I finished #GCCUSA2026

Yesterday, I got in an 18 mile ride to finish up my 1000 mile September, raising over $5,300 to help fight Childhood Cancer with my Great Cycle Challenge.

The rider / donation page will remain available for at least another month ... and I'll be signing up for my 12th year in 2027 ... so if you want to donate, you still can:

https://greatcyclechallenge.com/riders/EricShepard

#GCCUSA2026 Hero Jersey Shots

In #GCCUSA2026 Jersey Shots, I shared photos of me in GCC Jerseys.

I left out the "Hero Jerseys" that I've earned over the years, so I thought I'd post those.

Here they are:

2020 "Spider Man"

#GCCUSA2026 Jersey Shots

As you know if you've been following along, I'm riding 1000 miles this month as part of the Great Cycle Challenge.

If you'd like to help out with a donation ... here is my rider page:

https://greatcyclechallenge.com/riders/EricShepard

I've been doing this thing every year for the past 10 years and over that time have collected quite of few GCC Jerseys.

As of a couple days ago, I've taken selfies of all these jerseys (other than 2016, which doesn't fit me and is now in my wife's closet).

Here are those photos:

2017

Buckwheat's Belgium Pale Ale (Batch 398)

So ... remember in Brain Freeze Rauchbier (Batch 397), that my friend "Doc" had a plan to help us "catch up" a little on our low beer inventories?

Well, his plan was a "Quad Brew Day" at his home brewery. 

I would brew a batch. My wife would brew a batch. He would brew a batch. His wife would brew a batch.

As it turned out ... neither his nor my wife really planned on brewing a batch themselves, so really it would be Doc brewing two batches and Me brewing two batches.

And ... they ended up needing to babysit their new grand child later in the day, so they decided to just brew one batch.

Honestly, I had not been excited about having to transport (and set up and clean) both my brewing set ups. So, when they said they might be doing one batch, I told them "we" would only be doing the Beer Model's batch....

Buckwheat's Belgium Pale Ale

K is for Steep Brewing LaKeside TiKi Bar

If you're following along on the A to Z Series of Posts, and read L is for Landlocked Ales, you know we skipped over "K".

It just so happened that there wasn't really anything close to our house on the Colorado Brewery Map & List that would really work for us.

But ... we had plans to stay up in the mountains over Labor Day weekend, and my wife (aka the SheppyBrew Beer Model) came up with a fantastic idea.

We were staying up in Copper Mountain, which is a short down-hill bike ride down to Lake Dillon.

So, we brought our bikes, and on Saturday morning we headed down to visit ....

K is for Steep Brewing LaKeside TiKi Bar

August Update on 2026 Fitness Goals

As you know if you follow this blog, I generally give a monthly update on my fitness / Strava goals. I'm sure no one besides myself really cares, but I figure sharing these publicly give me a little extra motivation because of the extra accountability.

Plus, from time to time I'll look at older updates just to see where I was in the past.

In previous years, my goals have been mostly around cycling, but starting this year, I've started running as well.

If you're interested, You can always track these workouts on Strava. 

So far, I'm tracking pretty well to my 2026 Fitness goals, although a couple of aches and pains (not quite injuries) do seem to be slowing me down a bit (at least on running).

2026 Tribute Day Photos

Here it is ... September already. 

As you know if you follow me at all, I'll be cycling 1,000 miles in September to help raise awareness and money to fight childhood cancer.

It is called the Great Cycle Challenge.

If you'd like to help out, head to my "Rider Page" at

https://greatcyclechallenge.com/Riders/EricShepard

If you follow me on Facebook, you might have seen me posting about "Tribute Day" on Wednesday, August 26.

Chatfield SUP Photos

We went Paddle Boarding on Chatfield Reservoir again on Saturday.

This is the second time using the Akaso Brave 7 LE Action Camera. I think its supposed to be more of a video camera ... but I've yet to really take a video worth saving.

Oh Well.

One of us fell in. Sadly, it wasn't me.

Colorado is in a drought and Chatfield Reservoir is certainly showing that we need lots more rain than we've been getting. 

I'm really hoping for more snow this winter, and any rain we get between now and then is very welcome.

But, even with the low water level on the lake, it is always fun to get out there and paddle around.

Here are some pictures ...

July Update on 2026 Fitness Goals

As you know if you follow this blog, I generally give a monthly update on my fitness / Strava goals. I'm sure no one besides myself really cares, but I figure sharing these publicly give me a little extra motivation because of the extra accountability.

Plus, from time to time I'll look at older updates just to see where I was in the past.

In previous years, my goals have been mostly around cycling, but starting this year, I've started running as well.

If you're interested, You can always track these workouts on Strava. 

So far, I'm tracking pretty well to my 2026 Fitness goals, although a couple of aches and pains (not quite injuries) do seem to be slowing me down a bit (at least on running).

More SUP Photos

So ... something happened during the Chatfield SUP Photos that made me think it probably isn't a great idea to bring my phone out on the lake to take photos.

I won't go into details, but you can probably imagine reasons a phone on a Stand-up-Paddle-Board is not a good idea.

You might even think it odd that it took me as long as it did for me to realize something so obvious.

After some research ... I decided to purchase an Akaso Brave 7 LE Action Camera, which has a waterproof case.

In addition to being less expensive and more water proof than my phone, it is also something that allows the wife to be able to take photos as well.

You may have noticed (or maybe not) that most of our SUP trips have very few photos of me and tons of her.

