Chinese Food, Popcorn and Paradise

Christmas is over and I, for one, am glad of it. Not that I had any expectations. As a Jewish girl, I don't celebrate it anyway, but I just get tired of the "air" around this holiday. The rampant consumerism wears me out.
But this year, with no family to contend with, Jerry and I had a peaceful Christmas Day. We went out to lunch for Chinese food and had popcorn for dinner. I had given a friend a television, and in return he gave us a huge can of three flavors of popcorn. Since Jerry and I love popcorn anyway, it was a real treat. We climbed into bed with the popcorn and Cabernet, and we watched "Man on Wire."

"Man on Wire" is about Philip Pettit, who wire-walked between the two World Trade Center buildings in New York. It was a very interesting and in some ways, sad, movie. After the ordeal, Pettit really took to fame and his best friend and his longtime girlfriend were left behind.

The day after Christmas, today, was cold and clear. Jerry and I put on lots of layers and headed to Mike's Bikes to join an ALC Training ride that went around the Paradise Loop. It felt good to ride today. I recently got a fleece neck warmer and it was perfect. I pulled it over my chin and nose when I needed it.

We did our usual stop at Shark's Deli. I stop about a block or two pre-Shark's for a cappucino. Jerry had tea and we hit the road again. The next stop was Peets in Corte Madera.

I had a good chat with one of the other riders there. She is, like me, looking for work, so we are going to share out networks.

With all the time I have on my hand you would think I would be writing more than this blog. I am thinking about starting another blog on another topic, yet to be determined. Once I figure out what else I want to write about. I'll start.

More Intake than Outgo

I suppose I shouldn't expect any different, especially at this time of year, but my caloric intake is most definitely exceeding the calories I'm burning cycling.

Yesterday, we rode about 50 miles. In the morning, we joined up with the Cat 1 Crawl ride at Mike's Bikes and rode to Lagunitas. We were not feeling particularly strong, and it was cold.

I think one reason for our bit of lethargy was our popcorn dinner the night before. Jerry and I have a tradition of having popcorn and a diet soda when we go to the movies. Friday night we saw Slumdog Millionaire. It was an amazing, beautiful film. I recommend it highly.

In any case, we had our popcorn dinner and went cycling in the morning. It was a chilly morning, and we were layered up appropriately, though layering does take its toll on a ride with lots of ascending and descending. Hot, cold, hot cold. But we survived.

Jerry and I split a sandwich in Lagunitas. I find I can't eat a whole lot while riding. It just doesn't sit well with me. That meant when we got home I was really hungry and I ate a big bowl of pasta with homemade sauce. It was delicious. I put lots of mushrooms, onion, garlic and chicken sausage in it. We have switched to whole wheat pasta and at this point, enjoy it more than so-called regular.

After some food and a rest, we headed out to Newark to go with a small group, led by Russ Mendevil, to look at Christmas decorations through his neighborhood. We once again bundled up, and rode through Newark and Fremont to do our Christmas sightseeing. That was, of course, accompanied by, what else, eating.

We had little french bread pizzas, dip, cookies and cheesecake.

This afternoon we went to Johnny and Theresa's Comfort Food Cafe, and this evening we are having dinner with neighbors. I just baked some butterscotch bars to take along, along with peppermint bark and some pecan shortbread.

I've made the pecan shortbread before, but something didn't work right this time. The end result was fine, but the dough was very very short. I couldn't roll it out. I had to kind of knead it with my hands and then flatten it out. With no small round cookie cutter, I used the top to a squeeze bottle to cut out the small rounds.

The butterscotch bars are my invention, though I'm sure others make similar cookies, if not exactly the same thing. They are loaded with walnuts, butterscotch chips and butter (of course). They are very dangerous for me to have around the house. I will try to give lots away and hide the rest in the freezer.

Toe Covers and Soup

Winter is finally here. This weekend promises a continued drop in temperature, and Sunday it calls for rain. I hate riding in the rain, particularly when it's coupled with a nasty wind chill, so we're planning on joining the Cyclists Reps (the artists formerly known as Cycle Buddies) for a ride in the East Bay on Saturday, and staying home to read the New York Times on Sunday.

I finally found a pair of toe covers that will go over my mountain bike shoes, so my hope is my toes won't turn into the blocks of ice they usually become when the temperature drops.

In addition to bringing out the toe covers and vests, the cold weather always inspires me to make soup. I made a really great one this week. I started with turkey stock and simmered it with canned tomatoes, garbanzos, black beans, onion, garlic, carrots, potatoes and some broccoli. I seasoned it with thyme and bay leaf. I threw in some white wine, but it added an oddly bitter taste. Somehow, I think the combo of the thyme and white wine was not a winner. But I rescued it with some aged balsamic vinegar. I'm not talking about the stuff you get in a big bottle for a couple of bucks at Trader Joe's. This comes in a small bottle and is pricier, but in my experience, worth every penny. Aged balsamic vinegar is a wonder. It is syrupy and I think I'd really have to call it sweet. A little goes a long way, and just a dash in the soup turned it from a near disaster to a resounding success. Jerry threw some cooked sausage into his, but I ate it just the way it was. It went quite well with a hearty red wine and some good aged gouda.

It Takes Two, Baby

Or, why I love riding a tandem.

Because you always have company on a ride.
Because you have to give it your all, not to let your partner down.
When your energy is flagging, you've got someone to pick up the slack.
When you are a stoker (like me), you get to sightsee.
You're the rearview mirror for the captain.
You catch up to the group on downhills.

I've realized all this many times before, but somehow, on today's ride it kind of crystallized. We were riding with a group for a birthday ride of a friends. Slogging up Camino Alto, the group passed us, but there we were, the two of us, working hard and getting rid of a bit of the chill that had been with us on the bike path.

Despite the cold, the ride was fun, and by and large, we did ride as a group. We headed out of Mike's in Sausalito and up to Fairfax, for a stop at the Fat Angel bakery for coffee and treats. Then we took a circuitous route to Mill Valley, where the plan was to have lunch at Taco Joe's, but, alas, it was closed. We headed to Grilly's instead, and that was just fine. I brought some peppermint bark for Annette for her birthday, and she shared it all around.

So, it was a fun day, and I was happy to be riding with my sweetie, never more than a few inches apart.

Cookies and Noodles

It was a brisk day for a ride, but the sky was clear so we bundled up and headed to Mike's Bikes in Sausalito, parked the car and joined an ALC ride as "renegades." We weren't at Sports Basement to listen to the safety speech, so we weren't official, but like good ALC'ers, we stopped at all the stop signs and signaled for turns.

Our first stop was at the Coffee Roastery in Fairfax, figuring we'd meet up with some of the official riders.After ordering coffee and hot chocolate I got Jerry and me a table, and three fellows in Trips for Kids kits sat down next to us. I made a comment about their outfits and we got to talking.

They are, indeed, Trips for Kids fans and volunteers. But one of the guys had an even more interesting back story. First, he works as a developer for Gilead, a large funder of ALC. What I didn't know is how Gilead has quite a different approach to drug production. They give quite a lot of medication away in developing countries.
The other thing this guy does is have a bakery that makes vegan, naturally sweetened delicious cookies. He gave us two different kinds-- one maple, and the other with tahini and coconut. Both delicious! When it gets closer to Jon Pon I'd like to see if I can strike up a deal with him.

We did meet up with most of the riders at the Roastery and then again at lunch in Woodacre. I had some good sesame noodles. I don't like to eat a whole lot when I ride because food doesn't always sit that well.

I also had a water bottle with Nuun in it. I really like these electrolyte tablets. Not overly sweet or heavily flavored. It's a pretty light electrolyte drink easy for me to get down.

We didn't ride that fast today, but we rode steadily and had a good time.

28 Years

I can't decide if it seems shorter or longer than 28 years that AIDS has been with us. Sometimes it feels that it has been part of our vocabulary forever; other times I think, how did the time go so quickly?

I was living in Montana when AIDS was first reported. And I never thought it would reach somewhere as seemingly remote as Helena. But Ron and Burt died.

When I moved back to Baltimore, I had several friends who were HIV positive, and it seemed that they succumbed quickly.

I thank medical research for the advances that have been made. On today's 28-mile ride for World AIDS Day, my HIV positive friends were strong and healthy. But I still ask, when will there be a cure? When will there be a vaccine?

I know we are struggling with so many horrible diseases. And I also know that HIV is totally preventable. But a number of my friends were infected before we even knew what the disease was. And others slipped up. I think about the chances I took in the 80s and 90s and I think how lucky I am that I wasn't infected. None of us is immune.
Literally and figuratively.

But prevention, while it is incredibly important, is not my prime concern. I'm concerned for my HIV positive friends. Men I love and don't want to lose.

Aside from fighting a fierce headwind, the ride today was beautiful. Jerry and I were still a bit tired from riding yesterday, but we rode fairly well. Not necessarily strong, but we rode well.

I had sent out a media alert about today's ride and KCBS radio, the SF Chronicle and Univision showed up to cover it. The more we can get a message out-- the more we can educate people, the better off we will all be.

Ride to Eat Leftovers

Just had a repeat of Thanksgiving dinner after a 40-something mile ride out of the city to Fairfax, and then Tiburon loop. Although my right knee (the real one, not the titanium one) was giving me some grief, Jerry and I still averaged 14 miles per hour. Not bad for a couple of old farts on a tandem.
It was a nice ride though we are both feeling it now. Jerry is napping; I'm still upright to hasten digestion.
Tomorrow we will ride a shorter, but very meaningful ride. A 28 mile loop for World AIDS Day, in memory of the 28 years of the pandemic.

Cheaper turkey, better results

So this year, instead of a pricey Diestel turkey breast from Whole Paycheck, I decided to go with a whole bird from Trader Joe's. I tend to shy away from the whole bird, as it usually means dry breast meat waiting for the legs and thighs to get done. But by tenting, playing with the temperature and a lot of basting, everything came out beautifully, and I think the breast meat was actually more tender and flavorful this year.
I decided to get the bird done a little early, let it rest, carve it and then cover the meat on the serving platter and put it back in a warm oven. While we were having only two guests, I wanted to be able to sit and enjoy time with them, instead of being up to my armpits in mashed potatoes this year. I, in fact, got everything ready ahead of time and kept it all warm. And it worked beautifully. The only thing I didn't cook early was the stuffing, though I had it assembled and so all it had to do was bake.
The Brussels sprouts were an especially big hit, even for Nancy, who usually doesn't like them. I shredded them in the Cuisinart, and sauteed them with shallots and garlic in olive oil and butter. I toasted pignolis to mix in, and also squirted lemon juice on them. They were delicious.
I can't report on George's pie yet, because my heartburn was too intense to try it last night. But it is absolutely gorgeous and I will have a piece later today.
George and Nancy brought two bottles of Markham cabernet. I forgot how much I like Markham vineyards. The wine was delicious-- full bodied-- just the way I love cabernet. I've been into Malbecs and Zinfandels lately. Might be time to go back to finding some good Cabernets.
George and Nancy invited us on a tandem ride in Napa tomorrow, so we'll work off dinner then.

