photo by Jesse Rosten

Most everyone is now familiar with Jesse Rosten’s video gone viral,  Fotoshop by Adobe’:

Very amusing social commentary about our views on beauty, or faked beauty that is.  On the making of Fotoshop Rosten remarked,

“I was watching TV one sleepless night and stumbled upon an infomercial for some beauty product. The commercial showed before and after portraits, that to my eye, looked like the same photo just photoshopped. I laughed to myself. Then I made this video.  This commercial isn’t real, and neither are society’s standards of beauty. “

What you might not know about the professional film maker is his interest in filming cycling events (from the back of a motorcycle or helicopter).  I found these two gems on his website.

Levi Leipheimer’s Gran Fondo, which is a “long distance, mass-participation cycling event – not a race.”

And how about a side order of of Portland Gran Prix Cyclocross racing:

Now I’m itching for a cyclocross bike, and wonder when they’ll come out with Fotoshop for Men…
- Chris

In case I don’t post anything before this weekend I wanted to say merry Christmas to all the BiD readers I know in person, on the internet and in outer space.  Nothing says ho-ho-ho like good chocolate chip cookies fresh out of the oven; and since I can’t make them for everyone I’ll have to settle for providing you a blueprint to bake your own.

This recipe is a favorite around my home and one of the most requested by our friends. The credit goes to Kim Boyce who’s a former pastry chef for Spago and Campanile, and the author of  Good to the Grain: Baking with Whole Grain Flours(Amazon).  Her recipe relies on whole-wheat flour and dark chocolate to give it a distinctive taste.  My wife went to high school with her husband, so we’re pals.

While they’re not technically health food, if you’re going to eat cookies you might as well eat the good stuff, and when it comes to chocolate chip cookies, these are indeed the dope.  Proper etiquette forbids reproducing a recipe found in a book that’s still in print, but Kim gave us the OK to publish this one so let’s get the show on the road.  I quote from Good to the Grain…

Introduction
These cookies are the size of your palm, with thick, chewy edges, soft centers, and big chocolate chunks. It’s surprising just how delicious this whole-wheat version of an old classic is. Unlike many of the recipes in this book, this cookie is made with 100 percent whole-wheat flour, which gives it a distinctive, nutty taste. Use a good bittersweet chocolate for these cookies, as the flavor of high-quality chocolate pairs best with whole-wheat flour.

Ingredients:
Dry mix
3     cups whole-wheat flour
1½     tsp. baking powder
1     tsp. baking soda
1½     tsp. kosher salt (oy!)

Wet mix
8     oz. (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch pieces
1     cup dark brown sugar
1     cup sugar
2     eggs
2     tsp. pure vanilla extract
8     oz. bittersweet chocolate (we use chocolate that has at least 70% cocoa content), roughly chopped into ¼- and ½-inch pieces

And here’s how you do it:
Place two racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. (Although you can butter the sheets instead, parchment is useful for these cookies because the large chunks of chocolate can stick to the pan.)
Sift the dry ingredients into a large bowl, pouring back into the bowl any bits of grain or other ingredients that may remain in the sifter.

Add the butter and the sugars to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. With the mixer on low speed, mix just until the butter and sugars are blended, about 2 minutes. Use a spatula to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing until each is combined. Mix in the vanilla. Add the flour mixture to the bowl and blend on low speed until the flour is barely combined, about 30 seconds. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl.

Add the chocolate all at once to the batter. Mix on low speed until the chocolate is evenly combined. Use a spatula to scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl, then scrape the batter out onto a work surface, and use your hands to fully incorporate all the ingredients.

Scoop mounds of dough about 3 tablespoons in size onto the baking sheet, leaving 3 inches between them, or about 6 to a sheet.

Bake the cookies for 16 to 20 minutes, rotating the sheets halfway through, until the cookies are evenly dark brown. Transfer the cookies, still on the parchment, to the counter to cool, and repeat with the remaining dough.

