Post Ride Beer Stream of Consciousness
PRBSoC #12: Cheers to Holiday Beers
Tis the Season, as they say. For holiday beers, is more like it. Celebration season has been part of this time of year for 3 decades of my life. Ain’t gettin’ any younger, am I?!
Annual physical.
Big year. 50 years old, says doctor.
I guess so, says me.
Anyway, says my brain.
Checks all the blood numbers. Things are fine. No meds needed. Maybe consider red rice yeast.
Stethoscope. Listens.
Anyone ever tell you that you have a heart murmur, says doctor.
Nope. Never, says me.
Stand up. Closed eyes. Arms in front of me. Palms up. 10 seconds pass. Then bend over and touch toes (if you can, he says. Of course I can touch my fuckin’ toes, says my brain.)
He listens to my heart.
No murmur.
Goes on to say without much confidence … uh, well, usually you hear it after doing that little test I had you do.
Anyway, so I agree to go see the same heart doctor I saw after having rhabdo.
Chopper put that 16t cog on so I could get on the trail right away. He had it laying around his shop and let me borrow it until the freehub came in. That’s how damn nice Chopper is.
I’d always been curious to see if I could ride 32x16, one tooth down from the 17. Park at Penny Pines. Route is this:
Penny down Sunrise to Pioneer Mail and across to Champagne Pass. Down it and up to Noble, turn left and then use connector trail to the meadows. Down the west of the meadows and then up to the kiosk parking area and then up the old county road to Chico. Down Chico and then across towards Gatos but stayed left and then went back up the east side of the meadows and back to Penny Pines.
Only once did I have to dismount, right at the loose/quick/steep uphill at Pioneer Mail. Slid out. Back tire. No dabs the rest of the way.
32x16 kicked my ass, though. Geesh.
Been a good year. Best “discovery?” Tucson. Going back in 2025, for sure. New bike makes old trails feel new. Why?
Jus’ cuz.
Still grading exams. Part of the job. At least the teaching is on pause, allowing for more time to ride and read non-teaching related books/articles.
We need rain. Super dry here. Oh, funny thing! Phone. Newsfeed. Best places to ride in winter. Places warm, lots of sun, dry.
Numero uno on the list?
San Diego. Yep, for roadies and trail riders.
And here I am thinking, where can I go ride during the break? Mix things up a bit.
Ha!
If there is a “better” overall brewery in San Diego, all things considered — beer, food, atmosphere, people, cheer — I don’t know of one. Pizza Port/Ocean Beach.
That’s a black IPA, which is not in the can. What’s in the can looks like this:
Cheers to ending 2024 and to starting 2025!
To support independent writing about mountain biking and indie beer, as well as receive discounts to MTB-related businesses and breweries, use this link below to get the $10.20/year subscription rate. Paseando MTB is sponsor and corporate free writing and photography. You’ll receive upwards of 75 newsletters in your email inbox throughout 2025, bringing it to about 14 cents for each email/musing/post: