before I eat. Actually it's just too early for dinner, but that doesn't stop me from thinking about it.
Jerry and I just took an eeny weeny ride around the neighborhood on our singles. I'm slowly getting the seat to the proper height and every now and then even take a hand off the handlebars to signal. I'm getting there, slowly. But getting there. If the weather holds we'll take the singles to the bike path in Sausalito this weekend, and I will try at least a small hill.
Halloween is Sunday, and I'm looking forward to our cul de sac party. We sit outside with big bowls of candy and eat turkey chili that Vicki makes, cornbread that Joan makes, and drink wine that Rita brings. This year I made bat cookies for dessert.
I found a nice brown sugar cookie recipe on Epicurious. It had nutmeg in it, and I added a little cinnamon. I overdecorated the bats and they are hideously lovely. Lots of sprinkles and black and orange gel. I've never used this gel before and I sure as hell hope it firms up. I'd like to toss the cookies in the freezer so I don't eat them before Sunday.
Tonight we'll probably have beans and rice leftovers that I made in the slow cooker last evening. I sure do love my slow cooker. It's not like I'm making anything different; I just love not having to deal with things like stews and spaghetti sauce. No burning on the bottom: no trying to adjust the flame to low enough to not scorch whatever it is I'm cooking.
And I've already started planning Thanksgiving. For the first time, I may actually stuff the bird. or not. Decisions, decisions.
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Saturday, October 16, 2010
Half Bike, Noodles and Beer
Anyone who knows me knows I am a tandem rider. What they might not know is why I pretty much stick to the tandem.
Two years ago, I took my newly acquired used single bike, a Bianchi Boardwalk, out for a ride around my neighborhood. I left with my garage door opener in my back pocket. No ID or anything else with me.
The next thing I remember is waking up at Marin General, Jerry by my side, a cut on my head and double vision. Somewhere, somehow, just a few blocks from home I crashed. I don't know what actually happened, though I can surely speculate.
Riding as a stoker on a tandem takes strength, but not much skill other than to be in tune with your captain. I don't steer; I don't shift gears; I sightsee and keep an eye on the cyclometer so I can kick a little harder when our speed is down.
What I think might have happened on that day I crashed is, I was paying far too much attention to my cyclometer and not enough to the road. Crash. I had a concussion and I damaged a cranial nerve, forcing me to wear prism glasses for six months until I'm thankful to say, it fixed itself without surgery.
Since then, I have taken two cycling classes but the fear has not left. But I really did not want to give up. So, once again, I signed up for a class-- this time with the Marin Bicycling Coalition.
The positive part: there were only two students in the class; the downside: the area in which we had to practice was far too small, due to Biketoberfest taking over much of Fairfax. We did run through drills and while I was shaky, I gained a bit of confidence. Then we went for a road ride. We rode for an hour, making our way through Fairfax, San Anselmo and a bit beyond.
And it felt great. I had a few wobbly moments, but I was comfortable in the traffic. I stopped at stop signs, signaled for turns and felt good. I'm not sure of my speed because I took my cyclometer off the bike, so no temptation to look at it.
Jerry had taken out his single, so we met up at Biketoberfest after my class. This event is a combination bike fair and beer tasting. Jerry and I are not much in the way of beer drinkers, but we had fun looking at bicycles, and everything that goes with them. Once again, we drooled over a Calfee tandem and got a kick out of seeing a bicycle powered blender. If you wanted a smoothee, you had to pedal for it.
Knowing we were going to ride today, last evening I thought about making a noodle dish for dinner, though I wasn't feeling particularly inspired. I had made a large pot of spaghetti sauce earlier in the week and we had already had that, so I wanted something different. But what, but what...
I dug in the pantry and found a box of Chinese noodles with black bean sauce. I didn't remember buying it and had never had it before, but that didn't stop me from figuring out an improv dish. I steamed some broccoli and snow peas, sauteed some spring onions and garlic while the noodles were boiling. I also threw some pieces of cooked chicken breast in with the onions and garlic to heat it up. With that, I added some grated ginger and hoped for the best.
