Will Bike for Food

Ever since we purchased the tandem, the goal has been to do a REAL bike ride. We have only taken one training ride. And as the stoker in the back, I'm not sure that we are ready. But when Mark suggested that we join the ACTC's (that's the local bike club) BREAKFAST ride on Saturday, I began to weaken. "How far?" I questioned. That was a very important consideration. "Only 7 miles to the restaurant..... and then back...... but it's flat and the group is a 1L (that's bike club lingo for VERY slow and VERY easy - aka for the young and out of shape)." And the restaurant serves GREAT breakfasts. So I agreed. Now this great ride started in Campbell which is VERY far away from our house in bike miles. Mark suggested we ride the tandem to the light rail, take it to Campbell and then meet the group there. OK, I can do that. So as I waited for Saturday, I began contemplating the appropriate attire one should wear on a tandem breakfast ride..... NOT spandex - it might restrict how much I could eat at breakfast. And besides, I have gotten a bit too lumpy. Shorts? Then I would have to shave and my legs are like white asparagus. And besides, I don't have sneakers and cute socks. So I guess I'll have to wear jeans this time (put on shopping list "cute tandem outfit preferably matching one for Mark"). Saturday arrived. In order to be at the meeting place by 8am (these bikers are serious!) we had to leave the house at 7am. Luckily, there was very little traffic on the way to the light rail stop near our house. Now, the VTA has set up their trains so that four bikes can be easily hung from these racks in the center section of the train. But there is no place to hang a tandem. So we tried to be out of the way and not impede the flow. We got to the starting point and joined seven other people. One of the group members was a young lady of approximately middle school age who was riding with her VERY fit mom. Another member was Brenden, age 9-ish, who was riding with his dad and little brother Morgan, age 6-ish. Morgan's bike was tandem-esque as it was a little kid's bike but without a front wheel. Instead, it was attached to Dad's bike. So Morgan could peddle - or not - and keep up with the group. We headed out down the Los Gatos trail which runs along the Los Gatos river. Now remember Mainers - everything out here is packed tightly next to something else. So parks and trails are unique in the area. This trail is paved and has a yellow line down the middle so people can stay on the proper side. And it is heavily used..... even at 8am. Before we started out, we watched MOBS of runners/walkers start off. It must have been some special group. Our leader suggested we ride part of the way on the opposite side of the river to avoid the crowd. Mark was very happy to do this as his Captain Tandem abilities were a bit shaky. I decided to try to be more relaxed and just go with the flow. I got on as commanded by my Captain, set the peddles, gripped the handlebars and on THREE, began peddling like hell. Wobble, wobble and we were off. I tried not to watch the road/path as it would only make me tense up. So as Mark weaved around joggers and walkers, I enjoyed the beautiful scenery and lovely day. Oh, you want me to peddle too? Sure, I can do that. We were getting the routine down on the straight parts. And we even began to be coordinated on the down-and-up parts too (OK, we will coast down until we are almost to the bottom and then start peddling..... OK COAST). I was keeping my feet on the pedals and humming to myself and ...... peddling a bit. Then we left the trail and started on streets. My anxiety level began to rise..... If we wobble at the wrong moment, we could be flattened by a car or that BIG truck coming up. And Mark likes to ride almost in the middle of the road and I can't do a thing about it - where are the reins for this thing? And I'm getting hungry and we must have gone AT LEAST 17 miles. And it's getting hot and I'm in jeans. Whine, whine, whine. All of a sudden we are there! And there is coffee and great waffles with fresh fruit and crispy bacon and I can sit down and NOT peddle and it is cool. Life is good..... And then we had to head back. So we get BACK on the bike -Stoker on, Captain. And Mark begins to work off all that breakfast as we peddle through Los Gatos to watch a Criterion bike race. There are VERY fit cute young men in spandex racing around and around a one mile course through the streets of a charming Los Gatos neighborhood. We stand at the fence holding our tandem and wearing our bike helmets (looking SOOO part of the scene) as the racers fly by. Now they are REALLY pedaling. Finally it is time to get back on the trail and ride back to Campbell. Brenden rides up beside me and starts telling me jokes - what do you get when you cross a parrot with a centipede? A walkie-talkie! I'm laughing and laughing and Mark suggests that I peddle a bit.... Oh sure dear. When we get to the trail, it is PACKED full of VERY slow walkers with thousands of dogs on long leashes that are running back and forth across the trail. I can feel my Captain tense up.... so I start to REALLY pedal. "NOT SO FAST!!" he hollers. His knuckles are white.... we weave around that mutt and this mutt hollering "On your right!" "On your left!" Where is my bell when I need it? (Add to shopping list - BIKE BELL) We have passed the leader and every member of the group. Mark says it is easier to control the bike if we have some speed. So he has charged on ahead. I don't think this is proper group bike ride behavior, but I'm just the Stoker. We finally reach the end and when the rest of the group joins us, we shake hands and thank everyone. Then we take off for the bike store near by to buy a bell - and some other stuff Mark wanted. We find the light rail stop and when we get on the train this time, we are one of 6 bikes on board. It is very crowded in the bike hanging area and we try not to block the doors to the car. Consequently, several bikers are all squished together. Now, you can't take a tandem anywhere without people commenting. It's like pushing a set of twins around. And of course, people have to sing to you too..... "Daisy, Daisy give me your answer true...." or something like that. Now I REALLY wish I had planned my tandem outfit with more thought! We chat with a young man from Sunnyvale who is a computer programmer who graduated from Stanford. He came down to Campbell to ride the Los Gatos trail too. Normally, I will ride the light rail and never talk to anyone. But when you are walking a tandem on board....... Chat, chat, chat. When we got home and were enjoying a cool glass of water on our deck under the gazebo, Mark asked if my legs were sore. I proudly announced, "Not at all! That was fun and much easier than I thought!" He suggested next time I might pedal ALL the time. Spoil sport.