Eat Today. Ride later.

It's Thanksgiving and the cookathon will soon begin. Some years Jerry and I ride in the morning, but my heartburn is so bad (that's a long story in itself) I really don't feel like getting on the bike.
So instead, I'll cook. Our thanksgiving is woefully small this year. Only six of us, but I'll still cook as if the Russian Army were descending any minute.
This year, I bought a whole turkey instead of just a breast. My hope is, with the added fat of the legs, I'll get more drippings for gravy. I also plan on snipping off the wings at the first joint to make stock. The bird is a natural one, but a brand I haven't tried before. My guess is I won't be able to tell a whole hell of a lot of difference between this one and the gold-plated Diestels I usually buy at Whole Foods. Tough times call for desperate measures, and I'm trying to watch the budget.
The stuffing will be pretty basic, though I'm going to throw in some dried apricots, apples and walnuts. Still pretty basic, though.
I am bucking tradition on the Brussels sprouts. Instead of the usual boiling and rice vinegar, I'm shredding and sauteeing with garlic, shallots, olive oil and pignolis. Garlic mashed potatoes, as usual is on the menu, but I did do a variation of my usual cranberry sauce. It's still got ginger and oranges, but I also put in two diced pears and some dry mustard. I tasted it yesterday and the flavors have come together pretty well.
Dessert is courtesy of my friend George, who is making an apple pie. Since there are only six of us, I figured one dessert would do.
Appetizers are feta and sundried tomato dip with carrots, sesame crisps, parmesan puffs, and Cowgirl creamery cheese and crackers.
And good wine will round the whole thing out. And good coffee with dessert.
I am disappointed I won't be having more people, but the folks that will be here are good friends, so it will be a lovely evening.
And tomorrow, or the day after, we'll hop on the tandem.

Riding? Yes. Eating? Not so much.

Jerry and I rode the "Cat 1 Crawl" from Sports Basement and around Tiburon Loop on Saturday. It was a gorgeous day to ride. Sunny, a little cool, but lovely. I inadvertently left my Camelbak home so I used Jerry's back pocket as a water bottle holder. It worked just fine. After all this time we're a bit beyond Cat 1 (though not by much) so we finished before everyone else. A real first for us.

Especially because we have not been riding at our peak. I am having really hideous gastro issues. I was supposed to have some testing done today, so I haven't been able to take any heartburn/GERD medication for two weeks, so I've pretty much been in hell. I can't eat very much at one time without feeling like, or actually, tossing some of it. Lovely, eh?

So I was really looking forward to the testing, even though from all accounts having a tube stuck down your throat via your nose is not the most pleasant sensation, particularly when it stays there for 24 hours.

But, in any case, I got to UCSF nice and early for my appointment. And I sat for an hour. And then had the appointment rescheduled because the person who does the test was out sick. Which they knew earlier, but for some reason decided I should sit there so I could spend even more money on the parking lot. Yes, I was ticked off-- first, for having to sit there for an hour, and even more important, to spend another week off heartburn meds. Thanksgiving is going to be a real thrill...

But when I got home I did get busy in the kitchen. I'm really on a peppermint bark kick, and I made around 10 pounds today. Then I made sesame crackers, and finally, cranberry chutney. I couldn't find my tried and true recipe, so tried another one I found on Epicurious. It's got pears, cider vinegar and a few spices, including ginger. First taste I wasn't too thrilled, but I'll let the flavors blend overnight and give it another try tomorrow. If I still don't like it, I've got another package of cranberries, and I'll start over.

Raising Money to Ride

As anyone who has even briefly met me knows, I ride the 540 miles from San Francisco to Los Angeles to raise money for the San Francisco AIDS Foundation as part of AIDS Lifecycle.
And as everyone knows, this is a tough financial year, so I thought I better get creative with fundraising. As a baker and all-around dessert maker, I thought I'd put these skills to work to help raise funds. Two years ago I gave $100 donors cookies. This year I thought I would sell peppermint bark. Williams Sonoma charges $20 a pound, so I thought if I could make it and sell it for $6 a half pound, I could clear at least a little something to raise funds for the ride.

I made a decent sized batch earlier this week and bagged it up in little half pound bags which I plan to tie shut with a festive ribbon. The project was on.
I decided to go bigger, so today I went to Restaurant Depot, a to-the-trade-only wholesale warehouse to get white chocolate. I bought a 10 pound box of Ghiradelli chips, figuring they would make lovely peppermint bark. It wasn't cheap, even for wholesale, but I figured I should get the good stuff.
Or what I thought was the good stuff. God knows what they put in it, but it would not melt. I hesitate to read the ingredients because the stuff, even being in a double boiler for what seemed like forever, had the consistency of silly putty.
Chalk up another experience to lesson learned. I'll stick to the Safeway where at least I know what I'm getting. And believe it or not, the pure chips there are a little cheaper.
But at least I do have about three pounds of the good stuff, and next week I'll go into production again.

"Relatively" flat ride?

Relative is an interesting word. Today's ride was described as "relatively flat." And I suppose compared to Quadbuster or the Evil Twins, it was. But it sure didn't seem flat to Jerry and me.
Yesterday we did a pleasant ride from Sports Basement to Mill Valley with the "Cyclist Representatives." That's the new name for what we've been calling Cycle Buddies. I have to tell you, I prefer the name Cycle Buddies. True it's not as professional, but it's so friendly and warm. The Cycle Buddies are nurturing supportive people. I'm not sure what Cyclist Representatives are. This is just one change that came this year. The web site has changed, and I gotta tell you, I don't like it. I don't know my cyclist number and I have a hard time finding my home page.
Generally, I am not one of those people who resists change. And there very well may be good reasons for the changes to the web site. But for the life of me, I don't know why the Cycle Buddies are no longer Cycle Buddies.
But back to riding. Yesterday's ride was just a little shorter than today's ride, but perhaps it was the popcorn we ate for dinner, or the fact we hadn't ridden in a couple of weeks or my colonoscopy on Friday, but today's ride was tough for Jerry and me. The climbs weren't long, but they seemed intense.
But we were riding with our friends. It was a Positive Peddler ride, and those are frequently my favorite because I get to ride with Bob and Beau and Wilfredo and some other friends. Though I was sorry Peter wasn't there today.
We rode from Sports Basement out to Lake Merced. And anyone would have to realize, we'd have to climb in and out of the city, but somehow I had blocked that out of my mind.
But we did it, and because the last part of the ride was downhill, we sailed past everyone and were the first back at Sports Basement. Tandems do excel at downhill, and we're not bad on the flats. But hills are another story.
After the ride, we came home, showered and headed to Barney's for turkey burgers and fries. Dinner is a glass of wine and some tums.
yum.

Cheese and movies

I just spent several glorious days in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware at the Rehoboth Beach Film Festival. Several highlights of the festival include--
-- A Secret. A French film about a young boy who discovers his parents' past during the Holocaust.
-- The Secrets. An Israeli film about a young woman who, after her mother dies, goes to a Midrasha to study and learns much about herself and her family.
-- Captain Abu Raed. A very touching Jordanian film. Abu Raed is a man all of us would love to know. That might have been my favorite.
Of the eight films we saw, only one was a real dog. A Canadian film -- Continental: a film without guns. While watching,we were wishing they did have guns so they could have killed themselves and put us out of our misery. Yes, that bad.
And it was four days of drinking good wine and eating good cheese. My friends Bob and Dave had an amazing house-- their dream house they designed, with a wine cellar that David built. Every night, after the films, we'd go down and pick out a couple of bottles of wine. Lots of fun. We ate wonderful cheese with bread David had baked. For breakfast, he made croissants ad bagels.
I showed my friends videos and a slide show of last year's AIDS Ride, and Bob is expressing interest in doing the ride. I hopehe decides to do it. It's really an experience of a lifetime. He knows enough people who can afford to donate, so I hope he decides to do it.
And speaking of donations, when I get home from the East Coast, I'm going to start making peppermint bark. I plan to sell it to raise funds for ALC. I make fabulous peppermint bark with the very best white and dark chocolate. Know anyone interested? Send them my way!

Blisters and Joy

The blisters on my feet cannot overshadow the joy I feel for my sisters in law. I didn't get to see the ceremony, but there was at least one person taking video, so I'll enjoy it later.
I spent most of the week preparing for the joyous occasion. Hard boiling 15 dozen eggs takes a long time, and peeling them takes quite a while. Except Friday night, a handful of people, including Jerry and Donna's mother and stepfather came in to lend a hand. James, Jerry's son, had also come in from University of Chicago to help and be part of the celebration. I'm sorry Donna's Dad and stepmother, and Linda's parents declined to attend. Linda's mom did, at least, send a gift.

Early in the week I started shopping and prep. I made a ridiculously easy and extremely popular cracker. I halved wonton skins, brushed them with oil, then sprinkled sesame seeds and coarse salt on them. Baked at 375 for 10-15 minutes. They were delicious!
There were a couple of labor-intensive dishes that could not be done ahead of time. One was puff pastry, cut for mini muffin tins. I sauteed mushroom-- white and shiitaki, with garlic, butter and a little red wine. I put a tad of really good paremsan on the bottom , and then put in the mushrooms. We baked several hundred.
At request of the spouses, we made deviled eggs and pesto potatoes. While on its surface both are simple, they took a long time. We halved red potatoes, baked them and then scooped out a bit and put in a dollop of pesto.
I need more full sheet pans, and the kitchen we worked in had absolutely nothing. If I had had more sheet pans, the potatoes would have gone much faster. Live and learn.
My friend Leslie, of Theresa and Johnny's Comfort Food Cafe in San Rafael, lent us baskets and hotel pans, which helped immensely. I should have taken some sheet pans from her as well.

