Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Stuff I didn't Write
Our Father which rides in heaven,
Hallowed be thy name,
Thy mountains come,
Thy will be rode, in The Big Ring as it is in Heaven.
Give us this day our daily mileage,
And forgive us our drafting, as we forgive those who draft against us.
And lead us not into a field sprint,
but deliver a solo win.
For primes, the flowers and jerseys are yours,
For ever and ever.
Amen
And in a fortune cookie last night:
The philosophy of onecentury blog is the common sense of the next.
Hallowed be thy name,
Thy mountains come,
Thy will be rode, in The Big Ring as it is in Heaven.
Give us this day our daily mileage,
And forgive us our drafting, as we forgive those who draft against us.
And lead us not into a field sprint,
but deliver a solo win.
For primes, the flowers and jerseys are yours,
For ever and ever.
Amen
And in a fortune cookie last night:
The philosophy of one
Turn the faucet off, please
The one in my right sinus cavity. Seems that the week off the bike, combined with the perfect elements starting Friday ending Monday were enough to put a solid beat down on my immune system. And to compound it all no chance today to get on the bike and let the cold air act as the damn best sinus decongestant. Maybe tomorrow but again, probably not likely.
The path does look clear, what can be ridden. The mile section from crescent view to riverside square is still closed. Major digging going on. No Good. The forecast today is looking potentially interesting.
Ran into a Bikeworks rider at the Y down this way on Sunday. He mentioned already having his base miles in, and starting to mix in some intensity.
That comment has me getting a bit more introspective about training. One in terms of his frame. He's a roadie, no questions, looking to peak in May. So it makes sense that he has been working on base. But, I wonder about base. And the efficacy of long steady miles. I recognize that going out and doing 4 hour rides makes the shorter rides not seem like much. But, how many(assuming reasonably fit, maybe not fast, but racers) cyclists have a problem riding forever? The problem more seems to be duration of intensity. Or number of stretches on the rubber band before it breaks. How many races are 3-4 hours of tempo riding with a sprint at the end? At least around here? Yes the base gives you some other benefits. But. I dunno, I innately want to question the benefits of doing long base miles compared to high intensity as much as you can. Not saying every single ride should be zone 4-5. But after a few years of riding and racing any time in zone 2-3 outside of recovery seems like a waste. No. I am not a coach. I have not read Friel's book yet. I look at successful folks. One person had a story of the training program of a young cyclist who wanted to make it big on the road and he made it PRO very quickly. His program was to ride at Zone 4-5 as long as he could. First the rides were short. Every week or two he added more distance, keeping the same intensity. Rumor has it he was doing 4-6 hour rides at zone 4-5. It took him quite a while (months) to get to that point. But, in my mind, that makes one hell of a lot of sense. No? Barring the luxury of time to ride 4-6 hours a day 4-5 times a week at that intensity coupled with enough rest between, it just seems intervals are the way to go. Longish intervals. Short ones. But essentially: only intervals. For me at least. Assuming I can start commuting again at least 4 days a week, that gives me the volume and saddle time without base miles. If I can figure out how to incorporate intervals instead of long fun social type rides (at any intensity) maybe I can step it up a notch for Cross. But then, as always, if GeWilli can figure out how to do any cycling on a regular basis outside of commuting or cross racing, well, then progress should be very possible.
I keep coming back to the first lap in Cross with this thought: If a rider can hold a certain pace for one lap, what is the hurdle to staying THAT fast all race? The answer that keeps coming back is training. Limiting factors in cross typically are #1 the engine (mental and physical) #2 technique #3 bike handling and a distant #4 bike (setup - fit - tire choice...). And it might not be correct but in general lately I know my improvements in #2 this past season have helped dramatically but as usual, GeWilli seems to hit his head hard on the #1 ceiling. I hope to some how change that in the next few years.
Well, not much else feels like flowing out of my fingers right now.
Heddwch,
G
The path does look clear, what can be ridden. The mile section from crescent view to riverside square is still closed. Major digging going on. No Good. The forecast today is looking potentially interesting.
Ran into a Bikeworks rider at the Y down this way on Sunday. He mentioned already having his base miles in, and starting to mix in some intensity.
That comment has me getting a bit more introspective about training. One in terms of his frame. He's a roadie, no questions, looking to peak in May. So it makes sense that he has been working on base. But, I wonder about base. And the efficacy of long steady miles. I recognize that going out and doing 4 hour rides makes the shorter rides not seem like much. But, how many(assuming reasonably fit, maybe not fast, but racers) cyclists have a problem riding forever? The problem more seems to be duration of intensity. Or number of stretches on the rubber band before it breaks. How many races are 3-4 hours of tempo riding with a sprint at the end? At least around here? Yes the base gives you some other benefits. But. I dunno, I innately want to question the benefits of doing long base miles compared to high intensity as much as you can. Not saying every single ride should be zone 4-5. But after a few years of riding and racing any time in zone 2-3 outside of recovery seems like a waste. No. I am not a coach. I have not read Friel's book yet. I look at successful folks. One person had a story of the training program of a young cyclist who wanted to make it big on the road and he made it PRO very quickly. His program was to ride at Zone 4-5 as long as he could. First the rides were short. Every week or two he added more distance, keeping the same intensity. Rumor has it he was doing 4-6 hour rides at zone 4-5. It took him quite a while (months) to get to that point. But, in my mind, that makes one hell of a lot of sense. No? Barring the luxury of time to ride 4-6 hours a day 4-5 times a week at that intensity coupled with enough rest between, it just seems intervals are the way to go. Longish intervals. Short ones. But essentially: only intervals. For me at least. Assuming I can start commuting again at least 4 days a week, that gives me the volume and saddle time without base miles. If I can figure out how to incorporate intervals instead of long fun social type rides (at any intensity) maybe I can step it up a notch for Cross. But then, as always, if GeWilli can figure out how to do any cycling on a regular basis outside of commuting or cross racing, well, then progress should be very possible.
