Alfredo and the best corn muffins ever

I've been a fan of corn bread and corn muffins since I can remember.
So, when I saw this post by Shanny's sister, Rena: http://sandwicharchitecture.wordpress.com I decided to try it.
Ever the fiddler, here's how I changed it.

Rena's Corn Muffins
Slightly adapted
(I copied and pasted her recipe and directions and edited where I changed it)

Ingredients

* 2 1/3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
* 1/3 cup whole wheat flour
* 1 cup natural cane sugar
* 1 cup coarse cornmeal
* 2 tablespoons baking powder
* 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
* 1 1/4 cup whole milk
* 1/4 cup sour cream
* 1/2 pound (two sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
* 3 large eggs

Directions

- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Line 17 (I know, sorry) muffin cups with paper liners (or just grease the tin with some organic sunflower oil).
- Loosely measure the flours into your sifter and sift into a bowl.
- Spoon the sifted flour into your measuring cup and drag the back of a butter knife across the surface to measure (do not shake or this will increase the flour amount and make for denser muffins)
- Put the flour, sugar, cornmeal, baking powder, and salt into a largeish mixing bowl, and whisk with a loose whisk (meaning, lots of space between the wires – we’ll need this later) to incorporate.
- In a glass 4 cup measuring cup, measure out the milk.
- Add a dollop of sour cream to get the milk line up to the 1 1/2 mark.
- Whisk together well but don't worry about the little bits of sour cream.
- In a separate bowl, combine this milk mixture and the cooled melted butter.
- Crack the eggs into a cup or small bowl (I used the glass measuring cup), and whisk until smooth.
- Add the eggs to the wet mixture, and whisk until combined.
- Pour the wet mixture into the dry (when I did this all in one pour, it made the cooled PFLOUP sound), and whisk (this is why we needed a loose whisk – it will be thick) until just blended.
- Use a 1/4 cup scoop to measure the batter into the paper liners (one scoop will fill each most of the way to the top).
- Bake for 30 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. (I actually pulled them out without testing because they looked SO FREAKING PERFECT at 30 min mark - perfectly curved on top, with little cracks and just golden brown enough)
- Cool slightly and remove from the pan.

The paper liners come off without trying - it's amazing.
Shannon said, "I can't help but think of Mr. Crick."
I said, "Who's Mr. Crick?"
"That guy in Stranger than Fiction. I feel like he did when he at that cookie."

These are the best corn muffins ever! Thank you Rena!!
I didn't have a second muffin pan so I put paper liners in some ramekins and they worked out just fine. You can see here that we got a little distracted before I remembered to take a picture for you!




While I was putting them together, I discovered some unused fresh egg pasta that I got at Lucca Ravioli last week and realized it needed to be cooked asap. I've had fresh pasta in a plastic bag in the fridge get mouldy within two weeks. This pasta was only in the paper they wrapped it in when I bought it so it got a little dried out.
To me, fettucini needs to have a cream sauce so I set about to make the following alfredo from scratch without a recipe. It turned out really well.

Addy's Alfredo
2 T butter
2 T unbleached all purpose flour
1 c Half & Half
1 c stock (whatever kind you use, know that you will taste it a little bit. I used Low Sodium Organic Chicken stock)
1 1/2 c shredded mixed cheeses
I used - 1/4 c fresh parmesean, 1/4 c or 1 oz cream cheese, 1/2 c monterey jack & 1/2 c cheddar
1/2 t salt
1/2 t black pepper (or to taste)
1/8 t nutmeg

- Mix the half & half and stock together and take the chill off them. You can heat them or they can be room temp - I haven't found it makes much difference as long as they're not cold. Set aside.
- Make a roux with the butter & flour.
- I do this by melting the butter over medium heat until it's foaming and, using a whisk and only ever a whisk, sprinkle the flour in slowly & uniformly, until the entire thing is uniform and foamy. It's okay, and even recommended, to let it brown a touch, but it's more important to get everything whisked together quickly and without lumps. And, by no means, will you let it burn!
- Still over medium heat, slowly and steadily add the stock mixture in a steady stream until it's all incorporated. You should go slowly enough that you're able to make a consistent paste that gets thinner and thinner as you add the stock. You'll see what I mean as you're doing it and if you've never made a roux before, it might take you a couple of tries before it makes sense. But it's SO worth it - it's the base of so many great sauces and is really easy once you know how to do it.
- Stir with the whisk for a few minutes still over medium heat. The sauce should thicken within 3-5 minutes.
- Once it's got a nice thickness, take it off the heat and stir in the cheese until it's incorporated. This will thicken the sauce a bit more.
- Mix in the salt, pepper and nutmeg.
- Pour onto thick, flat pasta like fettuccini or tagliarini and enjoy!

