Nice little video I came across

Thanksgiving or A Giving Thanks Ride

This past Thursday was Thanksgiving.  I had to work the night before and night of and was getting little sleep but... as I was driving home Thanksgiving day I realized there was just about nobody on the road.  This made me excited.  I should ride.  And ride I did.  I got approval from my wife and took off on a Giving Thanks Ride.  As I rode I thought about some of the things I was thankful for.  Besides being thankful for my loving and beautiful family at this time as I rode I was especially thankful for a functioning and healthy body.  Being healthy allows me to play and have fun with my family, have a physically active job, and well... ride a bike.  Though riding a bike may seem like small think many people are not able to participate in the joy of cycling.   On this Thanksgiving I was especially thankful for my ability to engoy a ride on my bike.   I told myself I would take it easy and just go for a spin but I could not help myself and pushed up some of the climbs and sped around some decending corners.  I was home in an hour.   Even though I was running on empty I felt great.  We went to the store as a family and bought what we needed for our Thanksgiving dinner and headed home.  We decided to have an Italian Thanksgiving, so no turkey and potatoes this year.  Besides my bro and his family headed to Bakersfield to spend Thanksgiving.  So anyway I wanted to share one dish from our thanksgiving which is actually a fairly regular dish that we love.  It is super easy, super fast, and the first word that comes to mind about its taste is fresh.  It tastes great.  It is caprese salad.  You need tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, fresh basil, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper.  Slice up the tomates and mozzarella, slice up the basil (or just use whole leaves).  Add olive oil across the top.  Give it the salt and pepper.  And I guess it's optional but for us it makes the dish perfect is to add balsamic vinegar.  You must be careful with the balsamic vinegar because it's strong.  I usually pour it onto a spoon first and then lightly drizzle it onto the dish making sure each piece of tomatoe and mozzarella get a nice line of the vinegar.

We usually add quite a bit more basil than pictured here, but this is a good representation.  When picking out mozzorella make sure you get something nice and moist,NOT pre-cut, and NOT spiced in any way.  You can also make this dish with cherry tomatoes and little mozzarella balls (that have some specific name in Italian).  Using the the cherry tomates etc. cuts down the preparation time practically down to nil, but I personally prefer having sliced tomates and mozzarella.  Italian food equals happiness.  Well, good food equals happiness no matter who claims the dish.  And... here's a bike idea by Konstantin Datz in Germany

It's actually supposed to be a folding bike.  Whether or not this is technically engeneerically sound I do not know, but I liked the idea.  Here's a link for a few more pics.

http://www.behance.net/gallery/azor-bicycle-prototype/764198 .

NO.. it's not over I must add that I think I have one more reason to love holidays like Christmas and Thanksgiving.  No one is out on the rode in the morning.  No One. ok. that's all.

Bakersfield Ride

So I went for two rides in the three days that I was in Bakersfield.  They were both quite refreshing since I didn't push the pace at all.  Just explored some unmapped territory (to me anyway).  Though I grew up and lived in Bakersfield most of my life, I only rode on the Kern River Parkway Bike Trail once and that was when I was well... riding a single speed 16 inch wheeled bike with training wheels pedaling a mile a minute to keep up with my Dad and older brother.   The bike path since then I believe has grown quite a bit along with the city.   I believe it boasts something like 30 miles of traffic free riding!!  But the bike path was saved for the second ride and this is about the first ride I took.  I kept this ride relatively close to home which is ok because the only hilly part of Bakersfield is around where my parents live.  The only nice part is that the AMGEN Tour of California has come through Bakersfield several times, most recently in 2012 where they held a Time Trial.  It's cool that the race was held in Bakersfield, but what is even better is knowing that I was able to ride the same roads as professional cyclists like Tejay van Garderen.  I didn't do the same course that they did, only part of it with the the biggest decent and acent.
 
Here's a video of the route they took.   Even though I didn't do the whole route that they did I would like to the next time I'm in Bakersfield.  I like taking existing routes and using them (as well as making up my own routes).  Before my brother and I started riding last year we did a little research to see where the local races took and take place so we could get a taste for what we were getting in to.  I would recommend this to everyone.  Strava is a good place to do this, but it's also a good idea to look up races that have taken place in your area.  I'm sure if you just search in google "cycling race in..(your area)" you'll come up with something.  There is always a chance you don't come up with something but then you get to do some exploring, check out a map and go on an adventure.   On this morning when I did this short 15 mile ride I found a new (to me) trail that I didn't know was there.  When I was done I told my Dad about it and he in turn told me about part of the Kern River Parkway Bike Trail that I was unaware of.  So the key here is research, get out, ride and have fun! 

