potpourri

If you think you might like to do a bike tour in the Colorado Rockies, but logistics have stymied you in the past, this may be the tour for you. The Colorado Rocky Mountain Bike Tour runs from August 4th-10th, 2013 over 469 miles of beautiful scenery. And next summer the tour starts and ends in the Fort Collins/ Loveland area. The proximity to Denver will make it an easy place to reach from anywhere. And even with a century ride planned for the last day, travel arrangements will be simpler with the airport and several Interstate highways close by. And, if you sign up before the end of October, you can save some cash with their early-bird discount.

I haven't been on the bike much lately due to a lot of really handy excuses. But today I'm layering up and heading out for a spin. One of my favorite trails has been closed due to road work, but a friend told me it's not a bad hike-a-bike to get across the construction area on weekends. The forecast is kind of cool for my tastes, but sunny and calm. I'll take it!

And, finally, my foray into the world of the Vegan diet took a hit on Friday night when I went out to dinner with a friend, to Oklahoma Joe's BBQ! I think the only vegan item on the menu was french fries. So I ate the better part of a pig. But, yesterday I got back at it. I tried a couple recipes featuring sweet potatoes. The hash was really good, the stew not bad, I think I just need to adjust the spices a little. Today I'm going to try my hand at a tofu dish, and a healthy granola bar.

Since being introduced to Forks Over Knives I've been kicking around the idea of a whole food, plant-based diet. I haven't made a big declaration about my intentions because I wasn't sure what I wanted to do, or what I was capable of doing. But, since I altered my diet a couple years ago to avoid medication for my cholesterol, my diet has been mostly fruits and vegetables anyway. Oklahoma Joe's notwithstanding, I don't really eat much meat anymore. So I don't think it will be a drastic change, and I think it's something I want to try. So I'm going to try to eat food, not too much, mostly plants.