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May 27, 2009
Riding Around
On Monday, I had one of my best rides ever (so far). My dearest was up and out early, and I decided to get an extended ride in quickly. The sun was up and it was about 45 degrees, perfect riding weather. I was on the road by 7:15 AM, and since it was Memorial Day, there was practically no one on the rode. I had Rt. 15 almost all to myself and rode out to Brown's Trace, back through Richmond, then Jonesville, Faye's Corner and back though Williston and home. Just 35 miles but fantastic. I rode the route again yesterday (this time anti-clockwise) and wile it was fun, the traffic was bothersome and my lower back was complaining. No matter - a bad ride is better than almost anything else...
Posted by pgutwin at 9:45 AM | Comments (0)
May 24, 2009
Lilacs, Google Earth and Food
A few random notes: The Lilacs are in full bloom along our local roads, and it's making my (almost) daily rides very pleasant. Surprisingly so - I was actually looking forward to my ride yesterday just so I could have that marvelous experience of being focused even more on the present moment by the pleasant smell of lilacs. Just a couple more weeks of this, but I'm going to enjoy it.
Another riding related item - I recently rode a route that I hadn't traveled by car or bike in many years. I passed a particularly mysterious looking side road I had always wanted to explore. In years past I would have carved out some time to drive down this road and see what there was to see. Instead, I just used Google Earth. I think the internet has made life more interesting and creative, but maybe a little too antiseptic.
The Sunday NY Times has an interesting article on college kids going to the farm for the summer. I'm really excited by the new food movement. It seems like there's a second wave of people who want to get "back to the earth" rather than just piling up larger amounts of money. Maybe there's hope for the world yet...
Posted by pgutwin at 9:37 AM | Comments (0)
May 20, 2009
Eating the Future
You probably know that I'm a bit fussy about food. Certainly doing a lot of cooking has lead me to be a student of good eating, and beyond that I've had plenty of quality time over the years to think about what I'm preparing. But I thought I had a handle on our food chain in the US and my place in it. I was wrong.
Two things made a huge difference for me: 1) Reading "The Omnivore's Dilemma" by Michael Pollan and 2) An article in "Bicycling" magazine titled "Big Fat Lies". Omnivore's Dilemma opened my eyes to the dysfunctional food chain we've built in the US, and the article in Bicycling started me thinking about what my body really needs given my activities, and how my body reacts to different types and quantities of foods. Because of those ideas, I've made some significant change in the way I cook and eat, and I'm feeling a lot better because of it.
So it was with a lot of pleasure that I just watched the trailer for a new documentary, "Food, Inc." to be released in June. From what I've read of the press releases and the movie reviews, I'm very excited - this could be a very important movie and hopefully, and agent of change. Be forewarned - I'll be asking everyone I know when they plan to see the movie...
Posted by pgutwin at 2:58 PM | Comments (0)