I also made four dips. I think my favorite was the red pepper with walnuts. I played with this one-- I added Japanese breadcrumbs and Vietnamese hot sauce. And, of course, garlic, and some olive oil.
The white bean and artichoke dip was a hit, as was the feta and sun dried tomatoes. The beet and garbanzo didn't go over as well, though I thought it was great. Maybe people just don't like to eat pink food.
We had a lovely selection of cheeses from Cowgirl Creamery, olives, nuts, and store-bought spring rolls. Always the Jewish mother (of no children except doted-on cats) we had way too much food.
Too much food was, in part, because of the set-up of the room. The food was difficult to get to. I wanted the tables along the side, but they got put in the back, next to the bar. I had some people appear sheepishly in the kitchen asking if we had food in there. I was happy to oblige.
But the married couple was absolutely thrilled, and that is what matters. I guess my biggest disappointments are, I love to have people eat what I cook, and also, Jerry and I paid for all of this, and we are woefully underemployed. We did ship some of the leftovers off to a soup kitchen, and for that I am grateful, and I'm going to a pot luck today, and I will take some with me to that.

What should be illegal

Flavored bagels. Well, not sesame or poppy. But blueberry, chocolate chip, cinnamon raisin. Today my friend Jeff posted that he was eating a pumpkin bagel. I'm sorry, but that is NOT a bagel.
Everything else gets a proposition in California. I want one on the ballot to ban flavored bagels.

Heaven and Hell

Friday was hellish, so I was so happy to ride through Paradise on Saturday. Saturday was the ALC kickoff rides, and Jerry and I rode the Tiburon, also known as the Paridise, Loop. It was a perfect day for a ride-- sunny, cool with little wind.
We started at Sports Basement, where it was great to see some old friends before we set out. There were three rides scheduled, and we participated in the longest one-- around 40 miles.
Despite my urging (or at least suggesting) that Jerry eat a sausage before we set out, he didn't want to, and he felt his energy flagging on Camino Alto, Nonetheless, we rode up it at a decent pace, and, as usual, sailed down it, held up by cars that didn't want to go as fast as we did.
The loop was beautiful. Lots of bikes, some scaredy-cat cars that I had to wave around us, and lovely air and scenery.
Before we got to Shark's, our usual stopping place, we swung by the place whose name I can't recall to get me a cappuccino. I did remember to tell them no chocolate. Cup in hand, we rode down to Shark's. Jerry has a bowl of chili which lifted his spirits and energy considerably.
The ride back was lovely, and even Sausalito Hill didn't seem so bad.
There was lots of ooohing and aaahing over our new tandem. It really is a beauty. And it's lighter, handles better and is a pleasure to ride. There was one other tandem present. They were riding a bike I wasn't familiar with. They are going to train on the tandem, but the captain will ride ALC on a half-bike, and his stoker will be a roadie. Too bad. The more tandems the better!
Back home, we showered and readied ourselves to go to the movies to see W. We went with our friends Sha and Lora. The movie, of course, was partically fiction, but it captured what I think was W's motivation to do what he did. It did not portray him as evil, but as someone desperately trying to find his place in the world, and more important, to please his father. He failed miserably and pleasing his father, and I think the place he found in the world was not the one he wanted. He will be remembered as the worst president in modern history.
At the movies we had our usual dinner--popcorn and a diet soda.

This week I will be doing a lot of prep for Jerry's sister's wedding reception, which is next Saturday. I've got the menu all planned and have figured out the order of prep, pretty much. I will put in an order at the produce place and pick up the rest of what I need on Thursday and Friday. It's going to be a big job, but I think everyone will be pleased.

I Hate Lima Beans

Except when they are baby lima beans cooked in rice full of wonderful herbs, and the rice cooked so that it gets a delicious crust on the bottom.
Jerry and I had dinner at Sha and Lora's last night, and Sha cooked. It's always wonderful when he cooks. He's from Iran, and he makes incredible Persian food. Along with the rice, we had a stew with garbanzo beans, potatoes and lamb. The lamb was really more of a garnish-- it didn't overwhelm the stew. It was so tender it had fallen off the bones.

But back to the rice-- it had coriander, tumeric and a few other wonderful herbs in it. We had red wine with it. For dessert, Lora made a pear tart that had ginger in it. I have to get the recipe from her.

The substantial dinner served us well for our ride today. We rode from Sausalito to Lagunitas. It was a lovely lovely day for a ride. It was nice and cool, but sunny. When we were heading back to Sausalito, we came upon one of the Seismic Challenge rest stops and pulled in to say hello. It was our favorite crew from ALC rest stop 4. They told us they were already planning for next year's ride. They manage to outdo themselves year after year.

When we got home, Jerry went to his office and I made dinner. I made polenta with parmesan in it, topped with chicken sausage cooked with tomatoes, garlic, red wine and onions. I put that in a dish and melted some mozzarella on top. It was delicious, and we have enough left over for tomorrow.

Drive to Eat

Instead of listening to the debate tonight, Jerry and I went with friends from back East, and a new friend from San Francisco to Chez Panisse, DOWNSTAIRS. My first time downstairs and it was fabulous. Two bottles of wine later (well, there were five of us) I will wait until I'm sober to write about our wonderful dinner.
Lots of riding in order to work off this dinner, and at least a couple of hours of freelance PR to pay for it.

Couplers, not cup holders

I've been telling friends about our new tandem and my friend Lisa mis-heard and she exclaimed, Your new tandem has cup holders?!! I explained no, it had couplers, which means we can take it apart.
But it certainly got me to thinking. mmm a cupholder on the back of Jerry's seat. It seems I can never get enough coffee, and though I realize it is not the drink of choice for bike riders, wouldn't it be lovely to have a cup at the ready for those cold morning rides.
mmmm. coffee. I think I'll make myself a cappuccino right now!

Fly to Eat

or, The Week of No Vegetables

Jerry and I are finally back from East Texas. The flight back seemed to take forever, because, in part, it did. We were facing a fierce headwind, so the trip home was, in reality, longer than the trip out.

Our time in Texas certainly had its moments. I was glad we had our tandem, though we did not have a lot of time to ride it. When we did, we got out early in the morning before the days humidity settled in. I'm sure those who saw us on the road were fascinated. We were the only cyclists, and certainly the only tandem riders. But the country, if you could ignore the amazing amount of litter on the side of the road, was quite lovely, with lots of trees. East Texas is lush-- lots of green, lots of water. The house Jerry's mother rented for us and his cousins was on the same lake they live on, just on the other side. The ride to their house was very pleasant.

As soon as we'd arrive in the morning eating began. Breakfast, thank God, started with fruit, because it was downhill from there on out. There were overly sweetened cereals for breakfast if you didn't want to eat the WalMart version of an egg McMuffin (I didn't.) There were potato chips, cheese puffs, pretzels, cookies, cakes, doughnuts... the list goes on. Dinner was ham or beef and potatoes. As I don't eat either, I had vegetarian soups. The first might have been good had it not been laden with enough cheese to block the healthiest person's arteries, and the second was pea soup that must have been cooked peas and water. I dumped salsa in it to give it some flavor.

Bad food and Republicans can make for a difficult stay, but we made the best of it. And visiting with Jerry's cousins and aunt from Arkansas was great. Besides being Democrats, they are bright, funny, wonderful women. It seems that his cousin, Sunny, is finally out to her family, because people were asking about her significant other, so that's a relief to her, I'm sure.

We rode out and back in our "new" little Mooney. A four (but really two) seater that Jerry is buying from his friend Art. Now that Art is 87 he realizes he should stop flying, so he is giving Jerry, his flying buddy, amazing terms to buy the plane and hangar. It's a cozy little plane and we enjoyed ourselves on the flights. We stopped around every three hours to refuel and relieve ourselves. On the way out we stopped in Tucson. It was the night of the VP debates. I'll say no more. After all, everything that needs to be said about Caribou Barbie has been said.

The way back, we stayed in Deming New Mexico. Not exactly the garden spot of the nation, but the sheets and towels were clean and the bed relatively comfortable.

As I said earlier, the ride home was long, but now I'm here and my geriatric calico Jamie, is sitting on my lap, so all's right with the world.
I do have some work to do, and I'm thankful for that, so time to get to it.

Bag O'Bike

Jerry and I are leaving for east Texas this afternoon, and I couldn't imagine going without the new tandem. We're flying ourselves in our new (to us) little Mooney four-seater, so we figured, we can take the bike. Especially this new one with its snazzy couplers. So Jerry de-coupled the bike and put it in wheel bags. It's amazing how little room it's going to take. I'm so excited. So we're packing some bike gear, our "regular" clothes, and we're leaving this afternoon. We're going to take our time getting there. Probably fly a couple of hours this afternoon and stay somewhere in Arizona, then the next day to west Texas, then soar on into Longview, the closest airport to where we're going-- that booming metropolis of Lone Star. We're staying a couple of miles from Jerry's mom's house. She rented out a bed and breakfast for us, Jerry's cousins and his aunt, so we'll have delightful transportation to get us around the lake to Judy and Dee's.
It's going to be an interesting trip. and I hope fun.

40 for 56

Today is my 56th birthday, and those great folks at AIDS Lifecycle threw me a party. A 40-mile ride, followed by a barbecue. And Jerry bought me a pair of ALC socks. And of course, he bought himself a pair, because as tandem riders, we love to wear matching outfits. It's so cute it's disgusting.
The ride left from Crissy Field, across the Golden Gate Bridge and then around the Tiburon Loop. Perhaps we are stronger, but in addition, the new tandem is really making riding easier. We climbed Camino Alto faster than we ever have, and the Sausalito Hill took less effort than ever.
The only down side of the ride was the trip back across the Golden Gate. By noon, the tourists on rent-a-bikes were out in full force, and the bridge was crowded and full of people who don't steer in straight lines, like to ride two and three abreast and love to stop and take each others photos. After too many close calls, Jerry and I have pretty well decided that rides that cross the bridge are not for us, and we will tag along on rides at Mike's Bikes in Sausalito. Maybe in January and February when there aren't so many tourists will consider it, but for right now, it just seems too dangerous.
Jerry requested a carbo load last night. I didn't have any spaghetti sauce in the freezer, so I decided to heat to Trader Joe's to get the ingredients for pizza. One of us usually makes the crust, but this time I bought ready-made pizza dough. That was my only mistake. The dough seemed way too springy and I couldn't get it to roll out. It kept shrinking back. I picked it up on my fists, I tried rolling but nothing worked. I finally spread it out the best I could, loaded on the toppings and baked it. I had sauteeed onions, garlic and chicken sausage. In addition, I drained diced canned tomatoes and spread them over the pizza sauce, then piled on raw mushroom slices, then the onions, garlic and sausage. I topped it with a hefty dose of mozzarella. Though not the most beautiful pizza in the world, it tasted pretty good, especially with a nice glass of zinfandel.
I also baked two trays of toffee bars yesterday, but I tried something new. Normally I bake the crust, then sprinkle the chocolate on top. I shove it back in the oven for a couple of minutes to melt the chocolate, spread it, then sprinkle chopped nuts on top. I pat the nuts down, getting chocolate all over my hands. For most, this is not a sacrifice, but I'm allergic to chocolate and have to resist licking my fingers after that chore. so this time, I tried something new. I chopped the nuts a little finer than usual and incorporated them into the dough. I still did sprinkle some on the chocolate but didn't press them in, figuring whatever adheres is just fine. I also left a small corner chocolateless. Without chocolate, the nuts and dough make a really delicious bar cookie. I just had a piece with an afternoon cappuccino.
Tonight we're going to the movies so we will have our favorite dinner-- popcorn and diet coke. Oh boy!

