Aeries February Freeze Tall Timber Trail Run & 12 Hour Ultra Race

So what are you doing on February 1st, 2014, I mean, there isn't much going on that time of year.  I have this great idea, I really think you will like it.  Come to Grafton, IL and run a 6 mile trail run or a 12 hour Ultra Trail Run.  They will both be awesome events with really great schwag.  

This is going to be one of those events that you do once and never want to miss again.  See all the race info below.  

Registration is now open, with a 300 entry limit for the trail run and a 150 entry limit for the Ultra run, there is also a team division for the Ultra, so grab two of your closest friends and hang out in the dark for 12 hours, all you have to do is run a little. 

This race is being managed by the Metro Tri Club, the same people that bring you the Pere Marquette Trail Run.  And the course is very similar to the PM run also, so be ready for a challenge.

Online Registration:
https://runsignup.com/Race/IL/Grafton/AeriesFebruaryFreezeTrailRun

A New Kind of Adventure - The Missouri Beer Quest

My new idea, simply explained is this:  I'm going to drink every beer made in Missouri.

So even though my new project idea does not involve racing, endurance sports, trail running or even mountain biking, it is certainly complementary with every one of these activities. 

And it passes the 3 part test defined by Dictionary.com as adventure:

ad·ven·ture

  [ad-ven-cher] noun, verb, ad·ven·tured, ad·ven·tur·ing.

noun

1.

an exciting or very unusual experience.

2.

participation in exciting undertakings or enterprises: the spirit of adventure.

3.

a bold, usually risky undertaking; hazardous action of uncertain outcome.

I had to do some research to start this off and also figure out a way to keep track of which ones have been drunk and which ones were still to go.  A Wikipedia search got me started with a list of 47 Missouri breweries.  More work on Google found between 5 and 24 different beers at each brewery.  Then they have Seasonals and special Brewmaster releases.  I was looking at approx 500 beers.  Dang, more than I expected.  This could take awhile.  I needed some ground rules: Since it's my project I made them up to suit myself.

1. INbev is out, because F^*% them, they are Belgium beer or something now and represent big corporate takeovers, nameless suits and ties, with customers who are only sales numbers.

2. Seaonals and special releases are out, Its going to be hard enough to get to all these breweries, much less try to get there during the right seasons or in time for Brewmaster special releases.  If I do hit one at the right time for a seasonal, I will take credit for it.

Like a good engineer I built an Excel spreadsheet to categorize the breweries by location and list all of the beers.  And like a terrible blogger, I can't figure out how to copy them all into this blog. Several of the breweries I got from Wikipedia are no longer in business, and I have discovered at least one that was not included at all.  I'm sure there are more.  Feel free to leave me comments on ones I missed! But for right now my list stands at 40 breweries, and a total 307 of different beers.  If anyone wants a copy of my updated working spreadsheet, I'd be glad to share with you.
So far I've only 'collected' 16 of the individual beers, leaving me years to plan an attack on the rest.  Who knows by the time I get through this thing I might finally know the difference between a lager and a pilsner, or a stout and IPA.

Brewery	City	(Website)
2nd Shift Brewing Company	New Haven	[1]
4 Hands Brewing Company	St. Louis	[2]
75th Street Brewery	Kansas City	[3]
Alpha Brewing Company	St. Louis	[4]
Augusta Brewing Company	Augusta	[7]
Bat Creek Brewery	Bowling Green	[8]
Big Rip Brewing Company	NKC	[9]
Boulevard Brewing Company	Kansas City	[11]
Broadway Brewery	Columbia	[12]
Cathedral Square Brewery	St. Louis	[15]
Charleville Vinyard & Microbrewery	Ste. Genevieve	[16]
Charlie's Steak, Ribs & Ale	Branson	[17]
Cinder Block Brewery	North Kansas City	[18]
Civil Life Brewing Company	St. Louis	[19]
Crown Valley Brewing & Distilling Company	Ste. Genevieve	[20]
Exit 6 Brewery	St. Charles	[21]
Ferguson Brewing Company	St. Louis	[22]
Flat Branch Pub and Brewing	Columbia	[23]
Flying Monkey Beer	Kansas City	[5]
Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurant	Kansas City	[24]
Granite City Food & Brewery	St. Louis	[25]
Griesedieck Brothers beer	St. Louis	[27]
Horseshoe Bend Brewing	Lake Ozark	[6]
Gruhlke`s Microbrewery / Bias Vineyards	Berger	[28]
John A. Huber Brewing Co	Jackson	[29]
Kirkwood Station Brewing	Kirkwood	[30]
McCoys Public House	Kansas City	[31]
Morgan Street Brewery	St. Louis	[32]
Mother's Brewing Company	Springfield	[33]
O'Fallon Brewery	O'Fallon	[34]
Piney River Brewing Company	Bucyrus	[36]
Public House Brewing Company	Rolla	[38]
Rock Bridge Brewing Company	Columbia	[39]
Saint Louis Brewery (Schlafly)	St. Louis	[40]
Six Row Brewing Company	St. Louis	[41]
Springfield Brewing Company	Springfield	[42]
Square One Brewery and Distillery	St. Louis	[43]
Trailhead Brewing Company	St. Charles	[45]
Urban Chestnut Brewing Co	St. Louis	[46]
Weston Brewing Co / O`Malley`s Pub	Weston	[48]
William K Busch Brewing Company	St. Louis	[50]

My NADS: An Epic Tale

So you probably remember that way back in October Chuck came up with the idea that there should be a nationally recognized day for adventure.  We thought it was a great idea and so did a lot of other people.  We created a facebook page for people to like and it started to generate  some interest.
Chuck, Robin, Lori and Mark decided they would set out to ride the Triple Crown.  An epic MTB route not to be taken lightly.  You can read about their ride here.

While the Triple Crown seemed like an awesome adventure, I had been thinking about a multi-day adventure for a while and needed an excuse to pull the trigger.  I wanted to do something multi-sport as well.  The original idea was to ride my bike to Jefferson City along the KATY trail, and then paddle back to St Charles.  My friend Cheri had recently purchased a kayak, so I asked if she wanted to paddle with me from Jeff city to Hermann.  She agreed and everything was set!

I am finally finished with the Epic Tale of my NADS, you can read about it at the links below.

• National Adventure Day: Part 1
• National Adventure Day: Part 2
• National Adventure Day: Part 3
• National Adventure Day: Part 4 The Final Chapter!

Four installments might be a bit indulgent, but I had a lot to say.

I hope you enjoy reading about my NADS!