I’ve managed to make it to a couple of the SIR Winter Training Series rides so far. I’m not quite as on the ball as I want to be right now, but I feel like I’m making a comeback of sorts.

On Saturday, Chris, Dan Boxer and I rode out to Bothell (25 – 30 miles or so) for a “35 mile” ride around the hills in the area. The cue snakes everyone through an evil series of loops, up and down, but mostly up. Somehow there ends up being something like 4000 feet of climbing. It wasn’t until I flipped my cue sheet over that I realized that the course was actually 45 miles, with plenty of hills still coming.

I figured that I had enough food on me, but I was dead wrong. I forgot my bananas out the door, and some of my Shot Blocks in my bag were hard as rocks. I need to make sure to squeeze them before assuming they’ll work for me. I had a baggie full of awesome homemade energy bars, but they mostly just got me through the first half of the day.

By the time I was on the last hill, my legs were burning and I was seriously undernourished. I was completely bonking by the time we got back to park. I laid out on the ground and soaked in a little bit of sun. I tried to eat a little bit of a (different) protein bar that I had in my bag. It was way too sweet and sent my stomach reeling. Sometimes you have to learn the nutritional stuff the hard way.

Dan and Chris basically had to nurse me back home. I spent at least 15 minutes on the side of the Burke Gilman Trail laying in the grass letting my stomach settle. Thankfully, it was an amazingly beautiful day for it.

I was anxious to get home though. I had planned to make dinner for my “little” cousin Thomas. He is shipping off to Kyrgyzstan (not to sound like a jerky American, but I had to google that again) with the military. Someone gave him a license to operate a 2 million dollar cargo loader…

We got him pizza’d up with some friends and drank some beers. It was a generally pleasant night, despite my aching body and throbbing muscles.

On the cooking forefront, I’ve had a pretty good streak of Sunday baking going. Three weeks ago I made a homemade pita bread from a couple of random online recipe sites. They came out great so I made a double batch of hummus that I’m still working on. I’ve been meaning to cook up some eggs and stuff them into breakfast pockets. Soon!

Two weeks ago, I had another successful run with making bagels. This time I was able to use a proper stand mixer since Norman was able to find his dough hook attachment. It was so much easier this time around. I still made sure to get in and hand knead a bit though. I’m starting to actually enjoy that process. I played around with some poppy seeds and onions for toppings. I burnt the onions a bit, but the poppy seeds worked great.

Last night I made some English muffins (with Jane’s help) out of Norman’s “The Bread Bible” (Beth Hensperger’s) book. I am constantly surprised at how easy these staples are to make. They take a little bit of time, but it is totally worth it. I’m getting to the point where I can handle multiple projects at the same time, so it cuts down on overall cooking time. I was able to cook us dinner while multitasking the bagel cooking.

English Muffins

Makes 16 or so

• 4-4 1/2 cups of all purpose flour (can sub out a cup or two with whole wheat if you want)
• 1 tbsp of salt
• A pinch of sugar
• 1 tbsp of active dry yeast (1 packet)
• 1 large egg at room temperature
• 1 1/4 cup of room temperature milk
• 2 tbsp of melted butter

1. Combine the water, yeast, and a pinch of sugar in a small bowl with a whisk and sit until foamy (10 minutes).
2. Combine 2 cups of the flour and the salt in a large bowl. Make a well in the center and pour in egg, milk, butter, and yeast mixture. Mix with a paddle attachment (or wooden spoon) until creamy (2 minutes).
3. Add the remaining flour 1/2 cup at a time until you have a soft dough that just clears the sides of the bowl.
4. Switch to a dough hook attachment and turn on medium for 3 to 4 minutes. Alternatively, turn the dough out onto a floured work surface and knead for 10 minutes. If you use a dough hook, you can still hand knead for a few minutes to ensure that the dough is smooth.
5. Lightly oil a large bowl and the dough. Cover with plastic wrap and allow the dough to rise until doubled in size (1 1/2 hours). If it takes longer, be patient.
6. Sprinkle a work surface with cornmeal. Pour the dough out of the bowl and onto the surface and roll out to a roughly 1/2″ thick rectangle. Use a 3″ cookie cutter (or large glass) to cut out muffin shaped pieces of the dough. Combine the scraps and roll them out to make more muffins.
7. Heat a large griddle over medium heat. Cook muffins for up to 10 minutes per side. Keep an eye on them though, they can burn fairly easily. Mine all needed about 7-8 minutes per side. It takes a while for the middle of the muffin to cook properly.
8. Cool on a wire rack. Be patient!
9. Spread muffins open with a fork.

