Down the ocean Hon'

BB

it's time

Yeah!

BB

i feel one of my turns coming on...

walk to the bedroom. in the suitcase on the left you'll find my favorite axe.

Friday Night Lights

Brought to you by the Tambos again. Good fun! Check out YDT sportin
the PBR shirt!
About 7 or 8 of us out there in the dark in the park.
We will take him home, we will name him Clark.
http://connect.garmin.com:80/activity/embed/50420813

Making Chicken Marsala for Mom's 70th Bday

WARNING:  THIS DISH HAS BEEN KNOWN TO MELT PANTIES!  COOK AT YOUR OWN RISK!

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Thanks for all the compliments.  Here's the recipe for those who requested.
BB

Chicken Marsala (serves 4)

2 lb boneless chicken thighs (breasts are fine too but thighs give sauce more flavor, 1lb breasts and 1lb thighs is good too)
12 oz mushrooms (more is fine)
2 tbsp butter (1/2 stick)
1 tsp olive oil
2 cup dry marsala wine
1 tsp lemon juice
2 tbsp capers (optional)
garlic powder
onion powder
salt

pepper
1 tbsp cornstarch

Grill chicken til it's not quite done (still a little pink in the middle). Remove from heat and let sit for 5 min on a plate.  Then slice into smaller pieces and keep all the juices that come out on the plate.

Cut mushrooms into 1/4 thick slices and sautee med-high in 2 tbsp butter and 1 tsp olive oil.  Add capers (optional) too.  In a few minutes when mushrooms begin to turn greyish add garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper liberally.  Pour in 1tsp lemon juice and stir in the seasonings.  Pour in 1 cup marsala and drain the chicken juices from the plate in too.  Simmer med-high for around 4 minutes stirring occasionally. 

Add the pre-grilled sliced chicken.  Stir in 3/4 cup more marsala and allow to simmer medium heat about 5 more minutes stirring occasionally. 

While chicken and mushrooms are simmering, whisk 1 tbsp cornstarch and 1/4 cup marsala in a measuring cup and keep it to the side (add water if necessary to get a creamy consistency).  When chicken is through simmering for 5 minutes, pour the cornstarch mixture in just a little at a time while stirring the sauce to desired consistency.  I like to use a small wire whisk for this.  Discard any extra cornstarch mixture if you don't need it all

Now it's ready to serve, but I think it tastes much better if you refrigerate overnight and heat in crock pot for 90 min on low the next day.

Serve with Chianti or Shiraz.

An Indian Summer Friday After School

TOO CUTE!
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYipToShfVY?wmode=transparent]

It's time.

Worth Posting

THX, XX

Unbelievably Cool - Stephen King Cameo in Sons of Anarchy

He plays "the cleaner", kinda like "The Wolf" in pulp fiction, but creepier.
http://www.stephenking.com/other/sons/

Franken Monster Cross **Price Reduced** - SOLD

****If this item is still on Craigslist then it's still available. Please save us both the time and don't email me asking if it's still available. I live in Elkridge off of Rte 1 and am available weekends and most weekday evenings after 5:30. So start off by emailing me and suggesting when you'd like to come by and see it. Thank you!

CASH ONLY, FACE TO FACE.No, I'm not interested in taking an extra $20 to hold in your favour so your handler can pick up after I cash your fake money order.
Great urban, trail, commuter, cross, pit bike;-), etc. 

I rode this rig at Patapsco and fell in love with skinny tires on trails.  Then I bought a Fisticuff so this frankenbike is up for grabs.  I'm 6'4" and this setup was a little too small for me.  If you are 5'9" to 6'2" I think it'd fit you well.

Mid 90's Schwinn 4130 MTB frame (medium, made in Taiwan, 1'1/8" headset).  Old school Suntour friction barcon shifters (these still go for ~$40 used and over $100 NOS on Ebay all the time), Suntour Blaze hubs on Matrix Titan rims, Suntour 7 speed freewheel, Suntour Edge rear der, Sakae 175mm crank 48/38 rings, Diacompe center pull brakes with new V Brake shoes and pads (man, they grab nice!  Paul Component Engineering has actually brought this style of brake back to life recently -- http://www.paulcomp.com/racer.html, new bar tape, 700X40 tires.  Alloy stem, bar, 400 mm seatpost.  Hollow cromo rail San Marco saddle.  The only Shimano on her is the front der and SPD pedals.