We had some left over grilled chicken so I chopped that up and added it with 1/2 a bag of frozen peas and it was quite a treat.

Dream Journal - Entry 06

Was in my own bed with Shan - as if I'd slept with my eyes open. Shan had a little puppy - perhaps a Jack Russell - who's name was Watson. It was clear to me that Watson was Shan's dog. I asked him if he was training him and he said "he likes to heel" and Watson snuggled up with him.

__
Was at some kind of convention - perhaps seeing Amma. Jared was there and was really freaked out. I saw him hiding in a room and went to check on him. He said he couldn't handle the purifying energy and I suggested that he go for a walk in the woods and really ground his energy in the earth. Some women were coming into the room to do some Vedic chanting - they seemed like Mother Divine women and they thought he needed the chanting to help him. He agreed because they were pretty strong about it so I left feeling that he'd made the wrong choice.

I ended up in the bath with a short haired redheaded girl. I asked her if she was lesbian or bi and she said "why do you want to categorize yourself to everyone" and then told me that seeing me in the bath made her tingle. I felt excited and hesitant.

Dream Journal - Entry 05

I was taken to mavericks for my first surfing lesson. The pros helping with the lesson shouted boredly that a small shark was coming, as if it were no big deal. It swam by me pretty close and I remained calm. Then it went after me a little bit by trying to bite my foot but I chased it away by flailing my hands under water at it.
The instructor then showed me to a tall cave that was right on the edge of the crest of the wave (I've watched a few videos of surfing at Mavericks and have strong visuals of what the parts of the wave look like). The cave was at the top of a very tall waterfall that the instructor told me his father used to throw him down with a truck wheel inner tube around him. He gave the an inner tube and tossed me into the dark, narrow, wet cave - similar to Alice in Wonderland. The fall was very long and watery and I didn't scream very much. I was pretty scared but exhilerated. When I hit water I could tell that I'd been falling fast. I went all the way to the rocky bottom but only with a touch on my foot. I pushed off and floated to surface quickly with the help of rubber innertube.
To get back up top had to go thru a disgusting hotel that had little kids running & playing wildly. One floor had a ceiling only four feet tall. Couldn't find my way out but found the history of the cavern in millions of years time lapse. It was under the Lincoln memorial, even tho it didn't look like the Lincoln memorial and was in the South, and started as a very special tree with very deep roots. To build the Lincoln memorial the tree was removed and pulling out the roots created the waterfall cavern.

Dream Journal - Entry 04

I was travelling in New England & found myself driving. Bob showed up in passenger seat and was in charge of the gas pedal. I was happy but a little concerned about speed & navigation matching.
We ended up in Portland, in an industrial part like near Casco Bay Lines & this is where he & Alysia lived.
I found a board with colorful, differently sized letters behind glass. The "L e" of "Leash" was there & I happily attempted to spell out the rest by tapping the glass. The letters would come up magically but not always right so it got a little frustrating. Alysia came home before I could get it to work.
We all ended up just holding each other in our wintery clothes on a bed-like couch. We didn't talk, it was very sweet.

nopa experience

I've always thought about writing detailed restaurant reviews here at crimsonic but always just defaulted to yelp due to its ease of use and ubiquity.

however, i had such a great experience at nopa last night, that i decided to pop my proverbial restaurant review cherry here.

for months now i've been seeing my friend violet's tweets about going to nopa, her photos of things like burgers and bacon brittle, and hearing her tell me what a great spot it is.
i even started following her friend richie on twitter because of her post where he, i assume, sent her home with a burger bun she'd requested be held.
he's got a fun blog with a question of the week, observations/thoughts, quotes from the kitchen (my personal favorite segment) and photos.

to get a little tangential, i must say that following some people's blogs and twitter streams is like happily running into someone often at parties or "the regular spot" (wherever that may be for you - the library, a bar, the back of the bike repair shop, your local tattoo parlor): you feel like you kind of know them, you have easy things to talk about, and you want to know them more and have more things to talk about.

that said, when i walked into nopa with my man & no reservation and the hostess smiled at me and offered the chef's counter, i was excited to finally meet richie of linecook fame and get to watch some of that quoted hilarity in action.

this is the finishing counter before the dishes get taken to the tables. I wanted to get a shot of six plates of beautifully seared halibut but I was too slow on the draw, and they're super fast on the delivery. instead, I caught a burger with a side of greens going out with a burger with a different kind of delicious - fries. I'm sad I didn't try the greens... I do love greens. I'm jealous.


