bikes and beer

It has been so hot and parched lately - the trails in Park City are bone-dry and dusty.  But that didn't stop us from going out on Saturday and laying some miles down.  We got to Round Valley early-ish, getting on the trails before 8:30 a.m.  The trailheads were fairly busy but the trails themselves were not.  That's how we like it.

For some reason, my bike gets way dirtier than H's

We made our way from Quinn's to do a P-Dog loop (up PorcUClimb and down Down Dog - I feel like I could ride that loop forever), then went across on Matt's Flat to Rambler/Ramble On to tackle Rusty Shovel from the bottom up.  Afterwards, both H and I thought we'd ridden it well, getting up faster than before, plus I even rode two corners that I had dabbed before.  Once at the top, we immediately went down the sixteen switchbacks of Rambler, then crossed over to the paved bike path to get to the far side.  We rode up Happy Gilmor and Tin Man to Rademan Ridge.  My legs were pretty beat by then so I went down Rambler to Round Valley Express, and up to Valderoad and out; H climbed Rambler and did the P-Dog Loop again.  I only beat him back to the truck by four minutes.

Brown on cask; pale ale on CO2

On our way back, we stopped at A. Fisher Brewing Co. to pick up a gift card for a friend.  Their taproom is still closed (stupid pandemic) and we wanted beers, so we tried a new place: Grid City Beer Works, SLC's 34th and newest brewery.  They really are brand-new - their grand opening was mid-March, and they had to quickly address the COVID-19 issue by putting their roof deck on hold and buying a canning machine so they could sell to-go beers.

Beer menu

They are open for dine-in and to-go, with half their seating available and sanitation procedures in place.  We really liked it.  They only do a few beers (cream ale, pale ale and brown ale, plus a couple of pilsners and a couple of hard seltzers) but each beer can be poured three ways (cask, nitro and regular CO2).  They also have a fairly comprehensive pub food menu, with wings, burgers, salads, bowls, etc., and the amazing thing is that the base menu is vegan.  Animal protein is available as an add-in.  H and I devoured an order of seitan buffalo wings and then had a nice conversation with the brewery's owner when he sought us out to see how we liked them.

Grid City is located at 333 West 2100 South in Salt Lake City.  You better believe we'll be going back.

Look at that!  All those peaks and valleys!  We earned our beers

Ride stats (H): 20.77 miles (I probably did 18+); 2:09 hours; 9.0 H's avg. speed; 1,600 feet of climbing