Random Routes

My final thoughts on the Aids Lifecycle ride of 2023

2023-06-22T20:00:00.007-07:00

It's been just over a week since I returned home from the ride. Just like four years ago, it was a transformative experience in so many ways. Before I write my reflections, I do want to point out that you can still donate to the ride with the embedded link.

Riders, motivation, and fun

Some of the early people who have seen the blog and the movie have commented on it looking like it was all fun and games and a bit raunchy.

On the type of humor, much of the crazy parts were staged for the cameras. Well, red dress day was overall crazy and just good fun. The humor, decorations, and costumes of the rest stops did make it fun. And then you went back on the road for another 20 miles of cycling, remembering that these people spent the time to create these environments and fun.

It's hard work to ride 545 miles. It's hard work to be up at 4:30 to prepare the route for the day or to serve food, work until 8:00 repairing bikes. So it's the fun and the respect for everyone on the ride that makes it an event and supports the love bubble. There were new riders to support when their spirits were flagging. There were people who got sick or injured and took the bus between camps rather than ride; you've read about me fessing up to that for 2019, where I was glad just to finish.

Yes, we had inside humor. But most of it was just this supportive and inclusive environment. So don't be offended. It was a largely LGBTQ event that was inclusive and accepting, and a mini pride parade every day, ending with the day of the pride parade in LA.

Fitness

What I am most happy about is how well I rode this year. I did the ride in 2019 as part of the Get Out of the House team. But what I did not talk about in 2019 is how tough the ride was for me, I had not properly trained, and I entered the ride tired. In 2019, I sagged from rest stop 4 to Santa Cruz on day 1 as my body was just too tired. I sagged on day 4 coming into Paso Robles when the temperature was 105 and my body was sweating faster than it could absorb water. And I sagged on day 6 at rest stop 3 in Santa Barbara as I was just exhausted on the bike.

This year, with my training on 5 centuries (or close) over 5 weekends, I was in great shape. Sure, I was not as fast as Peter, my forty-year-old son. But I finished each day feeling strong, which was a great feeling. I did sag for 33 miles on day 5 when my rear wheel broke, and spare parts were only available at the end of the ride, but I was ready for that day, and a broken wheel was a pretty good excuse. The best part of this was on the last day, from Ventura to Santa Monica, when the rest of the team gave me a head start. They had bets going on whether they'd make it to the water stop, 7 miles from the end, before me. I beat all three of them there, so Joe lost the bet. That made my day.

People

While I did talk to folks in 2019, I was much more concentrated on just making it through the ride. This year was different, as I knew that I had the strength to make it through, and I could afford the time to talk to people to talk, get pictures and memories. I still suck at selfies but have any number of memories from rest stops with both riders and roadies.

The two most common conversation starters were "how many times have you done the ride" and "why are you doing it or have done it for so many times." This can lead to deeper conversations at a rest stop or lunch than we have with strangers in "normal life."

It felt great to be there for a second year and to look out for new riders. Whether it was telling folks how to roll up their windbreaker to fit into a jersey pocket or telling people when their gear bag was swinging back and forth and hitting her legs on each pedal stroke.
I talked to folks of all types, straight, gay, trans, or whatever, and really came to learn that we're all just people. I know it's obvious to say, but it's different when you live it. So it could be a talk about tattoos, the unfairness of tiny women with tiny bones that could go so fast (from a perspective of a woman weightlifter who went at about my pace, complaining that weightlifting was done in 15 minutes, but that 545 miles required endurance). Another woman told how her friends enrolled her in the ride 17 years ago to make a change in her life and that she realized that there was a bigger world out there and divorced her husband, remarried, and has had her husband and coworkers join her on the ride. And then she asked why I ride and I told her about having a heart attack and double bypass 25 years ago and how I have been changing my life since, with biking, weight loss, etc. She was a cardiac nurse, so she understood the situation well. We departed with mutual respect.
While red dress day seemed to be all fun, people had their reasons for each day. One veteran ride told me about his five friends who died from AIDS and how he dedicates one leg of the five switchbacks coming into Vandenberg to each of them as he rides.

The Love Bubble

The video below talks about this. I experienced it in 2019 but didn't really understand it until this year. In 2019, I discovered this the morning of the second day, when a person in the breakfast line was just giving shoulder rubs to anyone in line while he was waiting for a friend. I was originally standoffish, but did eventually warm up to it. It was the same thing when I left my bags at the gear truck on the first day and every day after that; it was expected (and welcome) to give both members of the crew a hug when dropping off the bags in the morning.

What I experienced this year was different. The shock of being around people so open had worn off. There were a number of openly trans folk that I talked to during the ride; they may have had a presence in 2019, but I don't remember it. As an example, a Berkeley/Oakland women's riding group, She Spoke, renamed their team We Spoke, with the inclusion of people in transition. What I learned is that they were all just people with their strengths, challenges and pains.

The acceptance of all types of folks is the spirit of the week. On the last day, many of us talked about how it would be hard to go back to "normal" life where talking to a stranger in Trader Joe's would be looked at askance. The ALC riders were a community that rose above any normal categories.

Video of the week

The video crew from the ride put together a summary video. There are a few inside jokes that you may not get, but it certainly gives an idea of the week and the environment. This long video is also broken into chapters for each day that I put at the end of each day's blog entry. If you watch this video, you don't need to watch each day. But watching day 5 twice is always fun.

Yes, this was the challenging week that I'd done so much to prepare for, and, approaching the age of 70, I was ready for it. I learned some things about nutrition that will have me eating more and being more balanced when I do the ride again. And it's a great feeling to know that I had a heart attack and a double bypass surgery 25 years ago. I still need to prove to myself that I'm doing fine, and this ride certainly did it.

I hope this gives you a feeling for the transformative nature of the ride. It's draining and transformative for everyone on the ride, whether the 1400 riders or 600 roadies. But, as one roadie told me, riders have it easy as they have 8-10 hours a day on the road by themselves to contemplate and reflect. I had never appreciated the gift that quiet was, and look back on the week with an appreciation for the event and my personal insights and transformations. I've gotten teary a number of times in the past week as I reflect on the experience.

We raised $11.7 million dollars by the start of the ride, and there is probably a bit more to come in. Participation was lower than past years, probably a post-Covid response, so I hope it adds riders again next year. But we also left as a community united for a cause.

As I went for a walk today, listening to podcasts as I do, I heard a quote from Ram Das: "We're all just walking each other home," which is all over the web but I found it here (and is worth reading and watching the video). That quote summarized the whole week. Riders and Roadies didn't think of differences but appreciated, even celebrated, the diversity and supported each other through our journey.

