Halloween Happenings

Sorry to all my faithful readers for my delay in updating Bomb This Hill. Last night I was speaking with my little sister, Megan, and she criticized me for not updating the blog. So here is a shout out to Megan, my youngest sister and her suitemates at University of Tennessee-Knoxville. And one more things Megan, Bow to your Sinsai!

Now on to the pressing issues of the week, today is Halloween. Yes, I wore my festive Halloween boxer shorts that my dear mother bought for me several years ago. If you are ever so lucky to become part of the family, then you will be treated to "holiday wear" on all the major holidays, according to Old Navy, Gap and Banana Republic, kind of like what Hallmark has done to Valentine's Day.

Last night, we had a 5.6 magnitude earthquake here in the Bay Area. The shaking lasted for a good 10seconds at my house. For all of you out there who have never experienced a tremblor, its basically everything shaking and not stopping. This was by far the longest one that I had ever experienced. I was in the kitchen with my housemate Marco and we just kind of looked at each other and were a little stunned. Maybe I am naive, but it didn't really bother me. Marco asked what I would bring with me if we had to leave the house. I thought about it quickly: my bike, a jacket, and whatever food I could put in my Patagonia bag. I figure with my bike I could get around the city much quicker than walking and I would need the jacket to stay warm along with food to feed the machine. The Bay Area officials have put a lot of work into getting the word out about being prepared for 72 hours. This is where my naiveness comes into play...I don't really think about a catastrophic quake, but maybe I should. I promised my dad I would exit the house next time it happens. According to reports, this was the biggest quake since the Loma Prieta quake in 1989 which caused millions in damage and destroyed the Bay Bridge, remember the World Series of '89?

Now back to the pressing matters of training. This morning I rolled out at 6:05am and did 3 hours of zone 2-3 riding. It was insanely dark because of the fog and low clouds. I rolled out to Fairfax and back. I felt pretty good the whole ride. When I was riding through Larkspur, I started thinking that this was the first time that I had gone over Camino Alto since July 24 which is just so crazy. I know the entire route pothole by pothole but the affluent communities of Marin finally decided to do so much needed repaving of streets. So now there aren't the insane potholes near College of Marin. Now this is just stupid stuff to think about but the point is I haven't ridden in this area in 3 months! The only part I could complain about was the cramping in my trapezius area. I have long had this problem. I don't think its a bike fit issue but I could be wrong. I am going to seek out some medical attention on it because it totally sucks when your neck gets all cramped up and is painful. It takes the motivation out of extending the kms...

Well, I hope everyone has a happy and safe halloween. As always, Keep it real!

Matthew

Early Morning Training

Yesterday morning I caught this shot while I was out doing a training ride. Its right before sunrise taken from the Golden Gate Bridge. The Bay Area is quite beautiful unfortunately its ridiculously expensive and traffic crazed=(

Also check out my new cookbook link on the right margin. It includes all my recipes and will be updated accordingly. Missing are my curry chickpea and green curry recipes.

A Long Morning in the Saddle

Friday I went for my first long ride, 2hr 15min on my mtn bike out to Mill Valley. The weather was pretty nasty with rain and wind with brief breaks. I decided to do my part and not destroy trails in the rain so I stuck to the road. It was a nice ride regardless. Legs felt pretty good at the end, like I had finally done something.

This weekend was a typical beautiful San Francisco October days...warm temps, and clear skies. I spent the whole time on the boat running other sailing coaches around on a 500hp Mako runabout. Definitely wanted to go out riding but the calls of college youth took over and I spread my sailing wisdom onto them. Unfortunately, I didn't get through enough and they finished 2nd to Univ of Hawaii.

Caught up with my good friend Ceal from SoCal this weekend. Good times talking bikes, racing, and life. After returning from racing yesterday, I made a nice eggplant marinara.

Eggplant Marinara
1 can of organic diced tomatoes
1 cup of chopped basil
3 cloves of garlic
1/2 small onion
1 tsp of salt and pepper
1/4 cup of good red wine
5 slices of eggplant, 1/3" thickness
1/2 cup of shredded carrot
1 tsp of red chili flakes
1/3 cup of diced zuchinni
4 tbsp of EVOO
Fresh parmesan

Saute onion, zuchinni, and carrots in 1 tbsp of EVOO. After 5 min, add garlic, saute until fragrant. Add tomatoes in food processor and blend, but not too thin. Add to onion mixture. Turn heat to low. Add salt,
pepper and chili flakes and 2 tbsp of EVOO. Continue to simmer on low heat 10min. Add wine and simmer for another 12-15min so sauce thickens. While sauce is simmering, place eggplant slices with 1 tbsp of EVOO in pan and saute till softened. Add basil to sauce and cook additional 5min. Add sauce to top of eggplant and cook for another 5min, stirring.

