Another successful week

Well, with the exception of the fact that I still haven't dragged myself into the water yet. I got a lot accomplished at work, including picking up a shift to support someone else. But this week I did achieve my goal of 60 km of running and at least 100 of biking, largely due to the last two days. I woke up on Friday, biked to work, worked a full (very full!) day shift, took a long route home, did my grocery shopping, biking a long route in to work, worked a night shift, biked a long route home, went for a run, and then finally went to sleep.

I slept like the dead.

Anyway, I got some positive feedback a couple days ago about my makgeolli. Now I plan on making a larger batch, probably a double. I may try steaming the rice in my instant pot this time, simply because it takes less water to clean than my large stockpot does. I should see if the steaming basket from my stockpot fits the instant pot; that would be almost too good to be true.

The rear tire on my folding bike failed when I was all of half a kilometer from home, so I just walked it back and then took another bike to work. It's yet another advantage that bikes have over cars; it's much easier and cheaper to own a second bike than it is to own a second (or even first) car. When a bike breaks down, I can walk it, or lock it up somewhere and come back for it later. I can even call for a taxi and bring the bike with me.

I'm also pleased with how well by bicycle tube and tire attitudes have worked out. On my way home a few days ago, my rear tire went flat. I had a spare tube, patch kit, levers, and allen wrench; I just wasn't carrying a pump (my pump bracket broke; I need to try printing a new one). Normally, my presta valves would have meant that the gas station a block away wouldn't have a usable compressor. But the fact that I always have Schrader adapters installed meant that I could walk to the station, swap my tube out, and be back on the road in a few minutes.

Last but not least, I bought a bag of light DME (dried malt extract) this week, along with a nichrome inoculation loop, some culture tubes, and a tube rack. I should be able to make some good microbiological slants. I intend to try different long-term methods of preserving various strains of microorganisms; yeast, possibly kombucha organisms, maybe spores for tempeh. That sort of thing.

The end of a rest week

I just completed a "rest week" with 41 km of running (and 100 km of biking, but that's been pretty standard). I also decided to go back to bodyweight strength training with pushups, situps, and squats on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. I've lost the capacity to do 100 pushups in a row, but I can build back up to it. This coming week, I'll up my running mileage to 60 km, then 66 the week after that, and then the first full week in April will be 72 kilometers; that brings a half marathon within the "30% of the week's mileage" mark. At some point, I'm going to have to find better routes; the main route I'm currently using for 10 to 11 km runs is getting somewhat repetitive. That being said, I'm very much enjoying not bringing my phone along, and I'd rather not get lost. I believe my watch has some kind of "back to start" feature, so I'm going to look into that.

My nukadoko bed is coming along well. I've changed the chili peppers and garlic a couple times so far, and the smell is tangy and sharp, as it should be. This last Thursday, a co-worker was kind enough to bring me a flake of hay; I put the three soybean blocks into a box with some of the hay, and now the box is sitting near one of the heaters at home so the blocks can ferment for a couple weeks before being hung for one last drying cycle and then added to the rest of the ingredients for soy sauce.

I've been looking for a camera to put on my bicycle. I didn't imagine my list of requirements was a particularly tall order; decent image quality, decent performance in low light, waterproof (or available with a waterproof case), and a battery life of at least 4 hours. That last one killed quite a few candidates, and really all I had found until recently was the cycliq products. They added some interesting features, like video looping and crash detection (in addition to also being lights), but boy did they have bad reviews. Today, I found the company "Drift", and their XL camera seems pretty good. It has all the aforementioned features (except that it's not a bike light, but I already have those), but with a battery life of NINE hours.

Also, for my own reference, the food company "Peak Refuel" looks interesting. Their backpacking meals may just be a perfect present for Eric.

Early birthday present

I recently received an early birthday present; an instant pot max. I've been looking for one for some time, but I particularly wanted the "max" model. I'm not yet confident in using it for the purposes of pressure canning, but the higher pressure it can achieve will still make it useful for such things as making microbiological slants. It's part of my "never buy a toaster" mentality. Why would anyone get a toaster when they can buy a toaster oven, which can do everything a toaster can do and more?

