Four people on eight wheels

More cycling pictures, this time from a bicycle tour we did with Mats and Margareta last Sunday in Kolmården, the hilly forests north of Norrköping:

Here's after Mats and Marcus loaded the car with our bikes.

The route we took was a very scenic one with lots of changes in terrain and scenery. We started from the parking lot by the lake Ågelsjön(popular among rock climbers, and a popular bathing lake), climbed up to cross the bridge at the lake Sörsjön and rolled down to Näckna läke before cycling back to the parking lot. The last leg of the trip to the parking lot was a bit tricky. We had to pass by a very narrow forest route littered with loose stones and protruding roots. I made it without bruising, scarring, or otherwise hurting myself – what a relief!

We brought some food with us and snacked along the way. The longest rest was in a meadow early into the trip.


I don't have any pictures of us on the move (I don't know how to solve this practically while also being on the bike myself). However, the nice thing about biking is that you can always stop when you see something interesting. Like this:


This was by some stables on a hill with a view over lake Sörsjön. A really pretty place. The young horses didn't seem to be bothered by human presence. In fact, I think they were rather curious. I know zero about horse riding and can't tell one horse from another, but they are pretty creatures aren't they? (if they're tame and don't run you over or kick you I guess, but I suppose you don't find those types in stables).


I want to go out again! First we have to wait for sunny weather, though – it's raining again!

Product review # 4

Aloha folks! I’m back from a weekend of biking in Hawaii, in the islands of Oahu and Maui...


…I was in Virtual Hawaii, of course. The only plane seat that took me to Hawaii was a seat of a trusty old exercise bike. I never really left Sweden. Actually, I was trying out Global Ride's Hawaii Rides DVD set:

The DVD Set, with CD 1 "StrenDurance in Hawaii", CD 2 "Oceanside Ride" and CD3 "Maui Rollers"

Bicycle not included

In contrast to my previous product reviews – of things ranging from hiking boots to a yoga mat, this one is the real thing. About 3 months ago, Global Ride Productions contacted me and other bloggers to review a 3-DVD set called Hawaii Rides, a coached cycling program for indoor- and road bikers. Since I love biking – we go often do bike tours and I volunteer as a functionary for group cycling classes indoors – I didn't want to turn down the offer to write a review. Not even the fact that I don’t actually own an indoor bike hindered me. At any case, I thought, it could be something interesting for the guys at our gym, or for that day I get myself a stationary bike.

Until then, I watched the contents of the DVDs and eventually called someone I knew had an exercise bike. To make things more interesting, I biked all the way there for three hours to try the DVDs out for the weekend. In contrast to the "real" biking, doing the DVD program didn't move me one inch, of course. I couldn't help feeling a bit ridiculous at first knowing that I might as well have been biking outside in real hills. And although I've also been in stationary bikes in group spinning classes, "cycling" on my own in front of the TV was admittedly a new experience. I felt a bit self-conscious when the introduction was rolling and I was supposed to find myself "magically" transported to the Hawaiian islands.

That's only half of the story, though. Eventually, I concentrated on my own biking and on the audio coaching, and I started to realize that there was really more to these DVDs than just being mere visual aids: they were bike lessons on how to become a better cyclist.

This is about six minutes into "Oceanside Ride".
I'll put up my hair soon!

The goal is endurance

You'll understand when the audio coach introduces you to the task at hand: throughout the "climbs", straights and even downhill pedaling, the goal is to keep the pulse at a constant level throughout the 50-minute rides. To do this, you'll have to adjust your cadence (the speed you pedal in) depending on what bike resistance (or bike gear) you have on. The ultimate goal is to bike on this "steady state", on the highest sustainable pulse rate where you still feel that you could go on biking forever without fatigue. For beginners, this is at 70-80% of one's maximum pulse, for professionals, 75-80% or even 80-90%. To keep working effectively at this pulse the whole time and not allowing yourself to cheat to a lower pulse is what builds endurance. It's also about not burning yourself out too early on uphills when you know you still have many kilometers ahead and – when it matters in a race – not letting yourself get too much rest on downhill- and straight stretches so you can pedal instead at a higher cadence, make your ride faster and your overall work more efficient.