It was so much fun to watch the plates get finished here - so much olive oil, pepper, and basil aoli getting poured, cracked and dished!


when we walked up to the counter, the team made courteous nods and I said to richie (I recognized him from his blog photos) "we're twitter friends" and he and Ponder said "all right!" or "oh cool!" or something like that (now I'm following him too...) Ponder pointed someone out to me but it was a little loud and I thought he was telling me the foursquare mayor was there but he was telling me that sean penn was there (which I found out tonight in perusing tweets about nopa from yesterday). i'm really glad I didn't hear him correctly or I would have been irritatingly star struck and might have missed some of the joy I got from my meal and observations.

Okay, enough jibber jabber. Here's my list of favorite things:

- i don't spend much time or money in upscale restaurants, but like to, a lot. i tend to feel a bit like a country bumpkin in there - especially when the amuse bouche arrives. I tend to get overly enthusiastic about surprise bites.
last night was no exception but it was about the salt. the yummy little salad on a crouton was served with a little finger bowl of malden sea salt.
i've heard of it, read about it and known of its existence for a while but have never been exposed to it in its raw form like that.
it's beautiful! little tiny square crystals of salt. we played with those until our drinks came.

- i really liked my white manhattan - white whisky is really sexy - strong like, um, brown (?) whisky, but much fresher. [I'll have to ask our friend Camper over at Alcademics about white vs brown/aged/whatever it's called whisky.]

- we ordered burgers cooked differently - mine medium, his medium rare. and whaddya know, mine was done a touch more than his and had plenty of pink. i guess i don't order the burger in upscale restaurants very much (that just made me think of that scene in the Nanny Diaries - no linking - if you've seen it, you know. if not, carry on and forget I even brought it up) but having the burgers turn out exactly right was unprecedented and made me happy. um. I think my country bumpkin in showing...

- the corn on the cob cooked in and smothered by house made basil aoli was freakin' delish! cooking corn in a hot oven rather than steaming/boiling is a really wonderful way to make it.
and what a treat to have a little something sent out by the kitchen when I've only just met them! thanks guys!

- i love pudding.
and custard.
and panna cotta.
all things egg/milk/sugar/gelatin/cooked.
love them.
but, i usually avoid creme brulee because the few times I've had it, the predominant flavor was sterno, which I always attributed to the pastry chef holding the torch too close to the sugar, burning it quickly, rather than using the less hot tho less sterno-y front of the flame for a touch longer.
anyway, possibly flawed theories aside, I couldn't resist burned honey creme brulee and figured I'd take a chance.
and I'm so glad I did - not a whif of sterno could be smelt and that dessert was out of hand (outta hand!).
burned honey - whoda thunk it?
the marinated strawberry on top was nice - a few more would have been even better!
I could have done without the short bread that accompanied - I've never been much of a fan of dry, crumbly sweet things. I save my dry crumbly for aged cheese. however, as far as shortbread goes, it was quite nice - great tooth & flavor, just not my thing.

- shan got the fruit galette with chevre ice cream and both were perfect. the ice cream was just the right amount of goaty, sour and sweet. and the galette was basically that perfect mix of sweet, light, flaky crust and fruit.

- my first sip of their house made earl grey cream liquor was stupendous.
subsequent sips wished for less coffee flavor and more bergamot. I mean, I'm a huge fan of earl grey and was expecting to be given a lot of bergamot and tea flavor. when our waitress told us of the ingredients (I think she said it had rum, tequila, coffee, earl grey and lots of other things) I was suprised by the addition of coffee but figured they knew what was up.
call me traditionalist but I want my tea based things to taste of tea, not it's uppity younger cousin. (my mouth loves coffee but my stomach does not so I'm a bit bitter - much like the coffee I favor but cannot drink)

Here you see my earl grey cream liquor and three cooks - Ponder (grill master), Linecook (Richie) (sous master) and the oven master whose name I didn't catch. The oven master had an awesome flatbread dough rolling technique that was fascinating to watch. He cranked out order after order of that flatbread and it was all made exactly the same. I know that's how it's done but it's rare to get to watch it without being a part of the bustling kitchen stuff (I was a food service person for a few years in my youth - a chef once told me to "get out. get out while you still can!" and I took his advice and got into administrative assisting instead. a similar tho less smelly and less delicious profession.)



- the typeography of their menus was super fun but hard to photograph because it was curvy justified. here's a section of the dessert menu - the digestifs and coffee/tea. Yum!




When we left we were so very satisfied and happy. My experience was everything I'd been hoping for and I'm looking forward to going back as the seasons and thus, the menu offerings, change a bit. We were so full and sleepy that Shan took a lil nap while we waited in the bus stop - you can see the dining room thru the glass so know that it's an easy spot to get to and from! Lots of public transportation options!



