Sunday, January 31, 2010
N+1 Teaser
I picked up another bike this weekend. It's a 1987 Schwinn Prelude I got for a great price at a pawn shop. It is a better quality bike than my '83 Raleigh Marathon, more along the lines of the Nishiki Olympic 12 I used to have. I will end up selling either the Prelude or the Marathon, keeping the one I like best (I try to limit myself to one bike per decade). More pics after I've cleaned it up, but here's a teaser for now:
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Views of Downtown Fort Worth
I've been out of town on business and not riding my bike. So this weekend I tried to make a point of riding. I was planning on going up to the Denton Denim Ride on Saturday but the high potential for rain in the afternoon made me consider other options, so I went on my club's breakfast ride (which was also abbreviated due to weather).
Today was a nicer day, although there was a stiff wind out of the north which made it feel colder than it was. I decided to ride into the teeth of it so I could have it at my back on the way home. I rode my Schwinn Cutter single speed. It's interesting to ride a bike with only one gear; the ride itself always seems for fun. On the way out I stopped in Trinity Park and took some pictures.
On a bridge over a stream on the Loop Trail
Every day is a winding road... or path... or whatever
A boy and his bike
Views of Downtown from the north end of the park and the Trinity Trail
I wanted to see if I could get up the Taylor Street hill on the single speed which I've heard is a 12% grade (I tried to verify this on Google and that said it is a 15% grade!) At the bottom looking up...
...is not nearly as good as being at the top looking down.
Taking some pictures while riding Downtown:
Bass Hall
Close up of a Bass Hall angel
From Downtown I set out northward, up Samuels Avenue. There is new development along Samuels. I rode through just kind of gawking before I realized I was past it.... and I forgot to take pictures. I finally decided to take some near the north end of Samuels where it crosses the Trinity River.
The road and rail bridges look to be pretty old.
From the north end of Samuels I got back on the Trinity Trail which provides some nice views of Downtown. This one is further out:
And these near the Main Street bridge show the Courthouse a little better
Peeking under main Street to see the Radio Shack headquarters:
A picture of the bike... looks like it's swimming upstream.
It was clouding up and I feared it might rain, so I started riding a little more quickly and didn't take anymore pictures... until I ran into a group of cyclists that looked familiar at the south end of Trinity Park. It turns out they were the crowd from my favorite bike shop, The City Cyclist. They said they were going to pop into Chili's for a drink and wondered if I wanted to join them... so I did.
Me and Debbie and Larry
Larry and Mike the Mechanic
A group shot of the whole crowd- Debbie and Larry standing, then Mike, Eric, T-Ann & Mica
And another shot to show that yes, I was really there.
The staff at The City Cyclist usually don't get a chance to ride much, except on Sundays. I rode with them afterward along the Trinity Trail until I had to split off to head for home.
Today was a nicer day, although there was a stiff wind out of the north which made it feel colder than it was. I decided to ride into the teeth of it so I could have it at my back on the way home. I rode my Schwinn Cutter single speed. It's interesting to ride a bike with only one gear; the ride itself always seems for fun. On the way out I stopped in Trinity Park and took some pictures.
On a bridge over a stream on the Loop Trail
Every day is a winding road... or path... or whatever
A boy and his bike
Views of Downtown from the north end of the park and the Trinity Trail
I wanted to see if I could get up the Taylor Street hill on the single speed which I've heard is a 12% grade (I tried to verify this on Google and that said it is a 15% grade!) At the bottom looking up...
...is not nearly as good as being at the top looking down.
Taking some pictures while riding Downtown:
Bass Hall
Close up of a Bass Hall angel
From Downtown I set out northward, up Samuels Avenue. There is new development along Samuels. I rode through just kind of gawking before I realized I was past it.... and I forgot to take pictures. I finally decided to take some near the north end of Samuels where it crosses the Trinity River.
The road and rail bridges look to be pretty old.
From the north end of Samuels I got back on the Trinity Trail which provides some nice views of Downtown. This one is further out:
And these near the Main Street bridge show the Courthouse a little better
Peeking under main Street to see the Radio Shack headquarters:
A picture of the bike... looks like it's swimming upstream.
It was clouding up and I feared it might rain, so I started riding a little more quickly and didn't take anymore pictures... until I ran into a group of cyclists that looked familiar at the south end of Trinity Park. It turns out they were the crowd from my favorite bike shop, The City Cyclist. They said they were going to pop into Chili's for a drink and wondered if I wanted to join them... so I did.
