Done with Raw

The raw diet was over for us after only 5 days. We were invited to a get-together at a friend's house Friday night, and everyone was going to be eating onion soup, cheese, bread, and more. We decided to take a break from the diet for that evening, and never ended up returning to the raw diet. This doesn't mean we are totally done with dieting, as we both still want to lose some pounds, but we are done with the super strict raw diet.

I was feeling a bit weak on the 4th and 5th days of the diet, so I think my body was ready for a more well-balanced diet. I am feeling less weak now that I am getting more protein and more calories.

Pygmy Rabbit

Tater Tot, a female Pygmy Rabbit at WSU.

My friend Laura, a wildlife biologist at WSU, showed me around some of the facilities here yesterday. She works with a variety of animals, so I got to see the grizzly bears, baby deer, and Pygmy Rabbits. The grizzlies are always impressive and it was really cute to see the cubs brawling. I had specifically asked if I could see a Pygmy Rabbit, and boy are they cute. They are so small! Laura told me they would make Cottontails look ugly, and they pretty much do. The Washington population of Pygmies is extinct, so WSU and other facilities are attempting to crossbreed and increase the population.

The Great Tahini Crisis of 2007

My one concern with this diet is that it's hard to take in enough calories because all of this fiber makes me feel so full. I was feeling a bit weak on our ride today, so we stopped at the local food co-op to grab a banana and a smoothie; we were actually going there anyway because it is impossible to purchase tahini on the Palouse right now, and we want to make hummus. Call it the "Great Tahini Crisis of 2007," as the major tahini brand has been recalled for the past few months due to Salmonella.

As we were leaving the co-op, we were approached by a rather portly girl, who said she has noticed two things about this area: 1) everyone in this area rides a bike and 2) everyone who rides is thin. She then proceeded to ask us how quickly she could lose weight if she started cycling. What she really needs to realize is that she was at the co-op, which is frequented by "green" health nuts, so of course they all ride their bikes around town, and they all eat their health food. Upon realizing that this girl found us quite thin and trim, I had to ask, "Why are we doing this diet?"

Still doing it....

Raw Ravioli

We have successfully made it through two full days of raw food. One thing about this diet is that it forces you to be creative and try new things. Breakfasts are really easy because I am perfectly content with eating a bunch of fruit and nuts. Lunch and dinner get a little harder. Cold soups, hummus, guacamole, smoothies, fresh fruit juice, and raw "ravioli" are some of the things planned. I tried the ravioli tonight (see photo above), which wasn't bad, and was surprisingly rich. Here's the recipe, just in case anyone else out there decides to go raw:

Raw Ravioli

Wrapper:

4 turnips

Peal the turnips. Slice the turnips into very thin slices by cutting them in half and then using a spiral slicer, mandolin or other vegetable slicer to make thin round disks.
These will be used as the wrapper which would normally be the pasta dough.

Cheese filling:
1 cup pine nuts
1 cup macadamia nuts
1 cup walnuts
6 t Braggs or Nama Shoyu
8 t lemon juice
2 cloves garlic
1 cup parsley

Blend the pine nuts, macadamia nuts and walnuts in a food processor until ground. Add the rest of the ingredients and blend well, until creamy.

Tomato Sauce:
2 large tomatoes
1/2 cup sun dried tomatoes
1/4 cup fresh basil
1 clove garlic
6 dates
dash of olive oil (optional)

Soak the sun dried tomatoes until soft. Blend in food processor: the tomatoes, sun-dried tomatoes, basil and garlic until well blended. Add the dates and olive oil and blend until smooth. This sauce should be thick.

Directions for assembling the ravioli:
Remove a single turnip slice from the batch. Place a teaspoon full of cheese filling in the turnip slice and fold the turnip over until all the sides meet. Squeeze the edges together. Some of the filling will ooze out; but this is what will hold the edges together. Just put the excess back into the bowl to reuse. If you don't have enough filling in them they will not stick together. Place them in a single layer on a large plate and drizzle the tomato sauce on top; allow to sit for a few hours. The turnip will become soft from the tomato sauce. Use a spatula to scoop the raviolis up and serve.

Weekend o' Cross

Through the barriers at Starcrossed.
Hitch was tired after a weekend of cyclocross.

The start of Ted's race in Steilacoom.

The heinous run-up at Steilacoom.