The hills go up and the hills go down. Your pulse shouldn't do the same.

This training program also makes great sense when you realize how bike gears can work for your advantage in cycling. This was a mystery which I only began to learn recently, and which I still feel I need to crack. In spinning, you change resistance to simulate terrain; in real bikes, you change gears depending on terrain. The logic behind this is that the human body can only work efficiently in a narrow range of pedaling speeds (i.e. cadence) and the right gears optimize your work. In an ideal situation where the bike and the rider are one, the rider can make the whole ride efficient by changing gears often and varying cadence while still maintaining the highest sustainable pulse, not more.

Fulfill your own goals and find your own road

That said, the DVDs are adaptable for any cycling goal and not just useful if you're racing. The coaching tracks, with American, Australian and Italian coaches to choose from, can be turned off if you prefer to ride your own ride. The audio track, which consists of original techno music scores, can also be deactivated if you prefer your own music or if you're using the DVDs as a visual aid for your own spinning or cycling classes. There's also nothing hindering you from using the videos for exercise on other machines, for example a treadmill. Indeed, they make convincing visual aids, it's almost like a bike simulation program. When you take the resistance up when you see the road ahead going uphill, the mind is somewhat tricked. Seeing the view "below" is also a good psychological reward for any exercise, even if the view is virtual. In that way, it's a good motivation for serious cyclists to reconsider cycling indoors, and indoor spinners to consider going out and experience the real thing.

The suitability to personal goals is partly the point of the DVDs. While they're useful and strategic training to serious cyclists who might think cycling indoors has little charm, they are also made to be accessible to the amateur recreational cyclist like me or even riders that have never biked outside the spinning hall, encouraging us all "to find our road". Don't be intimated by the cycling elite, in other words. The images during the cool down, where they show actual pictures from people's cycling vacations around the world, are particularly inspiring to get out there and just try biking outdoors.

Don't forget!


Don't miss the 30-minute strength, Pilates and yoga sessions for bikers at the end of each CD – they're definitely something we can imagine doing regularly. The strength-training session is particularly attractive for me because I would love to have stronger legs for biking. I like it that the session alternates between explosive movements and slow, controlled movements (for example, in alternating between fast and slow squats), and believe me, my muscles felt the work even without dumbbells. Pilates is another thing I've discovered lately thanks to a friend. Since I'm sold on the idea that strong core muscles makes one a better runner and cyclist and improve endurance, the Pilates session was also really a bonus. I would have probably bought the DVDs if just for the strength and Pilates sessions, which is to say that I do believe they're a good complement to "just" biking.

A round-up of what I thought

1. The music tracks are louder than the coaching tracks (which has its own background "noise" of the coach using a stationary bike), making the coaching hard to understand. I had to turn the music off (alternatively, set the volume really high) to hear the coaching clearly. In my DVD player, the coaching track in CD 1 also had worse quality halfway into the video, but it thankfully returned to normal after a while.

2. The difference between "real" biking and spinning are that hills are always, always so much harder in real life, for me anyway. Of course, the mental toughness and "will-I-make-it? feeling" is one thing an exercise program can't simulate. On the other hand, doesn't it feel good to have conquered that virtual hill so easily?

3. The best thing would be to do all three programs in the set for continuity and variation, but if you are only considering one or two, I can recommend CD 1, "StrenDurance in Hawaii" for its more comprehensive coaching and explanations compared to the other two CDs. The coach explains the basic of cadence and heart rate, and offers alternatives if you don't have a pulse clock. On the visual aid side, CD 3 "Maui Rollers" has some of the best Hawaiian scenes in the CD set, but the coach here dosn't explain the "target heart rate" that thoroughly, which can be confusing for a recreational biker watching CDs 2 or 3 by themselves.