I keep coming back to the first lap in Cross with this thought: If a rider can hold a certain pace for one lap, what is the hurdle to staying THAT fast all race? The answer that keeps coming back is training. Limiting factors in cross typically are #1 the engine (mental and physical) #2 technique #3 bike handling and a distant #4 bike (setup - fit - tire choice...). And it might not be correct but in general lately I know my improvements in #2 this past season have helped dramatically but as usual, GeWilli seems to hit his head hard on the #1 ceiling. I hope to some how change that in the next few years.
Well, not much else feels like flowing out of my fingers right now.
Heddwch,
G
Friday, January 18, 2008
Dale's Pale Ale
...is one heck of an expensive six pack in cans! $9.50/6. At least at the overpriced store here in the high rent district of town. But, they did have it and the cheap giant packie store did not. Word has it that a bar in Warwick has it on draft.
Why spend that much on a six pack of beer? We are going to be having a special visitor this weekend that shares the namesake of the Beer. It is to honor him. That and he will get a kick out of it I think.
Of note, it was the first place I've seen that Ommegagagon beer, Ome-something, you know that NY brewery that does all the belgian style ales and sponsors cross races. The've got a few other unique belgium beers that the super snoots were name dropping on the NECX list post Natz.
Good luck again to Ctodd and the gang racing at Masters Worlds tomorrow.
RS is an inspiration. Go read the words his sponsors are saying about the team. That is a noble organization with a great history and a bright future. Oh the lucky ones who get to ride and race a Richard Sachs Original. We can all learn a bit from Richard.
Heddwch,
G
Why spend that much on a six pack of beer? We are going to be having a special visitor this weekend that shares the namesake of the Beer. It is to honor him. That and he will get a kick out of it I think.
Of note, it was the first place I've seen that Ommegagagon beer, Ome-something, you know that NY brewery that does all the belgian style ales and sponsors cross races. The've got a few other unique belgium beers that the super snoots were name dropping on the NECX list post Natz.
Good luck again to Ctodd and the gang racing at Masters Worlds tomorrow.
RS is an inspiration. Go read the words his sponsors are saying about the team. That is a noble organization with a great history and a bright future. Oh the lucky ones who get to ride and race a Richard Sachs Original. We can all learn a bit from Richard.
Heddwch,
G
type casting reflected
Someone decided to type cast in a broad sense. This is starting off as a simple #3. Yes, I have contemplated including #7 again to make it a true 'GeWilli' post. But for some reason there isn't anything compelling out there to include. Bobby Fisher? Nah. Everyone else is lamenting the death of the anti-semetic, anti-american former chess champ. Most of the people are overlooking his political views, either because they don't know them or they condone them but are afraid to come out in support of them. Me? Neither. Being anti-preservative isn't the same as being anti-'specific culture/group of people' well maybe it is if you delineate it enough. I'm trying to avoid turning this into a #8, so we'll leave that right there.
I've decided that while I love the collection of recordings on my hard drive, I am not thrilled to have them randomly selected in shuffle mode. I like listening to Grooveradio or Pandora because they pop songs in there I never would have selected. So, I've stumbled on some podcast. DJ Tiesto, Armin van Buren, and a few other long mix sets/podcasts. Those I like. But then they aren't perfect either. I don't have an uninterrupted hour or two to listen (off the trainer - but I have yet to ride the trainer post iPod acquisition).
Oh and I *LOVE* the Cooks Illustrated Video Pod casts. Good stuff. I need a dutch oven (to make no knead bread when the Bread lab is closed).
Bread is good.
And no wonder when I have a craving for beer, a handful of good bread satisfies. (Watch the No Knead Bread 2.0 podcast). Or is it the other way around.
Thinking off beer - hats off to the hard core New Belgian crew contesting at Masters worlds in MOL this weekend. Steamboat, The Mayor, CTodd... and who ever I've missed. We're all Jealous. Race well and REPRESENT!
Heddwch
G
I've decided that while I love the collection of recordings on my hard drive, I am not thrilled to have them randomly selected in shuffle mode. I like listening to Grooveradio or Pandora because they pop songs in there I never would have selected. So, I've stumbled on some podcast. DJ Tiesto, Armin van Buren, and a few other long mix sets/podcasts. Those I like. But then they aren't perfect either. I don't have an uninterrupted hour or two to listen (off the trainer - but I have yet to ride the trainer post iPod acquisition).
Oh and I *LOVE* the Cooks Illustrated Video Pod casts. Good stuff. I need a dutch oven (to make no knead bread when the Bread lab is closed).
Bread is good.
And no wonder when I have a craving for beer, a handful of good bread satisfies. (Watch the No Knead Bread 2.0 podcast). Or is it the other way around.
Thinking off beer - hats off to the hard core New Belgian crew contesting at Masters worlds in MOL this weekend. Steamboat, The Mayor, CTodd... and who ever I've missed. We're all Jealous. Race well and REPRESENT!
Heddwch
G
Thursday, January 17, 2008
And now for something more positive
Sunday Football.
How can you not get worked up and excited about the Packers playing at home in January or the Pats in Foxboro. Two open air stadiums. The way football is meant to be played.
Temps look to be amazingly similar. Unfortunately it probably won't be snowing like it was last week in Green Bay, but the cold should definitely make for an interesting game. Will the Chargers or the Giants be able to over come two offenses firing on all cylinders at home? Will their offense be able to solve the home field defense and crowd energy? My sources say no. Green Bay against the Patriots. Sure, the giants 'could' win, and the Chargers, no, they can't, but the Giants have Manning, and yes he has improved but this is Green Bay. At home. Cold with that intense defense of the Packers.
It will be a good game. It will be exciting.
It is football at the pinnacle.
Alot like cyclocross. Sure people can say racing in september is great. But much like football, the more adverse the conditions the more compelling the competition. Adverse weather requires more preparation, more focus. Hit that variable correctly and you have an advantage that can turn into a major psychological boon for a competitor and in the same vein, completely demoralize someone who isn't prepared.
