A Campaign for Common Sense

Tea Time Pt. 1

2011-09-15T05:51:00.004-05:00

Many rainy afternoons spent drinking tea and studying Chinese.

Two hours after I could have left work and I'm finally gone. I find myself at risk of repeating one of my most embarrassing moments since moving to Taiwan:

Three weeks after moving here and into my second apartment (the first with my own room), I quietly entered a tea shop just down the street, curious as I had heard many good things about Taiwanese tea. Beyond numbers, some basic foods and the word for tea (chá), I knew not a lick of Chinese, and it became very apparent as soon as the woman inside the shop began talking to me. I use the term "talking" loosely as I feel it implies conversation and comprehension, neither of which was present. I tried acting out that I was curious and just wanted to look, pointing to my eyes, saying "no buy," but she continued picking up different packages of tea and offering to put them in a bag for me to buy. She called in a young girl off the street who spoke some broken English. "Do you need my help?" I tried to explain to her that I just wanted to see what she had, to no avail. At this point I panicked and felt my best option was to retreat. I backpedaled slowly towards the door, bowed and said "Xièxiè" as I exited, leaving the scene quickly. Not exactly graceful, but I wasn't sure what else to do and it seemed alright at the time. I sure hope she was not offended.

And now, it is my first night in the new apartment, and I am on a high from escaping the negative energy of the old apartment, so I decided to ride around town after leaving work. I need to buy a few things from the local Carrefour so I am thrust into that familiar scene: walking through the ultra modern first floor filled with cosmetics vendors, all dressed to impress, though noticeably lacking smiles, and pungent like the bedroom of a teenager who just hit puberty has not yet learned that when it comes to perfume, "less is more". I am a stark contrast to the scene in gym shorts and a plain white t-shirt that I wear when I know I will be sweating, sneakers, and my messenger bag slung over my shoulder. As usual, I garner plenty of stares, just as I do anytime I leave the comfort of my apartment, only this time I wonder if it's the way I'm dressed, because I'm not Taiwanese, or perhaps both.

A quick trip to the bathroom on the second floor, and I head downstairs two floors for Carrefour. Note to self: There is a restroom directly in front of the escalator exit in the basement, no need to go to the second floor. As I round the corner, I remember that there is a tea shop on the right and I have been wanting to buy some tea to send to my mother for her birthday. Cue flashbacks.

Approaching the small shop, which is more of a stand, cut out of the wall with three walls of shelves and a serving station in the center, I offer a smile, a slight bow of the head, and "Nǐ hǎo". Two ladies are sitting just inside the shop where the outer wall creates a bit of an alcove. They smile and reply "Nǐ hǎo", as well as some other phrases that I can only assume to be a greeting. So far, so good. I try to explain that I am looking for tea to send to my mother for her birthday, and one of them seems to understand as she explains to the other in Chinese and they both smile and motion with an extended arm and upward facing open palm as if to present their tea selection to me.

Inspecting a bag with attractive packaging, one of the ladies smiles, gives me a thumbs up and a "bery good!" Phew, this is much better than the first time. Feeling a bit braver, I ask "Oolong?" She nods, "duì, duì", and I ask "Ālǐ shān?". Of course, in English when you ask a question, the inflection in your voice lets the other person know, but in Chinese if you do the same it changes the meaning, so I probably said something completely different, but amazingly she understood me! "Ālǐ sān" she says with the typical Yilan accent that makes ten (Shí) sound like four (sì) and mountain (shān) sound like three (sān) as she points to another bag of tea. She makes a gesture with her hand rounded as if holding a broom stick, and moves it to her chin and tilts it. It is different from the way I would motion to drink something, but I understand what she means. I nod, "duì, duì".

She quickly gets to work preparing tea, spooning out the curled little nuggets of dried leaves that vaguely resemble marijuana with little colored hairs and dried stems, or better yet green granola clusters, not measuring precisely but rather from experience. I scan the different tea options, looking desperately for any of the very few Chinese characters I can recognize, none of which are very useful in determining what type of tea I'm looking at. I pick up a random bag and she looks over, "Good!" she says with a thumbs up, smile and a nod.

Once the water is heated I take a seat to watch as the real show begins, her hands dancing with confidence, her instruments seemingly an extension of her hands, the way I feel connected to my bike. Delicately she pours hot water over the leaves, caps the small ceramic vessel and swirls the water to "awaken" the dried leaves. Just as quickly and delicately, she empties the water onto the serving tray, gurgling softly as the water disappears down the built in drain. Another pour of hot water, capped, and this time we wait. We avoid each other's glances as we know we have very limited means of communication, yet I do not feel uncomfortable in the situation. I can feel the stare of each passerby but I am used to it and feel quite absorbed in the moment.

She opens a steam cabinet of sorts, hidden from my view, and removes a small white porcelain tea cup, shaking it to remove any condensation, and I have a heated cup, ready for my first taste. For the other lady present at the table, she removes a small bowl, much wider at its mouth than its base, and decorated inside, very different from the plain white cup with straight walls that sits before me. After a few minutes of waiting, the tea is ready. As she removes the lid I can see that, now reconstituted, the tea leaves have swelled to fill the entire container, a change of great proportions from their modest beginnings. My hostess pours the tea from the brewing container, holding the lid to keep the leaves in the vessel, through a metal strainer nested atop a miniature glass pitcher to remove the finest of tea leaves. The tea gently curls into the pitcher below, swirling and glowing with a golden hue.

From the glass pitcher, she pours my first cup and one for her co-worker and motions to be careful because it is hot, but to waft it under my nose to appreciate the aroma of the fresh tea. I can only assume that what she is saying in Chinese matches her motions, but for all I know she could be talking politics with the other lady at the table and disguising it with a smile.

The nose of the tea is delicate but pungent. A hint of green is present, like freshly steamed vegetables, and smells similar to yet distinctly different from the oolong I have made a habit of drinking non-stop at work. I look up at my new friends and smile "very good". After several deep inhalations of the tea's aroma, followed by exhaling by blowing on the tea to cool it down, I take my first sip. It is smooth and light with the slight yet distinctive bite of oolong. Very pleasant. She motions to me that oolong is good for your throat, her petite arms revealing her veins through her fair skin. Her complexion is nearly flawless, and very pale as is the preference among women in Taiwan. She wears minimal make-up, always a plus in my book, and her hair is pulled back into a simple pony tail with her bangs swept neatly across her forehead. From her looks, I wouldn't place her age at much over thirty but based on her demeanor I feel I would be erroneous in doing so. Her smile is kind and feels genuine, though sometimes I wonder if feigned authenticity is something that Taiwanese women learn growing up. Nevertheless, her smile is warming like the tea, and she has an upper tooth that sticks out as if it were an extra, growing over her regular teeth like the layers of teeth in a shark's mouth. I have heard that this is a common sight in this part of the world, and even considered attractive in some cultures. I certainly don't have a problem with it.

I feel fairly certain that if there were not a language chasm between us, we would have something to talk about, but that will likely remain one of life's great unanswered questions. Instead, I look around at the shelves of tea, looking for familiar characters. I spot some: 山 (Shān, mountain), 美 (Měi, beautiful or American in the case of 美國 - Měiguó ), 道 (Dào, road), 中 (Zhōng, middle), 茶 (Chá, tea), 一 (Yī, one), 〇 (líng, zero), 二 (Èr, two), and I think that one is 林 (Lín, forest or a common last name).

She continues pouring hot water over the tea leaves that have completely filled the space within the porcelain vessel which once dwarfed them in their dried state and then straining off the tea into the small glass pitcher, refilling my cup as soon as it is even close to empty.

I am about to grab a bag, ask her 多少錢 (Duōshǎo qián, how much money) and be on my way when she gets up to refill the hot water pot and whose me one of the other teas I had looked at, making the same unfamiliar gesture as before to see if I would like to try it. It's a monday evening and I have nowhere else to be, so I can't refuse.

Day 46: Hitting Reset

2011-09-04T19:58:00.003-05:00

A brief break in the clouds on an overcast day.

Three flights of stairs with my stuff and I plop it down on the bed. It's been a long week, capped with a good road ride this morning and a mind-numbing four hours at work to make up for the cancelled day of school due to the typhoon that never happened. Nonetheless, my new (old) landlord is excited to tell me every detail about the place and make sure I feel comfortable and welcome.

It's not that I don't appreciate it, as I appreciate any gesture of goodwill at this point, but I'm tired and just want to finish moving what I can and go to bed. But we spend thirty minutes trying to figure out why the internet will not work, to no avail. He is concerned because he will be going to the south of Taiwan later this week and does not want to leave me without internet for that long. Personally, I am a little excited at the prospect of coming home from work and not being able to waste away my hours, only to check the time and realize it's time for bed and I've lost my entire evening.

Only after explaining exactly when he will finish all of the remodeling and clean up, as well as how to work the air-conditioning, hot water, refrigerator, de-humidifier, washing machine, and on and on and on, do I finally get a chance to go back to my old apartment to grab another load before I call it quits for the night. Has he forgotten that I lived in this apartment for a week when I first moved here?

Riding across town on a folding bike with an 85 L backpack loaded with clothes, duffel bag stuffed full of toiletries, and messenger bag with other miscellaneous items is sure to garner some stares in just about any city, but the fact that I'm one of only a few weiguoren (foreigners) in Yilan doesn't help. On any given day, people shout “Hello!” and “How are you doing?” when they see me, as many travelers to this part of the world have noted. Beyond their few memorized English phrases, they know nothing of my native language, and I know very little of theirs.

I moved here to take a teaching job, but really I moved here to experience a new part of the world, and I have certainly been doing that. It seems that no matter where I go, I have difficulty staying in the same place for an extended period of time, a pattern that has been consistent for the past two years. Just over six weeks in Taiwan and I've already moved twice. But hopefully this will be the last time for a while.

View from my balcony

I can't say it's all gone according to plan, but then I never really had a plan. Hell, I didn't even know how to say hello when I got off the plane. Considering I usually spend an excessive amount of time researching and planning just about anything I do, this was quite the departure from normal for me. I knew next to nothing about Taiwan before I came, and despite fairly extensive travel throughout the three North American countries, I had never left the continent. And then one day I get on a plane with no plans to return for at least a year.

Not knowing what to expect, I was still rather surprised at how familiar it all seemed. Stepping off the plane should have been more dramatic, I felt, but after almost 20 hours of travel I just wanted to get to my destination. I'm still the same person, only in a different location. This should not have surprised me, but somehow it did.

