I went to the Collonade yesterday with my friend Eric for the first time in over a year. It wasn’t a terribly eventful ride, but it was pretty tight to ride at dusk with the blue safety lights illuminating the features.
Archive for August, 2009
Brollonade
August 21, 2009Bombelet
August 21, 2009I’ve never been a big omelet fan, but after watching Alton Brown whip up a few, I decided to try out his recipe. In my first batch I forgot to warm the eggs, which turned out to make a big difference. In my second batch, with warm eggs, things turned out much better. The result was a moist, mouth watering batch of buttery eggs. And yes, the butter is essential – that’s probably why they taste so damn good.
Kachess “Clay” Ridge
August 10, 2009I made the trek out east on I90 yesterday to Kachess Ridge with some biking friends. It’s a brutal approach, with 5 miles of relatively flat fire roads followed by another 5 miles of steep (steeper than Tiger) fire rode. As always, once at the top, you forget the approach and get stoked about the upcoming ride. On Kachess Ridge, it’s even better as you have amazing views of the east Cascades.
A view of Kachess Lake from half way up the fire road
The ride down begins with some insanely steep, dusty, rocky, switchbacky trail that made my jimmy shrink. You then need to spend another 10 minutes walking your bike up some equally insane trail. Honestly, I highly doubt anyone has ever ridden up that part of the trail. At the saddle I enjoyed a brief PB&J lunch before hitting the downhill madness.
View from the top of Kachess Ridge
A few highlights:
1. The opening trail through alpine meadows was both gorgeous and illmatic as the trail was cut into the grass giving you mini berms to help you rail the corners.
2. Some seriously steep and rocky shit that makes your forearms ache. I took a pounding like I’ve never experienced before.
3. Nasty exposure at the end as you ride along a skinny trail on a steep (maybe 45%) slope leading into rocks, rubble, and a creek bed you don’t want to fall into.
Exposure’s never been my friend and this ride was no different. I pulled the “P Card” in a big way, sadly. Kachess “Clay” Ridge (aka Cassius Clay Ridge) kicked my ass. I’ll be back, though, and I’ll leave the “P Card” at home.
Having to walk the bike up some steep stuff
Grilled Shrimp Rub
August 7, 2009I’ve been big into grilling shrimp this summer, as I wrote about here, and this Monday was just another day at the grill. I love Mexican food because I love cumin (and tortilla chips and brews of course), especially toasted and ground cumin. It’s a pretty simple thing to do, toasting spices, and it makes all of the difference in flavor. (I’m serious about that; compare the smell and taste of freshly ground cumin to pre-ground, bottled cumin. You don’t need to be Bobby Flay to tell that the freshly ground is much better.) Take your favorite whole spice, like cumin, fennel, or corriander, put it in small pan and set it on medium heat. As soon as the seeds start to smoke a little, get ‘em out of the pan and into your dad’s old coffee grinder. Let them sit until they’re completely cool (otherwise you risk releasing the oils, which produces a gummy mess). When they’re ready, grind ‘em until they’re a fine powder. Bob’s your uncle.
Wait, so where was I again? Oh right, grilling shrimp and liking Mexican food. So, I toasted up some cumin, mixed in red chili flakes, chili powder and salt, gave the shrimp a good dusting and massage, and then threw the shrimp onto the grill. By the time you’ve put them all down, it’s time to begin flipping the ones you’d put down first. And when you’ve flipped all of them, it’s time to begin taking them off.
It’s an easy dish, it’s a healthy dish, and it’s a delicious dish.
Exact spice rub is:
1 pound shrimp (peeled, deveined)
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/3 teaspoon red chili flakes
1/2-1 teaspoon salt
Tiger Mountain Thrilla
August 7, 2009I’ve written about Tiger mountain before, so I’ll keep this one brief. I dominated the ride last Sunday. A few highlights:
1. Crushing the 3 mile fire trail in one fell swoop. Felt like I was on an XC bike.
2. Crushing the downhill and not getting passed. This included my first attempts of bunny hopping the drops instead of rolling them. Money.
3. Nailing the hairiest, IMHO, part of the ride. A super steep, windy section that ends with a blind roll off a log lying perpendicular to the trail. You have to trust you are pointing in the direction of a rock on the other side of the log, which you can roll onto. If you aim incorrectly, it’s head over heels time. (I’ll take a photo next time, I swear.)
Don’t Forget Your Shorts
August 7, 2009Last Thursday I rode the Tolt McDonald Trail, a series of winding, rooted trails in Carnation Washington. To be frank, it’s not my favorite place to ride, but that might be due to the conditions I’ve ridden in there. This last time was definitelythe most absurd.
I’d packed the wrong shorts for the ride. Instead of standard bike shorts, I’d brought along loose fitting, baggy lacrosse shorts from college. From the beginning of the ride, the shorts kept catching on quick release of my seat post. While it’s hard to believe, the shorts actually made the ride more dangeous. There were times I needed to pop out of the saddle or shift my weight back in order to adjust my balance. With my shorts catching, I wasn’t able to do so. Further, the harshness of the snag often caused me to rebound back into an even worse position. The shorts did cause me to fall off the bike a few times, but luckily in fairly safe spots.
Next time I leave my bike shorts at home, I won’t be riding.