Fartlick, Fartleak, Fartlip, Fartlink, that is i mean FARTLEK !

WARNING: some people might find this offensive - I think it's funny.

Keep reading and you'll eventually get to the stuff that's associated with cycling.

I was talking to my Dad while in Bakersfield and telling him about how when I ride I will usually pick a pace for the ride.  One ride will just be a joy slow ride, or maybe an all out ride.  Sometimes or most of the time somewhere in the middle is the pace I take becuase I don't like to kill myself.  My dad brought up the word FARTLEK and being me I missheard him, "Fartlick? What? Fartleak?! WHAT!!?? What are you talking about Dad?" even though I knew very well he was not talking about flatulence.  Today I am going to delve into the world of gas becuase I've been wanting to do a short post about Fartlek and it got me thinking about the meanings of the words which I missheard.  Here's what I've come up with.

Fartleak - the unapparent release of gas or simply the silent fart sometimes known as the SBD (silent but deadly) fart.

Fartlip - the anus

Fartlick - the unfortunate event of opening your mouth and getting a taste while in a cloud of someones (maybe your own) fart.

Fartlink - the meeting or coliding place of two or more farts.

Now for Fartlek - Speed play is its translation from Swedish.  It is basically a form of training or excersizing utilizing randomly timed intervals with varying speeds and distances.  My Dad is into running so he brought up how when the Kenyans took over the running world they utilized Fartlek in their racing. Kenyans used this technique of randomly running faster and slower to confuse the competition and they did confuse and they won... and well still win with relative regularity.  Fartlek was developed by a Swedish coach Gosta Holmer in 1937 so it's definately not a new idea.  He came up with the idea because he was tired of losing to the Finns.  I don't want to go any deeper into the history becuase to me it's a new idea of how to train and I like the idea.  Fartlek can be applied to pretty much any sport and for me that sport will be cycling.  So the next time you go for a ride remember Farts... that is Fartlek and sprint at a random spot or go slow and do some quick "breakaways" and spice up that ride.  
  

Eating and Riding: A few Words for the not so wise - cough cough myself

Eating as you would think goes hand in hand with many things.  Riding your bike just happens to be one of them.  A lack of fuel means problems.  I've had the problem of not properly filling my tank and I again had this problem over the last week while riding in Bakersfield.  I was doing pretty well until the ride was over or shall I say about 3 hours after the ride was over.  I ate some cereal before I went for my ride and grabbed an apple for the trip back.  It was a great ride.  40 miles at a leasurely pace.  I ate my apple as I was homeward bound and felt good.  When I finished I felt pretty worn even though I didn't push the pace at all.  My first mistake - not eating for three almost 4 hours after my ride.  My second mistake - eating way too much delicious heartburning greasy pepperoni pizza from Rosa's Italian Restaurant!!!  The pizza was amazing as usual.  My body about ten minutes after eating half a pizza was not in a good way.  The lesson to be learned here is to eat.  Eat enough, but not too much, eat often and make sure it's the good stuff, not the amazing stuff like pizza.

Yes, I still love Rosa's and highly recommend eating there if you're in Bakersfield.

 

Bakersfield Bluffs - Walking Trail on Panorama

I was finishing up my 40 mile ride on the Kern River Parkway Trail, which goes along the bottom of the Bluffs which also has a trail, when I noticed a few women walking on the Bluffs.  I'm not sure if you can't ride your bike on the trail and it's just a walking/running trail or it's just that no one does becuase the trail is pretty short.  It's a nice little path with a view of uhm... well oilfields.  Not the best view, unless you're in the oil business, then it's a pretty site. 

Here is a nice shot that give you an idea of what the path looks like but more importantly take note of the drop.  Falling would lead to a nasty incident.  It must be atleast a 300 ft. drop.  So back to the women.  Here they are

plugging away, but... they are not on the path, they are walking up to the path along a ridge.  I don't think that I would have paid much attention to people walking/hiking up to path except that these women seemed to be fairly weathly in years and were teeter-tottering up the trail.  So as I rode and watched one lady slipped! Slipping on the Bluffs is a bad idea.  These women ended up making it to the top, but after a quick search I found this article and video from the local news.  Check out this link - http://www.turnto23.com/news/your-neighborhood/east-county/second-hiker-falls-off-bluffs-in-2-weeks  To sum things us let's just say... uhm be careful and don't slip if you don't want to break a leg or worse while walking on the ridge of a clif.  I think that's nice enough. 