Just trying to stay afloat

There are all sorts of people in the world, and I have met some wonderful people since I have been here. In particular, there are several people who have been instrumental to my survival and I am deeply indebted to them. Clichés exist because they are so often true, and this instance is no different: a person's true beauty lies within. There is too much beauty in this world to waste our time on ugly people, and sometimes we must take action to remove them from our lives. But sometimes we get lucky and they do the dirty work for us.

I've learned an awful lot since I've been here, and this feels pretty damn close to a fresh start. How often do we get an opportunity like that? Time to make the most of it.

An Ode to the Greenbelt

2011-08-25T15:54:00.002-05:00

Disclaimer: The Barton Creek Greenbelt is my favorite mountain bike trail. I might be a little biased, so bite me.

It may not be the best, or the most difficult trail in the world, but those are relative terms anyway. It's familiar, it feels like home, and it's mine. I know the different sections of the main trail and some (but definitely not all) of the backtrails. I know the sequence of the technical spots and which ones give me the most trouble, something my mind never fails to remind me of as I am trying to psych myself up to clear one. I know, from riding with others who know far more than me, when to call out before taking a blind corner or ascending/descending a blind hill.

My long-time nemesis, no longer.

I know many who have never been to Austin, and even some who have, scoff at the existence of such a trail in Texas, dismissing anyone who waxes poetic about the Greenbelt as a narrow-minded Texan, offering the rebuttal "Dude, you need to come ride the trails in Colorado/Moab/California/etc." All I can say is it's a good thing I came to the realization a while ago that you can't change someone's mind if they don't want it to be changed. Otherwise, I would spend all my time spinning my wheels to convince them of how wrong they are. Instead, I just smile and encourage the non-believers to visit Austin if given the chance and take a spin on the Greenbelt.

Yupp, this is in Austin

Or better yet, don't visit. The army of unconscious dabblers who clog the Greenbelt during the best of weather are bad enough, with their dogshit ornaments hanging from trees or laying on the side of the trail to fester in the plastic cocoon rather than decompose naturally. We don't need any additional traffic on the trail. Who ever decided that it was a good idea for half of your group to stand on one side of the trail and the other half on the other side of the trail as I try to pass, anyway? Where were you when we had the lesson on logic that would have helped you decide that you should all just step aside to the right, leaving the left side of the trail open for me to pass you safely? And it's not just pedestrians. Everyone loves the mountain biker who stops to fix a flat, fiddle with his bike, or just rest right in the middle of the perfect line through a section. I guess this can be attributed to poor education of trail etiquette, but it sure seems an awful lot like common sense to me.

Another long-time nemesis no more.

And I can do without your sneers about mountain bikers, or right of way, or the non-verbal attitude you give me as I pass. You're the one who couldn't read the signs about the leash law out there, and you're probably the kind of person who will blame me for hurting your dog when it chases after me and I kick it or hit it with my frame pump or it causes me to crash.

Of course, for every idiot on the Greenbelt, I'd like to think there are at least two responsible trail users. You know who you are: other mountain bikers who yield the right of way appropriately or who simply offer a friendly greeting as we pass each other, runners and hikers who keep their dogs on a leash and move to the side with their dogs as I pass, and the rare dog owner who has trained their dog to yield right of way without having to be on a leash (kudos!). To you I smile and offer a friendly "How's it going?" or a simple "Thank you." If you care to ask how I'm doing, and I'm not out of breath or trying desperately not to embarrass myself on a technical section, I reply "Great!" or "Couldn't be better!" or mention something about the perfect weather.

Hard to beat this December weather

I know that some people, upon reading this, will probably think "So what? This sounds like my trail, or any other trail near a reasonably populated city where people enjoy the outdoors." And they're probably right, only this trail is within a few miles of downtown Austin, and did I mention that it's mine? The Greenbelt is my trail, not in the sense that I own it, or that I'm the best rider to ever ride down the Elephant Butt (this could not be further from the truth, in fact). Nope, the Greenbelt is mine in the sense that it's what I think of when people talk about home. It's where I go when I need to sort out a problem, or vent frustration, or just get outside because the weather is too nice to be stuck indoors. It's my own personalized therapist, and it's free and always knows exactly what I need.

I will be back for you some day, Culo de Elefante

Ok, so I'll bite. For those who challenge by saying I need to ride elsewhere, I offer you this: I spent two months living, working and riding in Moab. Don't get me wrong, those are some incredible, world-class trails. I loved riding out there and still dream of returning. But most of them involve driving to reach the trailhead, or they're overcrowded with guys who spend more time worrying about the numbers in the setup of their bike (gear ratios, tire pressure, stem length, stem angle, q-factor, etc.) and making sure that everyone knows what they're running, than actually riding the damn thing and experiencing the feeling that comes with it.

The Hill of Life!

There was one trail in Moab, Flat Pass, which had a wide variety of terrain from slickrock to sand to creek crossings and was nearly devoid of any obnoxious people (save some rednecks in four wheelers) and was close enough to the farm on which I lived to ride to the trailhead. But there was one problem: it wasn't the Greenbelt. It didn't have 30+ miles of illegal backtrails to be discovered. You couldn't pop out of the trail mid-ride and take a break behind Spec's with some frosty refreshments, cheese, and a baguette before bombing a quick downhill section back to Sweet Sixteen before continuing on to Travis Country. There was no Tacodeli for post-ride replenishment of depleted glycogen stores. And there was no rope swing on the trail where you could cool off in the middle of a blazing hot summer day, or take your non-mountain biking friends for some leisurely swimming and beer drinking. And it most certainly wasn't mine. It may have someone else's trail, but it did not belong to this guy.

Break time!

And yes, I've gone mountain biking in Colorado, and the same applies. Of all the trails there, most require driving to get to the trailhead from any decent city (don't even get me started on Boulder) and they still don't offer the variety in train in most cases. There very well may be a better trail out there, somewhere, which offers all of the things that I love about the Greenbelt and more, but there's still one vital criterion which it will inevitably fail to meet: It's not the Greenbelt.

"There" is now "Here"

2011-07-30T14:33:00.001-05:00

The rest of the trip was fairly uneventful, other than the fact that flying Coach after knowing what you're missing out on in First Class is a heartbreaker. haha The flight was not bad, other than the fact that for some reason the EVA Airways plane had no air jets, so it was pretty hot on the plane. If only you could open the windows and let in some of that -40 degree C air, it would cool the whole plane off so well!

Also, it was rather annoying that they played some loud, flashy commercials as we taxied before take-off. Considering EVA Airways is based out of Taipei, I can only guess that this is a Taiwanese influence and not Japanese, especially after the quiet, polite, subdued nature of my experience in Japan. I should counter this by adding that when boarding the plane, they were playing classical music at a very pleasant volume. I found this to be very soothing, contradictory to how I feel about most other aspects of air travel.

Island in the distance, off the coast of Korea?

On the flight to Taipei, they gave us the choice between salmon fried rice and Taiwanese fried rice. I chose the salmon fried rice and immediately regretted my decision as I felt as though I should have tried the local flavor that I was about to become immersed in. The salmon fried rice was not bad though, and they served it with a couple pieces of fresh fruit, a small salad with some pork(?), and a sort of rice pudding dessert. Considering all the food and drink I had just consumed on the flight to Tokyo, I really did not need to eat any of this, but I did anyway, more out of curiosity than hunger. After the meal, they came around with coffee or tea. I had some delicious jasmine tea that was perfect on my stomach. Very soothing.

My first view of Taiwan!

Mountains!

Smog, river, and city

Wind power!

Industrialism- What many think all of Taiwan looks like

Finally on the ground in Taipei! Only 3 more hours to get to Yilan...

Landing in Taipei, since I had the window seat, I remained seated until people began getting off the plane, but instead of people letting me get out, I had to wait until the aisle was clear to de-plane. I found this a bit odd, but attributed it to my lack of knowledge of the culture and customs. I did not see any other Westerners on the plane.

Once in the airport, I felt much more out of place than in Tokyo. I got stared at quite a bit more, and I did not get the same enchanting feeling as the one I had in Tokyo. I have to admit, my first impression of the Taipei airport was one of unease and slight confusion. I began feeling very out of place. This was not helped by the fact that the moving walkways were so crammed full of people that I opted to walk alongside them instead since it was completely open and it felt good to move my legs after such a long time in the sky. I was definitely feeling like a fish out of water walking along, with many people staring my way. Of course, much of this could have been the paranoia in my head.

Before reaching customs, we had to pass through a "fever screen" where they had signs asking you to remove your hat. I'm assuming they had some sort of thermal imaging system to check your body temperature? It was a bit odd, but made sense. Dan said he believes it is a residual effect of the SARS epidemic from the not too distant past.

I forgot to mention that as we descended into Taipei they once again played some loud commercials, though this time most were tourism commercials for Taiwan, which I found more entertaining as there were beautiful pictures of my new home on the screen. They then played some government propaganda mandating that all people coming from abroad get screened for illness upon their arrival, and if they felt ill within two weeks of returning that they see a doctor and inform them that they had been traveling abroad prior to falling ill. It was a curious touch indeed.

Passing through immigration was a breeze, and then I was on to the baggage claim. My two pieces of luggage were the first two onto the conveyer belt. Score! But, my bike was nowhere to be found... So I strapped up my backpack, found a cart for my other luggage, and managed to spot a sign that said "baggage information." As I approached the desk, I saw my Izabella, all boxed up and waiting patiently for me. I loaded her onto my cart, and I was off. One final customs pass, as they suspiciously eyed my boxed beauty (my bike) but nobody said anything and I was officially in Taipei!

Walking out to the greeting area, I immediately spotted Dan as he towered at least half a foot above the next tallest person (Asians tend to be kind of short and Dan is taller than me). Yet, in true Dan fashion, he felt the need to wave until I acknowledged that I had seen him.

After some brief small talk, I changed out of my now sweat-drenched business casual clothes into some much more comfortable and weather-appropriate shorts, t-shirt, and sandals. I could already tell it was hot and humid outside.

Gale purchased tickets for the our first bus to get us to Yilan as I sat with Dan, trying to make sense of it all. At this point, I had been traveling for close to 20 hours, so I was in quite a daze.

Our bus finally came and we loaded up the luggage and boarded. It took at least an hour and a half of wandering (I'm sure the bus driver knew exactly where he was going, but I was completely lost) around Taipei before we came to the transfer station in Ban Qiao.

Gale purchased our tickets for the next bus to Yilan and we has a small snack before boarding the bus. This bus was much nicer inside, and as we wandered the endless network of streets that is Taipei, I managed to catch my first glimpse of Taipei 101. It is strange how it seems to be isolated from any other sky scrapers in the city.

