La Trappe Dubbel is the delicious bookend to a Deer Valley weekend

I recently purchased a mountain bike but have never actually gone mountain biking, so I sign up for a group Sunday morning, lead by Mike from South Africa. No one else shows up so it turns into a private lesson and Mike takes me out to the parking lot to learn the basics but I pick it up pretty quickly and soon we're up in the mountains, bombing down trails. 

Beautiful right? Mountain biking was a blast and I only took a spill once. It was minor, but I now understand how dangerous this sport is. These trails and the mountain are completely unforgiving. You can't take your mind off what is coming up for a second. There is no scenery gazing in mountain biking. Except of course when you're completely stopped and on your own after the tour like below:

I definitely want to find some trials in LA, but I also feel the need to get some additional padding. Afterward, I meet up with the rents to devour a BBQ Bison Bacon Burger with parmesian fries. I'm including this detail and picture not only because it's a beautiful day and I couldn't resist, but look at that presentation! Kudos Deer Valley cooks.

After demolishing 2/3 lb of a bison, we rested up and watched Travis Pastrano drive his rally car into the finals despite having broken his ankle and foot Friday doing motorcycle stunts. After doing something really stupid, he pulled it together and almost did something really awesome, but unfortunately crashed on the last lap of the finals.

We went to dinner in Park City at this amazing Mexican fusion restaurant called Chimayo, which I didn't take pictures of (Duck Enchiladas, hmmmm) and won't bore you with, but I was surprised to find something else in the alley next to the restaurant:

A Banksy in Park City? This is way out of his normal territory. Park City is certainly not metropolitan, but it does host the Sundance Film Festival every winter. Banksy is subversive as hell and I love the idea here. His art can be both subtle like the above and overt like this:

 Or:

The above is actually the Prime Minister's house. Banksy essentially created a giant penis on a house that is guarded around the clock by CCTV, police and has a 24 hours armed response team. Wow. At the bottom of the page I'll post a Simpsons Intro Banksy did and one of his Star Wars street art - because why shouldn't I?


Back home in LA, I'm exhausted and looking forward to something smooth and easy. Good thing today is the first day of the trappist brewery La Trappe. La Trappe is the only one of seven trappist breweries not in Belgium and is found in the Netherlands. This will be the second trappist dubbel drunk on a recent Sunday evening and I hope it's as delicious as the first.

The trappist dubbels are so easy to drink. The hops are subdued and there's a smooth caramel and chocolate flavor with a hint of tartness and yeasty spice. The 7% alcohol is negligible and overall, very well balanced. TRANSFORMERS rating.



Here is the Banksy Simpsons intro. It's especially subversive.

Love this: