First Signs of Spring

It rained all last week.  Steady drizzle and occasional downpours left the town soggy and puddles everywhere.  When the rain finally let up a bit on Saturday afternoon, I decided to get outdoors for a bike ride.  I strapped my rear fender to the seat post and pulled on my rain coat, headband, and gloves and pedaled out of town along the bike trail which follows the highway toward Thompson Pass.

Last winter, we got over 400” of snow here, so, as you might imagine, it’s taking a while for all of that to melt.  The Department of Transportation has been steadily plowing out the bike trail, then returning to sweep it clear of debris – matted leaves, branches from trees that fell down back in November during a wind storm, gravel picked up and blown off the highway by the gigantic snow blowers.

The rotted snow pack on both sides of the trail is still knee deep, but has melted back from the asphalt about two feet, exposing a strip of earth where grass and fireweed shoots and pudgy cow parsnip are now growing.  Birch and alders poke through the snow and sport plump buds exploding with nascent leaves.

Several miles into my ride, I noticed my shadow and looked up, squinting at a bright spot in the sky where the sun was trying to burn off the clouds.  Though it was never quite successful in breaking through the screen, the pavement was dry in places and I felt comfortably warm.  Robins scattered off the trail as I passed.  They’d peck at the ground for seeds and bugs, then fly into the scrubby brush to commiserate with one another.

I rode ten miles and circled back toward home.  As I approached the Duck Flats, almost at the end of my ride, I saw a line of cars idling on the highway shoulder.  Drivers and passengers leaned out windows and some people had gotten out and were standing next to their vehicles.  Other folks trotted down the bike trail a few yards to get a better view of spring’s first black bear grazing on the mountainside above.  I followed the crowd’s lead and pulled to a stop, unclipped my shoes from my pedals, and got out my camera.  Like everyone else there, I knew my pictures would turn out to be unremarkable – just an indistinct black dot against a field of brown earth and dirty snow.  The bear was too far away on this dreary day to get a good shot, but, he was also far enough away to be safely ogled.  The bear ambled along slowly, digging up roots to fill his belly after his long hibernation.  I looked around at the other wildlife watchers and I realized that, to a person, we were all locals.  Not a tourist amongst us.  We were all pleased as punch to be standing alongside the road we drive, bike, and walk every day – rain, snow, or shine -- giddy with the excitement of this perennial sign of spring.

I told you it would be unremarkable. 
He's right in the middle under the electrical wires.



Alaska Bike for Women - Race Review

Last weekend, I raced in the Alaska Bike for Women. 

I mean that I really raced.

I started cycling two years ago and the events I’ve participated in since have been more about distance than speed.  For example, I’ve ridden in the Fireweed 200-mile relay and the associated half-century (fifty miles) and last summer, with two of my sisters, I took on the Chelan Century Challenge.  In a fifty or one-hundred miler, you have to pace yourself so that you can make the finish line.  In an event like the Alaska Bike for Women, though, you just hammer it, my sister Saree instructed me.

The Bike for Women is an annual race that follows a 9-mile out-and-back course which starts and ends in the Chugiak High School parking lot.  It’s a hilly route and takes you around twelve 45⁰ to 90⁰ corners.  Oh, wait, did I say twelve?  I meant twenty-four since you hit those corners coming and going.  The ever-organized Saree took me on a familiarization ride across the course the day before the event, thus, we were able to spot hazards (broken pavement, pot holes, gravel on the road), strategize our approaches to the hill climbs, and scope out the porta potty locations.

We agreed on our plan for race day:  Pedal around the corners.  Ride hard.  Over do it.  Rest at Mom’s house afterwards.  My nephew gave Saree a final piece of advice:  It’s okay to vomit at the finish line – it means you pushed yourself to the limit.



Some riders warm up on their trainers prior to the time trial



The race’s starting process was something new for me.  The 500-some racers were given specific start times and, instead of a mass or wave start, we queued up in order and launched off the line 20-seconds apart.  Saree was slated to go right before me and I cheered her on as the gun popped, then watched her disappear up the first hill and around the corner well before the race official started my count down. 

I pushed off, clipped in, and was off.  “I’ll catch her,” I thought, glancing ahead to locate Saree’s bright orange jacket.  But, soon, I was solely focused on keeping my cadence high.  The corners came up fast – faster than I remembered from our trial run the day before –and, because I knew I had to hammer it, I squinted, grimaced, tucked, and kept pedaling as I took the first corner wide, leaning away from the yellow line.  Surviving the first corner at high speed gave me confidence, so I pushed on.

Corner after corner, the racers sped forward toward the turn around point.  A hundred women aboard bikes, darting, passing, sprinting, sucking air.  Volunteers sprang up at the tightest angles waving orange flags to keep us on the road.  Cars passed, always cautiously, as we spread out across the lanes along the entire distance.  Finally, I could see the railroad tracks and the cop standing in the middle of the road to mark our pivot point.  I sprinted toward the cone, pulled my brakes, and made the tight turn, then rose off the saddle to regain my speed.  A woman came up from behind and passed me.  That just made me mad.  I surged forward, trying to catch her.  I caught a glimpse of Saree, then she disappeared around a corner again.  The woman just ahead of me started up the first hill back to Chugiak and I could see she was losing speed, so I shifted down and kept my feet spinning.  I gained on her and within seconds was on her tail, then I stood up on my pedals and left her in my dust, or so I thought.

One tired leg

As I raced toward another corner I glanced over my shoulder to make sure the road was clear and there that woman was again, and this time she was on my tail.  I sank down over my bike and cranked out some additional speed to keep my lead, then we hit the second hill and she overtook me.  I stayed on her (though, dear race organizers, I was not drafting and I was trying to heed the 30’ rule) nearly to the finish line.  As I crested the hill, I saw Saree enter the finish chute ahead of another cyclist, then, exactly 20 seconds later, I crossed the finish line, too.

I caught up with Saree back in the high school parking lot where we inhaled water, regained our lungs, and finally congratulated ourselves for having properly hammered that course.

Alaska Bike for Women Website (Arctic Bicycle Club)

3-C Curry and Shrimp Pasta Wake up the Palate

Last weekend, bored with the same batch of standby dinners that have been in our rotation all winter, I pulled out the binder in which I stuff recipes from magazines and rifled through the disorganized dog-eared pages to see if I could find something different, something with jazzy flavor, maybe with some off-the-beaten-path ingredients (though not too far off, since I have to be able to purchase them here in our town's boutique-sized Safeway).  Some of the recipes turned out passably good, but my husband, Matt, and I agreed that the following two were stand-outs.

3-C (Cauliflower Chickpea Carrot) Curry
This recipe is a slighly modified version of "Fall Vegetable Curry" published in Cooking Light, October 2010.

1.5 t olive oil
1 medium sweet potato, diced
1 medium potato, diced
1 medium onion, diced
3 carrots, sliced
1/2 stalk rhubarb, sliced (this was an impulse because I had leftovers from making rhubarb cake)
3 t of your favorite curry powder
3/4 c vegetable broth
2 c cauliflower florets (broken into small pieces)
1/4 t salt
1 can (15 oz) chick peas
1 can (15 oz) diced tomatoes (undrained)
2 T chopped cilantro
Plain yogurt (to taste)

Heat oil, then saute sweet potato for about 3 minutes.  Add potato, onion, carrots, rhubarb, cauliflower and curry powder and saute for another 3 minutes.  Add broth, tomatoes, chick peas, and salt.  Cover and simmer until all veggies are soft.  The broth should also thicken.  This will take about 10-15 minutes.  When done, remove from heat and serve over warm brown rice.  Sprinkle cilantro on top and mix in yogurt for creaminess to suit your taste.  Leftovers last well for a couple of days (add yogurt after you reheat leftovers).

