Earn Your Beer: Issue #128

Singlespeeding in San Diego

The Earning:

Riding a mountain bike with one gear, aka singlespeed, is a riot of fun, unless your knees are popping on a long, steep, arduous climb as you stand and try to mash your way to the top. Ha! Seriously, though, with only one gear, it harkens you back to the days of youth when you hopped on your bike and rode off the curb and into the woods, seeking adventure even though you maybe didn’t call it that then. Singlespeeding  SAN DIEGO

Around San Diego, there are countless trail systems that are great for singlespeed mountain biking, from Lake Hodges to Peñasquitos Canyon and on up to the Cuyamaca and Laguna Mountains. Keeping the ride to what is more akin to cross-country trails, meaning undulating along with no serious, straight-up climbs, turning the cranks with only one gear means you simply pedal and don’t have the opportunity to flick the shifter and change gears.

Recently, on back-to-back singlespeed days, I connected trails in San Diego’s Mission Trails Regional Park and then the next day in Florida Canyon in Balboa Park. Mission Trails is a jewel of the city park system with over 8,000 acres of hills and valleys, making it one of the largest urban parks in the US. Lesser known, Florida Canyon offers trails that work their way along both sides of Florida Drive, which cuts through world-renowned Balboa Park’s east side. Both trail systems are open to hikers, bikers, trail runners and the occasional parent pushing a stroller!

The Beer:

San Diego is not in short supply of breweries. This time around, I’m going to feature two based simply on their can art, which depict bikes with one gear.

Groundswell Brewing Company set up shop in the Grantville neighborhood in 2013 and has quietly grown into a very successful small operation, having expanded locally and picking up major awards (Great American Beer Festival) over the years. When I saw their Low Beams Hazy IPA cans, I had to pick up a 4-pack simply because of the image of what reminded me of one of my bikes when I was a kid. While I’ve had better tasting hazies and other Groundswell beers, I wouldn’t say it wasn’t good. I simply prefer other flavor profiles. groundswellbrew.com

 

Societe Brewing Company resides in the Kearny Mesa area of San Diego, specifically in the Convoy Asian Cultural District, where foodies flock. IPA aficionados do, too, Societe being their proverbial watering hole, as well as nearby O’Briens Pub. Societe’s The Roustabout is a Double IPA coming in at 8.5%, a beer you likely want to have when you’re home or at camp and not heading out on the road. It doesn’t disappoint, at all, if a blast of citrus hops to your palate is what you’re looking for. The can art? A trapeze artist on a bike riding a high wire will get the conversation going. societebrewing.com

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