Airport Loop Run

lpaulriddle

I finally ran the BWI Trail loop today, accomplishing a goal that I first set for myself last summer. Various sources list the trail’s length at anywhere from 10 to 12.5 miles. I mapped it at 10.7 miles on gmap-pedometer.com, but my actual running distance, according to my Apple Watch, was 10.5 miles. I started and ended at the Lindale Middle School (formerly Andover High School; my alma mater), and ran clockwise, at an average pace of around 10:30/mile. The temperature was in the low-to-mid 40s, with wet pavement after some overnight showers, but no major puddles or washed-out areas. Being that it was a weekend, I saw several other bikers, runners, walkers, etc. (particularly around the Thomas Dixon area, which is the most popular place to park) but not as many as I would have seen on a warmer day. The run felt fairly easy — while the route has some rolling hills, the total elevation gain is only about 400′, compared to 700′ or so for my usual 10-mile route closer to home. I could definitely see myself running here more often, although unlike home, there are no shortcuts, so I have to make sure I can commit to running at least 10 miles.

I’ve decided that my running goal for 2024 is going to be to run a half marathon, or 13.1 miles. Given the distances I’m running now, I think it’s a realistic goal, but I also think it will require me to pay more attention to what I eat and drink before, during, and after my runs.

Orinoco Ethiopia Yirgacheffe

lpaulriddle
  • Beans: “Ethiopia Yirgacheffe”
    • Medium roast
    • Roaster: Orinoco Coffee & Tea, Ltd. (Jessup, MD)
    • Roast date: Unknown (best by 10/28/24)
    • Purchase date: 2/20/24
  • 20g coffee / 300g water (1:15)
  • JX: 30 (90 clicks) for V60; 13 (39 clicks) for AeroPress
  • Water at 95°C
  • Recipe: Single Cup V60 Pourover, Light/Medium Roast AeroPress (TBD)

Taking some time to get this dialed in with the V60. I started at grind setting 20, and it was way too bitter. I brewed a couple of cups around 25/26, and they were less bitter, but still lacking. I backed off to 30 today (2/23) and it was the best cup so far, but seems like it could be better. The V60 drains really quickly at this setting: it is mostly finished by 2:30.

For AeroPress, I used this recipe with 250g water, 17g coffee, and grind setting 13. The flavor was good, but it was a little bit lacking in body, so I’ll start nudging it finer.

2/24: Brewed AeroPress with grind setting 12 this morning, and it was unpleasantly bitter, which kind of surprised me, given how it turned out at 13 yesterday. This afternoon, I brewed V60 at setting 29, which seemed a little better than 30. Will try at 28 tomorrow.

2/25 (morning): (V60) bitterness creeping in at 28. Seems like 29/30 may be the best setting. Could this be an issue with the beans being too “fresh” again? I wish I knew the exact roast date..

2/25 (afternoon): Went back to setting 29 with V60, and it was the best cup I’ve had to date. The only difference from yesterday afternoon’s cup was that I stirred the grounds with a spoon during the bloom phase instead of swirling.

2/27: Even 30 was bitter yesterday!! 32 was better today, but thinking 31 might be the sweet spot (today, at least 😀). This was the first time I had ever used a setting coarser than 30. These beans are behaving similarly to the last two bags of Zeke’s beans that I started brewing just a couple of days after the roast date. This lends credence to my theory that they may have been too “fresh” when I started brewing them.

3/1: I never quite figured out how to get a consistently good cup with these beans with the V60. However, I brewed a very good cup with the AeroPress this morning: 17g beans to 240g water (around 1:14), Prismo + metal and paper filters, 95°C water, JX grind setting 15 — pour 50-55g, stir, bloom until 0:45, top to 240g, stir 4x, steep until 3:00, stir 4x, press slowly. This cup was full-bodied and strong, with good flavor. That was the last of the beans, but noting this as a good starting point for when I eventually buy more of them.

Run notes

lpaulriddle

My runs lately have not been all that noteworthy. I’ve been averaging 3 runs per week, and my runs are typically 6-8 miles, sometimes more, sometimes less. Today, I ran 10 miles for the first time since early December, and it was a really good run. I ran at a fairly relaxed pace, finished strong, and felt like I could have kept going. Can’t ask for much more than that. After a few setbacks last fall that resulted in me scaling back my weekly mileage, I feel like I’m finally back to where I was back around September/October. If all goes well, I may try running the 10.7-mile BWI loop soon.

