Mountain Bike

lpaulriddle

My COVID shot on Tuesday threw my schedule for a bit of a loop this week. I normally bike in to the office on Wednesdays, but I decided to telecommute this week so that I could “recover” from the shot. Instead, I biked in today (Thursday), which is a day that I usually telecommute and run in the morning. The great news is, I was able to commute on my mountain bike, which I haven’t done much of lately. Nowadays, a lot of factors conspire to make regular mountain bike commuting challenging. For one thing, I only go in to the office on Mondays and Wednesdays, and I climb on Monday evenings, so I try to avoid MTB commuting on Mondays because it tires me out for climbing. That leaves Wednesdays, and then, the weather and trail conditions have to cooperate. I’m not a fan of mountain biking during the summer months, both because of the heat and humidity, and because the trails get very overgrown. In the winter, the freeze-thaw cycle often means that the trails are in good shape in the morning, but a muddy mess in the afternoon when I’m riding home. That leaves spring and fall, and oftentimes, rainy weather can make for poor trail conditions those times of year. Things were pretty good today — it had been over a week since our last measurable rainfall, but some shallow fog this morning dampened the trails just enough that they weren’t dusty. I felt pretty comfortable on the bike, in spite of it being over a month since my last ride.

As I did last year, I may convert Monday to a telecommute day from November through March. During the pandemic shutdown, I used to take occasional morning mountain bike rides for exercise, and an extra telecommute day would give me a great opportunity to start doing that again. I could go out in the early morning when it’s at or below freezing, thereby avoiding the freeze-thaw issue in the afternoon, and I’d have enough time to recover for climbing in the evening. On paper, it seems like a great plan…

Vitality Brazil French Press

lpaulriddle

This afternoon’s cup:

  • Beans: “Brazil Yellow Bourbon” medium roast
    • Roaster: Vitality Roasting (Minneapolis, MN)
    • Roast date: 9/20/2023
  • 20 grams coffee, 280 260 grams water (1:14 1:13 ratio)
  • French press
  • Gooseneck kettle
  1. Preheat French press
  2. Heat brew water to 99°C
  3. Coarse grind (JX setting 30, or 3 rotations)
  4. Start timer and pour at the same time
  5. 60 second bloom (including pour time)
  6. Stir a few seconds until grounds settle
  7. Steep 6 minutes, plunge, and pour

This was a much better cup than yesterday’s. I kept everything the same, except I started with hotter water, and I remembered to preheat the French press. The result was a more robust, better extracted brew. I feel like it could have been a little bit stronger, so maybe 1:13 will be the sweet spot. The pourovers I’ve been making with these beans have been a little bit lackluster recently, so I may stick with the French press until I use them up.

In totally unrelated news, I was amazed with how quickly I bounced back from the COVID booster I got yesterday afternoon. The only symptoms I had were minor body aches last night and this morning, which disappeared after I took some Ibuprofen. This is in contrast to all of my previous shots, after which I had 24 to 36 hours of flu-like symptoms (aches, chills, shakes, fatigue, slightly elevated temperature). None of that this time around. The big difference: my past shots were all Moderna, and yesterday’s was Pfizer. I guess I must tolerate the Pfizer vaccine better.

10/5: Brewed again. Kept everything the same, except I reduced the water to 260g for a 1:13 ratio. This seemed like a good strength. I have enough beans left to brew about 3 more cups, and may just do all of them like this.

10/9: Used the beans up this afternoon. I had 26g left, so I used 338g of water (1:13). I believe this was the best cup I’ve gotten with them using this method. I didn’t do anything differently, so I wonder if it had something to do with the larger volume of water. I’m also wondering if the speed and/or length of time of stirring makes any difference in the finished product.

Grab Bag

lpaulriddle

A bunch of random topics tonight.

As I had hoped, I managed to get out of the house before 7 this morning for a 10-mile run before work. My schedule precluded a longer run this past weekend, and with a COVID (and flu) shot scheduled for this afternoon, I wasn’t sure I’d be up for it later in the week. The run went pretty well. My right hamstring has improved since last time, but still is not 100%, which would have been an issue on a faster run (extending the hamstring was a tad uncomfortable), but didn’t bother me much at today’s pace. Now, I have to decide if I want to run another 10 miles this coming Saturday. As for the COVID shot, it’s now been 7 hours, and I’m still feeling fine, other than some mild aches. I guess I’ll see how I feel in the morning.

