Cooking 101

Another luxury of not having classes other than being able to ride is the opportunity to cook dinner without concern of when I'm going to get around to HW. My goal has been to cook with something new every time I cook and while I haven't managed that exactly, I have broadened my horizons and learned some new dishes.

Salmon with Fennel and Lemon-Garlic Dressing

Fried Green Tomatoes





Gourmet Salad - fresh field greens with pears, almonds, tomatoes from the vine, carrots, and basalmic vinaigrette

and sometimes not so gourmet....

Improvised Chik'n Sandwich

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Semesters over....well sorta

My one and only "final" if you want to call it that was last Wednesday night at 7PM, allowing me to relax over the past couple days and even have the opportunity to ride some. Christmas came early when my good friends Jeff and Jordan came down to the visit. They brought one of my Christmas presents that I convinced my mom into giving me early. For years I have been wanting an indoor trainer for several reasons primarily to train during the winter, but also to ride when weather doesn't allow and warm up properly before races. I've never had the money for the one I really wanted, a Cycleops Fluid Pro. CycleOps is an American company associated with Saris Bicycle Racks. I managed to get $105 dollars off the already very expensive trainer during a Black Friday Eastern Mountain Sports deal.

I'm planning on writing a review on it once I have some more time to play with it and put some serious miles on it, so far it has been doing the job well. Last night I decided to give it a try and since I haven't had a chance to pick up any of the accessories for it yet (sweat mat and leveling/climbing block) I made a makeshift sweat mat and tire block to level the bike from a towel and textbook. My 6th edition Thermodynamics did quite nicely, however I need to find a box fan because the tower fan just isn't cutting it when it comes to ventilation. It's a good thing I made that space for the trainer when I did.

While on the trainer I played around with using my Garmin 310XT to record my power data and compared the results to the PowerTap head unit results, they proved to be fairly similar except for distances (discussed later). Below shows the results of my first ride on the trainer and my first longer then 5 minute ride with the new power meter. The first output is from PowerAgent, CycleOps interface for downloading and dissecting power data from your rides. The learning curve of using a power meter effectively is steep and I have a ton to learn.

Below is an output from Garmin's online Training center, Garmin Connect, where my data is automatically uploaded using then ANT+ stick from my Garmin Forerunner 310XT. My distance is shown while stationary by the red line that travels all over my building and the parking lot outside. I did my ride by the window and forgot to turn off the GPS for the ride, and have now since setup multiple profiles for riding including one for outdoor riding and another for stationary/ indoor trainer riding.

Monday was gorgeous with temperatures in the high 50's and I couldn't resist but go out for a ride and judging by the amount of cyclist I saw whilst out it seemed everyone else had the same idea (yeah! first opportunity to throw in whilst!). Weather like that in December is few and far between for Blacksburg especially considering the current blizzard outside of my window.

A little out of order but today's Blizzard anyways

(Not a blizzard yet, but we're supposed to get 18")

For the first outdoor ride with the power meter I choose a route that is a favorite for Wednesday Worlds around and also has gorgeous scenery and a narly climb at the end of the ride. The ride total was just around 31 miles and under 2 hours of actual ride time. I did not have autopause turned on which is another convenience of having two bike profiles on the Garmin.

Pictures from the ride 12/14/2009

As for the power data I have absolutely no idea what it means at this point, nor what the sampling and smoothing factors affect, or how to interpret my performance from the ride. I've picked up two books about training, including Training and Racing with a Power Meter which will hopefully give me a better understanding of the data I'm looking at.


Below is power data from Tuesday's trainer ride, about the same distance but this time I have a very large error in my Garmin's distance with the GPS turned off so I'll have to look into that.


As discussed earlier were supposed to be getting 18" of snow today and into tomorrow which means that outside riding isn't happening, not that it can't..just that there is not way I'm going out in it. The snow means fun times on the trainer and maybe a few movies from Redbox to keep me entertained until I can get home, because right now I'm not going anywhere.

