April 2016 – VeggHead BeerCyclist

April Illinois Cycling Attempt

Posted on April 30, 2016April 30, 2016 by jeffreylatty

I’m not sure if it’s just Illinois or if it’s the entire midwest. The weather and magnitude of wind has progressively gotten worse and more intense just over a few years. I’m really getting fed up trying to maintain a hobby and lifestyle of cycling in Illinois. And the key to good longer rides is to remain comfortable, whether it be dry, cool and warm enough. It is extremely fun to ride with the wind, but a cross wind or head wind will take a toll at your (my) mind and your (my) body. It is easier to put up with bullshit on a short commute to or from work, but the long rides will never be perfect in Illinois.

I’m going to try and put this month of April frustrations in terms of cycling into words, if possible. In early April, I rode in barely above freezing temperatures counties away from home while the wind happened. The wind happened and destroyed. This wind was so strong. It was swaying trees as if they were rubber and shattering them like twigs in a lawnmower. And the very next day, I rode straight into the wind and it was so difficult and draining that it took me an entire day to travel what should’ve taken 5-6 hours if someone could’ve flipped the off switch to the wind.

I’m not a weak person, physically, but that weekend riding took it all out of me mentally. I did not ride for six days. Six days off of a bicycle is way too long for me. The weather became more normal and I just went about my business, riding a little here and there. Mostly commute rides until my next weekend off where I attempted bigger rides. The wind that Friday cut my bigger ride short and was followed by bike problems ending my ride horribly short. The next day I rode with a friend and grabbed a few beers. It was a good ride and a good day until that person bit the dust pretty hard trying to ride over cleanup attempts of tree debris from the crazy wind weekend that I rode through counties on the I&M Canal.

The next week in April consisted of commutes with some of those commutes taken the long way. I went for a joy ride, maybe two. I worked my ass off and spent some time at the bike shop.

This last week of April has been cold. It has also been windy and extremely uncomfortable. I’ve been commuting strongly and was planning a long ride today, April 30th, to end on a strong note. Nothing will literally dampen outdoor fun like cold rain. I may get out just to get out, but cold rain makes any kind of ride pretty short.

Either Illinois is by far the worst state in the USA in terms of politics and weather or it’s a conspiracy of weeding out the good residents by spraying chemicals into the atmosphere to control the weather like the lucid drugs they feed these Illinois politicians to make sure Illinois is a horrible state outside of Chicago.

Or is this an accidental effect from putting chemicals in the atmosphere from factory farming resulting in this intense Climate Change. Is it windy in the West? Is shit just hitting the fan everywhere and scattering more shit everywhere only spraying that shit farther and farther every time. Is it a cycle of shit? How long before we are knee deep in shit? I want to move to Mars.

I’m ending this month on a salty note, but hard fought, mentally draining and painful kilometers.

#RideOn

Super Tahini

Posted on April 28, 2016 by jeffreylatty

I love Ramen Noodles and always will. I will never eat the seasonings they provide, but the noodles are quick, easy and tasty. Not to mention the cost effectiveness of these noodles. Depending on where I purchase these, I can economically buy numerous servings for cents, while disposing the tiny sealed packages of ever denseful MSG and non-herbivorous contents.

Mogwai SCRAM

I love making EZ Chinesey out of Ramen Noodles. I usually include the recipes in my LBⓋ (Low Budget Vegan) recipes. I did not include this recipe complexity in my LBⓋ. I’m sure it is rather inexpensive. And insanely explodes with flavor and awesomeness!

Super Tahini ingredients:

Tahini
Earth Balance, heated & melted
Sesame Seeds, roasted
Tofu, extra firmly crumbled & slightly toasted
Wasabi Powder
Brown Sugar
Garlic Powder
Onion Powder
SeaSalt/Pepper
Sesame Oil
Sriracha

Mix well and heat at super simmer and do not scorch.

I added frozen Broccoli and Cauliflower to boiling water before adding the Ramen Noodles to the water for 2 minutes. I utilized Scallions and Cilantro by adding as raw as possible after draining and straining. AWESOME STUFF!