Me and Debbie and Larry
Larry and Mike the Mechanic
A group shot of the whole crowd- Debbie and Larry standing, then Mike, Eric, T-Ann & Mica
And another shot to show that yes, I was really there.
The staff at The City Cyclist usually don't get a chance to ride much, except on Sundays. I rode with them afterward along the Trinity Trail until I had to split off to head for home.
Friday, January 22, 2010
Momma Mia's on Magnolia
Mrs. Doohickie and I both arrived home from (different) business trips this evening at dinner time and decided to try the new Momma Mia's Italian Grill & Pizza at 1000 W. Magnolia in Fort Worth. Several months ago, one of our favorite Italian restaurants, Palermo's was at this site but they closed and Momma Mia's remodeled the place. Gone are model train tracks near the ceiling. Gone also is the bar, and the liquor license (replaced with a service bar) and the stage in the middle of the dining room. Also, the entrance was switched from the west dining room to the east dining room. Palermo's was a bit odd in some ways, but we liked it. The Lobster Ravioli was my wife's favorite.
Moving on, the place is now Momma Mia's. They've been open about 2 weeks now. They've had a location on Belknap Street for much longer than that, so they should know what they're doing. We were looking forward to trying them out. The newly remodeled restaurant is laid out a little better now, and has been redecorated as unambiguously Italian. My son pointed out the irony that one wall which had replaced an older wall had been painted to make it look old.... why not just keep the old wall?
Anyway, on to the meal: One thing I liked about Palermo's was having a nice glass of wine with dinner. That now requires advanced planning at Momma Mia's since they are now BYOB. I ordered the Veal Marsala; my wife ordered Salmon Piccata with Penne Pasta, and my son had the Shrimp Scampi. While we were waiting for our food, my son mentioned that he ordered the shrimp because that is his benchmark dish to rate an Italian restaurant. I feel the same about the veal.
With our drinks we received yeasty, garlicky rolls that didn't need butter to make them taste fantastic. The salads were standard appetizer salads. I ordered the house vinaigrette which was okay but not great. When the meals were delivered, I found the Veal Marsala to be perfect. A nicely seasoned sauce over tender veal cutlets.
My wife, however, found the salmon lacking. It was a generously sized serving, but it was dry and overcooked. The penne pasta was also on the "dry" side. Her whole meal could have used more moisture. My son was similarly unimpressed by the scampi. He said the seasoning didn't taste right for shrimp; it would have been more appropriate for steak, and it was also overcooked. He said it started out bad and got worse with each shrimp and he left two. Thinking that shrimp is too expensive to leave behind, I tried one and he was right, it was dried out and terrible.
To make things worse, an older lady who was apparently the manager or owner asked how things were and we replied, "Not good." She wasn't listening because she just smiled and continued on through the dining room. It was hard not to feel a little insulted by this. And since she kind of blew us off the first time, I didn't try to talk to her about the poor food. We just paid and got out of there.
To summarize: Momma Mia's is a typical mom & pop restaurant with cheesy Italian decorations and great Veal Marsala, but don't order anything that will be broiled unless you like your food dry. Oh, and expect to pay about 20 or 25% more than you did when it was Palermo's.
Moving on, the place is now Momma Mia's. They've been open about 2 weeks now. They've had a location on Belknap Street for much longer than that, so they should know what they're doing. We were looking forward to trying them out. The newly remodeled restaurant is laid out a little better now, and has been redecorated as unambiguously Italian. My son pointed out the irony that one wall which had replaced an older wall had been painted to make it look old.... why not just keep the old wall?
Anyway, on to the meal: One thing I liked about Palermo's was having a nice glass of wine with dinner. That now requires advanced planning at Momma Mia's since they are now BYOB. I ordered the Veal Marsala; my wife ordered Salmon Piccata with Penne Pasta, and my son had the Shrimp Scampi. While we were waiting for our food, my son mentioned that he ordered the shrimp because that is his benchmark dish to rate an Italian restaurant. I feel the same about the veal.
With our drinks we received yeasty, garlicky rolls that didn't need butter to make them taste fantastic. The salads were standard appetizer salads. I ordered the house vinaigrette which was okay but not great. When the meals were delivered, I found the Veal Marsala to be perfect. A nicely seasoned sauce over tender veal cutlets.
