Ride, why ride?

So, reasonably often, as I'm sure lots of us do. I get asked the question, as an adult, why do I ride a bike? Which has got me thinking, different people, different reasons. Some may be purely transportation. Others, I suspect like me ride for a multitude of reasons. Of which, I'll come to later.
 I've riden bikes since I was a child, about four I think? I learned to ride on a blue drop crossbar (girls?) bike, where it came from I've no idea, but given the fact that all three of my brothers had learned to ride on it & it actually had solid rubber tyres & a system of levers instead of brake cables, it had clearly been around a while! Needless to say, it did the job.
 Bike wise, I've been super lucky, I saw the birth & hype surrounding BMX, I loved them, but it took me ages to get my hands on one. A Raleigh Burner, customised with giant CW bars & white mushroom grips, any fans will know what I'm talking about. Plus a young Nicole Kidman in BMX Bandits! My pre teen life was complete! Then as a teenager, I saw the dawn of mountain bikes, it was exciting stuff, something other than a sensible 'racer' as they were known then. So, I saved my money from working in the bakers & bought my first mountain bike!
The mountain bike, a white Peugeot Ranger (that I picked from the brochure in the bike shop) was a real liberator. Yeah we all know the freedom  first transport can bring but this was different, I didn't have to stick to roads! Soon I was across fields, tow paths, I was free! Well for about a year anyway until some toerag nicked it! That loss swiftly lead to the purchase of the next MTB a more grown up specialised hard rock (one of the first with the mud clogging U brake!) a great cross country bike. Did me well & i'm sure it still exists in one of my bro's sheds!
 Fast forward to present day, the 'racers' I rebuffed in the late 80's have become the slick 'road' bikes of today & have a firm place in my soul, with the majority of my rides either training out in the lanes or commuting, though I do love the chance of a quiet bumble on the towpath on the mountain bike. I'm very happy with the multitude of road & mountain bikes currently in my stable. However, you all know the formula N+1. To the uninitiated, N=the number of bikes you currently own. One being, always room for one more

So, I digress! The point of this, why I ride. I ride to stay fit, both physically & mentally. I find if I stay physically fit, I stay more mentally fit, sharper mentally, more focussed but also my moods. I'm the first to put my hand up to being a moody git. The less I get out the grumpier I am. Fact. Riding helps keep that at bay. Which is good. Also, as a chronic migraine sufferer, some sustained & regular riding helps no end, acupuncture helps too, something I've just discovered this year,  it doesn't stop
them (don't think anything will?) but it helps.
 I also ride to justify my indulgences. I like drinking beer, eating kebabs, Chinese chips on the way home from the pub,  cake & all the other good stuff! Riding stops those indulgences from sticking to my gut!  But, riding can be an escape. Escape from stress, escape from work, escape from life generally, not in a bad way, just head space. Everyone needs their space & I'll take mine on two wheels thanks!
Out at the weekend the weather was amazing & the views around a the lanes simply stunning!  #bikeshorttanlines. It can't be beaten, well not in my mind. At this time of year it's a sunny bike ride, a beer or some good BBQ. I'll make the most of it, because it'll soon be time for the winter bike & mud guards!

