More Beers Less Gears

I was surprised to see, by way of MNSpeak, that a new local beer brewery has arrived called “Surly.” That’s a brand already known to dirt-bag bicyclists and gas-huffing bike couriers here and everywhere. The original Surly is, of course, a homegrown steel-and-wool bike operation affiliated with Quality Bike Parts out in Bloomington. The original Surly makes a number of popular products, but the closest they get to brewing beer, as opposed to merely drinking it, is the Jethro Tool–a combination lug tightener, bottle opener, and prog-rock memento. The close association in some people’s minds of beer and bikes may cause some cognitive dissonance; or perhaps it will just help along in the process of reducing brain-load to match the naturally occuring reduction of brain-capacity seen in at least one dirtbag beer-chugging cyclist, namely me. If my beer and my bike share the same name, I suppose that frees up a few more brain cells scheduled for demolition in my enthusiasm for both.