My wife, however, found the salmon lacking. It was a generously sized serving, but it was dry and overcooked. The penne pasta was also on the "dry" side. Her whole meal could have used more moisture. My son was similarly unimpressed by the scampi. He said the seasoning didn't taste right for shrimp; it would have been more appropriate for steak, and it was also overcooked. He said it started out bad and got worse with each shrimp and he left two. Thinking that shrimp is too expensive to leave behind, I tried one and he was right, it was dried out and terrible.
To make things worse, an older lady who was apparently the manager or owner asked how things were and we replied, "Not good." She wasn't listening because she just smiled and continued on through the dining room. It was hard not to feel a little insulted by this. And since she kind of blew us off the first time, I didn't try to talk to her about the poor food. We just paid and got out of there.
To summarize: Momma Mia's is a typical mom & pop restaurant with cheesy Italian decorations and great Veal Marsala, but don't order anything that will be broiled unless you like your food dry. Oh, and expect to pay about 20 or 25% more than you did when it was Palermo's.
Friday, January 08, 2010
Cousin's Barbecue
I did 14 miles of bicycle errands today, starting out at 16º F (my coldest temp on a bike) and a 15-20 mph headwind on the outbound leg (note the flags standing straight out from the poles):
I rode my Schwinn Cutter single speed. The balaclava worked fine. I had to expose my nose when it got too foggy and cover it up when I got cold again.
What did I wear? From the bottom up, two pairs of socks, leather shoes, bike tights under jeans, a t-shirt, turtleneck, sweatshirt and nylon windbreaker, wool gloves with mitten caps (pretty cool actually- they are gloves that have exposed fingertips, but also have mitten caps you can fold over the fingers to keep the wind off), balaclava and helmet. I could have used a hat on top of the balaclava for the upwind portion of the run. Errands included going to the doctor's office to get new prescription scripts (we have to do mail-order under our new insurance), a trip to the eye doctor, and lunch.
I had barbecue. Talking about eating barbecue in Texas is like talking about breathing. You just do it without thinking about it. In Fort Worth there are several options that people argue about as to which is best, including Railhead, Angelo's, Riscky's & the best from my side of town, Cousin's.
Today I had beef brisket lunch at Cousin's Barbeque. I went to the original location on McCart at Westcreek.
Like most barbecue joints in the area, you order off a big menu at the front of the line and the service is cafeteria style.
Sushi chefs have nothing on barbecue carvers. Stay outta the way of that knife!
I ordered the sliced beef brisket barbecue plate. At Cousin's it comes with two sides and Texas toast. The pickles are from the condiments bar.
What can you say about barbecue? From what this yankee has learned since moving to Texas, traditional barbecue came from a desire to feed a bunch of ranch hands with the cheapest cut of meat available. The brisket is generally a stringy muscle that can be tough if not cooked right. But if it's slowly smoked, it comes out mouth-wateringly good, and so tender it practically melts in your mouth. I like Cousin's because the meat is so tender. Also, the barbecue sauce is tasty without being too strong. They definitely do it right.
Every barbecue place in Fort Worth has its niche. Railhead is a "see & be seen" place; Angelo's is old school. Riscky's is where the tourists go (they are downtown). Spring Creek is the "McDonald's" of DFW barbecue with lots of locations around. To me, Cousin's is barbecue that's cooked for the locals, without pretense. It is excellent and I highly recommend it. If you need a second opinion, ask Mrs. Doohickie's dad. Last time he visited we took him to Cousin's; he couldn't get enough of the stuff and we had several meals there. Cousin's truly is one of the barbecue icons of Fort Worth.
After lunch I went over for a visit at City Cyclist, by favorite LBS (local bike shop) which is in the same shopping center as Cousin's. I got to see a happy customer buy a Biria Classic Dutch bike. Her exact words after she finished her test ride were, "I'm in love!"
Finally it was time to head for home. I was freezing when I started. The homeward portion of the ride included a tailwind and getting home was a breeze.
I rode my Schwinn Cutter single speed. The balaclava worked fine. I had to expose my nose when it got too foggy and cover it up when I got cold again.
What did I wear? From the bottom up, two pairs of socks, leather shoes, bike tights under jeans, a t-shirt, turtleneck, sweatshirt and nylon windbreaker, wool gloves with mitten caps (pretty cool actually- they are gloves that have exposed fingertips, but also have mitten caps you can fold over the fingers to keep the wind off), balaclava and helmet. I could have used a hat on top of the balaclava for the upwind portion of the run. Errands included going to the doctor's office to get new prescription scripts (we have to do mail-order under our new insurance), a trip to the eye doctor, and lunch.
