IBU Thursday, January 17th

Thursday, January 17th, the IBU will be having its first DRAW of 2008. The DRAW will be at Court Avenue Brewing Company beginning at 4:45 PM. Mike Guthier, the brewer at CABCO, has been brewing up some excellent beers. He may even have a couple of surprises for those attending the DRAW.
Immediately following the DRAW, you can walk the couple of blocks to el Bait Shop, where Thursday evenings mean Jimmy Carter Happy Hour. IBU President, Brian Sabus, will be pouring one of his creations.
So come on out and support CABCO, el Bait Shop, and the IBU, all while drinking some excellent beer with some fellow beer geeks.

Tuesday Night Indoors

Tuesday night indoor training for the Des Moines Cycle Club Race Team. One hour workouts at Team Fitness in Urbandale. This workout was led by Dave Ertl, a Level 1 Certified Cycling Coach.

Valley West Wipe Out

Here are some pictures of the Valley West Wipe Out roller race. Yours truly rode his single speed, 42 x 16. Started out well but faded. I was hoping for a 6:55, but got a 7:08. Not too bad. Not the slowest Cat 5, but definitely not the fastest. My reasoning for riding the single was that 42 x 16 would be about the largest gear I could push. I also knew that if I had anything smaller, I would use it once I started hurting. And hurt I did.




I saw Steve Fuller in the crowd, sporting his CranksGiving t-shirt. He was talking about riding gravel. I did a little gravel last year, but plan on doing more this year.

Snow Melt at Center

Got to the Center Trails a little before noon today. I couldn't get up early enough for Squirrels Bacon Ride. Anyway, it was quite nice for January in Iowa. The snow was getting a little bit slushy.
I rode J-11 and Denmans. I planned on ridding Squirrels Nest and Monkey Pit, but there was no broken trail. There were about 50 different sets of tire tracks, but no two of them rode the same line. With the snow getting softer by the minute, I decided to take the trestle to the Black Label and head to visit my mug at Court Avenue Brewing. Mike has a very good Abbey on Reserve and the specialty is the Winter Ale. Tomorrow is the first Roller Race of the season, at Valley West Mall.

Ski Biking

Downhill Snowbike Races - The Downhill Mountain Bike Race will take place on Saturday February 2nd at 11:00 a.m. at Sleepy Hollow Sports Park ran by Greg Rasmussen of Rasmussen Bike Shop. Dual Slalom snow bike racing is a great head to head competition down a man made course usually with gated turns (much like ski racing). The course is man made with obstacles such as berms, jumps and bumps. The courses are short, with a single run lasting around 30 seconds. Two racers compete down nearly identical/parallel courses at the same time.
The runs are timed and the same racers then switch courses and make another run. The combined race times are then compared and the slower racer is eliminated. The faster rider then moves up into the next round to race a winner from another set of race runs. The races and eliminations continue until the final two racers are left. Their race is the final and it determines 1st and 2nd places. The last racers that the finalists had beat then run a set of races to determine 3rd and 4th places.

http://dmwintergames.com/Eventscontinued.htm

SSWC08

I didn't get into SSWC08, which isn't all bad, since it conflicted with the Squirrels Nest/Sycamore TT at the Center Trails and I am not even in 'neighborhood championship' shape, let alone 'World Championship' shape.


Thank you for your interest in SSWC08. Unfortunately registration filled up prior to receiving your form. We had over 800 people interested and only 350 spots to fill. We hope you will still consider coming out to Napa, CA for the race festivities and to cheer on your fellow single speeders. There will be various rides around the Bay Area the week leading up to the race and afterward too, so it should be a lot of fun. We will be posting a blog soon to keep everyone up to date on what's going on. Thank you.

SSWC08 Team

There is a roller race this weekend, but the temp is supposed to be in the mid 40's, so I am more than a little torn about which to do. I am kind of leaning towards riding outdoors, perhaps a gravel grinder.

IBU Open - Saturday March 8th

Iowa Brewers Union Open

Homebrew Competition & Annual Potluck 2008

Judging: Saturday, March 8th, 2008

Entry deadline: Sunday, March 2nd, 2008

• $6.00 per entry.

• Two (2) bottles per entry.

• Only brown or green unmarked 10-16 oz. bottles accepted.

• Limit of two (2) entries per BJCP category. Each entry must be uniquely different.

• Competition Specific Category: IBU Challenge. For you hopheads, the only

requirement for this category is the beer entered must have 1 IBU of bitterness per 1 OG. Example: 1.045 OG must contain no less than 45 International Bittering Units.

• All Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP) styles will be accepted including mead and cider. The Director of Judging may combine categories with limited entries if necessary. Style guidelines are available on the Internet at http://www.bjcp.org/style-index.html

• Judging will take place Saturday, March 8th beginning at 10:00 a.m., at the Walker Johnston Shelter House at 9000 Douglas Ave. in Urbandale. Come take a look!!!

• Entries must score a minimum of 25 points in order to win a category.

• Bottles will not be returned.

• Pick up your entry forms at Beer Crazy, Heartland Homebrew Supply or on-line at

www.IowaBrewersUnion.org.

• Forms may also be faxed or e-mailed to you by e-mailing: ronaldgstaab@yahoo.com.

• Please provide payment and have entry forms attached to bottles with a rubber

band. Drop off/shipping sites are on-line at www.IowaBrewersUnion.org.

Medals will be awarded to winners of each category, Best of Show and

IBU Challenge Champion!