Racing fuel !"Local brewery's seasonal beer being used as a fundraiser for cycling program.

By Kevin Kinder

Posted: July 27, 2009 at 9:57 a.m.

• Print item
• E-mail
• Share
• Tweet

FAYETTEVILLE — It is illegal to operate a bicycle on the road under the influence of alcohol.

It is not illegal to sell beer and use the profits on bicycle racing, however.

Which is what the Hog Haus Brewing Company, located at the intersection of Dickson Street and West Avenue in Fayetteville, has been doing since May's Joe Martin Stage Race.

In the weeks that have followed that stage race, an annual road-racing event that is based in Fayetteville, Hog Haus has sold a specially-crafted beer known as the Wheel Sucker Wit.

The restaurant sold out of its allotment of 512 gallons of the seasonal brew early last week.

It sold much better than was anticipated, said bicycling enthusiast and Hog Haus co-owner Kari Larson.

The beer is a wit beer, a Belgian style of brew that features apercentage of wheat - as opposed to the commonly used barley - malt and can be described as slightly citrus in flavor. It takes its name from a term used to describe drafting in bicycle racing, assomeone who is following a rider in front of them very closely is said to be wheel sucking.

Of the profits raised from the sale of the beer, 50 percent will go toward a team of young racers who will, on Tuesday, begin competing in the Junior/U23 Nationals, a bicycling race in Bend, Ore.

The group is part of the larger Fayetteville Wheelman bicycle racing team, which claims more than 100 members.

The Junior/U23 Development Team combines training and financial support for two levels of professional road racing, the Junior circuit for those who are under the age of 19 and the U23 level, which is for those ages 19-22. The development team became a focus for the Wheelman club in 2007 as a way to foster young talent, said Andres Angulo, who serves as the team's coach. The developmental team has four members, three of which will be making the trip to Bend. To quality for Nationals, the riders must earn points at other competitions.

Their training schedule includes five to seven days of riding perweek to stay in top physical competition. Sometimes, that might mean riding for an hour an evening, and sometimes, riders are expected six or seven hours a day.

At Nationals, the three competitors from the Tyson Racing Team will, because they are all in different age categories, ride different lengths ranging between about 40 and about 120 miles, Angulo said. They will also compete in time trials.

Although many might consider bicycle riding as a fairly cheap endeavor, it isn't so at the competitive level. Having the best bike and gear technology can give riders an advantage, Larson said.

"There is not much at $100, not at their level," Larson said.

Most riders have two bikes, Angulo explains. One is for road racing, the other is for time trails. Each bike usually costs its rider an average of $3,000 to $6,000, Angulo said. The local team does not have the resources to purchase bikes for its young riders, but it does provide them an opportunity to compete. Because there are few road races on the Junior/U23 circuits in the area, the team regularly travels to races in Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Wisconsin and other states for competitions. Angulo would liketo see the team have the ability to compete in even more events, but its current financial situation won't allow it.

"We're limited to a certain amount of races," he said. "But wehave to play with what we have."

What they do have is corporate sponsorship from Tyson and the new partnership with Hog Haus.

The specialty beer was designed to help the young members on the team, especially those traveling to events across the country, afford the sport. Larson had some hesitation about using beer as a medium to encourage youth participation in a sport, but as the co-owner of the brewery, it was an easy way to give area youngsters a chance to compete on the national level.

"We want to give them a chance to go as far as they can go," she said.

Within the next few weeks, after the total sales from the more than 500 gallons of beer that were sold are tallied up, Hog Haus will cut a check to the Junior racing squad. Until all the sales are counted, Larson did not know how much that might be.

Even without knowing how much the brewery expects to donate, Larson already said she is considering bringing back the program - and the beer that sold out - next year.

On File, Pages 9 on 07/27/2009

Comments

To report abuse or misuse of this area please hit the "Suggest Removal" link in the comment to alert our online managers. Please read our comment policy.

Use the comment form below to begin a discussion about this content.