Tight and ready to ride!

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Saturday Dawn Ride with Baler

Meet at sunrise and busted out both sides of the park in around 2 hours.  I shoulda told Jon I was planning on riding the Fisticuff so he coulda rode monstercross too.

I flatted on the way up Vineyard.  Poz sighting with dogs.  I chickened out on the steepest rocky part of Pigs Run.  First time I'd approached it on the Fisticuff and my saddle set too high from CX practice.  The rest of Pigs was interesting on the Fisti though.

Finished with Cascade>L&C>Old Track>Nachos.

Jon broke a spoke somewhere along the way.  We noticed outside his home;-(

http://connect.garmin.com:80/activity/embed/49767853

My Little Belgians

Joe and Abby rocking the Charm City Cyclocross!

Benson took most of these photos;-)  Nice shots, Ben!  I love the one of Abby blowing chewing gum bubble around the first corner.

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Franken-Cross is Going Up on Craigslist

Just finished wrenching her up.  She turned out way nicer and tighter than I thought she would.

Mid 90's Schwinn 4130 MTB frame.  Old school Suntour friction barcon shifters, Suntour Blaze hubs on Matrix Titan rims, Suntour 7 speed freewheel, Suntour rear der, Sakae crank, Diacompe center pull brakes (man, they grab nice), new bar tape,.  700X40 tires.  The only Shimano on her is the front der and pedals.

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I've got a chubber:-)

BB

no more shudder:-)

toed in backwards and moved the fatter washers to the inside on brake pad posts
BB

My 29er hater shirt

BB

Testing Whether this Makes it to My Public Photos on Facebook

Jens CX Bike Loses Another 1.4 lb

Net loss since purchased = 3 lb even.

Took off 1.4 lb yesterday by switching to 1X9 and changing cassette and rear derailleur from MTB to road parts.

• MTB cassette 365g---> Road cassette227.2g


•  Tiagra brifter cable and housing 279.5g---> Tekro brake lever 140g.


•  Deore R der 311.7g---> 105 R der 231.7g


•   F Der 138.8g---> Paul keeper 58.9g


•  Big Ring, Granny gear, steel inner bolts, and steel double chainring bolts 185g---> alloy SS chainring bolts 7g


• 4 chain links removed ---> -20.8g


•  net loss 643g = 1.416 lb

Here's what I removed

Here's what I put back on

Man, was that Paul Chain Keeper a pain in the @$$ to set up!!!!

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Finished product = 19.5 lb

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Now I have to get rid of the HORRIBLE BRAKE SHUDDER up front!

My First Cyclocross Bike

In 2008 I raced the Rockburn Cross on this bike.  It was my first cyclocross race ever and I raced the B race (not the C or the B Masters because I was late).  34X15 fixed gear.  The announcer made fun of me because I had a camelback on and a light mount on my helmet.  I enjoyed it immensely and didn't even finish DFL.

Kids Have Off School Again Today!

Today marks the 12th weekday since school began in Howard County.  Of the 12 days only 7 have been school days so far?!?!?!

Howard County schools try very hard not to overwork the kids.  I think that they should send you a auto-generated email every morning that school will be in session.  It would help!

Michaux Terror of Teaberry

Woke at 6:30 to the pitter patter of rain.  Got the coffee going and grabbed a long sleeve jersey and rain gear.  The rest of the gear and kit was already in the car from the night before.  Checked out weather.com and such while sipping coffee and then proceeded to hit the road.  Stopped at the new 7-11 on Rte 1 in Elkridge for a few bottles of Gatorade and a nasty sausage egg and cheese croissant.  Drove out of the 7-11 lot and realized nasty sandwich was ice cold so I returned for a 45 second microwaving.

Google directions had me going up through Westminster so I headed for 95 north.  As I turned onto 95 I remembered that I forgot to put a bigger cog on for this race.  D'oh, I'll just ride it with my Avalon gearing!

Arrived at about 9, just in time to see the 40 milers pull their Le Mans start thru the parking lot.  Located Ebae, registered, and then kitted up.  It was raining pretty good and chilly.  I couldn't find the long sleeve jersey, "What the heck?" so I called Jen and she assured me that I had dropped it in the driveway.  Oh well, short sleeve AFC jersey it is then.