Bonne appetite readers!
Merci nopa!

PRIDE weekend!

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Rock Steady

Shannon has a little medley he likes to sing every once in a while.
It goes like this:
"Solid. Solid as a rock, steady, steady rockin' all night long."

I can't remember why it came up tonight but we realized it's a medley of two songs from the 80s that use "rock" in the chorus so off to YouTube I went to find them.

First, I found Solid - a fun song and a cute vid. Dude's got some serious style but his stylist on the video shoot should have untucked his jacket...

Then I found the gold: The Whispers: Rock Steady.

If you don't have five minutes to spend with your speakers on, come back when you do. I'll wait.



Okay.


Ready?






I need to make a time stamp list of awesomeness (if you click on the video to go to the youtube page, there should be a comment by addycat777 [aka me] with the time stamps as links if you want to save yourself a little effort - however, not all of these are there and I got the numbers wrong and youtube wouldn't let me edit or repost - argh!):

1. 0:37 - favorite dance move with the appendicular body

2. 0:59 - love the bearded back up singer/dancer (his beard looks glued on)
Watch for more of him cuz his moves are hot. (I'll spare you additional time stamps about him)

3. 1:26 - hey! where did those dancers come from?

4. 1:36 - "doin' the snake. mmm...maybe not..."

5. 1:44 - his "jazz square" pirouette reminds me of my jazz dance class when I was 9. We listened to this song during our warm up, which included jazz squares with our feet and hips.

6. 1:57 - enter freight elevator. that must be on what the crowd comes to populate this underground funk party.

7. 2:31-2:34 - I WILL learn this dance move and show you at the next party.

8. 2:48 - is that a tour jete I see in the background?? Justin did a couple of those for me on my birthday. He's really good at it, very graceful and always has pointed toes (even in cycling shoes!).

9. 3:22 - after more freight elevator and a moment without the crowd, they're in their party suits.

10. 3:32 - dude with the sunglasses and half-fro is really feelin' it

11. 3:55 - can't quite figure out why they went back to the other, "not party" suits...

12. 4:06 - looks like they can't either!

13. 4:33 - I know they used the "not party" suit footage here because of this sick move. it's spontaneous - not to be replicated - magic, caught on film.


This song makes me happy. Although, after trying to get all of those time stamps just right, I need to avoid it for a little while... but this video I could watch without sound, over and over while practicing all of those moves. Soon, I too will be able to dance like Barack Obama.

ALC8 wrap up....finally

AIDS/Lifecycle 8 was a mixed bag for me starting with fundraising finishing with the ride itself.

- I wanted to raise $5k and made it as far as $3600, which is awesome, just not what I was aiming for.

- I had physical challenges that kept me off of the bike for about 160 of 560 miles.
* My handlebars weren't set in their ideal ergonomic state and that made my hands, especially my right one, really painful to ride with (and for some time after).
* The padding in my shorts was irritating my skin in a way that made sitting on the seat something painful enough to draw tears.
* The good news about these issues is that they are totally avoidable in the future and they did not keep me off the bike for any more miles than they did - yay!


Now it's been just over two weeks since we left LA and quads are back to normal, sitting on my bike seat is very comfortable, my hands are pain free, and I'm rested.


Here are my favorite moments in list, and somewhat chronological, form.

Day one

- rest stop one - discovering those wonderful peanut butter and jelly graham cracker sandwiches that I'd had once before when I volunteered for ALC.

- Emily's cookie monster outfit made a lot of people smile.





- climbing the 92, getting to the top and being handed strawberries, and then riding down the beautiful, smooth curve into Half Moon Bay. Here's a fun little map showing when I was most excited.

- this little house in the woods made me really happy. so did all that green.



- Mom, this photo was taken for you. lighthouse in the fog.



Day two (celebrating 32 years of life)

- Emily made a little sign for my butt, Justin gave me a princess pinata that I tied to my do-rag and Shannon took this photo.



- Then, Greg gave me a ride to the SAG bus for the first time "only cuz it's your birthday!". I think it was wind that dissuaded me from continuing - cross winds are a BITCH!
The SAG bus, however, was Divalicious!


see the little TV (click for larger view)? They had The Supremes playing for us - very sweet.

Day three

- my favorite part of the ride was conquering The Quad Buster. Mostly because the downhill after was the most joyful exertion I've had in a long time. I had a few miles of superfast "onyourleft onyourleft" and then on the smooth flat after, from somewhere, I found a sprint and I raced (safely!) past a row of eight riders. Just as I settled in to a nice open road I hear "BOOS! You were riding REALLY FAST!" coming from behind me. Shannon caught up to me after waiting for our friends while I hit the downhill first. that made my day because he's much faster than me.