So, back in May after the relaunch of the blog was planned I decided I needed to strike out on an (off) road trip. The overall plan was to head out to a pub owned by a mate & stay off road as much as possible. Well, after a bit of planning & some last minute buying of panniers the first trip was a great success. We set off from the homestead along the Grand Union canal, heading upto lapworth to join the Stratford canal.  Heading through idyllic scenery & on what at that point was the nicest day of the year! Tan lines to be worked on!
We hit Hatton flight early on & tweeted a few snaps of the flight, love the can do attitude of the men who built it, amazing work! Then upto shrewley & through the village, there's a long tunnel but its boats only, the towpaths easy enough to follow though. Pressing on upto Kingswood junction & the switching onto the Stratford canal we meandered along towpaths & over bridges. We bumped into (not literally!)  one of the new Anthony Gormley Land sculptures, a life size cast iron man, located at Lengthsmans cottage Lowsenford. It's a great piece of art in a lovely spot & I now want to visit the other installations around the UK. Later we stopped & had a chat with a lock keeper doing his lock checks by Bearley, then on into Stratford itself & the madding tourist crowd. A short pit stop & it was off out onto the Greenway at Stratford. A lovely disused railway line which is well laid for cycles & all.
Lunch was taken care of by me with some trackside cooking of a Sri Lankan green bean & cashew nut curry. Real simple stuff. I chose to do this for lunch as none of the ingredients would go off in the panniers! Fry off a Thai green curry paste (a Thai one gives you a suitable base without too much prep), add some minced galangal, extra dried red chillis (Sri Lankan is almost always hot!) add raw green beans, gently fry. Then a carton of coconut cream (no calorie counting on the bike!) simmer gently, add a half dozen curry leaves. Cook out for another 6-8 minutes, season & sprinkle in cashews, easy. Super fast lunch in about 12 minutes! Several passers by commented on how nice it smelled, it tasted even better.
After the lunch stop it was on & out to the pub. We followed the Greenway until the first road junction & then you head right & its fairly straight from there, arrive at The Cottage of content, in the pretty village of Barton. We were camping in the garden, a great facility to offer at a pub! Tents were sorted bikes stashed & it was time for some liquid refreshment!
I'm an ale man & was all set to sample the offerings but, they were all beers I'd enjoyed before, then I spotted four real ciders! So deal done. Cider o clock! I have to say cheddar valley cider is top notch! If you like an authentic flat cider you'd love it. Full fruit flavour, sweet but with a dry edge & a crisp finish! Perfect thirst quencher!
The evening was an inpromtu mini music festival. More ciders including a raspberry ifused pink & a beef curry. Some local musical talent & a group called Terry & Gerry (I hadn't heard of them either!) who had opened for Status Quo at Glastonbury on the Friday! A great sound, skiffle blues type. A good chilled out sound for a chilled evening.
 After a gnarly sleep due to no roll mat due to no room in panniers, I was up early with aching hips! Sunday was a wet one, so an inpromtu omelette under a kids play den for breaky we packed up & headed for home. We took a more direct route home due to a poorly fitting saddle for my ride partner! Not sure how much 'fun' the ride home was! Back at the homestead, time for a coffee & hose down of the bike & me!. That done my mind wanders to planning another trip out, maybe this one should be on a tandem???

Blog, the return...

         

So, it's been more than a while since I posted & I  feel more than a little trepidation typing this, as it's been so long.
Anyway, here I am! I'd been considering a return to some blogging/writing but not justified the time or the reasoning with my brain. The catyalst for my return was a great meeting with a good friend of mine & blogging advisor thanks @soulcruzer. We chatted at length over several very good Cuban coffees about the ups & downs of life & work. Eventually we came to discuss the positive mental output of blogging, it's benefits to the author & potential pitfalls, which brings me to why I stopped before. I was blogging for the wrong reasons. I realised from the restart meeting that I had fallen into a trap of writing what I thought people would want to read. Chasing fish with a net, was one of the analogys used. No longer would that be the case

 From here on in, it will be all about me! Well, not literally, but I'm only going to pen what I would like to read & if people like it great, if not, no loss. So its bikes, beers, food & the overall joys of cycling, whether for pleasure, transport or fitness. Think hairy bikers, but not very hirsute & on a push iron (bicycle to you).  A blog dedicated to enjoying a bike ride, enjoying a good beer, ale or bottles, I don't do fizzy lager! Or good food, not necessarily fancy food, but the sort you want to sustain & thrive upon.

 I now feel an enjoyment on my bike that I can share, allow to seep into my life generally, maybe yours? If I see a great view & I'll tweet it, or save it for here, or both. Last week, wild garlic & nettles, which make the most amazing foraged soup. A beautiful sunset, flies in my teeth, anything! Liberating!
 So that's where I am currently. There's an exciting plan afoot for the first 'off-road trip' we'll be heading out on the mountain bikes, indirectly to the pub, a series of live tweets, some blogging, some food, beer tastings & general musings about life at large. @soulcruzer has promised some digital arts & some modern poetry. Lets see where the path takes us.
So, for now? A real blog by a real person living a real life, How it pans out from here? Who can tell, but I've a growing list of plans in my head about more blog posts & ideas for adventures yet to be had, so blogging for me looks like the way forward.... Enjoy the ride.

