Fill 'er up, son

One of my daydreams has always been to open a bicycle-themed bar. You know, a mellow little beer and wine joint next to a popular community trail, where people could pedal, skate or walk in and sit down for a cold pitcher of the best beer made. A place like The Monastery in Phoenix back in the '80s before it was forced from it's little out-of-the-way spot between the funeral home and the irrigation canal. But note even in my extensive, detailed fantasy (and I've been known to drift into some serious daydreaming) did I come up with an idea as cool as this one from The Handlebar in Chicago. (And yeah, I shamelessly stole the link from Drunk Cyclist, where Big Jonny generously provided the link that might have brought you here.)

They just don't teach brilliant ideas like that at Harvard Business School. Probably because all those Ivy League preppies care about is making an H2 full of cash. If you thought bikes and beer were the greatest combo since Jagger and Richards (or, in my case, Garcia and Hunter) you were wrong. An even better combination than bikes and beer is bikes and cheap, good beer. Especially if it's in response to obscene gas prices.

Thanks to a break—however temporary—in our rainy weather, I hope to take a shot Friday at a ride from Anchorage to Seward down on the Kenai Peninsula. One last shot at a big ride before the fall weather turns ugly. One last chance to really earn a couple of cold beers.

Bottoms up.