Happy Thanksgiving 2016

My wife decorated the TV cabinet with little Pilgrims hunting turkey.

I keep telling her that our TV remote is infrared and we need a line of sight for the remote to work. I know. None of you other women recognize the problem either. Don’t worry. Just keep cooking delicious food and your husbands will cover for you.

Ike, our dog has pulled out his gutted goosey toy for hunting season. He knows. He always wakes up my wife at the same time every morning to be fed. Even after we changed the clocks. That is right. He reads clocks.

A young lady at the last Metro Mountain Biker’s meeting suggested that the annual Turkey Hurl Ride be held in the morning…

“You have to eat your turkey first.” I decreed. How else could you hurl it? Meet at 7pm in the Tosa village if you are looking to hurl your turkey. Actually Turkey Hurl is just an expression used for promotional purposes. …Really, it is a non-sanctioned event.

The Santa Rampage is quickly approaching; Dec. 3. The Hugh Jass Race Series will be just so much more fun after the snow starts falling. Their next race is at the Grand Geneva Resort. A most excellent venue.

The first snow should always come on Thanksgiving weekend.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving. We will watch the parade, enjoy the dog show and then spend time with family eating delicious food, hoping we have enough food stored away to survive the Winter.

The $144 question: What were my three most favorite WORS races? Keeping the same question. Check out the Charity Jackpot Page link in the sidebar to possibly triple the amount.

Happy Halloween 2016

The Saris Gala is this coming Friday and if that isn’t scary enough just check out some of the premium bicycle packages you could win in auction. Perfect for all you beer guzzling bicycle nuts looking to get away from it all in a preplanned, work it into your schedule future arranged event.

Ike knows. Ike our dog knows it is Halloween. That pumpkin head pull toy has been in his bucket of toys all year. It is only from the week before Halloween that he ever takes interest in it. No joke. He starts playing with his stuffed football as soon as preseason begins. He knows. Just ask him. Ask him anything.

The demon fleas have been bothering Ike and after a three week battle we had to revert to using Frontline, which had him flea free in under three days. My wife says the flea combs at the Bark and Scratch have been flying from the displays. I suspect the weather has had something to do with it.

It is like the movie Apocalypse Now” where the main character hunts down the crazy colonel, whom we shall not name. The colonel, his headquarters decorated with the heads of the enemy impaled upon pikes (much like the Tower of London must have looked days gone by) in reflection says those infamous words over his plight; “The humidity, …the humidity.” It has just been a plain wet year, even if Summer rainfalls were low. And now we all suffer from the demon fleas.

Just think of all the moisture in the ground now, as it just keeps raining week upon week, and then the big freeze. Worst Winter in a long time the Farmer’s Almanac claims.

Just think pot holes, and be afraid… very afraid. Then there will be the Santa Rampage.

Yes, we are still getting tomatoes and raspberries from our garden. Those tomatoes come up themselves every year all over our yard and garden. They are sweet and tasty, but this time of year the skin gets hard and splits.

The $143 question: What were my three most favorite WORS races? Keeping the same question. Check out the Charity Jackpot Page link in the sidebar to possibly triple the amount.

Make Me Skinny

Or rather; MAKEMESKINNY, in all caps no spaces is the code for a discount online registration to the entire Hugh Jass Fat Bike Series. For a mere $100 you can be registered online for every race. All the better if you plan to attend, or even participate. Their first race is this coming weekend October 15th; Sweetest Day. It is more fun in the snow.

I saw fat bikes for less than $300 at Farm and Fleet. Otherwise they can run into the thousands of dollars. I saw them on display at Johnson’s Bikes on good old North Avenue. I believe that is where our dad took us for our first bikes some forty years ago. My older brother got a brand new bike and I got a dinged up used bike. The good old days when the eldest son was king and the only thing worse was an only child.

Levi Trow Mound and Silver Lake are some of the trails I heard may be groomed for fat bikes this Winter. Which is good since Ray’s Indoor Mountain Bike Park has closed in Milwaukee. Not sure why, but I would say, “It’s the economy stupid.” That would be a political line from days gone past which would be completely valid for this election if a republican were in office.

So you can go to Cleveland for indoor mountain biking or go underground in Kentucky.

WORS is continuing to downsize, not necessarily by choice. After 23 years the Sheboygan event will be no more. A great race that all enjoyed but difficulties working with Parks and a lack of volunteers has made it too difficult to perpetrate. You can find some videos from those races on my YouTube site. As it looks now WORS and WEMS will each have nine races next year.

