30 August, 2010

Pasta Night

Any night can be "Pasta Night" but since I'm on leave this week and planning to get a few good early morning rides in (ones where I can actually go for a coffee instead of peeling off to get ready for work) I thought we should have a bit of pasta.

So I have churned out a batch of tagliatelle (it would have been fettuccine except I used eggs) with the assistance of Dee and in moments we will be cooking up some scallops, silver beet (Swiss chard in the other hemisphere), dill, garlic, basil and lemon which will be stirred through the fresh pasta (with a bit of parmesan and freshly ground black pepper from Silkwood which is a couple of hundred km's north of us). I can hardly wait- should be good for 80 km or so in the morning.

And we'll watch last night's stage of the Vuelta......

Bon appetit!!!

01 August, 2010

Another one bites the dust.....

Make it 52- like a  deck of cards, sans "jokers". I, and all of the thoroughbreds in Australia, celebrated our birthdays today. Just a quick clarification here as well, I do not consider myself a thoroughbred. Today is the first of August and all racehorses in Australia have the day listed as their birthday whether they were born on the fourth of September, the fourth of July or the Twelfth of Never.

To mark the day, we (that is the collective"we" of Dee and I) had a bit of a sleep in and then a nice roll to The Strand for a coffee at Juliette's . Back home and pancakes with maple syrup for brekkie. For some of us maple syrup and pancakes is a given, but here in Oz it seems to be a major culinary accoutrement.

This was the second foray for Dee on her new bike (well since actually owning it anyhow). Yesterday was less than ideal as far as comfort for Dee on the ride. She had taken the bike for a 50km test ride on Friday and decided it was very comfortable. Back to the LBS and some "fitting" adjustments (seat height, new stem, etc) and the bike was ready to go.

Ride on Saturday was less than ideal- shoulder pain, arm and wrist numbness........not good. Back to the bike shop and reinstalled the original stem. Today was much better but we'll give it a week to see.

Then this afternoon we headed off to the Picnic Bay Surf Life Saving Club for a bit of a get-together/birthday celebration. Lovely setting on the Townsville foreshore facing northerly to Magnetic Island with clear blue skies and a fresh sou'easter breeze. A jazz ensemble provided pleasurable pieces as a group of our cycling friends gathered to raise a glass or three to mine and Mark's (another of our cycling group) birthdays.

So tomorrow morning it is on the plane and off to Brisbane for the week for work- meetings, workshops and all associated activities. I will have to find something to do with that pent up energy when I wake up at 4:00am- my bike will be 1200km away.

Cheers- ride safe
BoaB