January 9th - Today I Rant

Ok, this is pretty sordid, but here goes...

The rise of vaugebook has ruined the World. Honest to gawd, by the time I finish catching up with all the posts about cats, anti-semitism, Chris Christie, Obamacare, Guns and Ducks and the perils of texting while driving, I've wasted hours of my day when I could have easily wasted them playing video games or riding.
A small sampling of recent random stupidity - most of which I laughed at out loud btw - 

FAT BIKES

There is a battle royale brewing in the FatBike vs Anit-FatBike Universe! First, The - I'm pretty much sure self titled - "Angry Single Speeder" wrote an accurate, well researched  and insightful investigation of the trend on MTBR.com, which I'm too lazy to link too, but not too lazy to steal a screenshot from - which I don't think is illegal so here goes:

For this he was roundly praised (yea, I posted this 'cause I was first to comment, twice..):

it was a solid stance...BUT THEN A RETORT from the wise guys over at Bike Rumor, specifically Zach Overholt (who I don't know, so I can't really pick on..except he likes fatbikes). They even went as far as offering a social conscience at the end - see commentary for extra hilarity (gee, wonder if a lawyer was involved)!

And of course there was a chorus of supporters - thereby affirming the idea that people tent to read and comment on things that support their original position, rather than those that do not:

This one pretty much answers itself if only because A.S.S is much funnier, and fat bikes suck...

CX NATIONALS

Then there was CX Nationals - lots of great racing the past couple of days, but this cracked me up:

A couple of these fellas seem a bit high-strung for single speeders - secret gear? WTH is secret about your gear choice on the STARTING LINE? Anyway, the guy who won seemed pretty good natured and easy going...good on him.

Shout out to Mo Bruno Roy and Henry Kramer for their big wins!!

POLITICS AND OTHER STUPIDITY

Of course there was any number of political upset today ranging from Chris Christie's debacle...which surprisingly I have not heard referred to as "Bridgegate" yet (yet), to the antisemitism rampant in the world of education as dutifully explained by Charles Karuthammer, who does a great job of re-arranging and ignoring facts to frame his argument that any questioning of the Israeli Governments treatment of the Palestinians is both antisemitic and misses the opportunity for even greater condemnation of countries like Syria and Iran (who do way worse things of course). Why are these boycotters picking on a democratic US ally? So unfair to question bad policy....but I can't really say anything about it or I'm being antisemtic, rather than just anti-Israeli Government policy, a narrow thread to navigate it seems, so I'm gonna skip right over it...

With 2 minutes to spare....whew, I feel better.....I think I'll try this again next Thursday!

January 8th - Today I Missed Colorado

USAC Cyclocross Nationals is going on in Boulder this week - CX Mag has the full coverage you seek - and after looking at some results I wish I was racing! Not that I should be racing...I shouldn't, but racing - specifically Single Speed CX - is really really fun! Congratulations to Mo Bruno Roy on her win (she's a TRP Brakes sponsored athlete and an all around great person). Scott Chapin, Ibis Buy Cell team, Tim Cannard and a host of riders from NorCal threw down some results, as did those Colorado speedsters...which got me both wishing I was racing and feeling a little sentimental too.

If NorCal is my home now, Colorado is where I'm from. I was born in Denver and lived in the fabulous suburb of Arvada through Junior High. Arvada was the site of the first Gold discovery in the Rocky Mountains. It's also the home of Dirk Pitt creator Clive Cussler and, according to Wikipedia, is the birthplace of one Karl Rove. Things you didn't know!

From there I lived for a year in the little town of La Veta Colorado - very small (600 people at the time) with something like 11 in my Freshman class. So small we played 8-man football, had no stoplights. It sits at the base of the Huajatolla (wah ha toy ya) Mountains (Ute translation: "Breasts of the Earth"), also known as the Spanish Peaks in the Southern part of the state:

Spanish Peaks - via wikipedia - just over 13,000 feet

High School was spent in Colorado Springs - home of the Olympic Training Center, Pikes Peak, and more conservative Christian organizations than any other city! I locked into cycling in the Springs and the 1986 World Championships, held there, played a substantive role. I remember running into various teams trying to acclimate - most were cool enough to let us tag along, but alas we never saw the Italians (Moreno Argentin won on a freezing day). The closed my high school earlier this year.

