Captain Lawrence Singlespeed Metric Century

After last week's True to Brew ride I got the bug to ride to another nearby brewery, the Captain Lawrence Brewery in Elmsford, NY.  Being located near the southern terminus of the North County Trailway I figured I could kill two birds with one stone. Ride to another brewery and pedal down the entire length of the North Country on a singlespeed. No one from the LunArtics were available but Karl from True Cyclery was definitely interested so we planned to meet at the trail head in Southeast, NY and ride the Putnam Trail (the Old Put line) to the North Country and then to the brewery!

Our start got delayed because I should have done a better job posting the parking lot location for Karl and then right before leaving I realized I lost my pedal magnet and we went searching for it but to no avail. Despite the windy conditions it was a perfect day for cycling.

Riding on the old railroad bridge over the New Croton Reservoir was cool








Next time I do this ride I think I want to try riding it fixed!



9 miles from the Brewery was when the first mishap occurred



Karl got a flat! It would appear that a very sharp piece of acorn cap must have punctured his tire.



I went and checked the vicinity where it popped and all I found were pieces of acorns.
Karl lined is tire with a ten dollar bill and then we took off.

Further down the trail it got really leafy and the next thing I new I was off the trail and riding in the gravel. I tried to pull back onto the trail when the leaves caused me to slide and I went down on the deck. Getting up my right hip hurt and figured I was going to have case of road rash by the looks of abrasions on my best tights.  My right knee hurt from the impact as well, along with my right elbow and hand. What hurt the most, however, was my left thumb. Somehow I jammed it and that could be a problem as I learned later while trying to climb on the hoods to the brewery. Otherwise, I felt pretty good. 

Upon arrival at the address we wandered around till we realized the brewery was in the back of the building. While I came prepared with a bike lock I was pleasantly surprised to find ample and secure bike parking. In fact, we weren't the only cyclists there. There seemed to be two or three groups there as well.

Captain Lawrence doesn't sell flights, rather you buy a sampling glass and then poker chips. One chip for sampling beers 6.5% ABV and below and 2 for anything above.  That's a great system.  Karl and I split a 10 pack of chips.

I sampled the following beers:
Freshchester Pale Ale
Hop Commader IPA
Centenary IPA
Effortless Session IPA
Brown Bird Brown Ale

Karl had:
Effortless Grapefruit IPA
Liquid Gold Belgian Gold Ale
Effortless Session IPA
Double Fisted Double IPA (7.5% ABV)



We also had the Bacon Truffle Mac and Cheese and it was UFB!

I bought a 32 oz growler of the Freshchester and it fit perfectly in my Banjo Brothers Trunk Bag. In fact, it looked so roomy in there that when I got home later I tried putting in a full size growler and it fit perfectly so you know what I will be doing on the next brewery ride!  Karl got a 22 oz bomber of the Apricot Sour and it fit perfectly in his back pouch. Something to remember for the next time as well if I don't bring a bag to hold a bottle.

Being a railfan, I had to stop on the way back and take some pictures of these tracks.

We were 9 miles from the end of the ride when Karl got another flat on the same hole.  What ever got him this time went right through the bill and got him again.  Fortunately I had a spare tube (I always bring two) and we were shortly on our way.

Despite the flats, crash, and the brutal head winds, it turned out to be a great day of riding and sampling beer. Where to next?

Tandem Trail-a-biking on the North County Trailway, South

The boys and I met my father in Amawalk, NY to ride the North County Trail Way.  Instead of riding north towards Baldwin Place like we did last time, I suggested that we ride south and little did I realize what treats were in store for us.

It was pretty much down hill the entire 5 miles that we rode with the wind at our backs, which meant coming back was going to be fun.  There were quite a few people out enjoying the nice weather and riding this trail.  We got a nod from another Tandem pair and we saw a few others on trail-a-bikes but it seems nary a soul has ever seen a tandem trail-a-bike.

The boys still have to work on their teamwork.  There is still a lot of infighting on when to pedal and when not to.  Initially they were pretty good but later Brodie got cocky and found it was a great way to annoy is older brother.

Here is another attempt with mounting my helmet cam looking down backwards but my Camelbak gets in the way.  Still, what's cool is that we are riding over the original railroad bridge that held trains a century ago.  

I still want to ride the entire trail some time.  It's something like 60+ miles round trip.  It's probably a 5 hour trip altogether.  I am going to try and set up a work outing in which we do a round trip on it.

Other than the pedal issues, the boys did really well.  There was only need for two pee brakes, one for each.  It's usually Brodie that needs to stop every 5 minutes to go but he only did it once and Elliot watered a few trees himself.

And of course there is always the required snack.  Cheese-its, Scooby snacks and an orange.  The funny thing was that I told them we could only stop at a bench and they were bugging me to stop immediately following riding over the old Railroad bridge but I told them we could only stop at an empty bench.  Thus 3 miles later we finally found one.

After the snack brake we rode up to Yorktown Heights where my father went ahead and we hung out at the train station play area.  The boys love playing at this park and the last time we were here, after riding with my father, they played till dusk.

That is one of the key ingredients to riding with my boys.  They will always ride if they know there will be a stop at park.  That's what makes the Monroe Trail so popular with them because Wolfe Park is right there.  Middlebury is the same way.  In Cheshire, we stop at Brooksvale Park but they have a small jungle gym and they loose interest on it quickly.  

Next weekend we are going to try the Farmington Heritage Canal Trail.  Starting in Farmington, we'll ride up to Simsbury and have lunch at this big park that has a bunch of jungle gyms and then turn around and ride back.  A nice 26 mile ride pulling upwards of 150 lbs of kids and trail-a-bike should be good conditioning for the Fattire Classic the following weekend.