings--served by owner-brewer Sean Nolan--and left with a 32oz growlette of Cass Meadow, a dry-hopped Oat Saison, in my bike's saddle bag.
Element Brewing Company was my second stop. $20 seemed unreasonable for a flight of six 5oz pours, plus I had to finish my bike ride and then drive home. So I sampled their Extra Special Oak, Dark Element, Plateau Belgian IPA, and Plasma Sake IPA before riding away with a 25oz bottle of Extra Special Oak.
I visited Brick & Feather Brewery during a 300k randonee with Darren Garnier in May. Since we still had 80 miles to go, I didn't want to load down my bike but promised to return and buy a bottle. But once again, my timing was off; I got there at 7pm and they closed at 6.
Fortunately, The People's Pint was still open. What I like about The People's Pint is its cycling vibe. They sponsor Pedal 2 Pints, offer a bicycle commuting program, and give their beers cycling-related names like Training Wheels.
I chatted with two 20-somethings at the bar that were in town for Sunday's MTB enduro. They spent Saturday pre-riding the race course and introduced me to enduro racing, something between cross country and downhill.
The Training Wheels disappointed, but the cheese platter was yummy (Great Hills blue cheese, homemade bread, local honey and local blueberries) and the Maine mussels were delicious. At the bartender's suggestion, I took home a 22oz bottle of Pied Piper IPA.
My hamstring (injured during a run 6 days previously) didn't hamper me during the race, but standing around in the cold, then driving to Massachusetts wasn't good for my legs. Eight miles into my Hop Yard ride, my hammie seized up on me, but I wasn't about to give up and go home when there were breweries to visit. So I crawled up the two big climbs, and poked along on the flats, but I finished. Now to rehab before the Mt Washington Auto Road Bicycle Hillclimb in two weeks.
The sun came out for my Hop Yard ride. The ride featured 2 big climbs, 2 dirt roads and a jeep trail, scenic byways (Franklin County and Connecticut River), and a beautiful bike path along the Turner Falls Canal. Oh yeah, and five breweries.
No problem.
Jeep trail.
Element Brewing had amusing science-based decor.
No problem.
Turner Falls Canal
The bike mobile