ALC Day 7: Ventura to Santa Monica

2023-06-10T20:56:00.005-07:00

We made it to day seven. It was a pretty flat ride down to Santa Monica along the Malibu coast. Even though it'd seem like an environment where you could enjoy the view, it was 29 miles of four lanes of traffic, including trucks (2 lanes each way) with cars and trucks parked along the side. Not incredibly dangerous, but always requiring vigilance. My stories today are somewhat more sparse than other days.

We started in the bike corral that morning. Each row of bikes was named after a gay star, so I was parked in Neil Patrick Harris.

As we meandered through the lot on our way out, we went past the Brandi Carlile row and two guys in front of me said "I didn't know she was gay." I told them that she was and related the story of her being rejected for baptism as a teenager because of her sexuality. I didn't know this story before the assistant rector at our church, Maggie, told the story in one of her sermons. Their response was an honest "that really sucks." I'm proud of the fact that my church, the clergy, and the people in it teach and practice acceptance.

One of the larger climbs of the day, maybe 400 feet of easy grade, was as we came in Malibu at the top of the hill. People from the LA LGBT community have been staffing this for years, handing out chocolate (I gave in to a Reese's Peanut Butter cup and a small bag of chocolate M&Ms) and they made this part of the thankless road seem welcoming.

We got to the finish line and finished as a team, with Peter and me at the front, Joe and Evan behind. Hopefully the photographers caught it and I will add it later. Here are the pictures to the entrance to the fair and our team picture as we opened our champagne bottle and share a celebratory toast.

I did get my picture with the retired LA schoolteacher who was in costume all along the route cheering us on. Some of his costumes were a Viagra pill, a condom, a bottle of preps, and more. This is the Viagra hat that he wore as he waited for his husband to ride in.

As I went through the fair at the end, with group photos and celebration (our own little pride celebration), I did pick up the heart and the cloth flower lei. This certainly made me stand out in the terminal at LAX, and I ended up talking to numerous folks taking planes back home. It was a great way to end the ride.

ALC Day 6: Lompoc to Ventura

2023-06-09T20:42:00.008-07:00

This day was just a bit more of a long riding day than others on the ride. I was glad to be on my bike again after yesterday's wheel issue. I also learned a few nutrition items as I didn't eat enough food on day 5 after my ride was interrupted; I kept getting close to bonking all day no matter what I ate. But, even with those challenges, I rode well all day and finished strong. Here are a few things of the day.

Virgil, LD and me at the truck in the morning. They had fun in pirate garb.

The ride into Santa Barbara was great. But just a few miles down the road, the Santa Barbara LGBTQ community has been throwing this ice cream stop (Paradise Pit Stop) for years. A choice of eight different ice creams, toppings, and coffee.

A bit down the road was a water stop. Here are my pics with a mermaid and a traffic director as a triggerfish. Creativity can be flashy or subtle, and I took on an appreciation for both. I will say that while I am proud of the 40 pounds I lost, today's pictures make it clear that I have at least another 20 to go.

People have asked me what roads we ride on. Much of day 2-5 were on secondary or country roads. But day 6 started on route 1 and then merged with 101 which we followed to Ventura. Day 7 got a bit better with route 1 instead of 101. So it wasn't a "stop for pictures" day. Some exceptions were that there was a wonderful two lane bike trail next to 101 coming into Ventura.

The evening ended with a candlelight vigil on the beach by the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, whose origin stories include one of the first AIDS candlelight vigils. They have been a presence at each ride. You can see five sisters in the middle of the circle as we did a silent remembrance. I also took a few pictures as it became darker, and people took their candles to the sea.

And here's the official video of the day, showing a few more rest stops

3: Top Gun at Santa Barbara and the

4: Jurassic Party (4: one big dance party)

ALC Day 5: Santa Maria to Lompoc; Red Dress Day and a broken wheel

2023-06-08T20:42:00.013-07:00

Red Dress Day! Day 5 was the day that I had spent the most time preparing for. And not for the 43 miles, but the clothes.

This was a reaction to my 2019, when I did not even know that red dress day existed. I was surprised by the nail salon with people doing their nails in red or rainbow colors and then outrageous outfits the next day. There is a presentation in camp after dinner each evening, and my picture was up in front of thousands of people as the person who did not get the memo. Here's the red dress picture from four years ago. I vowed that I would do a much better job this year.

Here's our team picture from this year. A very different view. Joe was willing to do a dress, while Peter and Evan only went as far as a red tutu; Peter did go a step further, painted his nails red, and then spent longer than he would have thought reasonable waiting for them to dry.

My criteria for my dress and ensemble was:

It had to be red (obviously)
It had to be tasteful
It had to twirl. I got this from Claire, my daughter, who wanted dresses sho she could twirl. If I was going to do it, I was going all the way on that
I wanted to be dressed in an elegant set, but tastefully outrageous. Leopard socks with red roses fit the bill. The arm warmers were a later addition, brought on by weather.
My beard was going to be red

I met all those criteria in a $50 amazon dress in a 5XL size. I had expected that I'd have to take it in at the bust, but nothing was required. Our speculation was that the audience for this dress was more likely men than women and was cut appropriately.

Back to the day. The camp was a sea of red, with even the truck crews in red, or a bit less.

We left the Santa Maria campground together and went on some very rough roads. At mile 8.5, I hit a pothole and heard a sharp metallic sound. As we pulled into the rest stop, I realized that my wheel was rubbing against the frame... badly out of true. It took the bike tech a few minutes to figure out that it was not a spoke, but that the wheel itself was cracked. Their advice was "do not ride on it... if it breaks to the next level while you're on a downhill, you will wipe out. You're going to have to sag to the end, buy a new wheel and you'll be back on tomorrow." See my nemesis below. So yes, I did sag 33 miles, but I was ready to do the full 43 in my dress that day. I got a life to lunch, where I could buy a new wheel set and see the other red clothes

As I was working with the bike techs on diagnosis, I realized that I did not have a picture with Nikki, my cleat mechanic from yesterday. We rectified that.

While waiting, I did get pictures of a few other people, including folks who lived within a few miles of me in Berkeley, the Pumadres club who had some of the coolest bike kit during the week; one part of that was their motto on all their gear "badassbikeb!tches."

And one of me in a twirl.

Lunch was what I was working towards, to see people coming in and their creativity. Here are a few of the pictures I captured.

Bertrand was a photographer who offered to take group portraits of incoming riders.

Lobsters

One of the ride staff as a Wakandan royal guard.

Doctor Strange was here as well. He was a real doctor and the medical director of the ride, so was in costume all week. I told him that I was the Silver Surfer the day before and we had a long discussion of the Marvel Universe.

The sea of red at lunch, and this was still early.

Peter took a few photos as well, and you can also see many more, including team photos, in the video. You'll see Mr. Blow Pop on day 7 with me.