Pasta with Green Beans, Shrimp, Pistachios, and Lemon-Thyme Vinaigrette
This was originally published in Cooking Light, May 2011.  I modified by adding the shrimp.  This is a little expensive, but is very flavorful.  Flavor diminishes within a day or so if you keep leftovers.

8 oz. whole wheat pasta of your choosing (tube, curly, etc.)
1 lb frozen shrimp
1 c green beans (fresh or frozen)
1//2 c chopped shelled pistachios
2 T fresh thyme
2 T grated lemon rind
1 T minced shallot
2 T white wine vinegar
3 garlic cloves
5 T olive oil
1/2 t salt
1/2 t pepper

Cook shrimp.  Cook pasta.  Drop beans into pasta water for last 2 minutes.  Drain when done.
Mix together:  pistachios, 1 T thyme, 1 T lemon, and hot pasta.  Mix:  shallot, remaining lemon and thyme, oil, sal, pepper.  Toss shrimp and dressing into pasta.

Grapefruit



Grapefruit sections for dessert

I am obsessed with sectioned grapefruit.  Since last Christmas, when I hurriedly tossed together a citrus salad for a holiday dinner party and discovered the joy of peeled and segmented grapefruit, I’ve been eating them for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and dessert.  I’m not sure why it’s taken me so long to figure out that excavating the poor grapefruit out of its skin with a spoon and macerating it in the process, should be classified as food abuse, but I’m trying to make up for lost time.

It's almost always
available

Not only is sectioned grapefruit melt-in-your mouth sweet-tart, but, even in my small town grocery store, it is predictably available, low cost per pound, and almost always juicy, red, and ripe.

Use this device

For the most decadent preparation of a grapefruit, purchase a special grapefruit knife.  This inexpensive implement allows you to cleanly separate the fruit from the rind, leaving the tough white pith behind where, in my opinion, it belongs.  Once clear of its peel, the meaty segments can be released from the filaments between them with the tip of a sharp knife.

Don’t make the mistake of polluting this natural treat with sugar.  It is at its absolute best unadorned.

Monuments

It’s early morning – just light -- and I’m running toward the United States Capitol.  Atop the famous dome, the bronze Statue of Freedom is standing, dressed in her flowing robes, the fiery orange sky her backdrop.  The temperature is a perfect 65 and a flock of urban birds, maybe pigeons, cough and croak from the bare naked limbs that lean over the sidewalk.  This is my last day in D.C. and I’ve caught a bug that I can’t seem to shake – sentimental, sappy, idealistic patriotism.

I got here a couple of days ago, in a haze of jet lag, and have been breathing the charged Washington air ever since.  Yesterday, we walked by the Capitol on our way to the Senate offices and were stopped by armed policemen guarding the crosswalk.  They weren’t letting anyone walk along the north side of the building.  At that moment, we didn’t want to ask questions, but later we heard that an incoming motorcade had caused the ruckus.  Maybe it was Obama or the Russian Prime Minister or an Emir from a Middle Eastern nation.  In D.C., unlike where I live, that’s actually possible.  Heck, it’s even likely, considering the President lives about a half mile down the street.

Girls Gone Local

During the first weekend of spring, the smell of lavender seeped into the air around me and heat soaked into my skin.  Yet, I was not in Minnesota or South Dakota where unseasonably warm temperatures were making the news and setting the stage for a Midwestern drought.  Instead, I was in Anchorage, Alaska happily undergoing my first spa treatment, the Sea Holistic, and heading toward the re-balancing and relaxation Allure Day Spa’s brochure promised.  Somewhere down the hall, my mother and my sister, Saree, were also being tended by massage therapists and estheticians.  I had joined my mom and sister for a weekend in the city and Saree, who hadn’t been out of Alaska since last fall, was fondly calling this our “staycation”.  It was only Friday, but we were off to an excellent start at Allure.  For fifty luxurious minutes the three of us lay on heated beds, suspended from Anchorage’s muddy breakup outdoors, getting stretched, massaged, exfoliated, and wrapped with cocoa butter, sea salt and oil, minerals, and mango and shea butters.  By the time we were released back out onto the streets of Anchorage, we all believed Allure’s claim that it was about the “experience” and not merely about making an “appointment”.

