Coffee, Calimari, Cookies and Chicken Taco

Peter and I take amazing walks. It's part of how we feed our natural traveler's spirit when we're in between trips. I've decided to start including a diary of our walks here on my cycling blog, because, well, it's my blog and I thought it might be fun to record and share them.

It's about a 30 minute walk to downtown from our house and just before you get to the bridge across the Willamette you walk past Water Avenue Coffee. We decided to stop in and try out the Pour Over Coffee, a very Portland experience. The barista was dressed smartly in a button down shirt, tie and apron and explained that we had two choices for our coffee, an African coffee, that was richer and had tea overtones and an El Salvador coffee that was lighter with hints of tobacco. We said, "One of each!" First, he ground the coffee and then poured hot water through the filters and into the carafes below.

Then, he took about 3.5 minutes to carefully, methodically, pour hot water through the grounds. As he poured and we watched, he explained in some detail, the intricacies of pour over coffee and the particular types of coffee that we had chosen.
When he was finished, he swirled the coffee around and poured us a cup of each. We sat down for our taste test, sipping and switching and sipping some more. We talked about how fun it would be to take my brother and his fiance here when they come to visit next month. Eventually, we decided that Peter liked the El Salvadorean coffee best and I liked the African coffee best which worked out nicely.
As we left I said, "You know, that is a characteristic I really appreciate in my fellow man," speaking of the very knowledgeable, very zealous barista. "What do you mean?" Peter asked in response. I said, "To love something that much, to be passionate, almost to the point of obsession, so that it is obvious to anyone who comes across you that you love something so." Peter said, "Yeah, it's amazing to see someone who loves what they do as much as he does."

I was very excited to be able to wear a sundress today and Peter got this nice picture of me with the river and the city in my dress. Proof of sundress weather in Portland in April. Yahoo!
"I'm really craving calamari!" Peter had announced before leaving, so after getting downtown we headed over to Berbati's Pan for a plate of fried calamari with feta, olives and green onions. We'd never had this before on our downtown walking adventures, so it was fun to try something new.
Next, we walked to the Pearl and stopped at Pearl Bakery for chocolate chunk cookies. We used to live in the Pearl District and after finishing our cookies and we talked as we wandered around the neighborhood how it was one of those things in life wear the reality didn't live up to the dream. I think people who love Europe wish that we could have what they have with long afternoons sipping espresso or drinking wine while sitting in wicker chairs around bistro tables surrounding the piazza. I know I was wishing for people young and old going for walks before dinner, or meeting up for ice cream for an afternoon snack. Unfortunately, we found that once we got to the Pearl that the sidewalks were nearly as empty as the sidewalks in the suburbs. The only people you saw out were the dog walkers. Within 9 months of moving into our loft, we were out looking for houses. We also got tired of having to pay money to sit outside. It's nice to be able to go out on the back patio to drink your coffee and eat your cereal in the morning...for free.

Continuing on with our snacking we stopped at Cha! Cha! Cha! for tacos; chicken for me and shrimp for Peter. I did a masterful job of splashing avocado salsa all over my cardigan and dress, but, for the most part, got myself all cleaned up in the bathroom. Whatever is left we'll just say is adding to the "patina" of the dress. Sure, that sounds good.
Next we wandered up to the NW 23rd area, where there are many, many more people out enjoying their neighborhood. We went up 21st, down 23rd, admiring the cherry blossoms and planning what we wanted to do about dinner. Peter had mentioned ceviche which sounded good to me. We have an agreement in our house that we must go out for ceviche. We tried to make it about 6 months ago and after eating it Peter was in such a panic about food poisoning that he very quickly set about getting both of us drunk. You know, to kill the bacteria. Reminiscing about this night we both had a good chuckle, but in the end we decided that a couple of bahn mi sandwiches sounded the best.
So, we wandered back into downtown, and over to the cart pods where we purchased 2 sandwiches for 5 bucks.
Then, we made our way back across the river, across the train tracks and back up the hill to home. I changed out of my sundress, built a fire, and we enjoyed our sandwiches to the pop and snap of a real wood fire in the backyard.

