Total mileage was way down this month... the lowest my mileage has been since the beginning of the calendar year (January 2007, 273 miles). I missed one weekend of riding while in Dallas/Ft Worth at the beginning of the month, but mostly I think it's just my normal slowdown at the end of the riding season.
I did have some high quality rides in October though: I climbed Mt Hamilton and did some good riding in and around New York.
October mileage: 286
October Time in the Saddle: 26.2 hours
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Orinda-Sunol-Union City (62 miles)
This ride is a bit of a hybrid, combining the first 45 miles of the Orinda-Palomares ride with a jaunt down the Alameda Creek path and a quick turn through urban-industrial Union City. This is another BART-to-BART ride: the route begins at Orinda BART station and finishes up at South Hayward BART.
The stretch from Orinda to Sunol (i.e the first 40 miles or so) has become one of my favorite standard rides this season. It's a really pleasant route that's relatively flat without too many stops or lights, so you can really speed down to Dublin/Pleasanton in no time.
Instead of taking the turn up Palomares Road, I stayed on Niles Canyon and picked up the Alameda Creek trail at Mission. I followed the trail to Union City Blvd, then headed north to Industrial Parkway. Obviously this is a utilitarian route rather than a scenic one, but it's a straight shot down Industrial Parkway to South Hayward BART. Besides, there aren't a lot of scenic options through Union City and Hayward, so you sort of have to settle for the functional.
While out and about I was keeping an eye open for changing fall colors. Being in New York last weekend got me thinking about fall foliage, so I've been on a mission this week to spot any isolated trees in the bay area that are undergoing an autumn transformation. From what I can tell, the hills around here don't have too many trees that change, but scattered throughout many residential areas (including my own) there are lots of these little trees that are changing to a very bright red. Wonder what kind of tree that is...?
Animules: horses, and some pasturing cows in Union City
Total Distance: 62 miles
Elevation Gain: 1400 feet
Route (on bikely.com): Orinda-Sunol-Union City
The stretch from Orinda to Sunol (i.e the first 40 miles or so) has become one of my favorite standard rides this season. It's a really pleasant route that's relatively flat without too many stops or lights, so you can really speed down to Dublin/Pleasanton in no time.
Instead of taking the turn up Palomares Road, I stayed on Niles Canyon and picked up the Alameda Creek trail at Mission. I followed the trail to Union City Blvd, then headed north to Industrial Parkway. Obviously this is a utilitarian route rather than a scenic one, but it's a straight shot down Industrial Parkway to South Hayward BART. Besides, there aren't a lot of scenic options through Union City and Hayward, so you sort of have to settle for the functional.
While out and about I was keeping an eye open for changing fall colors. Being in New York last weekend got me thinking about fall foliage, so I've been on a mission this week to spot any isolated trees in the bay area that are undergoing an autumn transformation. From what I can tell, the hills around here don't have too many trees that change, but scattered throughout many residential areas (including my own) there are lots of these little trees that are changing to a very bright red. Wonder what kind of tree that is...?Animules: horses, and some pasturing cows in Union City
Total Distance: 62 miles
Elevation Gain: 1400 feet
Route (on bikely.com): Orinda-Sunol-Union City
Saturday, October 27, 2007
NY Dining: wd-50
When R told me that we were going to a resto called wd-50, I wasn't sure what to expect. Apparently I'm the only person on the planet who wasn't familiar with the head chef, Wylie Dufresne. I've since mentioned his name in conversation and everyone is like, Of course, Wylie Dufresne. I'm always the last to know. Anyway, Dufresne made an appearance in the season finale of Top Chef 2, and it was through the show that I was familar with the concept of molecular gastronomy. So, anyway, I was kind of expecting everything to come with foam, Marcel-style. And I figured it would definitely be a unique experience, but I wasn't prepared to be really blown away by the concept, creativity, and flavor of every dish we had.