I graduated from CU Boulder (Go Buffs!), but started school in Ft Collins (CSU) for the first year and a half.  I remember chasing Randy Whicker and a bunch of his AC Pinarello team around on the Wednesday ride - so hard and fast! Ft Fun hosted a finish of the Tour of Colorado last year - Sagan won...

Boulder....ahhh, Boulder. I spent a lot of time in Boulder in my early riding days...it was the place to go. We'd shoot up and do the Saturday ride - a sweet little jaunt that heads north to Carter Lake at unreasonable speeds, often including a longer loop out to the Frontage road of I-70.

strava offline - map coming!

Hard riders lived in Boulder, still do of course. It was an honor to be in the mix on the BusStop Ride, The Saturday Ride and many others. Great road riding was largely lost in the floods this fall...but I know Boulder County will be back. As to CX Nats - the course looks pretty good, the scenery amazing, and the talent about as far up the food chain as you'd expect. If Boulder wasn't so impressed with itself it would probably elicit a little bit less of a "hurl" response in me...but then again I was never one of the cool kids anyway. I do miss the riding though.

January 7th - Today I Ate

New Year - New Me, or whatever...I weighed 175 pounds on Jan 1, which is seemingly my new set point unfortunately, so I downloaded a "fitness app" - "My Fitness Pal" to be specific. I can track all sorts of stuff on it..mostly food intake and exercise. Well, I'm lazy so getting me to log stuff is probably a challenge after about three days. Truth be told it's been a challenge until today and I'm not all that confident about tomorrow...

Anyway, I have some staples in my diet, like most people, and being somewhat health conscious I think I do a pretty good job of managing my intake/expenditure (well, clearly not as I added 10 pounds pretty early on last year and haven't gotten rid of it yet)...I'm sure my caloric mix is right in line with that long-standing gold standard of 60% Carbs (CHO), 30% FAT (FAT) and 10% Protein (PRO, novel eh!?).

So for kicks, let's look at how some of those staples stack up

The Infamous Matt-Muffin! This is a total favorite, had one today....I eat it almost every time I'm doing a long ride, it just sets the day off right when paired with a cup of coffee. Looks about like this:

I recently guessed it at ~500Kcals on Facebook

Today I dropped in all the nutrition information from the handy little bar code scanner on my "Fitness Pal", so let's go to the tape:

• 1Trader Joes Hash Brown Patty -   130cal, 8g FAT, 14g CHO, 1g PRO
• 1 slice Oat Nut Break,  -                110cal, 2g FAT, 20g CHO, 4g PRO
• 1 oz Deli Fresh Black Forest Ham    25cal, 0.8g FAT, 0g CHO, 4.5g PRO
• 1 XL Egg                                         80cal, 5g FAT, 0g CHO, 7g PRO
• 1/2 oz TilamookCheddar Cheese      55cal, 4.5g FAT, 0g CHO, 3.5g PRO
• 1 Tbsp Pure Veg Oil                       120cal, 14g FAT, 0g CHO, 0g PRO

TOTALS:                                                520cal, 34.3g FAT, 34g CHO, 20g PRO

...but here's where it goes south:  58.7% FAT -  308.7cal

                                                    25.9% CHO - 136cal

                                                     15.2% PRO - 80cal  

....uh, oh! My favorite ride breakfast of all time is almost 60% FAT! Dear heavens, not a good start!

Ok, I can bear one more I think...

Cereal Rocks!

Honey Bunches of Oats Cereal and Milk - name a cyclist who doesn't like cereal and I'll show you a triathlete! Ok, I'm kidding...but most everyone loves cereal that I know. I eat it pretty regularly for lunch and/or dinner, so here goes

• 1 Cup Honey Bunches of Oates Cereal   162cal, 3.1g FAT, 32.5g CHO, 2.5g PRO
• 1 Cup Non Fat Milk                                 86cal, 0.4g FAT, 11.9g CHO, 8.4g PRO

TOTALS:                                                        248cal, 3.5g FAT, 44.4g CHO, 10.9g PRO

...which mets out to:    12.7% FAT -   31.5cal

                                  71.6% CHO- 177.6cal

                                  17.5% PRO -   43.6cal ...better, but still a bit skewed in the end.

Now, this is, hopefully, an extreme example - Most days I have a bagel and cream cheese for breakfast, not great but not quite 60% fat. Then again, I think I may have found a place to do some additional work, and I'll be looking into some more of my 'regulars' for certain!