H is for Homegrown Tap and Dough

As I mentioned in G is for Green Mountain Beer Company, Round 7 of the A to Z Breweries series has been going fairly smooth.

A, B, C, D, F and G all had local breweries that started with the respective letters. E was a little stretch, but not bad at all.

But ... now we are up to "H", and the Colorado Brewery Map & List didn't really have any options that we had not already used.

Last Friday was a date night for me and the wife (aka the SheppyBrew Beer Model), and there is a Littleton restaurant / "tap house" we had not been to in awhile that just happens to start with the letter "H".

So ... I decided to use it as our H A to Z "brewery".

H is for Homegrown Tap and Dough

Chatfield SUP Photos

If you read Pork Belly Burnt Ends, you probably knew this was coming ...

On Saturday, we took our Paddle Boards out on Chatfield Lake.

We had an extremely dry winter, and as a result, Chatfield Lake is much lower than any previous SUP trip.

But ... it is a big lake, so there are still plenty of room to paddle around.

So ... we packed a lunch along with a few beers and headed out to the lake.

Here are some photos of the Beer Model and me out on the lake Saturday ...

June Update on 2026 Fitness Goals

As you know if you follow this blog, I generally give a monthly update on my fitness / Strava goals. I'm sure no one besides myself really cares, but I figure sharing these publicly give me a little extra motivation because of the extra accountability.

Plus, from time to time I'll look at older updates just to see where I was in the past.

In previous years, my goals have been mostly around cycling, but starting this year, I've started running as well.

If you're interested, You can always track these workouts on Strava. 

So far, I'm tracking pretty well to my 2026 Fitness goals, although a couple of aches and pains (not quite injuries) do seem to be slowing me down a bit (at least on running).

2026 Fathers' Day Camping at Turquois Lake

This past Sunday was Father's Day, and my wife and kids took me camping.

For quite awhile, our family tradition has been to go camping on Father's Day weekend.

On this blog, you can go all the way back to 2011 Father's Day Weekend to see photos of us camping.

Back then, the kids were pretty small. They are not small anymore. In fact, this year all four of us were drinking alcohol beverages around the camp fire.

I'm not sure how much longer this tradition will continue, but I was lucky enough to have it go at least this year.

This year, like a couple of previous years, we camped just West of Leadville close to Turquois Lake.

Ground Hog Premium Lager (Batch 392)

I brewed this past weekend.

If you read and remember 2026 Q1 SheppyBrew Stats, you know that this year has been slow in regards to brewing.

Since Q1, before this past weekend I'd only brewed Chelsea Dagger Pre-Prohibition Lager (Batch 390) and Where'd My ManGo Wheat (Batch 391), so I really have not been catching up with my normal brewing cadence.

I was on track for the least amount of beer I've homebrewed since 2009. Back then I was doing 2.5 gallon batches.

But, I took advantage of the opportunity to brew Saturday ...

Ground Hog Premium Lager

May Update on 2026 Fitness Goals

As you know if you follow this blog, I generally give a monthly update on my fitness / Strava goals. I'm sure no one besides myself really cares, but I figure sharing these publicly give me a little extra motivation because of the extra accountability.

Plus, from time to time I'll look at older updates just to see where I was in the past.

In previous years, my goals have been mostly around cycling, but starting this year, I've started running as well.

If you're interested, You can always track these workouts on Strava. 

So far, I'm tracking pretty well to my 2026 Fitness goals.

My 2026 Fitness / Activity Goals are:

Garden of the Gods Photos

If you read Paint Mines: Mini - Bad Lands and/or C is for Cerberus Brewing Company ... and other breweries, you know that the Beer Model and I spent Memorial Day Weekend down in Colorado Springs.

It went really fast.

On Monday, after packing up from the hotel, the Beer Model wanted to visit Garden of the Gods.

We discovered that parking is difficult to come by on Memorial Day mid-morning in the main area of the park.

We ended up closer to the south end of the park and jumped on the hiking trails.

Here are the photos that we took while walking around ...

Paint Mines: Mini - Bad Lands

So, this past Memorial Day Weekend, my wife (aka the SheppyBrew Beer Model) and I had a weekend away.

On the way down to where we were staying for the weekend, she wanted to check out the Paint Mines Interpretive Park, which I had actually never heard of.

"The Paint Mines Interpretive Park is one of El Paso County’s most unique open spaces. The Paint Mines are named for their colorful clays that were collected by American Indians to make paint. Brightly colored bands, caused by oxidized iron compounds, are found in varying amounts throughout the many different layers of clay."

This park's rock formation remind me quite a lot of the South Dakota Bad Lands, which we visited with the kids back in 2013 and then again in 2015.

The Cloud Beasts and Chelsea Dagger

I kegged my Chelsea Dagger Pre-Prohibition Lager on Monday and added gelatin fining to the keg on Tuesday.

After dinner on Tuesday, I decided to drink a few on my patio. The gelatin had not really had much of a chance to work, so the beer was still pretty hazy. But, the beer was still delicious enough to enjoy.

For what it is worth, it is a much clearer beer now.

April Update on 2026 Fitness Goals

As you know if you follow this blog, I generally give a monthly update on fitness / Strava goals. I guess we can say that it is another level of accountability to share these publicly.

Plus, from time to time I'll look at older updates just to see where I was way-back-when.

In previous years, my goals have been mostly around cycling, but starting this year, I've started running as well.

If you're interested, I always track these workouts on Strava. 

So far, I'm tracking pretty well to my 2026 Fitness goals.

My 2026 Fitness / Activity Goals are: