Good Saturday

After weeks of illness which spawned a mild bout of cabin fever I decided to get out of the house and go watch Zack race the Merco Classic in Merced. Saturday also marked my third day in a row of being back on the bike, a very good and inspiring factor in itself. I got up early and was out in the chilly morning by 8:30 and didn't stop until I'd done 2 hours and 31 miles. Which by the feel of my calves was enough at this stage of my return to real life and the pursuit of fitness for The Epic Redwood Ride.

Zack has raced the Merco classic the past couple years and has even won a criterium on those streets when he was a Cat3 so he knows the course pretty well. He sat fourth wheel with 2 laps to go but the swarm and riding with new teammates ultimately ended his chances at a victory he could well have taken. For a better more detailed discription of how it went down I highly recommend checking out his race reports on his blog A Sobering View.

After Zack's race I watched the start of the Pro/Cat1 (a field that included Chris Horner, Freddie Rodriquez, Ben Jacques-Mayne and dozens of other great American racers) and then worked my way to Big Bubba's Bad BBQ which sits on the final corner of the course. Ribs were not my motivation for the visit but Rascal Creek Brewing certainly was. Previously the building was the home of Firehouse Brewing.

If you were out looking for a brewery in Merced (which without my yearly visits to enjoy watching Zack races I never would have) you would have no reason to even check out Big Bubba's establishment save for one little sign on the parking lot side of the building that says "House brewed beers" or something along those lines. Even inside there is only one sign stencilled across the back of the tap handle riser that indicates the presence of a brewery. Well....that and the fact that once you sit at the bar you can see the fermentors inside a glassed in enclosure.

Rascal Creek offers half a dozen house beers including "Bull Rider Light", "Golden BobCat Wheat", Rascal Creek Red", "Yosemite Beer IPA" and Rascal Creek Irish Stout". Since I didn't have a lot of time I naturally opted to try the IPA and after about a 8 minute wait I finally got one. Even after re-pouring it wasn't very lively but the aroma and taste made it worthy of consuming. Not remarkable by any means but a nice drinkability with decent citrus IPA attributes. To my surprise they also offered growlers which I naturally purchased one of filled with IPA for our ever growing collection.

After watching the end of the race in which Horner and 2 others amazingly lapped the field I joined Zack, his teammate Aaron and Zack's extended in-law family for some Pizza and beer at a nearby eatery who's best beer was Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. It was good to hang out with all them, not so great to observe the poor beer selection of the pizzeria. It shall remain unnamed....especially since I've already forgotten it.

After visiting Zack's brother-in-law Senobio's impressive 2-story mansion in Atwater I took my leave and headed North on Highway 99 for the two hour return trip to Roseville. After 70 miles or so I hit the outskirts of Stockton and realized that there was just no way I was passing up a quick visit to Valley Brewing when there was a chance that they might have the "UberHoppiness" double IPA on tap. We'd sampled it just three weeks before at the Bistro's Double IPA fest in Hayward and found it to be fairly impressive. After finding my way to the area of town where I knew the brewery was I finally asked directions from a pedestrian and made the three block u-turn to find the brewery abuzz with happy Saturday night partiers.

I got lucky to find a seat at the bar and quickly ordered a pint. The sweetness of this aptly named hop monster is a bit off the hook but the overall drinkability and taste were worth the effort. To my surprise they had no problem filling my growler with this seasonal nectar and only charged me $9.50 to do so. I was glad I made the effort to stop even though the lateness of the hour and the miles I still had to travel forced me outta there after only the one pint. They had a 4 piece jazz band stuffed into a corner that was actually quite interesting and I would have liked to stick around for another few pints and tunes.

Terri should be home Monday from her visit to Hesperia with Oralia to visit her parents and specifically her Dad who was recently released from the hospital. She stopped at Sequoia Brewing on the way down but I'm sure that beer has already been consumed. However, I understand that she filled some growlers at the new Oggies Brewing in Apple Valley. That Torrey Pines IPA and Hop Juice will be a nice treat next weekend.