- entering central california - dry dry dry, but oh so photogenic.



- i broke the rules by taking this while riding but i'm SO pleased with the result (and i didn't get busted, or hurt)



- rest stop "dia de los muertos" where I told everyone in front of the camera to "pretend your dead" before I realized the rest stop theme.



Day four

- this day started out with pain in my hands so great that i was crying by 10 miles. i mistakenly thought that if i waited for the SAG bus at rest stop 1, i'd be driven to lunch to get taped/mended/magically cured and then ride the rest of the way to camp. what i didn't realize is that once on the SAG bus, you're going to camp. so, this was a sad day for me, tho, it was good to rest my hand.

- in that first 10 miles, Josh asked me what my goal for the day was and I laughed as I said, "honestly? to get to rest stop 1." He commended me for my realistic perspective and then congratulated me when we go there.

- i took this from the bus after deciding i wanted a photo of the fog AND a cyclist.



- synchronistically, i spotted Emily in her big bird costume from the bus TWICE, without knowing where on the route she was. that made the bus ride a little bit more bearable.



- once at camp, it was so windy that putting up the tents was a two person job. Silas and his recumbant had made it to camp even before the SAG bus so he helped me put up all three of the remaining tents for our team. that made me feel good. then we took pictures of the people sliding down the oil and water slip and slide that was created on the grassy knoll across the campground.



Day five Red Dress Day
- our gear roadies looked (especially) awesome this day



- favorite portrait



- favorite landscape



Day six Rained Out
Here's the story: This day included a small one lane bridge that the CHP had to close from other traffic so that our 2150 riders could pass safely. They agreed to close it during a specific time window - I believe it was between 9 and 1. The previous night, we slept thru some serious rain and even got rained on at breakfast but by the time we were ready to roll (our group, not the riders waiting to go out right at 6:30 am) the rain was gone and the sun was coming out.
However, this was not the case on the big hill covered in soaking wet riders with flat tires.
Those riders were given two options: turn around and go back to camp or wait here (in the cold and rain) for the SAG bus. Half of the riders went back to camp to wait with the rest of us for three to five hours for a bus ride to Ventura.

- We got in line for the bus about four buses back and I think I heard that it took 20 buses or so to get everyone to the campsite in Ventura, so we were lucky to be in the front. We got to Ventura around 2 or 2:30, laid our soggy clothes out to dry in the warm SoCal sun and I quickly hopped into the ocean.
The warm, salty ocean that I got to swim in for about 30 minutes of heaven before I got hungry for dinner.

- the candlelight vigil on the beach that night was really special. very solemn and so very quiet, except for the sounds of sniffles here and there. seeing this got my tears flowing. I fought with myself about taking a photo and finally decided that i'd appreciate having the image after the fact, and I do.



Day seven
- i finally got to paint a rainbow on my face (while wearing my SF Bike Coalition SF Bike Map Jersey no less!)



- best Jamba Juice stop ever (Greggy got one with peanut butter and banana that will be my next choice, for sure - highly recommended!) This was just a few blocks before closing ceremonies and we got to cheer on the few hundred riders that were behind us (read: not many!).


Shanny, me, Justin, Greg, Silas (Emily had to leave the morning of Day 6 to get back to SF for a family wedding, and somehow I lost Josh just a mile or so before this spot - we missed them both!)

Well folks, there you have it. I hope you enjoyed this little recap. I can definitnely see myself doing this ride again someday, perhaps 2011, perhaps even sooner!

To all of my sponsors - thank you so very much for helping to provide education and service to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS as well as help people with HIV/AIDS live happier, healthier lives.

Dream Journal - Entry 02

1.
From someplace extremely high above a city, we jumped. As if skydiving, with thrill and safety.
Sylvia led the way. I screamed in stomach flip-flopping fear/excitement.
It was scary but fun.
A red metal structure made of bars came zooming into view, still very far away from the tops of skyscrapers. I got nervous about landing on it as it seemed a dangerous thing to land upon.
Syl reached out and grabbed the top handle-like bar and the dream changed before we landed.

2.
Searching thru an apartment building that looked like an old hotel and the Paramount in Oakland. I lived on the first floor but wandered around the stairways and elevators for a while, getting confused about apt numbers and floor numbers.
Found apartment.
Long hallway with rooms at the ends and off sides. Living room had a dozen (give or take) black dining chairs, all standing upright, piled all over the room.