These cookies are best eaten warm from the oven or later that same day. They’ll keep in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

Notes
This dough is made to go straight from the bowl into the oven. However, for freshly baked cookies anytime, you can refrigerate some of the dough for later. Be sure to scoop out the balls of dough before chilling, as the cold dough is too difficult to scoop. Also remember that cookies baked from chilled dough will be thicker than those made from room-temperature dough. This dough — scooped, chilled, and wrapped in plastic — will last in the refrigerator for one week, assuming it doesn’t get eaten first!

Thank you Kim Boyce!

The result is a chocolate chip cookie that has an earthy, somewhat nutty taste that’s complimented by the honest dark chocolate and kosher salt.  And note, use real chocolate because life is too short to eat anything else, besides, candy doesn’t taste so good with whole-wheat flour.

Enjoy with milk, coffee, or even better pair these with a full-bodied red wine.  Something spicy and bold like a good Zin or Petite Sirah should cause a spontaneous smile.  Happy baking and merry Christmas!

- Chris

ps: a here are a few other items we’ve baked in our kitchen using Kim’s recipes (yes I want  to photograph food for a living when I grow up):

Figgy Buckwheat Scones recipe by Kim Boyce in "Beyond the Grain" pg 80

Buckwheat Flour Poppy Seed Wafers recipe by Kim Boyce in "Good to the Grain" pg 84

This last year I’ve becoming increasingly obsessed with photography, in fact I recently created a Tumblr page to post some of my photographs that (mostly) don’t include a bicycle.  You can see some of those examples here.   As a result I’ve been following several photography sites including the popular Me In My Place, a site dedicated to photos of women in their own homes, using natural lighting.  His tag line is “Real girls in their own place. Not too crazy and just a pinch of naughty”. Some of his work is exceptional, some not so much.

Ari Graynor shot by MeInMyPlace for Esquire Magazine. click for source

As part of an ongoing series, Ari Graynor shot by MeInMyPlace for Esquire Magazine.

While most of the Me In My Place site presents ordinary women (not professional models) he occasionally partners with Esquire magazine to feature a popular movie starlet or model, in her place that is. I’m always enthusiastic when I see bicycles incorporated in popular media; naturally I was delighted to see what resembles a vintage Schwinn (Raleigh?) used as a prop in this photo series of Ari Graynor for Esquire.

photo by MeInMyPlace.com click for source

According to Ari the bike shown actually came with the apartment. What a cool idea: a bicycle as an apartment rental perk.  If I owned any rental properties I think I’d include a bike, especially if the property was near one of the many bike trails in town.

Speaking of Tumblr sites and movie star types, be sure to visit Rides a Bike for vintage photos of famous peeps on bicycles in popular media.

- Chris

From the  aint is grand to look 22 at 42 desk, award winning actress and philanthropist Jennifer Aniston was named the Sexiest Woman of all time by Men’s Health magazine.

we've been saying all along that bicycling is sexy

What makes her noteworthy to Biking in Dallas is the fact that at 19 she worked as a bike messenger in New York.  She says her worst moment in that job was the time she rode right into a door that had just been opened. Ouch.  She seems to have recovered nicely, and for the record we always thought Brad Pitt was a bit over-rated.

A more enduring accomplishment might be the three women who just won the Nobel Peace Prize.  Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, women’s rights activist, Leymah Gbowee and Yemeni campaigner, Tawakul Karman.  Karman becomes the youngest (32) and only Arab female Laureate.  Johson-Sirleaf is the first elected woman in modern day Africa.  Karman founded Women Journalists Without Chains. Each has contributed to human rights and democratic reform. Read more about these remarkable women and their struggles and accomplishments here.

photo via channelstv.com

Salute!

- Chris

Whether you’re a dedicated commuter or just ride for health and recreation, when the thermometer drops to near and sub-freezing temperatures cycling loses a bit of it’s luster.  This is especially true when the sun goes down.