Social Slavia

Posted on April 27, 2016April 27, 2016 by jeffreylatty

Social media is a wonderful tool and I am definitely a technology enthusiast, but cause and effect is present for anything. I was first introduced to the concept of social media in yahoo chat rooms where “LOL” was invented, which I refrain from utilizing in text and/or anything. I used yahoo chat to socialize privately in high school and found it entertaining, but grew bored. I loved myspace back in the early 2000’s before deleting that profile to switch to facebook. In 2009, I joined twitter. Now there are social media sites for athletes and there are social media sites for beer drinkers. Who knows what else. I am growing bored of all of these sites. I am growing bored of all the dumb stuff broadcasted. Things I do not give a shit about and things people post for attention and/or sympathy. I do not need a database to approve my decisions. I do not like the addiction that is attached to social media sites. I love my freedom and I love a true real life.

April 15, 2016, I deactivated my facebook account. I believe that I had 700+ friends of which I regularly interacted with maybe 50. I’ve been documenting who I’ve come face-to-face with and no one has noticed or acknowledged my departure from this cyber database. I’ve interacted with 15 people who I’m no longer friends with according to facebook without acknowledgment. Good deal:)

The sense of freedom is strongly noticeable after the departure. People on facebook are experts and smarter than you. People on facebook are funnier than you. Facebook is better off without me being involved. It was a very long process, but I feel much better already. And that is just the beginning. Facebook is fake. It is a fakebook. With all of the great things about it, the realism I’ve experienced makes it not worth it and a true nuisance. Just an early morning vent. Do not be a slave to anything! Happy Wednesday!

Quinoa Asparagus

Posted on April 26, 2016 by jeffreylatty

I’ll never stop blogging of the awesome creativity that arises from spontaneity. Approaching things with an open-mind and allowing change makes life easily coped to reach greatness and stress-free scenarios.

The level of creativity after a couple of good beers is comparable. But, please, blog responsibly. Big beer manufacturers do not want you to enjoy a surplus of their mind-altering beverages. They do not want to make a lot of money.

Bicycles.

Bicycles.

Bicycles.

Quinoa Asparagus ingredients:

Quinoa, black 🙂
Pepe, pasta
Asparagus, roasted
Tomato, julienne sliced
Earth Balance, mmmmm
Seasonings, to taste

Roast Asparagus. Cook Quinoa and add Pepe towards the end, turning off heat. Season and add to a bowl to mix with Earth Balance.

Serve.

Have fun with your food and please, keep an open-mind! GO BLACKHAWKS!

Daiya-Roni

Posted on April 23, 2016April 23, 2016 by jeffreylatty

I feel bad. The imaginary people who read my previous blog post might’ve been teased by my horrible pictures and mapping of my Vegan ‘Mac N Cheese’ concoctions. I commuted to and from work today and picked up some groceries while getting rained on. Rain and wetness after work is ideal. Although, rain and wetness before work is completely opposite and absolutely uncomfortable.

I have decided to write a recipe blog draft first, make my food and enjoy and then update any changes before publishing to insure happy imaginary readers. I may just make the best damn Vegan ‘macNcheese’ concept ever and obtain wetness again. We will see.

Blind recipe MAP:

Could you imagine the difficulty involved in cooking without eyesight. Could you imagine not having the sense of taste or smell while preparing a meal. Can you imagine the smell and taste of food before you even start?? This is how I map my recipes. Of course, tweaking is obvious, but it ain’t much.

Know your ingredients. Wonder their possibilities!

Daiya-Roni ingredients:

Macaroni, cooked in Cashew Milk
Cashew Milk
Quinoa, black & cooked in Cashew Milk
Lentils, pre-cooked in water
Daiya, ‘cheddar’

And that’s as far as I got. I enjoyed a few beers and made my food.

It was delicious. And being Vegan, only plants were not tortured, but genocidely murdered in the process of this Daiya-Roni. Have fun!

Simplicity Enthused The Cat

Posted on April 20, 2016 by jeffreylatty

Positivity isn’t as common as it could be. I’m not sure it is a trait or mindset that can be taught, but it can be heavily influenced. Negative Nancy’s bring people around you down.

Optimism is an overall wishful and hopeful train of thought that often is a silent motivator helping others around you better in their own mindset. It ultimately is a trickling domino effect that affects more people than most would think.

One big factor illuminated from the Vegan lifestyle is the vastness of positive energy superfluously everywhere. It is automatically prevalent from the lack of murder and torture involved in the fueling of our bodies. Pessimism naturally occurs when genocide is greedily taking place for literal sloppy consumption. Not only will it take years off of your life, will it make your body feel bad and look bad. Continuation of this murderous lifestyle will give you diseases on your diseases. Over the years it will turn you into slaves to drugs. You will be dependant on drugs that have their own side effects creating a domino effect for the worse. And the pharmaceutical companies own you and a good chunk of your money until you die an early death.