I did buy new wheels from the shop on the road. Here's my sales guy and box of Shimano wheels. Once I got these, I caught an Uber to the end of the ride where my bike and mechanics were. They were wonderful and my bike was ready to go by 5:00.

I did get a few more pics of my soulmate's dress (he worked at rest stop 3 and can be seen on the videos a few times).

As well as what I considered the most tasteful dress. They made a fabric of the AIDS ribbon and then made custom dresses for the whole team. It was great that one of the team members was a fashion designer.

One last note. Peter joined me as I went to pick up my bike. His rear tire lost a 3/8 inch circle of tread and was an accident waiting to happen. I struck up a conversation with a guy who was waiting for his bike, talking about tattoos. Rather than doing things that looked tribal or ferocious, he did items from nature that gave him delight. One that impressed me, especially as my team name at work is "Immortal Jellyfish" was a jellyfish tattoo based on drawings of a German naturalist, Ernst Haeckels.

I was dissatisfied that I didn't ride the miles and have the fun, but it was not my fault. I ended the day feeling satisfied that I did all that I could have done, and that I had worked to make sure that I was riding the next day. The lunch area was the place to be, and I had experienced a bit of it.

ALC Day 4: Paso Robles to Santa Maria (and we're half way there)

2023-06-07T20:39:00.012-07:00

Day 4 was another long day. I did finish this in 2019, but was one of the last people in. I had missed the cinnanomn roll stop, as they had closed, so it had been a lonely day.

This year was much better. The first rest stop was a wonderful opportunity for team pictures, so I snuck in as an unofficial photographer. I don't know the name of the team in the first photo (I got the back of their jersey a few days later, with references to buttered muffins that I need to understand better).

This second picture was the Funky Monkey team, which was one of the largest teams. It's impressive to see such a larger number of matching kits.

Halfway is a big celebration. Do watch the video for a few surprises. I was there as a guy from Boys on Bikes stripped his jersey and shorts off for the picture (and a strategically placed sign) to the cheers of the group. I knew that this was going to be a major picture day, so I wore my Silver Surfer jersey, something from Peal Izumi in 1996 before Marvel started doing major licensing within Disney.

Here's me halfway. I didn't feel the need to hold it over my head or climb out on a rock.

I also did make sure to take photos of the roadies at lunch and rest stops 3 and 4. In case you need an explanation, lunch was "I'm a lumberjack and I'm ok" by Monty Python, rest stop 3 was the Can Can and 4 was Moulin Rouge. Everyone working at 4 was in matching costume, so I did a picture with the food roadies rather than stage. The cheap perfume on these two ladies stayed with me for the next 10 miles.

It was another good day to ride. I finished strong, and have great memories of two riders in the bike parking of rest stop 4 singing along with the Moulin Rouge soundtrack, as they knew all the words. Spontaneous moments like this are part of what makes the ride that are not captured in the video, but just part of my memories.

ALC Day 3: King City to Paso Robles and a bit of rain

2023-06-06T20:38:00.009-07:00

Day 3 is known to be a tough day. While it is a relatively short 66 miles, Jolon road has a big climb nicknamed the quadbuster. I walked up the last bit of that climb in 2019, but rode it well this year. And Peter, with the youthful spirit, got to the top, rode back down and did it again. 2019 was blazing hot, reaching 105 degrees on the last bit of the ride. I had to sag the last 15 miles that year, as I was getting dehydrated no matter how much I drank: I was sweating faster than my body could absorb the water. Little did I know that 2023 would have a different set of challenges than sun and temperature.

It was Taco Tuesday. Say no more.

Rest stop 1, at the base of the quadbuster, was fun. I had new cleats that I brought with me, as I knew that the ride destroys Shimano road cleats in a week, I stopped there, got new cleats put on by Nikki, from Australia but now living in LA, who had done the ride a few times with her husband but was a roadie bike tech this year. Here is a pic of me with the movie stars.

Mikes Bikes happened to take my picture at the top of the ride. Kyle, from the 2019 ride, sent a screenshot of the picture to us. I look great on the right.

They had said that there was a chance of rain. About 5 miles on the downhill side of the quadbuster, the skies opened up. I got wet, wetter, and wetter still. There is a TMBG song called Older that has a line "you're older than you were before and now you're even older, and now you're even older, and now you're older still." I was singing this with the word "wetter" in place of "older." Water was sloshing in my bike shoes at the bottom of each stroke, and every rider was getting wet and cold. We knew we just had to make it to rest stop 2 and shelter. People were huddled under sunshade tents. The medical tent was wrapping people with space blankets to keep them warm. After a bit under the tents, I was still cold and I saw people up the hill in the church and another warm building.

The rest stop was at St. Lukes Episcopal Church in Jolon, and it has been an ALC rest stop for years as you can see from their Facebook page. A women who was probably the senior warden opened up the church and the guild room to riders so that we could escape the elements and get warm. This was the first major adversity of the ride, and it was amazing to see strangers consoling each other as we warmed up. I did talk to her as I was leaving to thank her as a fellow Episcopalian and that we used to be in the same Diocese until we moved up to Berkeley. Over 400 people bailed on the ride at that point and sagged the rest of the way back. I am still grateful to the people of this church today.

The ride did get better from there. The rains subsided a bit, and it finally got warmer. The rain stopped by rest stop 3 and I dried out. And I finished the ride strong again.

I didn't take any more pictures that day. Bradley was great with their fundraising barbecue; I savored the double cheeseburger. We stayed at a hotel in Paso Robles that was wonderful and allowed a long warm shower. The term for ALC people who stay in a hotel rather than camp in tents is "to princess." We did that for three nights.

ALC Day 2: Santa Cruz to King City

2023-06-05T20:37:00.007-07:00

Day two was our longest day, and I felt ready for it. After sleeping in a real bed at Joe's, we got a lift over to Santa Cruz to have breakfast and start the ride.

This was our ride director dressed for safety day, day 2. The theme was orange, as in Coney, who you saw on day 0.

Each day's bike racks were named after different themes. Santa Cruz's theme was cities, but we had TV shows and gay stars in two of them later.

I wore my MS kit, as it was the best orange I had, along with my orange cougar socks. I thought I was pretty cool in my orange, but other people and teams did a much better job,.

This is a shot of the two bunk rooms at Saint Francis's retreat center. This part seemed tranquil and much like it was when Ann and I did Cursillo there. The rest of it was a very different scene. I put this picture in for the friends we still have at Saint Andrews in Saratoga.

The Salinas valley is often said to be the salad bowl of the US. Here is a field of Andy Boy romaine lettuce, stretching for miles. The great thing with the ride from Salinas to King City was that there was a tailwind of 15+ mph. It made the 108 miles easy.

