Category Archives: Biking

Bike date at Five Bistro

This is one of those “it’s been so long ago, is it even worth writing about now” posts, but the answer is yes, because, long ago, on the last Friday in June, we had a really lovely dinner — one worth sharing and remembering, even if, or perhaps especially because, the events of the next few days were so crazy.

As I’ve mentioned before, Matthew’s been selling some produce, including winter squash and fennel, to Five Bistro, a very high caliber, local farm-t0-table restaurant.  It always feels kind-of odd, because while we cook amazing food with that very same garden produce ourselves, Five is not a restaurant that’s in our regular budget.

Until that Friday night, we had been there exactly once, and that so long ago that they were at their old location in The Grove (they are now on The Hill, for you StL readers).  To be completely honest, it may have been even longer until we returned if not for a generous birthday gift certificate from Matthew’s dad.

We realized as the dinner proceeded that a meal at Five is both dinner AND entertainment.  Not in the sense that the wait staff is dancing on the bar, but, if you go in planning to spend two to three hours on a relaxed meal, they truly live up to their promise of a “dining experience that evokes all five of your senses.”

I must also say that they really do value their farmers — we definitely felt like VIPs while we were there — not in a flashy, overblown way, but I felt they were going to extra lengths to take good care of us, and that meant a lot.

Chef Devoti and his kitchen staff prepared delicious, beautifully presented dishes from start to finish of our four course prix-fixe meal (our fennel was on the menu!), making vegetarian adaptations as necessary.

We shared starters of taglietelle and gnocchi, followed by sweet potato soup and a dandelion green salad.  Both the gnocchi and salad included ramps, a new and delicious food for us.  Chef Devoti created a special vegetarian entree, featuring a variety of vegetables roasted to perfection, including our fennel and some produce from their own garden.

I opted to not photograph the food, instead fully focusing on enjoying the dining experience and the company.

To start and end the experience, we biked to and from dinner.  The timing was a little crazy, with Matthew getting home from work, showered, changed, and heading right back out on the bikes, but it was worth it.  I thoroughly enjoyed riding in a black strappy dress and heels (more comfortable to bike in heels than to actually walk in them when you reach your destination).

Much more to share about the week-and-a-half that followed the dinner, but I’m currently experiencing very limited internet access, so you may have to wait a bit.  Until then!

Biking in the heat and humidity of St. Louis summers

In response to my post about my evening bike adventures last week, reader Rebecca posed some questions about strategies for biking in the heat and humidity:

I am struggling with the incentive to get out on the bike after work now that the heat and humidity have found us. I did bike to church on Sunday (2.2mi each direction), but I’m having trouble imagining that 6+ miles to work is possible in this weather. Do you shower more often when you bike in the summer?

I have been reading [other blog posts] about how to bike in the summer, but Chicago and Boston and Canada just don’t have the same smothering humidity + unbelievable temps that I’ve experienced in St. Louis. Do you have any tips other than patterned and dark clothing [for concealing sweat]? Do you have a threshold temp? When is it “too hot” to bike?

I feel a bit sheepish answering these questions as I sit here, hibernating in my air conditioned apartment, having done nothing more taxing outdoors in the past day-and-a-half than walk my son the half block to and from the sitter’s house.

Sheepish, but qualified.  I’ve put in my time as a regular bike commuter in St. Louis for five summers, one-and-a-half of which involved a six-mile each way commute.  Perhaps my summer hibernation tendencies, my shunning the heat and intense sun, make me more qualified — if I can get out and bike in this, so can you, dear readers!

Clothing
While not usually my thing, the “cycle chic” mentality is all well and good most of the time.  However, St. Louis summers, with humidity regularly well above 70% and temperatures in the 90s (which mean heat indices of 100°F and up) is NOT the time to worry about bike fashion.Continue reading “Biking in the heat and humidity of St. Louis summers”

Bike messenger ring bearer

Gabriel visited Lafayette Park for the first time on Sunday morning.  We brought his bike along, and he cruised around as we showed him the pond, which was one of our favorite areas when we were first dating.

We were lucky enough to see this mama with her eight(!) little ones in tow.

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Sir rocked cycle chic with his blue dress shirt and sharp white shoes, and that, combined with a group setting up for an outdoor wedding in the park, sparked a great idea — a bike messenger ring bearer!

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Obviously, it’s too late for our wedding, but if you have need of his services, let me know.

We enjoyed the park time (despite a few sprinkles) before continuing on our way to sample some pastries at a Czech church (verdict: good, but we make better) before checking out a couple of homes on the Sustainable Back Yard Tour (and by a couple, I do literally mean two yards, which is all we had time to squeeze in before returning for lunch and nap time).  Sir was excited that both yards featured urban chickens.

Happy things: Blue tutus and chocolate peanut butter bites

A quick glance at the title may throw you, but this post is not completely random.  Nope!  In fact, it’s about bikes and food, with a few green notes for extra credit — completely on topic.

While I rode in the Tour de Fat bicycle parade sans costume (i.e., wearing regular clothing), many riders outfitted themselves in creative ways.  One of my favorites was a woman wearing a blue tutu.  I coveted that tutu and decided that somehow, a tutu would factor into my World Naked Bike Ride get-up.

Yep, that’s right, after talking about it for three years, we’re actually going to ride in the StL edition of the World Naked Bike Ride this year!

In 2010, it just didn’t happen for some reason.

In 2011, the event was either right before or after Gabriel was born, so I was either feeling very pregnant (and hot and lazy) or recovering from his delivery.