Truly the bit more worry, the bit more stress, being at times strapped for cash has turned peoples minds away from recreation submersion. They are looking for a few events rather than a Summertime commitment. Fewer races may well translate into higher participation numbers however. It will also ease the decision making process as fewer events will overlap. Mountain Biking is as strong as ever, it is just not the same as it used to be.

There will be more trail work days yet this year if you are interested in volunteering with Metro Mountain Bikers; a local IMBA Chapter. The Fall Social Ride is October 22 and there is talk of a Winter Social Ride.

The $142 question: What were my three most favorite WORS races? Keeping the same question. Check out the Charity Jackpot Page link in the sidebar to possibly triple the amount.

A Very Berry Bit Scary Garden Adventurism

Permaculture; it has a magazine and everything. Permaculture Magazine has highlighted this particular group, Brake the Cycle, which hosts grueling rides across the UK with stops at holistic lifestyle (permaculture) facilities. We are not talking breweries or pubs, sorry Metro Mountain Bikers, but farms and such.

Or you can go with this Brake the Cycle, the World Vision Aspen International Bike Ride; a very worthy, a bit more adventurous and clearly more dangerous bicycle trek. This year's ride has passed, it was on my birthday, but keep it in mind for next year. I hear the beer market in Africa is expanding rapidly; wink wink Metro. Ah… I missed the last meeting.

Emery’s is having a huge sale at their Menomonee Falls location, Friday and Saturday only. In three weeks there is a Tour de’ Chequamegon up there in the north woods there, eh. A three day adventure brought to you by the Fyxation Bicycle Co.

But this blog is not about feel good altruism, it is about me. Yes, I tore out that barberry monster and cleared the fence line. Just look below at this beast I defeated further down the line. The determined and unrelenting application of brute force brought me victory in this battle. Not sure if you younger readers can relate with that.

I found a wonderful berry company and put in an order. I will line the fence with berry bushes. More to come in the Spring. There is no diet I have seen that does not recommend berries. Everyone loves berries. Blueberries are a bit too attention demanding for me to attempt to grow at this time. We ordered and planted some currants and an aronia bush. The honeyberry is on my mind for the Spring.

I had done an Internet search for “berries that grow in the shade” and various alterations on that theme and found nothing. Researching berries on YouTube many mentioned that currants grow and produce well in the shade, even full shade. A gardener at the DNR’s State fair facility enthusiastically conveyed to me the same information. Some have said their raspberries do fine in the shade.

I also found what some are now calling the #1 super food in the world; the aronia berry native to eastern North America. Also known as the choke berry, not choke cherry, it is the next up and coming craze, along with the haspak berry AKA the honeyberry.

The currants have a high concentration of natural pectin. You can make a jam by adding only an equal weight (of the berries) in sugar and simmer until it gels on a cold plate. If you don’t have a thick bottomed pot a splash of water would be prudent. You bring the berries to a boil then add the sugar and simmer.

There was a wild berry growing along our fence that I had the hardest time trying to identify via the Internet. Finally searching “poisonous plants in Wisconsin” I could identify the plant. I will not show a picture of this poisonous plant to avoid confusion with edible berries. It looks very similar to another berry that people grow as a super food. But this particular variety, growing wild all over the place, is poisonous, particularly before they ripen. Did I mention this is a poisonous plant (that I have not pictured or described). Never eat anything without verifying exactly what kind of plant it is.

The reality is, plants do not like to be eaten. Sorry vegans. That is why you have to soak and cook beans. Otherwise you’ll be poisoned.

Berries are a perennial, an easier food crop to care for. There is also a perennial bean, if you live in a warmer climate than Wisconsin, that is native to the Americas. That is the runner bean and for some reason it is far more popular in England than the United States. It will survive mild Winters.

Known as the Scarlet Runner Bean Thomas Jefferson grew them in his garden as an ornamental. They have beautiful scarlet flowers and produce continuously once mature. Their vines grow to ten feet. It is a favorite of humming birds.

The pods are eaten raw when very small and sweet. In England they seem to cook the sliced up pods when they are much bigger but before the beans begin to develop. If you let the beans mature and dry on the vine you get large beans from black, to pink, to purple, or a combination of colors. They are very large and attractive. Though it is said you can eat these beans, someone called them Oregon Lima Beans, I have found no recipes for the fully mature beans online. I did see one photo of the beans in a dish however. Of course you would have to soak and cook these beans, like other beans.

My wife and I made this baby, as is typical for making babies. She took it to a baby shower to the joy of many. Afterwards we enjoyed the leftover scraps, which I called baby bits. Very macabre of me I know but in my defense… 

Halloween is just around the corner. And you know in some cultures women did eat the placenta after birthing.