Please, if you are a male and wish to enjoy yourself, don’t forget to ask your doctor about Cialis or Viagra to get it up because a carnivorous lifestyle takes away your manhood. Taking these drugs because you are now a drug addict, means you might have sudden eyesight loss or sudden hearing loss. It could also give urination problems due to enlarged prostate.

If only it were as clear to others as it is to Vegans who have evolved to find the correct loophole that truly is the way life is supposed to be. Disease-free, murder-free and life-full. I’m gonna quit ranting for the day and get into some food. No animals were harmed in the process of writing this blog.

Mac N Cheese = Macaroni & Cheese = Vegetarian w/ animal cruelty and torture

I have prepared and consumed a few different batches of ‘MacNcheese’ in the last few months. All were Vegan and all were absolutely edible. However, I did not fully document ingredients and pictures as well as I could have. I do know they all involved a bit of Daiya, a bit of Cashew Milk and Noodles. The possibilities of other ingredients are endless and infinite as great as our universe. I even used Avocado in one batch. I used whole Cashews in another. I made forkless MacNcheese in Burrito form.

HAVE FUN WITH YOUR FOOD.

Thinking Outside Your Head

Posted on April 17, 2016April 18, 2016 by jeffreylatty

By far the best way to get exactly what you want and exactly what you think you get is cooking and preparing food from as scratch as possible. It is the healthiest way to go about life. Unfortunately, it is hard to sometimes fit into routines and it definitely is time consuming. Ever since throwing myself (arms wide open) into the consumption of the Vegan lifestyle, I’ve been constantly reminded of the time and hurdles that take place in this lifelong journey. Not that Vegetarian is any easier. It truly is, being able to eat cheese and dairy. There is not much of a challenge, nor is it truly bettering yourself or the world. Vegetarianism is the start to hopefully enlightened by the sense of what truly matters in this world.

Nothing will benefit life more than what you put into your body. Animal products kill people and murder innocent lives, genocide-style, to feed greed. Nothing is destroying our planet more than the gluttony behind animal consumption, meat and dairy. Good for you for being Vegetarian. I hope all Vegetarians succeed over that hump and obtain that sense of what is going on. I came across this speech with a little help from The Vegan Zombie.

Gary Yourofsky Speech

Furthermore, in certain areas it is extremely difficult to live the Vegan lifestyle at a faster pace than cooking all day. I’m sometimes a lazy son of a bitch and when you don’t have motivation to prepare awesome food to refuel, you have to dig deep sometimes, you have to brainstorm, you have to think outside of your head. You can’t always trust what mom & pop restaurants put in their food, but with my experience in mom & pop Italian pizza, I just know that Italian Pizza is made from scratch as cheaply as possible. I’m talking about the dough. I’d put my life on it that all Italian pizza dough consists of flour, salt, yeast, sugar, oil and water.

I have, since being a child, been fighting an addiction. This addiction is impossible to overcome. It is a pizza addiction. Vegan pizza is delicious, but involves preparing. I have been ordering (delivery) Vegan pizza from a ma & pa Italian Restaurant. It is a Veggie pizza without cheese. They’ve never messed up and it is awesome to have that option in my Vegan fuel arsenal. I’ve been dreaming of a Subway option that might actually fill me up. Their Veggie sub, Vegan-style, is delicious, but I need three or four to fill me up. I partook my first Subway adventure yesterday.

Before I forget, I wanna bitch about Netflix. Netflix is occasionally good, but usually bad. The selection sucks and it is dumb with its algorithms to recommend things “smartly” to watch. My favorite movie, Field of Dreams, has never been on Netflix. I recently found an awesome movie away from Netflix completely in American Flyers, also starring Kevin Costner. I have created a joke to myself and cycling about ‘going the distance’.

Field of Dreams trailer

American Flyers trailer

It took some digging, but I did find the newest awesome cycling documentary today on Netflix. And followed by another just super interesting documentary.

Inspired to Ride trailer

The Barkley Marathons trailer

I love cycling, but I do love adventure more. Adventure gives someone unparalleled challenges. Easy things are boring. Boring is easy. Cycling adventures are my favorite.

I hiked down to a Subway and hiked back with my sandwich. It was a footlong on toasted whole wheat bread. This sandwich consisted of just Veggies. It had lettuce, onion, tomato, olives, spinach, jalapeño, cucumber and Love.

