I'm All In

After a couple of days of debating whether to do the Century to Nowhere I’ve decided that I’m all in.  This week it has rained so long and hard that I think some of my neighbors have seriously contemplated building arcs in their yards.  Lucky for me our homeowners association would freak out if anyone started boat construction.  I think that would be the one and only time I’ve ever appreciated our homeowners association.  My point is since I’ve decided to do this trainer torture ride I’ve had a new motivation to train harder on the trainer even though it’s raining outside and generally very gloomy.  So, I’m really liking this new sense of motivation.  

As part of the plans that I laid out for this ride I included a trip to the local taco truck as a recovery meal.  These tacos are the perfect recovery food because the taco truck in our fair city has the best tacos that I’ve ever eaten.    

Today we made a trip to the taco truck for lunch it was delicious and cultural all at the same time.  

Here’s a shot of the back of the truck.  All of the cooking is done right on the truck.  

As you walk around to the side of the truck to order the following menu is there to greet you.  As you can see the menu is in Spanish but lucky for me it’s also in English.  I always order the Asada (Beef) tacos but there are also a variety of other options which include Beef Tongue, Beef Head, Goat, and the others that I’m a little too scared to ask what they are.  If you can make them out I’d love some help in the translation.  I actually tried Tongue one day.  It wasn’t too bad but not really my speed.  

As you approach the window to order they mainly speak Spanish but they are nice enough to speak English with us without even rolling their eyes.  Our usual order is 3 beef tacos.  You can also choose a Mexican soda from the cooler bin.  Here’s a shot of the selection.  They have the weirdest selection of sodas that I’ve ever seen.  Some are pretty good but some not so much.

Finally, our order was ready so we headed into the fine dining area which consists of a Plexiglas shed that is filled with park benches and for extra comfort has some propane heaters on either side of the shed.  Oh the amenities!  Here’s a shot of the tacos.  As you can see three fit perfectly on a plate.  They come cooked in onions and are topped with cilantro, radishes and a jalapeño.  

If this doesn’t put the energy back in your legs after a long ride I don’t know what will.  I’ll be thinking about these tacos for the entire 6 hours of trainer torture.  Motivation comes in all sizes and shapes.

The Worlds Best Pancakes

A couple of weeks ago I posted a list of “You know you’re a cyclist when…” which included

You know you’re a cyclist when you mentally log every meal as "good fuel" or "bad fuel"

Today I’m going to share with you a secret recipe for some of the best pre ride fuel known to man.

Whole Wheat Banana Pancakes!!!

These are so good they could fuel an entire ride over the Alpe d'Huez and back without even breaking a sweat.

Rumor has it that Chris Carmichael used these pancakes as a secret weapon in training Lance Armstrong and the UCI currently has these pancakes under investigation as a performance enhancing substance. Coincidence? I don’t think so!

This recipe will take you about 15 minutes to assemble but it’s worth the work.

Ingredients you’ll need.
2.5 cups of Whole Wheat Flour (no, this isn’t bleached white flour it’s coarse whole wheat. We are weird so we grind our own but you should be able to find this at the grocery store. The coarser the better.)
2 cups of Milk
1 Egg
1 tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Salt
2 Tbsp Vegetable Oil or Apple Sauce if you’re ultra healthy
2 Tbsp Molasses or Honey (Molasses is way better but Honey will also work)
2 Bananas (new or old and freckled, it doesn’t matter)
1 Tbsp Cinnamon

Next get out two medium size bowls. One for the wet ingredients and another for the dry ones.

Put the Whole Wheat, Baking Soda, Baking Powder and Salt into one of the bowls. Once you have all of the ingredients in there stir it up with a whisk. Trust me you’ll want to do this. Clumps of Baking Soda in a pancake don’t taste very good.

Action Photo of the Salt Addition

Getting out the clumps

Now, add the wet ingredients to the other bowl in this order. Milk, Egg, Oil, and Molasses. If you add the ingredients in this order the Molasses won’t stick to your tablespoon because it just had oil in it.

Once you have all of the wet ingredients in the bowl mix them up really good with a whisk. Be sure to scrape the bottom of the bowl good because the molasses tends to collect down there like it’s afraid of the sun.

Another action photo - high whisk cadence is important

Now, pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredient bowl and mix it up.


You’re just about there except for the bananas.

Peel the bananas and place them on a plate. By the way, Jenny just informed me that unpeeling a banana is not what I thought it was. Who knew, I guess if you were to unpeel a banana you would have to put the peels back on then duct tape it back together. I suppose unpeel ranks up there with unthaw and irregardless. Good thing I didn't put that in this post.