At J's suggestion, we opted for the 12 course tasting menu, and we were certainly not disappointed. Only the opening course, a delicious seared bonita with pistacio paste, was commonplace. Most of the other courses exhibited a culinary creativity that I don't think I've experienced before. I'm still not exactly sure what molecular gastronomy means (or whatever term they're using this week), but my impression was one of analysis and synthesis. For some courses it seemed like we were deconstructing a familiar item into its fundamental components and then reconfiguring each component slightly. In other courses, there was a focus on synthesis: disparate flavors and textures that were surprisingly complimentary when combined. The following are just a few of the courses that really stood out for me as particularly memorable:
Pizza pebbles, pepperoni, shiitake
One of the interesting things about the actual menu was how deceptively simple everything sounded on paper. In this case the "pizza pebbles" were marble-sized balls of very concentrated pizza flavor sitting on beds of something that looked like cheese (?) and accented with shiitake mushroom and fresh herbs. The only thing that didn't quite work for me was the texture of the pebbles, which seemed grainy to me. Was that on purpose (pebbles=grainy)?
Knot foie
This course was beautifully presented: a thick rectangular thread of foie gras was sculpted into a knot and then topped with tiny grains of Iranian cracker and spicy kimchee puree. Really nice.
Beef tongue, fried mayo, tomato molasses
This inventive (signature?) dish represented another decontruction, like the pizza pebbles. In this case it seemed like a hamburger decontructed, or maybe a deli sandwich, with the beef tongue cured and thinly sliced, small cubes of fried mayonnaise, a smear of "tomato molasses", and finely diced lettuce and onion to the side. Delicious.
French onion soup
This was another unique take on an old standby. The wd-50 website has a photo of this one, so scroll down and check it out.. in the broth there were these liquid "ravioli" of gruyere.. creamy on the inside but incapsulated in a kind of bubble. Apparently the technique here involves sodium alginate and calcium chloride, which are widely used in molecular gastronomy to produce these liquid bubbles. Very cool stuff.
Lamb belly, black chickpea, cherried cucumber
This was the final entree course, and it really packed a punch. The lamb belly was sliced and tasted like strongly flavored bacon and the chickpeas were purreed on the side. It hovered just on the edge of overpowering, but was tremendously satisfying before heading into the dessert courses.
Ocean trout, fava bean, forbidden rice
This one wasn't technically on the tasting menu, but they served it to R as a substitution for a shellfish course. The forbidden rice looked like hard balls of charcoal, but inside the crusty exterior they were soft and absolutely scrumptious. From the article, linked above, it says that they cook the rice, put it through a meat grinder, then fry it. Delish.
Date sorbet, pandan-soymilk, matsutake
This was the first of several dessert courses that we were treated to. The matsutake was formed into a small cylinder filled with the date sorbet. It was absolutely heavenly.
Fried butterscotch pudding, mango, taro, smoked macadamia
Another wonderful dessert, with the combination of sweet fried butterscotch and Hawaiian flavors of taro and macadamia.
Soft white chocolate, potato, malt, white beer ice cream
For some reason this was the only dish that I thought to snap a pic of (I forgot I had my camera with me). It's quite dark but it gives a feel for the lovely presentation of this dessert. This was another course where there a successful synthesis of disparate flavors. On its own the beer ice cream had a bit of a bitter finish, but it combined nicely with the white chocolate and malt smear.
Anyway, almost all of the courses were memorable and really delicious. I feel like my understanding of American cuisine really expanded with the exposure to new flavor profiles, techniques, and ways of thinking about food.
At J's suggestion, we opted for the 12 course tasting menu, and we were certainly not disappointed. Only the opening course, a delicious seared bonita with pistacio paste, was commonplace. Most of the other courses exhibited a culinary creativity that I don't think I've experienced before. I'm still not exactly sure what molecular gastronomy means (or whatever term they're using this week), but my impression was one of analysis and synthesis. For some courses it seemed like we were deconstructing a familiar item into its fundamental components and then reconfiguring each component slightly. In other courses, there was a focus on synthesis: disparate flavors and textures that were surprisingly complimentary when combined. The following are just a few of the courses that really stood out for me as particularly memorable:
Pizza pebbles, pepperoni, shiitake
One of the interesting things about the actual menu was how deceptively simple everything sounded on paper. In this case the "pizza pebbles" were marble-sized balls of very concentrated pizza flavor sitting on beds of something that looked like cheese (?) and accented with shiitake mushroom and fresh herbs. The only thing that didn't quite work for me was the texture of the pebbles, which seemed grainy to me. Was that on purpose (pebbles=grainy)?
