Officially Out of Reading Material

Maybe because I've been too busy to get to the library much this spring, or maybe because I've been sick too much, but I'm officially out of reading material.  I have re-re read even my "comfort reads" too many times, read all the issues of the Atlantic that were piled up on my side of the bed and read all last weeks' newspapers pretty much front to back.

So despite the deluge I decided to wade through Harvard yard last night to the library instead of going straight home.

Despite almost getting hit my a ninja salmon biker on the way (grumble,grumble)

I managed to get there only slightly soaked.  I gave up on the umbrella halfway there because it kept getting blown inside out.

I got a couple of new books, got home, and immediately dove in to Wolf Hall, the historic novel featuring Thomas Cromwell that was last year’s Booker winner.  So far it’s fantastic, really elegant prose and some compelling characters.

There’s not much cozier than coming home soaking wet, changing into warm dry clothes and settling in with a good book, a dog on your lap and a glass of wine.  Just think, if it wasn’t rainy, we couldn’t enjoy huddling warm and dry outside.  (Thankfully, so far our basement remains dry!)

Pedal Fail/ Customer Service Win

About a month ago I realized that one of my cool flashing pedals wasn’t flashing any more.  I was kind of bummed, because they were kind of pricy, and I was sad to lose that extra attention getting flash.

I thought maybe I’d try to open it up, clean it out and see if there were any obviously broken or corroded electrical connections.

I was poking around on the internet looking for information, and noted a post from the Pedalite customer service manager asking anyone with problems with the pedals to contact him so that he could try to solve the problem (before they become disgruntled ex-customers spreading ill will on the internet)

So I emailed him last Wednesday, at the address he provided in his post, and he contacted me the next day asking for a photo of the defective pedal and my shipping address.  He said that even though their warranty was normally a year, they wanted the products to last a lot longer than that,  and were willing to replace the defective pedal despite the fact that I’d had mine 18 months.

I was out sick again on Monday (2010 has been a year of plague in our household- sniffle)  but arrived to work today to find a tidy package bearing the Royal British Mail stamp, with a new pedal enclosed!

 

Super fast,  no paperwork, no five copes of my proof of purchase, no quibbling about the warranty date-  what excellent customer service!

Plus the blinking lights are very noticeable!  Put me down as a fan.  I was at Harris Cyclery Saturday (they started carrying the Pedalites a while after I bought them) and let them know so that they could help anyone else who has a failure.

 

Disclaimer in case you might think I'm a shill:

I bought these pedals at a bike store in Portland for retail.   The only financial “compensation” I’ve received is the warranty replacement.

Simple Supper

We got home a little late tonight from a trip to Eastern Clothing.

The Scientist is 6'5" and has a hard time finding dress clothes that are Tall but not "Big"
About 3/4 through a frustrating visit a couple of weeks ago to what seemed like every place that sells suits in the Boston area , a saleswoman took pity on us and suggested Eastern Clothing.
Tucked away in a mostly residential neighborhood in Watertown, in an unassuming brick warehouse, is a place that's probably sold a suit to every pro athlete in the Boston area.  They specialize in "athletic cut" (aka, not fat) tall suits, and sell suits as separates, so that if your shoulders say you need a 54, but your waist is a 36, they can fit you.  Their collection of autographed sports memorabilia is probably worth the trip alone.  I picked up a baseball nestled in the extra long ties, and it had the following signatures: Noma Garciaparra, Trot Nixton,  Manny Ramirez and Pedro Martinez.  Most people would have that ball in a glass case;  here it was lying amongst the ties.

ANYWAY.  We got home late after picking up the altered suit, and I surveyed the fridge:
Half a cabbage, shredded.  Some hot dogs (for our dog who prefers his antibiotics when they're delivered in a salty meaty package). miscellaneous condiments.  

I checked the freezer, where I noted a package of frozen shrimp.  It was time for Peanut slaw!

Peanut slaw is something that I think I invented, at least I've never seen a recipe for it.  I had a really memorable asian slaw at a restaurant with pickled sushi ginger, and rice vinegar.  I had a regular rotation dish based on a Moosewood recipe called "baby tree" that was broccoli in a peanut sauce.  I did a bit of low carb dieting, and somehow I combined the two-  a spicy asian inflected peanut sauce, stirred into cabbage hot so the cabbage would soften, topped with sauteed shrimp.

It's strikingly like Pad Thai- especially if you top it with cilantro and chopped peanuts, but as I said, it was getting late, and the Scientist was anxious to check out the NCAA games.  15 minutes later, we were enjoying dinner.  I know it sounds weird, but it's really tasty, delicious, and reheats well, and the ingredients are long lasting pantry staples.  Like many of the recipes that are in my rotation, it's not a precise recipe- more a season to taste thing- but here's my best approximation.

