Sunny and 70

My official training began on Tuesday with an unexpected 70 degree day. While it was only a short ride of 6 or so miles, it was a great start to a spring full of biking. Having not ridden outside for several months, I was slightly concerned of forgetting something vital on my bike...tires were pumped, helmet was on, water bottle was full. I was good to be back on the bike and got me really excited for the trip. On the other side of things, I was biking on a pretty busy road with lots of glass to avoid and semi-trucks passing every couple of minutes. That was no fun and made me question whether I should get a mirror for my bike, but I was later convinced that a mirror was definitely a no-go...get used to turning your head.

Anyway, on to Wednesday with another beautiful day on 70-80 degrees. Biking two days in a row was a surprise for my out-of-bike-seat-shape butt, though it quickly got used to the hard seat. Today was a 13.5 mile ride on the wonderful bike paths near my house. I was cranking today at 16-17 mph which felt great, until I had to turn around and go back with headwinds. Regardless, the ride gave me some confidence about training and eventually taking on entire country. I will be able to do it and feel good after only 2 days outside away from the silly stationary gym bikes!

Kitchen Escapades

I have a lot more free time this semester and I've been having a blast cooking new and fun things.  I want to become as independent as I can from the grocery store. So far, I'm making my own yogurt drink (kefir), mung bean sproats, bread, tortillas...etc. This kind of cooking is little different than the normal dinner or lunch, but I find it a lot more exciting. I'm still eating the same things I normally eat...college food, like quesadillas and pb&js, but now with healthier ingredients.

Here's an update on the gluten free week!

Day 4:
Breakfast-
EnviroKidz Cereal and Snowville Milk
Lunch-
Homemade corn tortillas with a fried egg and melted cheese
Apple
Dinner-
Kefir, strawberry, blueberry, banana smoothie 
Cottage cheese w/ canned blueberries

Day 5:
Breakfast- 
The usual cereal and milk
Lunch-
Eggs w/ cheese
Kefir fruit smoothie
Chocolate
Dinner-
Jimmy John's Unsandwich
Chips

Anyway, it's now the end of my gluten-free week and you probably get the gist of days 6-8 without me listing out the details. This week felt great but it's hard to tell why, so we're having lasagna for dinner! Wheat noodles may tell me something, but you never know.

Stay posted for Bike and Build updates and more!