The good and the frustrating

I did a little "cross training" today.
It's supposed to be the last rest day in a rest week so I shouldn't be doing any training but I was late for the train so I started jogging.
I missed it so I went to the store for some water since the Saturday Caltrain schedule gave me a full hour until the next train and the only water in site at the ALC orientation had big "volunteers only" signs on it. I should have had my bottle, like I do every other day, but this is a new thing for me and I was off my game.
On my way back to the train station, I could see a white haired, boot wearing, rose tintedly bespeckled cyclist spinning very slowly up a small hill. I thought to give him some words of encouragement but didn't for fear of sounding patronizing. He stopped and asked me if I was going to the train station. When I gave the affirmative, the following conversation ensued.
"Please take my ticket. They wouldn't let me on the train with my bike. This will save you a couple of dollars."
"They wouldn't let you on? Why not?"
"They said there were already too many bikes so I'm just going to go home disappointed." pulls out the exact ticket I use, hands it to me and says "This'll getcha to zone two."
"Thank you so much! I'm sorry you couldn't get on the train!"
"Well, I'll just go home. Gosh, I like your glasses and you sure do wear them well."
"Likewise!"

I'm still upset that this weekend warrior trying to go somewhere special on his bike wasn't allowed because of Caltrain's ridiculous bike policy. But I'm grateful for his generous attitude and sweet demeanor. I hope someone gifts him with something extra super special today.

Cycling Buddies

These are my teammates.

My coach, riding buddy, partner and best friend, Shanny Bannanny Sis Boom Bammy aka Shannon Shalako. If it weren't for him, I wouldn't feel as prepared as I do for this crazy seven day ride from SF to LA!

realistic energy chew, no?


Justine Bateman Veber, Jetson, Juicy, or Justin Case, whatever you call him, he's my happy maker when I need it. He started out without a bike and is now a HAWD COAH cyclist, riding about 100 miles a week by riding home (SF Mission District) from work (Millbrae or Redwood City) a few times a week.

helmets are the best hair stylers



This is Emily.

She gets two pictures because she's
super fun/silly


AND
super hot



Also, she's got enough energy to be at least two, if not three teammates. We heart her for doing this ride for the 8th time and showing us the ropes.


This is our beloved roadie Greg. He's definitely the wind beneath our wings. He loves orange and cute illustrations of monsters and anthropomorphized animals and inanimate objects. He said "I'm not going to bike but I'll drive!" and thus the PIKLWGN is driving sweep so Greggie will be sweeping us off our wheels (and taking us to the hotel - KIDDING!)

sweet perfection in the tub

Here you'll find, on the left, Jimmy Kitty. He's our bestest cheerleader who's going to meet us in LA when we cannot walk anymore and take us to a fancy hotel and put us in the salt water pool. We heart Jimmy Kitty for being such a fluffernutter.
On the right is our animal loving, soon to be vet friend Eric. He's not going to be on the medical team (snicker) but will be roadie-ing at the ALC Store. He's the one who will avert his eyes when we five finger discount bandanas (KIDDING! we'll totally buy them! [if they're cute!])


close up and serious
[Eric's not usually that serious, but sometimes he can be a little judgemental]

Almost a century

On Monday, May 4th, Shannon and I had biking fittings with the awesome Lorri Lee Lown, of Velogirls - Northern California's largest women's cycling club. Shannon discovered her on the ALC8 discussion forum when she responded to his post regarding his saddle. He told me about her because he knew that I needed a proper fitting because of some of the challenges I was having with comfort on longer rides. She has a lot of experience and expertise fitting women, which is a very needed skill in the male dominated world of cycling. She did a GREAT job with both of us - we both feel stronger. I, however, am having some adjustment time - my saddle is brand new and it proved a bit tough for 85 miles...

Seven days later, Team Project Roadway had our first all team (minus roadie) training ride together.

We rode a 85 miles from San Francisco to Pt Reyes and back.

Here's our path (you can click and drag as well as zoom in and out right here!):

View Larger Map

That's as long as our first day to Santa Cruz - I did it - but barely.
If it weren't for my freaking awesome teammates' support, I would have taken the bus home from Fairfax on the way back. Emily gave me Advil to kill the pain in my back (new riding position) and my butt (new saddle - apparently they need to be "broken in") and after our pit stop, Justin told me that I'm "not allowed" to take the bus and that they'll ride whatever pace I need. Because of the sweetness in that sentiment, I didn't remind them that they'd essentially already been doing that every time they stopped to wait for me to catch up. By then the Advil had kicked in and I felt okay, if not actually excited, to go ahead and ride all the way home.

And I did! We all did!

I felt really slow the whole way; it seemed that I was always catching up to my teammates while they awaited my arrival. But they were all smiles.

PHEW! This stuff is hard! But so rewarding. :)

:Begin bike nerd details:

Now I'm focusing on working my core as that's the key to my new (and more athletically accurate) riding position: Curved back, all weight in the legs, hands & arms are only there for balance, not weight support.