Zeke’s Love Roast No. 9 V60

lpaulriddle
  • Beans: “Love Roast No. 9”
    • Medium/Light roast (3/8)
    • Roast date: 2/5/2024
    • Tasting notes: Raspberry Wine
  • 20g coffee / 300g water (1:15)
  • JX: 20 (60 clicks)
  • Water at 99°C
  • Recipe: Single Cup V60 Pourover
  • Drawdown finished around 2:40

This was a very good cup right out of the gate. It was maybe a touch on the strong side, but that’s not a bad thing. I don’t think I need to make any adjustments for my next cup.

I’m noticing a trend with pourovers where the cups start off really good when the beans are fresh, but then I have to start tweaking things (typically grinding finer) as the beans get further past the roast date. Sometimes, I end up switching to immersion (AeroPress). It will be interesting to see what happens with these beans. I’m storing them in a vacuum canister, which ostensibly should keep them fresh longer, but that doesn’t seem to have made a difference with other beans. Maybe I’d be better off freezing beans that I can’t use within a week. It might be fun to try buying a pound of beans, freezing half and storing the other half in a vacuum canister, and see if there’s any difference with how the cups taste after a couple of weeks.

2/12: Things here are going similarly to how they went with Zeke’s Holiday Roast. Both are light to medium roasts, and with both, I brewed my first cups just a couple of days after the roast date. Initially, the cups were very good at grind setting 20. Then, they started tasting bitter, and I had to adjust by grinding coarser. Today, I backed off to grind setting 25 (an extra half turn), and that did the trick — it was a good cup, similar to my first. I’m not sure what chemical process (out-gassing?) causes this phenomenon, but it doesn’t really matter, as long as I can adjust my process to account for it. In particular, at least in the case of light-to-medium roasted beans from Zeke’s, maybe I need to let them “age” until about a week past roast date, then start them off at grind setting 25 or so. In any case, it will be interesting to see if I need to make further adjustments as the beans get older. I have them in a vacuum canister, but they’re the only whole beans I have right now, so I’ll probably go through them kind of quickly.

2/15: Still making things coarser. I have worked my way to 27 as of this morning, 10 days past roast date, and it wasn’t bad.

2/16: The relentless bitterness is still working its way into my cups. Even 28 was bitter this morning, so this afternoon, I backed all the way off to 30 (3 full rotations), and that seemed to chase the bitterness, at least for now. 30 is the grind setting I typically use with the French press, but it was my first time grinding this coarse using the pourover method. It’s at the very end of the pourover range on the 1Zpresso grind chart. I’m curious if I’ll ever get to the point where I can go several days without adjusting the grind, but whatever the case, this has been educational.

2/19: I have used grind settings between 29 and 30 for my last several cups, and they have all been pretty consistently good. The beans are two weeks past roast date as of today. They’re the only ones I have right now, so they won’t last much longer. However, I’ve learned that for more consistent results, I should probably let lighter roasts “age” until about 10 days past roast date before I start brewing them.

Rise Up Organic House Roast AeroPress

lpaulriddle
  • Bean info and V60 pourover notes
  • 16 to 17g coffee to 250g water (around 1:15)
  • Prismo with metal and paper filters
  • Grind setting 12 14
  • Water temperature 95C
  • Add coffee, start timer, pour 45 to 50g water
  • Return kettle to base, stir to wet grounds evenly, and bloom until 0:45 (I just left the stirrer in the AP for this step)
  • Top to 250g water and stir front to back 4 or 5 times, finishing around 1:15
  • Cover and steep until 3:15
  • Stir front to back 4 or 5 times again
  • Press gently, finishing around 4:30

This is pretty much the same technique I used with Zeke’s Hippie Blend (a light roast) recently, except I stirred instead of swirling during the bloom step, and I also steeped it about 45 seconds longer. This cup was not bad, but tasted slightly over-extracted, so I’m probably going to want to grind the beans a little bit coarser next time. I’m thinking about trying setting 14.

