Tour de Beer?

Liked this short piece in the City Room section of the New York Times that discusses the idea of riding (instead of driving) home after drinking. It also links up a love cycling with a love of beers a la Lance (according to the reporter, Shiner Bock is his pint of choice). I can relate.


"Of Bikes, Bars and Beers"
21 July 2009
By Sean Patrick Farrell

Some beer drinkers are being urged to Bike to the Bars.

July is a month of cycling bliss. The weather is perfect for long rides and, for much of the month, the world’s best riders battle for the yellow jersey in the Tour de France.

July is also a big month for beer; good beer, to be exact. This month, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg officially proclaimed July to be Good Beer Month in New York City. Approved good beer bars will get a Good Beer Seal.

As a part of the month of good beer cheer, bar owners are encouraging patrons to Bike to the Bars, where they can enjoy artisanal beers, in moderation, of course.

“We’re not saying go to 10 bars and get drunk,” said Jimmy Carbone, owner of the bar Jimmy’s 43, in the East Village, and one of the masterminds behind the Good Beer Seal and the Bike to the Bars ideas.

Jimmy’s 43, and many of the other Brooklyn- and Manhattan-based Good Beer Sealed bars — seriously, no good beer in Queens, the Bronx or Staten Island? — serve local craft beers and harder-to-find European specialty brews, which are meant to be savored.

“Europeans get it,” Mr. Carbone said. “After a good bike ride or a run, people have a beer somewhere.”

Indeed, alcohol and bicycles have long been linked, particularly in Europe. Long before Tour de France cyclists used blood doping agents, there was red wine.

Mr. Carbone, a self-described “transportation cyclist,” noticed many of his patrons and employees are also avid cyclists and wanted to join the beer and bikes passions.

“For myself and my customers, this is totally normal,” Mr. Carbone said.

He pressed a friend, Cecily Upton, who is a bicycle polo player, into leading a tour de beer which will take place on Saturday.

Ms. Upton, who works for the artisanal food group Slow Food USA, also emphasizes the quality of the beer over quantity.

“This is about good people coming together and sharing a ride and a good beer,” she said. She added that non-imbibing cyclists would be welcome on the ride and that many of the bars feature good food as well as good beer.

Still, booze and bikes don’t always go together.

A recent report found that 21 percent of New York cyclists involved in a fatal accident had alcohol in their blood.

Last year, the musician and longtime New York cyclist David Byrne blogged about his own alcohol-related bicycle spill.

Even Europeans are starting to question pedaling under the influence. A recent Guardian UK column sparked a debate over the ethics of riding drunk.

“There’s nothing wrong with biking to a bar,” said Wiley Norvell, the spokesperson for Transportation Alternatives, the cyclist and pedestrian advocacy group, which counts Brooklyn Brewery among its corporate sponsors.

“There’s a difference between drinking and intoxication,” he added. “We stress that you should never ride intoxicated.”

Mr. Norvell also noted that the New York City subway allows bicycles on board 24-7, should one become too tipsy to bike.

Of course, there are other ways to enjoy a pint and cycling at the same time. One can savor the suffering of the peloton from many of the city’s bar stools. And cyclocross season is right around the corner. Cyclocross races in Europe aren’t complete without a beer garden from which to watch and heckle the riders. Spectators should be able to get a taste at the coming SpectraCross race held in the Miller Lite Outdoor Entertainment Arena at the New Jersey State Fair on July 31 and Aug. 1.

And no matter the outcome of this year’s Tour de France, it’s a fair bet that when Lance Armstrong gets back home to Texas, he will very likely be quaffing a bottle of his favorite beer, Shiner Bock.