I’ve now climbed twice since I got home from Minneapolis. After the first session, I noticed that the nerve in my right foot felt a little weird. For my second climb (last night), I wore a metatarsal pad on that side, which I had done one time before, and it seemed to help quite a bit. I think I’ll continue to do that for a while, and see how it goes as I start to work back towards climbing slabbier routes that put more weight on my feet.

I tried brewing the coffee beans I bought in Minneapolis in the French press this afternoon, and my first attempt was not all that great. I used 21 grams of coffee to 300 grams of water (around 1:14) with the following recipe:

  1. Preheat French press
  2. Heat brew water to 95°C
  3. JX grind setting: 30 (3 rotations)
  4. Start timer and pour at the same time
  5. 60 second bloom (including pour time)
  6. Stir a few seconds until grounds settle
  7. Steep 6 minutes, press slowly, and pour

The first problem is that I forgot to preheat the French press, and since it is ceramic, the brew water likely lost a good bit of heat pretty quickly. I didn’t heat the mug, either, so the cup was not very hot at all. The flavor was watery and under-extracted. I think I just need to try to keep the water hotter for longer. Next time, I’ll remember to heat the press, and I might bump the starting water temperature up closer to boiling, as the brew time is a lot longer than (e.g.) a pourover, so the overall average brewing temperature likely will be a few degrees lower than the starting water temperature.

Paddle Notes

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I got out for my annual paddle along the tidal Patapsco this morning, putting in at Southwest Area Park at around 7:45am, just before the 8:00am predicted high tide at Fort McHenry. I paddled about 3.5 miles upstream and back, for a total of 7 miles, which I believe is a new distance record for me on this particular stretch of river. Usually, shallow water prevents me from getting too far upstream of the B/W Parkway overpass, but today, the water was navigable all the way past the Baltimore Beltway overpass. I could have gone farther, but ended up turning around because I wanted to be home by 11.

Southwest Area Park was quite busy this morning with people launching, fishing, etc. It was the first time I had been there on a weekend in several years. To be honest, I had been kind of avoiding it on weekdays recently, because there always seemed to be sketchy people hanging around using various substances, etc. I may stick to weekends going forward, as I did not get that vibe this morning.

This part of the river has not changed much in the year since I last paddled here. On the upstream leg, the stretch between the launch and the MD 648 overpass was stagnant and murky, with no current at all, and a dismaying amount of trash floating around. It really made me wish I had brought some trash bags, and I’m going to try to remember to do that going forward. On the return leg, the breeze had picked up and the water had a few more ripples (as well as a couple of wakes from small boats). I also noticed a lot less trash — way too much to have blown anywhere in that short amount of time — so I am thinking someone must have picked a bunch of it up, which makes me feel a little bit better about the state of humanity.

The best part of the paddle was the stretch upstream of 648, out towards 295 and 695. This part of the river has a little bit of a current, and the water is much clearer as well. It can be a challenge to navigate the shallow sections, but it was much easier today at high tide. I turned around just shy of the Halethorpe Ponds area, which is somewhere I have been wanting to check out as both a paddling area and a potential put-in. I am curious if it would be possible to get as far upstream as US 1 and the Thomas Viaduct. I suspect I won’t find out until next year at the earliest, but you never know.

Run notes (hamstring)

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I was not able to get out for my usual Saturday 9 or 10-mile run today due to time constraints, but I did manage to squeeze in a 10K. It turns out that I tweaked my right hamstring when I tripped during Thursday’s run. I could tell at the time that it was a little bit unhappy, but it did not bother me much for the rest of that run, although I did stumble over my right foot several more times, which makes me wonder if I was unconsciously favoring it and not lifting it high enough. This morning, the hamstring was pretty stiff when I started the run, but eventually loosened up, although it never got to a point where it wasn’t bothering me at all. I suspect it will take a week or two before it’s feeling normal again. The good news is, I didn’t trip at all today, and I didn’t seem to be scuffing/dragging my feet as much as I did on my past few runs. My pace was a little bit slower than usual for this time of year at 10:50/mile, but my cadence was 184 steps/minute, which is about normal by recent standards. Other than the mild hamstring discomfort, it wasn’t a bad run. I’ll use the foam roller and heating pad a few times before my next run, likely on Tuesday. I have a COVID/flu booster scheduled Tuesday afternoon, so I’m hoping to get a longer run in the morning in case the shot takes me out of commission for Wednesday/Thursday.