Sunny Day, Skyr, and Thoughts on Life

What a beautiful, sunny day it is today. I had an hour of cardio dance scheduled today so I knew I didn't want to go for a fitness ride (ie. hills), but a 40-min there and back ride to Whole Foods sounded like a lovely thing to do when my 10:30 had to reschedule this morning. You see, I've become a little bit hooked on Siggi's skyr. I have a thing for creamy food. I love all things dairy, especially yogurt, whipped cream, mousse, ice cream. I also love guacamole, hummus, baba ghanoush. We ate skyr two or three times a day when we were in Iceland and since we've been home I've just kept up the habit. Skyr on oatmeal for breakfast. Skyr for an afternoon snack. It's packed with protein and at just 100 calories a serving, it's the perfect food for someone who has an (ahem) slow metabolism.

Anyway, two weeks ago when I was at Whole Foods I bought so many of them that the clerk asked me if I just wanted to order cases so I could get a discount. "Sure," I said, "I'll take a peach and a vanilla." Yesterday, I got the message that they were in, so it seemed like the perfect excuse for a sunny ride to NE Portland and back on my trusty, basket-equipped commuter bike, Reilly.

Despite the dry, near perfect day, I was in something of a somber mood on my ride. My thoughts were about how life can really get hard sometimes. I have four friends who are going through some tough times right now, some harder than others. Some really, really hard. Anyway, I know what that's like because I've had some serious struggles in my life too and well, today it was just on my mind.

I have this theory that hard things we choose to go through like running a marathon or putting yourself through college or doing RAGBRAI or losing 40 pounds, these things I think can have an incredibly empowering effect on our lives. I think it's because at any time you can just choose to stop and nothing really bad will happen to you. But, if you finish that marathon even when nearly every part of you wanted to stop; when you just held on to that little part of your will that said, "You can do it! Keep running!," then you can draw on that feeling for the rest of your days. You learn that you are able to persevere.

But, I think some things, like long illnesses, like the death of a loved one, like crippling poverty or the sense of being trapped by choices that you didn't even make in your life, these things can leave us feeling vulnerable. I think it's because you're stuck. You can't get out of it, you have to just w-o-r-k t-h-r-o-u-g-h it. Some people do feel empowered by these things, I'm sure, but I think it is less likely. At least, that's my experience. It's hard to reminded that life can get really hard, really fast, with no warning and what you thought you knew about life and maybe even yourself just isn't true anymore. That's tough. Life. It can sometimes be so hard.

Of course, I was thinking about all these things as I do when I ride in that relaxing left pedal, right pedal slightly meditative state. I was heading through a bike signal by the library after having picked up my skyr when, WHOA!, a firetruck was running the red light. I had heard the siren, but hadn't quite registered it as being close because it was being blocked by the houses. I slammed on the brakes, stopping halfway into the intersection. Cycling can really be a mixed bag, sometimes. I'd love to live in a world without cars. Of course, I guess you'd still need firetrucks. And airplanes because I want to see the world.

So, I made my way home, still pensive, still pedaling, but now with two cases of my current favorite food. In fact, I think I'll go have one right now. I'm thinking vanilla. Or, maybe peach. No, definitely vanilla.

Goals

I don't know if anyone remembers this, but after completing RAGBRAI I set two goals for myself. One was to get to 3000 miles on my road bike by the end of the year. The second was to try to "go for the second fat roll" on my belly, ie: lose some weight. Of course, if you're like I am and gaining weight is fast and easy, you know that a big part of the 3000 mile goal was to lose the weight. Well, I didn't get to 3000 miles. My back got upset and frankly having that 3000 mile goal made me like riding my bike less and I didn't like that. But, starting the Monday after Thanksgiving I decided to give the weight loss thing another try. I'd lost 6.5 pounds on RAGBRAI and 4 of that had stayed off. Over the next 4 months I kept my promise to myself to workout 6 days a week and to stay within my calorie budget. I road my bike for transportation and for a few fitness rides. Mostly, I stuck to hard workouts on my LeMond exercise bike, my elliptical, cardio dance and I tried to confuse my muscles as much as possible in my toning work.

Aside from losing 40 pounds total (about 2 pounds a week) which feels amazing and I love fitting into my old thin clothes, I think the most important thing I learned was about setting goals. Everyday, I set the goal to get in my workout and stick to my calorie budget and everyday I did it. At first I set 2 pound weight loss goals because, frankly, I didn't trust myself to really go for the dream. But, as the weight came off, my trust in myself increased and soon I was setting 10 pound goals. Eventually, I just decided to go for it and get off all the weight I had gained in 2009-2010.