It could not have been more than 30 minutes on this second bus before my eyelids became too heavy to handle and I fell fast asleep. When I woke up, we were in the town just north of Yilan. Still exhausted, I dozed on and off until our arrival.

Once in Yilan, we were somewhat rudely denied a cab ride by a taxi driver with a van, so we walked with the luggage to Dan and Gale's place. We were all a little hungry, so they took me to the night market to grab a bite to eat. I ate a somewhat sweet, spicy, garlic-y, and all around tasty "Taiwanese style hot dog". It was a sweet garlic pork sausage that was stuffed inside a rice sausage, topped with Taiwanese pickles and hot sauce. Greasy, savory, and tasty. I was satisfied.

Gale and Dan picked up some other munchies, including fried chicken and some sort of fried octopus balls, both of which were pretty delicious. I never expected so much fried, greasy food! I thought I would be leaving that all behind in the US...

It was not long after we arrived back at Dan and Gale's apartment that I fell asleep, feeling as though I could sleep for weeks.

Getting There

2011-07-24T22:35:00.009-05:00

Three weeks of seemingly non-stop home improvement work and wrapping up the logistics both of renting my house and moving overseas culminated nicely. One last night ride on the Greenbelt (I had my ass handed to me), one last San Marino party (Live Oak keg + moonbounce slip 'n slide = Slip Cup), many last meals and visits with friends ending with great hugs and "goodbyes" (or in my case, "Come visit!" instead of goodbye).

After the mayhem of leaving Austin was over, it was time to tie up loose ends around Grapevine. Figuring out exactly how much stuff I could take and what exactly I would need (I overpacked, as usual) and finding places to store things I just couldn't get rid of around my parents house (a few bicycles, nostalgic pictures and card/notes from old friends, and other knick knacks such as my collection of indigenous artwork from the various places I've traveled).

One final road ride with old friends in Grapevine, one of whom recently started riding and I had never before ridden with, and then Izabella was packed up and prepped for travel. I let my friends know how excited I was that they ride now, so that I can share my world with them. Oh, and we might have shared some whisky. That was delicious.

And then, it was time to go. Running on two hours of sleep, I spent nearly an hour at the check-in counter before I went through security. First, there was not enough time (right around an hour) between connecting flights in Tokyo for them to transfer the bags to my flight to Taipei, and then came the task of figuring out excess/oversized baggage for my 2 checked bags and bike.

All in all, Maritza was incredibly helpful. I was her first customer (patron?) of the morning, still sipping on her coffee as she stepped over the conveyor belt to her desk and called me up. She took the necessary time and steps to ensure that my baggage would arrive with me safely and that I was paying minimal fees to do so. Lesson learned from this experience: when traveling (moving?) overseas, the one thing you absolutely cannot forget to bring with you is patience.

By the time I made it through security, I had time to go to check in at the gate (still room on first class, score!) and use the restroom before it was time to board. Sitting down in my leather seat with 3 windows all to myself(!) and a leather ottoman, a female flight attendant came by gave me a menu (wtf?), a pair of Bose noise canceling headphones (uh, yes please!), and a complimentary copy of the New York Times. By this time, I realized about the only thing this had in common with any of my other limited experiences on flights was that I was on an airplane. I suppose I should mention that I was able to fly first class because I am fortunate enough to friends who can get me that privilege as a standby passenger for less than the price of a ticket in coach. Thank you, thank you!

First Class!

At this point, all I could do was sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride. Oh, and the complimentary pre-taxi mimosa didn't hurt either ;-). Once in the air, I watched as we flew over my parent's house and Grapevine, climbing higher and higher into the clouds. And then, the meal service began. Instead of blabbing about that, I'll let the pictures do the talking. As you can probably tell, this was the first real use I had gotten out of my new camera and I was having fun getting my feet wet.


Noise cancelling headphones, mimosa, and swanky menu? Yes, please!

Warm mixed nuts and Glenlivet as a pre-lunch snack

A rather spacious place setting

Appetizer: Honey ginger shrimp, smoked salmon, capers, red onions, cream cheese, and toast.

Mixed greens salad with mesquite grilled chicken and creamy wasabi dressing.

Main course: Grilled beef filet served with a bearnaise-style clace de viande, roasted root vegetables and sauteed broccolini.

Really takes the edge off the whole flying thing. Note: "Neat" != "On the rocks" Argh

Dessert: Mixed fruit with a light Grand mariner syrup. Possibly my favorite part of the meal.

Yum!

Dessert Wine: Inniskillin Vidal Icewine.

Mid-flight snack: Bento box (flying to Japan) with Inari sushi (which I do not normally like but this was very good), imitation crab roll, and pickled vegetables. Delicious!

Oh, and warm (nap-inducing) Gekkeikan Horin Daiginjo Sake

Chateau Villa Bel-Air wine. Very tasty, and probably well out of my price range!

Made from Cab Sauv, Merlot, and Cab Franc grapes.

*Insert airplane noises*

"Light Meal, offered prior to arrival": Grilled chicken with adobo sauce, accompanied by coconut curry and Peruvian potatoes with a salad, a whole wheat roll, and a Dewar's and soda.

This was far better than the beef for the main meal. I loved the combination of adobo on the chicken with the yellow Japanese style curry.

Dessert: Fresh fruit, "freshly baked on-board" cookies, and coffee

Some sparkling water with lemon prior to touchdown

Giant 777 jet engine

After about 12 hours of hands down, the most relaxing travel experience I have ever had (the seats fully recline to form a rather comfortable bed, allowing me to spend a solid 4 or 5 hours sleeping in an attempt to reconfigure my sleep schedule and try to beat jetlag) it was time to land in Tokyo.

Looking out the windows, I first noticed how green it was, with rolling hills and agricultural land everywhere. The landscape was speckled with houses sporting little blue rooftops, many with architectural stylings I had never before seen in person. Still, it did not look that different. But, the cars were driving on the wrong (if it's not right, it's wrong) side of the road!

Narita!

3 windows, all to myself! Flying in style!

Standing at "attention" awaiting our arrival

If you couldn't tell, this was all so new to me, I was on borderline sensory overload. It was all so exciting. As we de-planed many of the other first class passengers stood around checking their cell phones like drones, obnoxiously chewing gum, completely detached from the situation. I suppose if you do it enough, it becomes routine and boring, but I never failed to gawk in awe at the size of the Texas capitol, despite the face that I passed by it at least twice a day on average. I do not ever want to become jaded, I love the youthful enthusiasm and excitement that comes with being fully present in these new experiences, or finding something new in routine experiences.

With my first step off the plane, I was almost instantly enchanted with Japan. It was strange how quickly and strong it came over me. The crusader for logic in reasoning in me was suddenly overcome by passion, emotion, and excitement at the newness of it all. The people were very friendly, polite, and helpful (I found out yesterday that culturally they are almost this way to a fault as they will sometimes oblige any request but do so passive aggressively as it is viewed as rude to say no in Japanese culture. I cannot guarantee that this information is 100% accurate, as with any generalization).

The airport itself was very quiet with music noticeably absent. But after 12 hours of being bombarded by white noise it was soothing to give my ears and head a rest. I found it curious that one of the walkways was out of service to save energy and there did not seem to be any air conditioning inside the airport. Perhaps a residual effect of recent events?

No moving walkway??? Walking is such an inconvenience...

Brownout!

Every encounter with an employee at the airport seemed genuinely interested in helping me. Whether this was feigned interest or genuine did not matter to me as they were incredibly accommodating and helpful, unlike so many experiences I have had in the US where it is obvious that the person has no interest in being helpful even if it is their job. Outside, I boarded a bus that would take me to another terminal for my flight to Taipei. The air felt cool and moist, reminiscent of the Pacific Northwest. I have no doubt this was part of the reason I found it so enchanting.

With just over an hour before my flight departed, I hurried to the ticket counter and presented my passport to check in. The lady at the desk was very friendly, and several women stepped up to help me with the language, though they all seemed to speak excellent English (incredibly accommodating). Not only did confirm that I had a window seat, but asked for my baggage claim tags and reconfirmed how many bags I had and what they looked like. I thanked her and asked where I could find Wi-Fi to let friends and family know I had arrived safely.

As I sat near the Wi-Fi hotspot, the lady from the check in counter came running up to me to ask what my third piece of luggage looked like. I told her it was a cardboard bicycle box that said "Giant" all over it (referring to my junk of course) and she hurried back to her desk. They could have easily made an announcement over the PA for me to come back since it was my luggage and not really her problem, but she went out of her way to help me.

After another couple of minutes or two, she came running back and asked if I had any gas cylinders in my luggage. I was confused, and she told me that they were bringing my luggage to the gate so we could check it as they had detected a gas cylinder of some sort. As I headed back to the gate, I was more relieve than annoyed as this was reassurance that my luggage would actually be joining me on my flight and I would not arrive in Taipei without it.

A very nice man came up to the gate with my backpack (in its clown pants sack that my mother so wonderfully made for me the night before I left) and led me to a private area so we could search through my luggage. I was still confused as to what they could have perceived as a gas cylinder, so I was offering different suggestions from my water bottle to my frame pump (this bag contained all my cycling gear) and could not figure it out.

Suddenly, I realized what it must have been. The man did not speak much English beyond "gas cyrinder" so we managed to communicate through finger pointing and head shaking. As I opened my saddle bag and pulled out the 2 CO2 canisters that I never use, his eyes lit up. We both knew we had found what we were looking for. He explained as best he could that I was not allowed to take those on the plane and he would have to throw them away. He was curious as to what they were for and I did my best to demonstrate for him. I think he understood. He then proceeded to apologize profusely, multiple times as I tried to tell him that they were not expensive and it was not a problem at all. I thanked him and repacked my luggage, and he apologized again and said thank you, and he was on his way to get the bag on board.

All in all, I got a wonderful impression from my very short stay in the Narita airport and definitely want to visit Japan when I get the chance. I had to buy a ticket out of Taiwan in order to be granted a visitor visa, so I have a flight to Narita scheduled for the end of August that I do not plan on using, so maybe I can change the date and arrange a visit later in the year.

Tai-Juan

2011-07-20T03:55:00.000-05:00

Holy hell. It has been a while, no? So much has changed, and it is all changing so quickly at this very moment. But, let's cut to the chase. My flight leaves for Tokyo in a little over six hours. It is a 14 hour flight, and then I have an hour to catch my next flight to Taipei. From there, I will hopefully be successful in navigating the Taipei airport and getting myself and all my luggage on a bus. I have never been on a flight longer than maybe 6 hours, never experienced jet lag, never left North America... the list goes on.