4. There's a positive psychological effect of the coaches "talking you" into the ride as you go along. Their words push, encourage, and give a pat on the back. In CD 3 "Maui Rollers", there's also this long bit I really like where you (the first person rider) and another cyclist alternate at overtaking one another. All these make cycling by oneself suddenly seem less solitary!

5. The DVD set is probably more interesting and useful if your goal is to improve your biking, get better at spinning or to increase your endurance in general. If your goal is to lose weight or to just get moving for daily well-being, I can imagine that most would say they'd rather be on the exercise bike watching regular telly – and I'd understand that. If you're up to the challenge though or want to begin to bike for a hobby, this might be a good start if you're too shy to bike in a class.

6. Lastly, although virtual reality is all well, I don't think the DVDs should be seen as a replacement for biking outdoors. Spinning will remain an indoor exercise form, with the ups and downs that that entails. So, there will be no fresh air in your face, smell of ocean spray and no "nature experience" that has its own rewards. In winters and bad weather though, I think anyone can appreciate the possibility of taking "the ride, outside" in the comfort of your one's own living room. Also, for people who've never tried to ride outdoors, I do think it can create a positive longing to get better at spinning and, eventually, ride outside.

With that, aloha! (means both hello and goodbye in Hawaiian)


Watch the commercial for the boxed set in YouTube (click here), or click on the titles below to see the ads for "StrenDurance in Hawaii", "Oceanside Ride" and "Maui Rollers".

The set costs $75.00 and is available from Global Rides website: http://www.globalride.net/

Thanks for the strawberries, Margareta!

We could have eaten them plain, but I had a better idea for half of the box. Now I think we'd have to eat cake for the next three days... GREAT!


I made the cake base by baking an ordinary yellow cake (sockerkaka) flavored with the peel of half a lemon. The filling is cream whipped with sugar (this supposedly makes the cream stay firm longer) and drottningsylt, a Swedish jam of blueberries and raspberries. The top layer is just cream and sliced strawberries.

P.S. That girl in the picture is Strawberry Shortcake. In nursery school, I had a hand-me-down pink lunchbox with a picture of her. It was a time when strawberry was my favorite fruit and pink was my favorite color (I had favorites of everything). Today, I found out that not all strawberry cakes are "strawberry shortcakes". Traditional strawberry shortcakes have a base made of cream scones, apparently. I thought she'd look good in the collage, though, so I added her in.

P.P.S. Isn't it funny how the Swedish word for strawberry (jordgubbe) is a compound word from "earth / dirt" (jord) and "old man" (gubbe)? I didn't make a Strawberry Shortcake; I made a cake topped with old earthmen!

Food journal number 53: Citronpaj

Citronpaj is Swedish for lemon pie. I've been craving for this for weeks! This recipe is from Annas pajer (Anna's pies), a cookbook that I bought some months ago together with another baking book. It's the second pastry recipe I've tried from the books I've ordered – the first one is a chocolate-coconut brownie that I've already baked twice, recipe to come [Edit: make that 5 recipes I already made. I forgot that I also baked yellow cake, semla and apple pie]. Honestly, if I had unlimited resources to buy ingredients and – more importantly – unlimited fat-burning capacity, I'd probably bake things more often.

Problems with this recipe: I followed Anna's recipe to the line but somehow, when the time was up, my pie filling was still almost liquid (eggs were too small?). I decided to pop it in for a few more minutes until the surface looked like in her picture (that is, with parts that are caramelized), and until the filling had the firm-jiggly consistency of gelatin. My pie filling still turned out on the soft side – like the consistency of the mascarpone cheese on a tiramisu cake – but it was pretty good! Also, at the back of her book, Anna says the pie dough should pre-bake for 10-12 minutes; in the pie recipe itself, she says 15. I went for 12. Also, one thing that could have made the execution of this recipe shorter by 10 minutes is if I had a food processor. However, the recipe is plain enough that it doesn't suffer from the lack of kitchen appliances, and Anna has a "by hand" option for the food processor-less.