Anyway, if you've read my cycling blog for a while you know that I often started off with rather nebulous goals. I'd say things like, "I set off for Mt. Tabor with the nebulous goal of riding it 8 times." I really didn't trust myself to just say, "I set off with the goal of riding Tabor 8 times." This is because I was afraid that if I didn't do it I would feel too bad, or that just by setting the goal I would back away from it, essentially sabotaging myself. Well, I've learned how to do this now! Just set the goal. If it's big, it's big. It's something to strive for, then strive! If for some reason you can't do it, just instantly forgive yourself and move on to the next goal.

Saturday, I went for a Tabor ride. As I was climbing up it with my new, much more slender, body all I kept thinking was "This is SOOOOOOOO easy!" I knew 4 times up Tabor was not going to give me the workout I needed for the day. I hemmed and hawed for about 20 minutes about setting a bigger goal. Then, I just said, "I'm doing it 6 times." I could feel myself completely relax as soon as I said it. I knew that short of my back seizing up and me toppling over on to the ground, that I would keep my promise to myself and do it 6 times. And I did.

The ride felt great and in some ways I'd love to try RAGBRAI again now that I'm thin. I wonder if the heat would give me so much trouble. We've got lots of other travel plans on the books, however, so the weekend Cycle Oregon will have to do. I'm excited to really get out on a long ride somewhere like the Willamette Valley Scenic Bikeway and see what my new lighter body can do. I've definitely learned that while wearing a size 6 is nice and loving the way your arms and abs look is very rewarding, the true gift of a major weight loss is knowing that when the going gets tough that you will choose to be disciplined and tenacious. It's about knowing you can trust yourself to follow through and not let yourself down. In many ways the last four months has been like one long ride. There were days when I just had to dig deep and keep pedaling and at other times it felt really easy. At the end I'm left with the knowledge of how to set goals and make goals which will be a lot of fun as this cycling season unfolds.

Flower Arranging

I decided last week that I really like riding with flowers in my bicycle basket. It's kind of like riding with groceries in your basket, which is fun too, but prettier. Yesterday I decided I might try taking up a new hobby: flower arranging. So, I set off today, dressed in my favorite pink coat for New Seasons where the flowers by the stem options and varied and not too pricey. Peter was on his way to the record store, so after snapping my picture he rode with me for a few blocks until he turned north and I turned south.

At New Seasons I thought of a theme for my first flower arrangement. Well, Valentines is just around the corner, so why not pink and white? The florists were busily churning out bouquets for the holiday, but I wanted to do it myself. Hmmm...these mums are pretty and I like these snapdragons. That's a nice pretty pink filler flower and a few bits of greenery. Add in a few white snapdragons and I was ready. I got my ticket while the florist wrapped up the flowers for me and went in (grabbing some miso that I forgot at the store yesterday) and paid my bill.

Outside, I picked up my flowers, strapped them to my basket with my oh so useful bungee cord and I was on my way. It's such a pink day today, I decided. Pink coat, pink mums, pink snapdragons...pink butterflies on my helmet.

When I got home I laid out all my flowers, filled my vase with water and added just a tiny splash of bleach to keep them fresh longer. Then I took my time arranging them one by one. It was a lot of fun. And when I was done I had my first bouquet:
What a fun little outing and my first steps into what could become a lifelong hobby.

Dressed in Fog

You know I'm feeling excited about cycling when I look at my busy schedule for the next day and decide to wake up early to ride. I'm definitely a dinner after sunset, late to bed, late to rise kinda gal but if I wanted to get in a ride today it had to be early. So, at 6:20 I was up, ate breakfast, walked Dexter and by 7:30 I was on my way to Tabor.

It was cold! Very, very cold. People were scraping the frost off their cars and my fingers, which were exposed because I just had my cycling gloves on, were freezing. The combination of the 32 degree air and the wind from cycling had me stuffing one hand at a time under my jacket to warm on my belly as I rode to Tabor.

As soon as I started climbing, my hands felt toasty warm. High heart rate, no wind...if I had gloves on I would have been stripping them off. The park is closed to cars on Wednesdays which meant that for the first time since before RAGBRAI, I listened to my MP3 player. I decided to just listen to my songs starting with A and pedaled up the mountain.