Bremenskie Muzikanti (Musicians from Bremen)

After a comment by my Mom I realized that the last picture from the Night Rider post reminds me of a Russian (Soviet) cartoon called Bremenskie Muzikanti.  There is actually some pretty decent music.  I know they made some updated versions but the old stuff I think has the best songs for example Luch Solnca Zolotogo (Golden Sun Ray).  Here are some pics anyway.  The animals and guy are the musicians.  


The Bremenskie Muzikanti got wheels too!  Even if it's not a bike they know that rollin' is the way to go!
Here's the song I mentioned.

Night Rider!

I woke up at 12:30am and was feeling pretty good.  I bought new front and rear lights for my bike and I've been dying to try them out. Except I've been sleeping through the night which is unusual for me but fully accepted. Sleep is good (but that is for another post)  I've also been wanting to make a segment on strava for a lap around town that I want to do more often since they just added a nice bike lane for part of my to be lap.  With this in mind I jumped on my bike and lit up the night with my new SecurityIng® 4 Modes Waterproof 2800 Lumens Cree XM-L U2 LED Bicycle Light (& 6400mAh Battery Pack & Charger, Cree LED Bike Lamp Light Super Bright Lighting Lamp for Outdoor Sports Like Camping, Hiking, etc..) which might just be getting a smashing review after some more use.  The rear light seems to be nice too but it's not something I can really see in action while riding, though it did offer a little light to my feet while clipping in.  Hopefully I'll get up a review of both the front light and the rear light (a Portland Design Works Danger Zone Tail Light).  Happily I used my new lights and could see great in the pitch black streetlightless roads around town, but riding at night is scary, at least it was this my first time.  Scared of the dark? No.  But there were the



Deer may be skittish but atleast you don't need to fear an attack!

 

deer.  I came across four of them on my 2.5 mile ride.  The first one scared me the most because it was on the side of the road and I didn't see it and it didn't see me until the last second at which point it jumped. Luckily for me in the right direction.  The others I saw from a distance and whistled and they went on there way no problem.  A dear could end my ride quite easily so I happy to dodge this first obtacle.  So along I ride and see more "wildlife." Infact the most wild of animals. 

The night cyclists least worrisome foe:the cat

The CAT!  Ok, so I saw a few cats and they were the least of my worries while riding since they were all a far away and steered clear of me.  But the next foe was probably the most worrisome opponents I came accross.  A dark (I think marbled) pitbull.  I'm not a big fan of pitbulls, and animals with little fear that like to chase bikes or cars (how dumb is that anyway - that's like a person chasing an airplane) such as dogs can pose a threat to the cyclist - in this case me.  I've been barked at on several occasions and chased by dogs that were behind fenses but this pitbull was strolling down the single lane street coming in my direction. 

 

Rare shot of a pitbull at night.  You won't find me taking one.



The dog saw me and I saw the dog but I am not a local news headline (thank goodness).  Neither of us gave up ground and went on our ways.  I quickened my pace after we passed and listened to make sure I didn't have the enemy attacking.  No offense to the dog, but I never want to see you again.  -- I would like to note that it took quite a while to find a picture of a pitbull at night.  I guess no one goes out seeking a pitbull at night for a photoshoot or says," Hey check it out it's a pitbull let's take a pic."

The last nightcreeper I saw was a

the nights final opponent:the raccoon

raccoon.  It was pretty big. It was probably medium dog sized and as many know raccoons can be quite scary.  The raccoon and I snuck up on each other so I'm sure the raccoons heart skipped a beat too as I rode away and it ran. Again in opposite directions!  I was back in bed by 1:00am. 

 After this short 15 min. or so night ride will I be riding at night again? Yes, but I think I got a heads up that there are definately others up at midnight for cyclists to worry about.  Less cars, more animals!  I think I'll take my chances with the animals.  I think a collision with a deуr would end better than a collision with a car.  I saw this pic which with a few animal modifications pretty well sums up my first night ride.

For me it would have been a deer, dog, racoon, cat combo.  I think there's a rooster on top in the photo.

