So there we were, sitting in a Wizard of Oz style breakfast joint in the coastal town of Fort Bragg. We had been out drinking beer at North Coast Brewery (fantastic Belgian styles, another really excellent brown ale which have been popping up all over the West coast), so it wasn't an early start. We had drug the Australian chicks out with us even though they were "rather knickered" and had a blast, but all of us felt it the next morning, especially Jules who had a little spill on the ride home. They still got out on schedule with the promise of coffee 12 miles down the road, but Rusti and I weren't feeling so inspired. As we sat in Fort Bragg looking at the map, we realized that if we were to continue drinking delicious, freshly brewed brewskies we would have to move our trip inland. And Team Krusti does what Team Krusti's got to do. Inland we went.
We spoke to a few different people about routes and decided on the "Greenville-Philo Road." A beautiful drive, I mean ride, they said. None of them had ever biked it. We realized this as we started cranking up mile after mile of 13% + grades. As an empty truck flew past us I was struck with an idea. As the next truck came by I stuck out my thumb and flagged him down. As we zoomed up and up and up and up the hill, I became gladder and gladder and gladder and gladder we had hitched that ride. He took us right to our campground which was totally deserted and bid us adieu. From that point on it was all rolling hills and suds.
First we stopped by Anderson Valley Brewing Company in Boonville. They won our hearts with absolutely impeccable, inventive and deliciously quaffable brews in a nice, airy environment complete with good service and, to top it off, a disc golf course! We even got to meet Don, one of the originators of the brewery. He told us how they jackhammered the brewtuns out of the concrete in Germany and Belgium and brought everything they might have needed and more over to the states from the old land. This care and attention to detail shone through in the beers, which are some of the best in the country. Don even gave us some beer for the road!
That night we slept in the fairgrounds and the next day were off to Hopland to catch Mendocino's last day in their historic brewpub, the first in CA after prohibition. We got to the brewpub just in time, they were running out of beer right and left, but thankfully they still had some cold ones for us along with what every cyclist needs - hot dogs! As we sat at the bar we struck up conversation with Vaugh and John who graciously offered us their home. We had great conversation and even got breakfast in the morning! What great hospitality.
We left Vaughn and John's to go through Cloverdale to Healdsburg. We stopped in the heat of the day at Ruth McGowan's Pub to drink some delicious beers and snack on calamari and learned that the head brewer of Russian River had started there. Small world! Ruth McGowan's was a nice respite, but it was time to head on to Bear Republic in Healdsburg. The feel of this pub was a little different than the others we had been to recently. A little stuffier, mostly people passing through. The beers, however, were great, especially a very peppery saison mmmm mmm mm! We were hoping to have more serendipity in Healdsburg to find a place to stay, but since everyone seemed to keep to themselves we ended up finding a park. It was a beautiful night and would have been perfect if Rusti's sleeping pad hadn't sprung a large leak, leaving him sleeping on the ground.
Regardless we woke up early the next morning and after a great breakfast burrito headed out toward Santa Rosa - home of Russian River Brewing Company and Ken! But that's all to be told in chapter two of this story. Stay tuned!