The $141 question: What were my three most favorite WORS races? Keeping the same question. Check out the Charity Jackpot Page link in the sidebar to possibly triple the amount.

Labors of the Day

Has Labor Day snuck up upon you without warning? Perhaps a quick escape to the La Crosse area would make a delightful last minute excursion. This holiday weekend is the La Crosse Area Bicycle Festival. It is simply one of the most beautiful areas of our great country that there is. And if competition is what you desire, there is the La Crosse Gravel Classic. It’s a classic. I competed in a WEMS Race long ago in La Crosse. Good people out there and it is not as long of a drive as you may think.

Don’t like the crowds? The following weekend, September 10th, is the Pickwick Historic Mill Run and Walk somewhere across the border in Minnesota. (DO you know the Minnesota Mountain Bike Series races in Wisconsin?) Brings to mind this 18th Century Cooking channel we have been enjoying on YouTube. Half the recipes seem to be for a pudding of some kind. How can you not appreciate that?

Misao is on a project craze. She has been creating mason jar solar lights from cheap solar lamps, canning supplies and and a glue gun. I did the wiring for the hanger.

The Hugh Jass is fast approaching. The Fat Bike Series of Fat Bike series is back for this coming Winter. And it is going to be a bad one. The squirrels are turning nearly black around here. Hugh Jass had Summer discounts for a race series package. There are always fat bikes for rent, but reserve one ahead of time. Wheel and Sprocket is the major player in supporting local race series.

The Saris Gala is going Olympic, if such promotions and advocacy are your thing. That will be November 4th.

Surprisingly, I have been riding quite a bit. I have ulterior motives however. I keep my eyes open for Black Walnut trees in order to harvest their fruits. Yes, you can eat them. I may make some Black Walnut ink from the husks; or a wood stain. The exercise log is filling up.

A daily bounty from the garden. Misao and I canned some bread and butter pickles together. Sometimes it is better not to speak, especially in the proximity of large quantities of scolding hot water. We went mishap free.

The $140 question: What were my three most favorite WORS races? Keeping the same question. Check out the Charity Jackpot Page link in the sidebar to possibly triple the amount.

Recreation 2017

Minooka Park, Area 5, Tuesday August 16, 6:00pm, will be an all skills level ride led by a prestigious member of Metro Mountain Bikers. A chance to see what the mountain bike trails at Minooka are all about, if you don’t know already. And don’t forget about the Wednesday Night Races which will finish out the season at the Alpha Trail.

Or if you are looking for more immediate gratification The Warrior Dash is tomorrow at The Rock in Franklin Wisconsin. I hear they have heats going off every half hour.

I haven’t gotten down to my race weight yet, but, believe it or not, I have gotten out to ride. And I have found myself not out of shape. Comes from good living.

My wife said to me the other day. “Let’s take a weekend off and go on vacation.”

“That’s a lot of chocolate.” I answered in a most serious of tone.

“What?” she looked bewildered.

“The money we would lose from not selling and what we would spend on vacation…. That’s a lot of chocolate.”

“You’re right.” my wife sighed a moment later.

Take heed young men. The learning never stops here. You have to speak to woman in a language they can understand.

 

This was our vacation; baseball and The state Fair. Okay, I had to wait fifteen minutes for a hotdog at the stadium, or in other words until every other line had been completely worked through. The guy was working hard, he just gave everyone else their orders, including some guy who kept walking over from the drink concessions, before he would give me my hotdog. Then he tried to hand me three. “One hotdog.” I said and then, “Thank you.” Not sure if the two people waiting behind me for the other two hotdogs thanked him.

One of the hottest most humid days of the year and we went to The State Fair. we did out culinary rounds and struck up a conversation with a couple at a shared table. The gentleman looked familiar. I saw on Facebook one of my high school classmates was at the fair at the same time.

We watched some fat pigs attempt to make it around a race track and then hit all the vendors. Thank God for air conditioning. I bought some glue. The We Energies facility had a nice educational garden but their Solar Speedway show was cancelled because of clouds. So much for solar energy. This globe, one of many was in their garden display. I bowled with a guy whose daughter made those, with some autistic group, out of old bowling balls. I had given him a couple. …could be?

They were changing out the animals in most of the barns so we couldn’t see much in that regard. I think the DNR display facilities improve every year.

I looked for the dog shows on the State Fair site but couldn’t find the K9 activity stage listed (it was under family entertainment). But we caught a show no problem. They are pretty much continuous.

Getting cream puffs over to my parents house before they melted and home to watch the Olympics rounded out our day. Watching the women gymnasts I imagined anorexics everywhere were cheering for the Chinese.