A lovely pie, nice and tart. It's in the refrigerator now to help it set some more. In the future, I'll probably tweak it and find out how to make it more solid... that gives me an excuse to bake it more times ;-) The guests loved it, though.

Citronpaj

Dough:
2 dl flour
1 T sugar
150 g cold butter
1-2 T ice cold water

1. Measure the flour and sugar into a bowl. Cut the butter into squares and cut the butter into the flour with a pair of dull knives, or in my case, a whisk from a blender (does the work of two knives faster). When they start to form oatmeal-sized flakes, add the cold water and cut the dough some more until it almost forms a mass.


This whole process will be made easier with a food processor: just combine the flour and butter and pulse for 6 seconds, add water and pulse some six seconds more.

Either way, transfer the dough into a plastic bag and knead gently into a ball. Don't work it too much with your hands as the butter might melt. Place in the refrigerator for an hour.

2. On some cling film, roll out the dough with a rolling pin until thin. It should fit in a 22-centimeter spring form pan. Line the pan with the dough and cut the parts that stick out (I just stuck mine back in though... why waste precious butter?)

3. Put the whole pan in the freezer for 10 minutes to prevent it from sliding down when you bake it later. Preheat the oven to 200 C and when the ten minutes are up, bake the dough for 12 minutes.

In the meantime, prepare the filling.


Filling:
2 dl whipping cream
2 eggs
juice of 1 lemon
rind of 1 lemon
(thin lemon slices for the top, if desired)

Just mix everything together thoroughly.

Pour the filling into the pre-baked dough, decorate with the thin lemon slices and bake in the oven for another 15 minutes (or more if your pie turns out liquid like mine).

Replanting herbs

I'm going to try to find out if we can grow herbs in the kitchen all year. I don't have a reputation for having a green thumb and I've never grown anything from seed. I have, however, grown some decorative plants in the apartment from cuttings, and judging from the fact that they're all still thriving (growing new leaves all the time, too!), I guess that I could be a decent enough gardener to upgrade to edibles. Herbs are a good start; I can buy them grown, they can grow on the windowsill and they require little maintenance. Or so I think.


These are some parsley and chives that we bought from the grocery – you know, those fresh herbs you can buy in tiny seed pots. I found that if you keep them in their seed pots on a shallow basin of water, they actually live long until a point when they start wilting and yellowing. The chives in the picture have actually survived in the apartment for more than a month now. Problem is, I think it was on its way to dying; the leaves are thin and I had to pluck out a handful (literally) of dead leaves. A friend suggested that they needed more soil... Now why didn't I think of that?

I spent last night Googling up how to grow herbs in the kitchen and I seriously considered having a pot of herbs in the kitchen to be here for more than just a month at a time. We also took a trip to a plant store and had a conversation with the gardener, who was very informative. Here are some tips:

- Herbs need a lot of sun, but can also tolerate some shadow (especially parsley). The best situation would of course be if we lived in the same latitudes as the Mediterranean, but in northern latitudes, a window facing to the south would be ideal. Our kitchen window faces west and has a good amount of sun after lunch... in spring and summer. I'll worry about autumn and winter later, but I guess we'd probably have to substitute sunlight with a lamp. If the herbs get too little light, they will grow thin and long ("leggy"); this is a sign that you should move them to a sunnier place.

- Herbs don't like dry air and prefer humid environments. Websites recommend either placing the pot over a basin of pebbles and filling the basin occasionally, or spraying the leaves with water. Alternatively, you could keep the window open, if it's not too cold.

- Herbs need good drainage.The soil can't be too soaked or the leaves will turn yellow. The gardener at the shop assured me that you don't need to line the bottom of the pot with pebbles to achieve this. All you actually need is a terra cotta pot with a drainage hole and one of those neat little saucers to put under it, if you're growing the plants indoors. Terra cotta pots "breathe" and let out extra moisture through its walls. With a saucer, there's no risk of over-watering since water just goes through and fills the saucer when the plant has had enough.

- Herbs compete. Plant different herbs in different pots, and use big pots.


