bike riding mostly
wrapped these hard steamed eggs in a straight jacket of italian sausage. all I had in the freezer. a pound. quarter it, smash a quarter flat and fold the egg into it. make a baseball. breakfast sausage, in MY opinion, is ideal. but i digress…bake at…i cant remember, lets say 400F for 30-35 minutes. should do it.
delicious.
Joe Jost’s recipe. So they say. from the internet.
8 hard boiled eggs, peeled
1(12 ounce) jar yellow chili peppers
2 tablespoons pickling spice
1 cup white wine vinegar
1 1/2 scant cups water
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon turmeric
2 teaspoons salt
recipe says give ’em 2 days on the countertop then refrigerate. it was this scientists observation that day six(6) was the minimum elapsed time where flavor really started to come on. ymmv.
Puts a fine edge to the mower blade. When it’s pissing down rain.
I was only going to get one but she made a logical pitch and I was distracted by the aroma and dazzled by the display so I did what she said and ate a hearty 2 slice pizza root beer lunch thursday at Sizzle Pie because its across the street from the office and a helluva deal at $10 for the package and the pizza is top notch delicious with the correct chewy crust that isn’t too bready and the toppings are far beyond pepperoni. nothing against pepperoni but this place gets exotic to the point I don’t know what they’re talking about but if they put it on a pizza I will eat it because they are professionals after all.
Ate it all, whatever it was, every last crumb, wiped the grease off the pie hole and still had a half hour on the lunch timer so i took a gambol around downtown Hillsboro. Nice downtown, not too small, not too big, you can cross against the light and not get run down. Some drivers even stop on a green if they see you standing there.
Natural inclination pulled me towards the Washco Bikes Co-op, tiny two door storefront operation a block east and around the corner where you can find all sorts of gently used bicycle treasures. it’s where I found the Schwinn for the electric bike project. didn’t have anything specific in mind other than it feels good to be in a bike shop and especially this one where the atmosphere is friendly and they dont seem to mind if you spend or not. I have similar feelings about used book stores. they’re comfortable.
Pawing through the bin of handlebar stems in the Parts Room at the back of the shop looking for something with a steeper angle than whats currently on the bike for a bit more upright posture.
This is where I tend to gravitate, pedals in this bin, cranks hanging on the wall next to fenders and tires. Derailleurs, brakes, brake levers, handlebars…all the good stuff. And it smells nice. a hint of grease and rubber perfume hanging in the air. would make a nice candle.
i’m not finding anything that looks much different than whats on the bike but i keep at it anyway. why not, got the whole place to myself and time on the clock. no rush.
i hear the front door chime, in walks an old guy with a bike frame under his arm. He heads straight back to the Parts Room, running the gauntlet past the double decker rack of prepared bikes, and starts rattling through the array of forks stacked against the bin table i’m up against trying this one and that one into the head tube of his frame, gauging fit.
He’s butted right up against the personal space, not imposing, he knows boundaries. And i know he wants to get at what i’m standing in front of and I’m just killing time. slight creep of mental pressure and I am about ready to relinquish the zone because he has a true project and I’m just taking up space and should head back to work anyway.
He says Are you taking all the good ones?
A gentle hint, a nudge.
I wait, one thousand one, one thousand two, slowly turn, look him in the eye over the top of my readers with a hint of sinister squint, and count another couple thousands, and finally say in a measured slightly defiant tone.
That’s right, all of them.
He grins, I grin. I step back from the bin table and say, Have at it, good luck with the hunt. We’ll see, he says.
Four hours later i rode the bike home from work in the rain in the dark and it was nice because i have great rain gear, new brake pads, oversized and overextended fenders, excellent reflectivity, heightened situational awareness, a rear view mirror attached to the goggles, a route that is mostly residential, and lighting like a BNSF locomotive that stops most motorists in their tracks.
Mushroom season in the PNW. Back to Stubs for the Standard Maintenance Loop. Park at Buxton trailhead. Three mile warmup along the Banks Vernonia Rail Trail then off onto the forest trails and up to the lookout. Return via Caddywhomper and Shoofly trails and back onto the BV for the three mile return to the trailhead. No rain, cool temps, lots of mushroom varietals popping out of the duff and everywhere else.
Video source:
https://watch.opb.org/video/oregon-field-guide-mushrooms/
Shoofly trail has three bridges. One collapsed from rot a couple winters ago. Stringers are native logs. Decking is 4×12 pressure treat. Sturdy. But…there’s not enough gap between the stringers or the decking so they got packed with needle duff and dirt. Not a good condition for untreated native log stringers. Hence the collapsed bridge at the bottom of the run. Me and The Corona went out and pitter patter got at ‘er this weekend. Cleaned out the two remaining bridges. Corona perfect tool. Slide it straight down through the duff then gently draw it out putting pressure towards the outside edge and it lifted that gunk out easy. Maybe get a couple more seasons. Good time in the woods on a beautiful day in October.
Another round of kite flying at Cannon Beach. Town was swarming with visitors. The last belch before school starts? Despite the hordes there is always room on the beach to find a roomy spot to work on the burn. Room 5 always a pleasure. Four is ok too. Eight at the end has the turret dining nook, haven’t been in there yet. Twenty-one is great if you don’t mind stairs. Crack the front door, plop on the couch, watch the surf. The beach really changed after last winter and we haven’t been able to get around the north point to visit the tide pools. But it has left an enormous expanse of tidal flats and at low tide the skim boarders can g l i i i i d e. Ran into a guy downtown while Teal was inspecting the inside of her eyelids he was curious about the fat tires and I was incredulous at his beach cruiser that looked to be 75% rust, 15% salt, 8% pot metal and a hint of paint. It was a beauty with a tri-plane fork crown.
Got moving earlier than usual made it to the start line of the Bridge Pedal event in downtown Portland. Vast stretches of roadway are closed to autos so us pedalers can enjoy a relatively car-free tour of bridges.
Happy crowd, fairly well organized, lots of doughnuts cookies and bananas. Perfect weather. We opted for the 20 mile Main Ride. Easily got us and the bikes back and forth from Hillsboro on the MAX train.
