The summer after my freshman year of college, I worked on an environmental campaign and spent three months going to different festivals, handing out pamphlets and cultivating an association between the words “festival” and “hell.” Festivals mean, to me, lots of people in a contained space, all being peppy and excited and generally overwhelming. And if you know me, you know that I’m not a peppy person. In fact, during high school pep rallies, I usually hid in my favorite teacher’s classroom and did my homework. There’s just something about overt, forced enthusiasm that makes me uncomfortable. This is why I hate exclamation marks — they’re like the physical manifestation of everything I hate about the world.

And so, even when I AM feeling enthusiastic, it can be hard to tell. I get this trait from my mother, who has been known to send text messages that say “hurray…”

Where am I going with this? Oh right, Outside Bike & Brew Fest. Bikes, beer and travel, the three things that I love more than almost anything and the only things that have any chance of making me contemplate usage of the exclamation mark BECAUSE THEY ARE THE BEST THINGS EVER!!!. (Eh, just kidding, still can’t do it. But hey, I used all caps.) The point is, these are my favorite things, so when I heard about the Outside Bike & Brew Festival in Santa Fe, a festival all about bikes and beer, I didn’t immediately run and hide under my bed.

In fact, I’ll admit, I was cautiously intrigued — I would get a chance to explore Santa Fe, a place I knew almost nothing about even though I’ve driven through it a million times. And I would get to ride bikes and drink beer AT THE SAME TIME (er, almost the same time). For that, I figured I could deal with just about anything.

And let me tell you, even as a staunch skeptic of festivals, I had a great time. Whoever thought up this festival was brilliant. Beer garden, a prettiest bike contest, organized bike rides, skill clinics, live music and the Tour de Brewer, a casual bike ride around Santa Fe with stops at various breweries, which happened to be led by Macky and I. The tour ended at Santa Fe Brewing Company, where we all enjoyed copious amounts of Freestyle Pilsner and I inched even closer to expressing real enthusiasm. Basically I was the closest to giddy excitement you will ever see me, which is, I guess, not that close, but whatever.

And this was not just a case of beer-makes-everything-better, as true as that sometimes may be. I genuinely enjoyed the Bike & Brew festival. I enjoyed meeting and talking with other people who also think bikes and beer make an excellent combination (yes I just admitted to enjoying small talk on the internet), I enjoyed taking photos of some of the weirder bikes and sampling new beers, I enjoyed getting to see Santa Fe. I really, really did.

But don’t fret, dear readers, I don’t think this is indicative of a serious personality change. The Outside Bike & Brew Fest was just unusually awesome.

Are you the festival type? Do you likes bikes and/or beer? Would you travel for a festival like this one?