Century Ride PASKENTA Ride/Race

I have opted in to do a century ride.  It is in 3 months.  I have never ridden 100 miles.  Infact the closest I've been to riding 100 miles is about 70 and that was once.  We did climb about 7,000 ft or so but well this should be interesting.  I figure the best way to train for a century ride is to ride centuries but I don't think that's going to happen for me.  I'm excited about it, and hopefully I'll be able to stay excited and ride quite a bit before then.  It has about 1,700 ft of climbing which shouldn't be bad at all but it does have a 4 mile strip of gravel road!  One of the first R.A.C.E. events I did this past year included a section of gravel road and let's just say I wouldn't call it fun.  I still haven't decided if I'll do that race again this next year or not (probably will).  That was a crazy race.  My saddle came loose on the second to last lap which made for a rockin' ride.  The good part was that I got a new(used) saddle after the race.  Here is a link to the PASKENTA ride/race from the R.A.C.E. site where you can check out pictures from previous years and the map of where the ride will go.  Apparently 200-300 people show up if the weather's right.  The biggest plus - It's Free!

Any comments on how to prepare for a century are welcome.

Here's a nice shot of the gravel section of the PASKENTA ride/race that I found on the marcpro-strava cycling teams site : http://marcpro-strava.com/blog/2013/01/24/2013-paskenta-riderace-this-february-3rd/  Looks like they came out to ride.

Must Be A Running Week

I'm pretty sure I said something about being able to change up the workout schedule and it seems that's what's going on.  Even though it's still been a muscle building week there's been more running than expected already.  I have the feeling that my trainer's (my 3 year old and 1 year old) like the running since it ends with a trip to the park, so I think we'll be doing more of it.  They like when I do squats too because I use them for weights. 

Tuesday we were at the gym and we used the bike trainer then worked out our quads, glutes, and hamstrings with some machines then ran for 30 minutes.  We also did a little upper body workout.  I always try to do 3 sets of whatever amount of reps (usually depends how I feel) when I'm lifting free weights, increasing weight with each set and decreasing reps (like i said reps can change the most being anywhere from 10-20).   

Wednesday it was more of a normal at home workout.  I did jumping jacks, squats, reverse lunges, and calf raises.  The whole workout was only 30 minutes, but you have to get in what you can.  I did 3 sets of each.  100 jumping jacks, 20 squats, 20 reverse lunges (each leg), and 50 calf raises.  I didn't lift the kids today but they joined in with the jumping jacks. Well... they kind of did jumping jacks.  The one year old still doesn't get off the ground so it was more of a bouncing going on and the  3 year old just jumps.  He can do jumping jacks, but it has to be his desire. 
Had some water inbetween circuits and when I was done then sat on the couch a bit.  I needed to stretch but I failed.  Stretching is important and I need to do more of it since the difference is extremely noticable. 

Thursday (today) I rounded up the young ones in the stroller and ran 5k then took a trip to the park where they probably ran a 5k.  

The goal here is to do something everyday.  So far 3 days in a row.  Hopefully I'll keep it up.  I am feeling bad about not being on my bike now for almost two and a half weeks but I have a feeling that's going to change with my coming weekend.

Here's a quick video on how to do reverse lunges.  I started doing reverse lunges since my brother told me that his physical trainer (while doing rehab-having torn his acl again) said reverse lunges are easier on your knees.

Anti-Gym? Go to the Gym...or Not

So my wife and I had a day pass at the gym and we went and had fun together but... we also talked about how it's a rip-off.  Before I start tearing into gyms and why I don't like them, I must say that for some people I'm sure gyms are very important.  I can see that a gym is what is needed to get some people to workout.  The classes that are held can be fun and inspiring.  You are also given access to many different  machines that you probably otherwise not use.  That said, you probably don't need access to all of the machines that gyms possess.  Infact the only thing that that would be nice to have at home are the free weights.  If you live in colder climates the pools would also be nice (even though there's always an air of filthiness in gym pools - maybe it's just me since I grew up never swimming in a public or gym pool).  The thing that gets me most is the bike trainers and the treadmills.  Yes they have their pluses i.e. they are inside if it's cold, but would you really rather run here-

instead of here?

Or if you want to hop on a bike to workout do you want to drive to the gym to sit on a bike in a room (when you could do that at home pretty easily and with no monthly fee)? 

or would you like to spin on through an area like this?