Today’s Run

lpaulriddle

With autumn upon us and the daytime temperatures getting a little bit cooler, I now have the advantage that I can wait until after all of the local schools are in session before I head out to run. That’s what I did today, leaving the house a little past 8:30, and the streets were mostly quiet. I had a pretty good run of about 7.7 miles. The only annoying thing about this run is that for some reason, I tripped 4(!) times. The first time was my own fault, as I was reading a work text on my watch and not looking where I was going. My left foot got tripped up, and I narrowly escaped falling down. The subsequent times were all with the right foot, and just small stumbles. Up until today, I had not had a tripping issue in several months. Over my past 2 or 3 runs, I’ve been noticing my feet (particularly the right foot) “scuffing” or “dragging” more often. It may be that I’m getting into a pattern of not lifting my feet high enough. My running cadence over the past several weeks has been really high (often 185+ steps/minute), so maybe it’s time to sacrifice a few steps per minute in the interest of getting my feet higher off the ground. This will be really important if I ever get more into trail running, as irregular trail surfaces would greatly exacerbate the tripping issue. I’ll monitor this over the next few runs, and see if I can get it corrected.

Drippy Park Run

lpaulriddle

We seem to be stuck in a humid, overcast, drippy, chilly weather pattern after Ophelia passed through on Saturday. With schools back in session today, I decided to shake my Tuesday morning running routine up a little bit. I drove and parked the van on Levering Ave. near the viaduct, and ran into Patapsco Valley State Park, following River Rd. out past the swinging bridge to near the former Bloede Dam site, and back on the Grist Mill Trail. It ended up being about 7 miles, but if I wanted to, I could extend it to 8 or 9 pretty easily. I may start doing this more often on school days, as it seems to be a good way to avoid school-related running inconveniences (mainly traffic). As for the run itself, it was okay, but not great. I’ve been dealing with an extremely mild G.I. thing the past couple of days, which slowed me down a little bit, but I think the main thing was just the dreary weather and the wet feet.

This weather also brought an abrupt, early end to our 2023 pool season. I had hoped to get a couple of swims in after I returned home from Minneapolis, but it wasn’t to be. My final swim of the season was September 15. Hopefully, next year will be better, but as this year illustrates, September weather can be fickle.

Zeke’s Colombia Cold Brew

lpaulriddle
  • Beans: “Colombia Sierra Nevada” medium-light roast
    • Roaster: Zeke’s Coffee (Baltimore, MD)
    • Roast date: 9/6/2023
  • 14g coffee / 230g water (around 1:16)
  • JX: 2 rotations less 6 clicks (18 on the grind chart / 54 total clicks)
  1. Set AeroPress up in inverted orientation with plunger inserted about 1cm, and add coffee.
  2. Fill AeroPress to within about 1cm of the top with room temperature, filtered water.
  3. Start timer and stir vigorously for 1 minute.
  4. Flip AeroPress and press gently into an 8-ounce tumbler.
  5. Add a drop or two of stevia and stir.
  6. Add 2 or 3 ice cubes to chill.

This is the same recipe I’ve brewed in the past when using whole beans to make cold brew in the AeroPress, except I used a little bit less coffee. I also measured the amount of water I used for the first time, just for my own enlightenment. It ended up being about 230g, or roughly 1:16. I only had a few sips of this glass. It was on par with the other glasses of cold brew I’ve made with freshly ground coffee, which is to say, a step up from using good quality pre-ground coffee, but not leaps-and-bounds better. I think I’d be best served by getting a bag of pre-ground to make cold brew, and saving these beans to make pourovers.

Ophelia Run

lpaulriddle

We have a tropical system meandering through the area this weekend, so things are a bit windy and rainy. It looks like this one is going to pass south of us before heading out to sea. Right now, we are just getting effects from the outer bands of circulation, which means there are a lot of breaks in the rain. I took advantage of one of those breaks to head out for my Saturday run. I went 10.01 miles at an average pace of 10:20/mile, making it my fastest 10-miler so far. The run was mostly rain-free except for a 15-minute shower at around mile 8. Temperatures were in the upper 50s. It was the first time I ran in long sleeves (plus a rain jacket) since probably last spring. As I had expected, my Vibram V-Runs and toe socks got pretty waterlogged. In spite of that, my watch reported my average cadence at 189 SPM. I’m not sure I buy that, but if it’s accurate, I’ll take it. However, my toes were beginning to get cold at the end of the run, and likely would have gotten uncomfortably cold and/or numb had it been any cooler out. I’m likely going to have to reconsider my footwear choices in these cases. I’m hoping my new pair of Xero HFS, plus wool socks, will be warmer than the Vibrams in dry weather, but I doubt they will keep my feet dry if it’s raining. I’m sure my waterproof Altra Lone Peaks would do the job, but they’re a bit on the heavy side.