A couple of years ago when I rode in my first Christmas light ride and as soon as darkness settled I thought I might start crying like a baby.  It was damn cold. I wore the wrong shoes, socks, gloves, and didn’t even bother to bring a hat.  Talk about poor planning. At least I didn’t cry.  Well not in front of anyone that is.

I complained about the cold, until I saw this guy. credit - Greg Agnew/The Canadian Press via TheStar.com

So I learned the hard way that when you’re cycling or doing anything in near arctic temperatures the savvy cyclist has a game plan: one that includes layers,   ideally three.

1) Your base layer, the one that touches your skin, should encourage wicking, which draws the perspiration away from your skin and helps keep you dry.

2) The second or mid-layer, is the insulating layer.  You want the mid-layer to be loose fitting so the air between the two layers further insulates you.

3) The shell layer is what protects you from the environment, so this is where you want water resistant and wind-proof materials. Ideally you want something that will allow you to breath, meaning air can escape but won’t creep in.  Personally I don’t need something water proof because I don’t plan on riding in really cold weather when it’s raining, so I only need protection from the cold wind.  For the every day commuter something water resistant is a sensible choice.

Keep in mind when wearing layers at some point you’ll arrive at your destination and you’ll want to remove one or two of those so you don’t burn up. So give some thought in to what you’ll be removing, and left with.

Speaking of gloves…I bought some super warm gloves once that did a very nice job keeping me insulated from the cold until I started wearing them when I was riding a bike.  They didn’t really have a shell so the cold wind went straight to my bones.  Bad.  Later my wife bought me some winter cycling gloves that look super weird, but damn they keep my hands warm.  So put the Isotoner gloves away and pick up those made especially for winter cycling.  They should have multiple inner layers (or stuffing) and also sport a wind/water resistant shell.

Hot Spiced Rum. photo credit theslowroasteditalian.blogspot.com

Wool socks are your friend and they typically do a good job of wicking.  A wool scarf and a hat (or helmet liner) that covers your ears are also required items to stay toasty.

And no matter what you wear, or how cold it gets, Hot Spiced Rum in the winter will make anyone’s day a bit brighter.  Here’s the recipe I’m currently mixing:

Cinnamon Toast Cocktail
12 ounces Apple Cider, warmed
3 ounces Captain Morgan’s Spiced Rum
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon sugar
1 cinnamon stick, to garnish

Combine the cinnamon and sugar on a plate that the rim of your glass will fit on.  Wet the rim of your glass with the cider or rum.  Spin the rim of your glass in the cinnamon sugar.  Combine the cider and rum in your glass, garnish with cinnamon stick.

So, the moral to the story is don’t let the cold weather get you down or keep you out of the saddle. Dress smart and you’ll pedal a lot further and enjoy it much more.

Got winter riding tips you want to share?

Chris

source EcoVelo

EcoVelo, one of the most respected and popular web sites dedicated to cycling and all things green is closing shop on January 1st, 2012.  I was a bit stunned by their announcement:

It’s with a bittersweet mix of emotions that we’ve decided to close up shop on January 1, 2012. It’s been a great ride that we’ve enjoyed immensely, but it’s time to move on to new challenges.

We want to thank all of those who have supported us along the way, from family, friends, readers, sponsors, and fellow bloggers, to those who submitted material for our Bike Gallery, Photo Contests, and Commuter Profiles. Your input and participation were extremely important aspects of what made EcoVelo unique.

Our plan is to leave the site live on the web as a resource for the cycling community for two years, until January 1, 2014. With nearly 3,300 posts, there’s certainly plenty here to keep new riders busy for a while. Over the next 30 days we’ll be wrapping up a few remaining articles and posting any new Commuter Profile or Gallery submissions that come in.