We're back from a pretty busy, but fun, weekend. Starcrossed was fun, as always. The course was good for me because technical sections were pretty minimal. Right as we were heading out to pre-ride the course, Hitcher escaped from Ted's grip and took off through the busy parking lots. He would run toward us when called, but then dodge us at the last second. I felt sick to my stomach because he could have just kept running and been gone. Thankfully, Ted was able to tackle him (literally) to the ground. Needless to say, I was not at all happy with him. Something similar probably happened when he was out hunting with his previous owner, and that's how he ended up starving and cold. Dumb dog!

Anyway, the racing was good. Ted's field was really big, with about 85 guys starting. I didn't get to watch too much of his race because I had to warm up for my race, which followed his, but I could see some of the action from where we were parked. It was his best performance at Starcrossed, so he was relatively happy with it.

For my race, my goals were to avoid being lapped and to not finish last, and I actually accomplished them both. I would lose time each lap through the barriers, but would then gain some back on the faster power sections. I ended up beating some women I had not beaten before in cyclocross and did not lose as much time to the winners as in years past.

We, of course, stayed around to watch the elite men race, and it had gotten really chilly by then. Neither of us even had a beer because were so cold that it wasn't very appealing. Plus, we had that post-race upset stomach. Hitcher sported his fancy coat, which got some laughs and points from some people, as well as a comment that he looked like a "thoroughbred." It did stop his shivering, though!

Since Ted's team puts on Starcrossed, he stayed and helped with course takedown, so it was pretty late (and cold!) by the time we left. Hitcher and I eventually hopped in the car to warm up and the coonhound in him was raging when two raccoons ran in front of the car. I had to plug my ears until he stopped howling.

Ted had some bad luck at yesterday's race. Right before his race started, he threw my rear wheel on his bike. His race started and his chain was skipping all over the place, refusing to stay in any one gear, so he called it quits. He was frustrated at the time, but is glad in retrospect that he stopped because his chain was about to snap, which would have likely launched him over the bars.

By the time my race started, it had warmed up considerably and the sun was shining. I didn't feel great at the start, but began to feel better as the race progressed. At one point, I was sitting in last place, but I managed to rope a few girls in, and actually felt pretty good toward the end of the race. I was shocked when I was handed a check for finishing in the top 15. Me? Making some prize money in cyclocross?

Ted and I have both come to the realization that we have gained some weight since the road season ended, so we are officially on a diet. We are doing a raw food diet, so we basically will be eating a lot of fruits, vegetables, and nuts. We don't know exactly how long we'll keep this up. Chances are good that I'll be the one to crack. We'll have to get creative with our meal prep. Hopefully it jumpstarts our weight loss, as we'd each like to lose at least 10 pounds.

Cross and More Cross

We're heading over to Seattle tomorrow to do Starcrossed, which is such a cool event. Cyclocross races begin in the afternoon, and continue into the evening, with the elite women and men finishing up under the lights of the Marymoor Velodrome. By the time the sun sets, the crowds are big and the beer garden is full. Speaking of the beer garden, it is situated in the center of the velodrome infield, with the course snaking around it, which makes it easy to spectate and have a drink at the same time. The beer last year was PBR, so it left a little to be desired. This year, however, Deschutes is the sponsoring brewery, so it will actually be worth it to have a beer or two.

I'll be racing with the elite women. Since I have a cat 1 license on the road, USA Cycling insists on making me a 1 in cyclocross also. I'm in a rough spot because I tend to place at the top of the B women category, or at the bottom of the A category. I guess I might as well challenge myself by racing against all those women who are better than I am, with hopes that it will rub off on me eventually!

We'll do another race in Seattle on Sunday, which has a super long run-up. I believe it's about 80 meters long, and it really does make the legs burn. If it rains, I imagine it will be super sloppy and muddy.

It looks as if the race we're promoting in Pullman will go off okay. We have our officials, our course, and all of our permits. I think we'll even get some turn-out from the local mountain bike community. In fact, there seems to be more and more interest for cyclocross in Pullman and Moscow, as we have had random people ask us about the sport during our practices. Now if we could just get some more women to give it a try!

Photos

Pullman Cyclocross Race

Ted and I are promoting a cyclocross race in Pullman on October 7th. It will be the first race in the Inland Northwest Cyclocross Series. Let us know if you want to come and do it, and we can try to find a place for you to stay. Here's a copy of the flyer:

2007 Inland Northwest Cyclocross Series Race #1 – Pullman, WA

Military Hill Cyclocross

October 7, 2007

Held under USCF, permit #s in progress

Organized by Allison Beall and Ted Chauvin, with help from Emde Sports LLC




CATEGORIES / START TIMES / CYCLO-CROSS 700 cc (mass start)

Men A 12:00 noon - 55 minutes (+/-)
Men B 12:01 pm
Master Men 40+ 12:02 pm
Women, Juniors 18 under 12:03 pm
"Total Rookie" 12:04 pm "NEW" Female "Rookie" Category!