We’ve been in the process of getting a wonderful new roommate (who also enjoys cooking) and things have been kind of a whirlwind around the house lately. The sheer amount of stuff in our kitchen alone has pretty much doubled. Almost none of it is unnecessary, so we are taking on the task of sorting and dividing as needed. Eventually we are going to install some extra shelves on the wall to help pick up some of the slack. For now, there are boxes stacked and tucked away underneath chairs and the dining room table.

I went through a kind of personal funk over the last few weeks on top of that. Stress of work and life sometimes adds up like that. I think I’m back on track though. Sorry to anyone that had to deal with it.

I’ve been working on a pretty major overhaul of a website, and taking on no fewer than 5 major projects at my full time job. Nothing has a strict deadline, but I don’t enjoy having everything weigh in on me at once. I’m getting close to the end of a few of those goals though, so I feel the slack ease a little.

Every day I seem to get distracted by some “what’s next” possibility. This is almost always related to bicycling (huge surprise). Paris-Brest-Paris’s official announcement was released last week and it has been on everyone’s mind and lips lately. They also put up an official time countdown on their website, in case you were wondering how many ‘jours’ were left until the ride.

On that note, Jane and I have taken up learning French finally. We’ve been talking about it for a while now. It probably isn’t totally necessary, but it will be nice to know some basics for when I’m lost and delirious in some small French village in the middle of the night. I’m guessing a new language will be about as easy as trying to do math in my head at 1am on these rides. I get pretty excited whenever I learn a new food reference. Regardless of how far I get on the course, you had better believe I’m going to know how to ask for food and beer.

I took on the training ride last week and snapped a picture or two, but it was pretty much pissing rain the entire day up until the last 5 minutes before I got home. Somehow I forgot to bring my shoe covers, so I was spinning in tiny puddles all day. Still, it was good to get out for a legitimate ride with other people again. I felt pretty solid all day. There may be hope for me yet.

A foggy morning

Bombing down to Puget Sound

Tony Corke in Orting

Mount Rainier peeks through

I missed out on the second SIR training ride. I was planning on carpooling with Peter Beeson up until he had to change plans for work. I woke up on time, packed my things and loaded the car. Driving about 5 miles, I realized that I forgot my wallet (and had yet to eat breakfast). I called this a sign and turned back around. I felt a little silly driving over an hour to the start for a 50 mile training ride by myself. That said, I’m sad I didn’t get a chance to see everyone. I managed to sneak a ride in anyways, tracing the first half (and bits of the last half) of the Summer 100K. The sun snuck out right around the time that I hit the waterfront on Maplewild St, so I sat at the public bench for a bit and enjoyed it.

Sunday, I had plans to meet up and ride with my clients at Tacoma Bike. Their cyclefit guy Tony wanted to show me around Tacoma a bit. I’ve ridden through once or twice, but it was nice to have some new roads to explore. We stuck mostly to flat trails and rode out past Orting and back. It was a pleasant weekend of riding overall.

Bridges in Tacoma

I’ve been slacking off quite a bit on the bike riding front just in time for the holidays. Oddly enough, I’ve been commuting by bike a bit more than usual, just not going on quite as many rides for fun on weekends. I’m not sure if the two are related.

I’ve picked up a few books by Michael Pollen that have got my brain pushed into new directions lately. Both “The Omnivore’s Dilemma” and “In Defense of Food” have got me to reassess my values on what is healthy. He speaks truths that the government seems to want to dance around. Eat more vegetables, less meat (though it doesn’t not encourage you to drop them), and eat less of everything.