Top with fresh parmesan and enjoy!

Sponsorship Opportunity...

Here is my official notice to all meat and food producers. I am now soliciting all meat and food producers to become one of the official sponsors of my cycling program in 2008. Please contact me to discuss this great opportunity.

Lampre/Fondital
Sponsor Salumificio Alprandi Signs for 2008
The positive relationship between Team Lampre and Salumificio Aliprandi will go on in next season. Official supplier of salted meat in 2007 of the professional cycling team, Aliprandi decided to stay with team of general manager Saronni.

Andrea Aliprandi (owner of the factory), Mr. Coppi (Aliprandi’s associate)and Giuseppe Saronni .

Good results in this year, with Team Lampre that give importance to Salumificio Aliprandi thanks to many victories and Aliprandi that supply the team with high quality products.

Other Notables of October 17

Even though my anniversary has passed, i thought I would share a little more about Oct 17 for my info superhighway audience.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/October_17

Notable birthdays other than mine:
Eminem
Wyclef
Pope John Paul I
Ziggy Marley

Oct 17 also is marked as the United Nations Annual Day for the Eradication of Poverty. Interesting that that both the SF Examiner and SF Gate both posted articles on the costs of living in a SF for a family of 4 to be $72,000. This city is ridiculous and it keeps getting worse for costs and lame bs.

Adios,
M

Happy Birthday to Me =)

Today marks the 27th anniversary of the world being a more interesting place, yes, its my birthday =) So I'm a year older today with that I will strike a little life commentary for my viewing audience.

I guess each year, you are expected to mature and be wiser. Every year, it seems that I learn more about what is important to me and how I approach everyday life. As I have aged into my late 20s as some might say, I still prefer to say mid-20s, my outlook on life remains the same...enjoy ever bit of the ride. I guess its generic, but I think I live it whereas others might just say it. I don't know what I want to do with my life. My mind always needs to be challenged otherwise I felt complacent and bored. Not sure what psychologists would describe my personality as but here is what I think it is.
Enjoys the challenges of new adventures and setting high goals. Once challenges are met and goals achieved, one prefers to set off on new challenges.

Basically, I don't like being bored and never want to settle for the norm. I know my family is realizing this as my life has changed quite a bit over the years. First in chicago doing the investment banking, then to Reno for a short but fun stint, and now in California coaching a college sailing team. What does the future hold for me? Never sure, but I know when a great opportunity presents itself, I won't turn on it. I have always belived in seizing the moment and it never became a closer belief to me than this past year. A lot has happened to me all good I think but sometimes painful. My first euro racing program, surviving near death, and healthy relationships formed.

So as I embark on this new phase of my life, which really won't be too new b/c I always seem to be the weird cycling crazy sailing coach, I hope to continue to live the dream, inspire others, create culinary nirvana and Bomb those Hills!

So if there are any Bay Area readers, feel free to join the dinner party tonight at Ethiopian Cafe on Valencia in the Mission. We will be having a living a in the motherland dinner fiesta with delicious foods all eaten with our fingers.

Ciao,
Matthew

Two Bean Curry Vegetable Chili

I created this cold, fall weather treat last Friday afternoon. Nothing is too exact but I think thats what makes this dish fun because freebasing is fun right??? =)

Matthew's Two Bean Curry Vegetable Chili
Trader Joes Roasted Corn (1.5cups)
Trader Joe's Organic black beans (1 can)
TJ's Organic Garbanzo beans (3/4 can)
Bell Pepper (roasted in the oven till skin peels) (1/2 pepper)
Yellow Onion (1.5 cups of sauted onion)
Garlic (4 cloves), sauted with onions
Zuchinni (1 cup) diced up and sauteed
Basil (fresh, 1 cup)
Oregano (1 tbsp)
Chili Powder (2 tbsp)
Cumin (2 tbsp)
Curry Powder (1.5 tbsp)
Vegi Stock (1/2 cup)
Whole Can tomatoes(16oz can, blended up in food processor or blender)
balsamic vinegar(1 tbsp)
Pepper & Salt (to taste)
Crushed Red Pepper for heat (to taste)
EVOO (1 tbsp)

Sauteed onions & garlic until golden. Add curry powder and cook until fragrant. You can add a little balsamic to deglaze the pan. Chop tomatoes in food processor then add to pot with onions. Turn heat low to simmer. Add a pinch of salt and stir. Add cumin and chili powder and stir. Add black and garbanzo beans after draining them. Stir ingredients together. Heat remains on simmer. Add stock and stir after 10min of cooking. Now add the sauted zuchinni and roasted corn. Stir and simmer for another 20min. Add water if needed. continue to stir. Add chopped roasted red peppers and chopped basil. Add EVOO also. After 10min, add crushed red pepper and oregano. Stir for another 5min and add any water if necessary. Now serve =)

Can be served alone or with some rice...