I keep getting asked the same question: Why? Why are you going? Why do you want to go? Why Taiwan?

Honestly, I do not have an answer... Well, I can answer "Why Taiwan?" I chose Taiwan because I have friends there and have a job lined up that should allow me to pay off a substantial part of my debt, while hopefully also saving up enough money to sufficiently explore that corner of the globe.

But still, why am I going? I do not know. Maybe I am looking for something? But I do not know what I'm looking for, and maybe it will become more clear once I get there. All I know is I was offered an incredible opportunity in Moab, and I turned it down for this. Something in my gut just felt like this was right, and I still don't know why. I think a lot of it has to do with the anxiety of wanting to see as much of the world as possible. I felt that if I did not go abroad now, I would be stuck in the US forever. It is time, for whatever reason, and I plan to make the most of it.

I definitely want to start writing more, as I used to, and hope to have plenty of pictures to share as a result of getting a new camera. I will be updating my couchsurfing profile as soon as I figure out where I'm living, and hope to see you over there, as well as lots of new faces!

Take care of yourself, and be sure to come visit!

Next Steps

2010-04-25T23:18:00.012-05:00

“…the only thing we have to fear is fear itself”
-Franklin D. Roosevelt

Recently, I have found those words to be truer than ever. After more than a year of bad decisions and uncertainty of what I was doing and where I am going, the future has become the present. It’s time to move on and start doing the things I have been dreaming about. I suppose the big step is that I got accepted to an alternative certification program to begin teaching this fall in Austin and become a fully certified teacher by next year. So, I will be back in Austin at the beginning of June for the six weeks of training and the job search that will follow. Am I excited? Hell yes. Nervous? Never been more nervous in my life.

Working in a restaurant for the past 8 months had made me a rather bitter, cynical, judgmental, and generally unhealthy (both mentally and physically) person. I made some good friends and had some great times but overall, it was not what I wanted to be doing, and I didn’t like who I had become. I know, I should have been stronger and not let the situation affect me so intensely, but I was not strong enough to overcome that, a failure on my part. In light of the coming career change (or career beginning really) I needed to take the time to slow down and clear my mind a bit. Plus, there are just too many things I want to do and wasting my time being unhappy is not on that list.

Just about a month ago I cleared my schedule for a week and headed to Denver for an interview and some time to myself. I stayed with a friend in Denver who had another friend visiting who needed a ride to Moab. I had a car and the free time, so I figured why not? I spent a couple days thinking it over before I actually said aloud that I would give her a ride. But during that time I could not think of a reason not to go that was good enough to keep me from going. I had always wanted to go to Moab. And so it was done.

Driving back to Texas from Moab, I was feeling adventurous and picked up a hitchhiker who happened to be a young guy from Belgium named Diego who was headed to Monument Valley. It was his first time in the US and he wanted to see the Southwest, a part of the country I wouldn’t imagine many foreigners are interested in seeing, but there he was. He gave me the info for his blog and again I was inspired by the spontaneity and commitment to his dreams. All of this really got me thinking.

I have always been jealous of people who seem to do as they please and make decisions on a whim and somehow make everything work in their favor. They always seem to be the happiest people, and I could never figure out how they did it. This has been on my mind for a while, and it seems so silly now that I have realized how it works.

The only difference between people who enjoy their lives and experience those amazing adventures and those of us who are envious of their adventures is that they are actually doing it and we are sitting around, dreaming about doing it.

Back in grade school, I did Odyssey of the Mind with 3 of the best friends anyone could ever have, and our coach would always tell us “If the judges/rules don’t say you can’t, do it.” Effectively, he was saying that it’s better to ask for forgiveness than permission, something we have all heard. And something I have recently worked out in my head and would like to commit to is this: If there is something you want to do, and you can’t think of a good enough reason not to, do it! It’s so simple, and to think I never thought of it before.

And so, after spending less than 24 hours in Moab on a whim with a girl who had made a point to do as she pleased and meeting Diego, I fell in love and knew I had to come back. Working at the restaurant was proving to be less fruitful than hoped for, and I had secured a teaching job for the fall, so when I returned home I turned in my two weeks and began figuring out a way to spend my time in Moab until June.

WWOOFing is something I had heard of on multiple occasions, and it always piqued my interest, but I had never done anything about it. And one morning it hit me: Why not WWOOF in Moab?

And so, here I am, WWOOFing in Moab. And why? Fear. Not the presence of fear, but rather the absence of fear. Maybe the ignorance of fear would be more appropriate. After all, ignorance is bliss, right?

I may not be able to generalize, but I can at least speak for myself in saying that so many of those times I have not taken or created the opportunity to do something I wanted it was because of fear. Fear of uncertainty, fear of leaving my comfort zone, fear of making the wrong decision. And while I have made the wrong decision several times in the past year, I can at least look back and say that I new the risks but I overcame the fear of making the wrong decision and went for it. But maybe it wasn’t even the actual decision that was wrong, but rather how I went about it. Either way, I’m not letting fear hold me back any longer, and I feel I have made significant progress in committing to doing so.

Time to enjoy Moab. Feel free to visit. If not, hopefully I will see you soon.

Toons

2009-10-15T22:57:00.002-05:00

Not a whole lot going on in the big Dee Eff Dub (DFW), but now that Sweatin' Burnt Orange is over, I expect to have more free time (i.e. more time to pick up shifts at work and try to make monies...). Speaking of Sweatin' Burnt Orange, it was, uh, a wash out... literally. I didn't get a chance to snag any photos, except for the Friday before when I went to the Real Ale brewery to pick up the kegs, but oh well. And speaking of the brewery, those guys live the life, I tell ya'! They live out in the gorgeous Texas Hill Country, where there is a never-ending supply of good, no, GREAT places to ride, and their job is to make beer! How much more could you really ask for? They seemed to really enjoy their jobs, and I only hope I can be in a similar position one day. But I digress...

The first ever (but hopefully not annual) Swimmin' Burnt Orange Bike Tour was crazy. But, it was great to not be 100% in charge, as there were at least 3 other people doing as much, if not more, work than I. Sean and I had the privilege of more or less being supervisors/consultants, which I liked very much. Anyway, the forecast all last week called for a 10% chance of rain on Sunday, and Josh even said the forecast on Sunday morning had said 0% chance of rain. Welll... someone fucked up... It rained, kinda hard, for about 5 minutes around 8:15 as everyone was beginning to get ready for the ride. But then it stopped, and we figured we were in the clear. Around 8:35, Jacob, our resident poet, bestowed upon the riders some eloquent words, and I led them out in Danielle's car. Well, about 10 minutes later, it began to rain again. Only this time, it didn't let up. In fact, it only got worse.

Now, the roads our ride follows are mostly smaller country roads with many turns, hills, and cattle guards. So, they're not boring, to say the least. In fact, there are spots that can be a bit hairy when it's dry. Throw rain in the mix, and you have a very, very sketchy course... I got to the first rest stop and decided to hang out there for a bit to see how things were going.

It wasn't long before I got a call from the leader of our medical support team. (A HUGE shoutout to MSET, by the way. Those guys were badass, and totally legitimized our little grassroots fund-raising ride. If you need medical support for any sort of running, cycling, or triathlon event, I would highly recommend them! Just call them early because they get booked up quick!)

Anyway, I hear from the guy in charge of our medical team that we've already had multiple riders go off the road, several broken chains, and people were having trouble walking, much less riding up the fairly steep, wet hills... This was all before the first rest stop, so within the first 12 miles, mind you.

A few frantic phone calls later, we determined from weather radar that the rain was not going to let up and in fact there was another storm cell to follow the one that we were currently experiencing. I was advised by the MSET leader to cancel the ride altogether, or at the very least hold everyone at the first rest stop until the storm passed. Given the information we found out from the radar, I made the difficult decision to cancel the ride...

This was just as the first riders were reaching the rest stop, and I was on the phone with everyone I could get a hold of, trying to get as many of our support vehicles as possible to the rest stop to SAG all the riders back to the start. We basically told everyone that if they REALLY wanted to ride, the only route we would support them on was the 25 mile route, but that we could SAG them in safely and they would have BBQ and beer awaiting their arrival (Josh got a call from Riley's BBQ who always does our catering for the ride, and is awesome by the way, and they offered to move the BBQ inside their restaurant, out of the rain, which was such an amazing thing to do on their part!)

At this point, we got all of our SAG vehicles, including the Mellow Johnny's mechanic and Tour de Cure volunteers to take people and their bikes back to the start/finish, and sent the medical team down the road to provide support for anyone who wanted to ride the full 25 mile course.

I ended up standing in the rain, wearing a 100% cotton sweatshirt and jeans, trying to co-ordinate everything on the phone, for about an hour and a half to 2 hours, and by the time I realized my mistake, I was soaking wet and freezing cold. But, we still had riders on the course, and they took priority over me when it came to getting a ride back.

In the end, we managed to get all the riders and volunteers out of the rain and fed in a timely fashion (riders a bit moreso than volunteers, but that's to be expected when they paid for the ride and, ultimately, our support) By the time I got back, there was nobody to be found as most riders had left, and most of the volunteers were over at the BBQ.

When all was said and done, I heard most riders were not unhappy with the ride, as we cannot control the weather, and they were just glad we were able to get them out of the ride safely and quickly.

After putting so much work into the ride, to have rain practically erase all of that work was rather disappointing and frustrating. But, at the same time, we had been blessed by beautiful weather for the first four years of the ride, so it was bound to happen at some point. Most of all, it was certainly a huge learning experience, and while I think we did pretty damn well at responding to the situation, especially considering we had not even thought of rain as a possibility (maybe a bit too much wishful thinking?) But, we can certainly use this for the future and discuss what to do in the event of rain BEFORE the rain actually happens, and hopefully have things go even smoother, should it happen again. But let's hope it doesn't.

Everyone who worked so hard on this ride did a fantastic job, and it went swimmingly (heh, get it?) and I can only hope that the ride grows to it's full potential in the years to come. I mean, seriously, Hotter 'n Hell, in Wichita Falls (i.e. flat, BFE) draws that many people on a hot summer day, and we can't get more than 300 people when we're <1.5 ahref="http: com=">Cyclebum has gotten stuck in my head (thus the post's title):

Yeah... intentions of posting a video, and then my hands threw up all over my keyboard. Well, I'm sure someone was curious as to how the ride went, and I suppose I could adapt it to a more diplomatic version and post it on the team's blog with photos that hopefully someone has.