2/8: I’m almost out of the beans, but noting for posterity that setting 14 was pretty good. I didn’t steep quite as long (maybe until 3:05) but doubt that made any difference.

Ride Notes

lpaulriddle

Bad weather and scheduling conflicts conspired to keep me off the bike in January, with the exception of several commutes to work and one mountain bike ride. That changed today, as I took a ride out to West Friendship and back by way of Ellicott City, logging just over 40 miles. The temperature was right around freezing when I left the house at 7:45, and in the mid 40s by the time I got home, with beautiful sunny skies and light winds. The end of the ride brought me through Old Ellicott City and Patapsco Valley State Park (via the Grist Mill Trail), both of which were hopping this morning. I had intended to ride my Surly, but the rear tire was flat, so I rode my Masi single speed instead. That made for a more challenging ride, particularly once I got to the rolling hills of Turf Valley and points west. It was a great workout for the quads, though. I found 3 geocaches along the way, which gave me an opportunity to get off the bike. My back/left hip has been acting up lately, and was definitely letting me know when it was time to stand up and stretch.

Rise Up Organic House Roast V60

lpaulriddle
  • Beans: “Organic House Roast” (Medium roast)
    • Roaster: Rise Up Coffee Roasters (Easton, MD)
    • Origin: Colombia, Guatemala, Honduras, Sumatra
    • Roast date: 1/4/24
    • Purchase date: 1/24/24
    • AeroPress notes
  • 20g coffee / 300g water (1:15)
  • JX: 18 (54 clicks)
  • Water at 95°C
  • Recipe: Single Cup V60 Pourover with size 2 plastic dripper

I started at grind setting 20, then tried 19 (still a little acidic) and then went to 18, which was an excellent cup. I’ll keep it there for my next cup.

2/1: The last couple of cups at 18 have been really good. Quick technique notes: I am brewing into a ceramic mug, which I am not preheating. To preheat the plastic V60, I put the filter in it and then run some water from the insta-hot tap over it, then swish it around to wet the entire filter evenly. During the initial pour for the bloom, I also run a little bit of water down the sides of the filter to wash off any coffee grounds stuck there. For subsequent pours, I pour in slow spirals, into the bed only, avoiding the sides.

2/6: Not sure what’s up, but I have been having a run of weak, acidic pourovers over the past few days, with both these and some other beans. While grind setting 18 initially gave me several pretty good cups, the past couple have tasted under-extracted. Today, I went to setting 16, and it was better, but still not quite up to snuff with the cups I initially got at 18. Nothing has changed with my brewing equipment or technique, and I don’t think there’s been much variance in the brewing temperature. Could it be related to bean age and/or storage method (bag vs vacuum canister)?

2/9: Used these up today. I had 26 grams left, so I brewed a larger cup with 400g water using the two cup method I have used in the past, pouring to 250g after 50g bloom, and then topping up with the remaining 150g. I went back to grind setting 18. While this cup was not quite as good as my first few cups, it was better than my more recent smaller cups, and on par with the cup I brewed in the AeroPress yesterday. The common thread here is more immersion time — the V60 takes longer to draw down with more water and more coffee. Maybe the beans just need more time to extract as they get further past roast date.

Top 10 Geocache Finds (2023 Edition)

lpaulriddle

I keep a list of candidates for my top 10 favorite geocache finds for each year. Usually, I have to pare each list down, and I end up with a few “honorable mentions” that didn’t quite make the cut. In 2023, however, I ended up with exactly 10 caches on the list, which means I either didn’t find as many great caches in 2023, or perhaps I’m just getting more selective about what I consider to be a really good cache. In any case, here’s the list, along with a short blurb about each cache.

