You’ve heard about the Tour de France. Now, it’s the Tour de Beer. Two eastern Iowa breweries are sponsoring their sixth annual bicycle ride from one brewery to the other on Saturday. Teresa Albert, owner of the Millstream Brewing Company in Amana, says the bike trek and “poker run” will start around 11 A.M. at the Old Capitol Brew Works in Iowa City.
Albert says riders grab a beer and a poker card there and wind around Iowa City, then head to North Liberty where an Iowa City home-brew club will give riders another beer and another poker card. After stops in other areas like Oxford for suds and cards, bikers will pedal to the Millstream brewery in Amana where there will be various prizes, including for the best poker hand.
Albert says the 30-mile ride is a strange combination of beer sampling, card playing and physical labor, but she says there’s little concern about anyone drinking too much. She says, laughing, “There’s a lotta’ riders that are out there to have fun and we figure having a few beer stops, they sweat most of it out by the time they make it to the next one.”
Albert says the hardy bike riders rarely get wobbly on this ride. Plus, there’s a “shag” bus that will follow the riders and pick up any stragglers who can’t continue. With the statewide RAGBRAI ride the last week in July, Albert says the Tour de Beer is a nice way to practice for the big adventure. For more information, see the website “www.millstreambrewing.com”.