The weather makes mistakes critical. A dry fast course like Gloucester is a party, affording racers the chance to take a bad line, to try and strangle themselves with the tape, yet some how stay in the top 20. Mud, snow, cold, wind. A bad line means you are down. It means not only getting dropped but it means the odds of working bck up are close to nil. That is the beauty of REAL cyclocross racing. The pure fact that you do really have to have a perfect race to win, IF the conditions are challenging. The strongest racer might not win. The BEST racer WILL win.
Here's to hoping that the move to a January National Championship date will correct the shifted season and provide the type of cross racing that sorts out the best riders and demands that you know what the hell you are doing with knobbies on that skinny road bike like ride.
Heddwch,
G
How can you not get worked up and excited about the Packers playing at home in January or the Pats in Foxboro. Two open air stadiums. The way football is meant to be played.
Temps look to be amazingly similar. Unfortunately it probably won't be snowing like it was last week in Green Bay, but the cold should definitely make for an interesting game. Will the Chargers or the Giants be able to over come two offenses firing on all cylinders at home? Will their offense be able to solve the home field defense and crowd energy? My sources say no. Green Bay against the Patriots. Sure, the giants 'could' win, and the Chargers, no, they can't, but the Giants have Manning, and yes he has improved but this is Green Bay. At home. Cold with that intense defense of the Packers.
It will be a good game. It will be exciting.
It is football at the pinnacle.
Alot like cyclocross. Sure people can say racing in september is great. But much like football, the more adverse the conditions the more compelling the competition. Adverse weather requires more preparation, more focus. Hit that variable correctly and you have an advantage that can turn into a major psychological boon for a competitor and in the same vein, completely demoralize someone who isn't prepared.
The weather makes mistakes critical. A dry fast course like Gloucester is a party, affording racers the chance to take a bad line, to try and strangle themselves with the tape, yet some how stay in the top 20. Mud, snow, cold, wind. A bad line means you are down. It means not only getting dropped but it means the odds of working bck up are close to nil. That is the beauty of REAL cyclocross racing. The pure fact that you do really have to have a perfect race to win, IF the conditions are challenging. The strongest racer might not win. The BEST racer WILL win.
Here's to hoping that the move to a January National Championship date will correct the shifted season and provide the type of cross racing that sorts out the best riders and demands that you know what the hell you are doing with knobbies on that skinny road bike like ride.
Heddwch,
G
Sad news
The genius behind the best seatpost in history has passed away.
Ronnie, you will be missed! Rest in peace, your memory will live on in all those who have appreciated your product.
From the mission statement on the company web page:
Ronnie, you will be missed! Rest in peace, your memory will live on in all those who have appreciated your product.
From the mission statement on the company web page:
“Throughout The Centuries There Were Men
Who Took First Steps Down New Roads
Armed With Nothing But Their Own Vision”
-Ayn Rand
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
How did I miss this
Eat right for 'cross?
Maybe I didn't miss it.
This iPod thing, been wearing it doing routine lab work. Damn thing is disrupting my thought process. Very odd. Last year's gadget was a Power Tap hub. This year, iPod nano (3rd gen).
Oddly I feel like I am forcing this out. I know I should just skip this content, but it critically documents something that I find curious.
Oh. There are two other confounding issues (see I am making a list now):
#1 Not commuting in by bike (carpooling instead)
#2 Reading a couple dozen pages of an engrossing Ken Follet Book before falling asleep.
#3 iPod iDiot iSyndrom
But after writing this, my brain suddenly feels more in balance. Odd.
-G
Maybe I didn't miss it.
This iPod thing, been wearing it doing routine lab work. Damn thing is disrupting my thought process. Very odd. Last year's gadget was a Power Tap hub. This year, iPod nano (3rd gen).
Oddly I feel like I am forcing this out. I know I should just skip this content, but it critically documents something that I find curious.
Oh. There are two other confounding issues (see I am making a list now):
#1 Not commuting in by bike (carpooling instead)
#2 Reading a couple dozen pages of an engrossing Ken Follet Book before falling asleep.
#3 iPod iDiot iSyndrom
But after writing this, my brain suddenly feels more in balance. Odd.
-G
gadgets
Gadgets are cool! I was fortunate enough to win something. A little 4GB nano thing. Yes. Mr. Anti-iPod has an iPod. Crazy. Pretty damn cool though. Pretty damn cool. Now I can use the free audio training files that Chris lacking-Charm-ikle, and Bubba Rollski did back in 2006. Could be fun. Or could just be annoying.
Thinking about those training files, coupled with the frame work of carpooling to work the last few days has me thinking about doing something differently this year. Maybe not being so damn tired all the time from commuting and then riding on top of it. I did put in some big KJ weeks last year. But were they as effective as they could have been? Would I have been faster taking more rest?
I'm ruminating a bit on how to proceed for the new year. The snow has turned to solid ice on the path making trailer passage very tough and way too continuously jarring for any passenger, and making running more of a challenge (seeking alternate routes on busy roads and such). But, a rest 'week' is really not too bad. It is the 'off' season, right? Battenkill is month's away. I've got time to start doing the intervals. I wonder what the MTB schedule looks like this year... Hmmmm
heddwch
G
Thinking about those training files, coupled with the frame work of carpooling to work the last few days has me thinking about doing something differently this year. Maybe not being so damn tired all the time from commuting and then riding on top of it. I did put in some big KJ weeks last year. But were they as effective as they could have been? Would I have been faster taking more rest?
I'm ruminating a bit on how to proceed for the new year. The snow has turned to solid ice on the path making trailer passage very tough and way too continuously jarring for any passenger, and making running more of a challenge (seeking alternate routes on busy roads and such). But, a rest 'week' is really not too bad. It is the 'off' season, right? Battenkill is month's away. I've got time to start doing the intervals. I wonder what the MTB schedule looks like this year... Hmmmm
heddwch
G
Illegal aliens have always been a problem in the United States. Ask any Indian.