While it won't win any prizes, it wasn't bad. Next time I will add some heat with some cayenne and add even more ginger.
So as not to lose my nerve, Jerry and I are going to take our single bikes out again tomorrow. We'll ride around the neighborhood, continuing my progress on the flats, and perhaps sometime soon, I'll actually attempt a bit of a hill.
But as my friend Diane said when I posted on Facebook that I had ridden.. one pedal stroke at a time.
Two years ago, I took my newly acquired used single bike, a Bianchi Boardwalk, out for a ride around my neighborhood. I left with my garage door opener in my back pocket. No ID or anything else with me.
The next thing I remember is waking up at Marin General, Jerry by my side, a cut on my head and double vision. Somewhere, somehow, just a few blocks from home I crashed. I don't know what actually happened, though I can surely speculate.
Riding as a stoker on a tandem takes strength, but not much skill other than to be in tune with your captain. I don't steer; I don't shift gears; I sightsee and keep an eye on the cyclometer so I can kick a little harder when our speed is down.
What I think might have happened on that day I crashed is, I was paying far too much attention to my cyclometer and not enough to the road. Crash. I had a concussion and I damaged a cranial nerve, forcing me to wear prism glasses for six months until I'm thankful to say, it fixed itself without surgery.
Since then, I have taken two cycling classes but the fear has not left. But I really did not want to give up. So, once again, I signed up for a class-- this time with the Marin Bicycling Coalition.
The positive part: there were only two students in the class; the downside: the area in which we had to practice was far too small, due to Biketoberfest taking over much of Fairfax. We did run through drills and while I was shaky, I gained a bit of confidence. Then we went for a road ride. We rode for an hour, making our way through Fairfax, San Anselmo and a bit beyond.
And it felt great. I had a few wobbly moments, but I was comfortable in the traffic. I stopped at stop signs, signaled for turns and felt good. I'm not sure of my speed because I took my cyclometer off the bike, so no temptation to look at it.
Jerry had taken out his single, so we met up at Biketoberfest after my class. This event is a combination bike fair and beer tasting. Jerry and I are not much in the way of beer drinkers, but we had fun looking at bicycles, and everything that goes with them. Once again, we drooled over a Calfee tandem and got a kick out of seeing a bicycle powered blender. If you wanted a smoothee, you had to pedal for it.
Knowing we were going to ride today, last evening I thought about making a noodle dish for dinner, though I wasn't feeling particularly inspired. I had made a large pot of spaghetti sauce earlier in the week and we had already had that, so I wanted something different. But what, but what...
I dug in the pantry and found a box of Chinese noodles with black bean sauce. I didn't remember buying it and had never had it before, but that didn't stop me from figuring out an improv dish. I steamed some broccoli and snow peas, sauteed some spring onions and garlic while the noodles were boiling. I also threw some pieces of cooked chicken breast in with the onions and garlic to heat it up. With that, I added some grated ginger and hoped for the best.
While it won't win any prizes, it wasn't bad. Next time I will add some heat with some cayenne and add even more ginger.
So as not to lose my nerve, Jerry and I are going to take our single bikes out again tomorrow. We'll ride around the neighborhood, continuing my progress on the flats, and perhaps sometime soon, I'll actually attempt a bit of a hill.
But as my friend Diane said when I posted on Facebook that I had ridden.. one pedal stroke at a time.
Monday, October 11, 2010
Going Commando and Popcorn
I have discussed, ad nauseum, about my butt issues on the bicycle. I switched back to an old seat; I used chamois butter by the bucketful; I tried every brand of shorts on the market, but nothing seemed to help.
Jerry and I carted the tandem over to Mike's Bikes the other night and had Jessica, one of the salespeople and a cycling enthusiast, look at my fit. We had had a fit, but the last time we saw Jessica, she told us to bring the bike in and she'd have a look.
