#GCCUSA 10 Day Update

As I've mentioned a few times recently on this blog (and on facebook and on instagram and on twitter), I am riding again in the Great Cycle Challenge.

I've done this every year since 2016. The Great Cycle Challenge is one of those ride-to-raise-money-for-charity events that pop up from time to time.

The charity I'm riding to raise money for is the Children's Cancer Research Fund.

The difference between this "event" and others (sort of) like it is that this one lasts the entire month of June. The riders pledge a number of miles to ride over the month. Other people donate money in support.
This year, I decided to make my goal 1000 miles. 1000 miles is more than I've ever ridden in a month, and I considered it a very aggressive goal. In fact, I have had my doubts that I could even do it.

It isn't so much that 33 miles a day is a huge physical effort. I was fairly certain that my legs would be very tired by the end of the month (through out the month actually), but that I could physically do it.

Being able to commit a couple hours a day to the effort was the question.

1000 Mile Mild

As I shared in #GCCUSA 2019 Great Cycle Challenge, I'm doing the Great Cycle Challenge again this year.

Since the blog post, I raised my riding goal to 1000 miles.

I wanted to brew this weekend, and I thought it would be fun to make a beer commemorating this challenge.

I thought it should be low alcohol, and came up with a recipe for a English Mild.

1000 Mile Mild

1000 miles is a lot of bike riding for me to accomplish in a month, and in order to have a chance to complete the goal, I'm going to have to be pretty aggressive.

Of course, I wanted to get started out strong. The month started off on this past weekend, and I made it my goal to hit 100 miles by Sunday night.

Memorial Weekend in Estes Park Part 3

If you follow this blog, you realize that I was in Estes Park over Memorial Day Weekend.

See

Memorial Weekend in Estes Park Part 1

And

Memorial Weekend in Estes Park Part 2

It was awesome to get away to the wilderness for a few days.

On Monday, before anyone else was up, I went for a quick morning hike.

Here are some pictures:

Memorial Weekend in Estes Park Part 2

Rocky Mountain National Park is always fun.

We decided to stay in Estes Park over Memorial Day Weekend, and obviously ... when in Estes Park, we had to spend some time in RMNP.

May has been particularly snowy in Colorado, and Trail Ridge Road was closed, but we could spend time on the East side of the park.

On Sunday, we found a RMNP trail accessable from Estes Park (as opposed to going through any of the drive-through entrances).

Gem Lake was the name of the trail. We started late morning, had lunch by the lake, and then hiked back down.

Here are some pictures from this hike (Part 2) ...

Memorial Weekend in Estes Park Part 1

Rocky Mountain National Park is always fun.

We decided to stay in Estes Park over Memorial Day Weekend, and obviously ... when in Estes Park, we had to spend some time in RMNP.

May has been particularly snowy in Colorado, and Trail Ridge Road was closed, but we could spend time on the East side of the park.

On Saturday, we drove up to Estes Park and then took a shuttle bus into the park.

We ate lunch at the Park and Ride that the bus brought us to and decided to start our hike up the Bierstadt Lake Trail .. which starts at the Park and Ride.

Here are some pictures from this hike ...

More on the Weber Kettle

So ... you know that recently I got a Weber Kettle and have been smoking a few things on it.

I did shared that I had done chicken and deep dish pizza in I bought a Weber Kettle.

And ... of course I made pork butt for Big Brew Day in an Overnight Cook.

I really like my Weber Kettle. So far, it has really worked well for me. Probably even better than my offset smoker. Ideally it would have a little more cooking space, but it works out great for things I've made so far for my family.

A couple weekends ago, I had a Chuck Roast sitting in my fridge that I needed to cook up.

My kids had also been asking for Smoked Mac and Cheese . Since my youngest had just gone through his Confirmation at church, I thought it would be appropriate to have a celebration dinner of his choosing.

So ... I thought it would be fun to try these out on the new Weber Kettle.

#GCCUSA 2019 Great Cycle Challenge

I'm doing the Great Cycle Challenge again this year.

Yes I am.

I've done this every year since 2016. The Great Cycle Challenge is one of those ride-to-raise-money-for-charity events that pop up from time to time.

The charity I'm riding to raise money for is the Children's Cancer Research Fund.

The difference between this "event" and others (sort of) like it is that this one lasts the entire month of June. The riders pledge a number of miles to ride over the month. Other people donate money in support.

I am blessed to have extremely generous friends and family and co-workers, and I've helped raise a pretty significant amount of money over the past few years.

$960 so far this year. Almost $5,450 over the time I've done the Great Cycle Challenge.