My New Lover

Pactimo Performance Athlete of the Month...Boo Yah!

If you haven't gotten the news yet, I was voted in as the Pactimo Performance Athlete of the Month for October. Such a fitting month for my birthday and the start of my recovery.

Check out the article

http://pactimo.com/performance/athlete.htm

My coach, Shawn Heidgen, has been a source of great knowledge for me in training and learning how to race my bike better. As a coach myself, I always encourage people to seek out a coach because they can provide the tools you need as an athlete or person to reach the next level. When I sailed in college, I worked tirelessly to improve my sailing. Most of what i learned was through trial over and over until I got it right (i don't like think i was learning from an error). I also tried to sail against or with people that were superior to me. Sure it provides a lot of defeat, but I think I learned more than just trying to put myself up against myself or someone of less skill. For me, its always been about the challenge of doing something. When I started sailing, no one was around to really help me, but I looked at that as my challenge. I was going to do it differently and hopefully better than the rest of them. Looking back now, I see that it helped me build some great skills in sailing. Would I have excelled further in college sailing had I had a coach? I think so, but I wouldn't trade the learning experience of not having one. When I took up cycling after graduating college, I did in the beginning b/c my great friend Joey bought a road bike and was riding. I had always liked the endurance sports, so it seemed fitting b/c I couldn't let him outdo me. After a year of tooling around on weekend rides and the occasional ride during the week, I started looking at cycling in a new way. Thats when I bought my lemond and started riding more and more. Eventually a year later, I was moving from Chicago to Reno, NV so I could train more. Then I ended up here in California.

Since I moved to California, I have relied on several coaches. I think its more important for a coach to have the ability to understand your needs and motivate you then have a stellar palmares, but a nice palmares is helpful too, like the giro di donne. So if you are interested in getting a coach. I say, talk to a couple of different ones.

Adios,
Matthew

Pumpkin Curry Recipe

This being the season of the harvest and pumpkins, I want to share a recipe I created last fall. It received great reviews from my Westchester County surrogate family, yes the same county of my hospital stay and my close friends here in SF. Remember, the freshest ingredients always make for the best taste...Enjoy!

Peanut Pumpkin Curry Sauce(serving size of 4):
2 tbsp of peanut oil
2 cloves of garlic
1 finger-length of ginger
1/3 yellow onion
1.5 tbsp of good peanut butter (I prefer the crunchy Trader Joes brand)
2 tbsp Sweet Soy Sauce (specifically sweet soy sauce)
1 16oz can of pure pumpkin puree
3 tbsp of Coconut Curry Sauce (found at asian market)
1 tbsp of red curry paste (more or less depending on how spicy you like)
1 8oz(small size) of Chao Koh coconut milk
2 tbsp of shaved palm sugar (or 1.5 tbsp of brown sugar) (palm sugar is found in the asian market. Usually its in a small disc shape but is very hard).
1/3 cup of chicken stock
1 med size red bell pepper
1 med size green bell pepper
1 carrot
1 handful of cilantro
2 cups Jasmine rice
1 container of tofu or 1 large chicken breast or other preferred meat. If you use fish, recommend cooking the fish separately.

Directions:

Prep(most important):

If you have a rice cooker, mix 4 cups of water into the 2 cups of rice and start. Always use, a 2:1 water/rice mixture. Smash and cut garlic. Finely chop ginger. Cut onion into small pieces. Cut bell peppers into small pieces along with carrot. Cut tofu or meat into small pieces. Finely chop cilantro. Set veggies and meat aside so as you are ready to add when needed.

Cooking: If you have a wok, use it. If not a deep dish non-stick frying pan works well too or a paella pan. Use a medium heat. Add peanut oil. Let warm. Then add, onion, garlic, and ginger. Be sure to stir so as to prevent burning. Once the onions begin to cook and the garlic becomes fragrant, add the peanut butter. Pour the soy sauce onto the peanut butter. This will cause the peanut butter to begin to separate. Quickly stir it all together then immediately add the pumpkin puree. Stir all together so that everything is infused. Should turn from bright orange to a darker orange. Let sit for 1 min. Now add the curry sauce and curry paste. Stir together. Sauce should be very thick now. Add the coconut milk and stir in. Turn heat to medium and add tofu/chicken and carrots. As sauce thickens slowly add chicken stock in small increments to keep the sauce from getting to thick. Cook for 4-5min. Now add the peppers. Stir in additional chicken stock and add the palm sugar. Stir all together. Let sit for another 1-2min over low heat. Taste and determine whether you want more heat. If you like it. Turn off heat. Sprinkle cilantro on top of sauce when serving. Serve with fresh rice or you can mix the sauce with rice noodles or pasta noodles to have a curry-noodle dish.

Votes are in...

