2er de Frog

OK .... I know,I know that Bob Roll has educated us all the past few years that the real pronunciation is The Tour DAY France.... but I sorta like the whole frog thing...being as it is the French and all.

Or as I understand it this year it's returned as the Tour de Lance once again.

Damn you moron Americans (Oh ya that includes me) the Tour de France is much more than just a venue for America's favorite Texan (but only because Stevie Ray died) to shine and show the world that Americans are always ready to kick ass on the rest of the planet wanna-be's.

My problem stems from the American Press' tendency to all but ignore the rest of the tours teams and riders.....even other American riders!

I mean...I get it..Lance is the man...he's cool...he's newsworthy....his cause is trendy and legitimately relevant plus he's the second greatest American rider of all time...but come on....It's the Tour de France......something I consider the greatest single race on the planet. A great spectacle in it's own right.

And 'I Know' Lance is synonymous with the tour and has been for most of this decade...damn it..I get it..please....quite slashing my bike tires.........


But there are other very interesting riders leaving their hearts on the road this year in THE tour as well. Just like there is every year. A lot of people that I'm acquainted with.... that have only a passing interest in the event know that I follow it passionately....and will take the opportunity to catch up on what's happening whenever they encounter me......I just wish that once someone...one of them...would ask me something more than "How did Lance do today" or "Is Lance in the yellow Jersey yet?"


But of course I blame the American media and the short attention span of the American public....a short attention span that the press created. It isn't Lance's fault.

Perhaps I should just be happy that cycling is getting any attention at all?

Why am I whining about it?

Because it is a great sport.... unique...complicated....full of interesting history and something everyone of us can do on our own level. Ride that is...which is hopefully what will eventually occur more often all over America once Lance has retired for good in a year or two. Lance himself is promoting that message as well.


So ya...I guess I'll just get out there and do 20 miles or so and pretend that I'm Jens Voigt, Levi Leipheimer, Edde Merckx, Fabian Cancellara or Fausto Coppi. Because you can take the kid off the bike but you'll never get the joker out of his spokes, or the visions of the tour out of his head.

And don't even get me started on where the hell Chris Horner is!

Deschutes Black Butte XXI

Thursday is Owl Club day for us and today was certainly no exception. The beer of the day was the renowned Black Butte Porter XXI.
I gotta be frank (although I always think of Zappa when I say that) this beer is just the freakin bomb. When I finally ordered a pint (I had to try and dust the keg of Deschutes Cinder Cone red first) I was just literally blown away and unprepared for the chocolate and coffee onslaught that I encountered. Oh my.
It's listed at 11% Abv and I suppose that correct although the beers drink-ability (ha!) certainly hinted that it could be less which only increased my enjoyment and appreciation.
I'd like to say that I had examples of all the previous releases to compair but alas that would be a bold ass fabrication.
And as everyone knows...I would never fall to that level......
So.....I hope... for your own enjoyment that you find this beer in copious amounts.
And hey..speaking of copious amounts...Terri found Laugunita Hop Stoopid today for $3.29 a bottle........but no worries....we grabbed up 15 or so bottles....just in case......you come over and want want some. Party on Garth.....

If this was that ...I'd be King

My home was a long way off but a short ride ahead as I squinted through the haze of my long overdue windshield that bore little resemblance to the scene passing through the story of the ride that I was imagining.
Yes indeed...it was the unmistakable call of the retched jackrabbit virgin .... drunk on too much disco and wearing the night air like cascading crescendos of mocking Mojave River moonlight.
No time for even the thought of a breath as the headlights bobbed briefly on the asphalt moguls insidiously spaced in increasingly madding swaths across the desert tundra.
Faster I screamed at the driver I hoped was not me...faster I say...will this ride never end?
And so it did and did not .... simultaneously taking me and leaving me upon the far off doorstep of another bid to reach the beginning of my end.

Pete's Brass Rail & Car Wash

Well...apparently the joke is pretty much on anyone and everyone that ever steps foot into Pete's Brass Rail and Car Wash located at 201 Hartz Avenue, Danville California. Pete's (there is no Pete) is a nice midsized neighborhood bar with 20 taps of all craft beer goodness and a full menu of typical and not so typical pub fare.