Mountain Bike Categories (Men A, Men B, Juniors and Women) 12:05 pm



Directions to venue: Take WA-195 south to Pullman. Once in Pullman turn left on N Grand Ave and proceed to NW Stadium Way and turn left (Dissmores IGA will be on your right side). You then will immediately veer right on Hall Street and drive all the way up the hill to Military Hill Park. Parking is at the Pullman Aquatic center which is at 500 NW Larry St. Do not park at the high school.


For more information or questions see:

http://www.emdesports.com/Race_Flyers/2007_cyclocross.html

Moose Marbled

We successfully completed our mountain bike race today, which was Ted's first mtn race in 6 or 7 years, and my second ever. We both finished with all skin intact, though I don't think the same could be said for our pride. Thankfully we both entered the race with just the right level of expectation... none!

Ted and I can both catch people on the climbing sections, but even more people seem to pass us back on the singletrack sections. Frustrating at times, but a year ago I would not have even considered trying the race, so I have definitely improved. I remember a ride I did a few years ago with my good friend, June. It included some of the trails from today's race, and I literally walked 3/4 of it. She was such a good sport and waited for me. I can honestly say I rode at least 3/4 of it today!

I did get into a little "tiff" with a guy in the race today. I had come to a sudden stop, so I allowed at least a handful of people behind to pass. I knew I couldn't let everyone pass, so I finally attempted to jump back into the race. The guy coming up behind me yelled at me for not letting him pass. I thought of what Ted and Lorena had told me at the start, which was to hold my own, and to remember that it is not my responsibility to stop and let everyone pass. I told the guy that I was racing too, to which he gave a somewhat nasty response. It wasn't my finest moment, but I told him to shut up. By this time he was past me, so I just made sure to pass him back on the next uphill section. This went on for the rest of the race. I caught him at one point when he had a flat and he said, very sarcastically, "Congratulations, you finally got me." Sure enough, the final section of the race was descending singletrack, so he beat me to the finish. I'm sure it made his day to beat me. He should be so proud - he beat someone who practically walks down anything even remotely technical, and a girl, no less. Okay, rant over.

Seriously, though, it was fun to do a mountain bike race for something different. It was a beautiful day too!

Moscow Mountain Madness

Two nights ago we headed up to Moscow Mountain in an attempt to find the course for this weekend's Moscow Mountain Madness mountain bike race: http://palouseroadrunners.org/RunningRoutes/MMM-Map.htm.

Since the trails on the mountain really are not marked at all, we managed to get ourselves a little lost, and darkness was coming quickly. We found a descending gravel road, which at least got us off of the singletrack, and was definitely taking us to the bottom of the mountain. We got to the bottom and ended up on back roads, but it was so dark that we could barely tell where we were. In any case, we were not near our car. A few miles on dusty gravel roads brought us to familiar territory, and we made it back to the car well after 8 pm.

We were starving after our adventure, so a stop at Patty's (http://www.pattysmexicankitchen.com/) for burritos was in store. FYI: Patty's has the best, and most authentic, Mexican food on the Palouse. Their tamales are particularly good!

We never did get to ride the whole course for Sunday, but we're still going to give it a try. It's practice for cyclocross, right?

It's cyclocross time!

The first cross race of the season was yesterday at South Seatac, which is definitely not a venue that suits me. With several sandy sections and some twisty singletrack, I would lose ground every time things got a little more technical. On the plus side, I would make up lots of ground on the run-ups and pavement. Both Ted and I finished the race with burning legs and heaving lungs. It was, afterall, the first race in weeks for either of us. We both had fun, but also realized that we need to really get in shape and work on our technical skills, especially me!

Tia and Andy's wedding on Sunday was very nice with a lakeside ceremony, good food, and lots of conversation. We were very glad that we could make the trip over to be there, and the opportunity to do a cross race was just a bonus.

I am riding for the Vanderkitten cyclocross team this fall, which I'm very excited about. More to follow on that.

A Few Photos

Here's a photo from the little cocktail party we had at our place last night. Here we have me, Ted's boss, John, and our friend Karl.

It didn't take the animals long to check out the new sofa/futon.

Shamus has always liked to sleep on plastic bags. This is where Ted found him a few mornings ago.