Twitter
@davesaul
@soulcruzer

Christmas Cranberry Cocktail

Well Christmas time again, it's kinda sneaked up on me!

Most people enjoy a festive cup or cocktail at this time of year. This is one of my favourites & a bit of a variation on the old favourite 'kir royale'.

For four people

200g fresh cranberries
500ml water
200g caster sugar (approximately)
1/2 Vanilla pod or a few drops of vanilla extract

Place the cranberries, water & sugar in a pan with the vanilla.
Stir to a boil & then simmer for approximately 10 minutes, by this time the cranberries will have popped & given the syrup a wonderful colour.
At this point you need to taste the syrup to check the sweetness, cranberries are a sharp berry & you may find they require more sugar, season to your taste with extra sugar.
What you are looking for is a sweet but not syrupy taste.
Pour the syrup through a sieve into a jug & let it drip, don't squeeze the pulp as this will cloud your syrup. This won't affect the flavour though if you prefer it cloudy.
The left over berries are great used as standard cranberry sauce.
Now chill the syrup.
To make the drink
Pour syrup into a champagne flute until it's about a quarter full
Now top up with Champagne or a dry sparkling wine.
Garnish with a couple of frozen cranberries.

Enjoy!

Chocolate Fondant

This chocolate fondant is a fairly standard mix, but I kind of think it's one of my favorite standby puddings, you know, the sort of thing that you can knock up fairly quickly  from ingredients from the store cupboard, great for when you have dinner guests at short notice. Talking of short notice, if you get organised & make a batch they can be frozen & cooked straight from the freezer.         Butter  100g                  Melted butter & cocoa powder for lining & dusting   Chocolate 100g  Caster Sugar 100g  Eggs 2  Egg yolks 2  Plain flour 100g Melt the extra butter; use this for brushing the ramekins. Then dust with the cocoa.When they’re lined refrigerate or freeze Melt chocolate & butter over a bowl of simmering water, allow to cool for ten minutes  (do not over heat) In a seperate bowl whisk the eggs, egg yolks & sugar, until  it goes ribbony Carefully mix in the sieved flour. Add cooled chocolate, in three stages, a third at a time, beat in Place mixture into prepared moulds & bake for 10-12 minutes at 180-190 °C (gas 6) until set but still soft in the centre Leave to stand for 2 mins after removing from oven, then turn onto serving plate. Best for me served with fresh crushed raspberries & vanilla ice cream, or if you fancy a really rich pud, with caramel sauce. Enjoy!

Winter root vegetable soup

One of my favorite autumn or winter lunches, it lends itself really well to swapping any of the vegetable components  to create a truly tailored flavour. Great with a chunk of bread or a nice soda bread. Carrots (washed & chopped)      2 Onions peeled & diced               2 Garlic clove peeled                    1 Swede diced                           1/2 Parsnips peeled & sliced            1 Mixed herbs                           Pinch Vegetable stock                      1 litre Vegetable oil                    2 dessert spoon Sweat all of the veg in a large pan for about four or five minutes, or until softened. Add the herbs & veg stock, bring to a boil & simmer until all of the vegetables are tender. Blend until smooth & season with salt & pepper, finish with a little cream if you like. Enjoy!

   

           

Lime & Basil Tart

I've been making lemon tart for years now & one day whilst thinking about flavours (as you do!) I thought how nice a lime one would be, so I tried one. Then I thought how nice it would be with some basil. It has a really zingy zesty flavour & a really delicate texture. I really like it with fresh coconut ice cream.

Ingredients
4 Limes (zest & juice)

180grm Caster sugar

 3 Eggs 

 200ml Double cream

 12-15  Fresh basil leaves
Method
 Line a tart case 20-25cm with sweet pastry. Blind bake until the pastry is cooked, allow to  
 cool slightly.
 Place lime zest & juice into a suitable mixing bowl, whisk in the sugar.
 Whisk in the cream & then add the eggs & whisk. Lastly stir in the shreaded basil leaves.
 Carefully pour into a blind baked pastry case
 Bake at 180°C gas 5 until just set, approximately 30-40 mins.
 Glaze if desired with icing sugar & hot grill or blow torch

Enjoy!