Knot foie
This course was beautifully presented: a thick rectangular thread of foie gras was sculpted into a knot and then topped with tiny grains of Iranian cracker and spicy kimchee puree. Really nice.
Beef tongue, fried mayo, tomato molasses
This inventive (signature?) dish represented another decontruction, like the pizza pebbles. In this case it seemed like a hamburger decontructed, or maybe a deli sandwich, with the beef tongue cured and thinly sliced, small cubes of fried mayonnaise, a smear of "tomato molasses", and finely diced lettuce and onion to the side. Delicious.
French onion soup
This was another unique take on an old standby. The wd-50 website has a photo of this one, so scroll down and check it out.. in the broth there were these liquid "ravioli" of gruyere.. creamy on the inside but incapsulated in a kind of bubble. Apparently the technique here involves sodium alginate and calcium chloride, which are widely used in molecular gastronomy to produce these liquid bubbles. Very cool stuff.
Lamb belly, black chickpea, cherried cucumber
This was the final entree course, and it really packed a punch. The lamb belly was sliced and tasted like strongly flavored bacon and the chickpeas were purreed on the side. It hovered just on the edge of overpowering, but was tremendously satisfying before heading into the dessert courses.
Ocean trout, fava bean, forbidden rice
This one wasn't technically on the tasting menu, but they served it to R as a substitution for a shellfish course. The forbidden rice looked like hard balls of charcoal, but inside the crusty exterior they were soft and absolutely scrumptious. From the article, linked above, it says that they cook the rice, put it through a meat grinder, then fry it. Delish.
Date sorbet, pandan-soymilk, matsutake
This was the first of several dessert courses that we were treated to. The matsutake was formed into a small cylinder filled with the date sorbet. It was absolutely heavenly.
Fried butterscotch pudding, mango, taro, smoked macadamia
Another wonderful dessert, with the combination of sweet fried butterscotch and Hawaiian flavors of taro and macadamia.
Soft white chocolate, potato, malt, white beer ice cream
For some reason this was the only dish that I thought to snap a pic of (I forgot I had my camera with me). It's quite dark but it gives a feel for the lovely presentation of this dessert. This was another course where there a successful synthesis of disparate flavors. On its own the beer ice cream had a bit of a bitter finish, but it combined nicely with the white chocolate and malt smear.Anyway, almost all of the courses were memorable and really delicious. I feel like my understanding of American cuisine really expanded with the exposure to new flavor profiles, techniques, and ways of thinking about food.
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Jersey Fall Foliage Ride (about 40 miles)
I had hoped to time my trip to New York such that I would catch the trees in full autumn bloom. But as we've learned in the past, for instance like when I tried to time my trip to Japan to hit the cherry blossom explosion, mother nature likes to fart in my general direction. So, predictably, the fall foliage was late this year due to unseasonably warm weather well into October. However, after consulting the local area foliage report, we figured we might catch the edge of the autumn wave by riding north into New Jersey. And in fact we were victorious, and saw many leaves of red, yellow, orange, etc. Take that, Nature!
To get to New Jersey we followed the Hudson River Greenway up to the GW Bridge, which connects Manhattan with New Jersey. Even from half way across the bridge, we could start to see small patches of fall color on the Jersey side.. vibrant reds and yellows instead of the muted browns we had seen up to that point.
Once across the bridge we headed northwest along the 9W highway, where I experimented with some action! shots-- basically trying to take some photos while riding. After several miles we turned back towards the river and followed the wonderfully scenic Henry Hudson Drive back towards the bridge.
Once we returned to the city we did a quick loop around Central Park. J said that this was a rite of passage for cyclists in NYC, and who am I to argue the point?
