I have not felt like writing on my Macbook or any paper, lately. I feel like doing. I rode in the rain today after work and I just want to share a few photos.
Occasionally, I plan to get stuck in the rain. Photography tells a story. Take pictures always, share quality pictures.
Carry on.
“Goodbye my friend
I hope you are well
I’m sorry our time has run out
There’s so many stories left to tell
About our battles, losses, and victories too
My tongue hurts with the words
I never said to you”
STEADY HANDS
Recipe at the end………….:)
I ordered a new bicycle Friday after getting off work. It is by far the most expensive bike that I’ve ever purchased. It is also the nicest bike that I’ve ever purchased.
The video shows the CrossRip 2, this will be my third CrossRip, so I have to go with the 3, right!? To help with funds, I will be selling my original CrossRip. I named this bike the HulkRip. The HulkRip is a 2014 CrossRip purchased in 2013. It was my real first bike and I rode the shit out of it! It has a heart of steel with durable aluminum skin. It has been through numerous wrecks and has truly survived a beating. I’ve ridden this monster just short of 8,500 km (roughly 5,300 miles). I have upgraded to a carbon fork and have rebuilt its entire drivetrain. I’m sad to see this beast go. And technically he hasn’t been sold yet;) My Sunday consists of cleaning the HulkRip up and getting ready for a sale.
I had an interesting Saturday, yesterday, of drinking a lot of beer, eating VEGAN and riding a bicycle, henceforth, VEGGHEAD BEERCYCLIST. This is who I am. I slept horribly Friday night / Saturday morning. I might as well say that I barely failed at pulling an all-nighter. I decided to give up and I made VEGAN pizza while enjoying a beer.
I don’t always drink first thing in the morning, but when I do it usually makes for an interesting day worth blogging into (onto) peoples faces.
My idea was to eat/drink and nap hard afterwards. That did not happen. I went out and rode 50km and enjoyed numerous other beers. It was hot and hydration is key and beer is a little more lively than water. It is water on steroids, basically. I stopped at a booze shop after getting into town and forgot I was a minimalist cyclist without major storage space and bought a bomber, a 4-pack and a sixer. The cashier gave my these in a paper bag inside of a plastic bag. I walked my bike home with my hydration necessities. I rested the bag handles on my handlebars to ease my travel.
The bag broke and shattered my bomber and poked a hole in one out of ten cans. I screamed mother FFFF-er. And a kind sir gentleman, working in his garage, walked out and brought my a 30-pack carton and a garbage can where we disposed of the glass and leaking beer. I continued my journey looking like a bum walking his bike after drinking 20 Busch Lights and still dragging along the last 10…. Destroying the normal label of cyclists not steeping to that level:)
At times things aren’t exactly how they appear. I dropped my luggage and bicycle off and went to hang out with some family, where I was driven back to the same liquor store to replace that imploded bomber.
I fed my (first) niece for the first time and had a great lazy day. I also attempted a tipsy Mexican Dawg (to be remastered later) What a great day!
Chicago-style Dawgza
Ketchup / Catsup is NOT allowed on any kind of hot dog / sandwich. That is the rule. Nothing beats the flavor of a raw tomato and other various VEGGIES.
Sauce-PizzaSauce,Mustard,BrownSugar,Tofu,ChipotleP,GarP,BalsamicV,Salt, Pepper,SerranoPeppers – MIX
I’m lazy most of the time and bought and used prepared Ⓥ pizza dough. I smothered that pizza dough with that heavy duty // heavy gauged pizza sauce and began creating a masterpiece! I used Cucumber, Onion, Tomato with DAIYA and pre-grilled SmartDog slices. I baked slowly before slightly broiling my pie. A little mustard to garnish and BOOM.
Everyone has their own routine when it comes to getting to work. I usually Cycle on one of my bicycles to work, but in the past on rainy days, I’ve teleported to my job acting as duct tape to reconnect my man-card. Today was an unusual rainy workday for me lately. I took my newly renewed (intact) man-card and rode my ass to work in the rain. I extremely enjoyed it as the consequences were simply wetness and awesomeness. I felt alive and more alive than I normally do. I don’t know if any readers (my pretend readers) have similar lifestyles (my pretend reader know what i am talking about), but there are a few secrets that I noticed on my damp commute today.
I normally carry work clothes in a pack (backpack) with other essential things like keys wallet and phone. My wallet is 2×3 and carries two cards with occasional cash stuffed in. I have fenders on my first (real) bike. Which today enlightened me that I need a new bike.
The heart rate being elevated before work gives me more attentive work days. Rough work days are forgotten and positively vented with harder riding after work making it vastly easier to fight the grind in the morning.
I hope y’all had an awesome weekend!
(pictures not from my wet commute)
I’m just an amateur Vegan. I do not know everything, but not relying on the processed “plant-based” (already prepared, meat substitute) food puts my tastebuds and my heart in a mad-love (freaky sex kinda mad-love) relationship. I love a good majority of those foods, but they leave my heart lighter. 
Consider me a rock star Vegan with an instrument of choice being a bicycle and a beer. I don’t follow rules, and I strongly understand that recipes are guidelines that are meant to be explored and mapped just like lands of this world many years ago.
I chopped Romaine Lettuce finely. I combined Romaine, Scallions, Carrots, Black Beans, Raw Spanish Peanuts into a bowl after roasting Golden Potatoes, Fennel, Corn and Garlic lightly roasted. I also roasted some bread. And my dressing of choice was pre-made Balsamic Vinaigrette mixed with Sriracha hot sauce. It was delicious and my heart, tastebuds and tummy had a threesome.