27 Speeds. No Waiting

Jerry and I took our first real ride on our new tandem on Sunday. To say we sailed up Camino Alto and White's Hill would be, well, that would be an exaggeration. But the new bike-- especially without the trunk-- really is a lot lighter and Jerry, who does the vast majority of the steering, says it handles easier and is more responsive.
It was a beautiful day for a ride. We started off at Mike's Bikes in Sausalito and headed up to Lagunitas.

Most of the route was the same as the Seismic Challenge "Day on the Ride," so we stopped at their rest stop in Fairfax to say hi to roadies and see how it was going. Sounds like Seismic Challenge is going to be a fairly intimate ride in October. But it is the first year, so it will probably pick up some momentum for next year.

But back to the ride. The weather was perfect. The temperature was moderate, the sun was shining, and the wind was not too strong. Considering we hadn't done any serious riding in weeks, the 40 miles we put in felt like we could have done quite a few more. But it was enough for a nice morning's ride, and we will probably ride one afternoon this week.

I wish I could get this enthusiastic about riding my single bike. Maybe some day. But I think tandem riding will always be my first love. I love that I can spend the day riding with Jerry and that I'm really part of a team. It keeps me honest; it keeps me working hard.

And speaking of teams, we have formed our AIDS Lifecycle team. We are Team Tandemonium. Corny, I guess, but I liked it better than the "blues" themed names that I got as suggestions. I guess I'm too happy these days to be singing the blues.

I'd be happier if I could find some work I could get passionate about. But, everything in its time and place.

Where's the Handbasket?

Because the way the world is going, we are all surely going straight to hell. I know, this isn't about riding. We haven't ridden because Jerry is still fiddling with the front derailleur on the new tandem. But he promises this week it will be fixed.
So not riding has given me way too much time to read the newspaper and observe the world going straight into the toilet.
I can't help but blame all of the money that has been poured into Iraq and the Halliburtons of the world, and bonuses given to CEOs of failing companies.
And I've never been quite so worried about the upcoming federal election. I had been devoting energy to California's Prop 8, but I think the presidential election is far more critical, and far more frightening.
My fear is that if the McCain/Palin ticket wins, it will make the George W. Bush administration look like Halcyon days. I never seriously thought about leaving this country until now.
At the end of the month, Jerry and I are heading to East Texas to visit his mother, her husband, and a passel of cousins from Arkansas. In the past I have really held my tongue around his Republican relatives, but this time, I'm going to let all Hell break loose. This is way too important for them to continue to believe the lies this administration and Fox news are telling.
And now that we have a tandem that has couplers, we can take it apart and take it with us in the plane. Initially I thought we'd be too busy with relatives to ride, but now I think it's imperative to have that outlet.

Bicycling Naked

Jerry and I took our first "real" ride on the new tandem today, but went with no pump, no trunk, no cyclometers and the use of only one chain ring in the front, instead of 3. What I missed the most was my cyclometer. My gut told me the new tandem was fast, but I'd like to know how fast.

Due to only one chain ring in the front until Jerry fine tunes the adjustments, we didn't do any climbing and took a pretty short ride. But it was fun and felt great. We do have a drag brake on the back, adding a couple of pounds, but the bike is still lighter than our old Trek tandem. It's got great balance, too.

Ont thing I noticed is, I can't see as well forward on the new bike, so I find myself sitting more upright when I want to see forward. But there really is so much to see on the sides.
It made me think quite a bit about sight. Earlier this week, I met with the director of a foundation dedicated to raising money to help improve sight. It did get me thinking about sight, how I'm happy to have it, and how fortunate that I had access to a really great physician and researcher when I was seeing double. Jerry and I played that old game, which would you rather lose-- your vision or your hearing. Kind of unfair, because Jerry has so little hearing, but we both agreed we'd rather not be able to hear than not be able to see.

When we got home, we took out or half bikes and did a little cruising around the neighborhood. I know the more I ride my single, the more comfortable I will feel. It mostly felt good, but I still have trouble getting started again after stopping, and I've got to tighten up my turning radius. But it's a work in progress.

We're hoping to find a group ride next weekend. We really like riding with groups, particularly with people we know. It helps our pace, and it's just good to see other folks.

Can I park that for you, Maam?

Jerry and I were valet bike parkers at the Sausalito Art Festival today. For four and a half hours, we tagged, rolled and steered bikes into pvc-pipe bike holders. And I'm happy to say a lot of people rode bikes to the fair. Big bikes, small bikes, hybrids, mountain bikes bikes with trailers, rent-a-bikes. All shapes, sizes.
We did notice, unfortunately, that many, if not most, of the riders were not wearing helmets. I know, I know, just out for a short ride, but I'm living proof that a short ride is all it takes to get your head (or in my case, helmet) bashed in.

In any case, we did brisk business. Hundreds of people rode their bikes to the event, including us.
After our shift, we had lunch-- a very good chicken-veggie wrap-- and then strolled around the fair.
Perhaps I'm spoiled; perhaps I'm an art snob, but I was by and large not impressed with what I saw. I also didn't like the layout of the fair. It was hard to tell where you'd been and what you had yet to see.
So, we perused art for about an hour, decided we'd had enough and headed on home.

Slowly but Surely

Two rides on the half bike this weekend. I wish I had ridden closer to when I had taken the bike skills class. A lot of the fear was back, but I did ride. Jerry and I rode on the path out of Mike's Bikes in Sausalito. I was nervous, but I did it. I finally was comfortable enough to let go of one hand at a time. I did get spooked at the top of a hill, but I soldiered on.
I was absolutely fine until I decided to take one more little lap before putting the bike on the car. That's when it happened. I cut a turn too close, fell and managed to get my leg caught between the handlebars and the bike. I've got a bruise the size of a one and a half egg omelet and a few other scratches and bumps. But I got up and got back on the bike, and I rode it back to the car.

Today we rode through the neighborhood and it felt pretty good on the roads. We have a path that runs through the neighborhood and I did not like that as well. Too many walkers, kids on scooters and dogs. Strangely enough, I feel safer on the road with cars. I'm pretty sure they won't run into me if I stay close to the side of the road.

Tomorrow, we're volunteering to do Bike Valet Parking at the Sausalito Art Fair. We'll ride our new tandem, despite not having any rear brakes yet. It's a short ride and no hills, so we'll be fine.

No Riding, No Eating

One might ask how in the world an endoscopy could be related to riding, but oddly it is. I had an endoscopy yesterday because when I ride, my usual everyday garden variety of heartburn takes on epic proportions. I won't wander into TMI territory, but let's just say it's really become unpleasant and it's affecting my level of hydration.
So off to the gastroenterologist I went. He's about 12 and a very pleasant fellow. We discussed his recent trip to Krakow before he put me under.
Turns out I have a hiatal hernia. Not totally sure what that is, but after I look it up on the web I'm sure I'll scare the hell out of myself. I go back to Doogie Howser in a month and get more details and see if we can make all of this better. In the meantime, it's a double dose of prilosec for me.

This week, Jerry hopes to finish rebuilding the new tandem so we may be able to ride it this weekend. We will also take a spin on our single bikes, and I'm really looking forward to that. Amazing, considering I dreaded even looking at that bike for the last year. Thank you, Lorri Lee Lown and the VeloGirls!

The new tandem is blue, so we can no longer refer to ourselves as the Green Machine. Any ideas for a new team name would be greatly appreciated.

I'm Single Again

Or at least I rode single today, and to my amazement and delight, it was wonderful. I took the VeloGirls Bike skills class to help me get over my fear of riding my single and it did that, and much more.
The class was pretty large, yet it felt like we all got great attention from the teachers, Sara and Lori. We got on, we got off, we rode, we braked, we slalomed, we had our butt places where no butt (at least on my bike) had gone before.

My single bike is a Bianchi Boardwalk-- kind of a hybrid-- flat bars but 27 gears and skinny tires, so in reality, not the most intimidating bike in the world. But it scared the hell out of me. I couldn't ride it out of my driveway. But today, I rode it around and around a parking lot, and down the road to another parking lot.

And now that I've got some confidence, Jerry and I will ride one afternoon or evening this week so I can keep my skills-- and my confidence-- up.

When I got home we went for a late celebration lunch at Comfort Food Cafe. While I didn't burn all the calories I ate, I felt somehow I had earned them.

Our 15 minutes

Better late than never, Jerry and I were featured in the Marinscope papers, about doing the AIDS ride on a tandem. Here's a link to the article: http://marinscope.com/newspointer/subpage.php?story=Mn2
It doesn't explain anywhere that this is our attire for Red Dress Day. I hope readers don't think we dress like that every day on the ride!
This weekend, we rode up to Lagunitas for lunch, and compared to recent rides, it was a the cliched piece of cake. So much had to do with the temperature. It was sunny and beautiful, but not the unbearable heat of recent weekends. We had a lovely ride. After getting home and showering, we headed to our favorite Comfort Food Cafe and ate many more calories than we burned off.

We were successful bidders on a one-year-old Co-motion tandem frame, and it should arrive this week. We'll be tandemless for several days until Jerry finishes rebuilding the new one, so probably no tandeming this weekend. I will ride on Saturday, though. I'm taking a basic bike skills class the Velo Girls offer. After crashing a year ago, I'm still afraid to ride my single, so my hope is this class will get me over my fears. Who knows, maybe I'll be confident enough to ride on Sunday!

Jitters and Shakes

Yes, I stole that from the little place next to the Van Ness Goodwill, but it's fitting for our ride yesterday.
I had an impending sense of doom even before we left Mike's Bikes at around quarter to ten. Temperature was rising and I had flashbacks from the ride over White's Hill a few weeks ago when the temperature was unbearable and Jerry and I finished the ride exhausted and wrung out from the heat.
So something about me was jittery as we set out. I was short of breath and knew my symptoms were a result of nerves.
The climb over Camino Alto, which is usually no big deal, really took it out of me and I was happy for all that flat riding afterwards. We stopped, as usual, in Fairfax, then headed for White's Hill.