The idea for our weekend originated last October when Saree and I were trying to settle on an appropriate and effective motivation for staying fit through the dark and cold days of Alaska’s winter.  We eventually decided to book a room at the Hotel Captain Cook for a weekend, schedule spa treatments, and take in a concert.  The rest, we determined, would fall into place.  Mom agreed to join us and we had our girls' weekend set.

Captain Cook lobby

The Hotel Captain Cook, our base of operation, is a top tier hotel towering over downtown Anchorage.  The floors, even in the hallways, are covered in hardwood and the walls are adorned with woven blankets, dramatic paintings, and other Alaskan artwork.  Whereas the Hilton and Sheraton also offer fine lodging, the Captain Cook trots out character with its luxe surroundings.  In the summer, rooms are filled months in advance and rates are high.  During the winter, however, the Captain Cook offers great weekend deals with extras attached.  Saree booked us the 14^th floor executive suite which consisted of two bedrooms and a shared corner living room with bar.  The views from the cushy sofa swept over Cook Inlet, the Sleeping Lady, the Chugach Mountains, and the Port of Anchorage.  In addition, our package included breakfast and evening hors d’oeuvres in the exclusive Captain’s Deck lounge on the 17^th floor (you need a special golden key for the elevator to get there), free parking (which can run $30/day otherwise), and access to the hotel’s health club. 

Hawaii Part II (Activities)

The following links will take you to ideas for activities that will burn calories while you enjoy our 50^th state.  Most of these are located in or near Honolulu (on O’ahu).  As with any trip, there’s far more to do than one has time for, so I haven’t tested all these options.  I tend to travel inexpensively and independently, avoiding tours and paid excursions, so most of the ideas below can be considered “budget” options.

Walks

Diamond Head. 
Plan on having alot
of company!

Diamond Head State Monument (did it)

Charge:  $5 per car parking fee or $1 per person if you walk in from outside the gate.

Description:  A gazillion people a day can’t possibly be wrong!  On this walk, you’ll climb from inside an extinct volcanic crater to its rim for a terrific view of the Pacific Ocean, Honolulu, and O’ahu’s south shore.  The trail gains 700’ and includes stairs, so you will get your heart rate up.  The trailhead is about a 10 minute drive from Waikiki.

Ka’ena Point State Park (did it)

Charge:  No entry fee

Description: Park at a beach access lot at the end of the paved Farrington Highway, then wander down the rutted 4x4 road and along the rocky shoreline to O’ahu’s farthest west point.  This 2.7-mile (one way) track is mostly flat, very easy to follow, and you’ll see far fewer people than at Diamond Head.  Big surf pounds the black pahoehoe lava tidepools and leaves treasures like seashells, coral, and sea glass in protected pockets.

Hiking with a Purpose

Sierra Club Hikes (maybe next year)

The Sierra Club’s Hawaii Chapter, O’ahu Group looks very active!  Group hikes are scheduled for every weekend and posted on the website about a month in advance.  Look for opportunities to join the club’s service hikes (beach clean ups, trail clearing and maintenance), summit hikes, excursions to botanical gardens, and even a yoga & hike event. 

Hawaii Audubon Society Hikes (maybe next year)

The Audubon Society doesn’t appear to host nearly as many hikes as the Sierra Club or the HTMC (below), but the treks they do schedule take you to interesting, off the beaten path locations.

