Totally (mostly) Super Sunday

Every couple months I decide that my coffee addiction is getting a little out of hand and I decide to phase it out of my routine for a week or so.  I tried last week, but things kind of got away from me.  So this morning I'm having black tea.  Tomorrow it'll be green tea.  Then, erm, maybe more green tea.  I mean, let's not go totally crazy here.  But it's tough.  All the black tea does is stave off the detox headache.  Seriously.

We kicked the weekend off getting drinks with friends (apparently it was everybody's birthday this weekend).  I have a fairly regular drinking schedule of 2 beers/month, so when I do drink I usually get something special.  I ended up with a 6 year aged Aventinus Wheat Doppelbock.  It was $12.00.  Seriously?  A $12.00 beer?  Yes.  Seriously.

Anyway, it was pretty good, but the wheat kind of messed up my stomach the next day.  I guess it also didn't help that I had whole wheat pasta for dinner, but still.  I guess the longer you go sans gluten the more you notice it when you have some. 

On Saturday, not to be deterred by wheaty stomach upset, we started the day off right with gluten free, vegan Chunky Monkey pancakes.  Oat and almond flour, chocolate chips, walnuts, and bananas.  It was amazing.  This was followed by a couple hours on the mountain bike.  I haven't been out on the trails much lately but my bike handling was dialed, which is a nice feeling.

On Saturday night there was yet another birthday related social gathering, but this one involved the burning of christmas trees and the roasting of meat.  If you've never been privy to such an event, let me offer some advice.  If in the event your flame-retardent treated Christmas tree does ignate (as it can and will, if given the right combination of fire and drunk people), I highly advise not breathing in the toxic blackened smoke that will almost certainly rise from it.  Anyway, I made it an early night because I had big plans for Sunday.

Anyone who races bike in California knows about Paskenta.  It's an unsupported century ride every Super Bowl Sunday that becomes a race for people going fast in February.  It's pretty flat.  I've done it a couple times with my dad.  Sometimes we hang with a group for a while, but mostly we just do it to log miles and enjoy the (usually) sunny weather.  Plus, the roads are usually pretty free from traffic as people get their pre-game on.  In the spirit of Paskenta I set out to do 100 miles before the Super Bowl (go Pats!).  I only got in 86, due to a late start, a couple wrong turns that cut off a few miles, and the fact that the high for the day was 39 degrees farenheit.  But it was sunny and virtually wind-free, and I had a great ride. 

This was my route:

FYI - Dunkin Donuts will make you a double expresso (ed. note:  I wrote this early in the morning on nothing but black tea - this is my excuse for spelling espresso eXpresso.  The reality is that I'm always correcting people when the say expresso, in the same way I correct them when they say nucular.  Now I've done it, in print no less, and I look like a jerk).  It's nothing special, but it gets the job done.  And it's a lot better than the drip coffee.  Pictured below in Haverhill.  I chased mine with a chocolate frosted donut and a croissant.  Not on the GF/Vegan/Bike Racer diet, but they got me all the way from Haverhill to West Gloucester, which was about 2.5 hours.  Also pictured, my Sierra Nevada Brewery water bottle, which is kind of like carrying a little piece of Paskenta with me.  Not pictured is my sweet Patriots sweat/snot absorbing wristband that Cody bought me when we saw the game in Foxboro.  It would seem that wiping my runny nose on it for 6 hours didn't actually help them win, despite all indications to the contrary.

A little bit of dirt.

Anyway, I got home, showered, shovelled food, and watched the game.  The second and third quarters were fantastic!  Uhh, probably the less said about the first and last the better.  Fortunately, as much as I enjoy cheering for the Patriots, my happiness does not depend upon their success.  Oddly enough, I had dreams all night about the game.  I find that odd, because I spent 6 hours on my bike before the game, so it semes like that would make a bigger impression upon my subconscious, but I guess not.

And now to proceed through the rest of this coffee-free morning.