Oh yes, and I am the new owner of a pair of very expensive running shoes... so I pretty much HAVE TO start running now. That should come in handy when I'm in Atlanta and separated from my bikes (I know what you're thinking, and I'm not sure yet how I'll cope either) But more on that soon when I actually have something to say about it.

Re-lo-kay-shun

2009-09-24T01:18:00.003-05:00

So, as you may well know by now, I have relocated, mostly against my will, to the Dallas/Ft. Worth area. Yeah, I know, I throw up in my mouth a little when I hear that too... But, I am doing my best to keep an open mind and remind myself that it's for the best. Basically, things were not working out in Austin, and UT, well... yeah, uh, fuck that. Anyway, I am here now, working at a restaurant, trying to pick up a second job to repay my debt and begin saving money in hopes of leaving Texas by next summer. Where to?

The land of red rocks, Colorado! I have always wanted to live there, and it's time to start making those dreams into realities. I do miss Austin, very much so, and it hasn't even been a month since I've been away, but I think once I get to Denver, I won't miss it so much. Plus, Austin isn't going anywhere, and there's a whole lot of world out there to see!

Anyway, I managed to find a job up here at a restaurant. It's alright, and it pays, so it'll do. I've got a lead for another part-time gig that will hopefully turn out for me, and then I will have insurance too! Yay!

Being in cookie-cutter suburbia, life is a bit different, to say the least. The biggest change is the amount of driving I have been doing and the amount of time spent indoors. It's a fucking concrete jungle here, and it's hard to deal with sometimes. But, with the weather FINALLY giving us some relief, hopefully that will begin to change.

I managed to break my streak of inactivity last week, as I began riding with a local team on their weekly rides. It's your standard hammerfest, except it's all juniors and older dudes. I'm the only person in the group between the ages of 17 and 45. The first time I showed up, I chilled at the back to get a feel for the ride, and got dropped like a bad habit as the juniors attacked up front and I got stuck behind the older guys trying to keep up, and got yo-yoed off the back. They don't like to call out turns, and some even ride with aerobars, so that made me a bit nervous about riding in the pack as well.

This week, I still got dropped by the juniors, but hung with a group of 3 other older guys who were still quite strong. I took a few pulls, but overall, they kicked my ass. But, I enjoyed myself, probably more than any other road ride I have done in this area. I think the secret is simply in going harder. There's not really any enjoyable scenery or terrain out here, so to make up for it, just hammer and focus on the wheel in front of you. I dunno, but I think I'm going to keep riding with these guys. There's also one other local group that host rides I want to check out.

Also, my dad goes to work out at the city's rec center almost nightly, and after two weeks of turning him down when he asked if I wanted to join him, I told myself that if I have not yet done any physical activity that day and do not have to work that evening, that I have to go with him. As a result, I have resumed weight training and core workouts, after more than a year's hiatus. Also, he and my brother play racquetball frequently, and I have been joining them and very much enjoying myself.

That's about it for now. I have been bored and wasting a lot of time online since I have been here, so I figured I could use some of it to write here. I guess I could also work on finishing up that other blog I started a while ago...

And, I've been lonely, so there's another reason you may see me here more often.

Until next time, keep riding!

I'm Back?

2009-08-13T09:06:00.004-05:00

Yeah, I've been away for a super long time. Things got crazy, and the were looking up, then down, then up again, and then waaay down, and blah blah blah. I think I'm getting it figured out, and hopefully it's for the best. But, one way or another, so long as I get to ride, I'll be happy. And, not just any riding. No sir, it's all about Performance:

Kidding... kinda.

Race Report: 2009 Bobcat Spring Classic

2009-03-31T17:37:00.010-05:00

Another great weekend in Central Texas (San Marcos, to be exact), this one accompanied with some enjoyable collegiate racing in the SCCCCCCC... While the organization of the race was lacking, the courses themselves were nearly perfect, so thanks to the Texas State Cycling Team for that! With my experience co-organizing Sweatin' Burnt Orange this past year, I know it is a very daunting task to put on a cycling event, so I can understand, but hopefully they will learn and improve for next year.

First up for the weekend was the hill climb time trial, which consisted of a short flat section, followed by about a 1 km climb at 18% grade, and then a .5 mile flat section to the finish. Leaving campus around 7:15, we managed to make it to the TT site by around 8:15 after getting a bit lost, but the registration table was late too, so it was no big deal. And thus the fun began.

The time trial was really short, under 2 miles, and most completed it in around 5 or 6 minutes. I ended up 15th with a time just under 6 minutes. However, this included at least about 15 seconds that I was late to my start because we were not given start times and I thought I had more time than I had. I am curious to see how I actually would have done. Depending on how much time I lost due to that late state, I may have actually ended up around 6th place. Ah well. Clay blew everyone out of the water, winning our category (Men's C) by almost 30 seconds! He actually had the best time out of anyone on our team. Crazy!

We also took 3rd and 9th in Men's C, 2nd and 3rd in Men's B, 8th and 10th in Men's A, 3rd 5th and 9th in Women's B, and 3rd in Women's A! not too shabby, eh

Next up was the crit, but first we stopped at Alvin Ord's, a local San Marcos sandwich shop, for some tasty sandwiches. On the way to lunch, we passed by a Shipley Donuts, and of course, we had to stop by there after lunch to pick up a dozen glazed ones. Mmmm. It's a good thing I don't live closer to one of those, or I would be in trouble...

The crit took place on the Texas State campus in a parking lot and on a bordering street. At first, it looked to be quite a sketchy place to have a crit, and there were cars driving all over the course, due to a lack of volunteers/organization. But, things got worked out, and the first race was only delayed half an hour, and all was well. Apart from being a bit short, the course turned out to be very enjoyable with a 180 degree u-turn into a hill that played to my advantage, allowing me to pass people who have trouble handling their bikes and climbing, and a couple other short descents and climbs, including a climb to the finish line, that made for another spot to move up a few spots. The only really bad part about the course was a certain right hand turn that had a dip in the middle of it, causing much fear in the hearts of riders, but only ended up causing minimal problems in the end. Oh, and that trash can I grazed on just about every lap... All in all it was a very fast and fun crit and quite enjoyable.

In the men's Cs, Clay went off the front towards the beginning and stayed there for the win, making him a marked man after winning both of Saturday's events seemingly uncontested. There was a three-man chase after Clay who ended up taking second and third, and then a group of six of us behind them. Ken had some trouble in the corner with the dip and left us with 5 in our group. It was 3 UT riders an OU rider, and a Tech rider, not sure who, but we had an obvious advantage and were able to sit on the Tech guy's wheel. However, we were never able to make anything happen and ended up getting beat by both the Tech and OU rider, putting us at 7th, 8th, and 9th, myself being 9th. It was rather frustrating considering what could have been, but to have 4 in the top 10 isn't too bad I suppose.

We also managed to take 1st and 3rd in the men's B (Way to go guys!), 7th and 9th in Men's A, 3rd and 7th in Women's B, and 2nd in Women's A!

That evening, we refueled our muscles with some delicious shrimp, quinoa, and scrumptious rustic bread and cheese. It was quite a meal, I only wish my camera was working...

Sunday was the road race, and my first actual road race at that, (I'm not counting Pace Bend as a true road race) so I did not quite know what to expect. The course was just east of 35 behind the ridiculous outlets in San Marcos, and the same course that is usually used for the Tour of New Braunfels road race. The course was about 13 miles long, mostly flat with one noticeable climb in the first 5 miles of the course and a short descent soon after and then another that was just enough to stir things up a bit near the end of the course. Due to the narrow roads and the yellow line rule, some of the turns got a bit hairy, but there were no catastrophies, and all was well.

So here's how it went down in the C race:

We had pretty good positioning from the beginning, with about 8 of us at the front, who would (for the most part) stay there the rest of the race. There were 63 riders in the race, so we had a good-sized field. The first, and biggest climb on the course caught me a little by surprise, as it was steeper than I originally thought, and I was in my big ring. I made the stupid mistake of shifting into my small ring while out of the saddle, and like clockwork, I dropped the chain to the inside. So there I am, in the middle of the hill, sitting about 10th wheel in the pack, shifting my front derailleur all the way over and spinning like a mad man trying to pick up my chain and also not cause a terrible mishap in the field. No dice. For some reason, even after shifting my derailleur as far as it would go, I could not pick up my chain. So, I stopped, got off the bike, and had to manually put my chain back on. Awesome.

So now I'm midway up a hill, dead last in the pack, with the follow car behind me (who actually got impatient and left me before I even got back on my bike) within the first 5 miles of the race. Great start... I briefly thought about just riding back to the start, but so early on in the race, I figured it would be worth a shot to catch back up. Luckily, the next 10 miles or so were relatively flat, so I caught up to some guys who had been spit out of the pack, and told them to get on my wheel to catch up. There were about 3 of us, doing somewhat of a paceline, and by that I mean I pulled until I started to get tired, and then an A&M guy pulled until he got tired, and then I pulled again, with 2 guys sitting on our wheels... Either way, I managed to catch the pack and sit in to catch my breath and relax a little bit.

Due to the yellow line rule, the pack was spread across the entire lane and there was really no way to move up in the pack, until somewhere towards the end of the first lap when a shoulder suddenly appeared, and the front of the pack seemed to be staying to the left of the white line. I took this opportunity to move up to the front of the pack, and ended up about where I had started, somewhere around 8th wheel. My teammates welcomed me back, and now we were all even, except that I had just put forth a whole lot more effort than them to get to the same place. Great.

The rest of the race was entirely uneventful, no attacks, no breakaways, nothing. There were a couple of crashes, one in a corner and another in a straight (how did that happen?) but otherwise nothing noteworthy. We pretty much controlled the entire race, sitting on the front with a couple Rice riders pulling for us. I tried to get some sort of teamwork together since we had the numbers and the strength, but nobody really seemed to have the desire or experience to do anything. I tried a couple of attacks, but my legs were shot, and I was quickly caught by the pack, and towards the end there were some attacks by other riders, to which we launched counter-attacks, but it seemed that somehow the pace always ended up being much too easy, foreshadowing a field sprint at the end.

Somehow, only some of the riders had an idea of where the finish line was, so several people sprinted early, almost to overshoot or nearly overshoot the final turn, at which point the whole field started to go crazy, and everyone was riding squirrelly. There were blatant yellow line violations followed by an uncontrolled field sprint for the finish. Despite the fact that we had at least 6 guys at the front, the best any of us finished was 4th, when we could have gotten organized and likely swept the top 3 spots at least. We managed to take 4th, 6th, 7th, and 9th, which isn't bad, but disappointing considering what could/should have been. But, you live and learn. I ended up somewhere around 15th to 20th, as my legs were shot by then from my efforts at the beginning, and I did my best to catch a wheel for the sprint, but just had nothing left.

