Guy's Cycling/Wine Trip DAY TWO: Hogpen, Gonon, Mint Julips, Copain, Bedrock, Halcon and Mo-Pain

WINE TALK
1

Saturday, May 5, 2012

Ah, the brutality of Hogpen. Seven Miles. Elevation of 3500 feet. About 2000 feet of climbing. A two mile stretch at 14%. And the worst, two several hundred feet descents as you near the top. So just as you think you are there, you drop down only to climb again.

The Tour de Georgia categorized Hogpen as a Cat 1, which is about as hard as they get (Hors Category is the worst).

Only these guys climb it fast:

(picture I took from a TDG race up Hogpen - Lance, Levi, Tommy D., Floyd, Jullich, Millar, et al.)

We climb it painfully slow. The hangover does not help. Every meter of this climb is arduous. You try to spin while in the saddle, and you tire. You stand up to place more power to the pedals, and you tire more. You grind away oblivious to the surroundings. But you do feel the weather. One moment you are on the Cote Rotie side of the mountain, wilting in oppressive heat and direct sun light, then you turn into the shade side with an ice cold wind penetrating your drenched, shear lycra cycling kit.

We climb it because we can, then we pose for glory.

(the guy distending his gut is a Cat 2, multi-time IM Hawaii qualifier that kicked our butts even after taking 4 months off!)

And then we descend like wailing Banshees!

(48.7 MPH! You can easily pop 50 on this one, but a car slowed us)

All in all we ride 4 mountains in 4 hours. Lunch and a quick nap, and we are off to horse farm country for a 2 hour ride through the rolling countryside, to be back in time for the Kentucky Derby and Mint Julips.

Our six hours of riding is rewarded by Kurt’s Mint Julips speciality - he’s been soaking mint leaves in aged Kentucky Bourbon for 72 hours. Perhaps not the best thing to consume straight off the bike. I’m high as a kite within 20 minutes. So who won the race?

Quick cold shower and it’s party time:

Paired with:

Asian dumplings
Green tea and shrimp soup
Wild Duck
Elk loin
Flank stank
Bok Choy
And caramelized apricots with pine nuts and a black cherry flambe topping

Gonon St. Joseph 2009
An OMG wine. Third bottle I’ve popped in a couple months. Needs time but I don’t care. A true wine of place. Minerals, iron, spicey red fruits. Fine grained tannins. (94 pts.)

Bedrock Hudson Vineyard Co-Fermented 2008
Black olives, dark fruits. Spicy but creamy. Viognier? Florals on the nose. Excellent. Ok, back to saying Morgan’s syrahs smoke his Zins. (92 pts.)

Copain Hawks Butte Yorkville Highlands Syrah 2007
I would not have guessed this was a California syrah. Drinks like a Northern Rhone. Even with the ripeness of the 07 vintage, this wine shows remarkable restraint and verve. Tension. Saline. Iodine. Crisp, crunchy red fruits. Grilled meats. One of the better Copain’s I have ever had. Looking forward to seeing this bottling mature (have two left). (93 pts.)

Halcon Alturas Syrah 2009
This is good hooch. I ordered another case. It’s big, in your face, but not in an overtly sweet, alcohol-driven way that has characterized so many Cali syrahs. Chewy, crisp acidity, weighty mouthfeel. Grilled meats, spicy black fruits, rocks. Tannic finish. Needs time but a damn fine way to close a night filled with wild game. A great marriage. [Second glass, this is a tannic beast!] (92 pts.)

And to think we have another day of riding tomorrow . . . .

2

Robert,

Please tell me you’e using triple cranks and/or reasonable gearing on the back.

Agree with syrah after such a climb. Needs to be meaty and bad after beating yourself up.

Great write up; keep it coming.

Cheers,
Doug

3

that is livin’. L-i-v-i-n.

4

Impressive riding, and wine line up. Good on you.

Cat 2 is impressive stuff. I could never break through from Cat 4 to 3. Too many distractions (work, kid…drinking).

I am a vegetarian…but bedrock is like ‘meat in a glass’. Good luck riding on.

5

Yup, “sauvage” after a savage climb! The wild game was good too!

No triples, no grannie gears! [wow.gif] I rode a 28 rear with a 39/53 front. Pretty good gearing for my style of riding, powering through climbs. I could improve cadence, frankly, but at 198 pounds (i’m the bigger guy in the white “Fit Lab” kit), I’m far stronger than I am faster in terms of cadence. I may try compacts next year. Being as small as my buddies might help as well. The heaviest guy in my group, other than me, is a svelte 170!

The guy on the left with the pink kit, came up here one year with a 42/53 and 12/25. He even climbed Brasstown Bald with its 20%+ stretches. He’s a freak of a cyclist (Cat 2 with a massive sprint, that can also climb!). Wonder how long his knees will last. . . .

6

Yowsa. Very impressive. Wine = carbo-loading?

Great stuff,
Doug

7

So riding day three (for me, the boys on their fourth) was uneventful. Up early to ride 3 hours then pack and drive home. We did Wolfpen again as it’s the consensus favorite, so perfect of a climb. The best part of the ride was my buddy Jerry squealing like a pig when a 4-5 foot black snake(Indigo?) slithered in his path when he was on the front.

Imagine had he seen what we almost hit last night on our group ride!:

Poor thing! Now when we came across him on our ride, just around the bend in a road at top speed, we did not know it was dead. Had to check the shorts after this one, then go drink. BTW, the 2009 Ch. Mathilde is a fun little young Bordeaux - newfangled modern to be sure, but tasty for what it is. May need some cream for the espresso though!

8

Keep it coming, Jr. BTW, that 2007 Copain HB is the G. That is one of the best bottles of CA syrah you’ll put into your face. I got 4 or 5 of them left, which I will enjoy for years to come.

Have a safe ride tomorrow.