How I spent my Saturday...

Shootin' Buddy and his posse showed up from Lafayette a little after ten and unloaded their bicycles in front of Roseholme Cottage. I pulled the Broad Ripple SUV out of the garage and prepared to play Sacajawea to their Lewis and Clarks. Good Morning Mama's was overflowing, so we pedaled over to the Aristocrat pub, which is doing weekend brunch now. After a delicious frittata smothered in sausage gravy, we set out south on the Monon Trail.

The Monon runs due south some five miles before dumping out on the Cultural Trail down at Tenth Street near Mass Ave. We took the Cultural Trail east but a shortcut at Indianapolis's beautiful World War Memorial Plaza turned into a long cut as we biked past the south side of the Scottish Rite Cathedral before picking up Capitol Avenue and heading north to TwoDEEP Brewing.

We were a little early, but the doors opened at noon and it was beer at last! Which was good, because it had reached the low 90s Fahrenheit and all that bicycling had worked up a thirst.

The PR-24 baton handle for a tap pull turned out to be an omen.

After a pint at TwoDEEP, everyone saddled their trusty steeds and pedaled back east, this time faithfully following the Cultural Trail. Reaching our next stop, the fabled Sun King brewery and tap room, required a half-block jog south on College, which is one-way northbound in that part of town.

Four of our number used the sidewalk on the west side of the street. One, who shall remain nameless, used the left-hand lane and got blue-lighted by a passing cop car who reminded him that, yes, One Way signs apply to cyclists, too.

Sun King's spacious and well-lit taproom features a wall of medals they've won at various brewing competitions.

Another view of the taproom. The tables are recycled bowling alley planking and the doorway on the left-hand wall leads to an outside patio with tables shaded by umbrellas.

After Sun King it was back on the bikes and just up the road to St. Joseph Brewery & Public House, which is a brand-new brewery...

...housed in a church built in 1879 to serve the fourth Catholic parish in Indianapolis.

A photo of the main dining room, taken from the former choir loft. There's a bar on the left, and a full menu of delicious food is available. We, however, were merely enjoying a pint before moving on to our next destination.

But since the route to our next destination led right past Outliers Brewing, who brew not only their own, but also all the tasty house recipes for Brugge Brasserie. I had a pint of tasty Pooka sour. On the wall in the taproom there was art for sale by Drew Avery, the awesomest server & bartender at Twenty Tap. It's a big city but a pretty small town.

From Outliers, we struck out east, under I-70 and into the Holy Cross neighborhood in search of the Flat 12 Bierwerks compound. All the way down the Monon I'd been feeling pretty smug about the 700x35c tires on the Broad Ripple SUV while everyone else was rolling knobby MTB tires. Taking bomb-cratered Vermont under the interstate, I was suddenly envious of the fatter tires' better shock absorbing properties. You'd have had to thread your way through there pretty carefully to avoid bending a rim on straight-up road bike tires.

Delicious beer at Flat 12, and the dim, air-conditioned coolness was a relief we gladly soaked up for a bit. It worried me, though. Every minute I stayed in the A/C sipping a smooth Belgian Wit, I got weaker, and every minute Charlie squatted in the bush, he got stronger. Er, or something like that.

Anyway, it must've made me soft, because the next stretch was back over to Mass Ave to pick up the Cultural Trail, backtracking up the Cultural Trail to pick up the Monon at 10th Street, and then the long, shallow uphill pull up the Monon from 10th to 49th street. I had a hard time maintaining an 11mph pace up the gradual grade from 10th to just past Fall Creek.

Turning out west from the Monon down 49th brought us to Upland Brewing's pleasant tasting room at 49th & College. I highly recommend the smallest room there for its cleanliness and air conditioning.

From there it was only a couple miles to our ultimate goal:

Pizza and a pint at Thr3e Wise Men, familiar to some of y'all from last year's NRA Annual Meeting.

By the time we got back to the van and I bid farewell to the crew and pedaled around the block to the garage, the odometer said I'd ridden 20.9 miles and the weatherman said it had been 91° and 70% humidity, so those were some well-earned pizza slices and pints.

Ready to do it again!
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