8 AM: Off to pre-school. We've been walking to school a lot lately. Maddie prefers to walk and sing, but on the mornings where she wants more time to draw at home, we leave later and take the bike.
8:30 or so: Rare day -- Liza doesn't have to work until 10:30. We've been wanting to go and try the Natural Start bakery for a while and we finally got in there this morning. My new favorite. My daily shop is The Scoop for the best drip coffee (Bumper Crop) in town and my ritual multi-grain bagel with peanut butter and banana. But I will be making special trips to the Natural Start bakery. It's exactly what you want in a bakery: yummy, home-cooked, healthy food. They go out of their way to source local and organic ingredients and products. The vegan morning glory muffin was the bomb. I also had their Shepard's pie. Liza had a cookie and quiche. It was all fantastic. They also have a good out back picnic table deal going. They're on Hamilton (1718 N Hamilton to be exact), so it's just off the Centennial Trial. Hours: M-F 7-6; Sat 8-5; Sun 9-4 (? I think -- that's from memory).
10: 45 - Lehman Road
I've been feeling like a hotshot lately after loosing some pounds and racing around on my fancy new bike. I wanted to see what Lehman hill felt like with my new setup. Lehman is a good barometer of where I'm at fitness wise and hill-mentally-wise. I've written about it before.
Well, my hotshotiness went away about 1/4 of the way up the hill. I swapped the 53/39 chain ring on the RB-1 for a 48/34 this winter. That didn't help here. This hill crushed me and nearly made me turn around. The only thing that kept me going up the hill was thinking about descending down Forker, which is so much fun on any bike, but I'm really learning to enjoy fast cornering on the RB-1.
At the top of Lehman, I took a right on Fruithill Rd, thinking that would take me to Forker. It doesn't. It takes you to the Cliff House, where I filled up water at the visitor center and talked to a cool guy named John who used to race. He was into the RB-1, so he won me over right away. The descent down Fruithill is not so great. Too many hairpin gravel-laden turns.
Noon: Lunch at Vien Dong's with my Vien Dong homies
I love Vien Dong's. I love the block it's on, with Bay Market and the Checkerboard Tavern. I love the Vien Dong coffee with condensed milk and I love menu item #36. Jon and Brian are great company for lunch too. They both have ridiculous looks here. Poor bastards. That's the John-tax: the phone-camera is going to come out at some point.
2: 30 Pick up Liza and try some wheat grass shots.
Fusion is another local business. Liza has been wanting to try this place for a while. They gave us 3 samples as we stood there wondering what to order. Wheat grass shots are like drinking a concentrated summer day. They come with an orange-juice back to combat the grassy flavor.
Good day: lots of good food and good riding.
1 comment:
The hill on Lehman Road is, indeed, a great barometer. The descent on Forker is a nice reward for the climb.
To reach Forker Road, make a left at the top of the hill and proceed north. Cross Bigelow Gulch Road. A right turn on Bigelow Gulch Road will take you to Forker, but it's narrow and often has heavy traffic moving way too fast.
Instead, take a right on Pleasant Prairie Road, which runs parallel to Bigelow Gulch Road about one-half mile north of it. That will take you to Forker Road where you make a right and head south for the descent.
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