Peanut Slaw/ Low Carb Pad Thai
1/2 head cabbage (approx 4 cups) shredded as for slaw.
1/3 cup peanut butter.
3 cloves garlic
1" ginger, minced (you could use pickled sushi ginger if you had it)
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
oil for saute
2 tbs cider vinegar
4 tbs soy sauce
2 tsp sugar (or splenda if you're being low- carb)
1/2 -1 cup water
shrimp, sauteed.

Heat a nonstick saute pan.

Make the peanut sauce:
Saute garlic, ginger and red pepper flakes in a bit of oil in a saucepan until the garlic seems cooked.
Add the peanut butter, vinegar, soy sauce and sugar, and add enough water to thin to about the consistency of pancake batter (I've found the amount of water depends a lot on what kind of peanut butter you use).  Let it come to a simmer, stirring when you think of it.

Cook the shrimp- about 2 minutes a side in the heated saute pan with a bit of oil, or until pink.

Bring the peanut sauce to a hard boil, pour it over the cabbage and stir it in well.  Sometimes I run it all through the microwave for  3-5  minutes to wilt the cabbage a bit more.  Depends if you want it more "slaw" like or more "noodle" like.  Serve,  topped with shrimp (chopped peanuts and cilantro if you're ambitious).
This has become a catchall during CSA shoulder season -it's good with Daikon radish, turnips, broccoli, carrots, mustard greens or all of the above stirred in.    I'm  of the opinion that peanut butter is a universal solvent- everything tastes better with more peanut butter, but the combo of sweet, salty, sour and umami is  hard to resist!

Last light on the river

Despite the time change, things have been so busy at work that I'm barely making it home before dark.
It was enough before dark that I could ride along the river, and enjoy the last rays of sunlights reflected off the Boston skyline.

I've had a hard time getting on the bike mornings this week.  I'm either having a bit of a relapse of my old cold, or a new, milder cold.  The weather too has relapsed a bit, with more chilly rain, and a couple of cold damp mornings.   The dampness at least holds the promise of more spring to come-
and my little front garden is trying to get into the spirit with daffodils, and the first new buds of Sedum peeking out from autumn's dead leaves.

I was heartened that despite the possibly icky forecast two days this week, we had 100% ridership (of the three of us in my office who bike commute.  I think after all the icky snow and cold, it takes more than a little chill to stop us. 

This is the first year that I've biked through the whole winter,  and while it's been good,  I feel more tired of it than I have in years past, when spring was a chance to leap back into it.  Maybe that's the cold (medical and environmental) speaking, and I'l rally once I'm healthy and the weather is lovely again.

Edited- Interestingly, all three of us who bike to work- ended up meeting in the last couple of blocks from work this morning-  it was nicer today than yesterday, and I hope to get home before the last light so that I can enjoy the evening a bit!

Bike Lock

I guess if you're a bike cop, you have more than one way to lock your bike

Of course, you also probably don't have to worry too much about someone stealing your bike.

Bits and Bobs

Things I found around the web on Friday but was too busy enjoying the sunny weekend to post until now- hope they're not too outdated:

I'm tired of cycle bashing, and I'm sure you are too.  This may be old news to you, but thanks to Lance Armstrong's taking him to task via Twitter and a unprintable word, Terry Korn the ESPN host who suggested that people should "tap" cyclists who ride in the street is now claiming that he was kidding when he advocated vehicular homicide.  If you don't think that kind of "humor" is funny or should be promoted on the radio,  instead of ranting on bike blogs, I highly suggest a few choice words here

A really great video about riding around busses/ driving a bus around bicycles from Chicago.  It a bit long, but well made.  Save your life, don't try to pass a bus in its blind spot!

If you're a female reader of this site,  you should consider spending 15 minutes filling out a survey here.  Tell city planners and the people who set the city planning agenda what shapes your bicycling habits.

I spend a fair bit of time along the Charles River bike paths, and DCR just sent out a "save the date" for their annual volunteer clean up day "Park Serve".  Anyone here in Boston interested in meeting up and forming a group to clean up a section of the river together?

I'm definitely going to do it,  but it would be a fun way to meet some of you, and help make the biking environment more pleasant.  If you're interested, comment or email me at bikininheels@yahoo.com

If I get a group of 6 or more I'm supposed to call in and get an "official" assignment.  Lots of people want to do the bike path,  so it would be great to sign up before the best spots are gone.

On my soapbox

Spring seems to have finally sprung in Boston! 

I say seems because it's not uncommon in these parts for mother nature to get us all excited about longer and warmer days, only to slap us down with a week of 33 degree rain.

Thanks to the time change, I got to ride home in daylight for the first time in what feels like forever:

I stopped at the regular grocery store for Gatorade for the Scientist who has the Stomach flu- hopefully the 24 hour kind.  Then I went to Trader Joe's where I bought a case of wine.  The stock guy was overly solicitous- worried that I couldn't carry it to the front of the store.  I wanted to tell him- honey, I'm about to carry it 2 miles home on my bike, so if I can't get it to the front of the store, I have other problems!

I think this is about the limit of what I can reasonably carry on Robert.  I was super wobbly at low speed.