I really know how to plan a vacation.

With the heat, the 4th of July and thunderstorms Ike our dog has been stressed and is still having seizures though far fewer than before. We bought a second round of “thuja” a homeopathic medicine. There seems to be some marked improvement. Perhaps the first  round had been energy depleted somehow. That’s how those homeopathies work.

Don’t be calling me homeophobic.

I think I will bring an end to my “40 Below” Yahoo group site. I will print out my exercise journal from that site for posterity. I started a new exercise journal on excel on a really old Internet non-compatible computer.

The $139 question: What were my three most favorite WORS races? Keeping the same question. Check out the Charity Jackpot Page link in the sidebar to possibly triple the amount.

Feel the Burn

HEY! The Polish Moon Ride is tomorrow. Bring your accordion.

The Tour d’ Fraud is over. I saw some coverage of the Tour d’ Fraud. I enjoy it. I could almost feel the burn myself as I watched the leaders push on. If we were a bit better off financially I might have even paid for an online coverage package. When you cycle you enjoy watching cycling events. I look forward to the Olympic coverage.

At the Olympics I fear they are experiencing more than one kind of burn, several in fact. And the citizens are feeling the burn of tear gas and pepper spray. Go Team USA.

WORS is the series a Minooka is the place. WORS broke a record for what one organizer called the WORS modern era. Gone are the days when WORS attracted 1,200 plus competitors regularly: AKA the 90’s. For this new century they set an attendance record of over 800 competitors. That is a 30% increase in what has become typical for their more popular races.

Minooka is where most of the newest mountain bike trail development is taking place. The right course in the right place at the right time. Metro Mountain Biker’s volunteers have already invested well over 300 hours in local trail work. Minooka is continually improving their course. There are some great devoted people behind it, not to mention the county employees who facilitate it all.

I didn’t burn the beans. I roasted these in my popcorn popper; of the whirly pop variety. If you have not tried fresh roasted coffee… you don’t know coffee. Tastes best at three to five days after roasting. Many say that it goes stale after seven days. But I have heard others claim it’s fresh for ten days, even three weeks, and one gentleman, roasting over an open campfire on “18th Century Cooking” professed it fresh for six weeks. You can find green coffee beans on Amazon. More about my coffee roasting experience and Bulletproof Diet later.

The sun burns. All my cabbage is harvested. Gave some away, ate some and tried my hand at a bit of sauerkraut. Added some fresh dill to the kraut. Some of the turnips were a bit damaged but we enjoyed what we could just the same. The Beans and tomatoes are ripening. We have had some eggplant, cucumbers and Swiss chard for a while. I will plant some more salad vegetables. The maturation of many plants is slow this year. My brother has also noticed the same lag in his garden in Indiana.

To make more space for productive plants I finally removed that barberry bush under the heat of a burning sun.  It didn’t burn, God didn’t speak, but I found the removal of this thorny intrusive symbolic to my life. No sun screen for me. If burning and wreathing in pain was good enough for us when we were kids, it’s good enough for me now.

“I told you not to take your shirt off.” my mother used to say.

Some garden buffs have claimed that if you eat healthy fresh live foods you will not burn. The sun is good for you (vitamin D) and man has been exposed to it for like forever. That doesn’t mean they do not wear big hats for protection, they do.

I wonder if they tested the sun screen the racers use in the Tour d’ Fraud.

I mended that hole I found in the fence. Pulled the two torn edges together with a clamp from my workshop, then weaved and tied it back together. My efforts inspired my neighbors on both sides of my lot to start cleaning up our fence lines from their sides. Think of me as Mr. Motivator; an inspiration.


I heard that! …Thinking, I have to wonder, no I must distress, that anyone would look at gaining something of value as losing something else of value. Not sure what that has to do with anything.

The naturalization of our riverbed has been completed. Good luck Wauwatosa as the slowing of the river here will influence your flooding potential far more than ours. The bridges up river are lower than our flood wall. Are you going to feel the burn. Those Bernie supporters sure felt the burn; being cheated and lied to. I saw one democrat bad mouthing a Bernie supporter to his face on national TV. You would think she was talking to a republican. “…How does it feel? …How does it feel?…” Going a bit Bob Dylan on myself.

An ease to tending our garden this year has been that it truly has rained when the weather man (or woman) has said it would, more times than not. Otherwise one forgets to water when you are expecting rain and it does not come.

The $138 question: What were my three most favorite WORS races? Keeping the same question. Check out the Charity Jackpot Page link in the sidebar to possibly triple the amount.