Brewmasters Bar and Grill Review

The grand opening for Brewmasters Bar and Grill was back in March of this year and how I wish I would have discovered this place back then.  I went at lunch today with a couple of co-workers and unfortunately didn't have a beer to go along with my food.  Seeing they had a lot of local beers on tap that I have had before I wasn't completely bummed about it. 
My co-workers and I took the 7 block walk down to Brewmasters grabbed a seat and we all had the hardest time deciding what to order because it all sounded so damn good.  Gees, look at the menu for yourself.

We started off with the one appetizer that was not a hard decision to make, PINT OF BACON!!!!  You can see all of its glory below.

So after going back and forth in my head on what to order, I went with the Chicken Biscuit with my side being the broccoli and raisin salad .  Let me tell you now, it was freakin' awesome.  The biscuit was soft and fluffyalong with the chicken being juicy with a nice crunch on the outside. The kicker that really set it off was the strawberry and chipotle jam.  Sweet and Spicy it was.

My two buddies got these burgers, The Hangover and The Caramelized Apple.  Both of them really liked what they had and how all the flavors worked together on each burger.  Next time is still going to be a hard decision on what to order.  Maybe we can take a few more people that are willing to split what they are eating so we can have lunch tapas style.  If not, I will be visiting there either way, so it may take me longer to get through most of the menu.

Lake Hope Trails in Ohio

My brother-in-law and I hit the trails at Lake Hope State Park in Ohio on Black Friday.  This area had seen rain for nearly three days and maybe a day to dry by the time we started our ride.  I should have changed my rear tire before heading up to West Virginia for Thanksgiving.  I was running a Race King 2.2 on the rear which was not a smart move for how wet these trails were down in the hollows.  Brian on the other hand was running Nevegals on his bike since he rides in this nasty stuff all the time here in WV.  He was not having the same issues I was having on the trails.  The Race King was fine once we would climb out of the hollows, but running the trails down there and the first hundred or so yards climbing out you would have thought I had a road tire on the bike.  I had to hop or fall off a couple times from loosing traction.  The trails were fast and flowy even though they were slick on the lower trails.
Moving on to one of the best trail systems in Ohio that you could spend an entire day there lacing together a lot of mileage without running the same trails the same direction twice.  We ended up doing 16 miles and our route consisted of the following:  Parked at Hope Furnace parking lot on SR 278> Hope Furnace Trail > Habron Trail > Copperhead Trail > Wildcat Trail >Copperhead Trail > Bobcat Trail > Habron Trail > Hope Furnace Trail and back to the parking lot.

Afterwards, we headed into Athens to check out Cycle Path Bicycles.  Great little bicycle shop and their website is very informative.  That is where we did a little homework before hitting the trails that day.  Great maps that have a hover feature that gives a good description of the trail.  Then we went over to Rio Grande Mexican Restaurant that was just a couple buildings down to grab some post-ride food which was much needed.  I am looking forward to checking these trails out again when they are dry.  Next time working in some of the double track to add some mileage and hit the other trails that we did not touch on this go-round.

Random Photos

Here are a few photos I have taken over the past couple of years.

Tube Protection

This is one of those things that many people do not think about, and that is using protection when riding.  Since more people are starting to strap what they need to their post for riding.  They forget that riding a mountain bike can be dirty at times.  If you end up with a flat and need to put a tube in because you can't get your tubeless tires to reseal.  Here is a simple solution that I use to keep my tubes clean from dirt and mud:  PLASTIC SANDWICH BAGGIES - they are cheap and the perfect size.  As you can see also from the picture that after putting the tube in the Baggie, I secure it with an old piece of inner tube.  Thus making it easier to us my ByeKyle strap to secure it to my post or wherever else you want to put it.

Angry Monkey 6 hour

Got up this morning at 5am and picked Ryan up at his house.  We were rolling to Gibsonville for the 2nd Annual Angry Monkey MTB Race 6 hour.  This year the course ran the opposite direction of last year.  First stop, McDonald's for a Bacon, Egg and Cheese McGriddle and some coffee.  We get to Northeast Park around 7:30am and get the pit area set-up, so Ryan would have a place to hang the next 6 hours while I am out on course. I ate four Honey Stinger Waffles before the start and it might be my new strategy.
The course was a six mile loop and we had about 3/10 of a mile of pavement before we hit the woods.  They started us in the Single Speed Category in the last wave.  I go into the woods in 5th and right off the start we are hitting traffic and get split from the the front four.  I am driving the train of the second group and the bike bell was ringing and I am calling out which side I (we) are passing.  First couple of laps was uneventful and I was setting a good pace to where no one wanted to pass me.  Finally on lap three I run up on 4th place and go by without a problem.  No stopping at the pit area for the first three laps, but now every time I would roll into the pit area Ryan would have the bottles and a waffle waiting, so I wouldn't have to stop but creep through.  Lap 6, I see third place ahead of me halfway through the lap and he has blown up.  I am a man with a mission now and the legs were feeling great.  I pass second place in the pits between Lap 9 and 10.  Lap 10 is when the legs are starting to cramp and that was not a good sign since I had no clue how close third was.  Going up the first of two steep but short hills my right quad locks up and I do the stiff leg shuffle to the top and try and massage it out.  It did not want to bend and I knew I had to be in by 5:40 to be able to get my last lap in.  Finally got to rolling after about thirty seconds and I made it with nine minutes to spare.  While standing in the pits getting my last bottle,waffle and massaging the thigh again, third place rolls by me and has about twenty seconds on me.  I finally catch and pass him with a little less than 2 miles to the finish and try to pull away, but burned my legs out catching him.  Once by he is hanging on and not letting me get away.  When we hit those final two hills that just sends my legs into crampville and have to walk the last hill.  He pulls away at the top of the second hill and I end up rolling across the line in 3rd and a minute and ten seconds off 2nd.  This was a great race that came down to the last lap to sort out second and third.  By the end I had consumed twelve bottles of Nuun Lemon Tea, eleven Honey Stinger gels and ten Honey Stinger Waffles.

Ergon HX2 Glove Review

The HX2 glove by Ergon ($45) became available the last week of May, so I purchased a pair because:
1.  Ergon makes great products
2.  They look pretty freakin' sweet
3.  The fit is spot on

I have worn the HX2 now for a month and have gotten some good mileage in them between singletrack and road rides.  I have already told you how sweet they look, so lets move on to the other aspects of the glove.  The fit is nice and tight and not feeling the seams make them very comfortable.  The breathability of these gloves are great.  I have worn them on days with the temperature in the 90's with humidity and they do not feel like they are holding in the sweat.  Even in the hot temps these gloves are sticking to the grips like you would like without them slipping from being drenched in sweat.  These gloves work great when paired with the GX1 grips like Ergon designed them for.  At this point there are no complaints about these gloves and highly doubt there will be.

Update: 8/31/2011
These gloves have been put through a good amount of mileage on singletrack and feel just as good as the first time I wore them.  The white was turning brown from all the dirt and sweat that they were collecting over the last 3 months.  I did just as the Ergon website suggested for taking care of them and it brought them back to almost new.  The great thing is they didn't stretch or shrink from washing them.  I like these gloves so much I am thinking of buying a second pair just to rotate between.  Highly recommend them and I never leave home without them.  Maybe Ergon will make them in a winter version, lets hope.

Topeak SmartGauge D2 Review

I received in the mail on Monday the Topeak SmartGauge D2 (Digital Air Gauge).  I had to order one since I get tired of trying to figure out the exact air pressure in my tires.  The floor pump I have is not the most precise since it has marks for every 4 psi which makes it hard to figure out what air pressure feels good for the trails.  So, last night I had to test it out and it ROCKS.  No more hitting the trails and being to low where you feel the rim hit or to much and it is like a basketball going over roots.  The best thing about it is the bleed valve on it.  It is nice and slow, so you don't blow through 2 psi's in a matter of a nano second and then have to pump the tire back up again.  It takes the guess work out now from the floor pump gauge and gets the tires feeling right.  The head rotates making it easy to fit between spokes and be able to read the huge LCD display without doing a handstand to see it.  This will definitely be the most used tool in the toolbox now.