Hawaii Trail & Mountain Club Hikes (maybe next year)

The appealing thing about the HTMC is that they take groups into hard to access spots.  Although O’ahu holds two dramatic mountain ranges, much of the upland wild lands are off limits without a permit, and the HTMC secures the permits for groups.  Some of their excursions require reservations and some are are multi-day trips.

Yoga

YMCA (maybe next time)

Options:  Yoga and other exercise classes, exercise equipment, weight room

Try these locations nearest to Waikiki and Honolulu:  Kalihi Street Location (in downtown Honolulu near Bishop Museum) and Nu’u’anu Location (where Pali Highway joins H1)

Silent Dance Center (did it)

Options:  Yoga classes offered 2-5 times daily, levels from beginning to advanced.

Silent Dance Studio is a non-profit organization.  Their large studio is comfortable and airy and some teachers make use of the bar.  Classes are $10 for a one-hour class (more for longer sessions) and props and mats are provided.

Chocolate Pineapple Yoga Studio (maybe next year)

Options:  Sunrise and sunset yoga in Kapiolani Park (Waikiki) and Beach yoga at 6:30 a.m.

The setting should make the expensive $20 per session fee worth it.  If you’re there for a while, try the $45/3 class pass.  Located at the Waikiki Trade Center in central Waikiki.

Races



Valentine's Day Biathlon Starting Line.  Photo by Matt Kinney



Waikiki Swim Club’s Valentine’s Day Biathlon (did it)

When:  Early February

What:  5K beach park run (paved trail)/1000 meter ocean swim.  Individual and team divisions.  The hand-off for Sweethearts and Married teams is a kiss at the transition point.

Where:  Ala Moana Beach Park

Kaiser Permanente’s Great Aloha Run (maybe next year)

When:  President’s Day

What:  8.15 mile run.  Huge community event with a 3-day fitness expo preceeding the race.  Adult & kids divisions.  Wheelchair & handcycle events.

Where:  Starts in Honolulu and ends at the Aloha Stadium’s back goal line of the north end zone on the stadium floor.

Haliewa Triathlon, North Shore O’ahu (maybe next year)

When:  Early March

What:  3 mile run (1.4m on sand), 500 meter ocean swim, 12 mile bike ride (alternate beach cruiser division!)

Where: Haliewa Beach Park

Water Play

Kuhio Beach (did it)

This is a beautiful white sand beach with plenty of room to spread out even with the loads of people that flock to it.  The water is typically good for beginning boogie boarding, bobbing, and snorkeling.

Ala Moana Beach Park (did it)

Ala Moana offers protected water perfect for lap swimming and playing in the water.  This beach is frequented by locals and tourists and is especially busy on the weekends.  As a bonus, there’s a paved running trail in the park.

Lanikai beach (did it)

Known as one of the most beautiful beaches on O’ahu, Lanikai is located on the eastern side of O’ahu, about a half hour drive from Honolulu.  It is a lovely swimming and snorkeling destination.

Snorkel Bob’s (did it)

Get your snorkeling gear and boogie boards here for reasonable rental rates.  I’d recommend renting this gear for the entire time you’ll be in Hawaii.  Keep it in your car so you don’t miss out.  Snorkel Bob’s offers prescription lens snorkel masks for many levels of near-sightedness.

Running

Trail:  Ala Wai canal running trail (did it)

Run toward the zoo and continue up toward Diamond Head along pleasant sidewalks to get more distance.

Trail:  Waikiki beach front (maybe next year)

Run along the main drag of Waikiki amidst high rise hotels, condos, chic shops, and tourist traps, to the farthest east oceanfront parks.  Run in the early morning to avoid crowds and be able to keep your pace up.  Otherwise, you’ll be dodging strolling tourists.

Trail:  Ala Moana Beach Park (did it)

Run the approximately 5K distance on a paved trail that circles the grassy park and nearby Magic Island.  Follow your run with a dip in the calm ocean.