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As a full fledged, card carrying member of the bicycle community (however niche I may be), I am required to purchase new bike parts and accessories at random. No bike is ever really complete. There is always something you can do to tweak the ride/feel/look. They are black holes threatening to spaghettify your wallet.

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I had fun messing around with an advertising design for Stevil (formerly of How to Avoid the Bummer Life, currently All Hail the Black Market) Kinevil. He is a really good guy, except when he drinks too much. It was a pleasure doing business with him.

T-shirts are coming soon. You will probably know when I do.

July came up way too fast. I am busy prepping both of our bikes for this weekend.

I know Jane isn’t too excited about having a sore butt (among other things). We were playing around with her saddle, but nothing is really sticking just yet. It has been kind of stressful handling it all at the last minute, but that is the way we roll sometimes. I’ve had my head in the clouds with other bike related things, the 100K and le Tour. When did all of this sneak up on me?!

Chris and I are shooting for one day this year just to say we did it. Truth be told, I’ll probably cut back to two days after this year. I really love the camping/dinner experience of the two day event. Last year was hours in the beer garden with Tour de France on the big screen. I’m not nervous about finishing it at all, but I am a little concerned that my legs will cooperate so I don’t hold anyone back. I don’t really want to get in to Portland after dark if I can avoid it.

That brings up another issue that tends to plague us on STP… getting to the start line. The traffic is always insane and we have yet to start before 7am. Were I solo, I would just ride to the start, but as a couple we have all of our gear and tent and blah blah blah. Getting near the University Village is a freaking nightmare. We are trying to secure a bed closer to the start this year, but that is pretty tentative right now. Best case scenario, I’d like to be out of the gates at or before five.

Our Fourth of July weekend was pleasant. Some family was in from Houston and San Diego so we spent some time at a BBQ and tried to stay out of trouble.

Our whole neighborhood goes completely insane for fireworks this time of year. They usually start about a week early, and this time was no exception. Saturday was especially insane. There were multiple sonic booms leveled really close to the house. Some kids were shooting at the buses and others were running around like they were high on pixie sticks. I enjoy the s’plosions too (I’m American damnit), but things seem a little crazier than they used to be when I was younger. Maybe the difference was just in California’s fireworks laws.

I went over to Dan’s yesterday to drop off the handlebar bag. The bike is stunning so far. He is really doing a fine job. We chatted on cable routing methods and different options that I have to keep my components working on the new bike. Were I made of money, I’d probably be ordering stuff right and left. I’m doing my best to keep the purse strings tight’ish on this one though. I can always upgrade here and there in the future. It has a fantastically classic look that some my Shimano stuff doesn’t really do justice, but I’m really excited about it overall. There is nothing wrong with a little marriage of old and new. Did I mention that it is an attractive bike? Dan started a new blog all on his own. You should go give him a shout out and buy stuff from him. He has been putting together food thermoses with custom cages that fit in water bottle bosses. They would go splendid on any tourer/not weight weenie bike you might own. Ask him about them. I stole these pictures from his Flickr account. It was for a good cause though. I’ve been mind numbingly busy lately. I’m juggling some fresh logos, old work, my full time, lots of cooking, prepping for the 100K and a new puppy. I managed to fix our washing machine yesterday. I had to replace the drain pump. That was the second time it broke. The first time we paid some guy 450 dollars to fix it. I replaced it for 50 and some change. That doesn’t factor in my stiff hourly fee of course. This butt crack isn’t on display for cheap. I’ve also had a bout of crazy sore legs. I’ve had to stop exercising this week. A year ago I would have broke out a tiny violin on a line like that. These days I can’t seem to not exercise one way or another. Taking it easy has never been so difficult. Speaking of crazy, the last minute prep for the The Sound and the Fury has been really intense. The paperwork is no joke. There are forms for forms. I feel like I’m filling my taxes. Everything is really well organized overall though. People are coming out of the woodwork to help piece everything together. It really is an amazing group of people. Provided nobody punches me out after the hill at Seahurst, it should be a fantastic day tomorrow. An element of a Populaire (100K) that slipped my mind was the fact that we will have medals available to the finishers. You can keep it on your mantle next to all of your bowling trophies or just sell the metal for scrap. Either way, it is a sweet deal. The ride is free. You have no excuses really. Tonight I’m baking a boat load of brownies from scratch. I make no promises on their quality. You will just have to come and find out.