Day 2 has had a long tradition of the "Otter Pop Stop" on day 2. It was at this stop in 2019 that I realized we were not in Kansas any more. I had my picture taken at the photo booth, posted it on Facebook and received NO comments. Here's the 2019 picture.

I was determined to do a photo again this year, but did not care about Facebook. They had a much better photographer and more aggressive bears than four years ago. And the funniest line before the picture was the photographer calling out "we need more bears here." He got them. It started as a simple pic

But then turned into "we need some skin," complete with the disappointment that I was wearing two layers.

I had no idea what was happening until I saw the pictures. And then I cracked up laughing. The last picture certainly is a treasure.

Here are a few other pictures of some people at the stop, including how we were greeted from the road.

When we arrived at the bike corral at the end of the ride, we were presented with a carton of chocolate milk. Before I lost 40 pounds by cutting out sugars, baked goods, and other things that would cause an insulin spike, I used to drink chocolate milk at the end of each ride from my house, even if just an hour or two. I stopped this at the start of the year as I dropped weight. But on this ride, my body needed all the carbs it could get. Drinking chocolate milk helped keep me going until I got to dinner.

Here's a typical dinner plate. I went back for more pasta and a second dessert. Having two dinners was an often-expected event.

Here's a picture of our gear offloaded from the trucks for pickup at the end of the day in camp.

It was a great day. I finished 108 miles in 2019 and did it again this year. The difference was that I finished strong and passed some people in the last 30 miles. Lest I seem too cocky, people were passing me as well.

ALC Day 1: Opening day and San Francisco to Santa Cruz

2023-06-04T21:00:00.007-07:00

The first day starts so early. The opening ceremony is at 6:00 AM, so we had to get to the Cow Palace, drop off our luggage at our truck, attend the ceremony and get pumped up in those wee hours, and finally grabbing what breakfast we could as we went to our bikes.

Notice Virgil on our truck. The list of required items ends with the bear hug, required every day, as well as the wall of trucks that went with each row of tents.

Here's the bike garage teaming with people

This was a roadie at rest stop 1 that was greeting people at the middle school in Pacifica. And yes, she was using her hands to "accentuate her flowers." It was the start of a fun week

Here's Pacifica, a beautiful beach and ocean view. And yes, the skies looked like this almost all week. Cloudy and temp in the upper 60s.

Here's a picture from our first lunch stop. The kit for the "Slayers" team give you an idea of how people looked.

Further down the coast, at the Pigeon Point, were the Pink Ladies, who have been doing this for ALC for eight years.

As we rode down the coast on route 1, we went through the Big Basin park and its surroundings that were decimated by the fires of 2020.

Rest stop 3 was a Star Wars theme. Peter did a picture with Princess Leia.

Chicken Lady did a display of his wares in the stands of the Santa Cruz bike garage. He appears in the video as well for the back story.

Day 1 was a great day. I finished the 82 miles strong, as opposed to 2019, where I sagged from rest stop 3 to the end. We stayed at Joe, our team captain's, house and avoided both hotels and tents.

ALC Day 0: Orientation and bike drop off

2023-06-03T21:00:00.038-07:00

The day before the ride is prep at the Cow Palace in San Francisco. The full "Get Out of the House" team gathered at 2:00 for the proceedings. We start with a group orientation and safety talk (see Coney" on the right), followed by a mob of people at the check-in, as you can see below.

The ride had numerous sponsors, from United the Chevron. I singled out Dignity Health as they are a customer of the company I work for.

Here's the bike garage at the end of the day Saturday. We had to put our rider numbers on the bike to be ready to ride out early Sunday morning. This was the calm before the storm.

Finally we have team pictures. The first is my son, Peter and me.

The second is the full team of me, Peter, Joe and Evan.

We all left to go home and have dinner with our families and get a good night's sleep, or at least as good as you can have when you wake up at 4:30 AM so you can be driven from Berkeley to the Cow Palace.

Storm damage to Santa Cruz Country roads for the Strawberry Fields Forever ride

2023-05-27T12:41:00.002-07:00

In my early post on Strawberry Fields and the bad roads, I did not feel that my words did justice to this. Santa Cruz Country was one of the hardest hit areas of the winter rains, wiping out piers, shorefront shops and roads. I didn't take pictures as I knew that there was this four-minute video of the damage. I start the video right at Highland Way (1:21), which was one of the first damaged roads of the ride.

We also rode on Green Valley Road (1:37) and Hazel Dell Road (1:42). Keep in mind that this video just shows the massive washouts, not the potholes and minor damage which was everywhere.

There are turkeys on the road!

2023-05-24T17:47:00.003-07:00

I did a quick ride on Tuesday as I was recovering from Sunday. My major lesson of the weekend is that while doing lots of hills, I had not been doing the steep (12+% grade) to build my physical strength and peak heart rate. I will now work my way up to doing further distances up South Park Drive, which gets steeper as you go. You can see my route below; it was an easy ride of less than an hour... just enough to keep the muscles working.

As I rode home, the surprise was the one male and three female turkeys in the middle of the road on Wildcat Canyon Road. The male was threatened by me and went into full display. I love the wildlife, whether turkeys, rabbits, quail, or coyote, and I see them all regularly. But none are as spectacular as this American classic.

Strawberry Fields Forever Century

2023-05-22T18:42:00.005-07:00

I did my last of 5 scheduled group rides yesterday. It was Strawberry Fields Forever, which went up the Santa Cruz mountains, along the coast and said strawberry fields, and then rumbling through the hilly and potholed mountain roads. It felt great to be riding in this area again; I used to ride Eureka canyon and San Jose Soquel road many times when I lived in Los Gatos. The day was 103 miles and 6500 vertical feet, with some of it at 15% grade and much of it potholed from the winter rains. I didn't take any pictures of these, as it was al bone-jarring.

I met up with two of my teammates for the AIDS ride. Evan is in the center and Joe on the right; Peter was at a family wedding and couldn't make it. We'll all be together early Sunday morning for the ride, though.

I did go light on pictures during this ride; I spent a bit too much time taking photos of the scenery the previous weekend. One that I could not pass up was the food at the Gidzich Ranch rest stop, a well-known pie destination. They had fresh apple pie and apple juice, as you can see below. It was very welcome at mile 82.

They had a wonderful backdrop for photo ops at the ends of the ride. The pictures speak for themselves in this case. A two hour drive is a long distance to do to get there for 7 AM. I don't think I'll do this ride again,

Getting ready for AIDS LifeCycle

2023-05-17T21:34:00.003-07:00

I just finished my fourth group ride on Saturday. Even if I wasn't the fastest, I got it done I was not very sore when I awakened the next day. Yes, I could be faster up the hills, but I keep getting better at nutrition and water, and getting prepared for the heat. It takes a while to remember how to do these things after being idle during Covid times.

