Big weekend for beer biking!

Two big events in Minneapolis this weekend for local bicyclists/boozehounds:

Saturday: Dead Brewery Tour
Sunday: 4th Annual Drunken Bike Tour

Even though I've heard that the Drunken Tour is a good time, I'm going to pass. My slight lack of balance and coordination on a bike even when sober + the fact that I'm such a lightweight drinker = certain injury if I tried to ride after a couple of beers. Maybe that's the point (observe the shirt), but falling off a bike and getting hurt is not my idea of a good time. I've done that already and I got the scars to prove.

The Brewery Tour, on the other hand, is something I'm into. Only problem is I have to ride 9-some miles from St. Paul to the starting point plus the "20-ish mile" route and then back home again... a bit beyond the 13 miles/day I've been doing this week. Okay that's not the only problem. It's being hosted by Surly who are apparently hardcore bike folks and maybe they're nice to newcomers or will I be snubbed as just a dork on a beater? Anybody know?

Plus I'm nervous about the group aspect. The scars I mentioned earlier? Got 'em from a tangle crash with another rider a few years back that buffed the skin off my right knee and scared me away from biking until just recently, and I'm still afraid of a redux. On the other hand, I can't put it off forever. Biking with other people is fun, or so I've heard. Maybe it's time to swallow my fear and get back in the pack.