photography – Page 19 – VeggHead BeerCyclist

Solo Wednesday Night Ride

Posted on June 30, 2016June 30, 2016 by jeffreylatty

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:)

Cow Video

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.

Just Photos

Posted on May 28, 2016 by jeffreylatty

A Time Science Shorty

Posted on May 18, 2016 by jeffreylatty

I find it entertaining and fascinating attempting trackage of my usage of time over a certain span of time. And this span of time will be from myself falling asleep Friday night May 14th at 10:19 pm (central time) through when I fell asleep Wednesday morning at 12:48 am (central time), creating a span of 98 hours and 30 minutes or 5,910 minutes or 354,600 seconds. It is less than 1% of the time an entire century, but never the less, all time is important. Basically, the time that I am tracking is Saturday May 14th through Tuesday May 17th with a little overhang to even out the sleep.

Out of 98.5 H, I have 92% of my time documented with strong documentation. However, I still want to be above 95%. I will call a 92% over just short of 100 hours of time a C+. There are various excuses for error. I did take a few naps Sunday, recovering from a hellacious Saturday. It very well could be that my guessing estimations are off just a bit. I fully understand that it would be extremely hard to reach 100%, but 95+% is reachable.

Ride

I had a conversation, shortly last night, if Netflix or Hulu was better. My response was Apple Music. It pisses me off when it takes me 20 minutes to find something that I kind of want to watch. Little things like that need to be accounted for. I’m gonna have to concentrate on this for my annual June Time Science. Speaking of Apple Music, I have had my first beef (and being Vegan, I extremely despise beef) with Apple Music not having more than one song from an artist who I’d like to check out. YouTube has Apple Music beat on material from the instrumental Post-Rock Canadians, DestroyAllDreamers. It is disappointing that I may have to try and pirate their music in order to add it to playlists.

Orage

Wish I Was All Flames

Swirling Colours Sink

The Sky Was Glorious For a Moment

Ghost Guitar in the Shell

Perdre Est Une Question De Méthode

Sunday was a day of recuperation and I took four naps and ate so much food. I’m not sure yet of how my Garmin watch does with naps. Naps may need to be documented manually for more accurate documentation. We will see.

I slept 11.2% of the 98.5 hours in a deep sleep of the entire 31% slept. And slept deeply 36% of the 30.3 hours. That averages over 7.5 hours per night and short of an average of 3 hours of deep sleep (or dleep?) per night. Not too bad, if you ask me. Although, last night’s dleep was only 24 freaking minutes. That is interesting. I rode my bike 8.5% of the total time for a distance of just over 175 (108 miles) km with an elevation gain of 826 (2,708 ft) meters. I walked 57.3 (35.6 miles) km over 56,234 steps. I walk much more when I am at work. I ride much more when I am not at work. The art of balance. I also eat more when I am not at work. I burned 30,521 calories over this span and probably only consumed a fraction of those calories burnt. I worked 22.43 hours in two days of the four days. I did not take a break either day.

#WorkHardPlayHarder

The rest of the time usually overlaps and needs to be documented better. I spent 1.25 hours shopping. I spent two hours of traveling by machine. My time in a kitchen and also eating was calculated at six hours and also needs better documentation. A total of five hours were totaled for Cubs/Socializing, aka drinking beer outside of the closet:) And the very last thing is a mixture of maintenance (shower/laundry/cleaning/dishes/fixing), internet/blogging and Netflix/movie. I tallied that sum to be 14.5 hours, but is probably more which would help fix the gap. Here is a better overview.

SLEEP – 30.3 h
BIKE TIME – 8.33 h
WORK – 22.43
TRAVEL – 2 h
GROCERY – 1.25 h
EAT KIT – 6 h
SOCIAL – 5 h
MIX – 14.5 h

Totaling 89.99 hours of a total of 98.5 hours. 92%. Check back in July for my June Time Science blog.

Bulls on Parade

Posted on May 15, 2016 by jeffreylatty

I went to Dixon, IL, yesterday, for a gravel (bicycle) ride which was more of multi-surface ride with a mixture of various levels of gravel and road. It was a great ride, just a shitty day. The wind was windy and cold. The sun was hidden and also cold. I rode 118.7 km (73.76 miles) which did complete Strava’s May Gran Fondo challenge.

I’ve blogged in the past about my difficulties with an athletic watch manufacturer and decided to go the Forerunner route, paying extra money for a Garmin Forerunner 235. It’s pretty sweet. I can track my rides as it is a Garmin. I can track runs, if I ever did run. I do not run. This watch monitors my heart rate and also my sleep.

Last June, I attempted to track exactly what I did that entire month and put it into a blog that no one read.

June 2015 Time Science

It is and was extremely hard to monitor sleep manually. Next month will be a different story. Technology is our friend, but it is up to us how close of a friend it will be. But, first June has to get here. And June has to conclude to document an entire month of data and lifestyle.

