Homebrew, A New Addition, and Free Solo

I have a new certification: Homebrewer. I've spent the last few weeks nurturing a glass jug of homebrew in the closet of our den, making sure the temp was just right so as not to shock the contents of the fermenting cider within. Friday was bottling (and tasting) day. My yield was 8 bottles of sweetened hard apple cider, one of which has Rachel's name on it. I honestly didn't have very high hopes that it would be very palatable but it's actually not bad at all. I would like to give it a go again in a few weeks but first I think I want to take a class in homebrewing because I think there's more I need to know than what I was able to glean from the directions in my starter-kit to more fully enjoy the experience and get the most from it.

I've added a new bike to my stable of bikes. I've been wanting a gravel bike since last spring when I noticed how much harder I was having to work on my fat-tire bike to keep up with others on their gravel bikes during the Miesville 56 ride. That it's a more difficult slog on a fatty is a given and I was good with that but something clicked inside me when I began thinking of lengthier rides I could do on gravel roads away from the more traveled highways I'm typically on. Plus, gravel group rides are becoming quite popular, and I occasionally enjoy the company of others out there. Not always, but sometimes.

I began my search last spring at Angry Catfish in Minneapolis but nothing I saw there grabbed hold of me and said, "take me with you!" I continued my search online to see what else was out there. That's when I came across this review and another for Giant's new gravel bike. It was everything I was looking for (and more). I pretty much stopped my search at that point.

I've been working with Todd at Michael's Cycles in Chaska and he phoned me two days ago to tell me that my long wait for the beauty pictured to the right (and in this video) was over and that I could come in and pick it up. They're just now beginning to make it to local bike shops after a bit of a delay in shipping them. I'm waiting on a few accessories—a mount for my Garmin cyclocomputer and a Dinotte LED light for the rear (and for the side roads to lose their ice) before I jump on it for the first time but I anticipate I won't be waiting much longer.

Switching gears.

I was perusing a bike forum (what used to be the Serotta forum) a few months ago when I came across a thread titled, "Climbing Devils Tower". Tammy and I have been to Devils Tower a few times and have watched with amazement the oh-so-tiny people scaling the mountain, so I clicked on the thread to have a look. I was surprised to see that there were several users of the forum who had climbed Devils Tower in addition to some even more difficult climbs. I found the thread to be fascinating reading. It was around the same time that the movie Free Solo was being shown in limited screenings across the country.

The thread on the forum piqued my interest in rock climbing, and I was exposed to a new world of jargon: what are off-width climbs and multi-pitch climbs, and what is the difference between a 5.7 and a 5.1 climb? It all seemed so fascinating to me but I was pretty certain while reading about it that all of it will have to wait until my next lifetime. Or does it have to? I came across this link (edit: the link has been removed) where you can show up as a novice and after two days of instruction be ready to climb Devils Tower on the third day. Seriously? I never would've guessed that but after poking around a little more online I found videos (an example) that seem to make it look somewhat doable.

In my week's long study of rock climbing back in October, the most compelling thing I watched was a 60 Minutes episode about Alex Honnold (embedded below), the man profiled in the film, Free Solo. I'm not sure there are many riskier endeavors than the sort of climbing he does, but to listen to him explain it, he's certain of his ability to the point that the entire climbing experience is one where he's in a calm state of being. I just don't know that I could ever control my nerves to that degree. I'm quite sure I couldn't.

I'd sort of stopped thinking about rock climbing and moved on to other things until talking with Rex a few days ago over a beer at Celts in Farmington. He'd seen the film Free Solo and was telling me how awesome it was. He later sent me a text to let me know that the movie was playing at the IMAX theater in Apple Valley but not for much longer. Tammy and I went to see it that night. It was so well done; at times funny, and at times riveting, and always captivating. We both loved it!