- Robert Orben
- Robert Orben
There are two things that will be believed of any man whatsoever, and one of them is that he has taken to drink.
- Booth Tarkington
- Booth Tarkington
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
exhale....
Blink - stretch - slump into jello
At least the day isn't flying by. Tedious work tends to have an uncanny way of making time creep past in a plodding pedestrian manner.
I read a bit around the virtual space over coffee this morning and lunch. There are a few great reads. Most of which everyone has stumbled upon themselves. But, in typical GeWilli fashion, I want to document them here for myself down the road.
Starting off with Fatty. This bullet caught my eye:
So in some what a contrary vein. I read this over at Gwadzilla:
Dwight has a new entry at Velonews. Maybe one of the few remaining reasons to read it left? I don't know really where I stand on velonews. I have two print magazine subscriptions, Dirt Rag and Cyclocross Mag. That is it. Back to Brandon's report. This phrase caught my eye:
The recent snow on the bike path has me pining after the latest and greatest resistance training device possible: Here. Hook that bad boy up on Powertap'd bike and mash some monster watts!
Speaking of numbers. Frazz has a nice homage to Beaufort today:
That's about all I have at the moment.
So MIF/Solo which # does this post fit into?
heddwch
g
At least the day isn't flying by. Tedious work tends to have an uncanny way of making time creep past in a plodding pedestrian manner.
I read a bit around the virtual space over coffee this morning and lunch. There are a few great reads. Most of which everyone has stumbled upon themselves. But, in typical GeWilli fashion, I want to document them here for myself down the road.
Starting off with Fatty. This bullet caught my eye:
Lots of Reading: Susan reads about three books per week. I expect this will continue. On this subject, I’d like to take a moment to gloat that I used my ability to choose excellent gifts to unparalleled effect this Christmas: I bought Susan an Amazon Kindle. It’s a gadget you can use to buy — wirelessly — books, and then read them. No hooking up to the computer, WiFi, or Internet connection necessary. It’s like magic. The gadget press has pretty soundly trashed the Kindle in their reviews, but the reality is that if you buy it because you love to read (i.e., not because you’re a huge nerd who thinks social networking is an important part of your reading experience), it’s an awesome little device.Cool. Very cool. I've been curious about the readers and what not. This one is the first that has me thinking "ME WANT." Like my cell phones that get used as (believe it or not) just as a phone. This dedicated device is wicked damn cool. I especially like the screen. gorgeous.
So in some what a contrary vein. I read this over at Gwadzilla:
article by anonymous in a marin paperand i had to click over, and read. I made a quick digital copy to the hard drive in the event the content gets pulled and I want to read it again.
in this case
anonymous=jacquie phelan
I need to get to work
but I will read this later
it is only up till thursday
Dwight has a new entry at Velonews. Maybe one of the few remaining reasons to read it left? I don't know really where I stand on velonews. I have two print magazine subscriptions, Dirt Rag and Cyclocross Mag. That is it. Back to Brandon's report. This phrase caught my eye:
Since normal people don't really find January in Belgium to be an ideal vacation destination, I had no problem getting a ticket. With the flight booked I looked into entering the Masters Cyclocross World Championships and came to find out I can't raceDOH! The US 35+ Masters champ cannot compete in Masters Worlds? Serious? Brandon hasn't been following the Richard Feldman school of being a Masters racer, specifically rule #1: Do not ever enter an event that could even remotely possibly score you a single UCI point. He does bring up the point of the cherry picking Masters racers at Nationals. Or specifically all the elite racers who enter one Master race a year. We can honestly say that around here in New Beligum our fastest Masters racer at Nationals has a handful of Masters events under his belt. Usually a double day and yes, he is generally the fastest master on the course. No problem with that.
The recent snow on the bike path has me pining after the latest and greatest resistance training device possible: Here. Hook that bad boy up on Powertap'd bike and mash some monster watts!
Speaking of numbers. Frazz has a nice homage to Beaufort today:
That's about all I have at the moment.
So MIF/Solo which # does this post fit into?
heddwch
g
Apple Spice Cake
A plain name for a not so plain cake.
Topping - this gets baked on the bottom of the pan, make it first and let it cool down a bit so you can handle the apples.
1 XL Fuji Apple, peeled - cored and sliced about 2-3mm thick
3 tbsp Butter
3 tbsp Dark Brown Sugar
1/2 cup apple cider/unfiltered juice
1 tbsp cinnamon
Melt butter and sugar in a 12" non-stick omelet pan. Add the juice and cinnamon and reduce until thickened over med-low heat (light simmer). Add apples and increase heat until they are well coated and just barely soft. Remove from heat and let cool while making the batter.
Batter - Two step batter, liquid and dry.
Pre-Heat the oven to 350°F
Coat 2 8" square baking pans (or their equivalent) liberally with butter. Line the bottom with parchment paper and coat the paper with butter (I just flipped the paper upside down after fitting it to the bottom of the pan).
Dry ingredients: mix/sift together in a large bowl
2 cups King Arthur All purpose flour
1 cup King Arthur White whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
Wet ingredients:
1 cup melted butter
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
3 jumbo eggs
1 1/3 cup turbinado sugar
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1 tbsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup of the Apple cider/juice
Beat eggs then add everything else except the butter and mix together, slowly add cooled (but still liquid) melted butter (hot butter in the eggs will just cook the eggs - that's NOT good - yuk, no I did not make that mistake).
Gently fold liquid into the dry ingredients. DO NOT OVER MIX. Once the batter is just barely incorporated stop.
Take the cooled apple slices and arrange them on the bottom of the buttered pans on top of the parchment. This is going to be the top of the cake, you can be as artistic as you want or you can just make a layer. Once the apples have been arranged pour the remaining sauce evenly over the apples. Carefully spoon the batter on top of the apples. If you pour it in the the apples will float away and it won't work.