 Maybe you don't have all of the trees and greenery around, but I argue that if you go to the gym to spin, your scenery is not very likely to change much.  Alright I've had enough. I can't bicker long.  Maybe some other time.  The point is you can run pretty much anywhere and the same goes for cycling.  Weather isn't really the issue. In fact it might fulfill a childhood dream to go and run in the rain.

Date Day!!

So today was an abnormal workout day!  I got to workout/relax with my wife for about half of the day!  Maybe it sounds a bit odd but we went to the gym for our date.  My wife is lucky enough to be aquainted with the yoga director at this gym and she gave us some free day passes.  So we decided to use them finally.  We used the bike trainers, then worked out different muscles with the training machines, then ran for a half hour on the treadmills.  After all of this we got into the pool and finished off with the sauna. Quite nice.  We then went to the store together.  Going to the store without kids when you have young'ns is like sitting on the couch and watching TV for those who don't have kids.  We bought what we needed to make this

It's a grilled tofu sandwich.  My wife had something like this at a restaurant and wanted to go back as part of our date but I said that we could make it at home for a quarter of the price.  So we did. And it was good!  It is toasted basil garlic parmesan sourdough bread with basil pesto spread, cucumber, tomatoes, carrots, tofu marinated in nama shoyu sauce, jack cheese, caramelized red onion, and then after the pic we added some buffalo cheddar (which is a spicy hot cheese) since my wife said it needed some heat.  We had already picked up the kids from Uncle and Aunties house, who (Thank You, Thank You) watched the kids while we were out playing,  so the kids helped us eat the sandwiches.   Great Day with the one I love! We of course missed our kids so we were happy to pick them up and go home.  I think we're going to sing songs together when I'm done here.   I was going to add my thoughts on gyms here but I think I'll make a separate post later.  Hopefully this sandwich will inspire some good eats!  I bet it would be good with some cold cuts or grilled chicken too, whatever floats your boat. 

Maxxis RE-FUSE 700x23c red

So I got my second tire that I'm going to use for training.  It is a Maxxis Re-Fuse.  My Bro. has them on his bike for training and their fairly cheap and I could get them in red so I went for it.  I only got one because I wanted to try out other tires too.  If you haven't checked out an ealier post on the box of the continental tire that is what I got a continental grand prix 4 season. I honestly wanted something with red walls but whatever (beggars can't be choosers).   The tire looks nice and is fairly thick.  I simply want fewer flats.  Both tires have gotten decent reviews but now i need to make a decision. Which one to put on the front and which one on the back?  If anyone want's to chime in and give an opinion feel free.  I've got a red tire and a black one.  I've got my own opinion and my wife has given me the opposite opinion and I haven't put either tire on yet so it's still up in the air.  

The packaging doesn't have the amazing women on it like the continental but I guess if you want to pay 20 bucks less for a tire you get less packaging and a tire made in Taiwan.  This says nothing of the quality which I'm guessing is just about the same.  We'll see which one gets a flat first.

On the back it shows that this might just be the tire for me that is that it is right there in the training area and... maybe someday for commuting.  I'm pretty sure it tips the scale as you can see it's not a stat their flaunting, but I'm not sure and I don't care because the heavier the better. It's for training right!?!

Here's a close-up on the tread just incase tread is the deciding factor for you when choosing a tire.  Haven't used it yet so I can't give my opinion and honestly don't think I'm experienced enough to notice that one tire is handling better than another.  I'm excited anyway. I love getting new stuff for my bike.  Now to make a decision. Which tire where?



Training or... not

I haven't ridden my bike for over a week now, but... it is now time to get going again.  Half the battle I've found is having a plan.  The other half is following through with that plan.  I have actually been "grounded" from riding (atleast outside) by my wife until I fill out some documents to get a loan to buy house, at least start seriously looking.  I've found that any glitch in my workout reutine can throw me into a stupor as far as staying in-shape.  I want to ride but... I... just don't really want to because sleeping or a movie (while sunken into the couch pillows) sounds much more appealing.  So it is almost my work weekend and it is about time to pull myself from the dark and evil depths of training "vacation."  To do this I must have a plan.  I'd recommend planning out what you're going to do in almost any situation. It can only help.  As of right now my plan is a work in progress but I will share it as it may give some ideas.  I want a two week cycle.  One week will be mostly weight training and building muscle strength off my bike with maybe one outside ride and a couple rides on my trainer and on the other week I would like to do mostly riding maybe 3 outside rides and trainer rides almost everyday.  I've found that right now, at my level, that putting in time on my bike in anyform is the quickest way to make gains.  So hopefully in the coming week or two I'll be able to give a more detailed account of what kind of training I'm doing to maybe inspire anyone else out there.  And hopefully it will keep me accountable a bit.   

