Bonding over bicycling & beer

"All I want to do is drink beer and train like an animal." - World-class runner Rod Dixon

Have you ever noticed the intense kinship between silent sports and beer? In running and bicycling particularly, beer sponsorships abound. Training and competitions are frequently followed by a social gathering over a beer.

New Zealander Ron Dixon counted among his many accomplishments winning Olympic bronze in the 1,500-meter run in 1972 and winning the New York Marathon in 1983 in a time of 2:08:59.

Judging by the quote above, Dixon sensed that from the elite level athletes down to recreational participants, beer has a peculiar appeal. If you look around you, it's undeniable that there is a fraternity of running, bicycling, skiing, snowshoeing, canoeing, kayaking and beer.

A case in point (I guess that's sort of a pun) is what happened recently in Middleton, Wisconsin, a bicycling friendly community that abuts Madison. Middleton is home to Capital Brewing Co. Two years ago, one of the owners of the brewery thought there might be interest in a cycling club connected to the business. He asked Kevin Apodaca, a cycling instructor at a local health club, to organize a ride starting and ending at the brewery every Tuesday evening.

The 20-mile rides utilizing a variety of routes through hilly and picturesque Dane County and a shorter 10-mile out-and-back option on city bike paths, began in July 2010 and were an instant hit.

"In the first year, we probably had an average of 50 riders every Tuesday night," Apodaca said. "We started recruiting club members in July, and from July to September we went from zero to 95 members. In 2011 we added Thursday night rides and then once-a-month Saturday rides, and now we're pushing 300 members. We have had eight rides that exceeded 100 riders. Three of those rides were 150-plus riders. Now we are thinking we might get close to 500 or 600 club members in 2012."

Who are these people who like to bicycle and then gather in the brewery's beer garden? Apodaca said the majority identify themselves as recreational cyclists. The median age is 48 and 27 percent are female. Many of them have indicated they also cross-country ski, inline skate, kayak and canoe. That means the Capital Brewery Cycling Club could evolve into a multisport organization by facilitating other group activities.

"In 2012, we are going to start getting involved in the green sports in general," Apodaca said.

Capital Brewery's craft beer has a following all it's own. But why is that interest so keenly seen among area cyclists?

"I think it's a function of several things," Apodaca said. "One of them is age. The median age is mid to late 40s. Folks in that category have a little more disposable income. They want to do something that's active. They want to socialize. If you put those pieces together and you happen to like craft beer, it's a home run."

"Especially for the Capital Brewery," he continued. "There's a beer garden they can congregate in. There's nothing formal about it. It's what you want to make of it. You can show up in your bike shorts and it's not a big deal. You can be completely comfortable outside. For the brewery it's a nice relationship to have a bit of activity and an opportunity to socialize. The beer is a nice draw, but it's certainly not the cornerstone of what's happening. It just offers the centerpiece for people to gather around."

Capital, which has a relatively small presence in the bigger world of beer brewing, is neither the first nor alone in recognizing what Rod Dixon observed.

The vastly larger New Belgium Brewing Co., based in Colorado, brews Fat Tire beer and sponsors Tour de Fat bicycle-oriented events in many cities. And gigantic brewers like Coors sponsored cycling events, like the Coors International Bicycle Classic, from 1980 to 1988, which became the fourth largest cycling race in the world.

With the emergence of craft breweries in local communities, however, the ties between brewers and silent sports doers is becoming more entwined. Now it's local porters and stouts over which recreational athletes seem to be increasingly congregating.

Another small Wisconsin brewer, Tyranena Brewing Co. in Lake Mills, puts on an annual "beer run" and Oktoberfest Bike Ride. Cafè Hollander, a Milwaukee restaurant and bar where bikes hang on the walls and bicyclists hang out, has been a regular host of events like the Fat Tire Tour of Milwaukee and Steel is Real (where only steel bikes are allowed). And Shuttleguy Tours sponsors the popular week-long, late summer Bike Ride Exploring Wisconsin (BREW) tour that takes riders to the breweries of New Glarus, Minhas (Monroe), Brewery Creek (Mineral Point), Potosi, Furthermore (Spring Green), Botham Vinyards (Barneveld) and Grumpy Troll (Mt. Horeb).

There are a lot of theories trying to explain why beer and exercise seem to go so well together, including the idea that beer provides the carbohydrates that rejuvenate depleted muscle glycogen. That's obviously true, but it's also superficial explanation. You can get replacement carbs by just eating Powerbars. But you won't get you a more essential nutrient: the social interaction that is the drawing card characteristic of a post-exercise conversation over a good beer.

In the end, the intoxicant is not alcohol. It is the fraternity.

Bill Hauda is a bicyclist, veteran of some 50 marathons, including 13 in Boston; a former competitive triathlete; founder and first president of the Bicycle Federation of Wisconsin; currently a BFW board member; and former director of Wisconsin's two major cross-state bicycle tours, GRABAAWR and SAGBRAW.