The 20 mile race started about 10:15 or so and as soon as I got halfway thru the Le Mans run I was glad I didn't have the long sleeves;-)  Running on rocky trails in bike shoes is so much fun, by the way.  They should call this race The AnkleTwister!  I only noticed 2 other single speeders in the 20 miler field at the start.  Conditions were moist.  Some mud but not bad.  Moist rocks and roots and rocks and logs and rocks and moss and rocks and lichens and rocks and ferns and rocks.  Did I mention rocks?  Passed a handful of riders on the first uphill..."Coming up on you quick!  Only got 3 speeds (sit, stand, and walk)!"  There was a fast mile-long mud-in-your-eyes double track downhill around mile 4.   Then there was a short hike a bike section that would have been quite ridable with gears;-(  Most people were hiking though cause it was kinda loosey-rocky and woulda taken lotsa energy to ride...no need to blow your whole wad at mile 5.  After that hike it leveled out and was twisty rocky single track for a while.  Passed another bunch of guys and gals thru here.

Mile 7 through 10 was the best.  An all out giggle-like-a-school-girl fun kinda trail.  Loamy singletrack with off camber sidehills and technical rock mini gardens and a few downed logs.  I was still feeling fresh and the rigid single speed was tearing it up.  Then around mile 9 I went down on my right big toe and shin pretty hard on a rock garden trip up.  Heard the bike frame hit rock too.  Hematoma the size of a fried egg yolk popped up on shin instantly (pix below show still swollen 6 hours later--caution: don't stare directly at my legs without safety goggles;-).  No broken bone or broken bike thankfully so I pressed on.   Passed a few guys in this area...some with flats;-(

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Then came a water stop at mile 12 and back into woods for more rocky singletrack. It was becoming abundantly clear that the first 14 miles had overall been mostly downhill.  I wondered how bad the climb payback was going to be.  Mile 14 began the totally sick sections that I'd love to come back with a group of friends and take our time playing and attempting to clean...one after the other.  Crazy roots, chutes, rocks, logs, hairpins all in a 50 foot section of slight uphill followed up with another one just as gnarly 100 feet later.  Mile 15 was the beginning of the payback, a very technical (not impossible with the benefit of gears-but highly improbable) switchback climb section.  Hiked alot thru here.

Then there was a schweet long technical downhill section.  Doubletrack loose rock creek bed feel to it.  Not so much fun with a rigid fork but the guy behind me didn't even get close to catching and passing so that was reassuring.  Then miles 18 to 20 were pretty steady overgrown fire road climbing with a hike a bike section or 2 thrown in for good measure.  Mile 19 was a tease.  You can hear the crowd and see the cars in the parking lot at the end of the double track uphill trail you're on, but then 100 yards shy of the end, the arrows point you left onto winding singletrack.  Ugh!  And then you even start to go back downhill for a bit.  Double ugh!  But then it's all good with an easy enough climb into a twisty finish.  Ahhhhh!

http://connect.garmin.com:80/activity/embed/48787932

Ebae had finished a few minutes before me and saw me pull in.  I was stoked because I finished in under 3 hours.  That was my goal for the day;-)  Ebae and I got cleaned up and changed and regrouped for some half decent race grub and almost-cold Coors Light on tap.  When the 20 miler results were announced there was a schwag table that Gettysburg Cycles filled with parts, clothes, etc.  Ebae got 1st in the Series for 20 mile Vet class.  He got 4th in today's race for 20 mile vet. 

I never win anything unless I race coed with my secret-weapon-wife, but today I placed 5th and love that Michaux lets you visit the schwag table five places deep.  Woo hoo!!!  When they post the results online I won't be surprised if there were only 5 single speeders in my race, but either way I felt pretty pleased.  I picked up a cyclo computer for my nephew, thanked the sponsors, bade farewell to Ebae, and hit the road.  Home before 5:00 was the promise I had to keep.

I love Michaux and have thoughts about Iron Cross 2010 and the 2011 Endurance Series.  But I totally don't get the inside joke on the race t-shirt?!?!?!

 

Here's a few shots of the Michaux mud I brought home with me.

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