Centennial Cone and Golden City Brewery

On Sunday August 26 I enjoyed a 3.5 hour mountain bike ride at Centennial Cone (C-Cone) in Golden Centennial Cone Park. The ride was 25 miles and 3,700 feet of climbing and it wore me out Centennial Cone Ride. I started from the lower parking lot off CO 6 and rode up from the Mayhem Gulch Trail to the upper loop and rode the loop clockwise then back to the car to give me the first 17 miles. 

The new and improved parking lot and trail head:

The flow section of trail near the North restrooms, and the high point below:

The return to the parking lot along the South side trail:

I then refueled with a snack and a full bottle and rode out-and-back from the parking lot counter clockwise on the loop for an additional 8 miles. I tried pushing the middle chain ring for most of the ride to help improve my conditioning. I did a better job at fueling and hydrating but I still felt sluggish in the last 8 miles but I pushed on at a slower pace to complete the workout. I think it will help me ride longer in the Fall as the temperatures come down to warm instead of hot.

On my way home I stopped at Golden City Brewing (GCB) for a little recovery Pint Golden City Brewery. This was my second visit to the GCB this summer. They are located on 12^th street in a residential neighborhood a few blocks from Clear Creek and downtown Golden. The brewery is in the carriage house next to the owners historical home. Their beer garden is set between the 2 buildings with a comfortable picnic atmosphere of tables, canopy’s, old trees, and water spritzers to cool the heat of the day, located behind the green and blue sunshades in the photo below. There are a few tables inside but the beer garden provides families and friends a place to share tables and chat about the day and upcoming events. The brewery respectfully closes at 630pm for their neighbors, which I like because patrons can sip, chat, and linger like a coffee shop. 

I tried their IPA which was much better than expected. The color of the beer was caramel with a hint of blonde but not much red. The flavor starts with a sweet caramel introduction, followed by a hint of earthy grass, but then the hops take over and let you know you have a tart drinkable beer in your hand. The hops linger on your palette after every sip, and reinforcing themselves every sip of your pint.  The sweet and earthy combination was something I enjoyed as it separates itself from the pungent hopcentric IPA’s that are commonly found. The beer tasted fresh and drinkable as if it were made by the pint like a cocktail rather than by the barrel.

While I was enjoying my IPA I read the newest book from Ed Sealover titled “Mountain Brew, A Guide to Colorado’s Breweries” Mountain Brew Book. Ed was a former journalist for the Rocky Mountain News and has won several journalism awards from several states, but this is his first book. He is a member of the Homebrewers Assosciation and he wrote this guide after leaving the newspaper business. As a promotion for the book he had a beer tasting party in Castle Rock, which is a great idea since the guide showcases some of the breweries in attendance, but I was unable to attend. I enjoyed reading about GCB while I was at the brewery because it provided depth to the history of the brewery while I was surrounded by the atmosphere of the GCB outdoor beer garden. I have read about several other breweries and would suggest this book to anyone as an accompaniment to their brewery visits.

When I got home I still had a taste for a mountain bike beer so I poured myself a Pint of Chainbreaker White IPA from Deschutes Brewery out of Oregon Deschutes Brewery. This beer is a great summer beer. It is refreshing with a light citrus introduction and smooth wit beer texture, and then the hops let you know that this beer has an IPA inside of it. The beer is very drinkable and refreshing but it's not too light. The IPA inside helps to cut the citrus and sweet that some wit beers have in their after taste, and that's a good thing. The hops give an earthy cleansing of the palette so you can drink from the citrus wit tree again.

I'll have another.