Animules: only the domesticated kind
Total Distance: 39 miles
Elevation Gain: 3600 feet
Route (on bikely.com): Jersey Fall Foliage with Park Loop
To get to New Jersey we followed the Hudson River Greenway up to the GW Bridge, which connects Manhattan with New Jersey. Even from half way across the bridge, we could start to see small patches of fall color on the Jersey side.. vibrant reds and yellows instead of the muted browns we had seen up to that point.Once across the bridge we headed northwest along the 9W highway, where I experimented with some action! shots-- basically trying to take some photos while riding. After several miles we turned back towards the river and followed the wonderfully scenic Henry Hudson Drive back towards the bridge. Once we returned to the city we did a quick loop around Central Park. J said that this was a rite of passage for cyclists in NYC, and who am I to argue the point?
Animules: only the domesticated kind
Total Distance: 39 miles
Elevation Gain: 3600 feet
Route (on bikely.com): Jersey Fall Foliage with Park Loop
West Side-Brooklyn Loop (about 40 miles)
This ride begins on the upper west side, follows the Hudson River Greenway downtown, then takes you over the bridge for a nice tour of Brooklyn. The Brooklyn bridge has a fairly wide pedestrian/bike lane; the ped side was packed with tourists, but there were just a few cyclists sharing the bikelane with us. Once over the bridge, the route leads through some lovely residential areas of Brooklyn, through Prospect Park, and then down Ocean Parkway to Coney Island. The main amusement park at Coney Island was closed... semi-permanently it seems. Apparently there's a controversial plan to develop the site of the Astroland park and build god knows what. Happily Nathan's is open year round, so we stopped and had dogs and fries, which really hit the spot.
After lunch we continued along the lower New York bay and picked up another waterfront multi-use path that offered up some nice views of the bay and Staten Island. Beware the headwinds!
Winding our way back to the Brooklyn Bridge, we headed up Clinton St.. a beautiful tree-lined residential street full of brownstones and amazing historic churches. Heading back over the bridge in the late afternoon, the light illuminated the city skyline and the nearby Manhattan bridge.
Animules: some dead rats that I somehow missed
Total Distance: 39 miles
Elevation Gain: 1440 feet
Route (on bikely.com): West Side-Brooklyn loop
Dining Notes
For dinner we headed over to the Neptune Room, a nice little seafood bistro not far from R and J's place. I had a nice salad with arugula, roasted red peppers, and fried artichoke leaves, and an entree of lobster risotto that was rich and comforting without being heavy. For dessert we shared a devine vanilla panna cotta. Yum!
After lunch we continued along the lower New York bay and picked up another waterfront multi-use path that offered up some nice views of the bay and Staten Island. Beware the headwinds!
Winding our way back to the Brooklyn Bridge, we headed up Clinton St.. a beautiful tree-lined residential street full of brownstones and amazing historic churches. Heading back over the bridge in the late afternoon, the light illuminated the city skyline and the nearby Manhattan bridge.
Animules: some dead rats that I somehow missed
Total Distance: 39 miles
Elevation Gain: 1440 feet
Route (on bikely.com): West Side-Brooklyn loop
Dining Notes
For dinner we headed over to the Neptune Room, a nice little seafood bistro not far from R and J's place. I had a nice salad with arugula, roasted red peppers, and fried artichoke leaves, and an entree of lobster risotto that was rich and comforting without being heavy. For dessert we shared a devine vanilla panna cotta. Yum!
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Hudson River Ramble (12 miles)
This past weekend I was in NYC visiting friends who are long-time avid cyclists, so we took advantage of the (mostly) stellar weather to ride three days in a row. Yay! I'll describe the routes-- as well as the post-ride dining and entertainment-- over the next few posts. But first I want to give a shoutout and big thank you to my buddies R and J in NYC. They were incredibly hospitable and generous while my junk and I were occupying their living room for 4 days.
A quick note about the equipment used on these rides: For this trip I rented a 7 speed hybrid from Eddie's Bicycles Shop down the street from R and J's abode on the upper west side. This shop features a friendly staff and a fleet of wobbly-wheeled, fender-rattling cross-town Fujis ($35/day). I was actually quite surprised how comfortable the bike was, considering how many miles we logged.
