Beer of the Bike

On Saturday, April 26th, we gathered at the Art Museum steps. Despite the looming rain clouds, the weather was great: 60s and overcast. We got off to a late start waiting for a straggler (those damn Europeans). We picked up one more rider, the lone female, at the end of Kelly drive. We were rolling 8 deep as we passed through Manayunk and attacked the hills of Umbria St. We rode on the Valley Forge path for most of the route. We played leap frog with 2 riders starting on MLK Dr, who, as they passed us for the final time, turned out to be Milton Street and friend. I wondered why he didn’t respond to my greeting. We also took a detour to check out a pair of huge iron balls near the Betzwood Studios. No one had any idea what the heck they were, but they were awesome nonetheless. Pics here.

It took us about 2 hours to get to Phoenixville. Iron Hill has outdoor seating, which we took advantage of. There was lots of beer, I decided to start with their Ironbound Ale on cask. Maybe it was just the fact that it was cask conditioned, but I thought of it more as an English style pale ale, only moderately hoppy and well balanced, and of course low carbonation and room temperature. A wonderful paring for the English chedder plate that Dane and I split. Next I had a Dry Irish Stout. I’m pretty sure this was on nitrogen, but I’m note sure. It was also well matched with my Tilapia fish and chips (which wasn’t bad, but didn’t blow my mind). For dessert I had an Abbey Dubbel, right on style, not bad at all. I had sips of some other beers, a tripel, a real roasty porter, and a chocolate stout which was way too chocolatey for my tastes.

Two of our crew had to head out solo to various other destinations. The remaining 6 of us tried a different route back: here. We managed to find an extension of the Valley Forge trail. It was great until it suddenly became a packed gravel trail, and we all have road bikes. I had 700×28’s and it was tricky. We pressed on, however, and it eventually became paved again, and connected right back up to the trail in Valley Forge park. We took our time on the way home, but even the newest riders managed to handle the 50+ mile trip.

Next month we’re heading to Flying Fish in NJ on May 31st. It will be a much shorter ride. I’ll post a route closer to the date.