While I have spent most of my time getting my body ready, I've also been preparing for a week living out of a backpack on the road. Here are a few things I have been doing to get ready:

I got tired of having so much junk in my jersey pockets, so I finally bought a small handlebar bag. It's so much easier than that having bulging pockets and finding things by touch.
My Iphone 12 mini battery wore out when I was not in range of a cell tower and would deplete the battery during the day. My battery was at 10% at the end of the Grizzly Peak ride. I wanted a charger that I could carry and found it with Clutch, a two-ounce iPhone charger that holds a full day of charge. It'll be one of the things in my new bag.

My bike just went in for its tuneup. Nothing major wrong, but I now have new bar tape and front tire that doesn't have a gash in it.

Updated learnings on 5/25

Doing Strawberry fields was interesting. We went along the coast, with much of it on the same route that we'll take on the Santa Cruz to King City on Monday of the AIDS ride. It gets very misty and lots of mist on the glasses, leaving muck there later when the sub comes out. I now carry a glasses cleaning cloth so I can clean those glasses.
It looks like it will be cold this year, with the highest highs in the upper 70s, especially along the coast. I will be bringing my kit for leg and arm warmers. In fact, I have been wearing a base layer, arm warmers and a windbreaker for most of this spring.

I still have to get my backpack together and bike clothes for each day, especially day 5, red dress day. Just to give you a taste, these are the socks that go with the outfit: nothing subtle.

I Care Classic, May 13, Fourth of Five

2023-05-14T07:32:00.011-07:00

Saturday took me back to a ride that I used to do in Los Gatos. There is a ride called "I Care Classic" that I started doing back in the 2002/3 timeframe. The accountant that I used back then, Greg Snow, was a Lions member and had told me about the ride all so many years ago; the ride is sponsored by the Almaden Super Lions.

It originally had a reputation as a flat and easy ride. It started in south San Jose or Morgan Hill, and often was as far south as Hollister or east to San Juan Batista. It was fun to go south of Santa Clara County into new territory. But this year, they stuck to Santa Clara County, with much of it along canyons that I had never entered in 20 years of biking in the area. You can see them as the little legs on the side of the map below.

Speaking of those canyons I had never been up before, this is a bend of coyote creek on the road up to Gilroy Hot Springs. It was beautiful.

Near the end of the ride, before the Little Uvas Canyon, was Uvas Reservoir. Like most other reservoirs in California, it was full to the top. The picture below is from me in front of a boat ramp in a parking areas.

Contrast this with some pictures of the same reservoir in 2014. It's taken from almost the same place: I was about 15 feet to the right in 2014 and 25 feet inland. The difference in water level is certainly noticeable. The third picture down shows some of the original fences and bridges that went up the road by the creek before it was dammed in 1957.

Just to prove that there are Redwoods on the ride as we went up canyons, here's one of the redwoods along the way. Yes, I intentionally had the trash cans in the picture so you'd have a sense of scale.

I love seeing the California flora and fauna. The favorite animals are California quail and rabbits. I've also become "good friends" with the Coyote who live in my nearby park, as well as bobcast down in Los Gatos. My wildflowers are the California poppies, pictured below, as well as the lupine that are often intermingled. I smile every time I see these in the wild.

Century in my new backyard, the Grizzly Peak Century

2023-05-11T21:36:00.006-07:00

I'm lucky enough to live within a mile of Tilden park in the Berkeley Hills. It turns out that the road that goes along the ridge is called Grizzly Peak Boulevard, and it's within a mile of my house.

I had the goal of doing the 100 mile, but it was really tough. Instead, I cut off 25 miles (I'm not the fastest) and did 75 miles and 7500 vertical feet.

I'm still very happy with how I did. Rather than doing a lot of words, I am just going to explain the pictures and let them tell the story. The picture below was the first rest stop. They had lots of yummy treats for breakfast as well as water.

The view from there was terrific. Much better views of Oakland and the docks than I get in Berkeley.

Here are some other scenic pictures of the wildflowers, lupines and poppies. They were better than the flowers on the Chico Wildflower ride.

The GPC is known for great food and they lived up to it. The last rest stop had all varieties of sliced fruit, strawberries, nut butters and potatoes. And then a table next to it had hard-boiled eggs, pickles and pickle juice and olives. People were just relaxing in the shade before taking on the last hills.

I made it to the end, as you can see from the selfie below.

Here's an idea of the end-ride seating, entertainment and food. I was impressed that the fare was much healthier than normal rides. Yes, they had rice salads if you wanted, but also grilled vegetables, lentil salad and the like. The volunteers who prepare the food take over a large kitchen at Contra Costa College, so it is all fresh and wonderful.

The bottom line is that I will do this ride another year. And I'll be sure to be at the start at the earliest possible time.

Chico Wildflower, first time since 2003

2023-05-02T21:09:00.004-07:00

The second of my rides was the Chico Wildflower. I'd done this in 2002: it was my first century with a long drive to it.

We rode through Paradise, which was destroyed in the 2018 Camp Fire as well as the movie Rebuilding Paradise (this is a for pay movie). I had expected to still see signs of devastation, but there were few signs in the town. What was there was an absence of a town: driveways to nothing, parking lots for nonexistent stores, a few signs for stores that were gone, such as a Foster Freeze. There were almost no trees left, as what had burnt was taken down and carted off. Some people had rebuilt, and there were a large number of trailer homes parked in front of houses under construction. It was hard to take a picture of the absence of a town, and taking pictures of people rebuilding seemed too much of an intrusion of privacy.

Some things were very noticeable. The roadways were brand new, as everything had to be repaved. All the utility poles were still fresh. But as we got a bit out of town to the west, I saw this view looking across the plain of the butte, which captured the devastation. Since it was "wild lands," they were just letting nature take its course on the burnt tree stumps as far as the eye could see.

I tried to get wildflower pictures to be in keeping with the name of the ride. The superbloom had happened a few weeks earlier. so this is about as good as it gets. [Note that the wildflowers were better in the bay area on other rides I did later.]

The last 30 miles of the ride were through almond orchards. Here are a few pictures of the trees both up close and a whole orchard

I made it to the end of the ride, feeling good, with 95 miles and 5253 vertical feet under my belt or on my wheels or whatever the right phrase is for biking.

I had a strong sense of nostalgia for the ride as well as this vintage jersey. It was well-supported with great food, but it was also a long drive and some. very sketchy roads, such as Honey Run road up to Paradise. I think I'll treasure the memory and stick to local rides next year

Preparing for AIDS/Lifecycle in 2023

2023-04-28T10:30:00.001-07:00

I did the 545-mile AIDS ride in 2019, and it was a tough one for me. I weighed a bit too much, and I was not properly trained, as I was investing too much time in work and packing up our house to sell and move to Berkeley.