But from the very start it didn't feel right, and I could feel Jerry's energy flagging. We stopped once, and then again. At the second stop, almost to the top, I knew it was time to turn around. Jerry really needs a big boost of protein before he rides, and he hadn't had it, and my fears of rising temperatures pushed me over the edge to do a turnaround.

We sailed down White's Hill, and once again stopped in Fairfax. We went to the Fairfix Cafe. Jerry had a chicken gyro and I had a vanilla milkshake that I added cinnamon to. It wasn't the most exciting milkshake of my life, but it was cool and satisfied my never ending ice cream lust.

We hopped back on the bike, and the ride back over Camino Alto was oh, so much easier, though I asked for a stop just to cool off a bit.

We headed back to Mike's Bikes after doing a semi-respectable 27 miles. A far cry from 50, but it's not as if we have any big rides in front of us.

In fact, next weekend, instead of riding the Marin Century, we are going to staff the rest stop sponsored by AIDS Lifecycle. We'll get to see many friends and give a little something back to the organization we feel so strongly about.

Co-motions and calmari

It was a weekend all about tandems.
On Saturday,Jerry and I joined the monthly Positive Pedalers ride in Orinda. It was a 40 mile ride through some east bay bedroom communities, with a lunch stop at a cute little cafe in Moraga or Lafayette or one of those little towns. I admit I don't remember which one. Jerry and I split a turkey sandwich.
As we were leaving the cafe, I saw a disturbing site, but what followed was even more disturbing. A family arrived on bicycles, and the preteen son, with his bike, tromped through shrubbery outside of the cafe. I shot a look at his father and asked if he saw what his son had done. He shrugged and said he didn't care. I said, I admit a bit snidely, "oh, you don't care-- they're not your bushes." He shot back, "They're not yours either."
With a dad like that, I hate to imagine how that young boy and his sister are going to turn out. Maybe fine, in spite of their father.

Anyhoo, back to the lovely ride. Lots of rolling hills, but Jerry and I both felt a tug in our heart after riding that Co-motion tandem last weekend. We decided we really need an upgrade in our tandem.
And I decided, after the ride, I needed ice cream. There was an ice cream place near the Orinda BART station, and I got a sugar cone with caramel cashew ice cream. It was heavenly. We sat on a bench in our matching Pos Ped Supporter jerseys, when another couple approached us and asked if the tandem up the street was ours. We told them indeed it was. After all, who else would be wearing matching jerseys. They were former tandem riders, and we had a lovely chat. Maybe we even inspired them to ride again.

Saturday evening we headed over to the new place that Leslie, owner of Theresa and Johnny's Comfort Food Cafe has opened. It's a sports bar of sorts with lots of fried food. We ordered the fried calmari and it was perfect. Tender, not overly coated with batter. Leslie came out of the kitchen and was surprised to see us. I told her how good the calmari was. She told me that calmari, no matter how good it is cooked, can get chewy if you don't buy the best stuff. So, I learned something that evening. Always buy the good stuff. But I think I knew that already.

Sunday took us back to the east bay, this time to a tandem shop, of all things. They carry Co-Motion, Santana and DaVinci. We ended up hanging out there for quite a while, and we'll go back at some point to do test rides. The owner was really pushing us toward the Santana. We guessed that maybe he gets a bigger commission on those, or he really thinks we'll like it a lot. Hard to say, but we'll give them all a try. Buying a new one will be a huge investment, so we may see if we can find a fairly new-used one. We want one with couplers so we can get it in and out of the Cessna to take on little trips.

The prospect of a new tandem is exciting, but a little scary. I'm pretty attached to the Green Machine, but it's time to move on.

Co-motion and confit

Jerry and I test-rode a Co-motion tandem yesterday. We took a 15-mile ride around Pinole, where the owner lived. Considering the seat wasn't quite high enough and I was too close to the handlebars, it was a good ride. Jerry said the bike handled well, and it's lighter than our Trek. We climbed some pretty steep hills without killing ourselves, despite it not being geared as low as our Trek. But at $3,000 we're not so sure it's THE bike. Another couple is going to ride it on Monday or Tuesday. We'll see if they make an offer.

Yesterday was Jerry's birthday. We went to yard sales in the morning, then to Barney's for lunch. But dinner was the celebration. We went to Garcon! on Valencia in the Mission. It was very good, though not sublime. We started with salads-- he had the salade maison and I had a salad with arugula, beets and grapefruit. Very nice, but not the taste sensation I had anticipated.

For main course, Jerry had penne with sausage and a sage white wine sauce. He enjoyed it quite a bit. I had duck confit with lentils and more arugula. The lentils had a nice smoky flavor and the duck skin was crisp, and while it was quite enjoyable, I wasn't in raptures.
We had a half bottle of a very nice central coast red. I'm sorry I don't remember the winery; I may check Garcon's website to see if they have a wine list.

We had dessert. Jerry had a tarte tatin that looked like no tarte tatin I'd ever seen. The "crust" appeared to be more cakelike, and the apples were buried inside. I had creme brulee that was in a small deep dish. I like the new style of shallow and spread out. Less creme, more brulee. I had a very nice cup of coffee. I'd asked for a refill that never came.

While it does sound as if I'm complaining I'll add that dinner really was lovely, and the restaurant was nice. We arrived at 7 before it got super crowded and busy, and I might even think of going back even earlier, so we'd get better attention and it would be quieter.

Rubber Chicken and Rubber Legs

Okay, so it really wasn't rubber chicken, but when chicken is prepared for something like 500 people, it does tend to get a little rubbery, and that was one of the main dishes at the "banquet" for the Northwest Tandem Rally in McMinnville OR. They also served salmon, couscous, zucchini, wheatberry salad and potatoes. Dinner, by and large wasn't bad, but they did ruin it with hideous desserts. C'mon guys, go the extra mile. Everyone, but everyone, remembers dessert.
Jerry and I rode Friday and Saturday. We rode around 60 miles on Saturday and the last stretch was really tough on us. I think it was a combination of not having ridden for a while and not really eating right. The rest stops on the ride had what I can only describe as unbalanced snacks. And no lunch. And really no place on the road to stop and get lunch.
But Saturday we slept quite late and headed out for a really delightful ride. It did sprinkle on us off and on, but not enough to really bother us. More rolling hills that were a heck of a lot easier to climb than the day before and beautiful flowers. If we could only have those kind of flowers in NoCal without the weather that produces them.
We did have a couple of glasses of Pinot Noir, which the area is famous for. One in particular-- Natasha Block-- was really quite lovely. I'm going to get on the net to see if I can order some.
Fun to ride with a mess of tandems and triples and quads, and even a quint or two. As someone else commented-- how lovely to ride and never once hear "She's not pedaling." Do people really think we've never heard that before.
Another highlight on Saturday was spotting a field full of baby llamas. I'd never seen one baby llama, less a field full of them. We stopped and watched them for a while, and Jerry took some photos. If I can figure out how to post photos on this blog, I'll include one.

Oregon to ride and eat

It looked iffy for a while there, but tomorrow Jerry and I head to McMinville, OR to the Northwest Tandem Rally. We were going to fly up ourselves, but due to airplane trouble we had to figure out something else. We got a good price on Southwest and will head over to Oakland tomorrow and fly up commercial, then rent a car in Portland.
Not as much fun as flying up in the Cessna or Mooney, but at least we'll get there. Another tandem pair is driving our bike up.
We may be coming home with another tandem. There's a Co-motion for sale up in the area, and we may just bring it on home.

ginger ale and sesame noodles

That's as much as I could stomach on yesterday's ride through what felt like sauna temperatures. The ride wasn't very long but the heat made it incredibly difficult. Jerry and I stopped several times--not necessarily because we were tired, but to cool off in the shade. I went through two camelbaks of water, highly unusual for me.

I woke up not feeling that great. I had been out to dinner the night before, and I think the tiny bit of crab dip I had upset my stomach. Between the heat and the upset stomach, I did not sleep well, but I was so anxious to ride after not having been on the tandem since the end of AIDS Lifecycle.

We had signed up for the monthly Positive Pedalers ride and I was anxious to get back in the saddle, and to also see my friends. We met up at Mike's Bikes in Sausalito. The lot was crowded. There was a Leukemia Society Team in Training ride that day, and one of their staff approached us. We let her know we did the AIDS ride and she said something like, well, when you finish that join Team in Training. I retorted that sure, as soon as there was a cure for AIDS we'd be there. That did bring laughter from my fellow ALC'ers.

We headed out with me not feeling up to par, but glad to be pedaling. In Fairfax I got a ginger ale which went a long way to settling my stomach.

On White's Hill, we stopped once or twice to cool down a bit, then headed to Woodacre. Another ginger ale made me feel almost normal.

The ride back to Mike's is far easier hill-wise, but head and I do not agree in a big way. I was happy to get back to the car and air conditioning.

While I'm not sorry we did the ride, my hope is that will be the last one in such hot weather.

It WAS more than just potato chips

While I realized in my last post I focused on the endless supply of junk food, the ride, eating-wise was much more.

I'll start by saying breakfast and dinner, by and large, were really good. Lunch, not so much.

I usually started the day in the Express Line with oatmeal and a cup of yogurt. That was accompanied by a wonderful cup of coffee made in my Aeropress. To me, Aeropress is far superior to French press, and oh so much easier to clean up. I made a strong Americano every morning and it got my day started off right. That was my only caffeine of the day.

I was once again a vegetarian on the ride, and with the exception of the tofu with orange and balsamic, dinner every night was a hit. I loved the veggie meatloaf and the enchiladas, though generally I skipped the vegetables because they appeared to have come out of the freezer or a can and were significantly overcooked. The exception was broccoli one night. I had seconds. I generally skipped the wrapped in plastic desserts. After all, I had spent the day eating snickerdoodles and fig newtons. Who needed mass-produced cheesecake!

Lunch, unfortunately did not rank high for me and many others. I wish I had a solution, but serving close to 3,000 bag lunches would be difficult for most anyone. The sandwiches were boring, the pasta salad so-so and the fruit, unless it was an apple, was unripe and tasteless. It was my one chance to have a significant portion of Powerade. While not my drink of choice, I know I need to replace those electrolytes, so I'd down a small bottle of it to get it over with.

The once solace at lunch were the potato chips. Little bags of crisp salt, grease and goodness. I did limit myself to one bag this year, despite boxes and boxes of them screaming to me to eat, eat, eat. Talk about willpower.

I've been back at home now for close to a week, and my roaring metabolism seems to have slowed down to its usual crawl, thank goodness. The first day or two after the ride I wanted to shove everything I could into my mouth. Now it's back to the usual trying to eat a healthy diet. With strawberries and blueberries in season, it's not too hard.