In the Men's B race we took 7th and 8th, 9th in the Women's B, and 4th in Women's A.

Overall, the weekend was a blast, and I think we all learned a thing or two about racing, and I know I certainly learned a whole lot both as an idividual and as a team member. So, I would consider it a very successful weekend, especially if we put this experience to use come our next race in Wichita Falls.

Oh yes, and pictures from the weekend's races can be found here.

Friday Odds and Ends

2009-03-27T13:10:00.004-05:00

It's Friday, here's what on my mind:

There's a new ride in town! James and I checked out a new ride, put on by Social Cycling ATX, started by a local named Brooks. He's hoping to start more of these rides, and seems to be headed in the right direction! Anywho, this was apparently the third edition of the "Urban Night Ride" but with a larger turnout than the previous two, which is exciting. We met up at the Lamar Pedestrian Bridge to watch the sunset and socialize for a bit:

Then it was a quick stop at the fountains by the Palmer Center:

Another shot of the small group, hangin' out at the fountains:

From there we headed up to the capitol, and then on through campus and up to the Draught House. Thanks to some Sweet Leaf Tea that was provided pre-ride (for free!) I had to make a pit stop at the Draught House, and then we decided to grab a beer there, while another group rode on for some more sober (less fun) riding. From there, we snaked our way all the way back down to the Gingerman to check out the new location. It was nice, still smells a bit too new and feels too sterile, but nothing some spilled beer and good times can't change. Check out Cyclebum's blog for more pictures of the ride and the Gingerman.

I had other things to put here, but the day has gotten away from me, and it's another race weekend, so that is all for now.

Race Report to come Monday.

Why Austin Rocks: Reason Reason #347

2009-03-24T20:19:00.005-05:00

We had a muggy, damp, overcast all day, until I emerged from my cave that is work to dry streets and partly cloudy skies with just enough time to get a solid 1.5 hour ride in before dark!

Yupp, it's ok to be jealous.

Oh, and for some reason, this song keeps popping into my head ever since Danielle first introduced me to it over Spring Break. Not sure how I had never heard it before, especially with Luda being a guilty pleasure of mine, and I even had the album it's on at one time I think. I even had it in one of my dreams last week...

Though I dislike the words themselves, I just love all the puns with "ho" and "whore." Is that so bad? sigh... If only every day really was a "ho"liday

Oh, and something rather comical I found via Google image search related to the song:

Click on the map to check out the original source.

It seems the 512 is still up for grabs...

Oh, and Luda, if you're reading, I think it's because they like your gangsta ways...

Spring Break in Pictures

2009-03-24T17:10:00.006-05:00

Leaving before the sun caught us Friday morning, Danielle, Brenna, and I set out on our long, long cross-state drive. We drove through rain on and off all day, with overcast skies further keeping the sun from knowing our whereabouts. Fittingly enough, at almost the exact moment we hit the El Paso City Limits, we saw our first taste of blue sky:

Once we got to El Paso, it was business first, and we grabbed a bite to eat at one of my family's favourite restaurants.

Then we headed to White Sands, one of Brenna's favourite spots and an old favourite of my childhood.

I had not been to White Sands in over 6 years, so it was fun to go back .

Of course, I also had not been at high altitude (4235 ft/1291 m) in quite some time, and the lack of oxygen was definitely felt climbing the dunes

Sometimes White Sands feels like a different world

"Those clouds don't look too friendly, and I think they're coming towards us"

Eh, too pretty to be concerned with some ugly clouds

And then we got sandblasted as a coldfront hit us

It was probably pictures like this that caused my camera to ...not work... the rest of the week...

Yupp, so while the sandstorm was an experience, and made for some cool photos, I have now screwed up a second camera at sand dunes... You think I would have learned in Florence

So, I have no more photos from the rest of the week, but I assure you it was incredible. We got in some awesome riding at around 7,000 feet, including one day where we did a beautiful 60 mile ride with over 4,000 feet of climbing. It was not easy, but the beautiful weather and scenery more than made up for it, in my opinion. There was also hiking, road tripping, unsuccessful snow sledding, and lots of eating, drinking, and merry times.

We got back Thursday after a very looooong day in the car (no thanks to me) and spent the remainder of the break trying to avoid the hipster infestation that is South by Southwest while still trying to enjoy some of the festivities. I would call it a success. I may write about all that fun, excitment, and irony, depending on my mooooooood.

Now back to the daily grind.

Race Report: Tunis Roubaix Crit

2009-03-10T01:34:00.003-05:00

This weekend marked the beginning of the racing season for the SCCCCCCCCCC... (South Central Collegiate Cycling Conference) with the annual Tunis-Roubaix road race hosted by the A&M Cycling Team. I was busy on Saturday trying to get a job and was unable to participate in the road race, which I am still not sure if that is a good thing or not (kinda leaning towards yes, it is a good thing). From what I heard, it was a pretty rough race, and the course was intense with baseball-size rocks on the dirt section. Yeah, kinda glad I had to miss that. This year, for the first time, A&M also decided to add a collegiate only crit on Sunday and I was able to partake in that.

My race was at 9 am, and being more of a night person than morning person (though that is changing...) I drove out to College Station Saturday night and crashed at a friend's place instead of getting up at the ass crack of dawn after losing an hour to Daylight Savings Time to drive out there the morning of. Turns out my clock automatically adjusts the time for DST, but for some reason, it also adds an hour to the time you set for your alarm... so I ended up waking up an hour late... Good thing I was only 20 minutes away from the race instead of 2 hours!

The race was held at the Brazos County Expo Center (fancy name for a small convention center and some sort of livestock/equestrian arena, it is A&M after all...) which proved to be a nice spot for a crit, save some dirt on the roads. The course was flat and well-paved, with plenty of corners, and a whole lot of fun.

Lining up for the start, I had not had much of a warm-up and I had to pee, so I was not feeling too confident about the race. I decided to try to look as pro as possible and ditch one of my bottles at the start line up (more like I realized everyone else had only one bottle and I would not need more than one) apparently breaking Jacob's collarbone in the process. Good thing it didn't keep him from doing well in his race. And we were off.

Long story short, I was dumb and stayed at the back of what I would hesitate to call a pack, and it seemed that every time I got on someone's wheel, they would slow down, and I would have to hit it to get around them and keep with the front group, wasting energy. Also, on multiple occasions, after I had already picked my line into a corner, some idiot who did not know how to corner would cut me off on the inside and then come out wide, causing me to have to avoid them. Aye. Slowly, I just began riding off the back for a few laps until I just couldn't keep up with them.

Coming around the chicane, when I was still with somewhat of a group, photo from davidriggs.com

I thought about pulling myself from the race, but reminded myself it was only 30 minutes and wanted to finish unless they made me drop out. I was able to stay in for the entire race and ended up finishing 16th out of 30 some people, which is better than I thought, just because they pulled so many people and the field shrank really quickly. Had I been smarter about it though, I could have done much better. Ah well, you live and learn. At least now I have actually finished a race! For some reason, I think people think I have more racing experience than I actually have. While I hate to do it, I'm going to burst the bubble: This was my third race, and my first two were both DNFs in similar fashion. At least now I have a finish!

Josh ended up getting 3rd, and we had 2 other top 10 finishes, I belive, including Ben and Joey.

Another view of the chicane, with Joey in the lead. Photo from davidriggs.com

I had planned on leaving after my race, but decided to stick around to watch as the course seemed like it would be fun to watch, and to spend some time with my teammates. The Men's B and A race were both stacked by MSU, but we still managed to do pretty well in each, considering the circumstances. One MSU guy tore up the B race by breaking away pretty early and staying there, with the help of two or three teammates in the pack just sitting on the front and preventing a chase. Caputo managed to snag 5th though, I believe. We did not have any women in the Women's B race, and there were only three in the A race which was taken by an A&M girl who managed a breakaway, leaving Brenna with an MSU girl who refused to work with her. In the Men's A race, there was a break of four- 2 MSU riders, Jordan for UT, and one A&M rider. They eventually caught up to the main pack, causing things to get a little chaotic, aided apparently by a crash by Michael, and the end result was MSU taking first with Jordan in second, which was awesome! For Kyle and Sean it was their first and second, respectively time to race As, and they did an awesome job! All in all, it was a good day of racing, and fun to watch (save all the mullets).

By the way, I would caution you not to mess with Michael:

Photo from davidriggs.com

And now for more pictures, because that's what everyone really wants to see (Not that my pictures are as good as the above ones, by any means):

Caputo, workin' in the pack

Jacob, stickin' it to 'em

Caputo, goin' for itJacob and Caputo, holdin' down the front

Jordan is smiling too big to be working hard...

There he goes

Poor Kyle, having to stare at that nasty, nasty mullet

That is all for now. Full Moon Cruise tonight, midnight. See you there.

Friday Tips for a Better Life

2009-03-06T14:58:00.002-06:00

URGENT! PUBLIC BEWARE!!: If you live anywhere near Round Rock, Texas, and are the parent of children who like to ride bikes, specifically chrome a "Youth GT Performer" or blue "Adult Roadmaster Mountainbike," we have reason to belive you and your children may be in danger! Please consider the following:

There is one line in particular that I feel is cause for concern:
"BEWARE:If you stole these bikes and I see you or your children riding around on one of them I will get out of my car and wrestle you down if given the chance and because you are obviously a poor excuse for a parent I WILL PERSONALLY BUY YOUR CHILD A BRAND NEW BIKE to hopefully make up for their lack of a good role model who is so awful that they would give their child a STOLEN bike."

If you and your children are planning a bike playdate anytime soon, this could be the result:

But hey, at least she gave us fair warning, right? And, she makes up for it by offering to buy the kid a bike. So save a concussion, no harm done, right? I think we all know having a bike stolen is a pretty low thing to have happen, much less one of your children's bikes, so I say we must be vigilant and keep our eyes peeled for these bikes. If spotted, remember: no questions, just tackle!

Seriously though, when it comes to bike theft, I think it would be fair to turn the thief over to the owner of the bike and let them do what they feel to the thief, which would hopefully be more than just tackling... I was just picturing some poor kid riding their bike and being tackled out of the blue. It can happen:

Thank you Perry for those words to live by. See how lucky you are? You got two very excellent pointers to improve your quality of life from just ONE craigslist posting:
-Beware of women out to tackle your bike-riding child
-Always beware of Johnny the tackling Alzheimer's patient

My community service for the weekend is complete.