The whole top half of the mountain was like riding in a cloud. I couldn't see a view at all...it was all just dressed in fog. There is a special kind of quiet that comes when there is that much fog and it was a peaceful thing to ride in the cloud, listening to Bjork and thinking about my very close trip to Iceland.

There was hardly anyone else out this morning, just some walkers and one other cyclist that I saw. I pedaled happy through my three climbs, took out my earbuds, and then descended down for the cold (oh so cold!) ride home.

As soon as I got home I iced my back for 10 minutes which was hard to do because I was freezing then jumped into a HOT shower to defrost and get ready for my day.

Pumped

I think it is good to have an off season. At least it is good for me. I've spent this winter working on fitness and keeping a tight clean diet. Since my highest weight on RAGBRAI I've lost nearly 30 pounds. Which is good because in 2009 and 2010 I put on 38 pounds. By the time November arrived I was a little burnt out of riding for fitness and needed a change. I think my body had become too adapted to it too so it was good to mix things up with the elliptical and cardio dance.

Today, however, I did my first real Tabor ride of the year and it was so much fun! My legs were strong and fast. Cardiovascularly I did very well. Most importantly, mentally I was focused and having a ball. Four times up Tabor which is 40 minutes of what I call hard cardio plus 30 minutes to get there and back. In my mind, I was imagining summer rides to the river or on the Willamette Valley Scenic Bikeway. I was picturing a new pair of Louis Garneau riding shorts and how funny I'm going to look in a bikini at my brother's beach wedding in late summer with my cycling tan. I still have two-toned legs from last summer. I was making plans to find the cutest sleeveless cycling jerseys and promising myself that this year the Neutrogena Sport sunblock is going on every time. I was looking forward to Cycle Oregon's weekend ride and wondering, "Can I get my RAGBRAI jersey taken in?" I told my husband when I got home, "I'm so excited for cycling season!" He said back, "You go, bike girl!"

Riding with Flowers

I rode off today dressed in my new puffy coat for a packed afternoon of errands and a massage with my friend Taya. As I'm riding away from home I think about her and how excited I am to see her for the first time in months. I decide to stop at Fred Meyer for a bouquet a flowers. A little bit of spring in winter.


Once the flowers are firmly attached to my bicycle basket I ride briskly over to the pharmacy to pick up a prescription. Bringing in my flowers and my bag (you have to bring everything in when you do errands by bike), it's hard to jostle everything while I sign my receipt. The clerk was nice enough, though, to use a Sharpie to scribble off the price on the flowers.

Taya's house is on Mt. Tabor so I decide to ride up the steep side, go around the top, and then down to her house. I haven't been doing much fitness riding on my bike and I'm on Reilly, the 46-pounder, so when I see Mt. Tabor looming up ahead I feel a touch of anxiety. Come on legs!

As I get closer I see my friend Leslie barreling her way home from her fitness ride all decked out from head to toe in roadie gear. She looked great. "Leslie, hey!" I said. "How are you?" "Hi Sara! Have a nice ride!" she says as we zoom past each other.

Soon I'm at Mt. Tabor and my legs remember all those hill repeats I did last year. Even on my heavy bike it's no big deal, although I have to unzip my puffy coat all the way. Too hot!

When I get to the top I take a picture of the city just to prove I was up there and then scoot on over to Taya's for my massage. She opens the door as she sees me approaching on my bike and asks, "Do you want me to throw your clothes in the dryer? It's no problem." "Thanks!" I replied, "that would be great!"

My massage was lovely and now I have one more errand. When we went to Whole Foods on Thursday we got blueberries, blackberries and raspberries, but Peter was sick so he couldn't eat them. I decided to go back to Whole Foods to pick up fresh berries for him (and for me too) since he is all better now and ready for some flavor!

It's amazing that with all this riding I am on neighborhood streets the whole time. There's one little tricky part where you have to take a pedestrian bridge with a twisty ramp to get across the freeway, but otherwise it's easy low-traffic streets. They mostly have signals for bikes to cross and painted all over the roads are sharrows. What a pleasure it is to ride a bike in Portland.

Berry shopping done, I hop back on my bike and wind my way through the bike streets and home. 2 hours of errands by bike and a one hour massage (complete with dry clothes at the end) sure makes for a fun afternoon.