Last year (2012), I just didn’t have the energy to makes plans for the event itself, child care, etc.

So 2013 will be the year.  And it will involve this fabulous bright blue tutu that I made yesterday (when I should have been prepping for a job interview that I have later this week — oh well, perhaps I can add “Tutu Maker” to my resumé).

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Turns out making a tutu is rather simple.  I made it even easier by re-purposing the elastic waistband from a pair of Matthew’s old, worn-out boxers.  Now for the rest of my costume . . . .

On to the chocolate and peanut butter!

I’ve wanted to do some baking for over a week now, but the hot weather does not inspire one to crank up the oven.  No-bake recipe to the rescue!

A couple of weeks ago, I flagged this recipe for Reeses peanut butter no-bake bars, and yesterday, I no-baked them in my kitchen.  Actually, I went a step beyond no-bake and used solar heat to melt the butter and chocolate.

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I put both in metal dishes (for optimal heat transfer) and set them on the blacktop pavement (hotter than lighter-colored sidewalk), both covered (and one weighted) to keep out any critters.

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Butter halfway melted and a before picture of the chocolate.  The butter melted very quickly.  The chocolate melted almost completely (and would have melted fully if I gave it more time) — I stuck the pan in the toaster oven for just a minute or two to finish the job.

I made a half recipe (in an 8×8 pan), which was a good amount, as these are really more conducive to being eaten in tiny squares (like candy) rather than big pieces.  I used semi-sweet chocolate instead of milk chocolate (of course!), and  added a quarter cup of almond meal (for the half recipe) since the mixture seemed a bit runny (perhaps due to using natural peanut butter).

No final result pictures, but after setting up in the fridge, they popped right out of the pan, looking like those pictured in the recipe link.  Delicious!

Two by bike, one by car

Last week set a bit of a record with three nights out — definitely the most in one week post-baby!

Sunday Night
Sir’s monthly overnight with Baba coincided with closing night of The Twelfth Night at Shakespeare in the Park.  We debated biking vs. driving as well as eating out vs. picnicking.  The fact that we’d be in the car anyway to deliver Gabriel answered that question, and the heat and humidity drove us inside to eat.

We chose Blue Elephant, a Thai restaurant that’s been around for quite awhile, but one I hadn’t visited.  Given write-up’s I’d seen, complete with photos of fancily presented food, and their location in Clayton, I rather expected it to be an upscale place, which it wasn’t.

Fortunately, the food, rather than the decor and atmosphere (which was low key and pleasant, just not fancy), was my main reason for choosing the spot.  We shared the Pad Thai and Pad See Ew entrees (both with tofu).  The Pad Thai was quite good, on par with some of my favorites from other restaurants (must remember to always order with extra veggies).

We continued on to the performance in Forest Park, intentionally parking far away to avoid getting caught in traffic later.  We enjoyed the evening, though afterward (and having attended various other years) we admitted/agreed that Shakespeare is not so much our thing, and in future years, we might just come for the pre-party of picnicking and people-watching.

Wednesday Night
Earlier in the week, my father-in-law offered to come over and watch Sir on Wednesday night so we could see Spamalot at The Muny.  We accepted his offer, and I made plans for biking and a picnic dinner.

Matthew biked over straight from work and spent ninety minutes in line — his efforts garnered us a great spot in the free seats.  I joined him after a warm, but not unpleasant ride.

On the way over, another cyclist passed me on the right.  As he passed, I asked if he could please pass on the left, as is the convention.  As I was riding in the traffic lane, he responded that there “wasn’t much room to my left.”

I glanced over, and informed him that there was, in fact, six or seven feet between me and the center line (just as much room as there was between me and the curb to the right).  He responded with a rather confounded, “But you’re practically riding in the middle of the lane.”

I held my tongue as I thought, “Yes, that’s rather the point, how very observant.”  I  couldn’t help but smile as he continued down the hill ahead of me, carefully, and perhaps begrudgingly, stopping at every stop sign along the way.

We enjoyed the show, but just as much I enjoyed our ride home afterwards, cutting through the park on the multi-use paths to avoid the traffic jams, riding under an almost full moon.

Friday Night
The third and last night out of the week (no twelve nights for me, thank you), I stuck my bike on the bus, and used the bus and MetroLink, plus a short bike ride, to meet a good friend for dinner in The Loop.

As I slowly coasted along with the crazy traffic on Delmar, I was very glad that I didn’t have to worry about finding a [car] parking spot.  I arrived at Seoul Taco with time to spare, and we spent a lovely evening dining al fresco, catching up, and walking The Loop.

We ended the evening by walking to the new Italian pastry shop, Piccione, where I bought a treat for then and a couple of things to share with Matthew later.

The winner among my three pastries, which included pistachio cannoli, sfogliatella, and a thumbprint cookie?  Somewhat to my surprise, the simple and unassuming thumbprint cookie took the cake, so to speak.

I biked home under a full moon.  Though not much longer than Wednesday night’s ride, it was hotter and/or more humid, and, after a slight train-delay, I was more than ready to get home and shower.

So, two out of three by bike ain’t half bad.  Choosing to go by bike in the summer heat is always a bit of a mental struggle, but I rarely regret it.  The evening and night biking is definitely better than full sun outings.

My main beef with night biking is how exercising that close to bedtime affects my ability to fall asleep in a reasonable amount of time, especially when the events are already pushing my early bedtime, so my transportation choice often comes down to balancing desire to bike with sleep needs.