January 6th - Today I Dreamed

You're driving down some road, somewhere, when you spot asphalt in your periphery, twisting away. Maybe, better yet, it's up a hill to places you know not, an escape...just grab an exit, jump, on your bike and you're off! Mostly you keep driving, but they gnaw don't they, those unmet miracles...

For 2014 I've got a few in the back of my mind. They're mostly events actually, but they still hold that allure...is this the year? In semi-chronlogical order, a few of my plans

Grasshopper Adventure Series - February 1st - I stumbled on this series maybe 4 or 5 years ago, but it took me another year or two to actually do one. I jumped in on the Old Cazadero route, 55'ish miles of mixed terrain bliss and a frisky river crossing...and I'll be back this year astride my still-in-the-build-process Stevens Super Prestige Disc Cross bike 'cause its awesome! The past two years I've not had any fitness, and so suffered for it...but this year maybe things will be different and I'll not have to walk the final climb! Sign up and join in the fun.

 RAGBRAI - July 20 - 26th - More akin to a series of parties linked by a daily bike ride from what I've heard, RAGBRAI (Technically the Registers Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa) is as much a right of passage for a cyclist as Mt Everest is for mountaineers. Now, I've only been to 18, 490 feet on the side of a volcano in Mexico:

Rick Rodriguez Photo

and I've only ever survived a five day stage race (hey, it was at altitude!), but I'm pretty jazzed to give this one a whirl in 2014! They do a lottery for the week long, 450'ish mile ride - and you can sign up a group with just as much chance to get in as an individual - so I'm looking for a few interested to come with.
Yep, we're thinking motor-home, excessive liquids, and probably 3rd degree sunburns! Interested? Drop me a line - sterlingspeed@gmail.com and we'll sort it out! Here is last years route:

6-Days of Fun in Iowa - Wanna Come?

3-Peaks Cyclocross Race - September 28th - Billed as the hardest cyclocross race in the World, this British classic is on my list. Doing it in 2014 is a stretch, given the boldness of the schedule, but what the heck! Might as well try to pull it off! Here's the 411: 61Kms (38 miles), 5000 feet of climbing, 28Kms on surfaced road, 33Kms unsurfaced, 6-8Kms un-rideable (read: hike-a-bike!) - and most of it is ILLEGAL to pre-ride! Sounds about right, eh? Here is the loop:

3PeaksCyclocross.org

Kerste Periode - December 18th - January 5th (or so...)

Ok, this is the real highlight of my 2014 plans...Kerste Period is the perfect culmination to a great year: 

11 races in 14 days! What more could a bike nerd want! Here was the 2013 Kerste Schedule:

Kerstperiod – Christmas CX Cross – 18 day period – 10 races

12-15 – Vlamse Industrieprijs Bosdin – Kalmhout, Belgium

12-18 – Cyclocross Van Het Wassland – Sint-Niklaas, Belgium

12-21 – bpost GP Rouwmoer – Essen, Belgium

12-22 – UCI World Cup Namur – Belgium

12-26 – UCI World Cup Zolder – Belgium

12-27 – bpost Azencross – Loenhout, Belgium

12-28 – Versluys Cross – Bredene, Belgium

12-29 – Super Prestige Diegem – Belgium

1-1 – GP Sven Nys – Baal, Belgium

So, in confidence, my plan is to spend a bit of time at the Chain Stay Cycling House in Belgium, but I''m hoping to pull a few favors from some racing friends in Belgium. If all goes well, I'll have race support and a tent area to warm up in to boot! There are a host of race categories and lots of stiff competition - and I heard that the 2015 Worlds are being held in Switzerland again, so that's pretty tempting as well....honestly, the rest of the trips can drop off...but Belgium, Belgium will happen! Ok, now to get some sleep and dream about it...here's the GP Sven Nys to help you dream!

The Weekend Lookback

I missed a couple of posts from the weekend, so I thought I'd combine them into a weekend summary

Saturday - I Rode...a lot. Maybe not a lot for some folks, but for me 70 miles was pretty good, especially for January. Normally my January's are somewhat underwhelming...