Bake for ~45 minutes. They are done when a toothpick can be inserted and pulled out clean. Remove them from the oven. Before they cool invert the cake on a rack. If they cool down it will be very difficult to remove them from the pan and to remove the parchment paper. How long it takes to bake will depend greatly on how thick the cake batter is in the pan. Also baking times will vary based on the type of pan used, do not over cook the cake.
Optional glaze for the top of the cake or to make up and drizzle over some vanilla ice cream to serve with the cake.
3 tbsp butter
3 tbsp brown sugar
(melt together)
1/2 cup apple juice
reduce over heat as in the apple toping above.
Enjoy one of the most moist and delicate cakes possible.
Topping - this gets baked on the bottom of the pan, make it first and let it cool down a bit so you can handle the apples.
1 XL Fuji Apple, peeled - cored and sliced about 2-3mm thick
3 tbsp Butter
3 tbsp Dark Brown Sugar
1/2 cup apple cider/unfiltered juice
1 tbsp cinnamon
Melt butter and sugar in a 12" non-stick omelet pan. Add the juice and cinnamon and reduce until thickened over med-low heat (light simmer). Add apples and increase heat until they are well coated and just barely soft. Remove from heat and let cool while making the batter.
Batter - Two step batter, liquid and dry.
Pre-Heat the oven to 350°F
Coat 2 8" square baking pans (or their equivalent) liberally with butter. Line the bottom with parchment paper and coat the paper with butter (I just flipped the paper upside down after fitting it to the bottom of the pan).
Dry ingredients: mix/sift together in a large bowl
2 cups King Arthur All purpose flour
1 cup King Arthur White whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
Wet ingredients:
1 cup melted butter
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
3 jumbo eggs
1 1/3 cup turbinado sugar
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1 tbsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup of the Apple cider/juice
Beat eggs then add everything else except the butter and mix together, slowly add cooled (but still liquid) melted butter (hot butter in the eggs will just cook the eggs - that's NOT good - yuk, no I did not make that mistake).
Gently fold liquid into the dry ingredients. DO NOT OVER MIX. Once the batter is just barely incorporated stop.
Take the cooled apple slices and arrange them on the bottom of the buttered pans on top of the parchment. This is going to be the top of the cake, you can be as artistic as you want or you can just make a layer. Once the apples have been arranged pour the remaining sauce evenly over the apples. Carefully spoon the batter on top of the apples. If you pour it in the the apples will float away and it won't work.
Bake for ~45 minutes. They are done when a toothpick can be inserted and pulled out clean. Remove them from the oven. Before they cool invert the cake on a rack. If they cool down it will be very difficult to remove them from the pan and to remove the parchment paper. How long it takes to bake will depend greatly on how thick the cake batter is in the pan. Also baking times will vary based on the type of pan used, do not over cook the cake.
Optional glaze for the top of the cake or to make up and drizzle over some vanilla ice cream to serve with the cake.
3 tbsp butter
3 tbsp brown sugar
(melt together)
1/2 cup apple juice
reduce over heat as in the apple toping above.
Enjoy one of the most moist and delicate cakes possible.
Monday, January 14, 2008
HIT THE BRAKES
So, just getting ready to go and I remembered. I could STOP today. Yes. I could stop in the snow, the wet cold rim/bike cassette sticking snow. What ever gear I was not using in the back would build up with ice and snow preventing use. BUT. I could stop.
I could ALWAYS stop. Effortlessly. WTF. Maybe I need to put these brakes on the Cross bike. Late 90s XTV V-brakes, Ritchey Red pads, QBP Travel Agents and 9.0 ESP levers. Not to discount the braking surface: Sun Rims 0°XC rims.
Having brakes is cool. It took a few seconds of hard grabbing of the brakes on the Croll in Dayville for them to come close to slowing me down. Disc brakes sounded great to me there. But. Then maybe these XTRs would be the way to go!
That's all. Clothes are now dry enough to put on. WhooT! Nothing worse than having to put on wet clothes for thesecond training session ride home.
Ride/Drive/Be Safe
Heddwch
G
I could ALWAYS stop. Effortlessly. WTF. Maybe I need to put these brakes on the Cross bike. Late 90s XTV V-brakes, Ritchey Red pads, QBP Travel Agents and 9.0 ESP levers. Not to discount the braking surface: Sun Rims 0°XC rims.
Having brakes is cool. It took a few seconds of hard grabbing of the brakes on the Croll in Dayville for them to come close to slowing me down. Disc brakes sounded great to me there. But. Then maybe these XTRs would be the way to go!
That's all. Clothes are now dry enough to put on. WhooT! Nothing worse than having to put on wet clothes for the
Ride/Drive/Be Safe
Heddwch
G
Scribblings
So i started something during my one spot of time today. Looks like this:
That is as far as I got. The first was going to be a few paragraphs expounding on the similarity of cross and football as seasonal outdoor sports that get better the colder and wetter is it outside. There was going to be a tie in to LFL (Lenny Football League - a college thing we did when it was cold and or wet outside, no pads tackle football on a small field with a few less than stellar athletes - I played as an indicator) and a few other tie ins.
Even not feeling 100% on Saturday I managed to get out for a glorious 4.5 laps on 'our' cross course. It could be a totally kick ass technical suffer fest if a race broke out on the course. Maybe it will be possible to get a few people to show up. Maybe a bribe with some food. The thing that kept going through my head: "How little tape can i get away will that could keep Paul Curley on the designed course?"
Of course the ride in. I really wanted to describe it in the epic sense. The battle with the construction vehicles. The reckless abandon with which the dump truck drivers were hurtling their unladen trucks down the bike path. The changing snow. The vehicular destruction passing me on flatbed haulers. The cold, the wind, the wet, the snow. And not least of which the beauty along the way and the ride of the 'Snaux' bike, aka my Carbon Mantra.