Terri and I stopped in at around noon on Sunday and found a couple seats at the bar. We pulled out our bar stools, she hung her purse on the conveniently placed hook under the bar top as I lifted my foot up to place it on the brass rail......nope....no brass rail either.....

The two bartenders were quick to throw us the food and beer menus claiming that "Looking at the tap handles won't tell you what's pouring".

They were right....The Stone IPA handle was actually hooked up to a Stone Pale Ale keg, The Speakeasy Big Daddy IPA was dispensing Speakeasy Untouchable Pale Ale and the Deschutes Mirror Pond handle filled a glass with Mirror Mirror Barleywine.

I stuck to reading the beer menu after that. Drakes IPA, Pliny the Elder, Red Rocket, Racer 5 stood out as did Pyramid's Imperial Hefeweizen, Russian River Damnation and surprisingly Rubicon's Purple Mia Bock. There were also tap handles for Tied House, Napa Smith, Widmer, Sierra Nevada and a couple more Drakes products.

I tried the Ale Smith Pale and Terri went straight for the Racer 5. As we sipped our first beers of the day we couldn't help notice how busy the place was becoming. The bartenders were trading jabs and insults between watching the A's and Giants games whilst simultaneously concocting some killer looking over-the-top spicy Bloody Marys. I asked if the place was always that busy and the bartender gave me a blank stare and said "It's slow so far".

We eventually had to nibble something and ordered a batch of garlic fries. The best part of those fries is that they're served with a little tub of Cayenne Mayonnaise which is apparently a house specialty. Creamy with a nice kick. Excellent.

After another couple of brews I finally found a little note on the bottom of the food menu that read "There is no Brass Rail, there is no car wash and who the hell is Pete?"

By then of course it seemed to all make at least as much sense as all the patron's names that were printed from top to bottom on the wall opposite our seats.

All the names represented customers that have tried at least 500 different pints of Pete's offerings over the years....... Deschutes Red Chair IPA was the latest beer to make the list...coming in at #1342. Only 496 more pints and I get my name on that wall. I wonder if there are any jobs and affordable housing available in the Danville area.

The lone Ranger

Or should I say the lone sentinel ......or actually Centennial since that's the variety of the small hop plant in the photo. This plant is the sole surviving plant of my original plantings. Or at least the only one I actually see so far. I don't have a lot of hope for the other nine but hopefully I'm just being impatient. It has been just 2 weeks since they were planted. Getting a bit late in the year to plant more but I do know of a nursery that has a half dozen they don't know what to do with...I may have to wander over that way before long and make them an offer I can't refuse.

My lone hop here is the only one showing because when Rick and I went to the Jordan Family Farms to cut some Rhizomes Scott was kind enough to include one whole plant that was growing double in his hop acre.

It is the test plant to some degree...see if I can even keep one plant alive that was already established.

The Roots of the problem

This is a just an example of the roots that I have been pulling out of the hop beds. Notice the piles of roots next to the tree behind the wheel barrel. That pile would grow to about 2 cubic yards before I was done. I believe this root system from that shade tree would have prevented the hops roots from getting properly established.

Slow Hopping

A month since a blog entry? Well not exactly....I do have a thing or two on the Pacific Brew News blog. In the meantime I am still working on the miniature hop Farm in our postage stamp back yard ... which of course it's wrought with unforeseen obstacles and annoyances.

Would I have it any other way? Well...yes of course...sure I would.

For one I'd love to have some ground NOT riddled with roots from my favorite shade tree. The photo is from last Friday when we removed the sod to allow the hop roots to have a chance to establish themselves and not have to fight with all the other roots I'm busy trying to destroy.
Funny thing yesterday my local nursery tried to sell me several hop plants that they had in their back 40...I looked them over and read the tag...but with no information about what variety they were I had to pass...too bad too cause those suckers were almost 2 feet tall already....oh boy...I am sure late getting these things in the ground.......

I got a yard of 50/50 dirt compost mix in the back of my truck just waiting to be laid down ... now what did I do with that roto-tiller???