Month: July 2023

  • Weekend Ride

    I rode through parts of Columbia, Savage, Laurel, and Jessup this morning, for a round trip of almost 40 miles. I usually plot my routes on gmap-pedometer.com ahead of time to get a rough estimate of distance, but I did not do that for this ride. I had guesstimated it at roughly 30-35 miles, which…

  • Smoothie Recipe #2

    I decided to try a different smoothie recipe yesterday: This recipe makes 2 smoothies, and I had to use the full-size Ninja blender to fit all of the ingredients. Prep time was longer than my usual go-to recipe, because the apples needed to be cored, avocado peeled/pitted, ginger peeled/chopped, and lemon squeezed. I did not…

  • Hot Day Hybrid

    Day 3 of the heat wave: after skipping Thursday’s run in favor of the pool, I wanted to run today, even if it was only a short one. I hit the road at 8:15am, when it was still below 80°, and although it was plenty humid, it did feel slightly less oppressive out than it…

  • Climb/Brew

    Today is day two of our predicted 3-day heat wave. In lieu of pool running, I headed to Movement for my usual Friday morning climbing. I climbed 7 routes, all on TR, with grades ranging from 5.10b to 5.11a. It was a reasonably good climbing session with some challenging routes, particularly the 5.11a, which was…

  • Pool Running

    With our first real heat wave of the summer upon us (fortunately only forecast to last 3 days), I took my first pool run of the season this morning. I was considering trying to get out early for a “regular” run, but quickly decided against it when I stepped outside. I find pool running to…

  • Run/Brew Notes

    I got out this morning and ran into Patapsco Valley State Park via River Rd., out to the swinging bridge, and back via the Grist Mill Trail. Although I bike through PVSP all the time, I had not run there in probably 15 years. It’s a route I had been wanting to try for a…

  • Brew Notes

    Another in my continuing efforts to see if I can use this recipe as my “daily driver”. Two modifications for these beans: boiling water (vs 90°C), and 5 seconds longer initial “bloom”. This produced a pleasant, nicely-balanced cup which I would definitely brew again. It was slightly cleaner and milder than the cup I brewed…

  • This, that, & the other

    I brewed 13g that makes you happy this morning with my “Angel Albino Corzo-Chiapa” medium roast beans that I picked up on the way home from Bethany, after getting great results with the recipe with different beans yesterday and the day before. Everything was the same, except I slightly overshot and ended up with about…

  • Quick Brew Notes

    I brewed the exact same recipe as yesterday morning, except I used my Lost Dog “La Esparanza” medium/medium dark blend. The result was another pleasant, well-balanced cup. I’ve gotten mixed results with these beans using a couple of other recipes, with some success, but most of my more recent attempts have tasted kind of sour…

  • Brew Notes (again)

    I never thought I’d get to a point where I drink more than one cup of coffee a day, but lately I’ve been drinking two (one in the morning and one in the afternoon) mainly because I’m experimenting with so many different beans and recipes to find out what I like. I have had these…