I haven’t ridden since last Monday when I took Jake into Durand for a little ride down memory lane. I had a five-day hiatus. Not cool, Di.

Last night, I brought a growler of Brickshot ESB home from the Rochester Mills Beer Company:

All I can say is, “DAMN! That is one helluva a brew!”

I knew I was going to drink this growler, tonight. In fact, I am drinking it as I write this. No, I am not drunk. I am halfway through the first glass. I know many of you like to attribute my best work to drunkenness, but this is truly a God-given ability, even under sobriety.

Simple equation: very overweight Di + beer = guilt. The equation can be changed, however. Think: very overweight Di + beer + long, hard road ride = less guilt and lots of malty and hoppy bliss. Oh, yes. This is why I ride.

I convinced my brother to drive me and my mom to the Saginaw Valley Rail Trail. Mom and Tom took off to complete their 19-mile ride. After two miles, I decided to do each segment twice. I didn’t see them until mile seven, and I still had to do repeats of the next couple of miles.

At some point during my ride, I passed two guys on road bikes. They looked like regular riders. The real trip is that I recognized the guy I looked squarely in the face, and I could’ve sworn that the other guy was wearing a Team Singlespeed kit that I saw out of the corner of my eye. Later in the ride, I yelled at them when they were returning and, lo and behold, we knew who each other was! I ran into the two fellas on the right:

The guy on the left is why we know each other.

I finished my 35-mile ride in two hours and 13 minutes. My mom and brother had been waiting 20 minutes in Tom’s truck. Whoops. Either way, I got a great a workout and I was free to drink beer.