Meet one of our favorite leaders, Larry Daugherty, brew ride originator! Hard to believe 2026 will be ten years of sipping suds with him, so hold on to your wrench and read more to feel the magic.
Q1: When did you start the brew rides and who went on the first ride or two?
Larry: The Brew Ride started as an idea I had in 2016 when I noticed that there were a lot of breweries opening in Ventura. One day I mentioned to Toby [original HUB shop manager] that it might be fun to have a group ride to visit some of them. He was very encouraging and told me to make a route, pick a day and time, and he would promote it. After figuring out a route that would avoid riding on busy streets as much as possible, I picked April 17th for the first ride.I don’t remember who all went on the first ride other than Toby, Benicia [Mrs. Toby], and Betsy [Mrs. Daugherty], but we had about 10-15 riders. We went to three breweries.
Q2: Where is a hidden gem that you recommend riding to for a brew (even if it’s not local)?
I don’t have a particular hidden gem, but the brewery that I have ridden to the most is Island Brewery in Carpinteria. It’s a great place to relax with a beer after the seventeen mile ride from Ventura, and it’s across the street from The Spot, a hamburger stand that’s been there since the 1930’s.
Q3: When and where do brew rides go to in general?
We’ve had seventy Brew Rides so far! There are currently twelve breweries in Ventura. Three others have gone out of business since we started the rides. Some we don’t go to because they require riding on busy streets, so we currently rotate among about seven. These days we go to two breweries per ride. Start/end is always at the HUB 1:15pm and it’s a social ride, no drop. All ages ok but under 18 needs to be with their major. Check the calendar for the once monthly date (usually second Sunday), we’re dark in the winter.
Q4: Highlights? Lowlights?
The biggest Brew Ride was in January of 2020, when we had about forty riders. That was followed by a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic.