  • Alphabet Z (ZZZs) – Redux (GCAGVB9)
    This was the final cache in a great series that was released over three years. There’s a “grand finale” cache coming in early March 2024, but I thought this cache warranted a Top 10 nod in honor of the entire series.
  • Alvin’s Phone Line (GC9FF)
    One of a couple of “oldest” caches on this year’s list. This is Minnesota’s oldest cache, and it’s a fun hide that is 2 to 3 hours north of Minneapolis. It’s on the list mainly because it was a great excuse to take a road trip “off the beaten path” while in MN on business.
  • CAM 2008 – Eden Mill (GC19X41)
    I have a soft spot for “Cache Across Maryland” (CAM) caches from prior years. This one is in a really nice area, but it’s really on my list because of how well-preserved it is (as of when I found it). It still had the original container, original log book, and original CAM code.
  • GoT: Drogon, Rhaegal & Viserion (GC8RCBM)
    A representative cache from a very ambitious “Game of Thrones” themed series in southern Maryland. This was a 3-stage cache in Maxwell Hall Park that had several interesting physical challenges. I still need to get back down there to finish the series.
  • IMPOSSIBLE? – NAH! II LONELY IN THE GORGE (GC1G86E)
    Another pillar climb in the Lebanon Valley area of Pennsylvania. These never get old!
  • Kerckhoffs (part 3) (GC9PC6T)
    This was one of the most difficult (and ultimately rewarding) geocaching puzzles I’ve solved. The hide itself was rather run-of-the-mill, but the puzzle alone earns it a spot here.
  • Millsboro Pond 10 (Let Your Light Shine) (GC4JCW8)
    This is one of a group of paddle caches on Millsboro Pond in Millsboro, DE. It’s a beautiful place to paddle, with tons of wildlife, and this happened to be my favorite location of the lot.
  • Quordle (GC9TPQ0)
    This was the best of both worlds — a fun Wordle-themed puzzle, followed by a great hike in PVSP to find the cache. We even scored some half-priced burgers at the Woodstock Inn.
  • Tour of Stone Mountain (GC1E)
    This is the world’s oldest active multi-cache, although I don’t believe it was originally listed as a multi, so I’m not sure it counts. Regardless, it was a really fun multi that took me all over Stone Mountain Park (outside Atlanta, GA) with a nice hide at the end. It doesn’t really get much better than that.
  • Trussville Civitan – Alabama’s First Cache (GC126)
    This is in Trussville Civitan Park, which is not too far from Birmingham. It was the first of 3 state’s oldest caches I found in 2023, and the first I found post-COVID. It felt great to be traveling and finding these historic caches again, and this was a truly great park to explore. I hiked several miles there and found a whole bunch of caches.

Snow Ride

lpaulriddle

Nowadays, I don’t bike as much in the winter as I used to (opting instead for hiking/treadmill) but I still try to get out a couple of times per week. However, the snow we’ve gotten recently has further reduced my riding. Last Wednesday, I commuted to work on my old Specialized Rockhopper. I had not ridden this bike in almost a year, but I did get it tuned up at the shop recently. The morning temperature was in the teens, and the afternoon temperature was in the 20s. I rode with studded front and back tires for the first time in at least two years. It brought me back to my early bike commuting heyday, when I was obsessed with riding year-round in every imaginable weather condition.

Today, I took a mid-morning mountain bike ride. It was my first time (that I can recall) riding in the snow. It was a little too cold at dawn, so I waited until 10:00, when it was a little warmer, but still well below freezing. With a thaw on the way (it’s 37 as I write this) and sloppy, rainy weather coming later in the week, it’s looking like the window for snow rides isn’t going to last beyond tomorrow morning. Today, the trails were great, with most of them having been nicely “groomed” by earlier riders. Other than a few icy sections (mostly in sunny areas), the trails were in great shape, and fun to ride. I learned that snow riding (even on groomed trails) requires more physical effort, and different skills, than “regular” riding. I rode my hard-tail bike, which has new tires, and they gave me pretty good traction. I found that it was rather easy to overshoot turns and end up in the deeper snow on the edges of the trails, which generally causes the bike to lose traction. I was able to recover from this a few times, and others, I had to put my foot down and scoot the bike back onto the trail. I felt kind of like a beginning rider again. I suspect that if I lived in a snowier area, I’d get pretty good at this, but I don’t see it happening in Maryland. I only rode 7.5 miles, but it took me 90 minutes. I’m really glad I got out, as rain kept me off the mountain bike for most of December and early January, and it looks like the rain will be coming back later this week. I’m not sure when I’ll get another opportunity to ride in the snow, but I had fun today.