So it was decided by you, the readers of ~Bomb This Hill~ to keep the current format. Look for new exciting recipes to follow.

My new ride should be arriving soon. Its a sweet Italian dream, the Wilier Cento. Same bike used by The Kid, Damiano Cunego. 940g frame and fork. Once I get her all set up I am suspecting a sub 7kg ride. It will be incredible sweet. But for right now I am relegated to riding around town on my old Trek 1000 and doing pool workouts and hiking as Shawn has prescribed.

The weather has been turning a little cooler here in the mornings for SF standards. My core strengthening work has been working out well for my injuries. I have seen a noticeable improvement while on the bike. Track stands are much easier and I feel much more attached to the bike. This year, I am taking an even more focused look at my nutrition. Everyone says that I don't need to lose any weight but I am good around 72-73kg. Part of it is just cutting back on calories. This fall being a good time for me to lose weight b/c I'm not training on the bike a lot. I have worked on keeping my one carbo rich meal towards lunch and then having a salad for dinner with other vegetables. Do I stay hungry at night? Yeah, but its all part of the program of being a top competition cyclist. Lighter weight means faster up the climbs which is needed at Gila. I am trying to think of the whole eating thing like training. Anaerobic intervals really hurt which is training, having a little hunger throughout the day hurts but its training. The body will learn to adapt and become stronger.

Maybe I am taking it overboard being only a cat 3 rider right now, but my ambitions for top competition are very high and I want to make the most of this second chance.

Chow,
Matthew

My Fall Training Program

I started my fall training program this week. Shawn has me working on strengthening my core and improving my balance After 8 weeks off the bike, I can tell there is a little more soft tissue than before but I'm getting it back. Last year I worked really hard on this and saw some great improvements in my riding. Too many riders and other athletes leave core strength conditioning at the bird. They are unfortunately wrong because the core, ie abs, chest, back, all provide the necessary foundation for balance and strength. I have spoken at length to the Cal Maritime Sailing Team which I coach about this. Unfortunately, they don't find it too impressive until they are exhausted after 2 days of sailing at St. Francis or at Univ of Hawaii. For those of you are interested, I suggest a great book, "Core Performance" by Mark Verstegen. If you want a little advice on it, I will be happy to offer my advice. Just email me. Core training takes a lot of persistence and commitment. Commitment being the operative word. The gains you make in the fall can set you up for a great spring and continued success in the summer.

Made a nice chickpea curry the other evening. Still a little tomatoey but I think I have found a solution. I will attempt it again this evening and hopefully be able to post a respectable recipe for you in the coming days. Indian food is quite delicious and gives you many non-meat options.

Sat through another meeting last night. If you know me, meetings are just not my thing. What can be conveyed in email or a letter do much better than holding a meeting that typically involves no-value add information. Since working for Lasalle Investment Management and under Jacques Gordon, the notorious clock watcher at meetings, I took on one of his few sayings to me, "no value add." For those of you who don't know, I use to work for the man in investment banking, specifically real estate investment research. I think its kind of a shocker for many because that lifestyle just doesn't jive to well with my active lifestyle which is why I left it 2.5 years ago. I was in charge of covering the US Economy. Having an economics degree I knew a little bit but I was not PhD like Dr. Gordon. New economic data would be released and I would scour the news for opinions then write a briefing on it. Surprisingly many had converging views not to be surprised because the data can only be interpreted "publicly" in so many ways. So i formed my opinion and offered some feedback and some supporting opinions. Well JG would say, "thanks matt for the report, but its no value-add. I could read this tomorrow in the Journal." How do I respond to such criticism. I don't have the experience or time to offer some crazy insightful interpretation. If he wasn't impressed with my "work" or the "no value-add" work of the economic news services, why were they dropping such coin on them? Ohh well, JG, was one of those persons that is extremely hard to please. But I do want to thank him for the super, great notion of "no value-add."

Now back to some cycling...tried to go swimming yesterday morning but my new OnGuard bicycle lock wouldn't unlock. I used it Monday night without a problem. they only thing I can think was that someone secretly snuck into my room and switched my lock. You might think thats a little bit of paranoia but how else would you explain the lock problem. I'm no lock idiot so that disproves your first thought! Any insight would be appreciated. So I instead decided to make a long urban training ride 2hrs and stopped for coffee at my old spot, Angelina's Cafe on CA/22nd Ave. Coffee was delicious and they now have recycling bins set up.

Well, i head out shortly to beautiful Lake Merced to educate some students in one life's finer activities, yachting.

Chow,
Matthew

Performance enhancing...

I got word from this on my daily sailing feed. Apparently all of my current athletic interests are clouded with such rubbish. I hope the cyclosportiv scene doesn't fall into this mess..

http://www.cowes.co.uk/zonexml/story?story_id=3402;cp=0

chow,
Mathieux