Vitality Brazil Pourover

lpaulriddle

I’m back home from Minneapolis with a new 12-ounce bag of coffee beans. This was the first time I flew with a bag of beans in my carry-on, and when I unpacked, all of the air had been sucked out of the bag through the little plastic valve, almost like the beans had been vacuum packed. When I opened the bag, air rushed in and everything went back to “normal”. I was worried that this phenomenon might spoil the beans or otherwise negatively affect things, but it did not seem to. It did inspire me to do some reading and learn why the bags have those one-way valves. It’s to let the beans out-gas after roasting, while keeping air out so they stay fresh. I’m learning more every day!

This morning’s cup:

  • Beans: “Brazil Yellow Bourbon” medium roast
    • Roaster: Vitality Roasting (Minneapolis, MN)
    • Roast date: 9/20/2023
  • 18g coffee / 250g water (1:14)
  • JX: 2 rotations (20 on the grind chart / 60 total clicks)
  • Water at 95°C
  • Recipe: A Better 1 Cup V60 Technique (see below)
  1. Preheat V60, pre-moisten filter, add coffee, and tare scale
  2. Make small indentation in center of coffee grounds
  3. 0:00: Pour 55g of water to bloom, then return kettle to base
  4. 0:10 – 0:15: Gently Swirl
  5. 0:45 – 1:00: Pour up to 100g total (40% total weight)
    • Hold kettle for the remainder of the brewing process
  6. 1:10 – 1:20: Pour up to 150g total (60% total weight)
  7. 1:30 – 1:40: Pour up to 200g total (80% total weight)
  8. 1:50 – 2:00: Pour up to 250g total (100% total weight)
  9. 2:00 – 2:05: Gently swirl
  10. Drawdown finished around 2:45

The only brewing note is that (once again) I forgot the initial swirl at step 4. I remembered around the end of step 5, and gave it a half-hearted swirl then. I made sure to level the bed before I started pouring (I’m pretty good with that) and I ended up with a mostly-level bed of spent grounds at the end. I’m not sure how much the swirling actually matters in most cases, but I’ll keep doing it when I remember.

This cup tasted excellent. The beans are very fresh, which I’m sure didn’t hurt. I’d been drinking mediocre conference coffee for the past week, so the bar was admittedly low, but I’d rank this among the better cups I’ve had since I’ve been brewing with the V60.

9/24: Second cup today. Did the swirl at step 4. Overshot the final pour and ended up with 252-253 grams of water. It seemed like the water percolated more slowly than yesterday. The level in the V60 was higher than usual after steps 7 and 8. Drawdown took several seconds longer, finishing at roughly 3:00. Maybe I swirled a little too aggressively? The initial sips tasted slightly thin, but the rest of the cup was very good. If yesterday’s cup was a 10, I’d call this a 9.

9/26: Accidentally ground finer today (setting 18) and also used 17g coffee instead of 18g. Did not like the results. Body was OK, but flavor was bitter.

9/27: Tried a little bit coarser today at grind setting 22, and 18g coffee. The first thing I noticed was that the drawdown was faster, finishing at 2:40-2:45. Definitely a better cup than yesterday’s, with decent body and no bitterness, but room for improvement. I think I’ll keep this grind setting tomorrow and try nudging the water temperature a little closer to boiling. While (with the exception of yesterday) all of the cups I’ve brewed have been good, none of the subsequent cups have been quite as good as the first one, which tells me that bean freshness (and possibly how they are stored) makes a big difference.

9/28: Brewed exactly the same as yesterday, except I nudged the water from 95°C to 97°C. I did not notice any discernible difference from yesterday’s cup. Probably should have gone straight to 99 or boiling. Not sure if I’ll tweak further next time, or just keep brewing it like this.

9/29: Brewed at 99 and grind setting 22 today and the result was bitter and lacked flavor. This is definitely moving in the wrong direction, so I will adjust the temperature back downward next time.

I’m not sure why the first two pourovers I made were really good, but subsequent cups didn’t quite measure up. I wonder if it had something to do with bean freshness. I probably could have gotten it dialed back in, but ended up brewing the rest of the beans in the French press, which worked out pretty well.