I've got new handlebars coming in the mail to allow my hands to be aligned with my acromion so as to help with that "non weight supporting" ideal. Apparently, the bar is pretty rare because it's so narrow (like my shoulders, surprisingly) so we had to get a new stem that not only put me 2 inches farther out (Lorri thought I needed more reach, ironically, as that's what I've been bugging Shan to reduce, but her explanation along with her other adjustments make a lot of sense to me as far as what "comfort" should feel like on a road bike, compared to my 10 years on a mountain/hybrid) but also will accommodate the new oversize bar.

Shannon's already installed my new, "no float" cleats to help keep my legs focused in the same plane, rather than getting to move a few degrees here or there. I'd had a little problem with my left leg and Lorri thought this type of cleat would be a good way to train my legs to operate correctly. And I've not had a problem with using cleats and don't think that this change will be hard to get used to.

:End of bike nerd details:

Now I just need to finish up getting the necessary gear - jerseys and shorts mostly. Gosh, I hope I still like riding after ALC8 - I'd hate to have all of this gear and nothing to do with it!

Aiming to do another 60 mile ride as well as a couple of 25 mile rides this week and next to finish up with the training part of this wild ride.

OH - and, if you've got a few $$ to spare - I could really use another $1700 to get to my $5k goal http://tofighthiv.org/goto/adrienecrimson
Every bit helps!
Thanks so much for all of your support - however you offer it!

Strawberry fields...

...for MILES!


For Shannon's birthday last week, we went to Santa Cruz to see his step mom and go for a long training ride thru a new area.
We decided we'd go thru Watsonville and discovered that our route took us straight thru the ripe strawberry fields. OMG - YUM! It smelled amazing.

We took a break at a roadside stand to hydrate and have a snack - the snack was a quart of organic strawberries that were probably only a few days from the field. YaUm!



The ride was 61 miles total and even tho I cried for about a mile near the end, I made it. I wasn't in a lot of pain - just some strain that was gone the next morning.

Next step is getting a proper bike fitting so I can eliminate that strain on my wrists and left leg. Will let you know how that one goes.

I still need a bit of help with my fundraising - I'd LOVE to get to $5k so I can ride around in a special jersey that shows that I inspired people to donate $5k to help eliminate HIV/AIDS in our lifetime.

Training Trouble

I know, I know - I haven't posted much about my training lately.
The fact is, I've been having some trouble. My left leg was really bothering me for a few weeks and I couldn't go very far.
And the weather decided to be worst on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday - repeatedly.
And I don't like using the rollers inside - sorry Shanny.

Regarding the leg - I had an amazing session with my massage school teacher Marty. He's a rolfer, massage therapist and cranial sacral therapist. Oh, and, he also helps people with money. He's a super mellow city guy who rides a fixie (with a front break) and totally understands my biking needs.
A week after my 90 minute session, my pain has been reduced to about 90% of what it was.

So, that's the leg thing.

I've also been focusing a lot on our fundraiser that's TOMORROW NIGHT! It's taken a lot of planning, organizing and hitting the pavement putting up posters and giving out flyers. It's been a great time. I'm so excited to put on my special cowgirl costume - complete with red cowgirl boots and a red, pigtail wig.

We need to raise $3012 to get everyone to their minimum needed to do the ride - I'm really hoping we can get to that number - think good thoughts for us, huh?

The event will have raffles and a silent auction. Those of you not coming to the event will have to dream wistfully of gigantic feather pillows with amazing fabric, cases of wine, a bed and breakfast stay, shopping, dining and spa-ing gift cards, home-made leather tote bags as big as paper shopping bags, jewelry, photos, and the list goes on.

Did I mention wine? We have three cases and a magnum to raise money with...

I'm hoping to get up early enough to ride to work tomorrow morning - as if I don't have enough to do already! I'll keep you posted!

Dream Journal - Entry 01

I was at a cafe.
It was bright and sunny.
I was working there.
Took customer order and gave it to the person responsible.
Discovered two beautiful butterflies - one purples and one pinks - as big as my hand. Followed them for some time, happily trying to get a photo of them on my hand but they would not land on it. Then I discovered we had a fence covered in a flowering plant that butterflies like and I relaxed knowing that they'd be around for me to look at so I didn't need a photo to remember them.
Then Kyle Thompson came out asking me where the iced tea for the customers was - he was a little harried energetically. I worried about it and when I got to the iced tea area, the person responsible was just taking the tray to the customers and I relaxed, knowing that I'd done it right.

SFMoMA, free first tuesday, April 09

Went to the SFMoMA free first tuesday yesterday for a quick visit from 4 to 5:45.