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Gear Geek Holiday Wish List

From one gear geek to another, I've decided to write up what I think are some of the best holiday suggestions for 2009 season.

The holidays are always a stressful time trying to figure out what to get family members that special gift in a modest price budget. Here's 5 Gear Geek items for active family members.

1. 4GB- Stainless Steel Ipod Shuffle - $99

Perfect for those runs where an Ipod Touch or Ipod classic is too much on your arm. Simply clip it to your shirt or cycling jersey and forget It's even there. The only problem is since It's so small It's easy to lose.

2. Oakley Jawbone Sunglasses - $199

They make changing lenses a no brainer with hinged nose-bridges that swing away taking seconds to put new lens in. They also come in LiveSTRONG color scheme.


3. Yaktrax -$30

The perfect gift for those who love to run but are concerned about the elements. Look sweet and will definitely be trying a pair soon hopefully.


4. Lance's new book Comeback 2.0 - $30

A new book documenting Lance's return to cycling from last fall to this years LiveSTRONG global summit in Dublin, Ireland.


5. Canon f1.8 / 50mm Lens - $96

Perfect for that family member who always seems to have a camera handy and likes all of those close up images.

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Christmas Parade and DT Blacksburg

Tonight marked the opening of the new Blacksburg Farmers Market, replacing the existing parking lot that transformed into a makeshift market on Wednesday afternoons and Saturday mornings. The new market sitting on the corner of Draper Rd. and Roanoke St. features a new structure with tables that allows vendors to set up their displays with access on both sides. Having the opportunity to view the construction progress out of my window daily It's nice to see the final product in use and the reassuring feeling that the annoying noise associated with the construction will be coming to a halt.

I fell in love with this bicycle and took about 20 shots of it trying to get just the right one, it really fit the downtown scene and market atmosphere. Too perfect to pass up, and a darn good looking bike.



Tonight was also the annual Blacksburg Holiday parade which drew an even larger crowd to the new farmers market and really made downtown the Happening place for the evening. Michelle and I met a very nice lady who stood with us during the parade. The small town feeling of a holiday parade is very special and something I hope to have when I'm settled down. The night was picture perfect and while my photography skills are amateur I'll post what I got in hopes of advice on how to get better results at night.

Alirght this one was blurry on purpose, can you guess what it is?

....

Temperatures were chilly and made hot chocolate an absolutely delightful dessert to a perfect evening with warm milk of course, the only real way to make hot chocolate.

On a recent trip to NY Lance had several guest appearances including an interview on CNN about media scrutiny and the current Tiger Woods debacle.

He also appeared on The Daily Show with John Stewart

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Lance Armstrong
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Health Care Crisis

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Holiday Jingle from Specialized!

A Holiday Jingle from Specialized comprised of bicycle sounds and noises!

Specialized Holiday Card - The funniest home videos are here

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Garmin Connect - Activity Details for Evening Run Around Town

Garmin Connect - Activity Details for Evening Run Around Town

Did some research today on the recommended life of shoes. From the research I found, 350-500 miles is the lifespan of a running shoe depending on weight and style of running (whether you run heavy or light). I have been using Garmin Connect for a few months now and have really enjoyed the ability to upload my runs and view my statistics, but I'm now longing for more in regards to storing runs, something along the lines of Sport Tracks but for Leopard.

In other news...Another Lance book has come out, Comeback 2.0 a must have 200+ page photo journal of Lance's return to cycling!

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New Month-Exciting News

Although my exercise has seem to decline to almost non-existence with several runs a week averaging about 7miles/week, I have been actively reading about new training regiments and cool technology to improve next years goals.

Sweet Nike Lace up Save Lives campaign that started yesterday since today is World AIDS Day and Twitter has helped support by turning tweets red.

Today's Collegiate Times had an article pertaining to a new Virginia Tech policy to educate cyclist about road etiquette.

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