The Week of Potato Chips

and Chex Mix and Fig Newtons and Pop Tarts and endless Clif Bars and five meals a day is over.

But what a week it was! Once again, Jerry and I rode every single mile of the ALC Lifecycle ride. We laughed a lot with our tent neighbors and cried when we thought about those we have lost, or could lose, to HIV and AIDS.

We rode through small towns and talked to people about what we were doing. We got cheered by people driving by in cars or standing by the side of the road holding posters to encourage and praise us. The group of us raised close to $12 million. Jerry and I raised about $11,000 again this year.

On Day 7, my friend Buzz had to get in one of the sweep vehicles because his knees just wouldn't let him ride. I hugged him as he cried. But really, the ride part was for him. He had already done the important part-- he had raised money to make sure people with HIV get the services and support they need. I was glad though, when later in the day I saw him back on the route so he could ride into Closing Ceremonies.

And the riding into the arena really was the highlight of closing ceremonies. That, and then cheering in the roadies as they walked into the center of the arena, spraying us with Silly String and water.

Jerry and I know more and more people associated with the ride, so it was great to be at Rest Stop 1 and see my friend Carey at Medical; at Rest Stop 2 Nancy and George were fixing bikes and Lee, a nurse, was looking at road rash, and then along the route Cindy and Alisa, in two different sweep vehicles, would be yelling "Go Carol! Go Jerry!" as they motored by.

We "princessed" lunch twice on the ride. On day 3 or 4, can't remember which, Jerry had gotten chilled so we stopped at a Roundtable Pizza for lunch. We warmed up and used the luxurious porta-potties that flushed, had real running water and most unfortunately, mirrors. It was definitely scary to see oneself after days on the road.
On the last day we also went out to lunch so we wouldn't have to just hang around waiting for closing ceremonies. We couldn't find the charming Italian restaurant we went to last year, so we settled for comfort turkey burgers and skinny fries at Barney's. The familiar is sometimes not so bad. The people sitting next to us asked lots of questions about the ride. We were happy to oblige with details.

That evening Alaska Airlines, full of riders wearing their Victory shirts, flew us back to San Francisco, where our friends Thom and Jeff picked us up. We had left our car at their house, so it was a simple matter of unloading their car, loading ours and getting home to our real bed and real kitties.

We're already planning for next year.

Day 0 and Turkey Burgers

Today was orientation day for AIDS Lifecycle, aka Day Zero. A safety film to be watched tent assignment to be gotten, and two jerseys to be picked up. One is a Positive Pedaler Supporter jersey, the other is, what I like to call, the $5000 jersey. It is the incentive award for raising $5000 and Jerry and I both got them.
All of the running from table to table, signing forms, putting numbers on the bike, was not too arduous. We were done by about 1 pm.
We headed back home, detouring onto Irving for a turkey burger and fries and a little coffee shop on Irving near 9th. Was okay-- not great, but we're spoiled by Comfort Food Cafe.
Now is back to making sure we have packed everything we need and to see if it will all actually fit into our suitcases.
The ride starts tomorrow. I am so excited.

White's Hill and Lingonberries

Today was the last "official" ride before THE ride, though Jerry and I will probably do a little cycling this week.
Though a much shorter ride, what a contrast from Friday's ride. It never felt as if the parking brake was on and we sailed up and down White's and Nicasio Hills. Definitely helped get my confidence back.
For a potluck at Julie's afterwards, she had asked me to bake Bob Katz a birthday cake, to which I readily agreed. I read recipe after recipe online and in my cookbooks, looking for a chocolate cake, but I decided to go with something a little different, and, in my mind, more interesting. I did a lingonberry spice cake, and since it needed to be frosted (it being a birthday cake, after all), I whipped up a thin coffee buttercream. I know how good the cake is on its own, and I didn't want a heavy icing.
I thought, all in all, it was pretty successful, but I'm not sure others felt that way. There were gooey storebought desserts that seemed to be what everyone went for-- thick chocolate cake, carrot cake with perfect God knows what icing. Perhaps I should have made something more traditional, but I'm happy with the way the cake turned out, and I'll leave it at that.
We have only a few more days to get everything ready for our ride. But after today's ride, despite it's brevity, I feel much more prepared.

Where did it go?

Our strength, that is. We did a 76-mile ride yesterday, and you'd have thought we had never ridden that far before. Truth is, we haven't ridden that far in a long time, and it showed. And we felt it. The last 20 miles, it felt like the parking brake on the bike was on. It was a struggle. We are never the fastest kids on the block, but yesterday we were really dragging. But I do have to note that some of the riders got in only five minutes before we did. But they weren't struggling, and we certainly were. We cobbled together a dinner of protein and carbs and were in bed at 9:30.
We were planning on riding today, but it's actually showery and cold, so instead we may go down to the south bay and look at tandems.

Back in the Saddle

Jerry finally felt well enough to ride today, so we loaded up the tandem and did an 18 mile ride around Paradise Loop. It felt good. It gave me a lot more confidence with the ride coming up so soon. As the week progresses, we'll do a couple more rides that will have some major climbs to let us know that we are, indeed, ready for Carback Mountain and Quadbuster.
Woo hoo!!

No Riding; Not much Eating

Jerry has yet another cold, so we are not riding today. We had planned to do a training ride to Petaluma, but Jerry is really still too sick. Then we thought we'd do a short ride on our own, but Jerry is back in bed, too wrung out from his cold to do even a short ride before the day heats up.
And what heat we've been having! It promises to climb past 90 again today, just as it has the last couple of days. Not bike riding weather.
On Thursday evening, to escape the heat, we headed to the movies and had popcorn for dinner. We saw Redbelt-- a David Mamet film. It was in the usual suspend disbelief Mamet style, and we liked it.

Last night I heated up leftover Jon Pon chicken that I had pulled out of the freezer. Still delicious, but in the heat, we ate less of it than we would have. I made a big decaf iced coffee for an after-dinner treat.

So Jerry is resting, I'm typing and we will see what the rest of the weekend brings.

Happy Birthday, Titanium Knee!

I went to my orthopedist today for my two-year knee replacement check up. And once again, he was blown away by my flex and strength. And even better news-- my right knee, which he once thought might need replacing, right about now, is good for maybe forever, thanks to cycling.

Jerry and I haven't been on the tandem for two weeks, but we'll get out this Thursday and then for a long ride on Saturday. I do believe we will then be ready for THE RIDE.

I sent out another appeal for donations today, and they are coming in, bringing great relief and hope that I will meet my goal.

With all the troubles in the world it's hard to ask people to help with this one cause, but until there is no more HIV and AIDS, it's what I need to focus on.

Cooking for those who Ride to Eat

This weekend was the Jon Pon Memorial Ride, a two-day ride sponsored by the Positive Pedalers. Jerry and I rode it last year, but this year we, along with friend Carey, took on new roles-- we cooked dinner and breakfast for close to 150 riders and roadies.
We worked out of Cassini Ranch in Duncan's Mills. We had some difficulty with the facility and some of the staff, but I don't want to dwell on that. I thank Wilfredo Ortiz, who was in charge of the event for the Pos Peds, for getting everything smoothed out.

What I will dwell on is the wonderful food we produced and despite the hard work, what a good time we had.

Carey was a demon at the grill, preparing around 100 pounds of chicken breast, along with a fabulous sauce of white wine, chicken broth, lemon juice, sun-dried tomatoes, artichoke hearts and mushrooms. Along with that we had roasted potatoes, a Greek pasta salad and a green salad. Before dinner we set out trays of crudite and dip and hummus and pita.
Dessert was oatmeal cake and brownies baked by Robin Abramson, who couldn't be there but baked for the group anyway. That's the kind of folks these are.

Breakfast was a variation on a quiche with diced ham and assorted veggies, croissant, mountains of fruit, orange juice and crumb cake. Gabo, one of the riders and an amazing person, works at Peets, and he got five pounds of Espresso Forte coffee donated. We cranked out pot after pot of the delicious brew.

Jerry seemed to be in at least two places at any given time-- staffing the serving line, cutting up fruit, washing a never-ending pile of serving trays and extremely difficult to clean pots. He was the dish bitch of the weekend, for sure.

We had leftovers of everything, which is how I like it to be. While some things had more left over than I would have liked, it's always hard to tell how hungry bike riders would be, and I didn't want one person to not get enough of anything he or she wanted.

We also had some money from the budget leftover. Not sure how much at this point because Jerry is still figuring out the bottom line, but whatever it is, it will go to AIDS Lifecycle.

As I said to Wilfedo, there are a hell of a lot of easier ways to make money, so rather than even looking at this in that light, I wanted to take whatever money was left over and put it back into San Francisco AIDS Foundation.

Paradise and Onion Rings

Since we won't be riding this weekend, Jerry and I are squeezing in some rides during the week. Yesterday we did Paradise Loop. We rode well and averaged around 12 mph which for us is just fine. We took a short break in downtown Tiburon, but by and large rode the loop straight through. It was only a 22 mile ride, but saddle time is saddle time.
After the ride I went into Sf to do some prep for this weekend. I registered with a wholesale grocer and picked up a few things. Then I went to the SF AIDS Foundation. They are graciously lending me percolators and a cold drink dispenser for the weekend.
The evening was spent with my friend Thom. We went to see Art Spiegelman and Chris Ware talk about their "graphic novels," which, as Chris said, sounds like pornography. I really liked Chris, though he was a little too self-deprecating.
Before hearing them speak, we went to Cafe Rigolo, down the street from the SF JCC and right by Thom's and my former place of work. A little strange to be right there, but worth it for the onion rings. They are thin and crisp and addictive. Those, coupled with a tuna melt through me off any semblance of weight control, but every now and then, you gotta do what you gotta do...

Day on the Ride-- the Reader's Digest Version

Jerry and I had signed up for the 80-mile day on the ride, but considering it was our first time out in three weeks, and he still had quite a cough, we did the abbreviated 40-mile version. Day on the Ride simulates the "real" ride-- rest stops, sweeps, motorcycle crew.

Once again, the Positive Pedalers were the "roadies" for rest stop #1. Hugs and kisses for my friends, and a promise to follow up with Gabo about an idea for a book he has.

We rode strong, despite having been off the tandem for weeks. We were one of the first people back to the City-County Building, where they fed us mounds of spaghetti and Caesar salad. We were hungry, so everything tasted great.

Dinner was popcorn and a soda at the movies. We saw "the Visitor," a wonderful, small film. The main character did quite a bit of changing of his life. Gives me inspiration to do good things.