Rael road bike concept 2.0 that you can read more about here http://bicycledesign.net/2011/07/rael-road-bike-concept-2-0/

   

104

you can check out the full article here:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2401156/Eat-heart-Chris-Hoy-Amateur-cyclist-reaches-speeds-80MPH-handmade-bicycle.html

Ode on Endorphins

Endorphins my friends dost thou leave me?

Or is it I who betrayeth thee?

Joy is thy ally

and with thee doth stay,

but with me is gluminess

when activity I do delay.

Thou art not apparent in my idle rest.

Dost thou await me at the mountains crest?

In my morning slumber do I miss

thine sweet sensation, 

magnified,

by the cool winds kiss. 

 

The Box: Continental Grand Prix 4 Season Road Tire

My rear Bontrager Hard Case tire, which has been on my bike for who know how long since I bought the bike with Bontragers on it (and it didn't look like the guy took very good care of the bike), has taken a beating and I'm thinking it's time to replace it so as to not have any accidents.

 Being me I wonder how long I can go without the tire getting a flat or blowing up. But, I don't want to be on the bike when the tire explodes.  So, I bought new tires.  One of which is a Continental Grand Prix 4 Season tire.  It has gotten good reviews so I'm going to try it out.  This post though is not about the tire since I haven't even ridden on the tire for any period of time let alone opened the box.  Ahh, yes... the box.  This is the topic or more specifically a picture on the box.  The tires are claimed to be handmade in Germany so I hope they are and who better to hand make your tire than tough and beautiful (in their own right as all women are) German women.

I just love the picture. That's all there is to it.  These women whoever they may be did a great job posing for this shot.  They radiate with confidence and power.  They look like tough moms and grandmas.  The kind of women you don't want to offend ( you shouldn't want to offend anyone) because they could beat the tar out of you.  Who knows maybe they don't even work for Continental, but once again you have to hope they do.  I'm sure they're nice ladies and would be good company.  Love the pic.

IN SO MUCH PAIN!!

I don't know if anyone really likes being in pain (I'm sure there are some lucky few).  I personally have mixed emotions about the sensation we call pain, specifically soreness.  Right now I'm pretty dang sore and I haven't been sore like this for a long time (atleast six months if not more since I don't remember being sore like this).   Yesterday I went and did a workout with my bro.  we did some circuit training.  Four stations squats, box hops (side to side), reverse lunges, and an ab station (pick your torture, we did a mixture of crunches, planks, and leg lifts).  Each station for 2 minutes, two circuts, a rest, and a third go around.  We used some 25 lb dumbells,

a step-up-box

and some water bottles

For drinking of course.  

After we did our circuits we hopped on our bikes and did sprints up little grand canyon dr. I made a segment out of it on strava (my first segment).  It has an average 8.6% grade! 

So now a day later the pain has set in.  Actually it set in last night.   I like being sore after I workout.  It means my muscles are in the process of becoming stronger.  But when sitting down (especially on a toilet seat) my hamstrings and glutes hurt so much my face gets all prune like as I grimace, I don't like being sore.  To make matters worse I got to pull around freight last night at work (something I normally don't have to do anymore).   So long story short being sore is good to a certain extent. 

Haven't talked to my bro. yet after the workout, but I have a feeling (in my muscles) he is in the same way.

Pearl Izumi Men's Cyclone Gel Glove, True Red

I honestly don't remember what made my wife say that I could go ahead and buy winter cycling clothes but I didn't argue, not a bit.  So I've been getting some cold weather cycling gear in the mail this past couple of weeks.  I'll be giving quick reviews item by item and eventually I'll get through what I've received - a whopping 5 items! Any amount of new things for my bike or biking experience is quite exciting to me! Today: gloves!  I often wear red so I went with pearl izumi's true red long finger gloves.  On one of the rides I often do my hands about freeze on the down hill half of the ride and the way back up the hill (about 3 mile 1500 ft climb) they thaw out.  I had a chance to wear the gloves a week ago doing a similar ride.  My hands felt great!  Starting out, the morning was in the upper 40s and by the time the sun was up and we were already 20 miles into the and having done 1500 ft of climbing already the gloves had to come off because my hands were getting too warm! I think the gloves will be great when it gets even colder but for now they are definately doing the trick when I need them when it's cold and I'm going fast! No more thawing hands for me thank you very much, actually thanks to my wife very much!  

