Eating Whiskey in Portland, ME

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As I sip on this makeshift bloody mary on the plane flying out of the state of Maine, I can tell you I just had a week of vacation without bringing my weed habit and Trance 29er- only thing I had in mind was vacation with my family and the rest of whatever would fall in place, hopefully.

A week before busting out of Spocomton (Spokane, Wa) I went to the DC Facebook page to ask if there were any DC followers in the state of Maine. In less than five minutes, I had a handful of replies opening the door to Maine’s bike scene for Caveman to figure out who he wanted hang with (if I didn’t get hold of ya, thanks for the shout out, I went where the words “Whiskey” were spoken). Allspeed bike shop out of Portland, ME posted that they were down for trails and whiskey, and that’s all they had to say. One of the owners of Allspeed, Chris Carleton and I started rapping about hooking up one of the nights out of the eight I was gonna be in Maine. Come to find out, Chris ended up being one of the coolest cats I’ve met in a long time and it doesn’t stop there, everyone I met in his shop was Drunkcyclist pedigree (seriously, it was a honor to meet all of ya). I immediately felt at home. Everything I left at home was put in front of me; tallboy of pbr, tallboy santa cruz and a brain bucket . With this being said, Allspeed was extremely generous to someone they didn’t know but having the nickname Caveman and has a history of not exactly being completely house broken.

beers come out when the doors close.
beers come out when the doors close.

Once the shop doors closed and everyone put back a pbr, a few of us headed to Falmouth (a local trail spot that started out illegal and now is legit to get your pedal on) to do a quick loop. I had no idea what to expect but before I knew it we were on trail and my sorry ass was sucking wind with my camera bag on my back. The trails spelled out real mountain biking by the root system you have to weed through on the up and at top was a wicked good view before the down.

The top of Folmouth and best place for mule sounds.
The top of Falmouth and best place for mule sounds.

I was the last to get to the top and was able to know what direction they were headed by the donkey sounds that were being made by this cat named Mickey- I really couldn’t do anything but laugh my ass off since he was so pro at the ass sound. The down  had mad flow and I can say that it’s just gonna get better as the trail system grows. After the down we headed back to the cars to chase down the next subject matter; get cleaned up to find food and whiskey.

We headed back to the shop to for our clean up session. They told me I had to check out the shower and had no idea why until I got up stairs to find this…

Grab that lever and put it up right- thats the warm setting.
Grab that lever and put it up right- thats the warm setting.

So lets jump right into the food and whiskey- they were both awesome! We went to a Ramen bar called Pia Men Mikaye. First thing I thought of when I checked the menu out was David Chang that started Momofuku in NY. I have no idea if Pia Men Mikaye is as good as David’s meals but what I ordered was  top notch and wish the place was closer to my home town. Drinking Sake with beers, some new friends and eating like kings is my kind of evening.

Mickey getting his sake on.
Mickey getting his sake on.

Our second stop was to get our Whiskey on and I’d have to say that’s an understatement. When I ordered my Whiskey on the rocks, it was three rocks and a huge glass of Bulleit. Once that was down, Caveman was doing some air humping to let everyone know it’s working (air humping on bulleit is like having a runners high- you just wanna keep it going).

thanks for grabbing my camera and capturing Cave.
thanks for grabbing my camera and capturing Cave.

After the second stop was wore out some of the party decided to head home and leave Chris, Mickey and myself for one last stop. We took our top shelf program and dropped kick it to dirt bag status with the blessing of highlife in a bottle and who really cares what whiskey is being served, just get it in front of us.

Mickey getting his finger in the shot.
Mickey getting his finger in the shot.

Mikey pulled his B game out and found himself getting booted for telling the DJ how to run the soundboard or something.

Chris is asking Mickey why he got booted.
Chris is asking Mickey why he got booted.

My night ended with saying good bye to Mickey after he patiently waited outside for Chris and I to finish our drinks and game of foosball we had going with some local idiots that took the game way to serious.

I know I may have said more than I usually do but for one reason- find a bike shop locally you enjoy and make them your family. Thanks again Allspeed and Thanks Chris for a place to pass out.

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About caveman

I am... Caveman. Spokane, Washington, USA

8 Replies to “Eating Whiskey in Portland, ME”

  1. we take all those things seriously here, thanks for making the trek down from family time Cave

  2. Those Falmouth trails are no joke! Stopped in Portland to visit my cousin, who took us out there. That view from the top definitely pays you back for every huff and puff on the way up, and the tight, sketchy downhill afterwards had me turning around to go right back up and do it all again.