The Kindness of Strangers

Yesterday, I was headed into town on the ferry-- at least I thought so, but when I got to Larkspur the ferry was sold out. Not sure what I was going to do-- parking in the city is ridiculously expensive-- a woman in a nearby car said "Anyone going to the financial district? I'm driving there." And that was exactly where I was going! I hopped in her car and she took me just blocks away from the Ca Board of Equalization. I walked briskly to that office and a businesslike woman rushed through my application for a sales license. so now, I can buy food for the Jon Pon ride wholesale! Of course, I will have to pay resale tax, but it's still cheaper than buying all that food retail. So that means more wonderful food and perhaps even a little more into my Lifecycle account.

Saturday is Day on the Ride and since Jerry and I have not ridden in three weeks I'm nervous about an 80 mile ride, but after a chat with my Cycle Buddy, Jo, I feel better. She said the 40 mile ride is the same route, so if we need to turn around early, no problem. We may be able to do the longer ride, but knowing we have an alternative put my mind at ease.

milk shakes and staying home

Jerry is sick again, so we're not riding, again, this weekend. I just made him a milkshake, which I'm glad he wants. He had minor surgery on his mouth yesterday, but it seems more like he has the flu. He's sleeping many, many hours and I just hope he feels better soon.

Besides worrying about his health, I'm worrying about our training. This is the second weekend in a row with little or no riding. Or is it the third? Yes, the third. Next weekend is "Day on the Ride," an 80-something mile ride, and I hope we are up for it. The weekend after is the Jon Pon Memorial Ride, and we're cooking and not riding.

We've got quite a bit of catch-up to do. Yikes!

Sore throat, short ride

Jerry and I have been sick most of this week, but we thought we'd attempt a ride. We joined up at Mike's Bikes in Sausalito with a ride that started at Sports Basement, and rode as far as Fairfax, when we decided White's Hill was just not in the cards. We turned around and headed home.
Since our philosophy is == feed a cold== we did just that. We headed to Comfort Food Cafe and had chicken sandwiches, but we did leave most of the fries and we ate fruit. We also went to the Trips for Kids warehouse sale and bought a couple of jerseys. Jerry and I now have several matching sets. It's so cute it could make you puke. I never thought I'd be one of those tandem couples in matching jerseys, but, there you have it.

We signed up for another ride for tomorrow. We'll at least start it, and see how we do.

Tonight is movies and popcorn for dinner.

20 pounds of pasta

In five plastic bags, uncooked, it doesn't really look like all that much. But those 20 pounds of multi-colored twirly pasta will be the basis of a side dish for a dinner three of us are cooking in a couple of weekends. My husband, Jerry, my friend, Carey, and I are cooking dinner and breakfast for the Jonathan Pon Memorial ride-- a two day ride in Marin and Sonoma counties.

We will be feeding 150 very hungry cyclists, so we are planning to cook a lot of food. Dear, wonderful, Leslie, the owner of Johnny and Theresa's Comfort Food Cafe in downtown San Rafael, is letting us use the restaurant's kitchen the evening before to do most of the prep. Without her, the task would have been hellish, but now I think it will actually be fun.

Carey and I met the other day downtown, his most adorable dog, Julio, in tow. Julio looks like a puppy, but he's actually a full-grown min-pin/beagle mix. And he's a charmer. Everyone wanted to stop and pet him, and he ate up every minute of it.

Carey has lots of culinary experience, so he disabused me of some of the cooking notions I had, and together we hammered out a couple of really great menus.

This week there has been little cooking at Chez Carol. I've had a cold or the flu or some such nonsense, and eating has been less than pleasurable. But I'm on the mend so in the next day or two, I'll hit the kitchen with gusto.

Dancing. And eating

This weekend was no riding, but I did do some dancing at the Arcata Folk Festival. We drove up on Friday and arrived in time to do some wine tasting with friends from DC, Len and Lisa. Their participation in the every other year festival is the main reason I go. They are really good friends who I miss a lot.
We went to a wine shop on the square in Arcata and had two "flights" of three wines each. Jerry and I shared two flights and Len and Lisa shared two. One set consisted of inexpensive Italian wines, and honestly, the three of us didn't like any of them. The other three were expensive California wine, and each was better than the one before. They were out of our price range, so it was nice, for not much money, to be able to taste them.

We then went to the dance, most of which was at least for me, not that wonderful because I'm pretty spoiled by really good ethnic music from my time back east. But, one band, Zabava, from the SF area played a wonderful set of Macedonian tunes and I really put my knee to the test. I'm happy to say it held up beautifully. That set, and their set on Saturday night were the highlights of the festival for me.

A dinner was sold at the event Saturday, and I had high expectations. The chef for West Coast Balkan camp was making a chicken and apricot tagine. I'm sad to say that it was pretty tasteless and boring. I think perhaps even some salt could have salvaged it. It was edible, but I really did expect better.

Breakfast today was on the road in Willits at around noon or one. I had a really good scramble with spinach, portobello mushroom, onion, tomatoes and some cheddar. I was pleased they didn't overload it with cheese. I had considered asking them to leave out the cheese, but I had already asked to 86 the green peppers, and didn't want to seem too demanding. But the amount of cheese was perfect. And, they served Thanksgiving Coffee, Mendocino County's finest.

The weekend was punctuated with empty calories from store-bought baked goods. What possessed me to eat them is a mystery.

Treyf

I ate a pork chop today. I don't think I'd ever had one before. I'm not sure what possessed me to order it, but it's true, I had ridden a 40-something mile ride, been to the ALC expo, went to a restaurant quite hungry, and there it was.
It was accompanied by greens and polenta. It was all really good, but now I feel as if there is a bowling ball in my stomach. Was it the pork? Or was it the sheer amount of food I consumed?
The ride was pretty nice, though chilly at times. We left from Golden Gate Park and rode around Paradise Loop. We stopped in Tiburon. I got a cappucino and finished yesterday's sticky bun. yum.
Jerry and I continue to ride strong. We came back and meandered around the Expo for a while. Was hoping to find a pair of matching jerseys, but no luck.
Then, an early dinner as described above.
Jerry's going away tomorrow for a couple of days, and I'm going to try to clean up my eating habits. Too much fat, too many carbs. I need to lose some weight. It will make cranking the tandem up hills a bit easier.

The World's Largest Sticky Bun

and no, I didn't eat all of it, or even half of it.
We drove to Bodega Bay for a ride from John Hershey's house. Not a very long ride, but it gave Jerry and me a chance to work on sprints and on hills. Lots of short hills, which we powered up pretty well. True almost everyone passed us, but powering up hills on a tandem is quite different than on a single.
We stopped at Wildflour, which is a wonderful bakery and the scene of the sticky bun crime. There were MANY sticky buns bought among the group, so we couldn't even pawn the rest of it off. So we brought it home. There's another ride tomorrow, so we'll carbo-load with gooey nuts and cinnamon.

Blazing Saddles and wheatberries

I think every rental bike in San Francisco was on the road today. And most of them were crossing the Golden Gate Bridge at the same time as Jerry and me. I suppose I'm a riding snob but those folks, along with super duper speed riders who aren't polite, drive me nuts. Both groups are unsafe and range from annoying to oh my God, get off the road.
But enough of that. We rode from Sports Basement to Lagunitas today. A nice ride, though a bit of a struggle. Jerry's muscles were still sore from skiing, and mine were just plain underused for the last two weeks. So, we worked hard today.
Lunch at Lagunitas was a wheatberry salad, which was very nice once I picked out all the cilantro. I hate cilantro. It is evil.

Last week, instead of bicycling, Jerry went skiing in Santa Fe, and I went eating in Santa Fe. And I found a couple of great second hand stores and bought two lovely ceramic pots which look wonderful in our living room. I did a lot of walking, so I didn't gain any weight, but I admit I ate and drank more than usual. My favorite restaurant was Bistro 315-- a lovely little French-influenced spot. I had squash soup and mussels. Jerry had a very nicely done duck breast. We were with James, Jerry's son, and Brad, James's stepfather. The three of them skied while I played in the city. And ate.

I had a wonderful talk with Gabo, a Pos Ped today. We are going to work on a very interesting project together. For now, it's a secret, but I can tell you, it's going to be lots of fun.

Drinking and orzo

just don't mix. We had company for dinner Saturday night-- two couples and Jerry's son who was in town to be wined and dined by the UC Berkeley Chem grad department.
I made a lovely spanakopita, a loaf of bread and an orange poppy seed cake ahead of time, but the orzo with pine nuts and the sauteed chicken with artichoke hearts had to wait. And wait they did as we polished off a couple bottles of zinfandel and pinot noir.
Not waiting for the water to boil, I started the chicken. My first mistake. As everyone knows, a watched pot never boils, so the chicken was done well before the orzo. And I kept drinking while I waited. So the orzo did not get all the lemon it was supposed to get, the chicken was underseasoned and overdone.
But the company was lovely, as was the spanakopita, the bread and the dessert.
And the wine.

Tiburon Loop and a Boca Burger

We rode with a small group today. We started at the north end of the Golden Gate Bridge, through Sausalito and eventually around Tiburon Loop. Jerry and I rode very strong today. Our average speed is climbing.
Once home, we had Boca burgers and now I feel like taking a nap. Not sure why I feel so wiped out. We did ride hard, but not that much harder than usual.
I baked an orange poppy seed cake yesterday and I just started a loaf of bread. We're having a few people over for dinner tomorrow night. I'm going to make spanakopita, orzo, Greek salad and chicken sauteed with onions and artichokes. And the poppy seed cake for dessert.

Ode to Camino Alto

We rode from Sports Basement to Fairfax today, which included both sides of Camino Alto as well as the Sausalito Hill.
Jerry and I were toiling up the front side of Camino Alto, and we started to compose a poem.
Camino Alto, a hill to ride to be with nature
One with the trees and birds, sun and sky
and heaving lungs
cramping thighs,
burning crotch...

That's as far as we got. But I think you get the idea. I felt like I was coming down with a cold, and the ride across the Golden Gate was tough. My lungs felt like they were on fire, but miraculously, the longer I rode the better I felt.

After the ride we went to our favorite San Rafael lunch spot, Theresa and Johnny's Comfort Food Cafe. I splurged on a tuna melt. Figured I'd earned the calories...

Happy Birthday, Jimmy

Today is Jimmy's birthday. He would have been 14, or 56. He was born on Feb 29 so it was always a joke that he only had a birthday every four years.
Jimmy was my first "boyfriend" if I can use that term euphemistically. He lived in the same dorm as I did and we hung out, got drunk and high together and eventually, he became my first lover, which, if you can actually use that term when you're still in your teens (barely).

After college we stayed in touch off and on, then eventually lost track of each other, until I saw his obit, which I guess is more than 10 years ago now-- maybe even 20. I don't know how he contracted HIV, and it doesn't really matter. All I know is that he's gone.