Now take a fork and mash the bananas up until they are the consistency of slime. Don't worry though it's a good slime. Once you’ve got a good pile of banana slime on your plate add the cinnamon to it and stir it into the banana slime. At this point it won’t look very good but it does wonders for the pancakes.



Now slide your banana/cinnamon slime off of the plate into your pancake batter and mix it up really good.

You’re ready to cook the best pancakes in the world just like you would any other pancake. I cook them at 350 degrees on an electric skillet.




This recipe will make 12 - 4 inch pancakes.

If you get industrious and make these before people get up at your house they will wonder downstairs and ask you what smells like banana bread. These pancakes smell incredible and taste just as good.

Here are a couple of variations in eating them.

Traditional: Topped with butter and maple syrup. This is good any time and I’m sure this is how your grandmother would have served them.

Ultra Healthy: Topped with applesauce. Still tastes pretty darn good and cuts the calories way down over the syrup route.

Maple Bar: Topped with peanut butter and syrup. This doesn’t sound very good but when peanut butter and maple syrup are mixed together they give your pancakes a maple bar flavor. This is so good you’ll be hooked for life after one bite.

These pancakes really rock and rank up there with PB&Js as the best cycling food ever. You should give them a try when you have some time before a ride. I also make them on Sunday mornings while the family is getting ready for church. For some reason I have an incredible urge to go for a bike ride every Sunday while I’m at church. I’m sure it’s the pancakes.



If you end up trying these pancakes leave me a message and let me know how they worked out.

Enjoy.

Blackberries, Blackberries and more Blackberries

The other day when I was out riding I noticed at least 5 or 6 other riders who had stopped by the side of the trail to pick some wild blackberries. I’m sure the nutritional content for a handful of these yummy berries is equivalent to at least a power bar and they taste a lot better. If you live and ride in the Pacific Northwest wild blackberries are one of the rewards for putting up with the constant rain for 8 months out of the year. They are everywhere this time of year and there for the picking.

Here is a recipe for blackberry cobbler that my family totally loves.

1 quart of blackberries
2 cups of brown sugar
2 cups of oats
2 cups of wheat flour
1 ½ stick of margarine or butter

Melt the butter
Mix the rest of the ingredients except for the blackberries in a large bowl with a wooden spoon.
Once it’s all mixed together take half of this mixture and spread it in the bottom of 13 X 9 glass dish (or something like this)
Now cover the mixture that you have put down with blackberries
Finally, take the rest of the mixture you have left in the bowl and spread it on top of the blackberries.

Bake at 350 for 20 minutes or until golden brown.

This cobbler is so good my friend from Tennessee would say it’s mother whipping good.

So the next time your out on a ride and you spot some blackberries grab a bunch of them and take them home. One warning though, take a plastic zip lock bag with you. Blackberries make a horrible mess in your jersey pocket.

Watermelon Ride

Yesterdays ride reminded me a lot of cutting open a big ripe watermelon and just eating the center. You know the sweetest part of the watermelon without any seeds.

To begin with the weather was a sunny 75 degrees with only a light breeze. Not too hot and not too cold. It doesn’t get much better than that. We also decided to take an easy route and drive over to the centennial trail and ride to Snohomish. By driving over to the centennial trail as opposed to riding there we skipped all of the nasty hills. In my mind this is equivalent to bypassing the seeds of the watermelon and going straight to the center.

We started off at the 84th Street entry point and rode over to Snohomish. This is a fairly flat trail with no cars and very few people on a Friday afternoon. Once we got into Snohomish we decided to stop in at a new burger joint there.

Now for the big decision. Do I go for the Root Beer Shake and break even on the calorie consumption/expenditure scale or should I be good and just refill my water bottles. I struggled with this tough decision for at least 3 seconds. You guessed it I went for the Root Beer Shake. It was pretty darn good. They even put whip cream on the top to boot. We sat outside in the sun while we drank them because it was just too nice of a day to stay inside. We sat there for a long time because it just felt so dang good we didn’t want to leave. Good times!



Showing off the goods




Enjoying the sun in downtown Snohomish


The ride back was leisurely to say the least. We got passed by 3 or 4 other riders. OK, this is the guy in me but I hate that. Anyway, it was a really nice ride on a really nice day.

Stats
Distance: 27 miles
Avg Speed: 13 mph
Cadence: 73