Finally, this change does not signify a move away from our commitment to using bicycles for transportation. In fact, going forward we hope to spend even more time riding bicycles and sharing information with people we meet on the road. Who knows, perhaps we’ll cross paths with you out there on the trail one day…

All the best—
Alan & Michael

photo by EcoVelo

No real mention of why, I suppose that’s their business and not mine. I know that for me there are times when blogging starts to feel like work. When that happens and it loses the fun element I ask myself “why am I doing this?”  Blogging with any regularity takes quite a bit of effort and when I start feeling like it’s becoming work I tend to back away for a bit until I get inspired again. Obviously Alan and Michael are ready to move on so I wish them well and note they will be sorely missed.

EcoVelo has been a great source of inspiration for me and thousands of other cyclists and bloggers. If you’ve never been by EcoVelo do so now, if n0thing else for the photography. Their images are often breath taking. The reviews are exceptional.

Best wishes to you both and thank you, Alan and Michael!

- Chris

the real deal, with strawberries. yum

Unsettling news about honey has been making the rounds lately. Let’s start with this: according to the Food and Drug Administration any product that’s been ultra-filtered and no longer contains pollen isn’t honey. Why would anyone remove pollen from honey you might ask. Dubious honey makers ultra-filter honey to remove pollen thus making it impossible to determine where the honey originated.  Why would they do such a thing?  Well let’s talk about China.

graphic by Food Safety News

You see not long ago, when China was busy dumping products made with lead paint on American consumers,  they were also dumping heavily subsidized, super cheap honey within our borders.  They sold it so low that domestic producers would soon be put out of business, so we slapped a big fat import tariff on Chinese honey.  That will teach them a lesson we thought.  Not to be out smarted by the USA, China started ultra-filtering their honey so you could no longer tell where it originated.  Removing the pollen from honey is like removing your fingerprints or even DNA so to speak.  Then they moved the honey to neutral countries like Vietnam, which was not subject to the import tariff, where it was then sold to the US at those same cheap prices.

Crafty bastards.

No wonder Michele Bachmann says we should be more like China, heck they’re a modern day utopia.  Bless her heart. But I digress…

So anyhow, Food Safety News purchased 60 random samples of honey from a variety of regions and stores and the results are kinda scary:

The samples were analyzed for pollen by Vaughn Bryant, a professor at Texas A&M University and one of the nation’s premier melissopalynologists, or investigators of pollen in honey.

Bryant, who is director of the Palynology Research Laboratory, found that among the containers of honey provided by Food Safety News:

• 76 percent of samples bought at groceries had all the pollen removed, These were stores like TOP Food, Safeway, Giant Eagle, QFC, Kroger, Metro Market, Harris Teeter, A&P, Stop & Shop and King Soopers.

• 100 percent of the honey sampled from drugstores like Walgreens, Rite-Aid and CVS Pharmacy had no pollen.

• 77 percent of the honey sampled from big box stores like Costco, Sam’s Club, Walmart, Target and H-E-B had the pollen filtered out.

Not to mention the antibiotics found in honey from China, but you really have to read that whole article (and others) to get the full story. And note the many grocery store chains and companies like Sue Bees who refused to identify the country of origin of their honey or even answer questions.

Check this out, when I read this and a couple of other related articles I examined the honey in my kitchen.  No country of origin was noted and after tasting it I remembered why I consume so little honey, it doesn’t taste very good at all. So I threw it out and the next time I went to the grocery store (Kroger) I started reading the labels on all the honey jars.  Only one showed a country of origin and while many used terms like “natural” or “real”, only one said it was “raw” and “unfiltered”, North Dallas Honey Company, so that’s what I bought. And when I tasted it I immediately noticed how different it tastes from the stuff I have been serving my kids for the last near decade.  I also realized, perhaps for the first time, how much I really like honey, no kidding.  I’ve started putting it on toast and in tea on a daily basis.

So, for fun, go check out the label on the honey in your own kitchen and then taste a spoonful. Tell me what you think and what you found.  And to close on a bright note, check out the Honey Locator where you can find any kind of raw, unfiltered honey made by local producers all over the country.