Other firsts with Jimmy included learning how to drive stick shift in his old VW bus and establishing the habit of going to two movies in one day.

I'm doing a training ride this Saturday, and I'll be thinking of Jimmy a lot during this ride.

Paradise

Today, Jerry came home around 3 and we rode the Paradise Loop around Tiburon. It was about a 25 mile ride, and as Jerry just said, it's different every time you go around. It was a beautiful, beautiful day for a ride, so we enjoyed it immensely.

Last night, we went to the SF AIDS Foundation headquarters to learn about being spokespeople to help others raise money at house parties and events. It's funny, I will have no problem getting up in front of a roomful of people to ask them to donate to someone else's ride, yet I'm having a very hard time doing the same thing for myself. I have sent out a couple of emails to ask for donations. They've resulted in practically nothing, so I know I need to follow up, but it's just too hard. But, I will persevere and keep asking. I want my HIV positive friends to die of old age.

Rain and cookie crumbs

Once again, a rainy weekend and no riding. Jerry and I will try to get out during the week.
Yesterday, I baked pistachio shortbreads with some success. The dough was to be chilled in logs, cut and baked, but I must not have rolled the logs well because they crumbled. So, I let the dough get to room temp, formed balls and flattened them. The cookies came out fine and I think I will do another batch like that.

On the ALC front, my fundraising is nonexistent. I kind of don't get it. I have sent letters and I think my friends know how important this is, but with the exception of two people, no donations. If I were employed and rolling in dough it wouldn't matter-- I'd give all the money myself, but that's going to be a heck of a stretch this year.
I'm going to have to get awfully creative with fundraising.
Wonder how those guys standing on street corners do...

half whole wheat and a whole ride

We rode the Tiburon loop today. It was a beautiful day for a ride. We ended up doing only part of it with the ALC group because we had tire problems and started later, but after they headed back to Sports Basement, we carried on, going over Camino Alto and then doing the entire loop. It felt pretty good.

And I used my new Le Creuset pot for the first time to make yet another loaf of no knead bread. I once again upped the whole wheat flour-- this time one to one with white and it once again worked perfectly. I love this stuff.

I spoke to Jerry about riding our singles tomorrow. It will be the first time since my accident and I've got to get back on the horsey some time, so why not now.

Orzo and popcorn

Yesterday was just beautiful, so we joined the Positive Pedalers for a ride to the Woodacre Market. This ride took us over a couple of major hills, including the dreaded White's Hill. At the end of last year's training season, Jerry and I could take White's Hill in one fell swoop. This ride, we stopped twice. Part of it I blame on an insufficient breakfast for Jerry. He really needs a good boost of protein before we tackle a ride, and he just didn't have it in him yesterday. Not that I was doing such a hot job either. I can't blame mine on lack of protein; I blame it on lack of energy and strength. I've got to get back to Pilates!

Anyway, once we reached the market, I had a lovely orzo salad, full of olives, sundried tomatoes and feta. Jerry dove into a chicken and brie sandwich. The fueling helped immensely and the rest of the ride, including the much-easier return on White's Hill, and Camino Alto were pretty easy in comparison to the trip out.

Once home, we rested and prepared to go to a movie with our friends Sha and Laura. We saw Persepolis, and we all liked it a lot, though I was interested in hearing more from Sha about his thoughts, since he is Iranian. He didn't seem like he wanted to talk about it, so I didn't pursue it. After the movie dinner of popcorn, we headed for Caffe Trieste. I had a very nice glass of zinfandel, but I think the combo of the ride and the popcorn dinner, followed up by a pretty large glass of wine took it's toll. I'm feeling a bit dehydrated today.

Soup and Orgasms

My friend, Wendy Slick has made an amazing documentary-- "Passion and Power-- the Technology of Orgasm" that has been shown at a number of film festivals and will be at the Rafael later this month. I was fortunate enough to be invited to a small gathering to see the film on DVD. It was funny and eye opening. I want more of my friends to see it.
After the group of us watched the film we sojourned to the dining room for a wonderful dinner. There were two soups to choose from. Something made me choose the squash pear soup. Unusual for me in that I don't usually like "sweet" food, but it was lovely. Accompanying the soup was a salad, homemade bread and several kinds of cheeses, along with lots of red wine. Dessert was a warm cranberry apple cobbler and coffee.
I had lost some weight the last couple of days but I assume with a dinner like this, it's all back. But, tomorrow IS another day...

Lions and Tigers and

Rain. Oh, My.
Yes, we rode in the rain today. It was "spraying" as we left the house, so we headed to Sports Basement in the Presidio to join a training ride.
As the day went on, the spraying turned to real rain, but we persevered. Fortunately the ride was only around 22 miles, so while we got wet, we were only wet for a couple of hours.

The route took us past the Zoo, and whenever I go past the zoo or even think about the zoo, I think about Tatiana, the tiger that was killed after she got out of her enclosure and killed a visitor to the zoo.
Many may disagree, but I don't think she should have been killed. It wasn't her fault that the enclosure was designed in such a way that she could escape. She was doing what tigers do, and for that, she should not have been killed. Ir saddens me and will continue to sadden me for some time to come.

In better animal news, there was a wonderful article in today's New York Times about the pit bulls that were owned by the football player who is now in jail (but not for long enough). They were scheduled to be euthanized, but rescue groups came in and took them. Most of them are at Best Friends, my current favorite animal rescue group. They are being taught to once again trust people and other dogs. It's an incredibly huge job, but if any group can do it, it's Best Friends. They have a sanctuary in Utah, and the dogs are currently at "Dog Town." I have high hopes that all of the dogs, while not necessarily adoptable, will live long, happy lives.

But back to today's ride. Conditions and difficulty shifting created a bit of tension between Jerry and me, but nothing huge. It was definitely a tough ride for us. Lots of climbing, which was hard, and in turn, lots of downhill, which was also tough with wet brakes. We rode down to the Great Highway, past the Cliff House, and that hill is steep, but Jerry did a great job in keeping our speed down. The ocean looked beautiful and angry today, and the rain really blew on us as we rode down the Great Highway. From there it was past the aforementioned zoo to Lake Merced. We circled the Lake, and headed back through Golden Gate Park. Riding through the Park is always tricky because a number of the streets are unmarked. But we made it back to Sports Basement then hurried home without our usual stop and shop. Sports Basement is irresistable-- so many great things-- but we were too cold and wet to even stop for the hangers they give away.
We headed home, took hot showers, and despite the downpour, headed to our favorite lunchtime spot-- Johnny and Theresa's Comfort Food Cafe. I had my usual turkey reuben and endless coffee.
We had to hustle home so Jerry could hastily pack. I drove him to the Oakland airport so he could fly down to Orange County to help his dad with a project.
So, I'll be home alone for the next couple of days. Not sure exactly what I'll do, other than baking yet another loaf of no-knead bread. I'm addicted!

Back in the saddle

It was a beautiful day today so I got home around 4 and Jerry and I rode the tandem partway around China Camp-- only about 12 miles but considering we hadn't ridden in weeks and we wanted to get in a ride before dark, that was enough. It was a bit cold as well, but not too terrible.
Stopped at Trader Joe's on the way home and picked up some goodies-- never a good idea after riding and being hungry-- but we didn't get too carried away.
Going to go take some leftover chicken and load it into tortillas with salsa.

Oh, the guilt!

It poured and poured yesterday, and the weather report called for the same today, so last night, I made a nice dinner and had two glasses of wine-- something I never do the day before I ride. And now, it's not raining. And I'm not riding.

Last night, we had a lovely roast chicken, roasted potatoes, broccoli and more no-knead bread. This time I replaced one cup of white flour with one cup of whole wheat, and I let it rise for 24 hours. I also baked it in a smaller pot, and it came out beautifully.

The bread advice came from David, who was my absolute best friend in Helena, MT. He lives in Manhattan now, with his partner, Paul. My friend Nancy and I had a wonderful dinner at their house Monday night. Paul is an editor at Gourmet, and needless to say, dinner at their house is always a treat. Good wine, good food, the best company. We had David's no-knead bread, along with lamb, lentils, and roasted root vegetables. Then, a salad with no knead bread crouton, and apple pie David baked. That, of course, along with champagne and two bottles of French red wine.

We're going to a party tonight, so probably more food and more wine. When will it end??? Never, I hope.

Watching others ride

I'm in New York City, and today is absolutely beautiful. I was envious of the riders in Central Park. I saw a few riders on the city streets as well. Surprised not to see any fixed gear bikers.
I did do an amazing amount of walking, which I hope worked off the huge, wonderful dinner I had with my friend Nancy last night. We went to a lovely, tiny French bistro. The owner picked out a lovely, rich red wine for us, and I had a lamb shank with polenta and root vegetables. Fpr dessert we had a very nice creme caramel, and the owner brought us another glass of wine. We hardly needed it, but it was delicious.
Tomorrow night I hope to dance off a lot of what I'm eating.

No Need to Knead

I just baked my first loaf of no-knead bread, and much to my surprise, it came out really well. I couldn't resist slicing off an end to try it only minutes after it emerged from the oven.

The process is quite simple. A little yeast, flour, salt and water. It rises for 18 hours, then rises again for a couple more. It gets baked in a heavy pot. The pot I used was on the large side-- I didn't have the size the recipe called for-- so the bread is wider than it would be. But it's delicious.

And not at all part of what should be a healthy diet to lose weight. And if the rain keeps up the way it's been at it these last few days, I don't know when I'll be back on the bike to burn those bread calories. Jerry's out of town right now, so no tandem anyway, and I'm definitely not riding my single solo.

Speaking of riding my single solo-- I go to the neuro-ophthalmologist tomorrow. I no longer need the prism glasses. The double vision from the bike accident cleared up a couple of weeks ago, so no surgery. But I do need a check up to make sure there is no residual damage or blurriness. Compared to the way I was seeing, I feel as if my vision is perfect, but I'll leave that up to the expert.

First ride of the year

The first north bay ALC training ride left out of Sports Basement this morning for a brisk ride to Mill Valley. I threw on lots of layers and actually got too warm, for the first time.
Edna, another rider, has recently started Weight Watchers, and it is inspiring me to get back on the wagon. I have gained back about 10 of the 40 pounds I lost, and I know I can do it. So, the scale is out and I'll start weighing portions again.
The other thing that will mean is that when I bake, it will likely be chocolate so I won't be tempted.
The ride today was only 22 miles, but it had the aftereffect of a lingering hunger. I mainly stuck with healthy foods but I know I need to get the lingering remnants of holiday baking out of the house... and soon.