- Herbs need nutrients – the gardener recommended using liquid fertilizer once a week. Finally, I have a use for that bottle of fertilizer we have! Oh yeah, and always wash the herbs before use.

I've followed the instructions... now wish me luck on developing a green thumb or two.

18 hours 22 minutes of sun, to be exact

Guess what this is.


Taken a guess yet?

It's a light blue 560x420-pixel square. Not that remarkable.

What is remarkable is the fact that that homogeneous blue shade is a picture of yesterday's sky. Straight out of the camera, by the way.


It was bit strange to look up into the sky that was, for half an hour, entirely featureless.

Featureless was not a word to describe our midsummer, however, which we spent right there on our balcony. Midsummer – which is celebrating season here in Sweden at par with Christmas – is usually a time to go out with family and friends to the countryside. Usual activities include dancing around a maypole, eating herring, strawberry shortcake and drinking snaps (the latter two to wash away the herring taste, I guess!) We said no to the offer this year; after all, we haven't really enjoyed the fact that we have a balcony yet. I would also like to be able to read fiction books in my free time again, for a change. What better opportunity to be alone in a quiet city, reading a book and drinking cola under the sun? And yes, there's sun now for a change!


Speaking of sun, it is summer solstice today, which means that we have the longest day and shortest night in the northern hemisphere. Sunrise today was at 03:46 and the sun won't be setting until 22:08 (and even then, it wouldn't get completely dark until midnight, and it's much lighter than you think at 02:30). Lots of time to sit out in the balcony, that is.

It's a good place to observe birds from (I can see their nests, and I observe the same birds on the same branches at the same times of the day). I also like to take our "cat" out to "sit" with us, just for fun. While we don't have real cats yet – besides we'd have to cover our balcony with chicken wire to prevent them from falling off by accident, according to law – Lucy the stuffed cat will have to do.


If you're wondering what I'm doing to the "cat", ask Kricke. He should know.

a rainy June

I was watching the news the other day. This month of June, which has been disappointingly rainy and cold (seldom up to 10 degrees before lunchtime!), is the coldest June Sweden has had in 50 years. And we're supposed to be enjoying the summer in the sun!

Caught sight of a bird hiding under a tree in the rain. People stay indoors.

Swedes, though they complain – there's always something to complain about the weather – don't seem all that surprised. Swedish summers mean unpredictable weather. Two weeks ago, it was 27 degrees and sunny on a cloudless sky. Folk took the chance and sunbathed in the parks, and the Swedes walked around town with their faces and bare shoulders gleaming in varying shades and of red. This week, it's back to raincoats and fleece jackets again; sunbathing is the last thing on anyone's list of things to do.

It's interesting to see the contrasts in the city life when the weather changes. Sights, sounds and smells are different. On a sunny day, the city center teems with people. There are heels everywhere, clacking on cobblestones. People are out to see and to be seen, as they walk in the streets or sit and dine al fresco. Skirts and beach shorts reveal bare skin (some men go topless, eager to show evidence that they spent the whole winter in the gym). The city is alive with chatter, laughter and street music – sometimes even reggae, the soundtrack of summer. Somewhere in the park, where people play beach volleyball, there would be a smell of a half a dozen charcoal grills.

But not today. On a rainy and cold day, this all disappears – or at least, are minimized. No al fresco diners, more robust shoes, no volleyball, no bare tops – instead, people are all covered up in dark rain jackets and desperately try to hide their heads under buckling umbrellas. Most people disappear indoors, and outside it's the smell of wet grass that permeates the air. Not great weather for anything else than staying in with a good book (or, alternatively, shopping, if you can take yourself to the shopping mall without your clothes getting all soggy). Actually, I do think it's nice sometimes with a bit of light rain and the cold moist air, even though I wouldn't really mind if it would start being sunny again. For one thing, last Wednesday's grill party had to be done under under a roof (and not on a patch of grass) since it started to rain. For another thing, Marcus had fixed the balcony in anticipation for "balcony days" which haven't yet come.


Please, let July be sunny!