The folks here at the Texas Distance Challenge have long been aware of a running (cycling?) presence in endurance sports: beer. We know that not everyone drinks, and we respect that – a lot. We also know that not everyone that drinks, drinks beer – great wine, as well as gin, bourbon, and other spirits, are definitely produced in Texas… But beer is arguably more universal, and each of the over 300 breweries across the state offers a snapshot into a bit of Texas. So, we’ll be featuring some of those great breweries over the coming months. 

We also anticipate and sort of look forward to the inevitable deluge of comments: “HOW CAN YOU NOT TALK ABOUT XXX BREWINGWORKSERY?!!!”. The coverage won’t be, can’t be comprehensive – so many breweries… so much beer. But, we hope that in the spirit of adventure, you’ll go exploring and find the gems that are out there, and the delicious stuff they’re brewing… And, please share those finds and experiences on them social medias.

Beer as Destination.

Labor Day morning, I logged an easy 15-mile ride, accompanied by my girlfriend, a runner who’s bravely and gamely trying to let me pull her into the world of cycling, despite my fairly consistent lapses in judgment that seem determined to discourage her, like taking her on overly-long and hilly routes, or down an unexpected bit of gravel downhill, all on heavy, 35-40 year-old bikes. While the relatively cooler September temperatures made the ride more attractive, I was told by her and our two friends that joined us that the promise of some safely-distanced beer and tacos at our destination, Lazarus Brewing, were the real draw. 

As on most days, we arrived at Lazarus’ expansive patio to find bikes leaned against tables and fences and walls. A group of three men in their 60s and 70s were there, in full kit. As they remounted a couple of carbon road bikes and a lovely Salsa touring bike, I started chatting with one, and found they’re soon going to be heading off on a bike tour from Fort Worth to Joplin, Missouri. I failed to ask, “why Joplin?”, but after a Google search, I have to assume it’s a pilgrimage to Bonnie and Clyde’s former garage apartment. 

Other cyclists flowed in and out, including some I know, part of a larger group of cyclists that I know that rides on Sunday mornings, weaving in several local breweries. They’re mostly older, but they put in serious miles, at a serious pace, on serious equipment. And, they also like their beer.

Beer has flowed through human history and culture for thousands of years. Some historians believe that beer and bread helped lead early nomadic humans to settle, forming the basis of modern civilization. Louis Pasteur’s work for a brewery led to his work in the germ theory of disease, and, of course, pasteurization. Brewing led to technological advances like mechanical refrigeration, the pH scale, and beer enabled transoceanic exploration, by providing a safe, storable source of water.  

And, beer is definitely loved in the running and cycling worlds. Maybe it’s because many of us thrive on a bit of reward for the miles put under foot or wheel. Sometimes, these pursuits can be a bit solitary, and gathering together over beer and food brings us all back together. It also doesn’t hurt that cold beer just feels good when it’s 105 degrees, and a nice stout is comforting when it’s cold out, even if we don’t currently recall what “cold” feels like.

“Across the troubled maelstrom of time…”

Right now, of course, in this bizarre time in which we find ourselves, the industries surrounding sport and beer are both suffering, along with so many others, under the larger, seemingly unbroken clouds that have brought the loss of life itself, and of livelihoods.

Across the world, finisher medals sit on pallets in warehouses. Race clocks haven’t marked accomplishments in hours and minutes and seconds in many months. The streets of Chicago and New York, like London, Boston, Berlin, Tokyo, and other cities, won’t know the sound of tens of thousands of feet this year. Virtual races and challenges are sometimes band-aids, though some are inspired innovations borne of the necessity of these times, while much of the race industry is driven into forced hibernation and uncertainty.

The craft beer industry, and the people that depend on it for their livelihood, are also hurting.