Last of which is food related. The clan met up with my brother last night. I brought desert. The result was impressive. Quite the delectable satisfying finish to a great evening. It wasn't a recipe specifically for what I made. I cobbled together a few different ones, exchanged a few ingredients for others, and made it work with what we had on hand. And holy crap, did it ever work. I spend a few minutes watching the Chargers and Colts to transcribe the complete recipe into the Moleskin book. I had planned to plunk it down here. Moleskin is at home. Soon.
Like everything, there comes a time to balance and sacrifice. Enjoy the pictures. And most importantly, remember to have fun riding your bike.
Heddwch
G
Football and cross
Cross bike ride Saturday
Snow ride in
Caramelized Apple cake
That is as far as I got. The first was going to be a few paragraphs expounding on the similarity of cross and football as seasonal outdoor sports that get better the colder and wetter is it outside. There was going to be a tie in to LFL (Lenny Football League - a college thing we did when it was cold and or wet outside, no pads tackle football on a small field with a few less than stellar athletes - I played as an indicator) and a few other tie ins.
Even not feeling 100% on Saturday I managed to get out for a glorious 4.5 laps on 'our' cross course. It could be a totally kick ass technical suffer fest if a race broke out on the course. Maybe it will be possible to get a few people to show up. Maybe a bribe with some food. The thing that kept going through my head: "How little tape can i get away will that could keep Paul Curley on the designed course?"
Of course the ride in. I really wanted to describe it in the epic sense. The battle with the construction vehicles. The reckless abandon with which the dump truck drivers were hurtling their unladen trucks down the bike path. The changing snow. The vehicular destruction passing me on flatbed haulers. The cold, the wind, the wet, the snow. And not least of which the beauty along the way and the ride of the 'Snaux' bike, aka my Carbon Mantra.
Last of which is food related. The clan met up with my brother last night. I brought desert. The result was impressive. Quite the delectable satisfying finish to a great evening. It wasn't a recipe specifically for what I made. I cobbled together a few different ones, exchanged a few ingredients for others, and made it work with what we had on hand. And holy crap, did it ever work. I spend a few minutes watching the Chargers and Colts to transcribe the complete recipe into the Moleskin book. I had planned to plunk it down here. Moleskin is at home. Soon.
Like everything, there comes a time to balance and sacrifice. Enjoy the pictures. And most importantly, remember to have fun riding your bike.
Heddwch
G
Friday, January 11, 2008
Finally
Urtica dioica
I managed to find one of the last U. dioica alive up in the Seattle region this holiday vacation. Managed to get it to the lab and prepared and ready to view. I need a few more demo/training samples for the microscope, and we need a few images as 'art' around here. Very exciting to see.
This is a plant that I have done battle with growing up. Perfecting a clearing technique in order to get through 6'+ tall thickets of them using only a long stick. No just bashing it back tends to send bits flying around. Those bits hurt.
I'd actually never heard a very common term for the plant in N.America till recently. To be honest I cannot remember who it was that said the term first. But it makes sense.
Those with itchy brains and trigger fingers might have googled the latin name. Remarkably beautiful plant. Especially under the microscope.
Now, microscopy is a lot of hurry up and wait. 30 seconds here. 5 minutes there. Rush pause rush pause rush.
Time to let the images speak for themselves.
Image 3 - Business trichome of the plant.
Image 4 (detail of 3)
Image 6 (detail of 3)
Image 7 - Base of a pair of trichomes on a leaf petiole (stalk of a leaf)
Image 10 - underside of a leaf with major and minor trichomes and vascular bundle
Image 12 - Minor trichome, bacteria and stomata
Image 13 - distinctive bacteria or fungi surrounded by small bacteria on under side of the leaf
Image 14 - An individual stomate with bacteria.
heddwch
G
I managed to find one of the last U. dioica alive up in the Seattle region this holiday vacation. Managed to get it to the lab and prepared and ready to view. I need a few more demo/training samples for the microscope, and we need a few images as 'art' around here. Very exciting to see.
This is a plant that I have done battle with growing up. Perfecting a clearing technique in order to get through 6'+ tall thickets of them using only a long stick. No just bashing it back tends to send bits flying around. Those bits hurt.
I'd actually never heard a very common term for the plant in N.America till recently. To be honest I cannot remember who it was that said the term first. But it makes sense.
Those with itchy brains and trigger fingers might have googled the latin name. Remarkably beautiful plant. Especially under the microscope.
Now, microscopy is a lot of hurry up and wait. 30 seconds here. 5 minutes there. Rush pause rush pause rush.
Time to let the images speak for themselves.
Image 3 - Business trichome of the plant.
Image 4 (detail of 3)
Image 6 (detail of 3)
Image 7 - Base of a pair of trichomes on a leaf petiole (stalk of a leaf)
Image 10 - underside of a leaf with major and minor trichomes and vascular bundle
Image 12 - Minor trichome, bacteria and stomata
Image 13 - distinctive bacteria or fungi surrounded by small bacteria on under side of the leaf
Image 14 - An individual stomate with bacteria.heddwch
G
You scumbag, you maggot
No. Those sentiments are not directed at anyone. In fact they key a song that I am quite fond of. Not the happiest of all songs. But it figures prominently in the permanent soundtrack in my head on the bike.
Last night, riding from work to daycare, it took over my brainwaves. Fairytale of New York.
Yesterday the 4 days of riding wore me down a bit. Coming back from having adjusted to no exercise and no increased caloric demands has been hard on me physically. Having half of the house sick was the trump card. Sinuses started to back up a bit yesterday. Hit pretty hard last night. Not feeling overwhelmed but energy levels are below reserves. Maybe I should blame it on the Fritos. Say their over-processed corn sucked the life force out of me. Or something else from that day or evening.
The rain combined with the necessity of dropping both girls off this morning meant i drove. Pulling away from daycare a few bolts of lightning flashed and the skies unloaded some torrential rains, validating the choice of commuting methods today. Burn a bit of BioDiesel, instead of pasta. I even remembered to move the car this morning.
I have a goal for tomorrow. To get out and ride the cross bike on my cross course. It is a shortish lap, but a nice mix of wide 'single track' sand, off camber turns, grass, wood chips, pavement, and a run up. I don't know if i will have the energy to suit up and ride, but I want to try. Maybe just go out for half a dozen mellow laps. Just to keep the flow in the legs and the body. To ride for fun. Maybe I can talk a few team mates or fellow New Belgian cross racers to show up for a few random weekend 'rides' around the course or other 'crossable' courses.
Right now, I just want to take a nap. Maybe eating lunch will help. I doubt it.
Ya know. I realized, i made it a whole cross season riding my old stuff. Frame: 1998. Wheels: 1997/8. Bits? 9 speed Dura-Ace (pre-Flight Deck stuff). Amazing. I managed to keep the shifters working yet another year with a magical combination of lubricants. T9? Nope. WD-40? Nope. GUNK Liquid Wrench sprayed in there until completely clean and LOUD. Followed by the magic bullet: Campagnolo Lubrificante. Not too much. But just enough. That bubbly effervescent goodness is perfect. Not so thin as to run off and leave it dry. Not so waxy as to turn to grease in the cold. Perfect. I swore with all the miss-shifts from Stirling and Wrentham that i would be buying a new shifter. A bit of that special treatment and it is shifting like new. Say what you want about Dura-Ace. That shit is bananas.
Here's another pro-tip from GeWilli. When packing your bike for traveling on the aeroplane, or boxing it up to hand to the Brown wearing folks, grab a handful of small thin garbage bags and a can or two of maximal expanding great stuff. Put the bags in the open spaces and then fill the bag with great stuff. Carefully so as not to have it blow out the top of the bag all over your nice big bits. It will lock it all in place in a special custom mold. Make the "bag blocks" carefully and intelligently and you have custom re-usable packing material.
One last tip from GeWilli. Go read today's Foaming Rant. Brilliant. Sort of. I am actually pretty tired of hearing about this Ball guy. It would be more enlightening and entertaining (even if it was a bit NC-17 or worse) if Big Jonny and I had a sit down to compare scrotum scars we've both acquired in 2007.
With that nice pleasant thought I will sign off,
Heddwch,
G
Last night, riding from work to daycare, it took over my brainwaves. Fairytale of New York.
Yesterday the 4 days of riding wore me down a bit. Coming back from having adjusted to no exercise and no increased caloric demands has been hard on me physically. Having half of the house sick was the trump card. Sinuses started to back up a bit yesterday. Hit pretty hard last night. Not feeling overwhelmed but energy levels are below reserves. Maybe I should blame it on the Fritos. Say their over-processed corn sucked the life force out of me. Or something else from that day or evening.
The rain combined with the necessity of dropping both girls off this morning meant i drove. Pulling away from daycare a few bolts of lightning flashed and the skies unloaded some torrential rains, validating the choice of commuting methods today. Burn a bit of BioDiesel, instead of pasta. I even remembered to move the car this morning.
I have a goal for tomorrow. To get out and ride the cross bike on my cross course. It is a shortish lap, but a nice mix of wide 'single track' sand, off camber turns, grass, wood chips, pavement, and a run up. I don't know if i will have the energy to suit up and ride, but I want to try. Maybe just go out for half a dozen mellow laps. Just to keep the flow in the legs and the body. To ride for fun. Maybe I can talk a few team mates or fellow New Belgian cross racers to show up for a few random weekend 'rides' around the course or other 'crossable' courses.
Right now, I just want to take a nap. Maybe eating lunch will help. I doubt it.
Ya know. I realized, i made it a whole cross season riding my old stuff. Frame: 1998. Wheels: 1997/8. Bits? 9 speed Dura-Ace (pre-Flight Deck stuff). Amazing. I managed to keep the shifters working yet another year with a magical combination of lubricants. T9? Nope. WD-40? Nope. GUNK Liquid Wrench sprayed in there until completely clean and LOUD. Followed by the magic bullet: Campagnolo Lubrificante. Not too much. But just enough. That bubbly effervescent goodness is perfect. Not so thin as to run off and leave it dry. Not so waxy as to turn to grease in the cold. Perfect. I swore with all the miss-shifts from Stirling and Wrentham that i would be buying a new shifter. A bit of that special treatment and it is shifting like new. Say what you want about Dura-Ace. That shit is bananas.
Here's another pro-tip from GeWilli. When packing your bike for traveling on the aeroplane, or boxing it up to hand to the Brown wearing folks, grab a handful of small thin garbage bags and a can or two of maximal expanding great stuff. Put the bags in the open spaces and then fill the bag with great stuff. Carefully so as not to have it blow out the top of the bag all over your nice big bits. It will lock it all in place in a special custom mold. Make the "bag blocks" carefully and intelligently and you have custom re-usable packing material.
One last tip from GeWilli. Go read today's Foaming Rant. Brilliant. Sort of. I am actually pretty tired of hearing about this Ball guy. It would be more enlightening and entertaining (even if it was a bit NC-17 or worse) if Big Jonny and I had a sit down to compare scrotum scars we've both acquired in 2007.
With that nice pleasant thought I will sign off,
Heddwch,
G
Thursday, January 10, 2008
What happened today
Just one of those days. Apologies to Brooke for stating a disagreement without flushing out more concretely why I disagree. (Side note, I am trying very hard to break my "i" habit and reform it into the proper "I"... one word: difficult). There is a wee bit of discussion over at RBR.
Notes to get out of my head: RS is blowing his previous almost weekly updates away with DAILY updates. Crazy.
Steve is reporting that Interbike will have "East Coast Demo days" in my back yard. How cool is that! Might just have to "get on staff" with a local shop before that happens. That or pull the oldest/newest trick in the book and request a press pass.