Anyway, the first day's afternoon forecast (or futurecast as the local weatherman described it) called for thunderstorms, so we just took a quick jaunt up the Hudson River Greenway to the base of the George Washington Bridge. The greenway is a nice multi-use path that runs right alongside the west side waterfront from Battery part to the GW bridge. The path takes a little detour at 125th street, but this affords an opportunity to cruise by the Cotton Club and Dinosaur Bar B Que before rejoining the path.
At the base of the GW bridge is a very small red lighthouse with some
interesting history and literary credentials. Honestly it seems too small to imagine that it was ever very effective. On the other hand, I didn't see any remnants of shipwrecks along the waterfront, so I guess it did alright.
Animules: domesticated urban animal life, lots of squirrels
Distance: 12 miles
Elevation: 869 feet
Route: Hudson River Ramble (bikely.com)
Dining and Entertainment Notes
On Friday night we had a lovely meal at Haru in the neighborhood. I had some particularly tasty tempura and a roll combo that left me feeling a little bit like Violet Beauregarde. Good times.
After dinner we headed down to the Village Vanguard to catch a performance by the Heath Brothers. This is a wonderfully intimate venue in a subterranean space, where you just feel the history of the place oozing out of the bricks. The Heath brothers were great-- charming, funny, clearly enjoying the jazz lifestyle.
A quick note about the equipment used on these rides: For this trip I rented a 7 speed hybrid from Eddie's Bicycles Shop down the street from R and J's abode on the upper west side. This shop features a friendly staff and a fleet of wobbly-wheeled, fender-rattling cross-town Fujis ($35/day). I was actually quite surprised how comfortable the bike was, considering how many miles we logged.
Anyway, the first day's afternoon forecast (or futurecast as the local weatherman described it) called for thunderstorms, so we just took a quick jaunt up the Hudson River Greenway to the base of the George Washington Bridge. The greenway is a nice multi-use path that runs right alongside the west side waterfront from Battery part to the GW bridge. The path takes a little detour at 125th street, but this affords an opportunity to cruise by the Cotton Club and Dinosaur Bar B Que before rejoining the path.
At the base of the GW bridge is a very small red lighthouse with some interesting history and literary credentials. Honestly it seems too small to imagine that it was ever very effective. On the other hand, I didn't see any remnants of shipwrecks along the waterfront, so I guess it did alright.
Animules: domesticated urban animal life, lots of squirrels
Distance: 12 miles
Elevation: 869 feet
Route: Hudson River Ramble (bikely.com)
Dining and Entertainment Notes
On Friday night we had a lovely meal at Haru in the neighborhood. I had some particularly tasty tempura and a roll combo that left me feeling a little bit like Violet Beauregarde. Good times.
After dinner we headed down to the Village Vanguard to catch a performance by the Heath Brothers. This is a wonderfully intimate venue in a subterranean space, where you just feel the history of the place oozing out of the bricks. The Heath brothers were great-- charming, funny, clearly enjoying the jazz lifestyle.
Sunday, October 14, 2007
Mt. Hamilton (40 miles)
One of my goals for the upcoming winter is to ride to the summit of the three bay area peaks (Mts. Diablo, Hamilton, and Tamalpais). I've made it to the ranger station junctions at Diablo and Tam, but I've never ridden Mt. Hamilton. So today I decided to give it a shot.
Mt Hamilton, located in the south bay near San Jose, is, I believe, the tallest peak in the bay area, with its various summits (there are several along the ridge) measuring in the 4200-4300 foot range. It's also probably the easiest of the three to climb, since it's gently graded most of the way. Of course the price of the gentle grade is a very long climb: from the base of Mt Hamilton Road up to Lick Observatory is 18 miles. But I much prefer a long gentle climb to a short steep one, so Hamilton was right up my alley. The first twelve miles were pretty easy, with the steady ascent broken by a couple of 1-2 mile descents. This provided a nice respite during the climb, but then later coming down it meant that I had to do a little more climbing when I was pretty pooped.
The last 6-7 miles were a bit tougher. The road leading up to the Observatory is a bit steeper than the previous 12 miles, and I had a little mini-bonk on the last few miles. I had been going at a steady pace of 6-7 mph in the first 12 miles, but had to drop down to 4-5 mph on the final ascent. I just ran out of energy, and actually felt a little nauseous when I finally made it to the Observatory. I had only consumed half a luna bar and one gel in about 3 hours of steady climbing, so I don't think I had enough calories to keep me going. But I made it, so yay!