Jessica didn't see anything wrong with the fit, but she did have some ideas. First, she suggested I do a short ride with padless shorts. Second, she asked me to put a pad in the shoe of my shorter leg.
So far, I have acted on her first suggestion. Yesterday, Jerry and I did a short 22-mile ride, part of the AIDS Lifecycle kickoff. Even though I'm not riding ALC 10, I'll still do the training rides on the tandem with Jerry. He works even harder on the tandem than on his half-bike, so he figures the training will be really great, and I get to ride.
First thing I noticed was, hmm, yeah, I feel the seat, but it doesn't really feel that bad. At red lights and when we coasted I stood as much as possible, and by the end of the ride I was a little sore, but no real irritation on those spots that get so irritated.
What I'll do on longer rides is still a question. I might try taking the seams out of the pads because maybe it's the thread doing the irritation. I may look for wider or narrower pads. I may try longer rides in padless shorts and see how I do. In any case it was surely wonderful to ride and not want to cry because of the blisters on my butt.
After the ride we had snacks at Sports Basement, I bought a pair of Sugoi padless longs that match my shorts, and we gave our raffle tickets to our friend Gabo, and wished him luck.
We got home and Jerry talked to his mother's husband about her condition. Judy has been very ill and in the hospital. Things continued to be not so great, so we decided that we should partake in our usual Sunday evening activity of popcorn for dinner at the movies.
We saw "Social Network" and enjoyed it more than we thought we would. Who knows if those folks are really such big jerks in real life, and who cares. We got our mind off of troubles for a couple of hours and ate the entire large bag of popcorn.
We did get better news today about Jerry's mom. She's much better and may go home from the hospital in the next couple of days. Made us both much happier.
And in my quest to get back on my single, I'm taking yet another riding class next weekend, this time with the Marin Bicycling Coalition. Maybe the third time's the charm.
Jerry and I carted the tandem over to Mike's Bikes the other night and had Jessica, one of the salespeople and a cycling enthusiast, look at my fit. We had had a fit, but the last time we saw Jessica, she told us to bring the bike in and she'd have a look.
Jessica didn't see anything wrong with the fit, but she did have some ideas. First, she suggested I do a short ride with padless shorts. Second, she asked me to put a pad in the shoe of my shorter leg.
So far, I have acted on her first suggestion. Yesterday, Jerry and I did a short 22-mile ride, part of the AIDS Lifecycle kickoff. Even though I'm not riding ALC 10, I'll still do the training rides on the tandem with Jerry. He works even harder on the tandem than on his half-bike, so he figures the training will be really great, and I get to ride.
First thing I noticed was, hmm, yeah, I feel the seat, but it doesn't really feel that bad. At red lights and when we coasted I stood as much as possible, and by the end of the ride I was a little sore, but no real irritation on those spots that get so irritated.
What I'll do on longer rides is still a question. I might try taking the seams out of the pads because maybe it's the thread doing the irritation. I may look for wider or narrower pads. I may try longer rides in padless shorts and see how I do. In any case it was surely wonderful to ride and not want to cry because of the blisters on my butt.
After the ride we had snacks at Sports Basement, I bought a pair of Sugoi padless longs that match my shorts, and we gave our raffle tickets to our friend Gabo, and wished him luck.
We got home and Jerry talked to his mother's husband about her condition. Judy has been very ill and in the hospital. Things continued to be not so great, so we decided that we should partake in our usual Sunday evening activity of popcorn for dinner at the movies.
We saw "Social Network" and enjoyed it more than we thought we would. Who knows if those folks are really such big jerks in real life, and who cares. We got our mind off of troubles for a couple of hours and ate the entire large bag of popcorn.
We did get better news today about Jerry's mom. She's much better and may go home from the hospital in the next couple of days. Made us both much happier.
And in my quest to get back on my single, I'm taking yet another riding class next weekend, this time with the Marin Bicycling Coalition. Maybe the third time's the charm.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
