octaneTom

I guess I should write a report instead of just lurking in here if I really want to learn something.

This was my second race ever. 1st race report: hung in the pack, tried to break with 3 laps to go, got strung out in a nasty wind, pack caught and shot me out the back, pulled myself with one lap to go.

SO - 2nd race report: Sunday morning Ann Arbor Spring Training Series "C" crit. 25 or 30 people start. 40 mins + 2 laps. My legs feel like crap in warm up so I don't have much expectation, but seeing as I've only raced once before I don't know how my legs should feel...ANYWAY: First few laps we all just hang tight - pace is a lot quicker than it was 2 weeks ago.

After a while, a group of about 4-5 riders gets off the front. I bust my ass to bridge up to them and we get clear of the field. My legs are saying NO to the pace after a lap of this, so I sit up and wait for the pack, thinking we'll reel the break back in. Bad choice - we never see those 5 again. I settle back in with a group of about 10-15 riders and we work together to try and catch up. 1 lap to go and I am thinking I need some sort of plan. I am 3rd wheel and have no idea how my sprint is, but I'm estimating that it sucks. So on the back straight I jump and try and get a gap. I don't jump hard enough and merely succeed in leading out 6 or 7 riders who jump with me: another bad plan. I start to fade with about 100m to go, and 4 or 5 dudes pass me. I grab a wheel and sprint and repass 2 of those riders and end up 10th overall. We averaged 22.5mph. I think I learned a lot here so I was happy with the results.

BEER REPORT: So Sat night my friend informs me the Stone Russian Imperial Stout is now available. He snatched up two 22ozs and we proceed to have a tasting. Holy damn is this a good Stout - thick and chewy, dark and syruppy but not too sweet. ABV is somewhere around 11%. After we polish of those 2 we decide we obviously need to compare them to the current reigning champ - Bell's Expedition Stout (10.6% ABV). I have to say the Expedition is still the winner. It's got more legs, a slightly chocolate/licorice taste and is somehow both smoother and has a better mouthfeel. But you can't go wrong either way. I think I also learned a lot here and am always happy with beer results.

ZeCanon

First rule of road racing: don't get dropped off the break

Second rule of road racing: When your legs say "no," so are everybody else's. And they shouldn't be saying "yes" in a break, ever.

Excellent work with the beer though.

FatguyRacer

Good job. Im partial to Victory Storm King Imperial Stout. Word on the street is that Alesmith Speedway Imperial Stout is the top shizznit of Imp stouts, but it doesnt make its way this far east. I have seen Stone and Bells round here, so i'll pick some up.

TheKillerPenguin

At least you didn't DNF the beers

michaelmc

Storm King is fine, but I've not found anything that compares to Bell's Expedition. You won't be disappointed. It's superlative.

cmh

At 10.5 - 11% ABV those beers aren't stouts. They are probably closer to Belgain style ales. They might be good beers, but why do stupid American micro breweries have to *******ize beer styles? Why not just create their own style of beer and call it something new?

Good job racing - hang onto that break next time.

octaneTom

These are nothing like Belgian ales. They are Imperial Stouts - the alcohol content IS very high but they are very much distinctive as stouts and taste nothing like a Trippel or any other Belgian I've ever had. I'm not sure if Russian Imperials are "supposed" to have that much ABV but just about everyone I've tried has had that much.

I've been wanting to try that Victory Storm King. I also really enjoy Old Rasputin's Russian and the Brooklyn Brewery's Black Chocolate Stout is insanely delicious. It was my beer of the year for 2007. Expedition is running away from the field in 2008.

I will try and hang onto that break next time, thanks for the advice.

FatguyRacer

+1

Belgian Strong Ales and Trappist brews are among my favorites and like you do with Imperial Stouts, i go out of my way to try all the Trappist and Belg Strong Ales I can. They tastes nothing like a good stout. The heavy malt is just not there like in a stout. They are not as sweet and the finsh is cripser and dryer and the carbonation is much much higher. The ABV is lower too. More like 8-9%.

My favorite all time (right now) is Saison Dupont Valle Provision. Its a bottle conditioned Belgian Farmhouse Ale. They're about 5-6% ABV. A good yeasty brew with citris tones. Great on a hot day in summer.

nick burns

Dude, you need to google Russian Imperial Stout. It is not U.S. micro brew invention.

VosBike

Good. Enough people have already jumped on that guy for having no idea what an Imperial Stout is. I am saved from having to write a longer post.

cmh

OK, my bad. I was confusing an imperial stout with an Irish stout. But I do think many micro brews make beers that are nothing like the style after which they are named.

Coyote2

Drink a Pilsner Urquell and then try a Miller or Bud or Coors, all of which are billed as Pilsners; now there is some mis-naming.

FatguyRacer

You dont even have to leave the country. Victory (again with the Victory! I dont work for them really!) Prima Pils is excellent. They tell me Budvar (the orginal Bud!) is excellent. I wouldnt know, the one bottle I have last year was skunked.

WTF, go ahead a try a Victory Golden Monkey too. It's close to a Belgian Strong Ale.

No more shilling for Victory. I promise.

3MTA3

& that, my friend, is what cycling is all about.

Coyote2

I think I once visited the Budvar brewery -- it's in the Czech Republic, near Slovakia. The beer is okay, certainly better than Budweiser, but not great.

cmh

Agreed.