I've determined to do things much differently this year. Much of this story is on my fundraising page, so I will not repeat it here; I will give more detail on my training and the lead-up.

I have been losing weight and have lost 35-40 pounds from my weight four years ago. Lately, with bike training, my weight is declining ever so slightly, but my body fat percentage is still dropping, so it's all in the right direction.
While I do get out and ride regularly for 2-3 hours, I don't do it often enough or do the long rides. My solution to that was to sign up for century rides for consecutive weekends in April and March. The events are:

Tierra Bella in Gilroy, which was the very first organized ride I did in 2001.
Chico Wildflower, a bit north of us in Chico, CA. I did this ride in 2002 as I was getting my bike training going, so it will be fun to go back. 2002 was the year I did three centuries over three weekends and I still remember being in great shape at the end of that.
Grizzly Peak Century which is in my backyard in the Berkeley/Oakland hills. It's known for great food.
I Care Classic in Morgan Hill. This was another standard Los Gatos ride, partly because my accountant was a member of the Lions, which sponsored the ride. Their claim to fame is being the cookie ride, where there are homemade cookies at all the stops.
Strawberry Fields Forever, which I always wanted to do but somehow skipped. It's out of Watsonville, known as the strawberry capitol of the world, and there is supposed to be great food and, of course, strawberries at every rest stop. I'll see if it's true.

I'll add some commentary on each of these rides as I complete them, along with pictures so you get an idea of beautiful California. You'll also hear a bit about my fitness.

The long training begins, back on my old turf (Tierra Bella in Gilroy, CA)

2023-04-24T21:36:00.005-07:00

I started my organized rides back in 2001 with ACTC's Tierra Bella ride. The first one I did back then was the metric century, 62 miles. In case you don't know my history, I had a heart attack and double bypass in September 1999 and decided to take up cycling to get some aerobic fitness. I set a few goals, such as riding my bike 420 miles across Nevada (OATBRAN) in five days, so I was training up for doing long multiday rides.

Since that early metric century, I've done this ride at least a dozen times and did many of my personal rides south from Los Gatos.

No pictures for this one. It was just a day to enjoy the ride, as well as me not having the idea of blogging this for others fully in my grasp yet.

The high points of this were:

Riding up Gilroy Hot Springs road, which is a nice climb and country roads. I even did this ride for MS back in 2015
Riding by Chesbro and Uvas reservoirs. It was wonderful to see them overfull from all the rain. The last time I rode by here was at the height of the drought. Back then in 2014 you could see the bottom of the reservoir, as it had gone completely dry. I didn't take pictures on this ride, but will on the next one.

Here's a map of the route from my GPS bike computer.

All told, 78 miles and 3600 feet vertical. Not too bad for the major start of the year.

It's time to start blogging again

2023-04-21T20:50:00.001-07:00

It's funny when you look back on things and realize how long it has been since you touched a property.

I haven't written content here since 2018. Life got more interesting after that year. In early 2019, we decided that we'd had enough of living in Los Gatos (a nice 24-year stretch) and moved to Berkeley. One of the reasons is that we wanted to be closer to Peter, Oravanh, and their two boys. It was hard to have them 90 minutes away if traffic was good. They are now 20 minutes away, so we can see soccer games, school concerts and the like. We sold our Los Gatos house in mid-June and bought a house in the Berkeley Hills that we knew would need some work.

I also kept riding, doing the AIDS ride in 2019 in June (545 miles in seven days)as well as the MS Waves to Wine in September (150 miles in two days). I resigned from my spot at Support.com and decided to go back to consulting life. Little did I know that Covid was around the corner. I think we all know how that worked out. And it was especially challenging with construction starting on our remodeling in January 2020 and having numerous quarantine and other rules slow things down.

I did start working at a startup, Capital Rx, in May 2020 and have been there since.

And you'll be hearing more from me again.

A Swedish dinner for Ann's book club

2018-01-20T17:43:00.001-08:00

Ann has a book club which meets at our house once a year. I love cooking for a crowd, so this is often a time for me to try out new recipes. This year twelve people RSVP'd so I knew it was time to show my creativity. [I will admit that, at times when only 5 people show up, I just throw together a quiche; this was not one of those times.]

The book for January was The Little Old Lady Who Broke All the Rules, a book by the Swedish author Catharina Ingelman-Sundberg that takes place in Sweden. This called for a Swedish dinner. I have included the links to the recipes, but I have also copied the recipes below the way that I modified them. Note that the women also drank shots of Aquavit to get into the Swedish mood. I had sampled various Aquavits in trips to Sweden in the past, and found a newspaper article that went into more detail so that I could pass it along. doing shots worked.

Swedish Meatballs, served over two pounds of egg noodles, from Cook's Illustrated (note that this is a pay site... I have copied the recipe below)
Sweet and sour red cabbage from Lorraine Elliot's blog
Glazed carrots, from the Good Housekeeping Illustrated Cookbook

Dessert featured Swedish ginger cookies, from the NY Times Cookbook

I have only a few comments before the recipes. The comments around the meatballs were good in the recipe and on the web. I was surprised at how wonderful they were. I've learned that my two go-to cookbooks are Cook's Illustrated and the King Arthur Flour Baker's Companion Cookbook for don't-fail wonderful food. I still fall back on Betty Crocker and the Settlement Cookbook for everyday.

Swedish Meatballs (serves 4 to 6)

I tripled the meatball recipe and quadrupled the sauce, as the noodles would absorb some of the sauce. If you thought that Ikea meatballs were good, these are great.

Why This Recipe Works: We wanted our Swedish meatballs recipe to produce substantial yet delicate meatballs with a sausagelike springiness and satisfying snap. To achieve the right texture, we combined beef, pork, bread, cream, and a surprise ingredient, baking powder, which kept the meatballs delicate and juicy. For the meatball gravy recipe, we wanted a light cream sauce instead of heavy brown gravy. To get this, we added a bit of cream to our stock to lighten it up and a splash of lemon juice for some bright flavor.

Ingredients
Meatballs
1 large egg
¼ cup heavy cream
1 large slice high-quality white sandwich bread, crusts removed and bread torn into 1-inch pieces
8 ounces ground pork
1 small onion, grated on large holes of box grater (about 1/4 cup)
⅛ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
⅛ teaspoon ground allspice
⅛ teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon packed brown sugar
1 ½ teaspoons table salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
8 ounces 85 percent lean ground beef
1 ¼ cups vegetable oil

Sauce
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 tablespoon unbleached all-purpose flour
1 ½ cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 tablespoon packed brown sugar (see note)
½ cup heavy cream
2 teaspoons lemon juice
Salt and ground black pepper

Preparation

The traditional accompaniments for Swedish meatballs are lingonberry preserves and Swedish Pickled Cucumbers (see related recipe). If you can’t find lingonberry preserves, cranberry preserves may be used. For a slightly less sweet dish, omit the brown sugar in the meatballs and reduce the brown sugar in the sauce to 2 teaspoons. A 12-inch slope-sided skillet can be used in place of the sauté pan—use 1 1/2 cups of oil to fry instead of 1 1/4 cups. The meatballs can be fried and then frozen for up to 2 weeks. To continue with the recipe, thaw the meatballs in the refrigerator overnight and proceed from step 3, using a clean pan. Serve the meatballs with mashed potatoes, boiled red potatoes, or egg noodles.