I bought the large size and they fit fine. Obviously they are not made specifically for MY hands but they are snug and only a couple of the fingers have extra room at the top of the glove fingers.  They did not in anyway hinder my shifting or braking which i fiddled around with just to get a feel for being in gloves.  The red rubber on the index and middle finger help a bit in the gripping of the shifters and brakes so that's a plus. Hopefully they'll stand the test of time and have a long life with me. 

5K

Ran 5K today while pushing my two kids in our double wide stroller.  It is amazing what one season of cycling (or any constant activity) boosts your cardio.  I ran 5K for the first time last winter while training to start cycling and maybe do a sprint triathlon.  It was difficult and I did it on a treadmill.  Running long distances is not particularly unfamiliar to me but long distance for me is 2 miles.  As a kid I did track and field until I realized that just running does not float my boat.  After that I stuck to Basketball and Tennis where I did running as part of conditioning.  The 3 mile run had not been a part of my life until last year.  Hopefully it will become more and more a part of my life.  It really doesn't take that long.  I ran it in just under 30 min pushing the kids down and up a avg. 3% grade bike path and I didn't feel like I was pushing it.  The kids were good since they felt like I was going fast and the reward for being good was a trip to the park afterwards.  We'll see how much my time improves over the winter. 

Apple Pie?

Part of staying in shape is determined by what you put in your body.  Luckily my wife makes sure I eat well.  I'll be posting some of the great food that she (often times we or I - I usually make the unhealthy stuff) prepare.  

A little background on our eating habits.

We've tried out being vegetarian and vegan for periods of time but when it comes down to it we love food, all sorts!  But, this has not kept us from eating healthy. In fact we have just added raw foodist recipes to our plethora of recipes.  It's quite fun and different to not have to cook.  The idea behind eating raw is that you loose no nutrients from your food through unnecessary cooking.  The food can't reach over 120 degrees.  A lot of the what we "eat" is not eaten but drunk because it is either juice or a smoothie.  There are though tons of good recipes for main dishes, snacks, and desserts!

This recipe comes out of "Raw Food: A Complete Guide for Ever Meal of the Day" by Erica Pamcrantz and Imela Lilja. You can find the book on Amazon.

There were three parts to this Apple Pie: the crust, filling, and garnish. The ingredients are thus.

Crust:

1 3/4 cups almonds

1 tbsp canola oil or almond oil

5 fresh dates

pinch of nutmeg

2 teaspoons cinnamon

pinch of salt

1 tablespoon honey

Filling:

1 or 2 apples (we used 2)

1 banana

2 dates

1 tsp cinnamon

Garnish:

2 or 3 apples, sliced (we used 3)

Cinnamon to taste

Instructions:

1. Finely chop the nuts in a food processor. 

2. Add the oil, dates, spices and salt. Mix

3. Add the honey, and mix to for a dough.

4. Spread the dough out on the bottom of a pie dish.

5. Thoroughly blend the filling ingredients in a food processor , and place inside the pie.

6. Garnish with sliced apples. sprinkle cinnamon on top.

We used our blender for most of the food processing since we don't have a food processor and it turned out great! I usually don't take my own opinion to know if food is good or not.  I need to hear it from someone else or better yet see in their actions that the food is good (they eat a lot of it).  Our best critics are our kids.  If they're eating it, it must be good (besides the sticks and every other thing our one-year-old tries to put in his mouth)!  The pie was a hit and did not last long.  We also made a cream to put on top from the same recipe book.  Here's how it looked (cream excluded).

No the post is not over yet.  I have to connect this to cycling besides just being healthy.  Luckily there was some left overs because this hit the spot after my ride the next morning.  Climbing +1,500 ft and Apple Pie = A happy Andrew!

