RIDE REPORT
Wednesday, 17 April 2024, A Bike Ride from Revolution Hall
Ride Leader: Gene Ho
33.2 miles, 11:00 am start from Lexington, MA
Riders (16): Gene, Barry Nelson, Bill Perry, Bill Widnall, Don Mannes, Frank Aronson, Frank Calabrese, Gerry Sheetoo, John Ho, Julie Dodd, Kim Wach, Linda Nelson, Mark Friedman, Susan Sabin, Zach Woods, and first-timer Scott Mandell.
All riders registered and, shockingly, actually showed up. And, on time too! Maybe the venue had something to do with this - a brew pub with a fan base that includes many CRW members.
Bill Widnall biked to the start with sad news - he's sold his Mazda RX-7 - once an offbeat, quirky sports car with an unorthodox engine, but now a serious collectible.
An uneventful start became mildly eventful when a loose fender started mouthing off at its owner by imitating a baseball card in the spokes. As we all learn, sooner or later, mechanical problems fall into 2 categories:
1. Things that move but shouldn't. Solution - duct tape
2. Things that don't move but should. Solution - WD40
#1 applied in this case. No one had duct tape, but Don saved the day with a roll of black electrical tape. A couple of wraps in the right spot and we were underway in silence.
Heading towards our snack stop in Carlisle, some maundered en route, many meandered, and a few of us just moseyed along. Most made it to Fern’s for a quick 45-minute snack. A select few, unencumbered by reliable navigation, discovered a few shortcuts through the wilds of Carlisle and arrived early at the pub for a head start on the brews. Fortunately, they left a bit for the later finishers.
Sheltered souls that many of us are, we were pleased to discover a new, to us, system of trigger warnings - the IBU scale. No, it's not the International Brotherhood of Undertakers, it's the International Bitterness Unit. The pub is self-serve and each spigot is labeled with the offering's name, description, ABV, and IBU #. The higher the IBU number, the more bitter or hoppy it tastes. Since any scale needs calibration, I personally undertook this effort as a service to the imbibing public. After a sufficient sample size, I can confidently state that a high IBU number really can overwhelm any other of the beer's attributes. The pub's management actively encourages advancing the state of the art and urges patrons to determine this for themselves with as many data points as possible.
Report by Gene Ho.
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