Yesterday, on this gravel ride, I rode new roads, I drank a couple of new beers, met new people with some of the same passions and I RODE WITH A BULL. I also ate out at a deli, deliciously, confidently Ⓥeganly. The day sums up this way. You take an excellent cut of Bike Ride layered generously, Vegetable genocide of all sorts, being outside in nature with animals and life, garnished with an array of Good Beers adding character and flavor – STUFFED between two pieces of Good Bread. Consumption of a sandwich of this magnitude is VEGGHEAD BEERCYCLIST. And this is the good life.

Happy Sunday!

(No animals were harmed:)

FunFoodPhotoFun

Posted on May 14, 2016May 14, 2016 by jeffreylatty

¡Salsa Ⓥerde!

Posted on May 11, 2016May 11, 2016 by jeffreylatty

Don’t be a fisherman. Be a farmer. Eat yo veggies! The amount of flavorful variations involving just vegetables are exponentially infinite. Not to mention the number of benefits that come with eating yo veggies! They are delicious health fuel that gives you nothing, but quality life.

I do not intend to be a bossy asshole, but I strongly recommend the following:

Ride a F*#king Bike
Drink a F#*king Beer
Take Quality F*#king Pictures
Eat Yo F#*cking Veggies
Have F**king FUN

I’ve been slacking with my blogs lately, but today, I am blogging all over yo face:)

It is rare for me to blend or make sauces/relishes/salsas/etc smooth. I like food chunky flavorful and with character. I love Salsa Verde, but I refuse to make store-bought Salsa Verde. ¿Comprende? I was Mexican, Spanish or Creole in my past life. That style of cooking is explosive with fun and interesting variations.

¡Salsa Ⓥerde! ingredients:

Tofu, extra firmly crumbled
Black Beans, cooked and cooled
Cilantro, chopped
Tomato, deseeded and chopped
Scallions, sliced
Tomatillo, chopped
Habanero, deseeded and diced
Serrano, deseeded and diced
Jalapeño, deseeded and diced
Garlic, minced
SeaSalt/Pepper
Lime, juiciness

Prep. Mix. ENJOY!

I enjoyed my ¡Salsa Ⓥerde! with chips and as a relish for a satanishly amazing Seitan (Ⓥegan) Boca Sandwich with ¡Salsa Ⓥerde! as relish engulfed by a Pretzel Bun. And then there were POTATOES.

EatYoVeggies!

Go Cubs!

 Apple Music > Netflix

“Good people drink good beer”

-H.S.T

ExplosionsInTheSky

Fried Green Tomatoes

Posted on May 7, 2016 by jeffreylatty

Shop around. Be open-minded. Have possibilities open. I don’t want to tell you what to do, but I am the asshole, here. I, for the first time, consciously came across Green Tomatoes at a grocery store and purchased two of them. And could only think of the movie title, Fried Green Tomatoes, that I never have fully seen nor ever liked as a kid. My sisters and mom loved that movie. But, what the hell is a green tomato!?! And what the hell is a fried Green Tomato?!?! And they are delicious?!?! WTF 🙂

Now, how can I prepare these Vegan and delicious at the same time?! Let’s try two different ways. And I am hungry. I had a few good beers prior, during and after to ensure lively creative flow. I feel like pasta and a sandwich. I felt like riding a bicycle hard and far this last weekend, unfortunately Illinois.

Now, for any newbie (imaginary) readers, I build upon existing ideas. And that my (imaginary) readers is greatness and sustainability with creativity – a true ivity doggivity. Dog give a tea? I’ll dig deeper later.

Fried Green Tomatoes ingredients:

Green Tomato, sliced thicker
Batter (Cashew milk, Salt/Sugar/Pepper, Corn Starch)
Breadcrumbs/CornMeal mixture

Slice. Prepare batter and mixture. Dip accordingly. Bake.

Grilled Daiya w/ Fried Green Tomato ingredients:

Fried Green Tomato, baked
Daiya, mmmmmmmmm
Bread, good (Bread:)
Earth Balance

Vegan butter Bread. Seer inside sides of Bread. Add Daiya. Start melting process. Construct sandwich. Seer. Grill if applicable. Enjoy.

PBS = Plant-Based Sauciness ingredients:

Cashew milk
Eggplant, roasted and diced w/o skin
Green peppers, diced & sautéed
Garlic, chopped & sautéed
Sugar/SeaSalt/Pepper
CrushedRedPepper
Daiya
CornStarch

Heat. Mix. Blend. Thicken.

Fried Green Tomcatta ingredients:

PBS, warm
Noodles, cooked, drained but not rinsed & warm
Parsley, chopped
Fried Green Tomato

Construct.

It is so easy to create, for me. It is so hard to make time to put into words to share. I hope everyone has a wonderfully safe weekend!

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!

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.