While we likely aren't going to break any records in Nebraska for total snow fall or coldest winter on record, we have certainly had our fair share of both recently. More so than the amount of snow it's been the timing of the snow and cold that has been cumbersome. It seems like the last 3-4 storms have rolled in right around Thursday or Friday and continued into Saturday afternoon and sometimes even into Sunday making for a less than enjoyable weekend for getting out of the house even to go the store, let alone riding a bicycle. Now if you're one of those conspiracy types I suppose all this could be explained away as the gubmint geoengineering the weather to keep us isolated in our homes but I personally just think it's been a crappy winter. We were due and I personally have my doubts that our government could pull off geoengineering the weather, lately they can't seem to be able to agree on much of anything. I think we'd need to out source something like that.... wait, it does feel like Siberia.... hmmmmmmmm. Nuting to see here, comrade.
Saturday we got dumped on again with a few inches to go along with the snow we still have lingering around from the last snow that dropped several inches on us. I shoveled the drive and hoped we were done but it wasn't to be and we got a dusting Saturday into Sunday morning as the cherry on top of cruddy weekend snow. As a bonus we got bone chilling temps to go along with the white stuff this time around. I skipped leaving the house much on Saturday but got a bit of cabin fever on Sunday so ventured over to the local single track for a decent 6 mile ride, in 2° weather. What's worse is that those frigid temps are planning on sticking around for a week or so, like an unwanted aunt who suddenly pops over uninvited.
2° is nothing to balk about as far as being cold but with the right gear it is definitely a temperature you can ride in if you ride smart and use a fair amount of caution. I would probably make sure you're not going out for hours at a time, don't get too far from someplace warm if things start going sideways and by all means let someone knows where you'll be and about how long you plan to be gone. I know that sounds a lot like checking in with ma and pa like you had to do in your youth, but things get iffy real quick in that temperature range and it's a good idea to at least have someone out there that would get concerned if they didn't hear from you and know where to go to find you.
I bought this Giro Discord helmet a few years back for winter riding but I guess I tend to run a bit warmer than your average bear. (Is it just me or does it look a bit like the Emu on the Liberty Mutual insurance commercials sitting on the saddle?) Every time I wear the helmet I have ended up sweating, profusely. Saturday was no exception, I had sweat dripping off the font of it even with the vents fully opened, I had to stop and take it off multiple times to wring the sweat out of the brow band. With all that sweat dripping everywhere it started to fall on the top of my Cobrafists leaving ice to buildup on the pogies. That did not seem ideal so I actually secured the helmet to my Osprey pack on the second lap and just used a smart wool thin beanie... yes, I know that not wearing a helmet will get you the wrath of the helmet police and in general I agree that having a helmet will help in most cases buuuuuuttttt sweat and cold weather is maybe a little bit more of an immediate threat to your well being in below freezing temps. Sweating is a sure fire way to get cold, I know that might not make much since to most people but that sweat forms ice as it moves away from your core and ice on the outside of your clothes will eventually rob you of all your warmth. Anyway I did the second lap with a beanie and called it a day, even though it was cold the sun came out and I swear that the track I'd worn in on the first lap started getting soft and squirmy by the end of the second lap.
The water didn't fare as well, nothing like sucking water out of an icy bunghole on the side of a snowy trail.
So if it's been cold, snowy and miserable... what have you been doing? Well, I am glad you asked.
Not at all bike related but I did pick this bad boy up recently and while it's not exactly like new bike day, I am pretty psyched. A little over a year ago I started getting more into cooking at home, mostly it was simple things that I'd made before or things that didn't seem to complicated. The idea was to try to pick up a skill that wasn't related to cycling and one that I could share with my non cycling friends, yes I do have some of those if you can believe it. As time has gone on and the pandemic made going out almost impossible, I started experimenting a bit more and moving out of my comfort zone and started cooking things that I liked to order when going out but had never cooked myself. I am a huge fan of cast iron and with this new addition I might not have to use anything else for most things I cook since I already have multiple cast iron skillets/frying pans to compliment this enameled cast iron Dutch oven. One of the first things I worked on was perfecting a Sloppy Joe that wasn't from a can and that didn't have that oddly sweet taste to it like you'll usually get from a Sloppy Joe "mix". I prefer my Sloppies to be less sweet and more savory, while there might be need for further testing and tweaking I think I might have this one almost right where I want it. Sorry no pictures of the Joe since I initially wasn't planning on blogging about cooking when I started this whole thing.
Pork Chop with a white wine, garlic cream sauce was delicious.
Craw-fish Etouffee was probably one of the things that was the most out of my comfort zone but I think it turned out pretty good. Room for improvement for sure but it was tasty and that's part of what this journey is all about, making tasty dishes, learning new skills and having fun.
Stuffed Peppers have been fun to make also and a pretty big hit with those I've cooked them for, so that is a bonus. I've cooked a few other things, some of them multiple times but I won't unload all of those here at this time. With that said, I might from time to time share a few of the things that I make that I feel turned out really well and maybe even a few of the things that failed just to equal things out. If you enjoy that kind of thing then you're in luck, if you don't, well you're going to have to gloss over them when they happen.
The water didn't fare as well, nothing like sucking water out of an icy bunghole on the side of a snowy trail.
So if it's been cold, snowy and miserable... what have you been doing? Well, I am glad you asked.
Not at all bike related but I did pick this bad boy up recently and while it's not exactly like new bike day, I am pretty psyched. A little over a year ago I started getting more into cooking at home, mostly it was simple things that I'd made before or things that didn't seem to complicated. The idea was to try to pick up a skill that wasn't related to cycling and one that I could share with my non cycling friends, yes I do have some of those if you can believe it. As time has gone on and the pandemic made going out almost impossible, I started experimenting a bit more and moving out of my comfort zone and started cooking things that I liked to order when going out but had never cooked myself. I am a huge fan of cast iron and with this new addition I might not have to use anything else for most things I cook since I already have multiple cast iron skillets/frying pans to compliment this enameled cast iron Dutch oven. One of the first things I worked on was perfecting a Sloppy Joe that wasn't from a can and that didn't have that oddly sweet taste to it like you'll usually get from a Sloppy Joe "mix". I prefer my Sloppies to be less sweet and more savory, while there might be need for further testing and tweaking I think I might have this one almost right where I want it. Sorry no pictures of the Joe since I initially wasn't planning on blogging about cooking when I started this whole thing.
Pork Chop with a white wine, garlic cream sauce was delicious.
Craw-fish Etouffee was probably one of the things that was the most out of my comfort zone but I think it turned out pretty good. Room for improvement for sure but it was tasty and that's part of what this journey is all about, making tasty dishes, learning new skills and having fun.
Stuffed Peppers have been fun to make also and a pretty big hit with those I've cooked them for, so that is a bonus. I've cooked a few other things, some of them multiple times but I won't unload all of those here at this time. With that said, I might from time to time share a few of the things that I make that I feel turned out really well and maybe even a few of the things that failed just to equal things out. If you enjoy that kind of thing then you're in luck, if you don't, well you're going to have to gloss over them when they happen.
That First Photo Flipping Rocks - Enter That Shot In Your Next County Fair - I Make A Damn Good More Sloppy Than Joe As Well - Total Comfort Food Brother - Dig The Stuffed Bells And Mesmerized By The Craw Fish Boil - All The Best
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I dig that picture as well, not sure it'll get entered in the county fair but maybe it'll end up on a wall some where someday. One of these days we might have to compare sloppy recipes over some beers.
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