Doc Mustard ingredients:

Mustard
Sriracha
Chipotle
OnionP/GarlicP/Pepper
Ketchup

Subway Adventure ingredients:

Subway Vegan sandwich
Vegenaise
Doc Mustard
Tofurky

Empty Veggies into bowl. Add Vegenaise & Doc Mustard and mix. Fill sandwich with Veggies and add Tofurky.

Enjoy.

Local Brew Review

Posted on April 16, 2016April 18, 2016 by jeffreylatty

(Good) Beer is much like a bicycle ride. They vary from good to bad while diving deeper into the good and the bad, some are ridiculously awful and some are just about perfect. Inside the good ol’ Illinois Valley, are two current breweries that are producing beer. Both, Radium City and Tangled Roots, have their headquarters in Ottawa, IL. Things are looking up for the Illinois Valley, quite possibly for the first time, since the early 1900’s. Nothing is more of a heartbeat to the Illinois Valley than the beautiful Starved Rock State Park, located just Southeast of Utica, IL. This park is unique and stunningly beautiful being beautifully shaped by prehistoric flooding. The landscape around Starved Rock is amazing, as well. Nothing will come close to being as dense of beauty in such a (somewhat) small area as Starved Rock.

Hearts/Wires

Riding bicycles even at barely moderate level, consists of great ups and intense downs as literal as spinning so quickly to move so slow to climb steep elevation and descending in your drops with insane speed, tucking and straight rolling. Things do not always go your way. Sometimes your bicycle breaks. Sometimes you wreck. Sometimes you have a great ride. The wind always blows.

I&M Canal

The Illinois Valley has great history and The I&M Canal is still in use by nature and outdoorsy enthusiasts, exercising or just wandering. As constantly riding on this towpath, I can clearly complain of the upkeep of the Illinois & Michigan Canal, but I am biased while continuously utilizing it.

Starved Rock State Park

I’m a modest person, however, I have enjoyed many of beers in my lifetime from all over the world. I know good from bad. I know unique from normal. I will not try and bullshit a review as if I have the nose and palate of Superman. Radium City makes good beer. Tangled Roots makes good beer with a higher lever of experimental qualities. Both brewing companies are given a push from me as if they were trying to ride a bicycle without their training wheels for the very first time. Eat, drink and love LOCAL. If you cannot do that, get the fuuuuu out.

I had a bad ride yesterday, yet strangely good. It was funny. I wanted to ride 100+ miles. The wind was strong and I couldn’t do it. My shoes were losing a screw to my right cleat. I was faster than a tractor. I chased a loose dog. I drafted a tractor to beat a bit o’ wind. I was chased by that same dog and his friend. Adrenaline motivation takes place when trying to out-sprint a fast dog(s). I have noticed that if you slow down and communicate with them, they do not assume you are a toy and mostly obey. I became lost and when I found my way (not even where I wanted to be) I could not get my shoe to hold one of my screws embracing my cleat. I took the screw out and threw it in my pocket.I have ridden like this before only to have a ride-ending flat tire. I found out this route would not work and immediately realized that my shoes screw came loose. I could not unclip from the right. I took my foot out of the shoe and tried moving my cleat the degree to disengage from my Crank Brothers pedal. Being a brand new pair, it wouldn’t budge. I spun my shoe free. My ride ended short as my cleat was (and still is) stuck on my pedal.

Today, I hired a dude to come ride with me. I do not own any friends. I payed him in Tangled Roots beers. We were heading back home when he biffed it hard and he could not continue. Luck comes and goes on this I&M towpath. Is it your day or is it mine. #RideOn #GoodPeopleDrinkGoodBeer

Cycling Weekend

Posted on April 6, 2016 by jeffreylatty

I have never wanted to be a professional cyclist. It is and always has been my hobby. It is and has been my lifestyle for some time now. I am not a racing type. I love going fast for fun. I love long rides for fun. I love the pride developed from accomplishing more difficult rides with my own rule and degree of victory. It is truly a win-win system. I am so lazy, yet conscience of realism, that I do not plan my rides as much as I could because I do know that anything could change at any point in any ride. I am not one of those cyclists who ride only in perfect weather. I enjoy the grind. I somewhat planned a cycling adventure this last weekend and my legs have never burned as immensely intense as they do now with every step. I originally wanted to ride into Southeastern Cook County via trail from Western LaSalle County and ride back to Joiet over 163 kms (100 miles) before heading home the next day with a light(er) 105 km ride home.

