Got on a slight tangent while working the other day while looking up some vegan dishes to cook for xmas.
First stop was Vegan Yum Yum because Lola has the best pictures and some really tasty recipes. Her Thanksgiving post has given me the inspiration to try making seitan, aka Wheat Meat. Thanks Lola!
Had a nice wake up call this week with my cholesterol test results. They are a bit high which I partially attribute to the orgy of fat I are over the Thanksgiving weekend. Nonetheless it is a serious issue and one I am not taking lightly. So I am going to get back into the serious cycling I was doing last spring.
First thing is that I needed a new training program. I want something simple but tough and most critically FREE. Its crazy how many people are trying to sell training programs online. Guess what? I aint buying your program. If I am going to pay you it will be to coach me, and I aint hiring you as a coach till I see your training program. So I found Jesper Therkildsen who writes Training4Cyclists.com and he has this 12 hour a week Training program which is just what the doctor ordered (man I crack myself up).
Yes a 3 hour ride is a long ride, but the better way to look at it is that you will get to see lots of country side. Now leaving the house at 5pm Dec 4th might seem suicidal but I have the fortune of living in Phoenix AZ and its in the 60’s here now. So besides rush hour traffic and a little darkness it is perfect riding conditions.
Then the sunset happened:
Then I got to Ahwatukee and entered Never Never Land:
After Ahwatukee I was heading home on Ray but realized I wasn’t going to hit my 3 hour mark so I doubled back to Kyrene and up to Guadalupe to get home in 3 hours and 47 miles covered:
Here is the route.
Went to the Zoo last weekend with Kathryn’s Dad and Step Mom and it was awesome!
Had a nice adventure a few Saturdays ago. Naturally it involved riding my bicycle around Phoenix and seeing part that I hadn’t seen before. We started later than planned but in the end everything worked out very nicely.
Kathryn wanted to go and see what all of the hubub was about at the Phoenix Libraries’ Book Sale. Naturally they cannot do said booksale at their convienently located downtown location. No no no this needs to be done at their warehouse which is naturally not in so convienient, nor exactly pleasant, a location near 29th Ave and McDowell. So the adventure started pretty much right away as I have never actually biked anywhere west of 7th Ave.
So we started off down the canal to 12th St cause there is a nice bike lane on 12th that takes us to Maryland, which also has a nice bike lane:
The booksale was interesting but neither of us bought anything. Eager to get back on the road we headed down McDowell and up to Oak to make our way to the Papagos. We got a nice ride over the 51 on the very inviting 51 overpass:
The fun didnt stop there and at 27th St there was a dead body getting pulled from the bushes. Kathryn asked how I knew it was a dead body and I pointed out that the truck being used to drive off with the body was not an ambulance. No hurry to get him or her anywhere. Crazy stuff but we rolled on unscathed.
We got through some pretty dramatic road construction before climbing by the Papagos on our way to the Desert Botanical Gardens:
Had lunch at the Botanical Garden and hung out with some butterflys then made our way home:
Gmaps says it was 38 miles but I clocked 41. Here is the route we took.
Got a great ride in on Saturday down here in Chandler but Sunday’s ride was a whole nother story. Headed out to meet with the ABC group ride from the Granada Park with Kathryn:
This was my first ride with ABC and I wasn’t terribly impressed with their ability to ride in formation or at a consistent pace. Still it was a gorgeous morning and I still had fun. We made our way through Dreamy Draw Park and over to Mummy mountain for a nice climb:
Then we headed out to Scottsdale and FLW Blvd for some breakfast which was very delicious. At that point we decided to leave the group and make our way to Old Town Scottsdale:
We spent a little too long there and let the heat of the day catch us by surprise. Luckily we are top trained athletes and were able to make it back:
48 miles total, here is the route map.
I want to like the Rokerij. Its a great setup and well done environment. The setting is stylish and dark so you want to sink into a booth and get down to eating some food.
Unfortunately my first experience has left an impression that is less than stellar. My girlfriend and I had been wanting to try it out a few times. We got a booth by the fireplace and settled in for a nice meal.
The specials are written up in chalk on the wall as you walk in which is a great method for displaying specials. We are both vegetarians that will eat fish and were excited by the plethora of fish dish choices on the specials board. This tends to say that a place can do fish.
Our server was nice enough but when we asked for some recommendations he stared at us blankly and grabbed the menu like he hadnt eaten there in a while. This is a huge pet peeve for me. If a place is gonna charge $20 or more for an entree the staff better be trained on the dishes and be ready to give some recommendations. Show some passion and knowledge and sell me the good stuff.
We ordered the White Bean Bruschetta to start. It was edible but lacking in flavor, maybe some salt wouldnt have hurt, but something more than just beans and toast please.
Next was the soup of the day which had a lot of smoke flavor going on, not impressed.
Finally we went with the sesame crusted fish with a melon salsa. This dish started off a disaster and just got worse. First of all the server brings it over holding it with a towel. As We shift plates around to make room he starts yelping a bit in pain. Not a great sign. Once he gets it set down we move to dig in but my lovely date brushes her arm on the plate and comes away with a pretty solid burn.
This is just plain stupid. There is no need for a plate to be 200 degrees. Cook the food and then bring it out. Dont cook it at my table on the plate!
Unfortunately the fish was not edible, at all. The melon salsa was horrid. We sent it back and still got charged.
Rokerij I want to love you. There are a lot of folks on Yelp that love you but I have to say that for food you have not impressed me.
Oh yea! Bring it on and what not. I gots my words all printed up on a real website:
http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/story/126780
Thats cool.
Ignite Phoenix is rolling into Phoenix again on Oct 29th. Have you made your submission to present? Are you a scaredy cat? Huh? Are ya?
Seriously though the first one was a blast as you can watch here. Even if you are a chicken and dont want to submit that it okay (we know who you are). You should still come on down since its free and after we are gonna go have beers at Half Moon Sports Grill or maybe Two Hippies Taco Shack.
Holy shit I am a superstar. I kid you not. My voice and some mediocre thoughts have been trapped into an audio bubble and flushed into the intertubes.
Its here on Gangplank Podcasts.
Hells yeah! Hollywood here I come! YEEEEHAW!
Good conversation at Ignite Phoenix on Social Media Best Practices. Authenticity and transparency are topics that keep coming up. I like the Marc Cuban or Bob Parsons method of open mouth insert foot and collect cash. Sure you are going to piss people off, guess what? You are going to piss people off not matter what you do or do not do. Don’t walk around in a stupor worried about making everyone happy. Make enough people happy to stay viable but if you don’t keep it honest about who you are it won’t last. Either you will get tired of it or everyone will see that you are forcing yourself to act that way.
Best Practices links:
BoingBoing
Marc Cuban
Bob Parsons
Scobleizer
Calacanis
Guy Kawasaki
Dan Rayburn