- Chris

]]> http://www.bikingindallas.com/honey-this-real-honey-is-not-real-honey/feed/ 10 http://www.bikingindallas.com/a-very-special-auction-for-a-good-cause/ http://www.bikingindallas.com/a-very-special-auction-for-a-good-cause/#comments Mon, 21 Nov 2011 20:34:01 +0000 Justin Husman http://www.bikingindallas.com/?p=12399

If you can’t feed a hundred people, then feed just one.  -  Mother Teresa

In addition to being a blogger and bike obsessive, I am also a fairly charitable person; I belong to a charitable fraternity, I raise money to fight cancer, and I give prayers scribbled on scrapes of paper to the homeless when they ask me for money. I care.  Fortunately, in this great big messed up world of ours, many of us are givers, and help our fellow man without being prompted. Frank the Welder (or FTW) is one such “giver”. If you are not familiar with Frank, read a little more about him here, at the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame website. Frank has taken Mother Teresa’s saying to heart and is auctioning his personal bike on eBay to benefit a one special family. The bicycle that he is auctioning is a one of a kind Yeti “ultimate” .

I asked Frank why this bike was important, and he told me, ” At that point in time (ed. the late eighties) people on MTB’s were experiencing a lot of problems with the chain clinging to the rings while shifting under load and causing severe chain jam between the chainstay and chainrings. Richard Cunningham of Mantis (later MBA magazine) came up with the idea (or at least applied it) of mounting the chainstays above the BB shall in a style known as “elevated chainstays”.

Zapata Espinoza of MBA mag approached my boss, John Parker about building what he thought was the “ultimate” bike of the day. My co-worker, Chris Herting built a prototype frame to suit their needs for the magazine article. People began to request a production version of the bike and my job was to produce the drawings and tooling to process the materials to make the production bike.

There is one “prototype” that was made during the process. Chris, John and I worked together to achieve the aesthetic qualities and I fabricated the sample and figured out how to tool the job. The entire rear section was built out of bits and pieces of rear sections I had cut apart for that purpose.

That frame was spray-bombed flat black with a few black colored squares. I think it sold for $3600 a few months ago. ”

While he was busy being a pioneer in the early MTB  movement, he would get away to vacation in California, and (of course) kept a bike there at a friends house. The bike he kept there is probably the second or third production “Ultimate” , and it is fitted out with with lots of very special gear, like handbuilt Campagnolo wheels, prototype bar ends, and Bullseye cranks.Unfortunately, as this human vessel is a frail one, the wife of Frank’s friend has been battling cancer, and all of the stuff that goes with it. Even more unfortunately, in today’s modern world, much of what “goes with” cancer is financial hardship. It’s no different  for Frank’s friends, and in order to alleviate some of their financial hardship, Frank is auctioning off this one of a kind early Yeti mountain bike – the one he kept at their house.  In addition, Frank will be including a ton of ephemera from the early days of Yeti, so this bike will be one that your grandkids can take to “Antiques Roadshow in Space” – and because they will have the provenance, this bike will be worth millions more in space credits than if it were just a centuries old mountain bike.
All of the U.S. dollar  proceeds of the auction will go directly to Frank’s friends. This isn’t some foundation doing this, where there are a group of directors that have to be paid first, or a fundraising drive for a giant concern, like the charity rides that most cyclists (including myself) take such pride in doing. This is one person, selling a one of a kind bike, and giving the money to help a family who has fallen on hard times.

The auction ends Saturday the 26th – so if you were considering joining the Black Friday fray, perhaps you should take the money you were going to spend to get some fat cat 1 percenter even richer and buy this one of a kind bike, and help some other good folks that need it.  Even if you can’t bid, tell someone you know about this, and all of you bloggers that read the website please spread the word to your readers. The holiday season is approaching, and what better way to kick it off than helping raise money for one family that needs it?