Similarly, I've developed a somewhat unusual attitude towards my bicycles wheels and inner tubes. Nearly every bike wheel is designed to use either the wider schrader valve (which is also found on most automotive tires) or the narrower presta valve. I intentionally bought a bike pump that can handle both, but why not go for as much flexibility as possible? I intend to only buy or build wheels that are designed for schrader valves, and to only buy presta-valved tubes. The tubes can easily be used in the wheels with a small adapter ring that costs about a dime and can be reused indefinitely. But if I ever get a flat I cannot repair or replace and only schrader tubes are available, I can still use them; having a presta wheel means I could only use one type. Similarly, I recently bought four small adapters that allow presta tubes to be aired up with a pump designed for presta. If I need a pump and mine is not forking for some reason, I'll be able to use a pump that is designed for one or the other standard. For a total price of about $5, my bikes can all now accept tubes or pumps designed for either standard.

I also purchased a 400mm long seat tube for my raleigh twenty. I used it for my commute home yesterday, and it made a WORLD of difference. It only raised my seat about 50mm above where the stock seatpost had it (I'm fairly certain I had the stock seatpost well above its minimum insertion length height), but that 50mm meant I was nearly fully extending my leg with each pedal stroke, instead of keeping my knees bent the entire time. The new seatpost is black, so I'll probably buy a chrome or steel 400mm post to use on my commuting bike and use this one as I build up my triathlon twenty. Gotta keep up appearances.

Rounding out my week

It's super early on Sunday, and last week was a pretty solid week. I wanted to achieve 48-49 km for the week. I planned for a run yesterday with my friend to round out that distance; it ended up being rather longer than planned, and the week ended up totaling over 55 km. Since that was well over a 10 percent increase compared with the previous week, I'm going to make this week another 55, and then next week will be a rest week. Also, tomorrow marks my return to strength training, because my shoulder hasn't bothered my in several days. I'll have to pay closer attention to my diet than I have been, but nothing too crazy.

The makgeolli experiment continues, and it's looking good. I plan to strain and bottle it in two days or so. The mead and maple wine I made are fermenting rather slowly, but that's probably due to being at a rather low ambient temperature. I also bought a pair of 6.5 gallon glass carboys off craigslist for a very low price; transporting them in my bicycle trailer was interesting, to say the least. I'd like to make cider and beer again; packaging is an issue. A kegerator seems excessive; perhaps I should start buying beer in bottle chosen for their utility. Flip-top bottles would be nice, but they tend to be rather obviously branded, and of course they're rather pricey if bought new and empty. It's something to dwell on.

Yesterday, I had a very satisfying discussion about policing policies. I knew that the supreme court had long ago ruled that police don't actually have a duty to protect the public. Maybe only cops that are willing to accept that legal responsibility should be allowed to carry a gun.

Before I forget

I just started maple wine and mead. For each batch, I added 5 mL of fermaid K yeast nutrient to a small dish of hot water and 1 packet of "mangrove jacks" SN9 premium wine yeast to a small dish of warm water. I swished hot water around in a 4 liter glass jug, poured it out, and added 1250 grams of honey (for the mead) and 2 kilograms of maple syrup (for the maple wine). Room temperature water was added to about 2 liters total volume and shaken, both to mix the honey/syrup with the water and to aerate. The yeast nutrient was added with about another liter of water and the mixture shaken again. Finally, the yeast was added, water added to just shy of 4 liters total volume, and the jugs airlocked.

With a full packet of yeast for such a small volume, I expect a very active fermentation (which is one of the reasons I didn't boil the mix first). It may even blow off the airlocks. That's why both jugs are sitting in my bathtub.

Many food projects

Today is Monday.

On Saturday, I hung the blocks of soybean paste that had been drying. For the next few weeks, they will dry further and ferment as part of their journey to becoming korean soup soy sauce. I also put the cured egg yolks into the dehydrator (they're still there) and started makgeolli. For the makgeolli, I steamed 1kg of glutinous rice for 45 minutes, dehydrated it at 135F for 3 hours, then mixed it with 200 grams of nuruk and 2 liters of water. I cannot say that the smell was pleasant, even the next day; very musty. But it's more watery today, and the smell has settled down a fair amount.

Also, on Saturday, I filtered out my orange extract. I just let it gravity filter through my aeropress with a standard paper filter. On Sunday, I filtered the raspberry extract. I've been pretty pleased with how the extracts have turned out; I'm also thinking of making mint, almond, and rose. Possibly anise? Today, I bought stoppers, airlocks, yeast nutrient, and several packets of wine yeast. I intend to make a gallon jug of mead and another of maple wine.

Last week went reasonably well for exercise, at least as far as running is concerned; I achieved 44 kilometers. This week, I'm aiming for 48 or 49. I didn't get any swimming done last week, and my shoulder pain dissuaded me from any strength training. I intend to take this week off from strength training as well, and reduce the mass by 5 or 10 pounds for each exercise for the following week.