Was pretty unimpressed until we got to the SECA Art Awards Exhibit and the Face of Our Time | Four Shows exhibits.
The former is up until May 10th, the latter, April 26th. Go see them.
Here are some samples (it's still so strange to be allowed to take photos in museums - I feel like I'm breaking a rule...)

Tauba Auerbach - the whole alphabet, from the center out, digital VI

Leo Rubinfien - Wounded Cities - Casablanca, 2004, in the Casbah El-Habous

Judith Joy Ross - Nancy Tate, protesting the US war in Iraq, Bethelehem, PA

The next two are in the permanent photo collection...

Harold Eugene Edgerton - Jackie Jumps the Bench

Terry Evans, Field Museum, Spartina, 1857

Next month, I hope to spend more time there... I think the permanent photo collection needs a bit more perusing.

The rain rain went away!

Since November, I've been in massage school. I changed my work schedule so that I can go to class from 2pm - 9:30pm on Tuesdays. This was the first Tuesday when I didn't have to take the classes offered and it was PERFECT biking weather.

We woke up around 10 and said "let's bike to Fairfax!" and we did!

Training has been hard for the last couple of weeks because it's been raining a lot on my days off. While I don't mind riding in the rain, it's really hard to decide to do it when it's also really cold, my apartment is cozy and I have anatomy homework to do. Our Sunday training rides with other ALC8 riders (and friends) has been canceled two Sundays in a row now due to really bad weather (windy, cold, pouring rain).

We left around noonish after having Shanny's special steel cut oats, peanut butter and prunes (usually we use raisins but we were out - raisins are definitely better). I discovered today that my warm up is riding from our place at 16th and Valencia to Golden Gate Bridge along this path.


The last little bit of Arguello before it enters into the Presidio (the long street in the middle heading into the big green area) is the nastiest little hill. It's soo steep but thankfully it's only two blocks long - I still end up at the top totally winded and needing a bit of a rest.

The Golden Gate Bridge crossing is my least favorite - sadly - as it should be super sweet. Yes, the view is outstanding and incredibly special but by the time we get past all the tourists walking, tourists on bikes, tourists standing in the middle of the walkway taking pictures and not hearing the cyclists approaching from behind yelling "on your left!", I'm annoyed, to say the least. But, then we get the fabulous downhill into Sausalito. That hill is dessert before dinner - tho, it's also work after play when the ride is reversed - phew!

The stand out items from today's ride are:
1. We got to Fairfax in just over 2 hours - much better than the 3 hours it took last time.
2. I rode up White's Hill without much trouble - but was definitely at the last of my energy before lunch.
3. The coffee "prize" I gave myself at Fairfax Coffee Roastery (no online presence could be found! how odd!). Their coffee is all roasted right there and they have a lot of organic options. I got a 16 oz americano and added honey and soy (and a splash of half n' half) and it was a great treat - except that I could only finish half of it (I know, I know, blaspheme but it was time to go!)
4. We made it home in six hours total - which is what we did last time WITHOUT White's Hill AND the lunch/coffee break we took in the sun. Yay!

With hope, my next post will be sooner - here's to good weather on my days off!!

Wanna help me reach my goal?

The path of the comeback

Justin called us up this afternoon to see if Shannon could help him with a bike issue. We took it as instigation to go on our first ride with more of our team.
After Shannon fixed his bike (just some tightening and adjusting) Justin joined us for a ride out to Ocean Beach.
It was a gorgeous, sunny, 70 degree day - perfect for biking.
We rode just over 22 miles starting with going thru The Wiggle (the flat route from Lower Haight to GG Park), down Kennedy Dr thru GG Park to the Ocean Beach where there were tons of people, bikes, kites, surfers, frisbees, etc. It was a total beach day - minus the getting into the water sans wetsuit part.
We decided to go thru the Presidio on the way to Hog Island Oyster Company to say hi to Justin's hubby Greg (our roadie). Back thru GG Park to Arguello which took us straight into the Presidio. When we got to GG Bridge we all decided we still had energy and time enough to cross the bridge and come back.
The trip from the bridge to Embarcadero was chilly - all shade - easily only 55 degrees. But once we hit the Embarcadero we were uplifted by the sun and completely comfortable following the meandering bike lane thru the long lines of backed up traffic made of cars with all windows open.
We said hi to Greg - chatted a bit and then decided that BART would be the best option home as Justin and I were feeling a bit tired - I'm sure Shanny could have biked the rest of Embarcadero and up 16th if he'd wanted to go on his own.
It was great to be back on the bike - especially with another team member - and I'm looking forward to the next ride being longer and sooner.
Till then!

Wanna help me reach my goal?