And now back to the regularly scheduled rambling:

I had planned on going on the Thursday Night Road Ride last night, hosted by a local racer who pretty much fits the profile of why I do not like to call myself a cyclist (i.e. should spend more time riding and less time worrying about what his bike looks like/weighs). But, riding to and from school/work yesterday I was definitely feeling the hills from the day before, and I had nobody to go with, so I decided to go to my roommate's performance with the UT Jazz Ensemble. Given that Ron Westray is the conductor for that group, and his, um, "lively" (an understatement to say the least) style of conducting, I think I made the right choice. Of course, I am also biased as my most recent birthday wrapped up at the Elephant Room to watch the Ron Westray Quartet, whereby they blew my mind by ending their set with a 15 minute vamp of Silent Night. Amazing.

So, in lieu of my review of a sweaty, lycralicious, testosterone-driven group ride, I am sharing with you ways to make your life not suck. Considering I already gave two pointers above, you should thank me for my generosity. And so I bring you this gem:
"Want to ride faster on limited training time?"
Yes
"Are you interested in recovering faster between each training ride so that you are ready to train effectively the next time?"
Yes!
"Do you want to have more energy so that you can do your workouts around your other commitments without problems?"
omg, YES! How did you know?!!
"Find out how you can drop 5 pounds in one week, the healthy way and gain the competitive edge in cycling."
Holy crap, where do I sign up?
"I stated training from zero fitness at age 30 in 2005 and have now been racing top level for 3 years now."
hmmm, something smells fishy here, other than just your grammar...

Ok, so either this dude has combined TrimSpa, 5 Hour Energy, Bowflex, and probably some Enzyte (just for good measure) in some sketchy meth lab in Kansas, or he's pushing 'roids. Either way, who would trust this melting pot of late night miracle commercials? And if he is legit, he should really stop sounding like a melting pot of late night micacle commercials. Need I say more?

Finally, since it's Friday, I will leave you with a valuable lesson learned the hard way by some fellow Austinites: It's a waste of time to spend your Friday nights on LiveJournal, unless you like to partake in discussions (and I use the term lightly) that go nowhere.

While I generally agree with the original purpose of Critical Mass, I have never taken part in a ride. Why? I feel there are a handful of people who do it and just go out looking for confrontation, and that ruins it for the rest of us. Another reason is they tend to do things like ride through parking garages, or on the interstate, which, I feel goes against the whole beauty and reason behind riding a bike: we don't have to put up with those same annoyances as those who drive.

That being said, I have no sympathy for someone who had to wait at a light while Critical Mass passes through. You're driving on a Friday afternoon, downtown, you would be an idiot not to expect delays. So, the last Friday of every month, just plan ahead. It's not that hard. As a matter of fact, when you commute by bike most places, you always have to plan ahead. Cars are convenient, and convenience tends to make us lazy and lose appreciation for what we have. I just love reading all the reasons why people "NEED" their car, when the truth is with less money and a little more time and effort, most everything you "need" your car for can be accomplished by bike or walking. Of course, the infrastructure of our country and the American Wet Dream being based around the car, some would probably consider me a terrorist for such a statement.

Before someone calls me out on it, yes, I do own a car, and yes I do use it from time to time, and yes I feel guilty and hypocritical about 95% of the time I use it. But, I too am lazy and not perfect, and it is convenient when I do not want to ride. Plus, my dad would likely kill me if I got rid of the car (he already thinks I'm a gay vegetarian because I don't eat as much steak as him). So do I need my car? Certainly not, and I look forward to a time in my life when I can live without one. But for where I am in my life, if nothing else, it's an easy way to get a free beer from a friend in exchange for a ride ;-)

Over the Hills and (Not So) Far Away

2009-03-05T16:39:00.007-06:00

For some reason, I was scheduled for two fewer shifts this week than normal, and while I could certainly use the money, I decided not to complain or ask why and use the time to ride instead. That was a good decision. Plus, this is the last week of 6:30 sunset, so I will be able to work until 6 every day AND still have time to ride when I get home! As if that's not exciting enough, the Driveway Crits start next week! I would gander to say that if you're looking for me on a Thursday between now and November, that would be the first place to check. Seriously, how better to spend a Thursday night than with bikes and post-race beer and food? Also, the Tuesday Nighter will be starting up, and I plan to at least check that out once, probably not a regular thing for me though... Aaaaand, I have been having withdrawals lately for the lack of "bike culture" in my life, and the upcoming Full Moon Cruise seems to be just the cure; I may even stick around for the whole thing and start Spring Break early! But I digress...

Back to yesterday:

I got a later start than I had planned, and while this is pretty standard for me, being late still bothers me. Yet I have done little to change it. Ah well, at least I was riding alone and nobody had to wait for me.

Riding down Barton Springs, I had my usual Rollingwood/360/Shoal Creek loop in mind, but I felt a strange pull, and ended up heading down Stratford. Considering the climbing starts less than 2 miles from my place, I was less than warmed up for it, but after nearly coming to a stop on the first hill, the rest was not terrible. This was also the first time I had done any signifigant climbing with Izabella, who packs a double as opposed to Vanessa's triple, so that was new as well.

Normally, I turn around and do Stratford half way and then cut through to Rollingwood when I get to Red Bud, but again, there was something pulling me in that direction, so I decided to stay the course. I ran into Kyle and Joseph out on Red Bud, gave the obligatory nonchalant wave between passing cars, and then I found out what Red Bud is all about. For a long time, I thought people referred to Red Bud as just the section between Westlake Dr. and Lake Austin Blvd. which is part of my "old" favourite route, but for a while I knew there must be something more, I had just never done it. Well now I know. It was quite a climb, but a good one at that, and traffic was very minimal compared to Westlake Dr. I will definitely have to add that one on the regular rotation.

I had been tossing around the idea of Lost Creek, but when I came to 360, that would have been a hassle to go south to get there, and I still felt mysteriously drawn in a certain direction. Plus, I had a good thing going what with all the changing of my usual routes, so why rain on that parade?

Let me just say I love riding 360, for many reasons, but this could be one of the best ones:
It makes me sad to think how many people are pissed off and stressed out, sitting in traffic in their cars while I do what I love and enjoy the beautiful views that this area has to offer. You can life life in your "fast" lane all you want, but I prefer the lane that is free of traffic:
Ah well, more room for me I suppose!

Cruising along, I was drawn into a random neighborhood, up a little hill that so badly wanted to be taken seriously:
After ending up at the bottom of a hill that ended in a cul-de-sac and resulted in the first time I have ever had to weave side to side to climb a hill (remember, I'm still new to having a double) I finally realized why I had felt like I was being drawn towards something the whole time:
The antenna farm!! One of my favourite Austin landmarks since I moved here. Recently, I was shown how to get there (which turned out to be far easier than I had originally thought) by a certain someone, and we had noted the hills in the surrounding neighborhoods. I guess the fact that I started my ride with some hill climbs, the electro-magnetic fields emitted from the antennae drew me in ever so discretely. As it turns out, right next to the compound from where the antennae keep watch on the city (hopefully they don't work for Big Brother) is for sale!
Maybe there is suspicious Martian activity that goes on beyond those gates, and they're fed up, or they recently had a child with an extra nose due to the radiation emitted by the antennae, or perhaps, though much less exciting, they could not pay back their mortgage... Ah well, such is life. I guess they could just want to live somewhere else? But who does that, really?
And I want to know who is responsible for putting up the black sheep antenna! Why the hate for the candy cane antennae? Someone's always gotta be different...

And so, in light of all the newness, hill climbing, and being out on 360, there was one more thing I had to squeeze in before the sun left us for his friends out West with whom he prefers to spend his evenings:
Ah yes, Jester, another famed Austin hill I had yet to meet. And what better time than rush hour on a warm spring Wednesday when the roads are more like a playground than anything else. And so it goes:
And now I have climbed Jester. Was it a challenge? Of course. Did I have to go at a ridiculously slow pace in my granny gear? Yes. Was it the epic monolith that everyone talks it up to be? I'm not so sure about that. But then, I'm not sure any hill I have climbed has lived up to the talk that precedes it. A climb is a climb, and mental strength can get you through most of them. Of course, if you're going for speed, then it's different. But I ride for pleasure mostly, a hedonistic style if you will, and it's not the difficulty of the climb that makes or breaks it for me.
I judge hills based on how they reward you once you've done your work. If a hill offers scenic vistas and/or a thrilling descent, then it's a winner in my book.

And on a day like yesterday, with this beautiful March weather we are so lucky to have, and beautiful land we are so lucky to live on, Jester has got something going for it.
Yupp, I love this place, especially this time of year. And we had better soak it up because soon our clothes will be what is soaking, with sweat that is..
I almost want to say the summers are worth it, just for these past few months, but then again, I know I will be bitching as soon as we hit 90 degrees with 65% humidity, and it's impossible to brush your teeth without breaking a sweat. But that's another day. Today, our only responsibility is to appreciate what we are given and make the most of it.
Of course that goes for every day, and there may not be a better purpose in life than to make each day as beautiful as possible. The real challenge comes in not losing sight of that.

Weekend Report

2009-03-03T16:36:00.013-06:00

Ok, so the weekend is well over, but reflection never hurts, especially with a weekend like I had. It seems to be a common thing this semester, amazing weekends, that is, and you will not hear me complain! As much as I complain about Texas weather, we have been so lucky to have such mild temperatures these past couple of months, and I have been doing my best to take advantage of it before we get blasted with eight months of scorching heat and humidity... Joy.

I have been having very unusual cravings for red meat since back in January when I increased my weekly mileage quite a bit, which I'm sure is the reason for my cravings. Last week, my latest incarnation of this craving was for a burger, and I wanted to try something new, so after a couple scotch and sodas, I met up with James at the Jackalope to try it out. I read some positive reviews on yelp, so I figured it was worth a shot. Of course, it would have been too easy to get there on time, so Jezebel decided to have her third flat in as many days, but that's neither here nor there...

I met up with James at the bar, where we were told we had to go back to the kitchen to order food. Little did we know the place is a wannabe labyrinth, but we found the kitchen just as we were about to bust out a map and compass (that's right, screw your iPhone/gps). We find the kitchen dimly lit and a bit grimy, with delicious, greasy smells filling the air, and two guys who gave the impression that the cooks for the night had not shown up and the bouncer and bartender had to fill in. Nonetheless, it was a no-frills, straight up kitchen, and I had a good feeling. I ordered the four chile cheese burger and James the chipotle bacon cheese burger, with a basket of fries to split.