I had barbecue. Talking about eating barbecue in Texas is like talking about breathing. You just do it without thinking about it. In Fort Worth there are several options that people argue about as to which is best, including Railhead, Angelo's, Riscky's & the best from my side of town, Cousin's.
Today I had beef brisket lunch at Cousin's Barbeque. I went to the original location on McCart at Westcreek.
Like most barbecue joints in the area, you order off a big menu at the front of the line and the service is cafeteria style.
Sushi chefs have nothing on barbecue carvers. Stay outta the way of that knife!
I ordered the sliced beef brisket barbecue plate. At Cousin's it comes with two sides and Texas toast. The pickles are from the condiments bar.
What can you say about barbecue? From what this yankee has learned since moving to Texas, traditional barbecue came from a desire to feed a bunch of ranch hands with the cheapest cut of meat available. The brisket is generally a stringy muscle that can be tough if not cooked right. But if it's slowly smoked, it comes out mouth-wateringly good, and so tender it practically melts in your mouth. I like Cousin's because the meat is so tender. Also, the barbecue sauce is tasty without being too strong. They definitely do it right.
Every barbecue place in Fort Worth has its niche. Railhead is a "see & be seen" place; Angelo's is old school. Riscky's is where the tourists go (they are downtown). Spring Creek is the "McDonald's" of DFW barbecue with lots of locations around. To me, Cousin's is barbecue that's cooked for the locals, without pretense. It is excellent and I highly recommend it. If you need a second opinion, ask Mrs. Doohickie's dad. Last time he visited we took him to Cousin's; he couldn't get enough of the stuff and we had several meals there. Cousin's truly is one of the barbecue icons of Fort Worth.
After lunch I went over for a visit at City Cyclist, by favorite LBS (local bike shop) which is in the same shopping center as Cousin's. I got to see a happy customer buy a Biria Classic Dutch bike. Her exact words after she finished her test ride were, "I'm in love!"
Finally it was time to head for home. I was freezing when I started. The homeward portion of the ride included a tailwind and getting home was a breeze.
Thursday, January 07, 2010
Great Idea But No Execution
I had a great idea back in August. In response to a post Myles made on Rat Trap Press, I suggested that we start a Denim Ride in response to the popularity of Tweed Rides in other cities. Denim seems more appropriate for this part of Texas.
Everyone agreed it was a great idea and then.... we forgot about it. Thankfully, the great folks at Bike Denton had the same idea! I hope everyone can get the word out and go to the Denim Ride. I hope to be there myself. I get back from a business trip late the night before, but I think I can make it to Denton.
I hope to see you there!
Everyone agreed it was a great idea and then.... we forgot about it. Thankfully, the great folks at Bike Denton had the same idea! I hope everyone can get the word out and go to the Denim Ride. I hope to be there myself. I get back from a business trip late the night before, but I think I can make it to Denton.
I hope to see you there!
Saturday, January 02, 2010
At Last, Benito's
Back in September I set out to Benito's for breakfast, so I ended up diverting to Esperanza's. It was only after I got there that I realized they open at 11 am during the week (and 10 am on weekends). Today, Mrs. Doohickie and I went to grab some lunch at The Spiral Diner, but they were packed so we diverted to Benito's a couple blocks down at 1450 West Magnolia Avenue, Fort Worth.
The one thing that always puzzled me was all the Mexican blankets in the windows. Why didn't they want us to see inside? It turns out it has more to do with blocking the sunlight. From the inside my camera still sees the south wall as solid white,
...although in reality the lighting was fairly even and pleasant. Mrs. Doohickie is a vegetarian so she ordered spinach and cheese enchiladas. They come with a hot sauce but she asked that they leave it off. I ordered Combinación #3 which was one enchilada, one tamale, and one soft taco. The ordering was a little iffy in that we couldn't quite tell how well our waitress spoke English. She answered our questions... we think, and did our best to order. In other words, this is an authentic Mexican restaurant. Luckily the menu was bilingual. The meal came with tortilla soup,
...which was delicious. Mrs. Doohickie's only complaint was that without the sauce her enchiladas were a little on the bland side (but then again, she didn't want spicy hot). My meal,
...was tasty. The taco was your basic taco (I ate half of it before I took the pic... duh!), the tamale was HUGE, and the enchilada was great- it was a cheese enchilada topped with chile meat, with cheese over the whole thing. I think that was my favorite part. The total bill was about $20 including tip.