Jan 2013 -   7:53

Jan 2012 - 19:51

Jan 2011 - 23:08

Jan 2010 - 24:35

Jan 2009 - 17:34

Jan 2008 - 26:55

Jan 2007-  11:10

so the fact that I got 70 miles in on Saturday and another 42 on Sunday was a small victory. I'm already approaching 9 hours for the month! Anyway, I did our local fool's paradise that is "The Spectrum" ride...now, I may be wearing the rose colored Rudy's (not a big fan of Oakley's anymore), but it seems that back-in-the-day the ride used to be harder, faster, and more importantly safer! Certainly the influx of hard charging Cat 4 and 5's has diluted the depth of the field a bit, but I also wonder if the lack of real mentoring via local clubs is a culprit. My first club - Aqulia Cycles - in Colorado Springs had a weekly training ride where the experienced riders would teach newbies like me how to ride a paceline, rotate through on an echelon, and generally not be a nuisance. I soaked it up readily - eager to learn the ways of the two-wheeled warriors I looked up to. Today - well, not so much. Everyone has a coach who gets their power prescription 'just right' so what the hell do they need to hear advice for? I'm only half kidding...the number of rider who've reacted somewhat incredulously at my, generally, polite overtures about group etiquette or a simple adjustment to their thinking in the field is pretty funny to me. I would have sooner died than be the guy who caused a derailment of the paceline! Anyway, the pace was slow enough that I could hang at the front over the days primary obstacles Arastradero and Alpine Road - albeit not really that slow since I pulled out a 462W best minute over Arastradero (ouch!). Then again the ride out to the end of Canada road was only 1:30 at ~240Wnormalized and and an average HR of 141 - so not that hard sitting in the back.  Anyway, I heard there was a crash on the way back, but I stopped for some coffee, had a short chat with Rick Sutton of Plus 3 (+3) Networks - Rick is a great guy - industry legend - and I'm happy to say that the Sterling Team will be joining to raise some funds for worthwhile causes.

https://www.plus3network.com/

Sunday - I Taught (what is they say, "those who can't, teach")...
Mentored actually. I worked the Early Bird Criterium Training Series for probably the 5th or 6th year...the last couple as a Director with some truly good coaches - folks like Larry Nolan, John Cheetham, Laurel Green and Dan Smith. Of course there are literally dozens of others who volunteer their time to help Newbie Cat 5's get up to speed a little quicker on the whole "racing safe" strategy - we cover things like pacelines, sprinting, cornering, and moving around in the midst of the field - it's a five week series. Actually, the series has become the template for the entire USA Cycling rider development program, so I'm pretty happy to contribute. It's not quite the classic club development approach, but it's been a mainstay of the NorCal scene for over 20 years.

John Cheetham Photograph

January 3rd - Today I Wrote

The start of the year, actually the start of the month really...is always a fun time to be a coach. Today I had the great pleasure of working on a couple of programs that are well and truly OUT THERE..

Cape Epic - you've heard of it, an 8-day torture fest in Africa. Well, I've got an athlete racing in it and we're putting the final touches on his training plan. It's a pretty good challenge since pretty much every day after the prologue is over 100 kilometers on the mountain bike! Big names come to the race - Absalon, Brentjens, Chiotti, etc...but I think it's the guys who have real jobs and responsibilities that make it a truly EPIC (dear gawd, feel free to kick me) event. Just look at the stage profiles:

What most people ride on a typical MTB ride...

70 Miles of fun!

Knife Edge Looking Thing, eh!?

 Totally my bad...this one's only 88K!

Needless to say we're gonna need a pretty well thought out plan to get this one right. Fortunately, he's done it before so we have a bit of background...but no real template! I'll keep you updated on the progress. Here is the course:


Next up we have the World Duathlon Long Course Championships in Zofingen Switzerland...this one is pretty big too - 10K Opening Run, 150K Bike Leg and a final 30K run! North of 8 hours! Here is my guys bike file from last time:

5 Hours at 0.87 IF!!

Thing I was most proud of? His ability to stay focused for that long...5 hours at 0.87, possibly the longest "Sweet Spot" Interval ever...and we were pretty darn close on his FTP. He finished 4th and we're aiming higher this time around!

Here is a video done by a pro guy:


I didn't ride today...carpet cleaning took the focus away, but I'm hoping to make up for it tomorrow with a long long one before the Early Bird Series kicks off...

January 2nd - Today I Tested

I'm working on some smooth for the new year...