Lick Observatory is interesting.. it was built between 1876 and 1888, and has been run by the University of California since 1888 (UC has its mitts on all kinds of things that most people don't know about). According to wikipedia, the gentle grade of the road was to facilitate the transportation, by horse and mule-drawn wagons, of building materials for the observatory.
Near the end of the long descent down the mountain, I heard a pop and pulled off to the side of the road. I had broken a spoke and my back wheel was so out of true that it was rubbing against the frame. Fabulous. A couple of cyclists stopped to offer help, but none of us had a spoke wrench or knew how to true a wheel, so we just loosened everything as much as we could so I could coast the last 3 miles down the hill. The woman who stopped said that her husband ran a bike shop in Santa Cruz.. I think she said it was called Sprockets. So, a shout out to the woman from Sprockets who stopped to help. Anyway, I dropped the bike off at the shop to have the spoke fixed and the wheel trued. My two readers will remember the trouble I went through when my other bike started popping spokes left and right, so let's hope I'm not heading down that path with the Dolce as well.
Animules: horses, several deer, lots of suicidal squirrels
Total Distance: 39 miles
Time in the Saddle: 4 hours
Elevation Gain: 5900 feet
Route (on bikely.com): Mt Hamilton
Mt Hamilton, located in the south bay near San Jose, is, I believe, the tallest peak in the bay area, with its various summits (there are several along the ridge) measuring in the 4200-4300 foot range. It's also probably the easiest of the three to climb, since it's gently graded most of the way. Of course the price of the gentle grade is a very long climb: from the base of Mt Hamilton Road up to Lick Observatory is 18 miles. But I much prefer a long gentle climb to a short steep one, so Hamilton was right up my alley. The first twelve miles were pretty easy, with the steady ascent broken by a couple of 1-2 mile descents. This provided a nice respite during the climb, but then later coming down it meant that I had to do a little more climbing when I was pretty pooped.
The last 6-7 miles were a bit tougher. The road leading up to the Observatory is a bit steeper than the previous 12 miles, and I had a little mini-bonk on the last few miles. I had been going at a steady pace of 6-7 mph in the first 12 miles, but had to drop down to 4-5 mph on the final ascent. I just ran out of energy, and actually felt a little nauseous when I finally made it to the Observatory. I had only consumed half a luna bar and one gel in about 3 hours of steady climbing, so I don't think I had enough calories to keep me going. But I made it, so yay!
Lick Observatory is interesting.. it was built between 1876 and 1888, and has been run by the University of California since 1888 (UC has its mitts on all kinds of things that most people don't know about). According to wikipedia, the gentle grade of the road was to facilitate the transportation, by horse and mule-drawn wagons, of building materials for the observatory. Near the end of the long descent down the mountain, I heard a pop and pulled off to the side of the road. I had broken a spoke and my back wheel was so out of true that it was rubbing against the frame. Fabulous. A couple of cyclists stopped to offer help, but none of us had a spoke wrench or knew how to true a wheel, so we just loosened everything as much as we could so I could coast the last 3 miles down the hill. The woman who stopped said that her husband ran a bike shop in Santa Cruz.. I think she said it was called Sprockets. So, a shout out to the woman from Sprockets who stopped to help. Anyway, I dropped the bike off at the shop to have the spoke fixed and the wheel trued. My two readers will remember the trouble I went through when my other bike started popping spokes left and right, so let's hope I'm not heading down that path with the Dolce as well.
Animules: horses, several deer, lots of suicidal squirrels
Total Distance: 39 miles
Time in the Saddle: 4 hours
Elevation Gain: 5900 feet
Route (on bikely.com): Mt Hamilton
Monday, October 1, 2007
September mileage stats
My father was visiting this weekend, so I didn't get to do any riding, which kinda sucked. Still, managed to log over 400 miles in September.
September mileage: 411
September Time in the Saddle: 34.3 hours
September mileage: 411
September Time in the Saddle: 34.3 hours
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