See the auction here. 

- Justin

Anderson Cooper brings bike thievery to CNN. Dude steals a woman’s bike while she’s hanging out with friends at a bar.  Well she then scours the local classified section (Craigslist) and finds her bike listed for sale.  She goes and meets the thief, asks to take the bike for a test ride where she puts it in her car and drives away.  Then she alerts the cops. Victim no more.

Tracy Popken at the 2011 Tweed Ride

I met Tracy Popken at the 2010 Dallas Tweed Ride.  She was one of the people I didn’t seem to scare when I asked, “can I take a photo of you and your bike?”  She had this beige Schwinn with a basket on the front that I liked.  It looked like she’d painted it with a rattle

custom dress by Tracy Popken - Salvage House Boutique. (click for photo source)

can. Usually it’s the guys who are customizing their bikes, so I was impressed.  I’m not always good with names or faces but I never forget a bicycle.  I’m weird like that, I know.

Anyhow later I learned Tracy is a fashion designer and the proprietor of  Salvage House Boutique, a quaint vintage clothing and furnishings shop in Oak Cliff (301 Melba).  She not only sources and sells vintage apparel and related furnishings, she also designs and makes very classic,  vintage inspired dresses, which is her specialty.  Tracy makes custom and the kind of ready-to-wear dresses that the gals on Mad Men would want to be seen in.

She says her dresses make up the bulk of her sales and they tend to move quickly, like within a couple of weeks.  She also customizes clothes for people who own something they like but want it tweaked or updated (back dated?) in some way.  Good to know.

"so I'll cut these about here, and add small pleats to give them a subtle poof just below the knee..."

So at one of the recent biking events she and I were discussing tweed rides and how people dress and such.  I admitted that both years I procrastinated about getting anything appropriate to wear and ended up being the only non-tweed looking person there.  In other words, I was the lone dork you saw who didn’t look right.  Yeah that was me.

Well the seamstress in her quickly took over as she went into solution mode, “here’s what you do, pick up any trousers in wool corduroy, cotton, anything you like, then make an appointment at the shop.  I can cut the legs down and make them into cycling knickers…Then I’ll add buttons for suspenders and…”  She assured me this was not rocket science.

We also talked about colors and textures and all, “always match you leathers but you can mix your fabrics and colors” she advised while I made mental notes.  “If you wear green trousers with a green jacket you risk looking like you’re on an elf ride and not a tweed ride”, she warned.  My confidence was beginning to bloom.

"If you wear green trousers with a green jacket you risk looking like you're on an elf ride and not a tweed ride"

So on such a short notice Tracy was simply going to convert a pair of olive chinos I had into cycling knickers, and add buttons for suspenders.  While I would guess any seamstress can do this sort of work I would not have felt comfortable or confident at all approaching just anyone.  It’s one thing to trust someone to hem up some jeans, it’s another to depend on them to help prepare you for a fashion themed event.  For that matter I wonder how many seamstresses or tailors are there out in the wild who are cyclists themselves and/or are accustomed to making knickers for cyclists?  Not many I’d wager.

So I picked up the finished pants today and I’m happy with the results.  The small, square pleats do indeed give them the subtle “poof”  just below the knee that Tracy was aiming for.  And she added vintage buttons instead of cheapo plastic ones.  Nice, didn’t see that coming. I’m relieved that I finally have something suitable to wear.

The Chinos converted to cycling knickers

In closing,  not only is Tracy Popken a cycling fashionista, she’s also a contributor at Dallas Cycle Chic; and she’s yet another interesting person you might meet, if you’re Biking in Dallas.  To see more of her work drop by the Salvage House Boutique Facebook page, or call the shop @ 469.323.9481 to schedule an appointment.

Vintage button detail

And note the 2011 BFOC Dallas Tweed Ride happens on the 13th and the high will be about 73 with a mix of sun and cloud cover – perfect cycling weather.  See you there.

- Chris