New chicken recipe is very versatile; 70mm stem report.
Friday, April 20, 2012 by John Stone
Filed under Daily Blog
The new Mustard, Maple and Rosemary Chicken with Almonds recipe that I posted a couple of days ago has proven to be equally as delicious as leftovers, and even worked into other dishes…
I’ve eaten a cold breast for lunch every day: I simply chop up a couple of sweet peppers and a little fresh rosemary, crush some dry roasted almonds, heat up a little brown rice and I’m in business.
The night before last I chopped up a leftover breast and made chicken soft tacos with whole grain tortillas. Same basic flavors: chopped chicken breast with a little of that awesome sweet & tangy sauce spooned on top, some sweet peppers, a little rosemary and a few crushed up roasted almonds. I also added some chopped lettuce and a little tomato. Awesome!
I’m certain that my chicken ranch salad would be an excellent new dish simply by substituting a leftover breast from the above recipe and using the sauce instead of the ranch dressing. I’d also substitute sweet peppers for the onions. I wanted to give this a try, but all the leftovers are gone. Next time!
This is just one of many areas at Mt. Dora that will be improved this weekend.
I mentioned in yesterday’s blog that I was not at all happy with the performance of the 110mm stem when I mountain biked at Mt. Dora on Wednesday. I decided to pull the long stem and bolt up my fairly stubby 70mm stem, which I removed because it was making me feel a little cramped in the cockpit. Yesterday morning I went back out to Mt. Dora to compare the difference between the 110mm stem and the 70mm stem…
The difference was, in a word, astonishing. I was able to take corners much faster than I was with the longer stem. I felt much more confident on downhills. Switchbacks were significantly easier to negotiate. Steering was much more responsive, but never felt “twitchy”.
Bottom line: I beat my single lap personal record by 38 seconds, and that’s just over 2.2 miles. The ability to corner faster is where most of that time improvement came from.
As far as comfort goes, I’m off the saddle the majority of the time at this trail, so even after five laps of the main loop + all the blue options (plus a downhill and an uphill on Gravity Destroyer) I never felt cramped or uncomfortable. Honestly the only trail where I think I’m going to feel uncomfortable with this stem is Wekiwa, where I tend to do long 20-30+ mile rides. That’s OK, I’ll figure it out. There’s no way this 70mm stem is coming off the bike now.
As you can see in the photograph I snapped with my camera phone yesterday, there is a pile of clay near “Little Dipper”. This is just one of perhaps a dozen or more areas where clay was brought in on Wednesday. The clay will be used to improve some of the remaining sandy areas, and will also be used to create additional bermed corners. The work will be done this weekend, and I really wish I could be there to help out. Unfortunately we have plans with family, and so I won’t be able to attend the work day (they only gave us a week’s notice). I am going to make it a point to be at the next work day; not only because I’d like to help out, but also to meet the guys who have turned what was a below average trail into something pretty darn fun and flowy. The trail just keeps getting better and better, and I can’t wait to ride it again after these improvements have been made.
Happy Friday!
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Be forewarned…total newb/virgin/ignorant mountain bike question forthcoming…
How could a stem that’s 4cm shorter make you feel MORE cramped on the bike?
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A longer stem puts the handlebars further out from the saddle, where a shorter stem brings them closer.
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Ah, I see. I was misunderstanding which piece the stem was.
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I have the feeling a lot of us were wondering the same thing! I was…
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This what a stem is: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B001GSSKF2/johnstonefitn-20
After the cracked valve stem story I’m sury many people were thinking just that, replacement valve stems.
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Sorry about not explaining what a stem is, I definitely should have!
I have pictures (with descriptive captions) of most of my bike parts here: http://www.johnstonefitness.com/2012/03/04/mountain-bike-upgrades-complete-report-new-personal-record/
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Thanks John! This blog on 3/4 was a quite the gem…. lots of interesting info in there! You may convince a lot of us to take up mountain biking soon.
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I’ve already heard from several members and visitors who have! Do it, but be prepared for the addiction.
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Synchronisity. I have been hitting more aggressive trails and really had problems riding Heil Ranch above Boulder this weekend. I am having a really hard time climbing up steep rock gardens and feel like I am weighted too far back. I just got back from my LBS, and my mechanic told me that in addition to being a XC mtn bike, the stem on my bike is not sized right, so he is going to refit my bike for a more aggressive climbing profile. The best solution of course is to buy a Yeti SB-66 in a 29″ version (http://www.yeticycles.com/#/bikes/sb66), but I don’t think my wife is going to see it that way.
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The kind of climbing you’re describing would definitely benefit from longer stem. I’m not familiar with Heil Ranch, however. Do you also have aggressive downhills? Sometimes the tougher climb is worth it for the downhill performance you get with a shorter stem.
That Yeti 29er is a nice bike!
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Heil Valley is a vertical climb taking about an hour to get up and 15 minutes to come down. Here is the elevation profile: http://www.trailcentral.com/gps/gps_details.php?key=10#elevation. Right now we’re just riding to the first peak and coming back down. Here are photos of the trail: http://mountainbikemayhem.com/mtb-trails/heil-valley-ranch-wild-turkey-and-picture-rock-trail. When we finished on Thursday evening, the guy parked next to us had huge balloon tires on his mountain bike. I said those would be great for sugar sand, and he wanted to know if I’d lived in the south. I told him I’d ridden in Texas, but knew about someone from Florida who wrote about riding in sugar sand, and he said he’d moved for Florida 6 months ago.
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Dude, that trail looks awesome! You don’t need a longer stem, you need a chairlift.
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I disagree about stem length. The problem is leg strength and low speed balance. A longer stem will make the bike miserable coming back down.
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You must mean the yeti SB-95, the 66 is a 26″x6″ while the 95 is 29″x5″. I picked up one of these gems just a few weeks ago. I’ve been actively posting my review of the bike on the mtbr forums under the name blackhillsrider (BHR):
http://forums.mtbr.com/yeti/sb-95-coming-next-month-770124-4.html
It’s the greatest bike ever for long, technical rides. The suspension is amazing and like nothing else I’ve ever ridden. I’ll be hitting up my local race ciruit on it:
1. Sturgis Knifeblade (http://www.sturgisbam.com/BAM/Bicycle_Events.html – 35 miles)
2. The back 40 (http://blackhillsback40.com/ – 40 miles)
3. Dakota 5O (http://www.dakota5o.com/)
4. Tatanka 100 (www.tatanka100.com – 100 miles)
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