For the Meatballs: Whisk egg and cream together in medium bowl. Stir in bread and set aside. Meanwhile, in stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, beat pork, onion, nutmeg, allspice, pepper, brown sugar, salt, and baking powder on high speed until smooth and pale, about 2 minutes, scraping bowl as necessary. Using fork, mash bread mixture until no large dry bread chunks remain; add mixture to mixer bowl and beat on high speed until smooth and homogeneous, about 1 minute, scraping bowl as necessary. Add beef and mix on medium-low speed until just incorporated, about 30 seconds, scraping bowl as necessary. Using moistened hands, form generous tablespoon of meat mixture into 1-inch round meatball; repeat with remaining mixture to form 25 to 30 meatballs.
Heat oil in 10-inch straight-sided sauté pan over medium-high heat until edge of meatball dipped in oil sizzles (oil should register 350 degrees on instant-read thermometer), 3 to 5 minutes. Add meatballs in single layer and fry, flipping once halfway through cooking, until lightly browned all over and cooked through, 7 to 10 minutes. (Adjust heat as needed to keep oil sizzling but not smoking.) Using slotted spoon, transfer browned meatballs to paper towel-lined plate.
For the Sauce: Pour off and discard oil in pan, leaving any fond (browned bits) behind. Return pan to medium-high heat and add butter. When foaming subsides, add flour and cook, whisking constantly, until flour is light brown, about 30 seconds. Slowly whisk in broth, scraping pan bottom to loosen browned bits. Add brown sugar and bring to simmer. Reduce heat to medium and cook until sauce is reduced to about 1 cup, about 5 minutes. Stir in cream and return to simmer.
Add meatballs to sauce and simmer, turning occasionally, until heated through, about 5 minutes. Stir in lemon juice, season with salt and pepper, and serve.

Swedish Red Cabbage

Ingredients

2 red onions, peeled and chopped

2 tablespoons butter

2 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and chopped up

1 kg/2.2lbs red cabbage, finely sliced (many heads here in the US are 3+ pounds, so scale)

½ cup red wine

5 tablespoons brown sugar

2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

1 teaspoon caraway seeds

½ teaspoon allspice

2 cloves

2.5 teaspoons salt

Black pepper to taste

Preparation

Saute the onions in the butter on medium heat for a couple of minutes. Add the apples and cook for 3 minutes or so. Then add the cabbage and stir and place the lid on for about 10 minutes and cook on medium heat. After 10 minutes the cabbage should have softened and wilted. Then add the red wine, brown sugar, vinegar,caraway seeds, allspice and cloves. Cook for another 10 minutes or so until soft. Season with salt and black pepper.

Glazed Carrots

Ingredients
1 pound large carrots, cut into bite-size pieces 1/4-3/8 inch thick)

2 T. butter

1 T. honey (and you may want to be a bit generous)

¼ tsp. fresh ground nutmeg

Preparation

Cook the carrots in boiling water for 15 minutes, or until your desired state of done
Add other ingredients to saucepan to melt butter and combine. Add carrots and toss. I added the nutmeg as I tossed so that it was fresh

Bacon Fat Gingersnaps

Ingredients

¾ cup rendered bacon fat (from cooking 1 1/2 to 2 pounds bacon), chilled

1 cup white sugar, plus extra for rolling

¼ cup molasses

1 egg

2 cups grams all-purpose flour

1½ teaspoons grams kosher salt (I used 3/4 tsp salt)

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoons ground ginger

1 teaspoon ground cloves

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Preparation

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper or nonstick liners (this is very important when the cookies are crispy).
In a food processor fitted with a metal blade, or a mixer with a heavy beater paddle, combine all ingredients. Pulse until a smooth, stiff dough forms. Wrap dough in plastic and chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours or up to 1 week.
Drop the dough in 1-tablespoon lumps on a cookie sheet, form into balls the size of a small gumball, roll in sugar, space 2 inches apart and press flat with fingers. Bake in the oven for about 10-12 minutes until dark brown. Let cool on baking sheet for a few minutes, then transfer to a baking rack to finish cooling.

To Minsk and Back: a tale of Tourism, Politics and Drought

2015-10-27T10:19:00.002-07:00

My last blog post described how I was going to be in Minsk while the MS ride was happening. I wanted to prove that to you through some pictures and a few stories.

Minsk was a lovely city. While not on par with Amsterdam or Stockholm, it was great for a town that was 80% destroyed during World War II (or, as they call it, the Great Patriotic War). Besides the great people and beer, I learned two major things. The first was that there was a Stalinist style of architecture. This can best be seen in the two towers, known as the City Gates, rebuilt after the war. This style was significantly more ornate than I had counted on. The statues above the fifth floor represent the roles in the Communist ideal: a worker, a collective farmer, an engineer and a soldier. They are iconic buildings, directly across from the train station. I was glad to be there in the early fall, as the weather was quite temperate. It never got below 50F, although I 'm told that -40 is common in the winter.

The other lesson was political. I arrived two weeks before Belarus’s elections. Lukashenko was running for his fifth five-year term as president. There were banners for the election throughout the city. This is a picture of a 12-story-tall banner, the largest I saw, on Lenin Square. What was strange was that I could see identical signs throughout the city (three from my hotel window, for example) but never any sign for a candidate. I’ll just say that the government locked down the opposition and Lukashenko won with 85.3% of the vote. If interested, you can see there views of the election from the apathetic voice of the people, lead-up to the election and the final results. It was refreshing to be back in the United States with our somewhat chaotic election process.

We also had torrential rains the weekend that I had to be a tourist. It’s been a long time since I saw rivers of water two inches deep coursing down street gutters. After the drought of California, it was great to see. The rains finally did abate on Sunday afternoon, so I was able to go out and be a tourist in the city.

Speaking of drought, I came home to the depleted reservoirs of California. I decided to see this first-hand on a mountain bike: two pictures show this very well. The first is the selfie, my first one posted on Facebook, of me as I biked out onto the old road, Old Santa Cruz Highway, which was in place before the reservoir was built. That is the picture from the ground level. A week later I was hiking on the hill above the dam and shot the picture below. I put a red dot on the highway, just left of the center, where I shot the selfie. This gives you a perspective of the low level of the reservoir; it is currently at 18.7%, the lowest of any reservoir in Santa Clara County. If you are interested in the history of towns now coming back above water, this article does a great job describing what has been submerged at Lexington for half a century.

