Last night was the annual Banff Mountain Film festival put on by the Nevada Land Trust. This year it was hosted at the Peppermill. As always it was a great event with a lot of inspiring movies. I'm sure there are about 1200 folks sitting at work this morning contemplating quitting their jobs and hiking, biking, or climbing until the $$$ run out....lord knows I am!
That being said...back in the day, the event was hosted at the Nugget. We had 5 screens all this size, bigger vendor participation, and a huge raffle with seriously good prizes. While the event is still a good show....the fun factor has diminished a bit. Hopefully, this is just due to the shifting venue over the last few years and it will build back up to what it was.
If you've never been here's are a few video links with some of the movies we saw last night (warning...one is a tear jerker):
There's an article this morning on BikePortland.org about this 20 is Plenty trick. Not a new movement....but perhaps the next step for some streets in Midtown (ehem...Virginia St.). It makes a lot of sense if the City of Reno really is interested in creating a good walking / shopping district in Midtown.
Ok, I don't get sick a lot. And I credit that to riding and attempting to be healthy in general (not that I always am). However, I came down with something on Tuesday that really took the wind out of my sails...
Needless to say riding home with the beginning of a chest cold is not fun. All I can say is that you just ride slower and you get there. But if ever there is a reason for not being totally car free....the sick day is it!
With all that said....after a couple of down days. I'm looking at this great spring weather and thinking about a nice bike ride this weekend!
When a piece of equipment you love starts to fail, there's a moment of panic to find a replacement that does as well as the original. So when my trusty cool/cold weather gloves started wearing through on the thumb and index finger I figured I was going to have a hard time finding a replacement I really liked. Turns out I was worried for nothing! Pearl Izumi makes almost the same glove three years later and has even improved it with reinforcing on the two areas that wore out on mine!
So the Reno biggest little half marathon / 10k /5 k took place on Saturday. While I probably should have been doing the event with friends....I opted to meet up with them after the even for a bit of biking around town and a few beers.
The brunch stop at the depot.
Headed down Dickerson for a beer at the Reno Homebrewer.
In addition to excellent beers the Homebrewer now offers beer themed children's books....who knew such a thing existed!
All in all, it was more beer and a little less riding than I had hoped for....but you know...some of those folks did just run a half marathon! And hey, any day with a bike ride and some friends is a darn good day!
Ok, I know that I've had more Eugene content than anyone in Reno can possibly care about lately. However, its a great lead up for an article some pictures on spring cleaning. Mostly because it rains in Eugene 24-7 and my bike was a dilapidated muddy mess. So last night I got down to cleaning and while I was at it decided it was time to rewrap the bar tape and clean up the leather goods with some good old Proofide!
Here's the results:
Cleaned up and ready to go!
New bar tape and custom Russian River cork bar ends!
Nothing like some freshly oiled leather.
Blurry...but a good overview of the results.
If you wonder what Proofide is....it's just fancy brooks leather conditioner.
Ok...not shockingly I've been continuing to spend time in Eugene due to the whole girlfriend thing. It's really fun to have a new city to actively explore. As part of my exploration I've been back reading a bike blog by Kent Petersen....who's probably a bit like me in terms of just capturing various things while riding. The bike he rides is a pretty distinctive Bike Friday (made in Eugene).
Anyway, one of the neat pieces of bicycle infrastructure in Eugene (and there are many) is the Fern Ridge Path which runs as separated bike/ped infrastructure east-west through the city. While driving to Home Depot for some parts I cross the path and low and behold if I didn't see this bike cruise right in front of me!
So while I've yet to meet the guy...I have had my first sighting of some bike blog royalty of Eugene and for some reason it made my day. Hopefully, you're as easily entertained in your life!
⅓ - ½ cup smooth peanut butter, start with ⅓ cup and
add the rest a spoonful at a time if the dough is too dry
3 T honey (can swap for maple or agave syrup)
Pinch of salt
2 T raw cacao nibs or mini chocolate chips/chopped dark
chocolate
Instructions
Combine all ingredients into a bowl until you are able
to pinch the dough together. If it’s too sticky, add a bit more flour,
about a tablespoon at a time. If too dry, add more peanut butter as instructed
above.
Once the dough sticks together when pinched, allow it
to rest for at least 10 minutes. This allows the dough to firm a bit.
After the waiting period, roll the dough into
1-inch-sized balls and consume!
Notes
**I think oat flour could work, as it is significantly
less expensive than almond flour, but I’ve found that it is not as easy to
find around the world. Gluten-free folk would have to find certified
gluten-free oat flour in this case. If you give this a shot, please let me
know so I can make a note in the recipe.
Yeah, yeah. Not much has been going on with the blog lately. That's kinda continuing. In the spirit of giving you something to keep you busy wasting time.....here's a some cool things that are happening.
One. My brother (or probably more likely his wife) are making some super cool bicycle art!
Two. More Eugene adventure is in the works. It will probably involve both of these!
Funny. Now that I posted this. I realize that both of these rides are "campers". Car camping vs. bikepacking. Ha.
Ok, I've been out of town a lot. One of the recent trips was to Eugene, Oregon. And if anything it has just shown me we have a long way to go on building good bicycle infrastructure in Reno! I happened along all these features on just one 8 mile ride to hit a brewery!
Bike only pass through on a neighborhood street. Keeps traffic down while providing safe easy riding with good connectivity.
Green paint in bike lanes....and though you can't see it, bike boxes painted in the lanes at intersections.
Contra-flow bike lanes combined with one way streets! Can you say Center street! A perfect solution for Midtown since we didn't get bike lanes on Virginia!