Riding Roundup

My brother and I set out on a ride yesterday.  We wanted do the Table Mountain course (from R.A.C.E. www.racechico.com) twice but that changed as we were getting towards the end of the first lap because of time restraints and wind!  The Table Mountain ride is awesome and will probably get it's own post sometime, but on this day we got to do some unexpected and unorthodox cattle herding.  As we turned onto Coal Canyon Road we look up the road and there are several vehicles and a man on horseback and about 60 or so cows with their calves.  As we approached one of the trucks my brother asked if we're ok to go through.  "Sure, if you can?" was his reply with a big smile.  So we road through the herd making sure not to get inbetween any calves and the mamas.

You can see Table Mountain
in the backround.

  It was smooth sailing, and about half way through all of the cattle desided to get to the right side of the road and let us pass (cows = good drivers - I wish more people would keep right while driving!).When we were almost through the herd the man on the horse yelled out, " Bet you didn't think you'd be doing this today." Surely not! Luckilyl I busted out my phone to snap a few pics. Unfortunately my phone takes lousy picutures.

Also, I was lucky that there were no bulls in the bunch since I wore red.  The story could have ended quite differently, but instead good memories were made again on my bike.

You can follow me on Strava: short review

As the title for this post states, you can follow me on Strava. Just search out Andrew Gates who is in Paradise and that is me. 

I use two apps when I ride. Why? Because they both mess up, quite often since I ride up in the mountains alot.  I use Endomondo and Strava.  I originally just used Endomondo when I started riding and I still use it becuase it has an array of activities which strava does not for example boxing, and skiing (though I don't ski).  Strava I just recently started using and I like it becauses of the segments.  Seeing where other people ride and watching myself climb the ranks (sometimes when I feel like pushing a little harder) keeps me coming back for more each ride. Thus it is one more thing to push me along. They cannot be directly compared to one another overall because they are just different.  But If i had to compare them for just the riding aspect I would have to say that I like Strava a bit more mostly because of the segments and also because the data seems more apparent (data that I like to see like elevation gain). Saying that they both offer different data so once again they cannot be compared directly.  I would recommend trying them both out. Or, if you are like me and want to make sure that your ride is recorded one way or another use them BOTH!  They are both free apps and if you want you can upgrade to get extra features for some money (I stick to the free versions becuase I have no money for apps or alot of other things for that matter which keeps apps way down on the list of things I am willing to spend money on).  The free apps provide plenty of info for an average rider like myself but like I said if you want to take it up a notch or have a few bucks to blow upgrading might be your cup of tea.  They both have websites, www.endomondo.com and www.strava.com, where you can learn more about them.  Find them in your app store and have some fun getting those endorphine pumped up.

Dad's new custom bike rack! Sweet!

My Dad got a new (used) truck a few weeks ago and soon after the seller gave him this!!! A custom made bike rack!  The seller happens to own a trailer building company and in his spare time made this.  Hopefully this will get my Dad out on his classic yellow Centurion a little more!

A Beginning

My cycling journey started about a year ago in the fall of 2012.  It started as "Hey, Andy! Do you want to train with me and dad for a triathlon?"  "Sure." (said with my usual non-expression)  My brother tore his ACL a second time and was finishing rehab.  He got a really nice training bike for nothing from somebody in the upper ranks of HP.  This was our training device.  Neither of us had bikes yet, which meant we spent too much time looking on ebay and craigslist.  We both ended up buying bikes from our hometown Bakersfield, which is, needless to say, about six or seven hours away from where we live now in northern California.  I think I got a steal.  $350 dollars for a 2006 Specialized allez elite triple complete 105 groupset.  I didn't know much about the triple or 105 groupset at the time but I did know that the bike should fit my 5' 10" frame, being a 54cm.  It took about half of the cycling season and alot of changing parts to get it to feel comfortable.  As it has been said before - Test ride before you buy! 
      Once we had bike our goal was to get ready for R.A.C.E. (Rodney's Amatuer Cycling Events) put on by the wonderful and magnificant Rodney Cox for free! You can check out www.racechico.com and see for yourself how I and my bro. did.  Let's just say we're getting better and most of the triathlon training is out though I did swim and still run, but cycling has caught my fancy. Hopefully I'll be able to remenisce on some past rides, but I would mostly like to focus on the now and keep a more current record of my rides etc.

English Warning! Disclaimer

So to start out I must say excuse the errors. I'm not here to do editing on my own writing.  I would also like to say that I'm capable of editing my work (atleast I should be, having a degree in English and continuing to study English).  Now that the warning is out let us continue to the FUN!