Word on World Cup in the USA? Dare we bring it up yet? It was listed on the tentative calendar that Myerspace posted on the NECX list. Has the Media Director managed to secure funding from "Madison Ave" yet?
Back to the Nationals shifting to Jan.
What is the goal for US cyclocross?
Do we want to send the best cyclist to Worlds to hope to win?
As it is, a cyclist who peaks in early to mid December may not be as on form for Worlds as someone who might peak for Nationals in January.
The season has grown longer but in the wrong direction. As mentioned in the RBR thread, yes having a warm part of the season brings more riders out and into the sport, but it sort of strips the spirit of Cyclocross a little bit. Most places are not like the PacNW where it rains from September to January. We are stuck with crappy dry warm conditions most of the early fall. Moving the Nats to January should help I would hope. At least a step in the right direction.
From a spectator point of view, wet and sloppy conditions are far more exciting viewing than dry and hot. At least from a racing point of view. The courses are far more forgiving of bad line choices and what not in the dry stuff.
The Cross Camp issue is a bit tricky. Certainly it benefits from the compressed racing schedule between Christmas and New Years. But then. Why can't we have a series like that here in the US? Most everyone is on Holiday then. Create something with a focused intensity. No it won't compare to Belgium. But. Does it need to? What are the goals to begin with? If you take the Cross Camp resources and focus it on the top ten riders at our Nationals in the Junior and U23 groups and support them racing in Europe after nats, it might help grow the program just as much as Cross camp would. It certainly would go a long way towards potentially increasing the support for those who demonstrate the talent here domestically to go abroad. Maybe it compulsory for the top 5-10 finishers at the US Nats to head to Europe and compete.
I don't have any answers, I don't pretend to have any good idea or the solution. I just have a few thoughts that i wanted to try and flush out a bit. Even as poorly as I have flushed out just now.
Not to mention that about 50% of the time CX nationals conflict with a gig I have had for 29 years and counting. Moving Nats to Jan eliminates that conflict.
Also, moving Nats to January means considering locations that are slightly more temperate (closer to Belgian weather) than KCK, with a higher probability to be wet and muddy and sloppy, vs frozen solid.
I have to start mustering up the energy to ride home here in a bit. And responding to an email about a group ride possibility this weekend I was struck with something odd. I have not been on a group ride in a very long time. A few lunch time meetings with folks to do cyclocross drills and what not. The odd rides with folks on the bike path. Maybe August since I have actually suited up specifically to go for a ride with someone else or a group of someones. Wow.
That will definitely be changing soon, as the focus shifts to the TOUR OF THE BATTENKILL/Battenkill-Roubaix, aka BKR. A goal. A focal point in the future. Not a goal as in to win this year. But a goal to improve and build on what I did last year.
So, completely drained and pooped it is time for a nice 48°F ride home.
heddwch,
G
Notes to get out of my head: RS is blowing his previous almost weekly updates away with DAILY updates. Crazy.
Steve is reporting that Interbike will have "East Coast Demo days" in my back yard. How cool is that! Might just have to "get on staff" with a local shop before that happens. That or pull the oldest/newest trick in the book and request a press pass.
Word on World Cup in the USA? Dare we bring it up yet? It was listed on the tentative calendar that Myerspace posted on the NECX list. Has the Media Director managed to secure funding from "Madison Ave" yet?
Back to the Nationals shifting to Jan.
What is the goal for US cyclocross?
Do we want to send the best cyclist to Worlds to hope to win?
As it is, a cyclist who peaks in early to mid December may not be as on form for Worlds as someone who might peak for Nationals in January.
The season has grown longer but in the wrong direction. As mentioned in the RBR thread, yes having a warm part of the season brings more riders out and into the sport, but it sort of strips the spirit of Cyclocross a little bit. Most places are not like the PacNW where it rains from September to January. We are stuck with crappy dry warm conditions most of the early fall. Moving the Nats to January should help I would hope. At least a step in the right direction.
From a spectator point of view, wet and sloppy conditions are far more exciting viewing than dry and hot. At least from a racing point of view. The courses are far more forgiving of bad line choices and what not in the dry stuff.
The Cross Camp issue is a bit tricky. Certainly it benefits from the compressed racing schedule between Christmas and New Years. But then. Why can't we have a series like that here in the US? Most everyone is on Holiday then. Create something with a focused intensity. No it won't compare to Belgium. But. Does it need to? What are the goals to begin with? If you take the Cross Camp resources and focus it on the top ten riders at our Nationals in the Junior and U23 groups and support them racing in Europe after nats, it might help grow the program just as much as Cross camp would. It certainly would go a long way towards potentially increasing the support for those who demonstrate the talent here domestically to go abroad. Maybe it compulsory for the top 5-10 finishers at the US Nats to head to Europe and compete.
I don't have any answers, I don't pretend to have any good idea or the solution. I just have a few thoughts that i wanted to try and flush out a bit. Even as poorly as I have flushed out just now.
Not to mention that about 50% of the time CX nationals conflict with a gig I have had for 29 years and counting. Moving Nats to Jan eliminates that conflict.
Also, moving Nats to January means considering locations that are slightly more temperate (closer to Belgian weather) than KCK, with a higher probability to be wet and muddy and sloppy, vs frozen solid.
I have to start mustering up the energy to ride home here in a bit. And responding to an email about a group ride possibility this weekend I was struck with something odd. I have not been on a group ride in a very long time. A few lunch time meetings with folks to do cyclocross drills and what not. The odd rides with folks on the bike path. Maybe August since I have actually suited up specifically to go for a ride with someone else or a group of someones. Wow.
That will definitely be changing soon, as the focus shifts to the TOUR OF THE BATTENKILL/Battenkill-Roubaix, aka BKR. A goal. A focal point in the future. Not a goal as in to win this year. But a goal to improve and build on what I did last year.
So, completely drained and pooped it is time for a nice 48°F ride home.
heddwch,
G
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