At every meal I've had this year, so far, I've caught myself at the edge of "speed-eating" and consciously slowed down! It helps me feel present with what I am doing and is WAY easier on my digestion! Give it a whirl. Oh and Cha Cha sent me this from yesterday...

Ok, so today I did three lactate threshold tests - two invasive, one non-invasive. I've done the non-invasive (aka Conconi protocol) for a long time, but just purchased my lactate analyzer last summer...it's pretty fun!

I've previously written about HR zones, their history,  and their varied implementations by coaches (as has my esteemed editor Stephen Cheung) - so this post covers no new territory...I just like the opportunity testing affords to have a conversation with athletes about their training and metrics that matter - specifically the cross correlation between RPE, HR, Threshold and the various iterations of each in their own training. I did think this part was pretty interesting given the prevalence of it's use:

"Robergs and Landwehr, researchers out of the University of New Mexico, sought to find an answer via their 2002 article in the Journal of Exercise Physiology. Their paper did an exhaustive review of the literature seeking to find the roots of max heart rate calculations during exercise, especially 220-age, as well as best practices in applying the correct calculations and metrics. The eventually referenced the origin of the formula to Fox et al in 1971 and as they put it “…surprisingly, the origin of the formula is a superficial estimate, based on observation, of a linear best fit to a series of raw and mean data.” 

The Fox article looked at research conducted on activity and heart disease. The original citation had a mere 35 data points and was not derived from original research. In fact Fox et al noted in their article that “…no single line will adequately represent the data on the apparent decline of maximal heart rate with age. The formula maximum heart rate=220–age in years defines a line not far from many of the data points.” So even the researchers in the original article that became the bedrock for decades worth of fitness musings, teachings and prescriptions didn’t feel that it was an absolute measure!

To try and parse out a ‘true’ Max Heart Rate (MHR) calculation, Robergs and Landwehr went back and attempted to replicate the research and cross reference with additional research that is often cited in relation to MHR estimation. They looked at over 30 different ways to calculate MHR, including the first known effort by Sid Robertson in 1938 (whose estimate was 212 – 0.77(age)). Their conclusion was that, indeed, even the original research cited by Fox had failed to support the 220-age calculation."

Some will argue the efficacy of the Conconi protocol, but I like it...there is typically a pretty noticeable shift that occurs in HR and, perhaps more importantly, breathing rate during the test. The test is pretty straight forward...starts at 50 watts and increases by 20 watts per minute until "volitional failure." The invasive test is similar - but the stages are 3:00 in length to better track steady state. When I do either of these I always recommend that the rider conduct a couple of field tests to further bracket their results, but it does give them a pretty good baseline to start with. The differences are not big when taken in the aggregate, ~1.5 beats per 10%, but the reality is that zones matter in helping to manage training. Here are a couple of examples:

Do you know your training zones? If not, maybe you should schedule an LT Test!

Oh yea, I also managed to get on my bike for an hour or so...felt pretty good to be in the brisk air!

Wonder what tomorrow will bring...

January 1st - Today I Raced

The San Bruno Hill Climb has kicked off the NorCal calendar for years and years....yet until today I'd never toed the line of this classic New Year's jaunt. Well, today I changed that and jumped in for the fun, part of my re-integration with racing after only 7 races in all of 2013. This was my first ever Masters 45+ 1/2/3 race, I didn't know the course, and had no idea what a "fast" time was, but figured it had to be around 20 minutes or so.

Here is the course:

And here is the race file:

Of course I started a bit too hard - like 420W for the first minute too hard - and then watched nearly the entire field ride past me as my average power just kept plummeting - 395, 390, 385, 365....and so on it went until by the end of my 21:00'ish minute effort (I had it at 20:57 on my clock) I was averaging a rather paltry 285W. I might have stayed above 300 if I'd started slower and ridden my own pace instead of trying to light up the start climb...which is only 7-8%, but felt plenty steep! I did the first five minutes around 317W, the second five minutes around 268, the third five at 274W and the final 6:00 at 290W.

Anyway, Normalized power (which is probably marginally worthwhile here) was 297Wn, so pretty close to my "target" of 300W and under 20 minutes. On the plus side I saw a couple of the gals from Team Ole out to race, - Lori and Cha Cha - and that's always a fun proposition as we get along great and banter back and forth in rapid succession. Lori almost had me convinced to buy her Range Rover, but it isn't a pick up truck!

here is the video of my "race"....pretty funny at about the 1:00 mark when guys just start flying by me!