I wanted to ride between 275 km (171 miles) to 300 km (187 miles) Saturday and Sunday combined. I originally planned the bigger ride on Saturday and coming home with a laid back homeward headwind adventure on Sunday. Saturday’s wind currents in Illinois were sickly brutal and horrifying. The skies were falling. They were coming down. The average size trees standing tall all around the Illinois & Michigan Canal usually sheltering the towpath from weather and from the element were falling apart as if handfuls of medium to large pebbles were slingshot into the trees from every direction shattering the trees as if they were glass, but somehow allowing this glass to bend ridiculously before shattering.

The Sky Is Falling

I survived the strong winds with a freezing windchill with the decision of dressing warmer and more appropriate for a snow flurried Spring day. The winter cycling shoes were a clutch choice in also being waterproof. Not only did I have to dodge broken trees falling, did I have to move around small branches to actual downed trees and the flooding muddy chaos was prevalent everywhere. There is this dirtiness along the I&M Canal which is a black hole abyss. And when you sense the freedom and opportunity after crawling out of this darkly debris detailed butthole, the possibilities are just about endless. It is dark, mountain-ish and swamp-like. I chose to switch days completely and avoid the more satan-ish winded and battle the much better hellish breeze the next day and cut my Saturday much shorter. I also made my Sunday so long while even cutting that day shorter than planned as well. I made it as far as Will County.

I picked up some brews, enjoyed my Vegan lifestyle with a few Lightlife Smart Dogs. I found some Lightlife ‘brats’ and was super excited until realizing they were only Vegetarian and not Vegan. I ate, drank and rested for the upcoming big(ger) ride. I had to donate a pair of shoes and a shirt due to lack of space to fit my Bontrager OMW shoes in my pack. They are beastly. I did not ride as North as planned because I could not find the correct route and decided to head back a bit short hoping to make up distance later.

And then the headwind started. I immediately realized how difficult this was going to be. I peddled, I jumped over trees and beer motivated my way home. I was outside for 12 hours and was on my bicycle for 7 hours. Overcoming a difficult mental yet physical feat gives room for more in the future if your (my) brain will allow it.

I have mastered the ‘art’ of stretching your (my) phone life to its max. I utilize the airplane mode on my (your) iPhone 6 always and sometimes while listening to music, taking pics and videos. If I need to connect with the world, I turn airplane mode off and in literally one second, I am connected. I arrive home with 71% battery life after 12+ hours. My Garmin Edge 1000 had around 17%. I turn the Garmin wifi and bluetooth off the entire ride and it conserves battery life awesomely.

It was an extremely satisfying adventure, but took hard work, hard play and dedication. I cannot wait to have another weekend cycling adventure. I have obtained true bicycle confidence in my Trek Darth Vader. With various upgrades this bicycle is a tank and can handle just about anything.

Saturday Ride

Sunday Ride

#RideOn

Fools Gold

Posted on April 1, 2016April 1, 2016 by jeffreylatty

I have a big weekend planned. It may not appear like a big weekend to others, but it is for me. Today, John Stamos has been recommending things for me to watch on #Netflix and I am not sure why. John Stamos has a horrible taste in movies, shows and comedies. Here are some things currently on Netflix that are NOT John Stamos approved. YouTube trailers:

The History of Future Folk

GOON

As long as I can stay away from Netflix today, I am needing to get things packed and get my Trek (CrossRip Elite) Darth Vader turned on, tuned up and dropped out. Tomorrow I will be riding the entire length (and then some) of the Illinois and Michigan Canal.

I&M Canal

I&M Canal State Trail

John Husar I&M Canal Trail

And then riding back the next day. I will have to deal with a lot of wind and differences in the temperature. And among the elements of early April Illinois, I will have the ongoing challenge of maintaining my Vegan lifestyle in unknown places.

Apologies for all the (fantastic) Links and lack of Zelda’s. Yes, I grew up playing Nintendo, but gave it up to be an adult. I have never played Xbox and the last gaming console that I’ve owned is a PS1, which was sold 10+ years ago.

Spring will be here Monday as the true meaning of spring is the START OF the REGULAR SEASON of BASEBALL. GOCUBS! Happy Friday and do not be made a fool by John Stamos and Netflix and check out my above recommendations.

Month: April 2016