I broke another Honjo fender last night… again in the rear and again on my Indy Fab. I am wondering if I just stress them too much, or the fit is too tight for those particular seat stays, or if they are just too weak of fenders for my needs. The pair I’ve got on my Salsa are still running strong, and I bought a brand new pair for the incoming Boxer bike, so I’m really hoping that I just have had bad luck in the past.

I might ask Dan to get creative with the mounting so we can spread some of the stress at the brake bridge. I don’t want to be in another situation where I am in the middle of a brevet and have to ditch the fender.

Chris and I went out and scouted a road last night. Microsoft Streets and Trips put it as the quickest route back in to South Park at the end of the 100K. I was worried that it might not be very bike friendly. Thankfully, I was wrong and it is even more fun than the original route. It adds a couple of rolling hills but pays off with an awesome bomb downhill with a fantastic view of Seattle from the top.

The sky was an amazing apricot color last night as some unexpected clouds rolled in. Because I took off my broken fenders, it rained of course. I was in shorts and a loose shirt. The spring rain felt wonderful though, especially after all of the heat we’ve had.

I had about half an entry done up on Perpeteum and why I think it affects me the way it does and blah blah blah. It spent a couple of days on my desktop before I finally deleted. The long and short of it is that it doesn’t work for me. I have to eat sugars at some point in the day on a ride. There… that saved you a good 5 or 6 paragraph of reading about my weak stomach.

Chris and I have unofficially broken our 200K+ a month streak now with the DNF on that 3 pass ride last month. It feels kind of nice to have the pressure off now that I’m not trying to qualify for any particular award or achievement. I am just enjoying the rides now (except when I’m not). That said, I would still like to get a full series in this year, so I’ve got some catching up to do since I didn’t make it to either the 300 or 400K.

So what is next?

June 13th and 14th is the SIR 600K that will take us over the newly finished Tacoma Narrows Bridge and out towards the coast. We will loop back south and finish where we started in Auburn. It looks like a fun loop that should cover some low traffic roads. I’m a bit nervous about it since I am only 1 for 2 in the 600K department.

Pushing on with riding on in to the night is still nerve racking for me. There is something about the feeling of the sun going down that makes me a little antsy after riding all day. It usually takes a few hours for me to settle in properly for a night ride. With any luck, I can make good time in to the overnight control for a couple of hours of sleep.

Two weeks from there, on the 27th, is the 100K Populaire that we are putting on. It has proven to be quite a chore to get the route together on an urban ride. There are just so many shortcuts and areas that people could potentially cheat. I have lots of respect for Eric Vigoren for putting on the spring 100k the last couple of years. I’m sure he had to deal with this same business getting it all together.

In the long run, it will probably have more controls than I was hoping, but I think it will be worth it. The route really is pretty stunning. I have been in the middle of making revisions over the last couple of days. I made a few assumptions about easiest route vs. shortest route that I shouldn’t have. With any luck, the route will remain mostly intact with just a couple of minor changes.

July 11th and 12th is Seattle to Portland. Jane and I got a little late on ramping up towards training, but we have been working out off the bike, so I’m sure that will help a bit. Jane and I are on week 6 of our P90X training program. It has proven to be very effective but I’ve been waking up extra sore lately.

Chris and I are doing STP in 1 day this year (for the first time) and hope to enjoy beers in Portland by Saturday night. With any luck, it won’t be nearly as hot as it was last year.

The ladies have a hotel room booked for their overnight in Centralia. It should make things a bit easier. There are usually pretty crazy lines for the shower at the college (where we usually stay). I’m going to miss the camping aspect of it though. My favorite STP so far was when I rode with Jane both days. We were tired and sore, but it was quite a feeling of accomplishment.

In other news, the garden is looking amazing these days. I’m planning on setting up a post on that soon.