'13 Small Vignettes

As 2013 comes to a close, it's time to break out the way back -n- far out machine and remember...

Athletes - Once again my athletes delivered a rousing round of results over the course of the season...

#1 - Team Direct Asia -The boys on TDA put riders on podiums all year long, won some big races in Hong Kong, and even went back and grabbed their 2nd straight Team GC at the Tour de Bintan! So proud of these hard working guys and their comittment to excellence.

Kirk H proved once again that a National Championship is just a question of time and a truly hard enough race with another top 10 this year. How they can call a 5K run, 40K bike and 5K run the "Long Course" is beyond me...but next year we return to Zoffingen Switzerland (pic above), where truly hard men shine over the course of 8+ hours...can't wait!

Eric C made tremendous progress this year, all the way til the errant door took him out in June, but he bounced back and is well on the way to the holy grail of a 300W FTP. He was also a great riding companion and a good friend all year - thanks EC!

Yvonne W took another district title or two and pulled more than a minute out of her PR at Time Trial Nationals. She also took the series overall for her age group at Surf City on her "off season!"

Chris E threw down some pain in the Cat 3's, taking 3 wins along the way, then followed up with a very solid CX season.

 

Team Ole - A stellar goup of ladies - showed tremendous improvement for a first year club - and they came out to the Tuesday rides EVERY week...coincidence?

I spent some quality time with the Cushman and Wakefield team working on tactics and skills, and they've got another slew on the books for 2014! I'm really impressed with their commitment to rider development - they are having every member of the team take my Advanced Racing Clinic to help them perfect the small details that lead to success - they truly focus on rider development!

Race Team - If last year was a leaner and meaner team than 2011, this year was an hommage to the power of community. We were much smaller, but those who did show up brought their best each week. I am thankful for the commitment of Patrick Kitto, Jamie Willin, Kendra Foley, Darrell Sasagawa and Cliff Lee for coming out to race this season. Thanks guys!

Me
Let's finish off with some comic relief and look at my personal 2013. Matt - By the numbers:
13 - April 13th was the first week I hit over 10 hours for the year.
12 - Long months this year - some great stuff happened, some not so great...but not riding much was a huge part of why this year was particularly tough. Here is the year laid bare:

11 - Years that Sterling Sports Group has been around. Something new is brewing....
10 - Total number of 10+ hour weeks I had for the year - more than the 6 from last year I guess.
9 - times 2 =  18% drop in my FTP "best" for 2013 vs 2012...I should ride mor
8 - (17)8 - my weight at the start of December!
7 - Total number of races I did in 2013 - if I get off my duff and race on Sunday...which I did, finishing last!
*Cross Vegas: 72nd...but an "amazing" 9th in Single Speed

*BASP's One: 11th, Two: 18th!, Three: 11th, and Five: 14th
*Surf City Halloween race: 17th
*NCNCA Districts: 13th (aka last)

6 - Number of weeks I had a 20 minute effort over 285 Watts!
5 - Number of weeks I had a 5 minute effort over 340 Watts!
4 - Actually 4:47 more hours than in 2012, but 3762 fewer TSS points and 487 fewer miles (read way less focused!)

3 - Number of Tubulars I glued this season
2 - S-Works Tarmac's that I now own...one was a warranty replacement (still waiting to be built), the other a great deal from Larry N and the Specialized Junior/Masters team.
1 - Nice new Stevens Super Prestige Di2 Disc CX Bike that I have sitting in my house to build to help make a better 2014!!

Wow...

'Cross Beer

I'd like to come clean. I have a problem that needs your help....I don't really like beer much of the time.

it's true, I don't spend my rides, or really any time at all pining for Pliny or desperate for Duvel.

Heretic, outcast, poser....whatever.

I don't know the origins of  the beer and cross tradition, but I'm pretty sure it started with the fans in Belgium (12 minutes of a beer tent!!)...and somehow became THE thing.


Which is not to say that I do not appreciate a good beer - indeed my old neighbor has lavished the team with a high quality home-brew such that I actually slept in my car at the BASP Night Race last year...that was a fun party!

Lots of my friends drink beer after they race, but I always feel a little odd-man-out when I don't have that beer taste..which is what it comes down to. Post exercise it just doesn't taste very good sometimes. Must be my highly developed palate...then again wine is no more appealing. Back to the beer...