The Brewers Association, an American trade group, has estimated a 10-20% decline in sales for small and independently-owned craft breweries in 2020, a year that will likely be the first year the industry loses money. At least six of Texas’ craft breweries have already shut down because of the economic and operational realities the pandemic has imposed. In July, the Texas Craft Brewers Guild, an advocacy organization with over 250 Texas brewery members, conducted a survey that found that one in three Texas craft breweries believe they will have to permanently shut down operations within three months, absent a change to shutdown orders, or some sort of economic relief. Two in three breweries believed they would not make it until the end of the year. As elsewhere in the service industries, massive amounts of workers have already lost their livelihoods, from taproom workers, to employees in packaging, sales, and even brewing production.

Much of this is because taprooms (which typically don’t have a major food service component) and brewpubs (breweries that are part of restaurants) make 

up about 70% of the craft brewing industry. Production breweries, that sell packaged beer, are doing somewhat better, except that they’ve lost a significant amount of sales to restaurants and bars. 

Texas breweries are somewhat fortunate that the Texas “Beer-To-Go” law passed in 2019, allowing production breweries to sell a limited amount of their own beer direct to customers for off-premises consumption, something that was legal in every other state but Texas. Prior to that, in a weird twist, you could buy bottles of gin or whiskey produced by Real Ale’s distillery operation, down in Blanco, Texas, but you couldn’t walk out of their brewery with a six-pack of any Real Ale’s beer.

When Texas breweries had to shut down their taprooms in March, and again in May, when the virus made a resurgence, many breweries were able to still bring in some revenue by selling beer-to-go, even if they didn’t usually can or bottle beer for sale at retail. In fact, demand for beer canned in “crowlers” – large aluminum cans – was so high that cans became hard to come by. One week, some breweries had standard 32oz crowlers. The next week, it might be 19oz, or 25oz cans.

Some taprooms capable of producing food have been able to reopen, following a baffling and frustrating seven days of contradictory edicts by the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission, as long as they serve you a bit of food, which might mean you get the bonus of chips and salsa, or some delicious snack mix. 

Welcome to the wonderful and wacky world of Texas alcohol laws.

“…people always need a beer.” – Ellen Kushner

But, running and biking survive, and at the individual participation level, they are actually thriving. Bikes are emerging from the darkest corners of garages and sheds, for the first time in years. Urban bike ridership from March through mid-June was up by 21% from the same time period in 2019, and in a recent survey, 9% of American adult respondents said they’d ridden a bike for the first time in over a year. Bike sales are up 65% year-to-date from 2019 (though, that also means there’s a serious bike and bike part shortage. Hope you didn’t Craigslist that cruiser, man).  

New running shoes are hitting doorsteps and being laced-up. Brooks reports a 22% increase in running shoe sales, even as athletic shoe sales overall have suffered. Miles, sometimes lonely, sometimes not, are being logged. Love and passion for sport, camaraderie, even over a distance, even virtually, and self-reliance and determination, are getting and keeping us moving forward, even under those dark clouds. 

Running and biking survive, and with them, another way beer is inextricably tied to human life. As long as we ride and run, many of us want the beers and the environments and cultures they engender as our destinations and rewards. It’s not so much about alcohol, it’s about the experience. And Texas craft breweries, like so many industries and companies and individuals, and athletes, are also digging deep, also surviving on love, passion, determination, cooperation, and sheer grit. That is something we can relate to, and whether we go to a brewery or order a beer at a restaurant, or we’re reaching into the cooler at the corner store, we have a chance to reward them, and, importantly, to contribute to their very survival.

Drink as you run and ride, my friends – thoughtfully, safely, and with gratitude. We’ll save you a cold one.

About the Author:

Rob is a running coach, race announcer, event worker, and motivational drinker that accidentally fell into the running world while on the lam from a job that required him to wear suits and regulate dentists. After that came ten years with the Austin Marathon, a fuzzy amount of years as a taproom worker, and… other stuff. He is currently trying to recapture the mostly fictitious glory of his days as a bike racer, 30 years and 60 pounds past, by riding The Loop solo.