Loquat Wha?

One of the special things about living in NoCal is the ability to grow exotic fruit trees in your back yard. Now, this isn't OUR back yard as we are renting. But our landlord kindly planted (many years ago) some interesting specimens. Like our loquat tree. I never even knew what a loquat was before living here. We enjoyed the pretty clusters of white flowers and watched the tiny green pea-sized fruit develop..... slowly...... VERY slowly. And finally, we began to see some color. I figured that the loquats were ripe when I saw the birds pecking away at the fruit. While we were waiting for the great day, Mark and I did some research online to learn about loquats.  And because the tree was so large and it looked like we would have LOTS of loquats, we began researching recipes. I found an interesting one for Pork Loin with Loquat and Strawberry Sauce. And another for Loquat Cobbler..... sounded yummy. So I took my bucket and headed out back. The only problem was that all the really ripe fruit was at the TOP of the VERY tall tree where only the birds could go. I decided to give it a try. Now, I have to back up a bit and tell you about the condition of this tree. A few weeks ago, we had "bad weather" - it rained heavily and was very windy. In the storm, a HUGE branch from the tree split off - well, it really cracked down the center of a divide in the trunk. And when we cut up the "branch" to put it out for pick up, the smaller branches were VERY HEAVY mainly due to the fruit. So as I looked up.... and up.... toward all that ripe fruit near the top of the tree, I began to wonder if those thin overweighted branches could even hold a little bit more weight. We don't have a step ladder here. So I went in the house and dragged out a chair....... not very tall. Then I looked in the garage and found an extension ladder...... hmmmm........ So I dragged it out, propped it against the THICK portion of the main trunk and climbed up. Now, for those of you who don't know me well, I have a balance problem. So climbing UP on things is not always easy or wise. But wisdom has never gotten in my way. As I teetered on the top step and stretched up toward the little golden globes, the wind picked up and the tree started to sway..... and I started to sway...... and the bucket started to sway...... So I decided that I had enough loquats for my recipe. As I was preparing for dinner, a friend called and asked if she could spend the night on her way to the coast. I said sure and warned her that she would be a guinea pig for the loquat test AND for the new loft bed test. She is a spunky person and was happy to be the victim. We sat down to dinner and began to sample..... Now, when you are in NoCal, you HAVE to have wine with this kind of dinner. So Mark chose the perfect wine to drink with loquats. He has begun blogging at CACorkDork.blogspot.com (yes, my geek is now a dork). Click here to read his blog and learn all about what wine YOU should drink when YOU fix a loquat recipe. I have decided not to add loquats to my list of favorite fruits. The taste in not memorable and picking them is a challenge. Now the OTHER tree in our yard IS worth it. Our fig tree has a fine crop of figs on it. And every day I go out and gently squeeze the little figlets to see if they are ripe yet..... a bit like the old witch in Hansel and Gretel who wanted to feel Hansel's finger to see if he was fat enough to eat. My fig tree is teaching me patience as the fruit is not ready yet. But soon.... and this time I'll be ready. I bought a fruit picker at Home Depot with a VERY long reach so I won't fall out of any trees.