Caboose Brewing is open, finally!

@GB 115593 wrote:

You know, you’re allowed to drink beer AND smile at the same time.

Unfortunately, adding the task of taking a photo is too much for me to maintain my cheerful demeanor. Just be glad I wasn’t sticking my tongue out and squinting one eye to facilitate my concentration.

@sjclaeys 115605 wrote:

Well, what was your impression of the beer and surroundings?

My experience was definitely marred by the bad accident I witnessed, and the ensuing shenanigans. To be fair, it wasn’t Caboose’s fault; that said, I did notice that absolutely everyone that passed along the trail took their eyes off what they were doing and looked over at Caboose as they went by (even when the accident wasn’t there on the trail). That can’t be a good thing. I don’t even know what to think.

Anyway! The place is very nice, and they’ve done a good job with it. They even have lots of wheelbender racks, which most people didn’t use—and there were lots of bikes there not using them. Still, it’s a nice gesture. I only had one beer, but I tasted two others. I sampled the stout and the brown ale, and got a pint of the brown ale. As brown ales go, this one was very roasty and had a fairly light malt profile. I liked it, but given its flavor profile and extremely dark color, I was somewhat confused by the brown ale moniker. I probably would have liked the stout even more, but it was too warm outside for me to want that this afternoon. Rockford had a wheat beer that was very hoppy—not excessively bitter, but bursting with hop resin flavor. She didn’t like it much; I thought it was ok, but I’m still tasting hops hours later. Food is not available yet, so I can’t comment on that. I’d go back, but I’m not in a great hurry, as I have a feeling the place will improve with time.

The management responded to the unfortunate situation on the trail as it unfolded, which I appreciated seeing. One of the owners told me that they have been trying to work with authorities to provide an appropriate pull-off and access ramp by the trail, but that it is not simple or straightforward to integrate with Park Authority standards. I have a feeling there won’t be any improvement there for a while, which is too bad.

All in all, I wish I could separate my visit from the spectacle on the trail; I don’t feel I’m a fair critic of the place after all that.

@hozn 115621 wrote:

I’m also curious what happened. (The missed connection post is about the rider going through the scene at speed, not about what happened in the accident itself.)

I was on the patio staring blankly at the trail when the incident occurred; I’m still not entirely sure what I saw. It seems to me that the two riders that went down were unable to react to slower moving traffic in their path. I saw two slower riders come along and then a man veered around them, lost control, and went down hard; a woman directly behind him went over his fallen bike and fell as well. Several people were at that spot and responded to the situation; also several people who were on the patio and closer to the scene rushed over (I decided not to pile on at that point). The man stayed down for a while, and I’m told a doctor was on the scene who kept his head and neck immobilized until the ambulance arrived. This is why the accident continued to take up part of the trail, and why it was so disheartening to see that one guy blast through at high speed, and then essentially blame the accident victim for being in his way. The man was taken out on a gurney with a neck brace, but he seemed in good spirits and was speaking to people and thanking everyone for their well-wishes. The woman that fell walked to the ambulance with a skinned knee. My impression after all of it happened is that the injuries were not severe, and precautions were being taken to ensure that it remained that way. I’m not aware of any diagnoses that occurred after they left the scene, obviously, and I certainly hope everything looked far worse than it was.

My lingering concern is over the bottleneck that now exists right by Caboose on a beautiful spring evening when everyone is out, and many people are exiting the trail at that location. I don’t know what might be done about it, but I don’t begrudge Caboose their location or their desire to cater to trail users (quite the opposite, in fact), nor do I blame anyone who might want to stop there (obviously, since I was one who stopped there). I do think all trail users need to check their speed and pay close attention to their surroundings when the trail gets busy. I can’t think of any other reason that the accident occurred, or any other way it might have been prevented. Perhaps wiser, more experienced trail users have other ideas.