The nice weather and the time change have brought an influx of new or newish riders out of hibernation and back on the streets, to which I say "Hooray"

However,  I'm also seeing a lot of dangerous, and, quite frankly, rude behaviour from some people excited about riding again or for the first time.

So some suggestions from my soapbox:

1)  Smile!  You're not in a car-  relax, enjoy the ride, take a couple of deep breaths of spring air.  Biking is supposed to be fun and enjoyable, not just about getting there as fast and furiously as you can.

2)  Practice the Golden Rule/ be polite.  This has a lot of applications in biking as in the rest of life.    You hate it when cars come too close, don't yield when you have the right of way or otherwise make you feel vulnerable- don't make pedestrians or other bikers feel the same way.  You may feel like you're giving pedestrians enough space, but maybe the guy who nearly hit you with his mirror felt the same way when he buzzed you.  Additionally- practice it with cars.  If you're on a narrow road with a lot of traffic, and people are having to wait to pass you safely, maybe you shouldn't blow past them at the next stoplight and make them do it again in the next block.  If there are other drivers stopped at a redlight or a stopsign, how hard is it to stop and wait your turn? If there's really truly no one around, it's like a tree falling in the forest as far as I'm concerned, but otherwise it's illegal, and more importantly, rude.

 3) Don't put yourself in danger.   I see a lot of new riders threading through narrow gaps in the blind spots of busses and trucks.  Your life is worth the extra 20 seconds to wait and go around.  Not only are they probably not expecting you to be passing,  but they probably can not physically see you.  I personally extend this to never passing moving cars, or cars that might possibly start moving while I'm passing.  A moving car can veer into you so quickly that you can't react, and it won't be expecting you to pass it in what is really a single lane.  

I'm going to go out on a limb and suggest to even new cyclists that you need to learn about vehicular cycling and consider trying to implement it.  I understand that when you're getting started the cars are scary, and you feel like you're moving slow, and the natural tendency is to pull as far over as possible.   But that puts you at risk of dooring, and unfortunately it encourages people to try to squeeze by you when they really don't have enough space.  I understand that it's challenging,  and it requires a certain amount of fortitude to make the cars wait to pass you,  but all I ask is that you learn about it and start trying it out.  Try it on less busy roads and see how it works.  I think you'll be pleasantly surprised at how cars actually give you more respect and space and you will actually feel safer.

Finally I'm going to include biking the wrong way down a one way street in this one.  This is one of the leading cause of accidents.  I know that it often feels like a good shortcut, or a way to avoid a busier road.  But people won't be looking for you, so they're even less likely to see you.  And if you come down the bike lane the wrong way, you're in violation of #2.  The advantage of being on a bike is that you can go a couple of blocks out of your way pretty quickly.  If it's just a block or so,  it won't kill you to get off and walk on the sidewalk.   

4)  Ride in your regular clothes.  Because if you have to change your clothes to ride your bike, unless you're super hard core, you're less likely to ride your bike.  If you're riding less than 5 miles and at less than 20mph,  you can almost certainly ride in your normal clothes unless these are your normal clothes.  Honestly, unless you're built something like Lance Armstrong, or are riding some serious distance or at impressive speed, you're gonna look a little silly riding in the 100% lycra getup.  I'll try not to laugh if I see you at the streetcorner, but I can't guarantee what anyone else will do.

I'm not a super fashionable girlie girl, despite the blog title, but I manage to ride in just about anything I wear to work.  Pretty much any sturdy shoe will work (heel height is not an issue unless you plan on pedaling with your heels).   I wouldn't wear Manolo Blahniks ( if I owned such things) unless you don't mind possibly ruining the heels, but clip in pedals aren't necessary for city riding either unless you want to take up tap dancing on the side!

I do try to test ride a skirt before I take it out on parade,  and if it tends to billow up, I take precautions.  I have a couple of pairs of mostly cotton "workout shorts" that come almost to the knee and ensure modesty with fuller, floatier skirts.

5) Get lit.    You're going to have so much fun riding, that sooner or later you'll be out after dark.  For your own sake, for the sake of other bikers,  for the sake of drivers,  you should have at the very least a small (blinky) white light in the front  and a red light in the back that is not hidden by your backpack or your bag or your coat.  Thanks to LEDs there are tons of small, cheap, long lasting options out there, so there's no excuse for being a ninja.

6)  Consider wearing a helmet if you bike in the city.   This is  a personal choice and gets a lot of flame wars going.  Please do not write in with vigorous arguments for/ against.  When I ride in Europe or on a limited access bike path I often don't wear a helmet.  I understand that if a multi- ton vehicle hits or runs over me, the helmet will not help me, etc etc.

However, probably the most common accidents in a city like boston are dooring,right hooks, and hitting a bad pothole, all of which are cause to stop short and fly over your handlebars.  Although I try my best to avoid putting myself in a position for them to happen,  I like to give my head a fighting chance if it hits the pavement at speed.