Back at the bar, we discover we had already been forgotten and two ladies had taken our place and our drinks tossed (thank goodness they were just waters). The bartenter asks, rather snidely, if we would like two more waters, but we gave her a 1-2 combo by ordering two Full Moon Pale Rye Ale from none other than Texas's finest brewery, Real Ale. And thus we waited.

After 20 minutes sans food, per the cook's suggestion, I headed back to the kitchen to find two burgers waiting and the cook serving up the basket of fries. Perfect timing.

These burgers deserve their own paragraph. Well, the burgers and the cooks. First of all, the patties were a huge 1/2 lb each!! Not only that, but all their burgers lay seductively on a whole wheat bun, no need to remember to ask for it every time or pay extra! Speaking of cash monies, you get all this for $5.95! While I realize that's no bargain, what without drink or fries included, you get a REAL 1/2 lb. burger on whole wheat, and the kitchen is open until 1 AM! I would probably pay more, but don't tell them that. Ok, ok, I may sound like I'm making a big deal out of nothing, but here's the kicker: both the fries and burger were seemingly salt-free! This is amazing to me, especially to find it in a place such as this. Seeing as about 95% of the people who work in food service smoke, the food, particularly in bars is almost always over-salted. But here we were, in a bar, and I had to add salt to my burger and fries. I cannot tell you how happy that made me.

Ok, maybe I wrote too much about the Jackalope, but it was just a wonderful surprise, and really the perfect way to kick off a weekend. I wound up going to bed before midnight and arising before 8 AM. Combine that with the fact that I had been drinking scotch and soda, I think that puts me at a lifestyle age of about 48. Oh damn, I'm turning into my father! Aye

Either way, I was up early on Saturday with nothing to do until my ride at Noon, so I decided to commit to making sure that everything I ate throughout the weekend was nothing short of delicious. Of course, this meant a trip to Fiesta for the necessary ingredients. Recently, I have been trying to step outside my culinary comfort zone and try making new dishes, which include several (quite successful) forays into the land of bread, banana bread, and belgian waffles. Well, it was time to add a new Mexican dish to my quiver, so I went with chilaquiles:

They turned out to be quite a bit more simple than I thought they would be, and only took about 45 minutes to make, which included frying the tortillas, making the sauce from scratch, and everything. I added some chicken to the sauce, and topped it with Queso Oaxaca, avocado, Crema Mexicana, Queso Cotija, and cilantro. Yes, it was as good as it sounds! The deliciousness only continued with half a papaya with key lime and sea salt (regular lime and salt just don't cut it, a glass of oj with lots of pulp, and an americano to feed my caffeine addiction. Oh yeah, that's a breakfast of champions right there! And with five hours of riding with what seemed to be a headwind almost the entire time, this was the perfect fuel! It was so good, in fact, that I made the same thing the following morning for breakfast, and the picture above is actually from Sunday (shhh, don't tell!)

That brings us to the ride. My intention was to have a big group ride with everyone on the cycling team who would be racing in the C category to see what the team looked like. After about an hour of riding, we split into two groups, one led by Kyler, and the other by me. Well, only 4 (including myself) of the 12 or so who originally showed up ended up coming with me since Kyler talked up my ride and I think scared a lot of people. Boo. Either way, we had a very windy, but still awesome ride out to Lime Creek and back. Clay showed his strength by dropping me hard on Lime Creek, and I did not see any sign him until we regrouped and he was celebrating his breakaway:

haha All in all, a very good ride, and I think we all enjoyed it much.

I forgot to mention that while I was walking by the seafood department at Fiesta, something caught my eye. In general, I am pretty intimidated by cooking seafood, though I love eating it, but I always like to at least window shop. They had wild Alaskan salmon for $2.69/lb, which is a great deal! Silly people around here only like the crappy Atlantic farmed salmon, but they don't know what's good! I asked the guy behind the counter for two so I could put one in the freezer and cook one, but when he pulled them out, they were about 10 pounds each, too large for my freezer! So I just bought one.

Following the obligatory post-ride, stretching accompanied by chocolate milk and a snack I had the task before me of filleting and cooking a salmon. It was my first time to fillet any type of fish, and the first fillet was not too pretty, but I think I got the idea for the second one. Not as bad as I thought it would be. I applied some lemon, butter, and spices, and stuck it in the hot box for 15 minutes, and then headed up to Danielle's with a portion of my catch to join her and her roommate for a dinner to which we all contributed. It was delicious, and I'm still wondering how Danielle managed to get not one, but two guys to cook for her in the same night....

SUNDAY SUNDAY SUNDAY!!

Sunday morning I was definitely feeling the miles and wind from Saturday, and did not feel like doing another road ride. I decided instead to hit the trails and spend some much needed alone time improving my mtb skills on the Greenbelt. But first, I needed fuel. The chilaquiles were so good Saturday that I made them again, only this time I baked the tortillas instead of frying them, and it tasted every bit as good, if not a little better for the knowledge that it was better for me! And I was off!

I managed to go over the bars within a mile of the trailhead on a section that had never before given me trouble, right in front of a couple of guys coming the other way. They asked if I was alright and I just tried to hide the embarrassment. I could feel a couple future bruises, but decided to get back on the bike and keep my muscles warm so I could keep riding without the pain until later when I cooled down.

Riding on, I spent some time sessioning obstacles that have been giving me trouble (i.e. ones I have never cleared) such as this bad boy:

James makes it look so easy every time, but I just psyche myself out and can't do it. Aargh.

Then there's this twisty little number, which I actually managed to clear this time! Huzzah!

It's a delicate art balancing your weight between the front and back of the bike, being only partially out of the saddle, and using your upper body to get you through tight spots, definitely things you never experience with road riding.

I ran into a Mojo group ride sessioning this obstacle:

They invited me to join them for post-ride beer, but I was only about 45 minutes into my ride and my legs were itching for more, so I had to respectfully decline. Plus, they probably would have dropped me just on the way to Tacodeli... I did however clear that section for the first time going down! (They were sessioning it going up, far more difficult)

And then came the Hill of Life:

I locked out my fork this time, which was a huge help, will definitely have to do that from now on (note to self: do not to forget that fork is locked out once you get to the top of the hill...), and was actually doing pretty well, until I saw this:

Not sure if you can see or not, but those are guys on UNIcycles descending the Hill of Life. Yupp. Well, that just made me feel like I was riding with training wheels... At least they had to walk up the hill. Otherwise, I may have just gone home with my tail between my legs.

The rest of the ride went pretty smoothly, and I must say I am feeling more and more comfortable on the Greenbelt, which is a great feeling! Reappearing in Zilker, I came upon the madness that was the 81st annual Zilker Kite festival:

I had planned on spending some time checking it out, but I was beat, and there were just so many people that I decided to bail. I did, however, spot James's Panasonic on my way home, so I stopped by to say hey to him and Carolina before I left.

With a test today, my plans for Sunday evening included studying and nothing else. But, I couldn't let such a grand weekend end on a sour note, so I threw together a dinner, made entirely of leftovers, fit for the weekend that preceded it:

A piece of salmon leftover from Saturday night's dinner, avocado leftover from the morning's chilaquiles, fresh steamed broccoli leftover from some (delicious, in spite of being over-cooked) stir-fry earlier in the week, rice leftover from the stir-fry as well with cilantro and lime added for good measure, and a Modelo to wash it down leftover from when we busted out the grill for the first time in 2009, which needs to be repeated soon.

Who ever said leftovers had to suck? While in the kitchen, I decided to make up a batch of salsa since I was out, whereby this:

was turned into this:

Mmmm. That ought to last about a week or two, the way I eat it.

And that was my weekend. Jealous yet? If not, I'll leave you with a pretty close-up of the tomatoes and jalapenos prior to cooking:

Aaaaand, the latest song by the band Phoenix, to which I was recently introduced by someone special:

Here We Go

2009-03-01T18:00:00.002-06:00

I think I'm going to start doing this for real now. As you can see from my first post, I started this blog with the intention of preaching mostly. But, I feel that would not make for a very good blog. Who wants to read something where I'm just telling people what to do all the time? Yeah, I thought so... But perhaps it would be better if I demonstrate this by example...

Whatever it is, I think the big reason I'm doing this is because the past six months or so, while challenging, have been some of the happiest I have had, and I really want to chronicle this. Heaven forbid, should I not be able to keep this up, living as I wish, and enjoying myself as much as possible, I can look back and maybe rediscover whatever the secret has been to living to happily.

Of course, as I have said before, I often "write" things in my head, having somewhat of an internal monologue, interspersed with random daydreams:

I find myself being able to relate to JD more and more lately. While it may be good to analyze things and be introspective from time to time, when it dominates your thoughts and keeps you from paying attention in class and sleeping at night, I would say it has gone too far. Thus, this blog should be a good way to put my thoughts on paper, or, uh, whatever you want to call it.

I imagine it will still be primarily bike related, with quite a bit of food-related material included, especially on weekends when I actually have time to cook. Maybe that will provide interesting material for those who are not obsessed with bikes...

So, as they say, please pardon our dust, as I get the kinks worked out and figure out what I want to do here, and if nothing else, I will be able to look back years from now and remember the good times.

Welcome Back

2008-11-06T16:45:00.003-06:00

It seems these days everyone has a blog... I have had a couple over the years, but recently, have really missed it. There is so much going on right now, things are changing so quickly, both worldwide and locally in my own personal life, and people are moving further and further away from having real conversations. Why is that? No time to ponder now, but this will be my outlet for all the dialogue that goes on in my head throughout the day and keeps me awake at night.

I have certainly noticed that the more popular blogs tend to focus on a certain topic and be aimed at a specific demographic. I assume I will mostly be talking about bikes, and just about anything and everything having to do with the greatest success of human invention, as that is by far the majority of what I think about, but it can't hurt to stray from the topic of our two-wheeled wonders from time to time.

Basically, this is a place for me to speak my mind, and (hopefully) hear what people have to say in response. I am genuinely interested to hear responses, especially of those who disagree with me.

I am certainly an idealist, so pardon my perceived ignorance or naiveness, but when did we abandon all of the lessons we were taught as kids? What happened to being able to be anything you want to be? What about sharing with others and not being selfish? And what about paying attention to the world around you and not being absorbed in your own bubble? Ok, so I know I pretty much just repeated myself, but that is one of my biggest issues: people going about their daily lives seemingly unconscious. When did we all stop caring and stop paying attention? WAKE UP!

Aye, that is enough for now. But really, let's just all have some common sense and actually use it in our daily lives.