Seems there are about 170 different Belgian breweries making a wide variety of beers including an impressive six of only eight breweries that qualify as "Trappist" - meaning they are brewed in Monasteries with help from the monks and with income from sales supporting the Monastery or social programs they run. Here are the Belgian Trappist Breweries:

• Achel, sells Blonde (8% ABV), Brune (8% ABV), Extra Blonde (8% ABV), Extra Brune (8% ABV).
• Chimay sells Red Label (dark, 7% ABV), White Label (Blonde/Tripel, ABV 8%) and Blue Label (dark, 9% ABV).
• Orval sells a "unique"^[5] dry hopped 6.2% amber beer.
• Rochefort sells three dark beers, "6" (7.5% ABV). "8" (9.2% ABV) and "10" (11.3% ABV).
• Westmalle sells Dubbel (7% ABV) and Tripel (9% ABV),
• Westvleteren sells Green Cap or Blonde, (5.8% ABV), Blue Cap (dark, 8% ABV) and Yellow Cap (dark, 10.2% ABV).

Of course, other monasteries produce beer, but these are merely Abbey brews (non certified), or they may simply have a monastic slant to their marketing, it seems pretty free form on that criteria, so in 1999 they came up with an Abbey certification to help differentiate and by 2011 there were some eighteen certified Abbey beers (from wikipedia):

1. Abbaye de Cambron, brewed in Silly by Brasserie de Silly.
2. Abbaye de Bonne Espérance, brewed in Quenast by Lefebvre Brewery.
3. Abdij Dendermonde, brewed in Merchtem by Brouwerij De Block (nl)
4. Abbaye de Saint-Martin, historically referenced to 1096, is brewed near Tournai by Brasserie Brunehaut.
5. Affligem, produced for Affligem Abbey by a Heineken-owned brewery.
6. Brasserie de l'Abbaye du Val-Dieu (nl) is located on the grounds of a former abbey.
7. Bornem is brewed in Oost-Vlaanderen by Brouwerij Van Steenberge (nl)
8. Ename is brewed in Oost-Vlaanderen by Brouwerij Roman (nl).
9. Floreffe is brewed to fund a school housed in a former monastery.
10. Grimbergen, made by the large Alken Maes brewery for an extant Norbertine abbey.
11. Keizersberg is brewed in Oost-Vlaanderen by Brouwerij Van Steenberge.
12. Leffe, the Abbey brand of Stella Artois, itself part of the multinational Inbev corporation, is brewed under licence from an extant brewery. It is thought to be the first such arrangement. Leffe has global distribution.
13. Maredsous, the Abbey brand of Duvel Moortgat, Belgium's second largest brewer, licensed from Maredsous Abbey.
14. Postel is brewed in Opwijk by Brouwerij De Smedt (nl).
15. Ramée is brewed in Purnode by Brasserie du Bocq.
16. St. Feuillien is a small independent brewery.
17. Steenbrugge is brewed in Brugge by Brouwerij De Gouden Boom (nl).
18. Tongerlo is brewed in Boortmeerbeek by Brouwerij Haacht (nl).

Then of course there is the glassware. Typically reserved for "Special" beers - those that are stronger or bottled, there are a variety of styles - wikipedia covers it pretty well...

"One of the more common types is the tulip glass. A tulip glass not only helps trap the aroma, but also aids in maintaining large heads, creating a visual and olfactory sensation. The body is bulbous, but the top flares out to form a lip which helps head retention.

A vessel similar to a champagne flute is the preferred serving vessel for Belgian lambics and fruit beers. The narrow shape helps maintain carbonation, while providing a strong aromatic front. Flute glasses display the lively carbonation, sparkling color, and soft lacing of this distinct style.

Chalices and goblets are large, stemmed, bowl-shaped glasses mainly associated with Trappist and Abbey ales. The distinction between goblet and chalice is typically in the glass thickness. Goblets tend to be more delicate and thin, while the chalice is heavy and thick walled. Some chalices are even etched on the bottom to nucleate a stream of bubbles for maintaining a nice head.^{[citation needed]}

In addition to the profusion of glasses provided by brewers, some Belgian beer cafés serve beer in their own "house" glassware. ^"

I do find it all very interesting...so, I guess I'll keep sampling beers and hope to find that one 'always on' type that will allow me to be accepted by my friends!