Don't knock it till you've tried it.

What the?

It's Superman, no it's Spiderman, no...it's Lettuceman!!!

After helping out at registration for the local Pickett's Charge mountain bike race Sunday, I did a ride of my own. I was out for about 3 hours going pretty slowly, but really enjoying the trails, sun, and fresh air. I criss crossed the race course a few times and stopped to take pictures. There is no better way I could spend a day then with my ipod singing to me, the sun pulling me around, and my bike zipping through the forest. I had an awesome day.

Derek at about mile 28 or so



Tim taking a fast sweeping turn.



Cool new little feature at the top of Lower Whoops trail.

I got caught in a little of the afternoon rain while riding home today. It didn't last too long though. I am so happy to be back riding, it's all I want to do but I'm limiting myself so as not to get re-injured.

We went to Bite of Bend for lunch and I was happy to see that most places had small samples for $1 or so. I had some satay chicken skewers from Typhoon, a little Peruvian chicken tamale from Hola, a free little turkey sandwich bite from The Speedshop, and a tiny black bean tamale from El Burrito. The Hola tamale was hands down the best. I LOVED it and will definitely head over to the restaurant soon for a full order of it.

We watched the street performers for awhile. They were on stilts, juggling and flipping people in the air and putting on a good show. It was hard to capture on camera but I tried.






Friday we tried the new Italian place downtown called Ciao Mambo. Derek had Pasta Ravenna - Bowtie pasta, grilled chicken, sun dried tomatoes, artichoke hearts and mushrooms in a roasted garlic cream sauce. I tasted it several times and really enjoyed it. I got Linguini alla Pesto - basil, pignoles (pine nuts), Parmesan and extra virgin olive oil tossed with a touch of cream topped with fresh diced tomatoes. The portion was pretty big, especially after I had a few pieces of bread they deliver to your table. Good food, great service and a nice place in general.

Good thing I'm back riding since I love to eat!

Back to Dirt

Tonight was my first mountain bike ride in almost a month now. I didn't want to do anything too crazy to hurt my calf again. I rode from work out to Phil's trailhead, all the way up Ben's and then across and down Phil's, KGB and out COD to the highway and home. I was going pretty slowly and not using too much force on the pedals..a good solid hour and 45 minute ride to break me back in. I went alone and brought no music...just me, my bike, water, and some tools. It was bonding time with the forest and it felt good.

Mutiny at the Pool!

Everyone decided they wanted to swim from 1-2 today. Not sure why. Normally there aren't that many people there but today every lane had at least 3 people. Ideally the lanes start slow and then each lane gets a bit faster and you pick the lane that matches your speed. It just makes lane sharing easier if everyone is kind of on the same wavelength. But, since there were so many people in some of the slower lanes, people were choosing to just swim in the fast lane. This is where the problem started. Some guy in the fastest lane had the place to himself and as slower swimmers were coming to "his lane" he was telling them it was a fast lane and they shouldn't be in it. HAHAHA it's a public pool and in an ideal world, yes, he's right. But, the lane that swimmer did belong in had 5 people in it already! He spent more time stopping and yelling each time someone came into his lane then he did swimming! Luckily I was in the next lane over and had a pretty good cohesive group.

I'm sad I will be gone for the Elk Lake Open Water Swim competition in August. I have never swam anything competitively and I'm really not all that fast, but it would still be a fun thing to try.

It was a chilly ride into work this morning and I hear it's going to be even chillier tomorrow morning! I had to practice deep inner breathing to try to keep myself warm since I refused to wear a jacket or arm warmers.

Slight update: Saturday I rode my bike outside for the first time in almost 3 weeks. It was only a ride to the pool for my swim, and then a tour to find some achiote paste for dinner Sunday. My calf still hurts a bit up high so I was riding pretty easy, but it was good to get out.

Sunday I decided to test it a bit more and rode out Skyliners. I only got about 12 miles into the ride before I had to turn back because it started hurting more than I thought it should. I can't tell if the hurting is the good kind, or the stretching bad kind.

This coming weekend is Pickett's Charge - a mountain bike race here in Bend. Of course I won't be racing, but I'll probably help out with registration like I did at the Chainbreaker. I should definitely be able to get on my mountain bike and do some sort of ride next weekend too though. The last weekend of June I'm thinking of doing the Return on Jedi Super D race. It's down by Grants Pass and is a cool little event with free camping and a really fun, relaxed atmosphere.

Commute Option is this week. It's sad that it has taken high gas prices to get people out of their cars, but at least it's finally happening. I hope to see more people try riding or walking to work or even carpooling this week and then deciding they like it so much that they continue after commute options week.

Oh yah, here are some yummy pictures from dinner - Achiote seasoned grilled chicken tacos and grilled corn with spice!

Welcome back! I've been having a hard time thinking of anything to write about lately since I have no pictures from adventures. Good news, I'm off crutches and can walk again. I might even try out an easy spin tomorrow. Saturday I did trail work out at Phil's trailhead transplanting some bunch grasses and narrowing down a section of trail. It's very rewarding work to build trails.

We went to see the lit balloons Saturday night.



What else? Well, I've been swimming a lot and just counting the days to ride again. Our big summer mountain bike vacation is just a month away and I'm itching to get out and ride.

Hammer Needles hurt

I'm getting acupuncture treatment regularly and last Friday's session really showed results quickly. After yesterday's session I am able to walk a bit and I may be able to actually kick for my swim today! The pool is like a dog. It's always there for you when you need it. I don't know that I would have ever started swimming if it weren't for my knee injury years ago.

Not much new is happening in my world since I can't go out and ride and take pictures. This weekend I hope to be able to help at out the Spring Fling. If you live in Central Oregon and ride any of the trails around, you should definitely show up to help do some maintenance. You don't have to be an expert trail builder or really know anything. They will tell you what to do. Plus, afterwards you can enjoy beer, food and music! Sounds like a great way to spend some time Saturday giving back. Spring Fling

Good Food Weekend

Friday night was the Webcyclery Team Pizza party! I made the pizza dough and teammate Rob grilled them up on the BBQ and then finished them in the oven. My favorite creation was a pesto, feta, grilled chicken pizza. SOOO GOOD!

I'm out of riding for probably a couple weeks while my calf heals up so I went swimming on Saturday. The outdoor lap pool was closed when I got there since there were some lightening strikes. I sat in the steam room for awhile, and then hit the weight room. They have one of those hand cycles that I did for about 10 minutes before my shoulders were on fire. I wasted some time doing core work until finally the pool opened. It was stormy out and I felt like I was open water swimming with the rain falling on me and the wind whipping up little waves. I couldn't see the other end of the pool through all the steam that was rising...it was very creepy like a scene out of some cheesy horror movie.

Derek made an awesome stuffed chicken last night for dinner. It had sundried tomatoes and feta cheese inside. The chicken was moist on the inside with a slight bit of crunch on the outside...soooo savory and good.






The noodles were deliciously covered with a wine/lemon juice/herb concoction.