Illinois – Page 7 – VeggHead BeerCyclist

BikePacking

Posted on August 22, 2016 by jeffreylatty

BikePacking – camping/travel via bicycle with supplies packed with bicycle. Also known as, self-supported.

I’ve only dabbled into BikePacking and it is an amazing concept. I’ve been commuting to work via bicycle since 2009. It’s similar to commuting because I have always needed specific work clothes. BikePacking is more of travel then just going to work. It is not always involving camping. I BikePacked to a hotel room and back in April. Whatever your sleeping situation is, you still have to deal with weather and different scenarios. I am ready to take it to another level. Commonsense is all that it takes. With that commonsense, is planning that is also needed. You have to have a gameplan.

Knowing the weather and terrain is key. Like any group ride, there is usually two different paces. In my history of riding with others, it is rare for everyone to ride together. People ride more or less than others and usually every year is different. It’s hard to ride slow, unless being out of shape. I guess I am in shape. I also have my style of BikePacking down as minimally as possible. Over the last couple of years, I’ve been trying to fix a problem of having too much shit. It takes me five minutes to set up camp and five minutes to take down camp. I don’t drink coffee. I can use my time wiser. And for a while, now, I make the most of my time, for the most part. I left early and soberly rode home this morning while the others were not being time-conscious and the original departure time became impossible.

When the Chicago Cubs win the World Series, I will be BikePacking the length of Illinois in celebration. I also want to include multiple day BikePacking into my routine.

Nothing is ever perfect, just #RideOn.

Ⓥraps

Posted on August 19, 2016 by jeffreylatty

I will be BikePacking via FatBike this weekend and I plan on being better prepared than last year.

Vegan Fat Bike Packing

I made quite a few kickass Vegan Wraps, that are DAMN good! I will also be packing Nuts, Vegan Cliff bars and Larabars. If I’ll be drinking as much beer as last years Canal Grinder, I’ll need to keep a full stomach and have something for the next day. I might share a Ⓥrap or two. We’ll see.

I dusted off my arrogant and bastardish FatBike, whom I’ve named Arrogant Bastard, and rode in a strom last night. I got drenched, drank a couple of kickass beers and took some nice pics.

THE STORY OF MY LIFE.

I superly chopped Iceberg and Romain Lettuce. I combined diced Carrots, Celery and Onion with the Lettuce. Garbanzo Beans added.
I threw in Vegenaise, Balsamic Vinegar and Mustard with Celery Seed and Chipotle Powder.
There is such a thing as Peppered Tofurky, I promise you, and it is delicious. I unpeeled the Tofurky and butcherly chopped mixing extremely well.
I warmed Tortillas and wrapped that goodness up.
I tried one and packaged up 12 for tomorrow as long as they’ll fit and pack ok.

Cook on. #RideOn. Enjoy a Beer.

Time Sciencely

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

Pastly, I blogged (quietly in your (my imaginary readers) ear) about sopossedly discovering technology that might, actually successfully, monitor almost 95% of my time accurately. I attempted this last year in a June Time Science blogging without being able to track my sleep.

June (2015) Time Science

I am the laziest, yet weirdly energetic person ever. My motivation comes from another planet.

From 12:00am Thursday, August 11, 2016 until 12:00am Wednesday, August 16, 2016 is 144 hours.
The pictures in this blogsticle are within this timeframe taken by me.
I am too lazy to accurately track my time involved with listening to music, watching the Olypics:)/Cubs:), bathroom time, Netflix time and Cooking time. As some of these overlap, I must categorize them all together.

I’ve noticed a huge decline in my Netflix viewing time ever since I have joined Apple Music. I’ve been enjoying music more with my spare time, ultimitely motivating me to do things thanks to technology and musics excellent multi-taking capabilities. I use Netflix to fall asleep. And I truly will probably quit Netflix for good, soon.

Total Hours: 144

Cooking/Sports/Social/Bathroom Time: 28H 54M

Work Time: 54H 54M

Break Time at Work: 1H 10M

Ride Time: 4H 2M, Climbing: 148m, AVG: 24.75 km/H, Distance: 98.8 km

Sleep Time: 55H, AVG: 9H20M/Night

Time, seriously, is everything. Time is money. Time is everything. I’d like everyone to try and understand where their Time truly goes. It all depends on opinions and lifestyle. Utilize your time to do what you want and need to.

Have Fun. Ride a Bike. Eat something Healthy and take a few Pics.

Chicago-style Dawgza

Posted on July 24, 2016 by jeffreylatty

“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.

CrossRip 3

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.

Tempehquito

Posted on July 23, 2016July 23, 2016 by jeffreylatty

Cook Lentils and Brown rice (from dry state)
Boil water in small pot, add sugar/pepper/sriracha and simmer
Add chopped Onions and minced Garlic once liquid had evaporated from Rice/Lentils
Grill Tempeh, cool and slice
Turn oven on low, warming Tortillas
Add Chipotle Powder and Dill to small pot
Slice Daiya, chop Tomato, Scallions, Radish & Cilantro
MAKE AVOCADO CREAM

Vegenaise
Chopped Daiya
Scallions
Chipotle powder
Cilantro
Avocado

Turn small pot on high boiling adhesive mixture and turn off
Use adhesive to Tortilla after Tempeh and Daiya has been stuffed
Seal and bake
Construct deliciousness.

Wet Fenders Commute

Posted on July 18, 2016 by jeffreylatty

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.

Use disc brakes in the rain.
Put work clothes in bag inside your pack to keep dry.
Bring a towel (which I did:)
Bring a change of socks.
As always, #RideOn.

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.

Broke

I hope y’all had an awesome weekend!

(pictures not from my wet commute)

Sunday Ride On

Posted on July 11, 2016 by jeffreylatty

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!

Sunday Ride

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:

Pals

Good people drink good beer.

Brussels Linguine

Posted on July 7, 2016 by jeffreylatty

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!

Slice “sausages”, sprouts, tempeh and roast

Olive oil, heated in pan
add minced Garlic, Carrot and super diced Onion
Add Balsamic Vinegar, cracked Pepper and CRP

Bring Chardonnay and Veggie Broth to a boil, simmer and reduce
Adding Earth Balance ‘butter’, dill and crumbled Tofu

Awesome NonGMOProjectVerified Sugar, add some
Cook Linguine al dente, not rinsing
After reduced, add roastedness and simmer
Add Instant Mashed Potatoes, stirring
Daiya ‘cream cheese’ to finish
Construct and garnish with Scallions

Wednesday Century

Posted on June 16, 2016 by jeffreylatty

-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:

Socks
Cycling Shoes
Bib shorts
MTB shorts
Jersey
Cycling Cap
Helmet
iPhone
Garmin Edge 1000
Fuel: (2) Kind grain bars
Water bottle w/ Ice Water
Garmin Forerunner 235 Watch
Tool
Cycling Gloves
Money/ID
Key
Bicycle 🙂

-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.