My sense of humor even leaves myself on my toes. Happy Wednesday!
I encountered a strange different style of riding yesterday. Not so much strange, just a change of pace on a strenuous ride. I have been riding solo for the last few weeks, which happens and is totally fine. A buddy was going to commute to his new job for the first time. Which doesn’t seem like a big deal, except for it being just short of 30 miles. When I ride, I rarely start before 9am.
Yesterday, I left to meet up with my buddy at 6:12 am. When I open (for my job) I leave about the same time. On a day off, this is unheard of by me. We rode the 45 kilometers and met up with a couple of engineers who we occasionally ride with for some breakfast. I enjoyed water and a peanut butter Vegan Cliff bar.
Dude went to work and I went with the engineers and in a sense went to work. We went a little farther to stop in a little town to have a beer. Their town ordinance was not to serve alcohol before noon on Sundays, so we rode on.
We hopped on a horribly weed overgrown and sinkhole plentiful canal for roughly 55 kilometers (35 miles) where I ran out of water and snacks conveniently away from stores and non-well water. We wound up splitting up at different paces after canal departure, yet still all trying to conclude this ride without passing out on the side/middle of a road/trail from heat exhaustion.
It is extremely uncomfortable to be out of water in the heat pedaling away with your mind medaling affray almost as if your life flashing before your sweaty eyes. I guess in my defense, I didn’t exactly know where the engineers were leading me. I could have been more prepared. I’m a sucka for cold water and on longer rides, I fill up my water bottle somewhat regularly with ice. I might start bringing two, but I normally know where I’m going.
The point of my story is to keep an open mind. You never truly learn anything unless you occasionally jump into something blind. Routines are great, but changing them up from time to time has benefits.
If a bartender gives you a homemade pickle and it is amazing, take a shot of that pickle juice!
And according to Untappd, I experienced my first ever Old Milwaukee. I do not recommend experiencing an Old Milwaukee.
I do condone experiencing this track of music via YouTube link:
Good people drink good beer.
I’m celebrating my 1 year 99.8 % Vegan anniversary with dabbling in some Lifelight Vegetarian “sausages”. I’m still upset of finding these first on a weekend cycling trip only to be so disappointed of their use of egg whites. I’ve mentioned in the past of how I feel about my Veganism. Evolution of a mind and Evolution of my pallet has me madly in love with brussels sprouts. I dare anyone to venture into an adventure of reading my old blogs. Other than locating a corkscrew, this was AMAZING. Let’s go!
Last night was an incredible night for any kind of outside activities. The last couple of weeks here in Illinois have been pretty warm. I’ve been working hard, like usual, but a bit more this week and finally was able to enjoy an evening.
Unfortunately, it had to be a solo ride, but I still make those fun. So, I contemplated a ride route for a bit while getting my stuff together. I dabbled with some hills, highways, cows and a no trespassing sign or two. I enjoyed a couple of Beers and called it a night only to enjoy some pizza.
I’ve been a pizza addict since grade school since the rewarding personal pan pizzas. Evolution of my understanding has bettered my style of pizza. I don’t know how, but society wants men to “eat like men” and become unhealthy and overweight. I loved pepperoni as a kid and then when I could order and pay for my own food it was all about cramming the most different animal fleshes smothered with extra animal fluids baked all together like the death trap it is. Soon after starting my first job at Pizza Hut, I came across the deliciousness of the Veggie Lover pizza while in high school. I usually did put chicken or sausage on the Veggie pizza, of course.
My understanding of the world and life turned me into a Vegetarian in January of 2013 where cheese pizza was my go-to pizza, sometimes with awesome Veggies. And now my Evolved understanding has my relapsing options dwindling.
Last night, I tried two things and they were amazing. I ordered a mushroom pizza without cheese and brought it home to carefully roast Daiya on top.
I love Daiya. It is just expensive and I do not buy it too often. I also made a Vegan Pizza Burger. Literally, Vegan pizza between a toasted bun is extremely amazing and comforting! It was a great night. Here is a link to a video I took of some cows whom I constantly (in general, not these same guys) remind of my lifestyle:)
I spent my evening trying to catch the guy in pitch black riding ever so quickly in the grass and corn… I never could catch him.
Happy Thursday! Enjoy the little things in life and #RideOn.
-6.15.16-I planned to knock out the monthly Gran Fondo challenge from Strava on Wednesday, my day off this week. June’s Gran Fondo is 115 km. I’m gonna try and tackle 161 km to complete my third ever (imperial) century ride, being at least 100 miles. I made a route on Strava coming out to be 159km. I do not follow routes. Anything could happen at any time and change your ride. And some roads are too busy for me.
Materials List:
-6.16.16-I rode my ass off yesterday. And had to go to work today, the commute wasn’t too bad today. The sunburn is the worst part.
Melting roads, simmering blood and briny sweat marinated skin roasting for hours. Melting asphalt and moist dense gravel were some obstacles yesterday.
#RideOn
#RideOn is the only thing summing up the motivation needed to just endure imperfect conditions and persevere on larger rides. I’m not sure there is such a thing as perfect riding conditions. Here in Illinois, we have wind, rain/snow/ice, warmth and cold.
Let insulated water bottle freeze 7/8 full of water for two days. Top it off. It lasted me 3+ hours in 80 degree weather. Red route was planned. Blue route was ridden.
#RideOn
VeggHead BeerCyclist 