Orinoco Sunshine Serenade V60

lpaulriddle
  • Beans: “Sunshine Serenade”
    • Medium roast
    • Roaster: Orinoco Coffee & Tea, Ltd. (Jessup, MD)
    • Roast date: Unknown (best by 9/5/24)
    • Purchase date: 1/16/24
  • 20g coffee / 300g water (1:15)
  • JX: 19 (57 clicks)
  • Water at 95°C
  • Recipe: Single Cup V60 Pourover

This is a local roaster that I hadn’t tried before, as the coffee isn’t sold at the grocery store down the street, although it looks like I might be able to find it at Giant or Safeway. I picked this bag up at Martha’s Cafe in Arbutus. Oddly, the bag doesn’t list a roast date, but only a “best by” date. I brewed my first cup on Wednesday 1/17 at grind setting 21 or 22, and have since adjusted to 19. This morning’s cup was still a tiny bit on the acidic side at 19, so I’ll try 18 next time.

1/23: Continuing an experiment I started this morning, I brewed a cup exactly the same as yesterday (300g water at 95C/20g coffee/grind setting 19), except I used my plastic size 2 V60 in place of my ceramic size 1 V60. This cup was much better than yesterday’s! It tasted well-extracted and nicely balanced. It seemed like the drawdown took a little bit longer than it did with the smaller dripper, but I’m not 100% sure. It seems more likely that the water lost less heat through the plastic V60 than it does through ceramic. This gives more credence to my theory that the method I’ve been using to preheat my ceramic V60 isn’t as effective as I would like. I also still suspect that the room air temperature plays a role, as I’ve noticed a drop-off in brew quality with the ceramic V60 as we’ve gotten into the colder days of winter. I might try compensating by bumping the starting water temperature a few degrees higher the next time I use the ceramic V60; or, I could just stick with the plastic V60 going forward. For starters, I’m going to try it with a light roast tomorrow.

1/25: Kept everything the same as 1/23 (with plastic V60) and got another really good cup. Just for the record, I left the timer on during the drawdown, and it finished around 2:55. I’m now even more convinced that my recent V60 issues have been caused by heat loss through the ceramic due to my preheat water not being hot enough (see note here from 1/24). For comparison, I may try brewing my next cup with the ceramic V60, preheating with water from the kettle instead of the insta-hot.

1/28: Tried today with the ceramic size 1 V60. I preheated the V60 with 95°C water from the kettle, which got it quite hot. Everything else was the same as 1/23 and 1/25. The first thing I noticed is that, as I had noticed earlier on, the drawdown was a lot faster — it was completely finished by 2:30 or 2:35, which is a full 20 seconds faster than with plastic. While the cup tasted OK, it lacked the sweetness and complexity of the cups I brewed with plastic. The obvious conclusion here is that the faster drawdown time is affecting the extraction, so maybe that’s a bigger factor than heat loss through the ceramic. I’m not sure what’s causing the difference, as geometrically, the size 1 and size 2 V60s are very similar. The ridges on the plastic V60 are more defined than on the ceramic, so maybe that has something do do with it. It could also be the filters, but I’m using brown tabbed filters with both, which (other than the size) are outwardly identical. I suppose I could try using a size 2 filter in the size 1 V60, and see if there’s any difference in drawdown speed. This also makes me want to buy a plastic size 1, just so I can eliminate the dripper size as a variable. In any case, I’ll likely be brewing the rest of these beans with the plastic dripper.

2/1: I’ve ended up going a good bit finer with these, brewing today’s cup at grind setting 17.3 (52 total clicks). This seemed to bring back some flavors that had been missing from the previous 2 or 3 cups. The only other difference was the method I used to preheat the plastic V60 — instead of preheating the mug first and then pouring the water from the mug into the V60 (with filter), I just ran some water directly from the insta-hot tap over the V60 and filter. I doubt this would make a big difference in taste, but just noting it for the sake of completeness.

2/2: Tried grinding at 17 this morning, and it seems like that was too fine, as the cup had a touch of bitterness.

2/4: Tried a little coarser (19) and increased water temperature to 97. Under-extracted and watery. I’ve gotten good cups at 19 previously, so I’m not sure what happened with this one.