It’s great to be back home.

I'm riding in support of Multiple Sclerosis in Waves to Wine 2015.... in a way

2015-09-28T03:34:00.000-07:00

With a well-deserved beer and my
Waves to Wine jersey and kit
at the end of the ride

I've been riding my bike for MS, or intending to, every year since 2003, and this year is no exception. While I did have this on my schedule and the ride is happening this weekend and September 26 and 27th, I had business plans that took me on a different route. I'm spending the weekend in Minsk in Eastern Europe, and am just finishing this on Monday morning.

People have accused me of being long-winded when talking about MS. I’ll be concise this time.

While I had intended to ride and had trained for it, I traveled instead, flying out on Sunday, the 20th. I did do a ride in the 100+ heat last weekend, September 19, before I left for fundraising: I am still serious about supporting the cause. You can see the map below. It was one of the tougher rides I have done, due to the heat and the fact that I supported myself rather than having a team of volunteers; I appreciated their work all the more. I took two “time outs” at a Subway and Starbucks to cool down and hydrate, with a few quarts of water each time. But I finished the ride. I greatly enjoyed a few parts, such as the trip in the hills east of Gilroy, back by Gilroy Hot Springs. I rode for an hour back there without another vehicle on the highway, and stopped to hear the woodpeckers and the breeze in the trees: quite beautiful. I also had a flat tire about 1/4 mile away from home. Of all the times it could have happened, this was the "best."
Close to three thousand people are riding on the 26th and 27th.They hope to raise $2.8 million dollars to support local and national multiple sclerosis programs and research. They need your support, so you can support MS and me by contributing at their website, http://main.nationalmssociety.org/goto/CharlesMyers2015.
If you have donated to MS already, thank you. If not, you can still make contributions to the ride and cause through the middle of October.
I’ll be riding again next year. And I'm not planning any trips to eastern Europe during that time.

I did do fundraising this year by postcard, custom printing the message and address with the software I wrote 39 years ago, Pager. If you’re one of my email-only people, I did not do a custom email for you, but you can see a generic version of the postcard, both front and back, below.

Here are a few pictures for the ride

The 101 mile route, to Gilroy and back. It was about 4000 feet vertical

The 2014 thank you note, used for 2015. It was custom-published with software I wrote back in Chicago.

Thank you all for your continuing support.

Bourbon-basted salmon from this year's book club party

2015-07-26T08:41:00.000-07:00

We had our annual book club summer party at the Scott's last Saturday for the second year in a row. For those of you who don't remember it, the Myers had the party two years back... the recipes were blogged back then, including my special shortbread cookies. I'm continuing the blogging tradition, but without hosting the party.

Steve and Sally cooked their wonderful Salmon recipe both of these years. Here are the details.

The recipe Steve uses is Bourbon Basted Salmon from the Junior League Centennial Cookbook.
We have used the wild caught or the aquarium-approved farmed fish from Costco although the original recipe calls for 6 skin-on fillets.

The important thing is the marinade:

1/4 cup packed brown sugar
3 T Bourbon whisky (We use Jack Daniels)
3 T chopped scallions
2 T soy sauce
2 T vegetable oil

Marinate in zip-lock bag for an hour or more (we do it overnight sometimes)
Grill about 5-7 minutes per side, basting with reserved marinade: the more you put on, the sweeter the fish.

There are some great tips on buying and cooking salmon available online, including Better Homes and Gardens. If you're lucky enough to have a great thermometer like a Thermapen, I'd cook the fish to 130 as opposed to the 140 they recommend in the article.

Twelfth night, king cake and 3D printing

2014-01-05T21:21:00.003-08:00

Most people don't know that Christmas is actually a period of twelve days. The only remnant of this in our culture is the carol "The twelve days of Christmas." The aforementioned days of Christmas in the song are the twelve days between the birth of Christ (Christmas, December 25) and the coming of the Magi (Epiphany, January 6). What better way to celebrate this at a twelfth night party on the tenth night than with king cake, or in our case, king cupcakes. What I did not realize until I researched for this blog is that Mardi Gras begins on Epiphany and ends on Shrove Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday. Now that we have the liturgical roots handled, let's deal with how I made these cupcakes. [I should point out that the idea for the party and the cupcakes was Ann's idea... I just executed it and added the 3D printing into the mix.]

The cupcake recipe comes from King Arthur Flour. The recipe was very easy and the cupcakes came out great. Even though it's not a yeast dough, it was quick to prepare. And it gave me another place to use my favorite baking seasonings, Fiori di Sicilia.

The cupcakes looked great with the yellow, purple and gold sugars, but I was looking for a way to make it a bit more special. It turns out that I have a plastic manufacturing machine in my garage. I have a Makerbot Replicator 2 in my garage, and I'd given thought to how manufacturing fundamentally changes when you have the local means of production, as well as 6 different colors of plastic including yellow and purple. I went to Thingiverse and did a search on "crowns" and found a size ten crown ring. I scaled this up 20% for men, made a model for six of them and produced them in purple on the printer. I then produced another six for the women and smaller fingers at normal size in yellow. They were a hit at the party and I did have to give a tour to the garage to see the printer in action. This is the kind of item that you'd never go to a store to buy. But it becomes possible when you control the means of production and designs like this are openly shared and licensed.

Everyone enjoyed the cupcakes, and we checked to make sure that people were wearing their rings at church on Sunday morning.

Report at the end of the third year of solar electric (photovoltaic) panels on our house

2013-09-21T14:33:00.001-07:00

I'd written an article two years ago when we reached the end of our first year of solar power. This is just a quick report, but I'll summarize it as "the system is holding up well, and is still cost effective." It's interesting that many of my neighbors talk about their monthly electric bill regularly being $200-300, and can't believe that we pay roughly the same amount for a full year.

The factors that changed in the past three years are:

The overall production from the panels was down. While it was 6.5Mwh in 2011, it was 5.8Mwh this year.
PG&E changed their billing in ways I can't comprehend. While the true-up was smaller in 2011 and had connection charges added, my bill this year was $30 less than the true-up.
The trees around the house were trimmed better in 2011, and have grown a bit. It's time to prune back.
We had three people living in the house from September 2012 until April 2013. While it was great to have Claire here, it increased power usage.

Here is the report for 2012-2013. We're being more aggressive with power savings, from improved appliances to a greater reliance on LED bulbs (my favorite is the Switch LED bulb, now available as 100W). I'm looking forward to reporting next year.