I would highly recommend Benito's, especially if you have out-of-town guests you'd like to take for good Mexican food. Even though there was a bit of a language barrier, we felt very much at home.
The one thing that always puzzled me was all the Mexican blankets in the windows. Why didn't they want us to see inside? It turns out it has more to do with blocking the sunlight. From the inside my camera still sees the south wall as solid white,
...although in reality the lighting was fairly even and pleasant. Mrs. Doohickie is a vegetarian so she ordered spinach and cheese enchiladas. They come with a hot sauce but she asked that they leave it off. I ordered Combinación #3 which was one enchilada, one tamale, and one soft taco. The ordering was a little iffy in that we couldn't quite tell how well our waitress spoke English. She answered our questions... we think, and did our best to order. In other words, this is an authentic Mexican restaurant. Luckily the menu was bilingual. The meal came with tortilla soup,
...which was delicious. Mrs. Doohickie's only complaint was that without the sauce her enchiladas were a little on the bland side (but then again, she didn't want spicy hot). My meal,
...was tasty. The taco was your basic taco (I ate half of it before I took the pic... duh!), the tamale was HUGE, and the enchilada was great- it was a cheese enchilada topped with chile meat, with cheese over the whole thing. I think that was my favorite part. The total bill was about $20 including tip.
I would highly recommend Benito's, especially if you have out-of-town guests you'd like to take for good Mexican food. Even though there was a bit of a language barrier, we felt very much at home.
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Riding Out the Year
Last year on this day I rode almost 60 miles on a bicycle. This year, not so much. This year temps were in the 40s and it was raining. I only rode 19. I rode on my new (Christmas) bicycle, a 2009 Schwinn Cutter.
The thing about the Cutter is that it is a single speed bike. All my other bikes have multiple speeds. If I need to climb a hill with those other bikes, I shift to a lower gear. To climb a hill on the Cutter I need to stand up on the pedals and mash my way up. Here's a map of my route today:
Yeah, the weather sucked, but the ride was pretty good. I was properly dressed (including some new wool gloves I picked up this morning for half price at Macy's). Also, the first part of my ride was into the wind, but downhill; the return trip was mostly uphill but at least the wind was at my back.
This "smiley face" elevation profile is typical for my ride since I live on high ground and usually ride toward the river. I rode on the Trinity River Trail for part of the ride. It was pretty much deserted.
I took some pictures at the low water crossing over the Trinity River.
Did I mention what a gray, desolate day it was?
Still, it felt great to get some miles in. Of course on the way home I stopped at The City Cyclist, where the staff was hanging out. Mike gave my Cutter a tuneup; when my wife picked it up before Christmas he didn't really have time to properly set it up.
The 19 miles I traveled today was the most I've put on the Cutter in one day. Riding a single speed bike takes a lot more out of me than any of my geared bikes.
Tonight we are going to a New Years Eve party. I hope everyone has a good evening and....
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
The thing about the Cutter is that it is a single speed bike. All my other bikes have multiple speeds. If I need to climb a hill with those other bikes, I shift to a lower gear. To climb a hill on the Cutter I need to stand up on the pedals and mash my way up. Here's a map of my route today:
Yeah, the weather sucked, but the ride was pretty good. I was properly dressed (including some new wool gloves I picked up this morning for half price at Macy's). Also, the first part of my ride was into the wind, but downhill; the return trip was mostly uphill but at least the wind was at my back.
This "smiley face" elevation profile is typical for my ride since I live on high ground and usually ride toward the river. I rode on the Trinity River Trail for part of the ride. It was pretty much deserted.
I took some pictures at the low water crossing over the Trinity River.
Did I mention what a gray, desolate day it was?
Still, it felt great to get some miles in. Of course on the way home I stopped at The City Cyclist, where the staff was hanging out. Mike gave my Cutter a tuneup; when my wife picked it up before Christmas he didn't really have time to properly set it up.
The 19 miles I traveled today was the most I've put on the Cutter in one day. Riding a single speed bike takes a lot more out of me than any of my geared bikes.
Tonight we are going to a New Years Eve party. I hope everyone has a good evening and....
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
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